A Separable Case for Books and other Articles.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Apr., 1896-Accepted, 15th Aug., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Separable Case for Books and other Articles.
I, OTTO HEINRICH LOUIS WERNICKE, Manufacturer, of 2544 S. Dupont
Avenue, in the City of Minneapolis, County of Hennepin, State of Minnesota,
United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to a separable case designed for holding books or other
articles; and the object of my invention is to provide a case of several box or crate-
like parts wherein the books or other articles may be placed and carried, the case
being capable of being taken apart by the removal of these boxes or crates one by
one, or assembled by the placing of several of the crates or boxes one upon the other.
The boxes or crates being constructed of uniform dimensions are interchangeable
and may be placed together in any order. Another object of the invention is to
provide means whereby several tiers of such crates or boxes may be locked
together, end for end, thus forming a case of any desired length. Another object
is to provide means whereby the crates may, if desired, be folded or "knocked
down" for the purpose of shipment. And still another object is to provide means
for locking the doors of the several crates or boxes simultaneously.
In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification;
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a book-case constructed in accordance with my
invention.
Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same.
Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are details showing the means for locking the crates together,
end for end.
Fig. 6 is a vertical section on the line a-x of Fig. 1.
Fig. 7 is a section, on a larger scale, through one of the crates, showing the
construction of the locking device.
Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are details of the lock.
Fig. 11 is a detailed section on the line y-y of Fig. 7.
Fig. 12 is a detail illustrating the meaus for connecting the locking devices of
two vertical tiers of crates.
Fig. 13 is an inside elevation.
Fig. 14 is a horizontal section on the line z-z of Fig. 13, and Fig. 15 is a back
elevation, these three views showing the construction of a folding crate such as
may be used in my improved book-case.
Figs. 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 are details of the folding crate construction.
As shown in the drawings, 2 represents a single box or crate, any number
of which may be employed in the construction of a case for holding books or
other articles. Each of these crates is constructed of two end pieces 3, a back
piece 5, and bottom formed of two narrower strips 7, having a space between
them and a thin plate 9 arranged upon the tops of said strips 7 and extending over
the space between them, as shown most clearly in Fig. 6. The top is constructed
of a single narrow strip 11, as shown in said Fig. 6. The back 5 is provided at
its upper and lower ends with the interlocking lips or projections 13, whereby
when two of said crates are piled up one upon the other said projections will
interlock, as shown in Fig. 6, and form a tight joint. A door is provided,
preferably consisting of a frame 15 having a glass panel 17, and said door is
preferably secured in position by means of hooks 19 arranged upon the inside of
the door and at its upper end, said hooks being adapted to engage with pins 21

page_text: upon the inner walls of the ends of the crate. The door is also preferably provided
with suitable handles 23. The end walls of the crate are preferably provided, at a
point near their upper ends, with the shoulders 25, and the door is adapted to be
swung outward, turning, upon the pins 21, into a horizontal position and then
pushed back under the top wall of the crate, thereby moving them from the
position shown at the lower part of Fig. 6 to that shown at the upper part of said
figure. The forward strip 7, forming the bottom of the crate, is preferably
provided with a curved recess 27, as shown in Fig. 6, which permits the door to
turn freely upon the pin 21, and I also prefer to provide said strip 7 with a
downwardly projecting felt strip 29, as shown in Fig. 6, against which the
upper edge of the doors will strike when the door is swung down into a vertical
position, as shown in Fig. 6, thereby forming a dust-proof joint at the top of
the door.
The doors are preferably hung on a pivot 21, which is eccentrically arranged
so that the door will close and will be held closely shut by gravity. The
felt strip at the top of the door prevents the air from escaping at the top
when the door is being closed and thus confines it within the crate or box
and causes it to form an air cushion, which prevents slamming of the door and
all danger of breaking the glass, and makes the device noiseless; and as the air is
forced out from under the lower edge of the door as the door is being closed, it will
carry with it all light particles of dust that may have accumulated upon the lower
shelf while the door is opened. The curved recess 27 in the bottom strip 7 above
the edge of the door, causes the shelf to be slightly crowned upward by a natural
seasoning process of the wood, and acts as a truss to support the weight of the
contents of the box or crate. The door being hung in the manner described
occupies no space except its own thickness, and being hung solely upon the ends of
the crate it is not affected by any slight sag there may be in the bottom of the
crate above.
I also prefer to provide a suitable base 31, the top of which corresponds to the
top of one of the crates, so that any one of said crates will fit.upon the top of said
base, as indicated in Figs. 1, 2 and 6; and I also prefer to provide a suitable
top 33, the bottom of which corresponds to the bottom of one of said crates. I also
prefer to provide the crate with a metallic finishing strip 35, as shown in Figs. 4
and 5, said strip being extended backward along ench end wall of the crate, at the
bottom thereof, and provided with a lug 37 which extends around the front of the
crate for a short distance, as shown in Fig. 1. These strips are preferably secured
to the ends of the strips 7, forming the bottom of each crate. The strip 35, at one
end of each crate is provided with a dove-tailed projection 39, and the strip at the
other end with a corresponding recess, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, so that when two
of said crates are brought together, end for end, they may be interlocked and
firmly secured by the engagement of the lug upon one crate with the corresponding
recess upon the other, as indicated in Fig. 3. The strips 35, therefore, not only
serve to protect the end walls of the crates and the front corners thereof when said
crates are being handled, but they also provide means for locking the separate
tiers of said crates together, and secure an alignment of the crates even when
placed upon an uneven surface.
I prefer to provide the crate with a locking device so arranged that all of the
locks in one or more tiers of crates may be simultaneously operated. For this
purpose provide upon the inner wall at one end of each crate, a lever 41 mounted
upon a pivot 43, the forward end of said lever being provided with an outwardly
turned end 45. Upon the inner surface of the door frame near its lower edge
I provide the projection 47, having an upwardly curved lower surface, and to which
is pivoted at its outer end the lug 49. Said lug is provided with a lip 51 that
engages a recess 53 in the projection 47 and prevents the end of said lug from
dropping below the lower surface of the projection 47, but leaving said lug free to
turn upward on the pivot connecting it to the end of the projection 47. The lower
surface of the lug 49 conforms to the lower surface of the projection 47, but its

page_text: upper surface is rounded off at one side 55, as shown in Figs. 9 and 11. The rear
end of the lever 41 is provided with a right-angled projection 57, which projects
into a slot in the end of the crate, and a vertically sliding bar or rod 59, arranged
in a vertical groove in the end of the crate, has its lower end resting upon said
projection on the lever 41. The weight of said bar tends to hold the lever 41 with
its forward end raised, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 7, in which position the
door is unlocked. When several of the crates are piled one on top of the other,
the vertical grooves in which the bars 59 slide coincide with one another, and the
bar in any crate will, when raised, slide into the recess in the crate above and
engage the rear end of the lever 41, moving its rear end upward and depressing its
forward end, and likewise moving all of the bars and levers above it. In the
hase 31 provide a short bar 59, corresponding to the bars 59 in the crates, and
said har engages and operates the rear end of the lever 49 in the lowermost crate.
This bar 59 in the base 31 rests upon the inner end of a lever 61 that projects
through a slot in the forward wall of the base, as shown in Fig. 1. This slot
preferably has a shoulder 63 at one side thereof, and when the forward end of the
lever 61 is depressed it may be brought beneath the shoulder 63 and thus held in
its depressed position, when all of the bars 59 will be elevated and all of the
levers 41 will have their forward ends depressed in position for locking the doors.
The lever 61 may be locked by means of an ordinary door-lock or any other
suitable lock (not shown) which will prevent the case from being opened by any
unauthorized person. When the forward ends of the levers 41 are depressed they
strike upon the curved surfaces 55 of the pivoted lugs 49, as shown in Fig. 9, and
sliding down over said curved surfaces draw the doors closely shut and lock them
in such position until said levers 41 are again raised. If any door should happen to
be open when the levers are depressed it may readily be closed without raising the
levers, as the curved under-surface of the lug 49 will then strike on the in-turned
end of the lever 41 and said lug will ride over this in-turned end of the lever,.
as indicated in Fig. 8, and drop behind it, thereby locking the door in its closed
position.
As it is sometimes desirable to lock doors of several tiers of crates simultaneously,
provide means illustrated in Fig. 12 for accomplishing this result. In this
figure 59 represents the vertically moving bars in two of the bases 31. Their
lower ends rest upon the bell-crank levers 32, and said levers are connected by a
rod 34. An arm 36 is provided for one of said levers by means of which said
levers may be operated, and thereby the locks in the crates of both tiers may
be simultaneously controlled. Any number of tiers may be connected in a similar
manner.
In some instances I prefer to construct the box or crate so that it may be folded
or "knocked down." I have shown this construction in Figs. 13 to 20. As here
shown the ends 3 of the crate are hinged to the bottom, and a removable back and
top is provided, the back 5 being formed in two parts and hinged together at the
Each of said sections has upon its end a tongue 63 adapted to engage a
vertical groove in the rear part of the end 3. The two parts of the back are
secured at the middle by a suitable hinge so that the back practically forms a
toggle lever which may be sprung into place between the ends against the pressure
which the said ends naturally exert. The back is sprung past its centre and is
furthermoré secured at the bottom of the case by a strap hook 65 adapted to
engage the head of a screw or pin 67 extending through into the bottom strip 7.
In addition to this the ends 3 are drawn snugly against the ends of the back by the
latches 69 which are pivoted to levers 68 fulcrumed to the back at 70 each
latch 69 being bent and having a hooked end to engage a pin or screw 71 in the
rear edge of the end 3. When the hooked end of the latch 69 engages the pin 71
and the lever 68 is raised from the position indicated by dotted lines into the
position shown in full lines in Fig. 15 the end 3 is drawn tightly against the end of
the back.
The top of the crate or section comprises the single board or strip 11, having its'

page_text: ends secured upon the top of the ends 3, this strip being so fastened that it may
be readily removed to permit the ends to be folded down. The fastening employed
is one which will prevent the board from pulling away from the ends aud at the
same time such that the board 11 will tie the end sections 3 together. This
fastening comprises the socket casting 73 preferably provided with a thin web 75
on its lower surface which web may be the length of the end 3, and being arranged
in the saw cut or groove 77 in the top of the end 3, will prevent the end from
warping. Any suitable means may be used to secure the socket casting 73 in
place, as, for instance, a nail or nails 79 which pass down through the same into
the end 3, as shown in Fig. 19. As shown in this figure the socket casting is
provided with a recess to adinit the end of the board 11, and on the end of the
casting 73 is a lug 81, with which a hook 83 on the board 11 will engage, to tie
the parts together. The end of the board 11 projects beneath the upper part of
the casting 73 so that when put together a crate may be lifted by the top strip or
board 11. When erected in this form the case is quite as solid as though its parts
were secured together with glue and nails, while by unfastening the few hooks the
boards may be readily folded or collapsed. It will be seen that when such crates
are duplicated and placed one upon the other the top board 11 of each crate will
enter the straps between the two bottom strips or boards 7 of the crate above it.
In this way the bottom or partition between two sections causes the sections to be
firmly locked together. To prevent longitudinal movement of one section upon
another and to form a finish for the end of each section I employ the metal
strips 35, heretofore described and shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The main portion
of each strip 35 extends along the bottom edge of the section to cover the opening
between the bottom strips, and engages the end of the top strip or board 11 of an
underlying section.
The top 33 may be provided with cross-strips 32, as shown in Fig. 17, in order
that a thumb-screw 31 may be screwed down through the top board 11 of the last
or upper crate, whereby the top is prevented from warping out of shape and the
crates are also prevented from twisting out of position.
.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
1. A case for holding books or other articles, comprising a series of separate
sections, adapted to be arranged one upon top of another, and means for locking
Baid sections together.
2. A case for holding books or other articles, comprising a series of boxes or
crates, adapted to be arranged one upon top of another, and means for locking
said crates together, each of said crates being provided with a door hinged at
its upper edge and arranged to be turned down to close the front of the crate,
or to be turned into a horizontal position and pushed back under the top of
the crate.
3. The crates or sections, each having its bottom composed of independent
longitudinal strips with a space between them, and with a thin pad arranged over
said strips, and its top provided with a longitudinal strip adapted to fit into the
space between the two longitudinal strips upon the bottom of another section.
4. A crate or section for a case, provided with a removable back and top, and
with folding ends.
5. A section or crate, provided with a folding removable back, folding ends, a
hinged top, and a removable door hinged at its upper edge to the ends of the crate
and adapted to be swung down over the front of the crate or to be turned into a
horizontal position and pushed back under the top.
6. The finishing strips 35 arranged upon the ends of the crates, and having dove-
tailed recesses and projections for interlocking with each other.
7. The locks for the doors of the separate cases, all arranged to be simultaneously:
operated.

page_text: 8. The book-case, comprising the separate crates or boxes, adapted to be filed
one upon another, and each having a door hinged at its upper edge, locks for said
doors, and means for simultaneously operating all of said locks.
9. The combination, with the crate or section, provided with the door hinged at
its upper edge to the ends of the section, and having the lugs 47, with the pivoted
levers 41 and the sliding bars 59 for operating said levers.
10. The box or crate, having its front bottom strips 7 provided with the curved
recess 27 and with the felt strip 29, and the door hinged by hooks 19 upon the
pins 21.
11. The combination, with the series of crates, means for securing the crates one
upon top of another, means for securing the abutting ends of the crates together,
locks upon each of said crates, and means connecting all of said locks whereby the
same may be simultaneously operated.
Dated this 4th day of April 1896.
H. B. BARLOW & GILLETT,
17 St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for Applicant.