IMPROVEMENTS IN BAGS OF PAPER AND OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Powley Alexander, of 36, Southampton Buildings,
"
in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer and British and Foreign
Patent Agent, for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN BAGS OF PAPER
AND OTHER MATERIALS." A communication from abroad by Lucius George
Fisher, the younger, of Chicago, Cook County, State of Illinois, in the United
States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Powley Alexander at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th May 1881.
EDWIN POWLEY ALEXANDER, of 36, Southampton Buildings, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer and British and Foreign Patent Agent. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BAGS OF PAPER AND OTHER MATERIALS." A communication from
abroad by Lucius George Fisher, the younger, of Chicago, Cook County, State of
Illinois, in the United States of America.
This Invention consists of a peculiar construction of square or oblong bag in
which the side portions are of generally uniform thickness, and the bottom is
closed by folding down the side portions in the manner hereinafter described,
thereby securing such a construction that the bag will readily open and assume its
four sided form by the act of filling. The improved bag may be made from a sheet
or blank of suitable form, or from a continuous tube of paper, muslin, or paper and
muslin combined, and the steps in the manufacture may be performed by hand, or
wholly or in part by machinery.
When made from a sheet or blank of material the said blank may be substantially
of an oblong or square form, but cut so as to form at one edge (which will be the
bottom of the bag) two tongues or lips so situated that when the vertical edges of
the sheet or blank are pasted together these tongues or lips will be at the end of
the bag.
The sheet or blank may also be cut so as to leave a central tongue at one edge
projecting beyond the edge which forms the opposite portion of the bag.
To facilitate description I apply the term "sides" to the narrower portions of the

page_text: bag terminating in the first mentioned tongues or lips when duly folded, and
"front" and back to the wider portions of the bag.
In the process of folding or manufacturing the bag the sides or narrower portions
are brought to such a position that the central points of the first mentioned tongues
or lips will be directly opposite each other, and according to one mode of folding
the sides or narrower portions are flattened and the front and back portions brought
together so that the transverse sectional form of the sheet or tube thus folded
corresponds to that of the letter H. It should be understood however that this
mode of folding is not the only mode that can be pursued in making the bag.
When the blank or sheet is cut so as to leave a central tongue at one edge
thereof, the said tongue is folded down and pasted to the back or wider portion,
and each corner of each side or narrower portion is then bent over on a diagonal
or angular line and pasted down to the narrow side and to the body or front and
back of the bag where it overlays the same.
These corners by the use of suitable machinery may be folded down simul-
taneously. The tips or ends of the tongues or lips first mentioned at the end of
the bag will be folded over across the edges of the front and back portions as far
as such tongues project over the same, thereby effectually sealing the bag at the
points so secured. It is apparent that when these tongues or lips are long enough
they will extend to or across the centre of the bag, meeting or overlapping each
other, thereby closing the end of the bag without necessarily using the central
tongue previously referred to.
After the lips are thus folded and pasted down the bag will be complete, and the
sides or narrower portions may then be folded into a bellows shape, or they may
be folded flat down if preferred, but in either case the act of filling the bag will
cause the front, back, and two sides to expand or open, and the bottom to assume
a flat form without necessitating the introduction of the hand to extend it.
The seams of the bag thus constructed are not of undue thickness, and are
arranged so as to add to the strength of the bag at the bottom and effectually and
securely close the bag.
After the blank has been folded as before stated so as to assume in cross section
the form of the letter H, the folding down and pasting of the tongue and corners,
in effect complete the bag in form ready for use, and when the bag is made from a
continuous tube brought to the sectional form of the letter H, and the two tongues
or lips first mentioned are long enough to meet at the centre, the folding and
pasting down of the corners constitutes the entire process of making the bag
bottom.
As the side seam or junction of the two vertical edges of the blank extends from
the mouth to the bottom through only a single thickness of material, the bag
assumes its shape in folding and filling more readily than when the seam
terminates at a portion of the bag adjacent to the bottom which is of two or more
thicknesses.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Edwin Powley Alexander in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th November 1881.
EDWIN POWLEY ALEXANDER, of 36, Southampton Buildings,. in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer and British and Foreign Patent Agent. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BAGS OF PAPER AND OTHER MATERIALS." A communication from
abroad by Lucius George Fisher, the younger, of Chicago, Cook County, State of
Illinois, in the United States of America.
The said Invention consists of a peculiar construction of square or oblong bag in
which the side portions are of generally uniform thickness, and the bottom is
closed by folding down the side portions in the manner hereinafter described,
thereby securing such a construction that the bag will readily open and assume its
four-sided form by the act of filling.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to
the several Figures on the explanatory Sheet of Drawings, hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings is a view illustrating one form of sheet or blank from
which a bag can be made.
Figure 2 is a view showing the shape of the edge of the sheet or blank when
formed into a tube and flattened
Figure 3 is a view showing the form of the edge when the tube is opened.
Figures 4 to 6 are views illustrating the bag at different stages of its manufacture.
Figures 7 to 8 are views showing the completed bag folded in different ways,
and Figure 9 is a perspective view showing tho completed bag inverted and
opened.
The improved bag may be made from a sheet or blank of suitable form, or from
a continuous tube of paper, muslin, or paper and muslin combined, and the steps in
the manufacture may be performed by hand, or wholly or in part by machinery.
The Drawing illustrates a mode of manufacture from sheets or blanks, such as
shown in Figure 1, which represents a sheet or blank which is substantially of an
oblong or square form, but cut so as to form at one edge (which will be the bottom
of the bag) two tongues or lips B, B, so situated that when the vertical edges a', x',
of the sheet or blank are pasted together these tongues or lips will be at the
end of the bag, as shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3.
The sheet or blank may also be cut so as to leave a central tongue A at one edge
projecting beyond the edge y which forms the other side of the bag, as shown in
Figures 1, 2, and 4.
To facilitate description I apply the term "sides" to the portions d, d, of the
bag terminating in tongues B and "front" and "back" to the portions g, gl, of
the bag.
In the process of folding or manufacturing the bag the side portions & are brought
to such a position that the central points x, x, of the tongues B will be directly
opposite each other, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, in which the side portions are
flattened and the front and back portions brought together so that the transverse
sectional form of the sheet or tube thus folded corresponds to that of the letter H,
Figure 5. It should be understood however that this mode of folding is not the
only mode that can be pursued in making the bag.
When the blank or sheet has the lip A the latter is folded down and pasted to
the back gl, as shown in Figure 6, and each corner t of each side portion d is then
bent over on a diagonal or angular line to, as shown in Figures 3, 4, and 6, and

page_text: pasted down to the side d and to the body or front and back of the bag where it
overlays the same.
These corners by the use of suitable machinery may be folded down simul-
taneously. The tips or ends of the tongues B will be folded over across the edges
of the front and back portions as far as such tongues project over the same, as
shown in Figures 5, 6, and 9, thereby effectually sealing the bag at the points so
secured. It is apparent that when these tongues or lips are long enough they will
extend to or across the centre of the bag, meeting or overlapping each other, thereby
closing the end of the bag without necessarily using the tongue A.
After the lips are thus folded and pasted down the bag will be complete and the
sides may then be folded into the bellows shape shown in Figure 7, or they may
be folded flat down as in Figure 8.
In whichever way they are folded the act of filling the bag will cause the bag to
expand or open, and its bottom to assume the shape shown in Figure 9 without
necessitating the introduction of the hand to extend it.
The seams of the bag thus constructed are not of undue thickness, and are arranged
so as to add to the strength of the bag at the bottom and effectually and securely
close the bag.
After the blank is in the condition shown in Figure 4 the folding down and
pasting of the tongue and corners in effect complete the bag in form ready for use,
and when the bag is made from a continuous tube brought to the form shown in
Figure 5, and the two tongues or lips B are long enough to meet at the centre, the
folding and pasting down of the corners constitutes the entire process of making.
the bag bottom.
As the side seam q extends from the mouth to the bottom through only a single
thickness of material the bag assumes its shape in folding and filling more readily
than when the seam terminates at a portion of the bag adjacent to the bottom
which is of two or more thicknesses.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein before
in part recited Letters Patent is,-
Bags of paper or other material constructed substantially in the manner and
for the purpose herein before described and illustrated by the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Powley Alexander, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
EDWIN P. ALLAANDER.
(L.S.)