New or Improved Tea Chest, Box, or Packing Case.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Apr., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 24th Jan., 1895-Accepted, 9th Mar., 1895
New or Improved Tea Chest, Box, or Packing Case.
THOMAS VIVIAN MACLEOD Tea Buyer, 3 Sandwell Park West End Lane
West Hampstead London do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
}
Two metal angle frames, one to form the bottom & the other the top of chest
box or case, & four metal pillars or posts with slots on two sides & screw holes at
or in each end to which top & bottom frames may be screwed at each corner.
chest, box or case is completed by filling in the frame with wood or other material
as desired.
Datad this 91th dow of Anil 1804
The
I, THOMAS VIVIAN MACLEOD, of 3 Sandwell Park, West End Lane, West
Hampstead, in the County of Middlesex, Tea Merchant, 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 :-
This invention has reference to a construction of tea chest, box or packing case
frame such as will permit of a chest, box or case being easily and quickly put
together and as easily and quickly taken to pieces and afterwards packed in a small
space until again required for use.
For this purpose my tea chest, box or packing case frame comprises skeleton top
and bottom parts of angular form in cross section, adapted to contain the wooden
top and bottom proper of a chest, box or case (hereinafter called a box),
metal pillars or posts adapted to form the corners of the box and provided with
longitudinal slots or grooves to receive and hold in place the wooden sides of the
box, and means such as screw bolts whereby the top and bottom parts and pillars
or posts can be firmly connected together but nevertheless in such a way as to
admit of the several parts being quickly detached from each other when required.
And in order that my invention may be readily understood I will now proceed
to explain the same by aid of the accompanying drawings, in which
Fig. 1 shows partly in vertical section and partly in elevation; and Fig. 2 partly
in horizontal section and partly in plan, a metal box-frame constructed according
to this invention.
Fig. 3 shows in side elevation and to a larger scale, the upper end of one of the
grooved or slotted pillars, and Fig. 4 is a plan thereof.
Figs. 5 and 6 are horizontal sections taken on the lines and y y respectively
of Fig. 3.
I and 1ª are the skeleton top and bottom parts, each formed of sheet metal such

page_text: .
2 are the
as iron or steel stamped bent or pressed to the angular or form in cross
section shown in Fig. 1, and formed with a holt hole at each corner.
pillars of which there are four in the example shown, arranged one at each
corner of the top and bottom parts 1 1ª. Each of these pillars may conveniently
be formed of sheet metal bent upon itself as shown more clearly in Figs. 4, 5
and 6 so as to form vertical grooves 2*, 2b arranged at right angles to each other
and which serve to receive the wooden boards 3, as shown in Fig. 2, to form
the sides of the box. Each end of the pillar is formed or provided with a
perforated lug or eye 2 and its flanged sides 2d and 2° are cut away as shown
to form shoulders or abutments at 2' and 28 respectively against which the
vertical side flanges of the top and bottom parts 1 and 1 bear when the parts
are secured together as shown in Fig. 1. In order to strengthen the pillar when
made of sheet metal bent upon itself as shown, adjacent layers of metal may be
brazed together at suitable points. The pillars may however be formed out of a
solid piece of metal if desired. 4 are connecting bolts each of which, when in place,
passes through the corresponding holes in the corners of the said top and bottom
parts and through the perforated lugs or eyes 2 and the angular groove 2 in the
corresponding pillar 2, as shown at the bottom right hand corner of Fig. 1. To
make a box with a metal frame constructed as described, the bottom part 1 is
placed horizontal, the pillars 2, arranged to stand vertically within each of its
corners and the connecting bolts 4 passed through them and the bottom part, the
whole being then allowed to rest upon a table or support. The wooden bottom 5
consisting of one or more boards, is then placed within the bottom part 1* and
secured in place by slipping the side boards 3 down the vertical grooves or
channels 2, 2, in the pillars. The box or receptacle thus formed can then be
filled with the material for example tea to be packed, a lead or other lining being
first inserted if desired, after which the wooden top 6, also formed of one or more
boards, is placed on the wooden sides.3 then the top part 1 is placed over the whole
so as to enclose the wooden top and pass over the upper ends of the connecting
bolts 4 as shown in Fig. 1, and fastening devices such as nuts 7.are secured upon
the upper ends of the bolts thereby firmly securing the whole together. The nuts
may be prevented from working loose by any convenient means, such as split pins
passed through them and the bolt ends. A box thus constructed is much stronger
and will withstand rough usage for a much longer time than boxes as heretofore
usually constructed, and when not required for use its various parts may be taken
to pieces and the wooden top, bottom and sides placed within and between the top
and bottom parts of the frame so as to form a flat package of comparatively small
capacity, the pillars forming another package or being left free.
As will be obvious the shape of the frame can be varied. Thus instead of being
made square in plan, as in the example shown, it may be made of, other shape, for
example rectangular, and when of large dimensions, additional pillars may be
secured to the top and bottom parts between the corner pillars, such additional
pillars being f rmed with vertical grooves or channels arranged in the same plane,
as shown in sectional plan in Fig. 7, to receive the wooden boards forming the
sides 3 of the box, the top and bottom parts being suitably formed to receive the
additional connecting bolts that will then be required for securing the additional
pillars in place.
Having now particularly.described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A chest box or packing case frame comprising recessed top and bottom parts
adapted to receive the top and bottom proper of a box, pillars formed with
longitudinal slots or grooves adapted to receive the sides of a box, and means such
as screw bolts for firmly securing the whole together substantially as herein before
described for the purposes specified.

page_text: 2. A tea chest, box or packing case frame constructed substantially as described
and shewn.
Dated this 24th day of January 1895.
For the Applicant.
W. LLOYD WISE,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.