A NEW MANU- FACTURE OF PACKAGES FOR DRY GOODS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Robertson, of Upper Holloway, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "A NEW MANU-
FACTURE OF PACKAGES FOR DRY GOODS."
Sealed the 26th June 1855, and dated the 11th January 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the 'said Alexander Robertson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th January 1855.
I, ALEXANDER ROBERTSON, of Upper Holloway, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW
MANUFACTURE OF PACKAGES FOR DRY GOODS" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in making packages of thin wood, strengthened with
metal rings or covers, which I make in the following manner:-I take a piece
of thin flexible wood, which I prefer to be of ash, beech, or any clean and
scentless. wood; I then pass this thro' a set of plate bending rollers, such as
are commonly used for bending metals, and the wood is then formed into a
wooden tube, which I fasten with glue, in the same manner as is practised by
ordinary box makers, or by any other suitable means; I then form a top or
bottom, by means of a ring of any suitable metal, & similar to those ordinarily
used in the manufacture of covers for tin canisters, but in the place of forming
the top of such cover or bottom (as the case may be) of tin plate, I prefer using

page_text: a circular disc of wood, similar to that used in the manufacture of the before-
mentioned tube. This cover or bottom should be made of such size as to fit
upon one of the ends of the wooden tube, and when fitted to it the bottom is
fastened thereto by any suitable means; and I form another cover of a similar
description, which is used for a lid, and the package is complete. But for the
purpose of strengthening the same further, I usually take a ring of tinned iron,
or any other suitable metal, with which I encircle the centre of the package.
I do not confine myself to the use of the compound ends or covers above
described, as they may be made of tinned iron or any other suitable metal.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Robertson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th July 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
ROBERTSON, of Upper Holloway, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alexander Robertson, Her special licence that I, the said Alexander
Robertson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alexander Robertson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW MANU-
FACTURE OF PACKAGES FOR DRY GOODS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Alexander Robertson, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Robertson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-

page_text: My Invention consists in the adaptation of wood and metal, to be combined
as herein-after mentioned, for the formation, in suitable shapes and sizes, of
packages for dry goods. With regard to the shape of the packages, I prefer
the cylindrical form as the most useful and convenient, although I do not con-
fine myself to that particular shape. For the manufacture of the packages I
use wood as free from scent as possible; and for strong packages I select a
piece of wood of the requisite length and breadth, and have it cut with circular
saws into suitable thicknesses; but for the more common description of goods,
I have the selected piece of wood scaled with a knife, or ordinary scaleboard
machine. Having thus cut or scaled the selected piece of wood into suitable
thicknesses of thin boards, similar to those used for veneering, but varying in
thickness from one-twentieth, of an inch to one-fifth of an inch, more or less,
according to the size and strength required and the nature of the goods to be
packed, I take one of the said thin boards and pass it through suitable bending
rolls, by which process it assumes a form approximating to the circular tube in
which it is afterwards to be finished. At this stage I allow it to dry or season
for a few days, after which I proceed to complete the cylindrical tube in the
following manner:-
Figure 1 in the accompanying Drawing represents a vertical section of the
apparatus employed for the complete formation of the thin boards of wood into
tubes after they have been passed through the bending rolls and dried or
seasoned, as before mentioned. Figure 2 is a plan of the top of the same appa-
ratus. A, Figure 1, represents the section of a cast-iron bored cylinder, to be
made of the diameter and length required to fit the exterior of the intended
package; E, Figure 1, shews the tube of wood in section; B, Figure 1, shews
the section of a tubular wooden block, which I cut longitudinally into six or
eight sections, as shewn in the plan of the top of the apparatus, Figure 2, and
marked a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a; C, as shewn in Figure 1 and Figure 2, is a conical
plug in the centre of the so-divided wooden block B. I then place one of the
thin boards of wood so prepared as aforesaid within the cast-iron bored cylin-
der, having first applied to the joint, marked S, in Figure 2, and all along its
longitudinal edge, a sufficient quantity of glue, or other adhesive substance, in
a liquid state, to effect by the necessary pressure a complete and permanent
joining of the two longitudinal edges; I then put together the several sections,
into which the tubular wooden block has been cut, marked a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a,
in Figure 2, so as to form them into a hollow cylinder, and I secure them in
that position by india-rubber bands fitting into the grooves D, D, in Figure 1.
I then place the whole within the thin board marked E, Figure 1; I then
drive the plug C, Figure 1, into this hollow cylinder, by which the thin board

page_text: E is forcibly pressed to the inside of the cast-iron bored cylinder A, so as to
form the thin board into a perfect cylindrical or tubular shape, and thoroughly
to secure the joint so made. I use the cast-iron bored cylinder either singly,
or in frames of twelve, or any other convenient number, and in either case I
pursue the same process with each cylinder as above described for forming
the thin boards into and securing the same in the, cylindrical or tubular shape
for the body of the package; and in every case, after driving the plug C,
Figures 1 and 2, I. allow the whole to remain in that state for about twenty
minutes; when the plug is.forced out, the sections of the tubular wooden block
are withdrawn; the tube of thin board is then removed from the cast-iron
bored cylinder, and the apparatus is again, ready for use. After removing the
tube of thin board from the cast-iron bored cylinder, I allow the former, to
stand to dry for about an hour, when I find it becomes strongly jointed and
ready for the further process of manufacture. In some cases, where greater
strength than usual is required, I rivet the joint with tin or other soft metal.
rivets in addition to the use of glue or other adhesive. substance, although for
all general purposes I find the..glue joint made as before described quite
sufficient.
I now proceed to describe the method of making the top and bottom of the
tube of thin board, in order to complete the same as a package for dry goods.
I take a strip of tin plate of suitable width and length to form a ring or rim
round the outside of one end of the tube of thin board, and rivet or solder the
ends together, so as closely to fit that end; I then turn over one edge of
the tin plate ring, or rim, so as to form a narrow, flange all around the inside
of the ring or rim, as shewn at 0, 0, in Figure 3 of the accompanying Drawing;
I then cut or punch a disc of wood, a little thicker than the thin board forming
the tube, of a size to fit tightly into the tin plate ring or rim, and to rest upon
the flange. I pursue the same process for the other end of the tube; and in
order to make the end intended for the bottom of the package air-tight, and
to fasten the same securely thereto, I take a strip of tinfoil, or tinfoil paper, or
any other suitable material, of sufficient width to cover part of the ring or rim
of tin plate, and part of, the adjoining portion of the body of the package, and I
cause the same to adhere closely thereto by paste or glue, or other sufficiently
adhesive matter. Figure 4 shews the section of the top or bottom of a package,
and another method of forming the ring or rim of tin plate, by indenting the
same below the flange, shewn in Figure 3, for the top, and. above the flange for.
the bottom, so as to form a circular groove for the reception and better secur
ing in its position the disc.of wood forming the top and bottom of the package;
and this indentation is performed after the disc is placed inside the rim or ring,

page_text: and while resting upon the flange. Figure 5 shews the section of a top or
bottom with two rims or rings, with a flange to each, similar to the one shewn
in Figure 3; one of the flanges being formed so as to cover the edge of the
tube of thin board, and the second or other rim or ring made with a flange
upon which the disc of wood is to rest, and which rim or ring is made suffi-
ciently large to cover part of the first-mentioned rim or ring, so that the two
flanges form together a groove of the whole depth of the flange, and in which
groove the wooden disc is tightly fixed and thoroughly secured. I use each of
the methods above described as circumstances may require or suggest the
adoption of one or other of them, according to the purpose for which the
package may be wanted, some articles requiring a greater degree of security
than others. I do not always confine myself to a wooden disc for the top or
bottom of the package, as I sometimes use, where it may be desirable or useful,
a covering or lid wholly of tin plate or iron plate. In order to add strength to
the package, I fasten round the centre of the outside a hoop or rim of any
metallic substance; that which I generally adopt and which I find sufficient is
a strip of very stout tinfoil, properly secured by glue or other adhesive matter,
and upon which hoop or rim I generally impress my trade mark. Figure 6
in the accompanying Drawing shews an elevation of the finished packages,
and Figure 7 is an end view of the same; the top and bottom shewn in
Figure 6 are of the description shewn in Figure 5. The Figure 6 is the full
size of a package used for one pound of mustard.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, I hereby. declare that I
do not intend to confine myself to any particular kind or description of wood,
although I prefer wood of close grain and texture, and in some instances I line
or cover the inside of the package with tinfoil or paper; and I do hereby
declare that what I claim as my Invention is, a new manufacture and process
and method of manufacture of packages for dry goods by the combination of
wood and iron or other metal, and constructed and made in manner herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Robertson, have hereto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
ALEX. ROBERTSON. (L.S.)