IMPROVEMENTS IN TIES OR FASTENINGS FOR SECURING BALES OF COTTON AND OTHER MERCHANDIZE
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TIES OR FASTENINGS FOR SECURING
BALES OF COTTON AND OTHER MERCHANDIZE."-A communication from
abroad by James Edward Aiken, of New Orleans, Louisiana, and
Charles Swett, of Copiah County, Mississippi, both in the United
States of America.
Sealed the 3rd September 1872, and dated the 11th July 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 11th July 1872.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TIES OR FASTENINGS For
SECURING BALES OF COTTON AND OTHER MERCHANDIZE," a communication, to be
as follows:-
:―
This Invention relates to a novel contrivance for uniting and securing"
) the ends of metal bands or hoops placed around bales of cotton or other“

page_text: The said Invention consists in the peculiar formation of a metal plate
and in the combination of the same with the ends of the hoops or
bands. The form of the said plate may be varied, but in all its modifi-
cations certain peculiarities of construction herein-after described are
retained.
Metal plates for securing bands or hoops upon bales or trusses of
cotton and other substances are already known and in use.
Such plates
are commonly constructed with a slot or opening into which the ends of
the hoops are inserted through a lateral slit; or one end of the hoop is
attached to the plate in this manner, and the other end by some other
means, the two ends of the hoop when secured being in all cases directly
or nearly opposite or in line with each other. But according to one part
of this Invention the plate is so constructed that the two ends of the
hoop when secured upon a bale do not meet each other, but diverge
laterally towards opposite ends of the plate. Moreover in most of the
forms of my improved plate it is not necessary that the same should
have slots or apertures for the reception of the hooked or bent ends of
the hoop, as the latter are made to fit over the outer edges of the plate,
and are kept in place by tongues formed by cutting and bending back
portions of the plate, or by turning down the edges of the same. And in
those cases where I make a slot in the said plate to receive the hoop I
do not cut a slit through the side of the plate into the slot, and therefore
avoid the great diminution in the strength of the fastening caused by so
cutting the said plate.
These improved plates are first stamped or cut from sheets or plates
of iron or other suitable metal. If desired the plate may have a simple
oblong rectangular form with four tongues, two on one edge and two on
the other; the two ends of the hoop when secured lie side by side and
are hooked over the two edges, they are passed under the tongues, and
are securely held in place by the same. I prefer however that the said
plate should be of the form represented in the Drawing, which shows
the ends of the hoop secured upon the said plate. a is the plate b, b, are
the ends of the hoop; c, c, are the tongues. Instead of making the
edges a¹ sloping or inclined as shown, they may be perpendicular to the
edges a², a³. And instead of forming the plate with tongues as shown to
hold the hoops in place I may turn down the ends at of the plate to
form flanges or lips, and pass the hoops under the turned down portions.
Or I may bend the plate into the form of a flat socket and pass the

page_text: hoops through the same to the edges, the latter having a portion cut
down on the opposite sides to leave shoulders between which the hooks
are secured.
A further modification consists in making a slot in one side of the
plate to receive one end of the hoop, while at the other side of the said
plate the other end of the hoop is hooked upon the outer edge, and
retained in place by a flange or lip formed by turning down the end of
the plate as above described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 10th January 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Cake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence,
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,.
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN TIES OR FASTENINGS FOR SECURING BALES OF COTTON AND OTHER MERCHANDIZE,"
a communication to me from abroad by James Edward Aiken, of New
Orleans, Louisiana, and Charles Swett, of Copiah County, Mississippi,
both in the United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby.
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawing forming a part of this Specification :--
.
The said Invention relates to a novel contrivance for uniting and
securing the ends of metal bands or hoops placed around bales of cotton
or other merchandize.
The said Invention consists in the peculiar formation of a metal plate
and in the combination of the same with the ends of the said hoops
or bands. The form of the said plate may be varied, but in all its
modifications certain peculiarities of construction herein-after described
are retained.
Metal plates for securing bands or hoops upon bales or trusses of
cotton and other substances are already known and in use. Such plates
are commonly constructed with a slot or opening, into which the ends
of the hoops are inserted through a lateral slit, forming what is termed
an open slot tie; or one end of the hoop is attached to the plate in this
manner, and the other end by some other means, the two ends of the
hoop when secured being in all cases directly or nearly opposite or in
line with each other. But according to one part of this Invention the
plate is so constructed that the two ends of the hoop when secured upon
a bale do not meet each other, but diverge laterally towards opposite
ends of the plate. Moreover in most of the forms of my improved
plate it is not necessary that the same should have slots or apertures
for the reception of the hooked or bent ends of the hoop, as the latter
are made to fit over the outer edges of the plate, and are kept in place
by tongues or flanges formed by cutting and bending out portions of the
And in those cases
plate, or by turning down the edges of the same.
where I make a slot in the said plate to receive the hoop I do not cut
a slit through the side of the plate into the slot, and therefore avoid the
great diminution in the strength of the fastening caused by so cutting
the said plate.
The Drawing represents various forms and modifications of my said
Invention

page_text: The plate a is first stamped or cut from a sheet or plate of iron or
other suitable metal. If desired the said plate may have a simple
oblong rectangular form, with four tongues b, two on one edge and two
on the other, as shown in Figure 2. The two ends A, A', of the hoop
when secured lic side by side, and are hooked over the two edges 1, 2;
they are passed under the said tongues, and are securely held in place
by the same. I prefer, however, that the said plate should be of the
form represented in Figure 1, in which the two ends a', a², of the plate
have rectangular edges 1, 1, and 2, 2, the said sides being connected by
the inclined or sloping central portion a³. In this modification the said
plate has only two tongues b. Instead of making the edges of the
central part as sloping or inclined, as shown in Figure 1, they may be
perpendicular to the edges 1, 2, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, and there
may be two tongues within the tongues b, and turned out in the
opposite direction thereto, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 3. And
instead of forming the plate with tongues b, as shown, to hold the hoops
in place, I may turn down the ends of the plate aj to form flanges or
lips c, and pass the hoops under the turned down portions to the
edges 1, 2, as shewn in Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; or I may bend the plate
into the form of a flat socket, as represented in Figure 10, and pass the
hoops through the same to the edges 1, 2, which are cut below the
opposite sides of the plate, to leave shoulders 3, between which the hooks
of the hoops A, A', are secured.
A further modification of my said Invention consists in making a
slot d in one end of the plate a to receive one end of the hoop, while at
the other side of the said plate the other end of the hoop is hooked upon
the outer edge 1, 1, as shown in Figures 11, 12, 13, and retained in
place by a flange or lip c, formed by turning down the end of the plate,
as shown.
In the modification shown in Figure 14 the tongues are cut obliquely
or at an angle to the edges of the plate a, instead of parallel with the
said edges. Figure 15 shows the plate a bent or doubled at e, its two
sides being exactly of the same form. The ends A, A', of the hoop are
hooked over the edges 1, 1, 2, 2, and are kept in place by the shoulders
5 or projections f.
By constructing the plates a as above described I obtain ties which
have all the advantages of open slot ties with greater strength and
economy of the metal. In using the said open slot tics the free ends of

page_text: the hooks or bent ends of the hoops must lie nearest the bale, but by
constructing the plates with the tongues or flanges as shown in the
Drawing. this will not be necessary.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
W. J. LOWE.
WM. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.).