CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF KNAPSACKS, PORTMANTEAUS, BAGS, BOXES, OR CASES FOR TRA- VELLERS
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
PRATT, of Peckham Rye, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Ninth day of December, in the seventh year of His reign,
and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, did,
for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Samuel
Pratt, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Samuel Pratt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Samuel Pratt, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF KNAPSACKS, PORTMANTEAUS, BAGS, BOXES, OR CASES FOR TRA-
VELLERS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,
the said Samuel Pratt, shall cause a particular description of the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled
in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Samuel Pratt, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained by the following description thereof, (reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
(that is to say):-
My Invention of Certain Improvements in the Construction of Knapsacks,
Portmanteaus, Bags, Boxes, or Cases for Travellers, consists in novel con-
structions, arrangements, or combinations of the parts or compartments of
knapsacks, portmanteaus, bags, or cases, by means of which I obtain a more
convenient and useful travelling commode than has hitherto been made or
used, possessing the several advantages of a knapsack, portmanteau, or case
and bag combined together, and whereby I also gain the convenience of
keeping different articles of dress separate one from the other, for instance,
the outer garments for a gentleman from his linen or inner apparel, as well as
distinct compartments for papers, drawings, books, toilet utensils and brushes,
or other articles, and also a separate bag or compartment for dirty linen, boots
and shoes, or such other parts of dress which it is desirable to keep distinct
from clean linen or other apparel. And further, with these improved con-
structions of travelling portmanteaus, knapsacks, or bags, any article for dress
or other purpose can be obtained at once, without the necessity of taking out,
tumbling over, or disarranging the whole contents of the portmanteau, knap-
sack, or commode. And more particularly the inconvenience of having the
contents of the portmanteau, knapsack, case, or bag, disarranged by Custom
House Officers in passing from one country to another is obviated, as each
compartment in my improved constructions of knapsack, portmanteau, or case
and bag, is intended to contain its appropriate articles, which may be easily
searched or looked over without disarranging the contents. And in order the
better to illustrate my Invention, I shall now refer to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and describe the same, and then in conclusion state what I consider
to be my claim to Invention secured to me by the above in part recited Letters
Patent.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of one of my improved constructions of portman-
teaus, knapsack, or bags, as it would appear when closed and locked ready for
travelling; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same; Fig. 3 represents in per-
spective the commode thrown open, and its interior displayed; Fig. 4 is a
transverse vertical section taken through the portmanteau, knapsack, and bag,
about the middle; and Fig. 5 is a view looking down on the same. It will be
perceived that this travelling commode, portmanteau, knapsack, and bag,

page_text: consists of four distinct parts, viz', the main body of the portmanteau A, which
is intended to carry the woollens or larger part of the outer garments for a
gentleman or the dresses of a lady, and is furnished with a curtain or flap cover a,
fastened by a turn button or in any convenient manner; the front part B is
divided into one, two, or more compartments, as b and c, each furnished with a
flap cover fastened by a turn button, and intended to contain linen or small
articles of dress, brushes, or papers; the top part C, which has also one or
more compartments covered with the flap d, fastened by turn buttons; and,
lastly, the dirty linen, or boot and shoe bag or compartment D, which is
situated behind the main compartment A, and is flexible, capable of being
more or less distended by its contents, and is confined to its smallest size by a
strap e and buckle or by a spring catch, as shewn detached on a larger scale
at Figures 6 and 7, which fastening is secured by means of a rack and pin in
the socket part. The whole of this portmanteau, knapsack, or travelling
commode is constructed in the usual manner, well known to trunk or travelling
equipage makers, and the outside of the bag may be protected by a framing of
iron covered with leather if thought desirable, which will keep it in proper
shape with the portmanteau. Figures 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, are similar
representations of another of my improved constructions of commode, knap-
sacks, or portmanteaus, which consists of but three compartments, viz*, A, C, and
D, the front compartment B being in this instance dispensed with and its
place supplied by the cover or flap ƒ for the main body or compartment of the
portmanteau; the other parts are similar to the foregoing, and as the same
letters of reference are marked upon corresponding parts, no further description
will be necessary.
Having now described my improved constructions, arrangements, and com-
binations of the parts or compartments of the travelling commode, portmanteau,
knapsacks, cases, or bags, I wish it to be understood that I do not mean or
intend to claim as my Invention any of the several parts or compartments
separately, as they have been heretofore used in common, but that which I
claim as my Invention is the construction, combination, and arrangement of
the bag, portmanteau, knapsack, or case, together forming a travelling
commode, portmanteau, knapsack, or bag, possessing the advantages set forth
in the former part of this my Specification.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Pratt, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighth day of June, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-seven.
SAM (L.S.) PRATT.

page_text: .. AND BE IT REMEMBERED; that on the Eighth day of June, in the
seventh year of the reign of His Majesty King William the Fourth, the said
Samuel Pratt came before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and
acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein con-
tained and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument aforesaid
was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year
of the reign of His late. Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Ninth day of June, One thousand eight hundred
seven.
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