Improvements in Dressing, Travelling, and other Bags, Portmanteaus, and the like.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 27th May, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 27th Feb., 1896-Accepted, 4th Apr., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Dressing, Travelling, and other Bags,
Portmanteaus, and the like.
I, WILLIAM FREDERICK WILLIAMS, of 32, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W.
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in dressing bags, travelling bags,
portmanteaus and the like, and particularly those bags of shallow form intended
to carry a suit of clothes and known as suit bags.
The objects of my present improvements are, first, to render the carriers of the
fittings self-adjusting to suit the disposition of the contents of the bag so that there
shall be no liability to strain the joints by undue pressure after packing and closing
the bag, and secondly to render the fitting carriers readily reversible so that they
may be folded down either side uppermost, or presented either side towards the
user, in order that access may be had to the fittings at the one side or the other, as
desired, thirdly to enable the carriers to be wholly removed from the bag and to
be used as reversible stands on the dressing table or elsewhere.
The frames in which the carriers are mounted may be connected to the bag
beads in such way that by the act of throwing outwards the bag heads the carriers
will be raised into the upright position, the connection being by a sliding quadrant
or by a link and slide or equivalent connection permitting of the bag head frame
whilst traversing an arc of 180 degrees moving the fittings carrier through an arc
of 90 degrees, or the carrier frames may be operated directly by hand instead of
through the medium of the bag heads and may be opened either towards the sides
or ends of the bag.
The carrier is a padded board or frame provided with the usual receptacles or
holders for the fittings and mounted to revolve upon horizontal gudgeons so as
to be capable of reversal, the gudgeons being mounted in a U-shaped or open frame
which is in turn pivoted to revolve upon an axis perpendicular to the axis of the
gudgeons, said axis being mounted on a cross-frame formed with, or removably
fitted to slide in, grooves in side arms movable on horizontal joints in the bag
mouth frame coincident with the bag head hinges or otherwise the side arms being
connected by quadrant or straight links and slides with the bag head frame if it is
to be raised and lowered as above mentioned by the opening and closing of the bag
head.
The pivoting on the several axes above described admits of the carrier when
folded down readily adapting itself to inequality caused by careless packing of
the contents of the bag besides allowing of bringing the carrier into any position
required for convenience of access to the fittings.
The U-shaped or open frame above referred to is provided with a bail or
otherwise adapted to embrace the tops of the bottles or other fittings so as to
prevent them falling out of their holders or coming into contact with the fittings of
the other carrier hen inverted in carrying the bag, or otherwise, whilst allowing
of the fittings being removed when required for use, the gudgeons on which the
said frame turns being provided with binding screws or other means of maintaining
the parts in any required position.
Dated this 27th day of Mar 1895.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.

page_text: Improvements in Dressing, Travelling, and other Bags,
Portmanteaus, and the like.
I, WILLIAM FREDERICK WILLIAMS of 32, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W.
Gentleman, 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 :-
My invention relates to improvements in dressing bags, travelling bags,
portmanteaus, and the like and particularly those bags of shallow form intended to
carry a suit of clothes and known as suit bags.
The objects of my present improvements are, first, to render the carriers of the
fittings self-adjusting to the other contents of the bag so that in case of local
obstruction by unequal packing or by an unyielding article there shall be no
liability to strain the joints by undue pressure in closing the bag after packing;
and, secondly, to render the fitting carriers readily reversible so that they may be
folded down either side uppermost or presented either side towards the user in order
that access may be had to the fittings at the one side or the other as desired ;
thirdly, to enable the carriers to be wholly removed from the bag and to be used as
reversible stands on the dressing table or elsewhere.
The frames in which the carriers are mounted are so pivoted and arranged that
by the act of raising the carriers to the upright position and throwing them
outwards the bag mouth will be left free and unencumbered whether the carriers be
raised towards the sides or ends of the bag.
The improvements will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings
forming part of this Specification wherein A A are the fittings carriers each formed
of a padded board or frame provided on both sides or faces with the usual loops or
pockets for receiving and holding the bottles and other usual fittings. For
convenience of removal bodily from the bag the carrier is provided with a broad
base A' on which it may stand alone, as in Figure 2, and the ends are fitted to slide
in the grooved or channelled side members B of a U-shaped frame which is pivoted
by gudgeons b at or near the ends of its side members, in the side members of an
outer frame C which is carried by a cross-bar D whose slightly cranked ends
are journalled by gudgeons d in the bag mouth frame E, the frame C being
preferably connected to the bar D by a pivot c whose axis is perpendicular to
the axis of gudgeons b.
The body of the bag itself is represented only in outline in an elementary
'manner. The body may be of any kind or form above referred to and be closed
by a single lid or cover or by a pair of bag heads which may meet either
dongitudinally or transversely of the bag and the gudgeons & may or may not in the
Matter case be coincident with the bag head hinges. The effect of pivoting the
carrier frames on axes bc at right angles to each other is illustrated diagram-
matically in Figure 3 from which it will be evident that the carriers A are free to
accommodate themselves to inequalities caused by careless packing of the bag, the
frames of the carrier being represented (by the centre lines of their members) as
occupying when folded down a position which deviates from the horizontal plane of
the bag both in the direction of width and length of the bag.
Figure 1 shews at the left hand end how the fittings carrier may be readily
placed in a position affording convenient access to all the fittings when the bag is
opened by the fittings carrier being thrown outwards beyond the bag mouth so as
to give unobstructed access to the body of the bag whether in packing or unpacking.
For this purpose the outer frame C is swung outwards upon the gudgeons d as
centres, the inner frame B being inclined somewhat inwards on its gudgeons & so
as to stand in a plane about perpendicular to the plane of frame C and present

page_text: the fittings on both sides of it in a conveniently accessible position, the frames
being supported in this position by the frame C resting on the edge of the bag
mouth and the frame B either turning stiffly on its gadgeon so as to remain at any
inclination at which it may be placed or by the foot of the carrier resting on the
tible or other surface on which the bag is placed. Where by reason of want of
space this outwardly turned position would be inconvenient the frame C may
be inclined inwards so that the carrier rests upon the contents of the bag.
The frame C is provided with a broad padded cross-piece C which when the
carrier is folded into the bag comes opposite the tops of both series of bottles or
fittings and prevents them falling out of their loops or pockets or coming into
contact with the fittings of the other carrier when inverted as in carrying the bag or
otherwise. But when the frames BC are placed in the position above described
and shewn at the left hand end of Figure 1 this cross-piece C' no longer obstructs
the removal of the fittings. The pivoting of the inner frame B upon gudgeons b
admits of the carrier being reversed by being thrown over towards the middle of the
bag (in the case of carriers arranged at the ends of the bag as here shewn) so as to
bring uppermost the fittings which were undermost without raising the outer
frame C. The pivoting of the frame C upon a central axis c admits (when the
carriers and their frames are in the upright position) of the carrier A and frame B
being turned upon said axis, as shewn in the partly turned position at the right of
Figure 1, so that the fittings at either side of the carrier may be presented towards
the user.
In order to ensure the frames turning on their joints with the stiffness necessary
to maintain the parts in any position in which they may be placed, binding screws
may be applied to the gudgeons d for the purpose of tightening those joints when
required as will be readily understood without illustration.
It is to be observed that some of the advantages above described may be obtained
without pivoting the frame C upon the axis c in which case the frame C and cross-
bar D would be in one, and my invention is intended to comprise such a modification
which will be readily understood without special illustration.
Having new 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 1
claim is:
1. The herein described means of supporting the fittings carriers in hags and the
like of the kind specified, consisting of a frame pivoted by gudgeons within another
frame which is similarly pivoted to the bag mouth frame so as to admit of the
frames being swung outwards and of the carrier being presented in convenient
position for access to the fittings without encumbering the bag mouth substantially
as specified.
2. The herein described combination of pivoted carrier holding frames comprising
an inner frame adapted to receive the removable fittings carrier mounted to turn on
gudgeons in an outer frame pivoted perpendicularly to said gudgeons to a cross-bar
pivoted parallel to said gudgeons in the bag mouth frame whereby the carrier is
rendered self-adjusting and reversible, and whereby it is presented when thrown
outwards in convenient position for access to the fittings without encumbering the
bag mouth substantially as specified.
3. The herein described combination of frames pivoted the one in the other and
to the bag mouth frame as described, the outer frame having a cross-head serving
in the closed position to retain the fittings in the pockets and which by the relative
angular motion of the frames in opening ceases to obstruct the removal of the
fittings as described.
Dated this 27th dox of Fah 1006
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.