Improvements in the Manufacture of Boxes and the like.
Year: 1899

page_text: Improvements in the Manufacture of Boxes and the like.
I, PETER STUART BROWN, of Bothwell Park, Bothwell, in the County of Lanark,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to wooden or composite boxes and especially to such as
have their sides or sides and ends made of built up or multiple ply veneer united
or bound at the corners by means of sheet metal strips or straps or slip joints.
In making up chests or cases from veneer, the sides are bound together at the
corners by means of sheet metal strips or straps, which are sewn or riveted to the
boards by means of a wire sewing or stapling machine such as is used in sewing
or riveting together books or cloth samples with wire. The wire is cut from a
coil, made into staples, passed through the metal and the wood and riveted or
clinched all at one stroke of the machine. These staples hold the strips firmly
on the wood and cannot be strung or readily withdrawn, and they are preferably
inserted from the wooden side and clinched over the metal strips.
These sheet metal strips extend beyond the ends of the boards and are, there
doubled or bent to U-shape. The boards are fitted together in box form and they
are bound together at each of the four corners by means of an open-joint tube or
sheet metal slip which is entered endwise so as to engage with the doubled or bent
straps on the adjoining sides of the box, or the bent or doubled strips may be
made to engage with each other without the use of a jointing tube or sheet metal
slip. Sheet metal strips, such as are described in the Specification of Letters
Patent No. 22401 of 1898, are wire sewn or stapled to secure them at the top and
bottom of each side of the box to serve as means for securing the lid or bottom
in the manner described in said Specification. Or the lid or closing end may be
slipped in endwise under sheet metal flanges secured by nailing, wire sewing or
stapling to the sides of the box. In some cases boxes may conveniently be made
up by using strong ends of extra thick multiple ply veneer either round or having
the corners rounded, and bending a sheet of veneer round to form the four sides
of the box and nailing to the ends without the necessity of using strengthening
straps at the corners, the last corner being secured by a slip joint.
In another modification the sides of the box or case composed of built-up or
multiple-ply veneer, are bound together at the corners by means of strips or bands
of sheet metal nailed, stapled or wire sewn, or otherwise secured to the boards so
as to form flexible corner pieces, the adjacent ends of the side boards being kept
a short distance apart instead of meeting at the corners. The flexible sheet metal
corner pieces admit of the box sides being collapsed so as to lie in pairs against
each other, and when opened out to box-form, wooden or other bars grooved at
each edge are slipped endwise between the adjacent ends of the side boards to
completely fill up the space left between these ends and the sheet metal corner
strips. The grooves are so cut in these bars that portions of each bar overlap the

page_text: adjacent boards on the inside whilst the ends of the side boards bear on the grooved
bars. The grooved bars cannot be dislodged otherwise than by drawing them
out endwise which is done when the box is to be collapsed. Or the corner straps
are dispensed with by forming the outermost layer of the built-up veneer of
flexible or very tough wood, and cutting the inner sheets of the veneer short of the
corners so as to leave spaces for the insertion of the grooved bars which serve to
hold the sides rigidly in their open or expanded position.
In preparing veneer or wooden boards for making tea chests or boxes the boards,
of which the sides or sides and ends of the box are composed, may have a coating
of metallic tin applied to or deposited on their inner surfaces so as to adhere
thereto. The deposit or coating of tin is applied by mixing with sago flour or
other paste amorphous tin obtained by precipitation from muriate of tin by means
of zinc. The amorphous tin may be mixed with the sago flour to form the paste
which is applied to the surface of the veneer or wooden boards to which the paste
adheres, and the boards are thereafter dried and calendered or burnished so that
the tin remains as a thin foil-like protective coating on the surface of the wood.
Dated this 4th day of October 1899.
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,
Chartered Patent Agents,
Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agent for the Applicant
Improvements in the Manufacture of Boxes and the like.
I, PETER STUART BROWN, of Bothwell Park, Bothwell, in the County of Lanark,
Manufacturer, 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 relates to wooden or composite boxes and especially to such as
have their sides or sides and ends made of built up or multiple ply veneer united
or bound at the corners by means of sheet metal strips or straps or slip joints.
The invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 being a
vertical section of the improved box, and Fig. 2 a horizontal section of the same.
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of part of a box to an enlarged scale in order to show
the method of fastening the corners and filling up the spaces between the ends of
the adjacent side boards, Fig. 3ª is a like view showing a method of fastening
the boards together without the use of a tube, and Fig. 4 is a vertical section
of part of a box showing the method of attaching the metal strips to the
board. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section of part of a box showing another method
of stiffening and filling up the corners, and Fig. 6 is a like section of a box in
which the metal strips are dispensed with. Fig. 7 is a part horizontal section of a
box the sides of which are formed from a single board.
In making up chests or cases from veneer, the sides, which are so placed in
relation to each other as to leave a groove or space between the ends of the adjacent
sides as shown, are bound together at their grooved corners by means of sheet
metal strips or straps A, sewn or riveted to the boards B by means of a wire
sewing or stapling machine such as is used in sewing or riveting together books
or cloth samples with wire. The wire is cut from a coil, made into staples C,

page_text: passed through the metal and the wood and riveted or clinched all at one stroke
of the machine. These staples C hold the strips A firmly on the wood and cannot
be sprung or readily withdrawn, and they are preferably inserted from the wooden
side B and clinched over the metal strips A, as shown particularly at Fig. 4.
These sheet metal strips A extend beyond the ends of the boards B and are
doubled or bent to U-shape, as shown at Figs. 2 and 3. The boards B are fitted
together in box form and they are bound together at each of the four corners by
means of an open-joint tube D or sheet metal slip which is entered endwise so as
to engage with the doubled or bent straps on the adjoining sides of the box, and
also preferably to completely fill the space left between the ends of the wood and
the sheet metal strips, or the bent or doubled strips A may be made to engage
with each other without the use of a jointing tube or sheet metal slip. Sheet
metal strips E are wire sewn or stapled to secure them at the top and bottom of
each side of the box to serve as means for securing the lid or bottom F. The lid
or closing end F may be slipped in endwise under sheet metal flanges formed by
bending the strips E, as shown at Fig. 1. In some cases boxes may conveniently
be made up as shown at Fig. 7 by using strong ends of extra thick multiple ply
veneer either round or having the corners rounded, and bending a sheet of veneer
round to form the four sides of the box and nailing to the ends without the
necessity of using strengthening straps at the corners, the meeting ends of this
sheet being secured by a slip joint.
In another modification, shown at Fig. 5, the sides of the box or case composed
of built-up or multiple ply veneer, are bound together at the corners by means of
strips G or bands of sheet metal nailed, stapled or wire sewn, or otherwise secured
to the boards B so as to form flexible corner pieces, permanently attached to each
of the adjacent side boards, the adjacent ends of the side boards B being kept
a short distance apart. The flexible sheet metal corner pieces G admit of the
box sides being collapsed so as to lie in pairs against each other, and when opened
out to box-form, wooden or other bars H grooved at each edge are slipped end-
wise between the adjacent ends of the side boards B to completely fill up the space
left between these ends and the sheet metal corner strips. The grooves are so
cut in these bars that portions of each bar overlap the adjacent boards B on the
inside whilst the ends of the bars H cannot be dislodged otherwise than by draw-
ing them out endwise which is done when the box is to be collapsed. Or the corner
straps are dispensed with, as shown at Fig. 6, by forming the outermost layer
of the built-up veneer of flexible or very tough wood, and cutting the inner sheets
of the veneer short of the corners so as to leave spaces for the insertion of the
grooved bars H which serve to hold the sides rigidly in their open or expanded
position.
In preparing veneer or wooden boards for making tea chests or boxes the boards,
of which the sides or sides and ends of the box are composed, may have a coating
of metallic tin applied to or deposited on their inner surfaces in the manner
described in my Application No. 18010 of 1899.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. A chest or box whose sides or sides and ends are made of built-up veneer boards
to the ends of which sides are attached by wire sewing or stapling sheet metal
strips or straps extending beyond the ends of the beards, and so doubled or bent
to U-shape as to be adapted to engage with each other within the space formed'
by the adjacent ends or to be bound together by means of open joint tubes or
slips entered endwise in said spaces.
2. For use in the manufacture of chests or boxes boards of built-up veneer
having attached near their edges by wire sewing or stapling sheet metal strips
or straps extending beyond said edges and doubled or bent to U-shape.
3. A chest or box whose sides are composed of boards secured to each other by

page_text: flexible strips, and retained in box form by grooved bars slipped endwise into
spaces between the ends of the side boards and the flexible strips, said grooved
Ears being removable in order to permit of the box being collapsed.
Dated this 5th day of June 1900.
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,
Chartered Patent Agents,
62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Sept., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 6th June, 1900-Accepted, 1st Sept., 1900
Improvements in the Manufacture of Built-up Veneer and Apparatus
therefor.
I, PETER STUART BROWN, of Bothwell Park, Bothwell, in the County of
Lanark, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
This invention relates to the manufacture of built-up or multiple ply veneer
for the production therefrom of boxes for holding tea and other boxes or cases,
as also roofing plates and other articles capable of being dished up or similarly
formed.
In the manufacture of multiple ply veneer as ordinarily conducted the cut
boards are dried in order that the glue or other material used in cementing
them together may adhere to the surfaces of the boards. In this way the boards
are liable to split and warp in drying and are held together less firmly.
I overcome these objections and lessen the time and labour involved in
handling the material by dispensing with the drying of the single cut boards
previous to cementing; and in order that the wet boards may properly adhere
when cemented together to form the multiple ply veneer I unite them by means
of a cement composed of casein or lactarine, lime and water, or any similar
materials such as curd made from separated milk, with lime and water or
casein with solution of borax, or other antiseptic, or a mixture of magnesia and
chloride of magnesium-which will cement moist wood. The logs may be
treated before cutting with an alkaline solution to neutralize the wood acids
and make them take the cement better. The wet cemented boards may then
be dried in the flat form under pressure, or they may be exposed to a current
of cold or slightly heated air to partly or wholly dry them before they are put
through the drying presses and they may be pressed into various forms as
boxes, cylinders for packing bottles, corrugated roofing sheets, and the like,
while in the wet state and subsequently dried in the presses or on hot mandrels,
whereby the various shapes are permanently maintained; or the single cut
boards for one or more of the plies may be dried or semi-dried and then cemented,
the cement being hardened, the other or wet plies of veneer dried and the re-
quired shape fixed and made permanent by pressing between hot plates or man-
drels of the desired shape.
In order to obtain the maximum of strength from a given thickness of such
multiple ply veneer I prefer to produce it from three layers or boards of which
the middle one is of a thickness equal to or greater than the combined thickness
of the two outer boards which are placed with the grain of the wood running
at right angles to that of the central board. By this arrangement the built-up
veneer is rendered equally strong against bending or breaking either lengthwise
or crosswise instead of being weaker in one direction than in the other.
The tensile strength of the built-up veneer may be further increased hy the
insertion between the layers of sheet metal straps or of wire gauze or netting or

page_text: plates perforated or grooved and drawn apart to open up the grooves, so that
when the boards and plates composing the built-up veneer are cemented and
pressed together the cement will have access to the wooden boards and will
unite the whole firmly together. When the built-up veneer is subsequently
grooved in order that it may be bent or folded to form boxes as described in
the Specification of Letters Patent No. 12474 of 1898, the metal straps, plates
or netting will serve to hold together the sides of the box without the necessity
of securing metallic or other protective corner pieces thereto; or the strength-
ening strip may be put on the outside and fixed by nailing. or wire sewing, or
stapling.
For the purpose of pressing or flattening and drying built-up or multiple
ply veneer produced from sheets or boards in the wet or semi-dry state as above
described I employ pressing and drying apparatus of improved construction..
The improved apparatus comprises a hydraulic or other press having a verti-
cally moving platen at bottom which rises towards a fixed abutment or entabla-
ture at top and between which platen and abutment are fixed a series of hollow
plates or flat boxes to which steam, hot water or other heated fluid is admitted
for heating them. These plates or boxes, when the press is open, rest at their
ends on vertical end standards, which for convenience of holding the plates or
boxes apart are tapered on both sides or are made of gradually increasing breadth
towards the base and are stepped or notched or formed with supports for the
plates or boxes. The plates have projecting snugs or end pieces on them to
rest on the steps, the projections of the upper plates being closer together than
those on the upper plates so that each plate has its own supports, and whilst
when the platen is raised the whole of the plates are lifted off their supports,
as the platen is lowered they are each in turn retained by the steps or supports
as they descend and thus held separate. Steam is admitted to the several plates.
or boxes by means of flexible tubes connected to steam pipes or casings placed
alongside the press, the steam being led in from a pipe or casing at one end
through the hollow plates and out to a casing or receiver at the opposite end to
ensure circulation through the plates or boxes. The plates have sewn over
them or are otherwise covered with felt or other absorbent of moisture.
Several presses constructed and furnished with hollow steam heated plates are
placed in a row, boxed in and connected to a flue through which a strong draught
of air is maintained by a fan or by connection to a chimney or like means; or
the semi-dry condition of veneer plies before cementing may be attained by
piling up the plies with a sheet of felt or other absorbent between each, the
absorbent sheets being subsequently dried by any convenient means.
In drying and flattening the veneer or other boards they are placed in the
wet or half dried state from the cold or heated air flues or alleys and then put
singly between the hollow plates of the press and the platen is raised so that
the upper and lower sides of each board are brought into contact with the felt
whilst pressure is applied and steam is admitted to the hollow plates. After
heat and pressure have thus been applied for any desired length of time the
platen of the press is lowered and the hollow plates allowed to drop and rest
each on its own supports whereupon the boxed-in front of the press is opened,
and the dried and flattened boards removed, and air allowed to flow in between
the plates to the flue so that the moisture absorbed from the boards by the felt
The air may be
covering of the plates is vaporised and passes off to the flue.
dried or heated before it is allowed to flow through the press to dry the boards
or the felt covering.
In preparing veneer boards for making tea chests or boxes the boards, of
which the sides or sides and ends of the box are composed, have a coating of
metallic tin applied to or deposited on their inner surfaces so as to adhere thereto.
The deposit or coating of tin is applied by mixing with sago flour or other paste
amorphous tin obtained by precipitation from muriate of tin by means of zinc.
The amorphous tin may be mixed with the sago flour to form the paste which is

page_text: applied to the surface of the veneer boards to which the paste adheres, and the
boards are thereafter dried and calendered or burnished so that the tin remains
as a thin foil-like protective coating on the surface of the wood.
For roofing plates, packing boxes or the like, the veneer may be impregnated
with chemical or other substances such as metallic soaps made with copper or
alumina, or copper and alumina, borax, sulphate of ammonia and tungstate of
soda, adapted to make them fire-proof, insect-proof and water-proof before or
after cementing.
Dated this 5th day of Sentember 1899
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,
Chartered Patent Agents, 62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow,
Agent for the Applicant,
Improvements in the Manufacture of Built-up Veneer and Apparatus
therefor.
I, PETER STUART BROWN, of Bothwell Park, Bothwell, in the County of
Lanark, Manufacturer, 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 relates to the manufacture of built-up or multiple ply veneer
for the production therefrom of boxes for holding tea and other boxes or cases,
as also roofing plates and other articles capable of being dished up or similarly
formed.
In the manufacture of multiple ply veneer as ordinarily conducted the cut
boards are dried in order that the glue or other material used in cementing
them together may adhere to the surfaces of the boards. In this way the boards
are liable to split and warp in drying and are held together less firmly.
I overcome these objections and lessen the time and labor involved in hand-
ling the material by dispensing with the drying of all but one of the single cut
boards previous to cementing and in order that the wet boards may properly
adhere when cemented together to form the multiple ply veneer I unite them
to the dried and flattened board which constitutes the middle ply of the built
up board by means of a cement composed of casein or lactarine, lime and water,
or any similar materials such as curd made from separated milk, with lime and
water or casein with solution of borax, or other antiseptic, or a mixture of
magnesia and chloride of magnesium-which will cement moist wood. The
logs may be treated before cutting with an alkaline solution to neutralize the
wood acids and make them take the cement better. The wet cemented boards
may then be dried in the flat form under pressure in the improved drying presses
hereinafter described, or they may be exposed to a current of cold or slightly
heated air to partially or wholly dry them before they are put through the
drying presses, employed in drying or flattening the board intended to form
the middle ply of the built up board and the built up boards may be pressed
into various forms as boxes, cylinders for packing bottles, corrugated roofing
sheets, and the like, while in the wet state and subsequently dried in the presses
or on hot mandrels, whereby the various shapes are permanently maintained;
or the single cut boards for one or more of the plies may be dried or semi-
dried and then cemented, the cement being dried, the other or wet plies of
veneer applied to the dry plies and then dried and the required shape fixed and
made permanent by pressing between hot plates or mandrels of the desired shape.

page_text: In order to obtain the maximum of strength from a given thickness of such
multiple ply veneer I prefer to produce it from three layers or boards of which
the middle one is of a thickness equal to or greater than the combined thickness
of the two outer boards which are placed with the grain of the wood running
at right angles to that of the central board. By this arrangement the built-up
veneer is rendered equally strong against bending or breaking either lengthwise
or crosswise instead of being weaker in one direction than in the other.
The tensile strength of the built-up veneer may be further increased by the
insertion between the layers of sheet metal straps or of wire gauze or netting or
plates perforated or grooved and drawn apart to open up the grooves, so that
when the boards and plates composing the built-up veneer are cemented and
pressed together the cement will have access to the wooden boards and will
unite the whole firmly together. When the built-up veneer is subsequently
grooved in order that it may be bent or folded to form boxes as described in
the Specification of Letters Patent No. 12474 of 1898, the metal straps, plates
or netting will serve to hold together the sides of the box without the necessity
of securing metallic or other protective corner pieces thereto or the strength-
ening strip may be put on the outside and fixed by nailing or wire sewing, or
stapling.
The
For the purpose of pressing or flattening the single boards and for drying
built-up or multiple ply veneer produced from sheets or boards in the wet
state as above described after they are taken from the cold or heated air flues
or alleys I employ pressing and drying apparatus of improved construction,
this part of my invention being illustrated by the accompanying drawing which
shows in side elevation a drying and pressing machine such as I employ for
pressing into flat form the single boards which subsequently constitute the
multiple ply veneer, and also for subsequently drying the built-up veneer.
improved apparatus comprises a hydraulic or other press A¹ having a vertically
moving platen A at bottom which rises towards a fixed abutment or entabla-
ture B at top and between which platen and abutment are fixed a series of hollow
plates or flat boxes C to which steam, hot water or other heated fluid is admitted
for heating them. These plates or boxes C, when the press is open, as shown
by the drawing, rest at their ends on vertical end standards D, which for con-
venience of holding the plates or boxes C apart when the boards are to be with-
drawn or to be placed between them previous to pressing, are tapered on both
sides or are made of gradually increasing breadth towards the base and are
stepped or notched, as at D¹, or are otherwise formed with supports for the
plates or boxes. The plates have projecting snugs or end pieces C¹ on them
to rest on the steps D₁, the projections of the upper plates being closer together
than those on the lower plates so that each plate has its own supports, and
whilst when pressure is applied and the platen A is raised, the whole of the
plates C are lifted off their supports D¹, as the platen A is lowered they are
each in turn retained by the steps or supports D¹ as they descend and thus held
separate, so that access for the removal of the pressed boards and the insertion
of fresh ones is obtained. Steam is admitted to the several plates or boxes C
by means of flexible tubes E connected to steam pipes or casings placed along-
side the press, the steam being led in from a pipe or casing F at one end through
the hollow plates C and out to a casing or receiver at the opposite end to ensure
circulation through the plates or boxes. The plates C have sewn over them or
are otherwise covered with felt or other absorbent of moisture. Several presses
constructed and furnished with hollow steam heated plates are placed in a row,
boxed in and connected to a flue through which a strong draught of air is main-
tained by a fan or by connection to a chimney or like means: or the semi-dry
condition of veneer plies before cementing may be attained by piling up the
plies with a sheet of felt or other absorbent between each, the absorbent sheets
being subsequently dried by any convenient means,

page_text: After the plates of the press have been separated air is allowed to flow in
between the plates to the Hue so that the moisture absorbed from the boards
by the felt covering of the plates is vaporised and passes off to the flue. The
air may be dried or heated before it is allowed to flow through between the
plates of the press to dry the felt covering.
After the single boards have been so pressed they are cemented together in
the manner already described and the built-up boards may either be pressed
and wholly dried in the press already described or placed in any ordinary press
and clamped together at the time of greatest pressure, the boards being retained
under pressure by these clamps after removal from the press.
In preparing vencer boards for making tea chests or boxes the boards, of
which the sides or sides and ends of the box are composed, have a coating of
metallic tin applied to or deposited on their inner surfaces so as to adhere thereto.
The deposit or coating of tin is applied by mixing with sago flour or other paste
amorphous tin obtained by precipitation from muriate of tin by means of zinc.
The amorphous tin may be mixed with the sago four to form the paste which is
applied to the surface of the veneer boards to which the paste adheres, and the
boards are thereafter dried and calendered or burnished so that the tin remains
as a thin foil-like protective coating on the surface of the wood.
For roofing plates, packing boxes or the like, the vencer may be impregnated
with chemical or other substances such as metallic soaps impregnated with copper
or alumina, or copper and alumina, borax, sulphate of ammonia and tungstate of
soda, adapted to make them fire-proof, insect-proof and water-proof before or
after cementing.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The manufacture of built-up veneer by uniting sheets of wooden veneer
in the wet state, to each side of a dried and flattened board constituting the
middle ply by means of a cement composed essentially of milk curd or casein,
and subsequently drying the built-up board.
2. The manufacture of built-up veneer produced by interposing a layer of
perforated sheet metal or wire gauze between the outer sheets of the veneer in
the wet state and the dried and flattened board constituting the middle ply of
the veneer.
3. The process of applying a protective coating of tin applied to veneer or
wooden boards by smearing the same with sago flour or other paste in admix-
ture with the metal in an amorphous state and subsequently calendering or burn-
ishing the surface so smeared."
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,
Chartered Patent Agents, 62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow,
Agent for the Applicant.