AN IMPROVED SEAL FOR RAILWAY LUGGAGE VANS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry D. Mears and William Houlton, jr., of the
City of Baltimore, and United States of America, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED SEAL FOR RAILWAY LUGGAGE VANS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSS."
Sealed the 1st January 1858, and dated the 3rd July 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said IIenry D. Mears and
William Houlton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 3rd July 1857.
We, HENRY D. MEARS and WILLIAM HOULTON, jr., of the City of Baltimore,
and United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED SEAL FOR RAILWAY LUGGAGE VANS, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in the employment of one or two soft metallic discs
for the purpose of receiving and holding fast the ends of a wire, string, or
metallic strip which has been passed through staples on the door & door frame
of the apartment to be sealed; said disc or discs being made to hold fast to
each other, or to any intervening or inserted substance, by compression pro-
duced by a blow from a dic or by the action of pincers, or other equivalent
means, which blow or compression at the same time fixes upon the disc to
which it is applied any desired inscription or seal.

page_text: : SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
:
by the said Henry D. Mears and William Houlton, in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 2nd January 1858.
TO. ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HENRY
D. MEARS and WILLIAM HOULTON, jr., of the City of Baltimore, and United
States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of July, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said Henry
D. Mcars and William Houlton, jr., Her special licence that we, the said Henry
D. Mears and William Houlton, jr., or our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Henry D. Mears and William
Houlton, jr., or our exccutors, 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 "AN IMPROVED SEAL POR
RAILWAY LUGGAGE VANS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Henry D. Mears and William Houlton, jr., or our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or
one of their hands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
mnture 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 Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Henry D. Mears and William
Houlton, jr., do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statenient, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the double disc
seal open; Figure 2 is a view of the same closed, with the rivet clinched;
Figure 3 is a view of the same applied to a freight car, and riveted and
stamped Figure 4 is a view of the single disc seal, with its wire detached;
Figure 5 is a view of the same, with the wire inserted, and Figure 6, repre-
sents the single disc seal complete, as it appears when applied to use with a
stamp or inscription upon it.
;
Our Invention consists in a device for scaling freight cars, express clicsts,

page_text: custom-house packages, wine cellars, mail bags, hatches of vessels, &c.,
in such a manner that they cannot be opened without the seals being so
violated as to render detection certain; said device being the employment of
one or two impressible metallic discs for the purpose of receiving and holding
fast the ends of a wire, strip, tape, or string, which has been passed through
staples on the door and door frame of the apartment to be sealed, said discs
being made to grasp firmly each other on any intervening or inserted sub-
stance, by compression produced by a blow from a die, or by the action of
pincers, or any equivalent means, which blow or compression at the same.
time fixes upon the die to which it is applied an inscription or seal.
The mode of sealing now in general use is by means of tapes attached by
seals of wax. Wax seals are objectionable, because they become soft and lose
the impression in warm weather, and become excessively brittle in. cold
weather so as to fly at the least jar. In many cases of suspected violation, it
is impossible to determine whether a wax seal has been intentionally tampered
with or merely injured by accident; our seal is liable to no such uncertainty.
It cannot be violated without cutting the wire or strip, or forcing open the
disc or discs, either of which operations would be certain and easy of detection.
When we use two discs to make our improved scal, we use a flexible
metallic strip or wire of some hard or semi-hard metal, such as tin, copper,
zine, or skeet iron, having a disc at each end. These discs must correspond
in size, and one of them must be of soft metal, and both so made that when
brought together, they will fit each other, and be riveted and stamped in any
convenient way,
The double disc seal is shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3, of the Drawings. In
these Figures, A represents the connecting strip; B, the flat disc, which is
principally of lead; C is the rimmed disc, which I usually make of tinned
iron, baving a rivet of lead c' in its centre, corresponding with rivet hole b¹ in
the flat disc B; D is the door and E the door frame of a car or apartment to
be sealed, which may have staples like those shewn at F, or (which we
prefer) like those at G, where the seal is shown as being applied. The
strip A may be varied in length according to the requirements of the pur-
pose to which the seal is to be applied. One of the discs only need be of
soft metal, in order to be capable of being easily impressed by a die. The disc
C has a rim around it, as shewn, to receive the disc B, so that when the strip
A is folded in the middle of its length, the tags shall fit snugly together. The
disc C has a rivet of soft metal projecting from its centre, which, when the
discs are brought together, passes into and through the hole in disc B.
The operation of this form of scal is as follows:-When the strip A has

page_text: been passed into the staples, it is doubled so as to bring the hole over the
rivet c'. The discs are then brought into contact, and the rivet clinched, when
the seal presents the appearance shewn in Figure 2. A suitable die is then
applied, and a device or inscription, corporate or private seal transferred to the
surface of the soft metal disc, which will then present the appearance shown in
Figure 3.
Our plan of scaling with a single disc of lead or other soft metal will be
readily understood by reference to Figures 4, 5, and 6. In these Figures is
represented a disc of lead having one or more holes or slots through its longest
diameter, and a piece of string or wire or a strip of metal to be inserted into
said holes or slots. A, represents the disc; B the wire, and C, C, the holes or
slots. The operation is as follows:-The wire, strip, or string is passed through
staples or their equivalents, attached to the door and door frame of the car or
apartment to be sealed. The ends of the wire are inserted into the holes or
slots in the disc, which is then struck or impressed with the proper dic in any
convenient way; the compression attending the operation causing the disc to
grasp and hold the wire within it so firmly that no force, short of what would
destroy the seal, is able to detach it. The ends of the wire may be bent into
the hooked or barbed form represented, if thought desirable as an additional
security.
What we claim under the above in part recited Letters Patent is the
metallic seal, consisting of one or two discs of metal, constructed and operating
substantially in the manner herein-before described, and applied to the pur-
poses specified.
In witness whereof, we, the said ITenry Daniel Mcars and William
Houlton, junior, have hereunto set our hands and scals, this Twenty-
ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven.
ITVDY DO
Y D.
D
(..)
WILLIAM HOULTON, JR. (L.S.)
HENRY D.
R.S.
WILLIAM HOULTON, JR. (L.S.)