IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOXES AND CASES, AND IN THE MODES OR MEANS OF ORNAMENTING AND RENDERING THE SAME WET RESISTING OR DAMP PROOF
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Austin, of Greville Street, Hatton
Garden, in the County of Middlesex, Box and Match Manufacturer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOXES
AND CASES, AND IN THE MODES OR MEANS OF ORNAMENTING AND RENDERING
THE SAME WET RESISTING OR DAMP PROOF."
Sealed the 10th September 1870, and dated the 18th March 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Austin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th March 1870. .
I, WILLIAM AUSTIN, of Greville Street, Hatton Garden, in the
County of Middlesex, Box and Match Manufacturer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF BOXES AND CASES, AND IN THE MODES OR MEANS OF ORNAMENTING AND
RENDERING THE SAME WET RESISTING OR DAMP PROOF," to be as follows :-
This Invention relates to boxes and cases for containing matches,
fuzees, vestas, and night lights, or granulated, powdered, and other

page_text: matter and articles of commerce, and consists of the improvements
herein-after described for rendering the said boxes and cases or parts
thereof stronger, more ornamental, less costly, and making them wet
resisting or damp proof.
In carrying out the said Invention I form the bodies of such boxes
and cases of a cylindrical, elliptical, curvilinear, or angular, or other
section in long or short lengths cut to the required dimensions, and
made of wood and paper; cloth, wood, and paper; cloth and wood;
cloth and paper; leather, wood and paper; leather and wood; or leather
and paper, (or I use cork or German board in the place of wood in any
of these combinations, or both cork and German board together), or of
glass, earthenware, or metal; and the ends and lids of such boxes or
cases of metal, wood, cork, paper, glass, or earthenware, made separately
and fitted or secured to the bodies as herein-after described.
I form the metal ends and lids with flanges by cutting out blanks or
discs of the required size and shape and pressing them in dies. When
made of glass, earthenware, or other plastic material they are turned or
moulded in the usual way. The bodies when made of like materials
are also similarly formed, the lengths of the tubes being sufficient to
form one, two, or more of the said bodies when cut into sectional
lengths.
* In some cases, such, for instance, as when it is desirable to allow the
contents of the box or case to be visible through the lid, I form such lids
of metal flanges, as before described, with a glass disc fitted therein, and
the centre portion of the flat of the metal cut out, leaving the glass and
contents or interior of the box or case visible through the same.
In forming the bodies of boxes with any of the materials first herein
mentioned in combination with wood I place the wood inside and the
other material outside. I first roll the wood (such as pine, alder, maple,
or other suitable close grained wood), cut very thin for the purpose,
round cylinders or mandrils of the required shape, and then roll the
paper, leather, cloth, or other material upon the wood with a layer of
any suitable adhesive composition between them. In some cases I make
the tubes entirely of one material. When of wood only I rivet or stitch
the seams or joints for more effectively securing the same when
intended for damp climates or to resist wet or damp. In this case I prefer
to use fine wire rectangular forks formed like the teeth of cotton cards,
the points being inserted through corresponding perforations. in the

page_text: edges of the wood and turned down inside or outside, and covered or
not with a strip of any suitable material. When made of paper only or
any other of the materials I coat the outer or outer and inner surfaces
with varnish or paint, and dry the same in an oven or stove, where they
are subjected to a sufficient degree of heat to cause the varnish or paint
to run into, partially saturate, or combine with the surface fibre, and
thus render such surfaces wet and damp proof absolutely. I adopt the
same plan of varnishing or painting and stoving the boxes and cases
when made of paper, paper board, or paper stuff, not previously prepared,
for the same object, and also for increasing the strength of the joints,
lids, and bodies generally. When the tubes are made of metal with
interlapping joints, for further securing such joints from opening I
punch rivet the lap. The joints of the metal portion of lids made with
wood or other discs I secure in the same way. When the lids or ends
are made wholly of metal and out of one piece in a die the flat may be
sunk so as to form a double metal flange above or on one side, and a
single metal flange below or on the opposite side, and these ends when
not used for boxes may be used separately for other purposes. The
inside of the metal ends and lids I leave plain, or line the same with
paper, wood, or other material.
For improving the appearance of boxes formed with bodies made of
paper, wood, or other material or materials, and with metal ends, I form
the flange of the latter so as to fit the inside of the tube, and for
increasing the strength of the joint either when the flange is internal or
external I force a disc into the hollow of the lid or end in one case, and
into the junction of the tube with the lid or end in the other case so as
to form in the latter case a kind of dovetail. I also use gum, glue, or
any suitable cement in combination therewith.
For ornamenting the surfaces of the lids, ends, or bodies, and for
dispensing with loose labels I propose to use transfer designs and letters
in one or more colours, first printed upon prepared paper in varnish
colours, the latter being transferred to the surface to be ornamented or
printed by contact and pressure, and then fixed by varnish, dried in the
ordinary way, or baked in an oven when a harder surface is required.
I further propose to gild or bronze portions of embossed ends or lids,
and fix the gilded or otherwise picked out parts of the embossed
surfaces by varnishing, drying, and hardening the same, as just above
described.

page_text: For forming bottle shaped or other multiform cases of metal I make
the
the same in two halves, and join them together at the sides by.
interlapping and punch rivetted joints herein described, thus dispensing
with solder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Austin in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 17th September 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
AUSTIN, of Greville Street, Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Box and Match Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Austin, Her special licence,
that I, the said William Austin, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Austin, 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
THE MANUFACTURE OF BOXES AND CASES, AND IN THE MODES OR MEANS OF
ORNAMENTING AND RENDERING THE SAME WET RESISTING OR DAMP PROOF," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Austin, my
executors or administrators, 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 tho
same was to be performed, 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 I, the said William Austin, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-

page_text: This Invention relates to boxes and cases for containing matches,
fuzees, vestas, and night lights, or granulated, powdered, and other
matter and articles of commerce, and consists of the improvements
herein-after described for rendering the said boxes and cases, or parts
thereof, stronger, more ornamental, less costly, and making them wet
resisting or damp proof.
In carrying out the said Invention I form the bodies of such boxes and
cases of tubes of a cylindrical, elliptical, curvilinear, angular, or other
section, in long or short lenghts, cut to the required dimensions, and
made of wood and paper; cloth, wood, and paper; cloth and wood; cloth
and paper; leather, wood, and paper; leather and wood; or leather and
paper (or I use cork or Germanwooden, or fibre-middle board or paper,
in the place of wood, in any of these combinations, or both cork and
German board together or separate), or of glass, earthenware, or metal;
and the ends or lids of such boxes or cases of metal, wood, cork, paper,
glass, or earthenware, made separately and fitted or secured to the bodics
as hereinafter described.
I form the metal ends and lids with flanges by cutting out blanks or
discs of the required size and shape, and pressing them in dies. When
made of glass, earthenware, or other plastic material they are turned or
moulded in the usual way. The bodies when made of like materials, are
also similarly formed, the lengths of the tubes being sufficient to form
one, two, or more of the said bodies when cut into sectional lengths,
in one or more pieces at one time.
In some cases, such, for instance, as when it is desirable to allow the
contents of the box or case to be visible through the lid, I form such lids
of metal flanges, as before described, with a glass disc fitted therein, by
pressure or what is called "spinning" it in, and the centre portion of the
flat of the metal cut out, leaving the glass and contents or interior of the
box or case visible through the same.
In forming the bodies of boxes with any of the materials first
herein mentioned in combination with wood, I place the wood inside
and the other material outside; I first roll the wood (such as pine, alder,
maple, American birch or oak, or other suitable close grained wood), cut
very thin for the purpose, round cylinders or mandrils of the required
shape, and then roll the paper, leather, cloth, or other material upon the
wood, with a layer of any suitable adhesive composition between them.
In some cases I make the tubes entirely of one material. When of

page_text: wood only I rivet or stitch the seams or joints for more effectively
securing the same when intended for damp climates or to resist wet or
damp. In this case I prefer to use wire rectangular forks formed like
'the teeth of cotton cards, the points being inserted through corresponding
perforations in the edges of the wood and turned down inside or outside,
and covered or not with a strip of any suitable material. When
made of paper only I coat the outer or outer and inner surfaces with
varnish or paint and dry the same in an oven or stove, where they are
subjected to a sufficient degree of heat to cause the varnish or
paint to run into, partially saturate, or combine with the surface fibre,
and thus render such surfaces wet and damp proof absolutely. I adopt
the same plan of varnishing or painting and stoving the boxes and cases
when made of paper, paper board, or paper stuff not previously prepared
for the same object, and also for increasing the strength of the joints,
lids, and bodies generally. When the tubes are made of metal with
interlapping joints for further securing such joints from opening, I'
punch rivet the lap, that is to say, by indenting the lap at certain dis-
tances by a round ended or conical ended punch, or other equivalent
means. The joints of the metal portions of lids made with wood or other
.discs I secure in the same way. When the lids or ends are made wholly
of metal and out of one piece in a die, the flat may be sunk so as to form
a double metal flange above or on one side, and a single metal flange
below or on the opposite side, and these ends, when not used for boxes,
may be used separately for other purposes. The insides of the metal ends
and lids I leave plain or line the same with paper, wood, or other
material.
For improving the appearance of boxes formed with bodies made of
paper, wood, or other material, and with metal ends, I form the flange
of the latter so as to fit the inside of the tube, and for increasing the
strength of the joint either when the flange is internal or external, I force
a disc into the hollow of the lid or end in one case, and into the junction
of the tube with the lid or end in the other case, so as to form in the
latter case a kind of dovetail. I also use gum, glue, or any suitable
cement in combination therewith; or glutinous matter mixed with wood,
or wood sawdust.
For ornamenting the surface of the lids, ends, or bodies, and for dis-
pensing with loose lables, I propose to use transfer designs and letters, in
one or more colours, first printed upon prepared paper in varnish colours,

page_text: the latter being transferred to the surface to be ornamented or printed
by contact and pressure, and then fixed by varnish, dried in the ordinary
way, or baked in an oven when a harder surface is required.
I further propose to gild or bronze portions of the embossed ends or
lids, and fix the gilded or otherwise picked out parts of the embossed
surfaces by varnishing, drying, and hardening the same as just abové
described.
For forming bottle-shaped or other multiform cases of metal I make
the same in two halves and join them together at the sides by the inter-
lapping and punch rivetted joints herein described, thus dispensing with
solder. I also form the lids by "spinning" their tops on with one
blank or by a strip with interlapping joints, with suitable blanks in the
centre.
I claim, firstly, combining wood, paper, cloth, leather, cork, German
board, and wooden or fibre-middle, as herein described.
Secondly. Attaching the metal ends to the bodies with or without a
double flange inside or outside in one blank, in the manner herein
described.
Thirdly. Lids made of perforated blanks in one piece.
Fourthly. Transferring and fixing ornaments, letters, and designs to
the ends and bodies, substantially as described.
Fifthly. Fixing, as herein described, the picked out coloured, bronzed,
and gilt portions of embossed ends and lids of boxes and cases.
Sixthly. The mode of securing the interlapping joints by punch
rivetting, as described.
Seventhly. Forming lids by a strip, with punch rivetted interlapping
joints, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Austin, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of September in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.