AN IMPROVED FORM OF TRAVELLING BAGS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Swan, of College Hill, City of London,
Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED FORM OF TRAVELLING
BAGS."
Scaled the 10th December 1861, and dated the 13th Juno 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Swan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th
June 1861.
I, CHARLES SWAN, of College Hill, City of London, Manufacturer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED FORM OP
TRAVELLING BAGS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in forming the bag of a rectangular shape, so that it
will contain more than the common carpet bag; first, I form the frame of a
rectangular shape, of two picces joined in the middle; to this frame I attach
the bag, which may be of leather, carpet, or any other suitable material, but
rather larger than the frame, and lined in the usual manner, being of the same
outline to the bottom. By this formation the bag when full and shut will not
contract or diminish towards the top like an ordinary carpet bag, but will remain
nearly square or rectangular, almost like a knapsack. The bottom may be
formed in the usual way, and may be of one piece, or fold in the middle with
a hinge so as to occupy less space when not in use. For adapting it to pedes-
trian tourists or others I fix straps and hooks to different suitable parts, by
which it can be carried on the back like a knapsack.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Paten
filed by the said Charles Swan in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
SWAN, of College Hill, City of London, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Swan, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Swan, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Swan, 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 "AN IMPROVED FORM OF TRAVELLING BAGS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Swan, my execu-
tors 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 the 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 Charles Swan, do hereby declare tho
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in the peculiar way in which I form my bag or
portmanteau, by means of which I am enabled to obtain a much larger capacity
in the article, with greater convenience and diminished cost and amount of
material.
The first part of my Invention consists of a frame formed of two rectan-
gular segments, jointed at each end in the centre, so as to open and shut by
folding on each other.
The next part of the Invention relates to the form of the pieces composing
the bag; the end pieces or gussets are made so as to be nearly rectangular in
form and slightly rounded at the upper end. The sides are similarly formed,
rectangular both at top and bottom; the bottom of the bag is of the usual

page_text: form, and may either have a joint through the middle or not; the whole is
attached to the frame in the usual manner, and the result of the combination
is such as to give a bag or portmanteau a much larger capacity that can be
obtained by those as now formed.
In order more clearly to shew the nature of my Invention, and the mode of
forming it, I have to this Specification appended the accompanying Drawings,
which illustrate the general principles of form of the different parts com-
posing a bag or portmanteau.
DESCRIPION OF DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan of the frame, shewing it open; a and b, the two portions
jointed at c, c; when shut the parts a and b fold against each other; Figure 2
is a perspective view of the bag closed, and supposed to be full; Figure 3 is a
similar view, shewing the bag open; from this view the form of the ends and
sides composing the bag are shown; Figure 4 is a side view.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and how the same is
formed, I wish it understood that what I claim and desire secured by the
before in part recited Letters Patent is, the uso and application of a bag or
portmanteau, having the different parts composing it formed and shaped, as
shewn in the different Figures of the appended Drawings, and substantially as
herewithin described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Swan, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of December, One thousand eight
bundred and sixty-one.
CHARLES SWAN. (L.S.)