Improvements in and relating to Boxes for Tea and other Goods or Articles,
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Boxes for Tea and other Goods
or Articles,
I, CHARLES ARTHUR ALLISON, Patent Agent, of 52, Chancery Lane, London, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication from abroad by
Spencer Cone Cary, Manufacturer, of New York City, Borough of Brooklyn,
County of Kings, and State of New York, U.S.A.,) to be as follows:-
My invention relates to boxes and the materials of which they are to be made,
the manner of constructing them and the manner of closing them.
For some classes of boxes, for instance tea boxes, it is very desirable to use what
are termed veneers, that is thin boards, sometimes two or more, preferably three,
thicknesses, (with grain laid cross wise) glued together, but boxes as well as other
articles are very liable to absorb moisture and then to warp and crack, and even
when thick or laid cross grain, the continued presence of extreme moisture in the
surrounding air is almost certain to cause injury to the enclosed article, if that
be perishable, as tea, and, if glued parts are used, to so soften the glue as to
result in a separation of the parts and a destruction of the box, or other article.
My invention has for one object, the avoidance of these results.
In making a tea box I may take wood veneers, say three, held together with
glue and preferably with the grain of one veneer crossing that of the next, and
treat the outer and inner surfaces with a coat of paraffine wax or its equivalent,
which will protect the wood and the interposed glue from moisture and so preserve
the box and its contents from deterioration;
For some uses, a wall of two veneers is sufficiently strong, for others a wall of
paper and wood glued together and treated with wax, is preferred and for still
others a wall of paper, glue and wood with but one side treated with wax, will
answer. If the contents alone are to be protected, a coating of wax on the inner
wall alone may be used, though even then I prefer to use a lining of paper glued
to the substantial wall and treated with wax. In such a case the paper should not
be waxed until it is glued in position, if waxed first the glue would not adhere
well and the paper lining would be almost certain to separate from the wall, but
if is first glued to its supporting wall and then waxed, this difficulty will be
avoided.
When boxes are made with walls as thin as desirable lightness requires,
especially if they be formed of veneers they cannot well be held together with
ordinary nails, as there is not sufficient body to hold the nails firmly and for that
reason I employ clasps formed from strips of metal with tangs or prongs struck
out of the body of the metal and bent at right angles to the face of the clasp.
Such a fastener having the tangs driven in and clinched on one side of a corner
and then being bent over and having the tangs, at the other end, driven through

page_text: the adjacent wall and clinched, make a very secure fastening for holding the
individual parts of the box together.
I find also that such boxes need to be provided with some means for preventing
the forcing in of any one wall, and for holding those whose planes are at right
(or other) angles to its face, from yielding to strains presented in a diagonal line.
If the sides or any one of the six sides of a rectangular box be secured by the
clasps alone, a strain at a corner and in the direction. of a diagonally opposite
corner, might crush the box or seriously injure it, as the strain would come in
a direction opposed to that of the greatest holding power of the clasp, and I have
made provision for this by dovetailing each side of each of the six walls (I say
six, but the number would depend on the shape of the box.) When this is done,
with what is generally known as the top and bottom of the box, (as well as with
what are generally called the sides) it will be found that one has a substantially
new style of box, and one which though its walls are quite thin, will stand a very
severe strain. Using veneers insures that each projection of the dovetailing will
have at least one layer of the material in which the grain of the wood will run in
the direction in which the projection extends from the main body of the wall,
thereby avoiding the usual defect in boxes of having the projections on at least
two sides of any wall with the grain parallel with the main edge of the wall, and
consequently easily split off from the main body of the material. I might attain
this purpose by using four triangular pieces of one thickness joined at the points
to form a rectangular piece. Being elastic, the walls will yield to a blow that
would perforate or crush a more rigid one, and will yet return to place, the whole
remaining intact after usage that would destroy a seemingly much stronger
package, and for convenience in manufacture, I find it advantageous to make
the tops and bottoms alike, and with a given number of notches in each edge and
the sides (where they join each other) with a number of notches different from the
number of notches in the top, but preferably each side of a similar pattern,
and the succeeding edges, around the box cut on a similar line, one edge thus
arranged to fit the next, so they may be conveniently made and shipped
knocked down and yet readily put together.
When dovetailed I find it gives increased strength to the box to arrange the
clasps so that there is one over that part of a wall which projects to the face
line of the adjacent wall and the next, or a succeeding one, over that part of said
first wall which only reaches to the inner face of said adjacent wall.
Thus arranged some of the exposed ends of each edge of each wall will be
bound down and the result of material advantage in the desired final result, a
light but strong package.
The intent of the dovetailing is that a portion of the face of each end of a
wall shall abut against a portion of the face of each side of the opposite wall
and another portion of each face of the wall at or near the end, shall lap over and
upon a portion of the end of the adjacent wall, thus bracing the joint both ways
against displacing strains and the spirit of my invention covers all ways of
accomplishing such construction, for instance rabbeting each edge of each wall,
or rabbeting some edges and dovetailing others.
A box thus constructed, when once finished would be quite difficult to open,
and as the filled packages sometimes need to be opened for inspection of the
contents or the withdrawal of portions before the box has served its full purpose, I
have also arranged that that may be conveniently done and yet objectionable
features may be avoided. A mere opening closed with a cork, which is sometimes
employed, is open to the objection that it is too readily again removed by accident
or design and moreover, the cork usually projects above the surface of the
package, a number cannot be stowed as easily, furthermore corks to close openings
sufficiently large to permit the contained goods to be served from the package in
small quantities, are expensive and in many places unobtainable.
I have therefore devised a form of stopper to meet this exigency. I first cut
an aperture in the wall of the package, preferably (though not necessarily) round;

page_text: and preferably countersunk, and this I prefer to reinforce. by an eyelet-like or
double flanged rim. To fill this aperture, I provide a cup-like stopper of a size
and form to fit it closely and such a height as to ensure it will, when in position, lie
substantially flush with or below the outer line of the package. Such stopper I
provide with one or more engaging devices, preferably bolts that extend through
its walls and (when shot) beyond the line of its circumference. The inner ends
are preferably formed to present holding pieces by which they may be manipulated.
This may be done by merely turning the end up at right angles to the main body
of the bolt. They may and preferably do extend in a line below that which will
be in the plane of the interior of the package, when the stopper is in place, in order
that, when projected, they may extend under and engage the inner face of the
wall of the package and thereby hold the stopper in place, but they might project
into instead of beneath the package wall if desired. They are suitably held there
by sleeves (in which they reciprocate), depressed at some point to hold them fixedly
in their positions, all parts being preferably below the line which will be in the
plane of the exterior of the package, when the stopper is in place. As is manifest,
the stopper may be set tightly in the aperture and the bolts projected, when the
stopper will be firmly secured in place. Then to prevent unauthorized removal,
the cup of the stopper may be filled with sealing wax and a suitable seal impressed
therein, when breakage of the seal will be necessary before the stopper could be
removed.
If the stopper be large, as in case the aperture is constructed to admit the hand
to remove the contents of the package, then I prefer to construct a subsidiary cup
within the line of the rim of the main cup, within which subsidiary cup some
portion, preferably the ends, of the engaging devices project, as thereby a great
saving of wax may be effected, the filling and sealing of this subsidiary cup,
answering fully as well as the filling of the whole body of the stopper. A solid
stopper with holes in which the bolts might- run and wax be put would answer.
For instance I might take a solid, or partly solid, stopper of a form to fit the
aperture and cut four slots or four holes (or more or less) from the edge inward,
place the bolts in them and having shot the bolts, fill the grooves with sealing
wax and impress a seal upon it, but even then, I should prefer to make one
depression, which would be of a form and size that would include all the inner
ends of the bolts and thus permit them to be all sealed at once and impressed with
one seal, and have the entire sealing material below the level of the intended
line of the face of the package.
A package thus constructed, will be found light, strong, easily filled, capable
of sustaining rough handling and yet preserving in good condition its contents,
easily opened for inspection or use and yet at once announcing on its face, any
unauthorized meddling therewith, while the seal being flush with or below the
plane of the outer wall will not be liable to accidental injury.
1
ea
1180Q
ALLISON BROS.,
Agents for the Applicant.
I
Improvements in and relating to Boxes for Tea and other Goods
or Articles.
I, CHARLES ARTHUR ALLISON, Patent Agent, of 52, Chancery Lane, London, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication from abroad by
Spencer Cone Cary, Manufacturer, of 19, Roosevelt Street, New York City, residing

page_text: in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings and State of New York, U.S.A.,)
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 boxes and the materials of which they are to be made,
the manner of constructing them and the manner of closing them.
For some classes of boxes, for instance tea boxes, it is very desirable to use what
are termed veneers, that is thin boards, sometimes two or more, preferably three,
thicknesses, (with grain laid cross wise) glued together but boxes as well as other
articles are very liable to absorb moisture and then to warp and crack, and even
when thick or laid cross grain, the continued presence of extreme moisture in the
surrounding air is almost certain to cause injury to the enclosed article, if that
be perishable, as tea, and, if glued parts are used, to so soften the glue as to
result in a separation of the parts and a destruction of the box, or other article.
In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification:
Figure 1, is a perspective view of a box embodying my invention.
Figure 2, represents a broken portion of said box;
Figure 3, is a sectional view of a portion of the wall of the box, showing details
which are exaggerated to make them more apparent to the eye;
Figures 4, 5 and 6, are similar views of portions of modified walls, and
Figures 7 and 8 are enlarged views of the closing device I prefer to employ.
For some classes of boxes, for instance tea boxes, it is very desirable to use what
are termed veneers, that is thin boards, sometimes two or more, preferably three,
thicknesses, (with grain laid cross wise) glued together but boxes as well as other
articles are very liable to absorb moisture and then to warp and crack, and even
when thick or laid cross grain, the continued presence of extreme moisture in the
surrounding air is almost certain to cause injury to the enclosed article, if that
be perishable, as tea, and, if glued parts are used, to so soften the glue as to
result in a separation of the parts and a destruction of the box, or other article.
My invention has for one object, the avoidance of these results.
In case of a box like that of Figure 1, I take the wood veneers V, here three,
held together with glue (not observable in Figure 1) and treat the outer and
inner surfaces with a coat of paraffine wax w or its equivalent, which will protect
the wood and the interposed glue from moisture and so preserve the box and its
contents from deterioration; the wall of such a box being shown in Figure 3,
though the glue and wax are much exaggerated.
For some uses a wall of two veneers as shown in Figure 4, is sufficiently strong,
for others a wall of paper 2, and wood V, glued together and treated with wax,
such as shown in Figure 5, is preferred and for still others a wall of paper, glue
and wood with but one side treated with wax, such as shown in Figure 6, will
answer. If the contents alone are to be protected, a coating of wax on the inner
wall alone may be used, though even then I prefer to use a lining of paper glued
to the substantial wall and treated with wax. In such a case the paper should not
be waxed until it is glued in position, if waxed first the glue would not adhere well
and the paper lining would be almost certain to separate from the wall but if first
glued to its supporting wall and then waxed this difficulty will be avoided.
When boxes are made with walls as thin as desirable lightness requires,
especially if they be formed of veneers, they cannot well be held together with
ordinary nails, as there is not sufficient body to hold the nails firmly and for that
reason I employ clasps c, those shown being strips of metal with tangs or prongs
struck out of the body of the metal and bent at right angles to the face of the
clasp. Such a fastener having the tangs driven in and clinched on one side of
a corner and then being bent over and having the tangs, at the other end, driven
through the adjacent wall and clinched, make a very secure fastening for holding
the individual parts of the box together.
I find also that such boxes need to be provided with some means for preventing
the forcing in of any one wall, and for holding those whose planes are at right

page_text: (or other) angles to its face, from yielding to strains presented in a diagonal line:
If the sides or any one of the six sides of a rectangular box be secured by the
clasps alone a strain at a corner and in the direction of a diagonally opposite
corner might crush the box or seriously injure it, as the strain would come in
a direction opposed to that of the greatest holding power of the clasp, and I have
made provision for this by dovetailing each side of each of the six walls (I say
six but the number would depend on the shape of the box). When this is done,
with what is generally known as the top and bottom of the box (as well as with
what are generally called the sides) it will be found that one has a substantially
new style of box, and one which though its walls are quite thin, will stand a very
severe strain. The grain runs endwise as it were of the projections.
Being elastic, the walls will yield to a blow that would perforate
a more rigid one, and will yet return to place, the whole remaining intact after
usage that would destroy a seemingly much stronger package, and for convenience
in manufacture, I find it advantageous to make the tops and bottoms alike, and
with a given number of notches in each edge and the sides (where they join each
other) with a number of notches different from the number of notches in the top
but preferably each side of a similar pattern, and the succeeding edges around the
box cut on a similar line, one edge thus arranged to fit the next, so they may
be conveniently made and shipped knocked down and yet readily put together.
When dovetailed I find it gives increased strength to the box to arrange the
clasps so that one is over that part of a wall which projects to the face
line of the adjacent wall and the next, or a succeeding one, over that part of said
first wall which only reaches to the inner face of said adjacent wall.
Thus arranged some of the exposed ends of each edge of each wall will be
bound down and the result of material advantage in the desired final result, a
light but strong package.
The intent of the dovetailing is that a portion of the face of each end of a
wall shall abut against a portion of the face of each side of the opposite wall
and another portion of each face of the wall at or near the end, shall lap over and
upon a portion of the end of the adjacent wall, thus bracing the joint both ways
against displacing strains and the spirit of my invention covers all ways of
accomplishing such construction.
A box thus constructed, when once finished would be quite difficult to open,
and as the filled packages sometimes need to be opened for inspection of the
contents or the withdrawal of portions before the box has served its full purpose, I
have also arranged that that may be conveniently done and yet objectionable
features may be avoided. A mere opening closed with a cork, which is sometimes
employed, is open to the objection that it is too readily again removed by accident
or design and moreover the cork usually projects above the surface of the
package, a number cannot be stowed as easily, furthermore corks to close openings
sufficiently large to permit the contained goods to be served from the package in
small quantities, are expensive and in many places unobtainable.
I have therefore devised a form of stopper to meet this exigency. I first cut
an aperture a, in the wall of the package preferably (though not necessarily)
round, and preferably countersunk, and this I prefer to reinforce by an eyeletlike
or double flanged rim r. To fill this aperture, I provide a cup like stopper S,
of a size and form to fit it closely and such a height as to ensure it will when
in position, lie substantially flush with or below the outer line of the package.
Such stopper I provide with one or more engaging devices e preferably bolts, that
extend through its walls and (when shot) beyond the line of its circumference.
The inner ends are preferably formed to present holding pieces h, by which they
may be manipulated. They may and preferably do extend in a line below that
which will be in the plane of the exterior of the package, when the stopper is in
place. As is manifest, the stopper may be set tightly in the aperture and the
bolts projected, when the stopper will be firmly secured in place. Then to prevent
unauthorized removal, the cup of the stopper may be filled with sealing wax and a

page_text: suitable seal impressed therein, when breakage of the seal will be necessary
before the stopper the stopper could be removed.
If the stopper be large, as in case the aperture is constructed to admit the hand
to remove the contents of the package, then I prefer to construct a subsidiary cup
as C, within which some portion, preferably the ends, of the engaging devices 5
project, as thereby a great saving of wax may be effected, the filling and sealing
of this subsidiary cup (as shown in Figure 1,) answering fully as well as the
filling of the whole body of the stopper. A solid stopper with holes in which the
bolts might run and wax be put, would answer.
A package thus constructed, will be found light, strong, easily filled, capable
of sustaining rough handling and yet preserving in good condition its contents,
easily opened for inspection or use and yet at once announcing on its face, any
unauthorized meddling therewith, while the seal being flush with or below the
plane of the outer wall will not be liable to accidental injury.
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 box composed of several wooden walls, having each edge dovetailed, and
having the grain of the wood so laid that each projection of the dovetail has at
least a portion of its grain running in the direction in which the projection 2
extends from the body of the wall.
2. The combination of a series of layers of material glued together and protected
on their outer faces by a coating analogous to paraffine wax.
3. A box or analogous article having walls composed of layers of material glued
together, and coated on one or more faces with a substance analogous to paraffine
wax.
4. A box or analogous article having walls composed of layers of material glued
together, one of said layers being composed of paper first glued and then coated
with a substance analogous to paraffine wax, substantially as set forth.
5. A box each edge of which is dovetailed with the adjacent edge of the adjacent
wall, all substantially as set forth.
6. A box the top and bottom of which have dovetailed notches of one size and
the sides of which, where they engage each other, have dovetail notches of different
size from the top, all substantially as set forth.
7. A box the top and bottom of which are similar and have dovetail notches of
one side and the sides of which are similar, where they engage each other, and
have dovetail notches of different size from the top, all substantially as set forth.
8. As a new article of manufacture a box composed of a series of walls con-
tracting one with others, at the ends, and having a portion of the face of one
end of one wall, at each joint, abutting against the inner face of the adjacent
wall, at the line of the inner face of the box, and another portion of said first wall
extending over a portion of the end face of said adjacent wall, which said
adjacent wall has a portion of its end face abutting against a part of the side face
of said first wall, and a portion of the end face of the first wall, to a line sub-
stantially flush with the outer side face of said first wall.
9. A stopper for a package composed of a cup like body provided with engaging
devices adapted to extend beyond its walls, all substantially as set forth.
10. A stopper for a package composed of a cup like body, whose walls extend
downward and inward, provided with engaging devices adapted to extend beyond
its walls, all substantially as set forth.
11. A stopper for a package composed of a cup like body provided with engaging
devices, and a seal holding cup enclosing parts of said engaging devices, all
substantially as set forth.
12. A stopper for a package composed of a body, provided with engaging
devices and one or more openings exposing some part of said engaging device
and adapted to receive and hold a sealing material, all substantially as set forth.".

page_text: 13. A box with a dovetailed seam and edges of which are secured by clasps
one or more of which extend over a projection of one edge of one wall of the box
and one or more of which extend over a projection of one edge of the adjacent wall
of the seam, all substantially as set forth.
Dated this 5th day of June 1899.