Improvements in or connected with Fruit and like Daskets.
Year: 1899

page_text: Improvements in or connected with Fruit and like Daskets.
We, CHARLES BLAMPIED, Fruit Packer, and ALFRED PHILIP LE ROSSIGNOL,
Fruit Merchant, both of 6, Esplanade, Saint Heliers, Jersey, one of the Channel
Islands, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The invention relates to improvements in or connected with fruit and liko
baskets.
Baskets of fruit or the like intended for the market are in order to prevent
the contents falling out during transit usually strung across the top by means
of a length of string passed to and fro across the basket from side to side and
end to end thereof in the form of lacing.
The length of string is fastened to the basket by passing it by the aid of a
needle through the sides and around the vertical ribs of the basket beneath the
rim thereof.
This method is both slow and troublesome and therefore expensive, and
according to a former invention of ours, we devised a means of more readily
effecting this stringing or lacing operation, and which consisted in arranging
around the basket and beneath the rim a number of hooks or eyes and the string
was looped to one of the hooks and carried to and fro across the basket and
passed under a hook at each turn and the end of the string was then fastened
off by which arrangement the stringing or lacing could be effected with great
rapidity in addition to which the string was when the nature of the fruit required
it held clear thereof and the abrasion of the fruit during transit was avoided.
In some cases when packing tomatoes, grapes, and some other kinds of fruit
which are of such a nature that they cannot in practice be piled in for example
more than two layers or tiers without bruising, it is desirable to provide for an
internal lacing by which arrangement the basket may be only partly filled and
yet efficiently strung so as to prevent the shaking of the fruit and the primary
object of the present invention is to provide a means of lacing either externally
or internally as circumstances may require.
For this purpose according to one arrangement the hook device is formed with
a central stem or leg adapted to be woven in during the construction of the
basket and this stem is provided with two hooks arranged in such manner that
one projects upon the exterior of the basket and the other upon the interior
thereof so that either the external or internal lacing may be adopted at will and
according to the nature of the contents of the basket.
This double hook arrangement may be formed of a length of wire in con-
tinuation of the stem bent to form one of the hooks then turned back and bent
either upward or downward to form the other hook.
The double hook device may be formed and fastened in position in a variety
of ways and according to one modification the body of the device instead of
being formed of wire bent into shape as in the previous example is formed of a
strip or thickness of leather or other suitable flexible material, and the hooks

page_text: or may
employed which are preferably fixed upon opposite faces thereof are
be ordinary lacing hooks such as are usual in boot uppers and in order that the
device may be fixed in position during the weaving of the basket the strip or
thickness of leather is provided with a central aperture therethrough which
receives one of the ribs of the basket during the weaving operation.
In lieu of employing a strip or thickness of leather for carrying the hooks a
plate of metal or other rigid material bent to the required shape might be sub-
stituted therefor if desired and as a further modification instead of fixing the
device with the basket by weaving the same therein the device may be formed
of bent wire or otherwise constructed in such manner that it may be fixed to an
existing basket.
It will be understood that the device is capable of being further modified with-
out departing from the spirit of the invention.
•
By the means hereinbefore described a fruit basket may be strung either upon
the inside or outside in a more efficient and expeditious manner, and consequently
at less expense than heretofore.
WHITE & WOODINGTON,
Rooms 221-225, Birkbeck Bank Chambers, Southampton Buildings,
London, Agents.
We, CHARLES BLAMPIED, Fruit Packer, and ALFRED PHILIP LE ROSSIGNOL,
Fruit Merchant, both of 6, Esplanade, Saint Heliers, Jersey, one of the Channel
Islands, 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:-
The invention relates to improvements in or connected with fruit and like
baskets.
Baskets of fruit or the like intended for the market are in order to prevent
the contents falling out during transit usually strung across the top by means
of a length of string passed to and fro across the basket from side to side and
end to end thereof in the form of lacing.
The length of string is fastened to the basket by passing it by the aid of a
needle through the sides and around the vertical ribs of the basket beneath the
rim thereof.
This method is both slow and troublesome and therefore expensive, and
according to a former invention of ours in respect of which Letters Patent were
granted to us dated the 11th day of October 1898 No. 21397 we devised a means
of more readily effecting this stringing or lacing operation, and which consisted
in arranging around the basket beneath the rim a number of hooks or eyes and
the string was looped to one of the hooks and carried to and fro across the basket
and passed under a hook at each turn and the end of the string was then fastened
off by which arrangement the stringing or lacing could be effected with great
rapidity in addition to which the string was when the nature of the fruit required
it held clear thereof and the abrasion of the fruit during transit was avoided.
In some cases when packing tomatoes, grapes and some other kinds of fruit
which are of such a nature that they cannot in practice be piled in for example
more than two layers or tiers without bruising, it is desirable to provide for an
internal lacing by which arrangement the basket may be only partly filled and

page_text: yet efficiently strung so as to prevent the shaking of the fruit and the primary
object of the present invention is to provide a means of lacing either externally
or internally as circumstances may require.
For this purpose according to one arrangement the hook device is formed with
a central stem or leg adapted to be woven in during the construction of the
basket and this stem is provided with two hooks arranged in such manner that
one projects upon the exterior of the basket and the other upon the interior
thereof so that either the external or internal lacing may be adopted at will and
according to the nature of the contents of the basket.
This double hook arrangement may be formed of a length of wire in con-
tinuation of the stem bent to form one of the hooks then turned back and bent
either upward or downward to form the other hook.
The double hook device may be formed and fastened in position in a variety
of ways and according to one modification the body of the device instead of
being formed of wire bent into shape as in the previous example is formed of a
strip or thickness of leather or other suitable flexible material, and the hooks
employed which are preferably fixed upon opposite faces thereof are or may
be ordinary lacing hooks such as are usual in boot uppers and in order that the
device may be fixed in position during the weaving of the basket the strip or
thickness of leather is provided with a central aperture therethrough which
receives one of the ribs of the basket during the weaving operation.
In lieu of employing a strip or thickness of leather for carrying the hooks a
plate of metal or other rigid material bent into the required shape might be sub-
stituted therefor if desired and as a further modification instead of fixing the
device with the basket by weaving the same therein the device may be formed
of bent wire or otherwise constructed in such manner that it may be fixed to an
existing basket.
It will be understood that the device is capable of being further modified with-
out departing from the spirit of the invention.
And in order that the said invention may be more clearly understood and
readily carried into effect we will proceed aided by the accompanying drawings
more fully to describe the same:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan of a fruit or like basket having the present invention
applied thereto part of the rim of the basket being broken away and showing
the lacing arranged upon the exterior thereof.
Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof.
Figure 3 is a similar view to Figure 1, but showing the lacing arranged on
the interior of the basket.
Figure 4 is a vertical section of a portion of the basket.
Figure 5 is a similar view representing a hook device of modified construction.
Figure 6 is a plan of said device separately.
Figure is a vertical section of a portion of a basket representing a further
modification.
Figure 8 is a similar view representing a still further modification and
Figure 9 is a vertical section of a portion of a basket illustrating the applica-
tion of independent hooks thereto.
In the several figures in which like parts are indicated by similar letters of
reference Figures 4 to 9 are drawn to an increased scale with respect to Figures 1
to 3.
Referring to Figures 1 to 4 a represents the body of the basket, a¹ represents
the rim and a represents the handle thereof.
In this example the hook device is formed with a central stem or leg 6¹ adapted
to be woven in the weft or horizontal structure of the basket work a during
the construction thereof and this stem b¹ is provided with two hooks b 6* arranged
in such manner that one 6 projects upon the exterior of the basket and the other *
b

page_text: upon the interior thereof so that either the external lacing shown at Figure 1 or
the internal lacing shown at Figure 3 may be adopted at will and according to the
nature of the contents of the basket.
This double hook device may as shown in the drawings consist of a length of
wire the lower part of which forms the stem and the upper part of which is
doubled and bent outward and downward to form the external hook b whilst the
single part is, bent inward and upward or it might be downward to form the
internal hook b*.
The hook devices b * are arranged at short distances apart around the basket a
and a length of string c is at one end furnished with a loop or eye c¹ which
latter is placed upon one of the hooks or b* at one side of the basket as shown
at Figures 1 and 3 and the length of string c is carried across the basket to a
hook bor b✶ at the opposite side; it is then passed under the next adjacent hook
upon the same side then to the first side under a hook bor 6* and then to the
next hook upon the same side and so on until it arrives at one of the central end
hooks around which it is passed and then carried longitudinally across the centre
of the basket a turn being taken around each transverse string and the end of
the string is finally passed around the other end hook and brought back and
fastened off for example at upon the other part of the string by means of two
or three half hitches, or in other convenient manner, as indicated at Figures
and 3.
Or the string c may be laced across in any other suitable way as will be
readily understood.
This operation can be performed with very great rapidity and without the
necessity for employing a needle or other instrument whilst the lacing c may be
arranged either upon the interior of the basket as shown at Figure 3 when the
same is only partially filled or upon the exterior thereof as shown at Figure 1
when the same is more completely filled so as to pass over the rim a¹, and thus
be elevated above the fruit or the like in the basket according to the nature
of the contents thereof.
In the example given at Figures 5 and 6 the body b¹ of the device instead of
being formed of wire as in the previous example is formed of a strip or thickness
of leather or other suitable flexible material and the hooks b* employed which
are preferably fixed upon opposite faces thereof are ordinary lacing hooks such
as are usual in boot uppers or hooks of any other suitable kind might be sub-
stituted therefor and in order that the device may be fixed in position during the
weaving of the basket the strip or thickness of leather is provided with a
central aperture therethrough which receives one of the ribs of the basket a
during the weaving operation.
In lieu of employing a strip or thickness of leather 6' for carrying the hooks bb*
a plate of metal or other rigid material bent to the required shape might be
substituted therefor if desired.
In the example given at Figure 7 the hook device instead of being fixed with
the basket by weaving the same therein is formed of a length of wire b¹ bent
around the rim a¹ and the ends of which are passed under the rim and through
the basket work at in opposite directions the extreme ends being turned round to
form the necessary hooks b * by which arrangement the device may be readily
applied to an existing basket without alteration of the structure thereof.
In the example given at Figure 8 another form of the device adapted to be
fixed to an existing basket is shown and which consists of a length of wire
doubled to form the body b and hooks b 6* and at its ends which meet in the
centre of the body crossed and passed around the uprights or rib a3 and then
twisted together.
In the example given at Figure 9 instead of forming or fixing two hooks upon
one stem or body the desired result is attained by fixing two independent hooks
of twisted wire of a similar construction to that shown and described in the
specification filed in pursuance of the application for the herein before recited

page_text: Letters Patent to one rib or upright a³ in such manner, that one 6 projects on
the exterior of the basket and the other b* projects upon the interior thereof
but it will be understood that independent hook-devices of any other suitable con-
struction may be employed in lieu thereof.
Instead of employing hooks as the fastening means any other suitable devices
may be substituted therefor and such for example as eyes but the latter devices
are considered inferior to hooks inasmuch as it would be necessary to thread the
end of the string through an eye at each turn of the lacing and which would
be a slower operation than that of passing the string onto the hook and which
is the preferred arrangement.
When employing hooks as the fastening means a piece of netting looped onto
said hooks at suitable intervals might be substituted for the length of string.
It will be obvious that the invention is capable of being further considerably
modified without departing from the spirit thereof.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is:-
-
1. In combination with a fruit or like basket a number of hooks eyes or equiva-
lent fastenings arranged around the exterior and interior thereof for the purpose
of securing a lacing or network extending across the basket substantially as herein
shown and described.
2. In combination with a fruit or like basket a number of devices for securing
a lacing or network thereto each comprising two hooks eyes or equivalent fasten-
ings carried by a suitable body or shank adapted to be woven in with the
structure of the basket in such manner that one of said fastenings projects on
the interior and the other on the exterior of the basket substantially as herein
shown and described.
3. In combination with a fruit or like basket a number of devices for securing
a lacing or network thereto cach comprising two hooks eyes or equivalent
fastenings carried by a suitable body or shank adapted to be fixed to existing
baskets in such manner that one of said fastenings projects on the interior and
the other on the exterior of the basket substantially as herein shown and
described.
+
1 1000
WHITE & WOODINGTON,
Birkbeck Bank Chambers, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents.