AN IMPROVED CASE OR Box FOR CONTAINING MATCHES OR ARTICLES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Victor Joseph Four, of the Firm of Victor Four
& Co., Rue Tilsit, No. 52, Marseille (France), for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVED CASE OR Box FOR CONTAINING MATCHES OR
ARTICLES."
Sealed the 17th August 1869, and dated the 9th June 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Victor Joseph Four at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 9th June 1869.
I, VICTOR JOSEPH FOUR, of the Firm Victor Four & Co., Rue Tilsit,
No. 52, Marseille, France, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED CASE OR BOX FOR CONTAINING MATCHES OR OTHER
ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has reference to boxes for containing matches and
other small articles wherein the lid or lids is or are kept closed by
india-rubber springs.

page_text: The present Invention consists in forming such springs in the shape
of a ring or band passed round the outside of the box so as to lie in
a sloping direction from the one side of the box to the other, which
band is held in position by fitting into notches formed in the sides of
the lid or lids, and by pasting or cementing over it the paper or other
covering of the box. It may in addition be secured by pins fixed in
the box. This arrangement is employed by preference with boxes
having two opposite lids opening in opposite directions, the india-
rubber band being passed over and secured in the above-described
manner to each lid; the hinges of these are arranged in such positions
relative to the points of attachment of the india-rubber that if opened
beyond a certain point the spring will hold them open. The improved
spring is equally applicable to boxes having only one lid.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Victor Joseph Four in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th December 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, VICTOR
JOSEPH FOUR, of the Firm of Victor Four & Co., Rue Tilsit, No. 52,
Marseille (France), send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Victor Joseph Four, Her special licence that I,
the said Victor Joseph Four, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Victor Joseph Four, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 CASE OR BOX FOR
CONTAINING MATCHES OR OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Victor Joseph Four, my executors or admi-
nistrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of

page_text: 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 Victor Joseph Four, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say:--
This Invention has reference to boxes for containing matches and
other small articles wherein the lid is kept closed by india-ruber springs.
In such boxes of present construction the india-rubber band serving to
close and maintain closed the lid of the box has been fixed by its
extremities to the box by means of pins or rivets, the securing of which
necessitates an expensive manual labour, which considerably increases
the cost of manufacture of such boxes.
The present Invention has for its object to dispense with the use of
such pins or rivets for holding the india-rubber, and consists in employ-
ing for this purpose an endless band or ring of india-rubber, which is
simply passed round the box and lid or lids without any special con-
trivances for fixing the same thereto being necessary, the band being
simply held in notches formed at suitable points in the lid or lids, and
so arranged that the lid or lids will when turned into the most open
position be held open by the action of the india-rubber. Such boxes
may be constructed in a variety of ways thus,
On the accompanying Drawing are shewn two of the principal
modifications by which my Invention may be carried into effect.
Figures 1 and 2 shew two transverse sections of the construction of
box which I principally employ before the paper covering and orna-
mental vignettes serving to hide the india-rubber spring have been
pasted on. Figures 3, 4, and 5 shew respectively a plan of the box at the
same stage of manufacture with the lids closed, an end view thereof,
and a plan with the lids open. Figures 6 and 7 shew respectively an
clevation and a plan of the box complete, and Figures 8 and 9 shew

page_text: the same in perspective with the upper and the lower lid opened. The
india-rubber ring is shewn separately at Figure 10.
This box with two lids is constructed with a rectangular body a, a,
without a bottom but having two narrow longitudinal rims b, b,
(Figure 1, 2, 8, and 9,) the object of which is to serve as point of
connection for the two lids c, c¹. These lids turn upon the said rims
by means of a simple break or fold in the cardboard; they are each
provided with two notches d, d', into which passes the india-rubber
band f, which is effectually held in them by the paper covering, which
is afterwards pasted on. This independent band or ring is so arranged
as to hold the lids open when these are opened out beyond the position
at which the two points of connection of the band and the hinge of
the lid lie in one and the same line, as shewn at Figures 1 and 2, the
red lines in Figure 1 shewing the upper lid opened, and the blue
lines in Figure 2 shewing the lower lid opened. At Figure 6 is shewn
the thumb of a person in the act of opening the upper lid. The
holding open of the cover is due to the tension of the india-rubber
band in combination with the peculiar relative positions of the hinge
of the lid in advance of the outer edge of the box and the points of
attachment of the band. It is evident that my improved boxes may
equally well be constructed with only one lid, as shewn in side view at
Figure 11. The india-rubber band may also if desired be still further
secured by pins or rivets, as shewn in red lincs at g, g', Figure 7. In
this case the pins may be made to pass through the india-rubber, and
are held by cementing against the cardboard forming the covers.
this case also the cover or covers remain open by virtue of the arrange-
ment of the india-rubber band relative to the hinge, as above described.
In
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, what I claim is, the before de-
scribed improved construction of boxes for containing matches, articles
of perfumery, confectionary, and other objects characterized, firstly, by
the use of an independent india-rubber band encircling the box in the
manner of a ring or bracelet and held in notches formed in the lid or
lids, and secondly, by the peculiar position of the hinge or hinges of
the lid or lids in advance of the edge of the box and relative to the
points of attachment of the india-rubber ring, such boxes being made
with one or two lids and either with or without special attachment of

page_text: 500
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Victor Joseph Four, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD,
Civil Engineer,
Boulevard de Strasbourg,
23, à Paris.
V. J. FOUR. (L.S.)