Improvements in Match Receptacles.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Sept., 1897-Accepted, 30th Oct., 1897
Improvements in Match Receptacles.
I, ISAAC HOSIER, Farmer, of Philmont, in the County of Columbia, and State
of New York, one of the United States of America, 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:―
This invention relates to match safes and the object in view is to provide a
magazine match safe in which an operating device is employed whereby the
matches are fed one at the time into a suitable receptacle from which they may be
readily removed by hand. The aim of the invention is to defeat the surreptitious
removal of a large quantity of matches at one time and provide means whereby
only one match at a time can be removed or ejected from the hopper in which a
large quantity of matches may be placed.
The detailed objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out in
the course of the subjoined description.
The invention consists in an improved match safe embodying certain novel
features and details of construction and relative disposition of parts, as hereinafter
fully described, illustrated in the drawings and incorporated in the Claims hereto
appended.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a match safe constructed in accordance with
the present invention, the cover or lid being partially removed to better illustrate
the internal construction:
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through the same;
Figure 3 is a detail perspective view of the ejecting cylinder.
Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the views.
Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a suitable base which may be formed of
any desired material and which is in the form of a cup or receptacle for the
matches as they are ejected from the hopper. One wall of the receptacle 1 is
beveled or chamfered, as indicated at 2, to facilitate the removal of matches there-
from when the fingers are inserted therein.
Mounted at one end of the base or receptacle 1 is a hopper 3 comprising down-
wardly sloping and converging walls 4 and side walls 5 which are provided with
circular openings 6 arranged in transverse alignment and forming the bearings
for the ejecting cylinder 7. The cylinder 7 is provided at intervals in its
periphery with longitudinal depressions or grooves 8 of sufficient size to receive
individually or one at a time the matches placed in the hopper. The rear wall 4
of the hopper is concaved at its inner side, as indicated at 9, to form a seat and
elongated bearing for the cylinder 7 for the purpose of steadying the latter in its
movements. The cylinder has both of its ends reduced, thereby forming annular
shoulders 10 which bear against the inner surfaces of the sides 5 of the hopper so
as to prevent longitudinal movement of the cylinder. The cylinder is also provided
at one end with a milled or knurled head 11 for facilitating the turning thereof
when ejecting the matches from the hopper into the receptacle 1.

page_text: The walls 4 of the hopper are provided near their upper edges and upon their
inner sides with oppositely located grooves 12 in which slide the opposite edges
of a lid or cover 13, the same being provided with a finger notch 14 for facilitating
its withdrawal. Within the hopper is arranged a spring plate 15 constructed of
thin sheet metal and attached at one edge to the upper edge of the side 4 of the
hopper, while its opposite or free edge bears against the upper side of the
cylinder 7. The plate 15 is of the same width as the width of the hopper so as
to prevent the matches from getting between the side edges of said plate and the
sides 5 of the hopper, and by reason of the free edge of said plate bearing
frictionally against the cylinder, close contact is always maintained at this point.
This plate also, by reason of its elasticity, prevents matches from getting beneath
it and the free edge of said plate also acts in conjunction with the grooves in the
cylinder to prevent retrograde movement of said cylinder, thereby forcing the
operator to turn the cylinder in the proper direction for ejecting the matches into
the receptacle 1.
From the foregoing description it will be seen that a large quantity of matches
may be placed in the hopper and the hopper closed so as to prevent the fraudulent
extraction of a large quantity of matches by unscrupulous persons. In order to
obtain a match it is necessary to rotate the cylinder 7, but this is a slow and
tedious operation, as but one match is delivered at a time. It will, of course, be
understood that the match safe may be made in various sizes according as to
whether it is to be used in private families or in public places and also that the
device is susceptible of changes in the form, proportion and minor details of
construction, which may accordingly be resorted to without departing from the
spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.
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. In a match safe, the combination with a hopper, of ejecting mechanism,
and a spring plate arranged within the hopper and forming an inclined bottom
therefor, substantially as described.
2. In a match safe, a hopper having downwardly converging walls, an ejecting
cylinder arranged in the base of the hopper, a receptacle beneath the hopper, and
a spring plate within the hopper secured at one edge to a fixed point and bearing
at its free edge against the periphery of the cylinder, substantially as and for the
purpose described.
3. In a match safe, the combination with a recessed base forming a receptacle
and having one end chamfered or beveled as described, of a hopper secured to said
base and arranged at one end thereof and comprising downwardly converging
walls, one of which is concaved upon its inner side, side walls to said hopper
provided with transversely aligned openings, an ejecting cylinder arranged within
the hopper and having its ends reduced and fitted in said openings, means whereby
said cylinder may be rotated, the said cylinder being provided with
a longitudinal. groove in its periphery, a₁ lid for said hopper, and
an inclined spring plate arranged within the hopper, and attached at one edge
within the hopper and having its free edge arranged to bear against the periphery
of the cylinder and co-operate with the groove in the cylinder, substantially as
and for the purpose specified.
L
e
"
1007
GEORGE BARKER,
77 Colmore Row, Birmingham, Agent.