IMPROVEMENTS IN CRATES, PACKING CASES, AND TRAVELLERS" AND OTHER BOXES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Young, of 98, Richmond Road, West-
bourne Park, Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex, for, the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CRATES, PACKING CASES, AND TRAVELLERS"
AND OTHER BOXES."
Sealed the 5th July 1870, and dated the 13th May 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Young at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th May 1870.
I, WILLIAM YOUNG, of 98, Richmond Road, Westbourne Park,
Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CRATES, PACKING CASES, AND
TRAVELLERS' AND OTHER BOXES," to be as follows:-
In constructing a crate or packing case I make the bottom of the
crate or packing case of a framework, by preference of wood, bound
together by metal, or it might be entirely of metal. Each side of the

page_text: crate or packing case is formed of an upright or uprights which may if
desired be connected together at their upper ends by a horizontal cross
bar. The corner uprights I form thus 3 in section, so that they
shall perfectly protect the corners of the box or other article or articles
which may be placed in the crate or packing case, the lower ends of the
side uprights are received in notches or recesses formed at the side
edges of the bottom framework, and they are attached to the bottom
frame by hinge joints, which by preference consist of grooves or hooked
pieces of metal formed in or attached to the lower ends of the uprights,
and which hook over rods or pins carried at the sides of the bottom
frame. The side frames or uprights can thus readily be detached from
the bottom frame. When a box or other article or articles has been
placed on the bottom of the crate or packing case the sides of the crate
or case are turned upwards, and their upper ends are secured to a loose
frame or frames, or to locking bars which form the top. When the
uprights forming each side have attached to their upper ends a cross bar,
as above described, the cross bars at the top of two opposite sides may
lock into the cross bars at the top of the two other sides, and may then
be secured or locked together by a locking bar passed across from one to
the other.
In place of the above arrangement the upper ends of the side
uprights may enter notches or recesses in the top frame and be secured
by sliding pins or bolts, and in this case to secure the crate or packing
case from being opened a top framework or covering may be placed
over the top frame to cover over the bolts, and the framework may be
secured in place by a lock or locks or other suitable fastening. In.
place of the side uprights of crates or packing cases being connected by
detachable hinge joints to the bottom frame, the uprights may be in two
parts connected together by bayonet joints or otherwise, the lower and
shorter part being hinged to the bottom frame.
.
• Travellers' boxes may be constructed of a crate or case, such as herein
described, such crate or case being arranged to contain a number of
trays fitting one over the other, or to contain light boxes, or a small
chest of drawers might be placed within the crate or case, and be secured
to it at the bottom. The frameworks forming the sides and top and bottom
of the crates or packing cases may be provided with an inner lining of

page_text: leather, canvas, network, or other material when desired to afford greater
protection to the box or other article or articles which are to be protected
by the crate or case.
In some cases I form the sides of boxes which are to be used in com-
bination with the crates or packing cases, and also the sides of other
boxes of frameworks covered on both sides with cardboard or sheets of
other material, and with strips of cardboard or other material of a width
equal to the thickness of the frame placed on edge between the two
sheets, so as to be in contact with and afford support to both of them.
I profer that the strips of cardboard or other material should be
formed into spirals or corrugations, or they might be made up into
a number of tubes, or be of other curved or bent forms. The sides of
boxes made as above described, may be covered over with canvas,
leather, or other material.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Young in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th November 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
YOUNG, of 98, Richmond Road, Westbourne Park, Bayswater, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excollent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Young, Her special licence that I,
the said William Young, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Young, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN CRATES, PACKING CASES,
AND TRAVELLERS' AND OTHER BOXES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Young, my executors or administrators, by an

page_text: 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 William Young, 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, that is to say :—
In constructing a crate or packing case I make the bottom of the
crate or packing case of a framework, by preference of wood, bound
together by metal, or it might be entirely of wood or metal. Each side
of the crate or packing case is formed of an upright or uprights, which
may if desired be connected together at their upper ends by a horizontal
cross bar. The corner uprights I form thus | L in section, so that
they shall perfectly protect the corners of the box or other article or
articles which may be placed in the crate or packing case. The lower
ends of the side uprights are received in notches or recesses formed at
the side edges of the bottom framework, and they are attached to the
bottom frame by hinge joints, which by preference consist of grooves or
hooked pieces of metal formed in or attached to the lower ends of the
uprights, and which hook over rods or pins carried at the sides of the
bottom frame. The side frames or uprights can thus readily be detached
from the bottom frame. When a box or other article or articles has
been placed on the bottom of the crate or packing case the sides of the
crate or case are turned upwards, and their upper ends are secured to
a loose frame or frames, or to locking bars which form the top. When
the uprights forming each side have attached to their upper ends a cross
bar, as above described, the cross bars at the top of two opposite sides
may lock into the cross bars at the top of the two other sides, and may
then be secured or locked together by a locking bar passed across from
one to the other.
In place of the above arrangement the upper ends of the side uprights
may enter notches or recesses in the top frame, and be secured by sliding
pins or bolts, and in this case to secure the crate or packing case from

page_text: being opened a top framework or covering may be placed over the top
frame to cover over the bolts, and this framework may be secured in
place by a lock or locks or other suitable fastening. In place of the
side uprights of crates or packing cases being connected by detachable
hinge joints to the bottom frame, the uprights may be in two parts
connected together by bayonet joints or otherwise, the lower and shorter
part being hinged to the bottom frame.
Travellers' boxes may be constructed of a crate or case such as herein-
described, such crate or case being arranged to contain a number of
trays fitting one over the other, or to contain light boxes, or a small
chest of drawers might be placed within the crate or case, and be secured
to it at the bottom. The frameworks forming the sides, top, and bottom
of the crates or packing cases may be provided with an inner lining of
leather, canvas, network, or other material when desired to afford greater
protection to the box or other article or articles which are to be pro-
tected by the crate or case.
In some cases I form the sides of boxes, which are to be used in
combination with the crates or packing cases, and also the sides of other
boxes of frameworks covered on both sides with cardboard or sheets of
other material, and with strips of cardboard or other material of a width
equal to the thickness of the frame placed on edge between the two
sheets, so as to be in contact with and afford support to both of them.
I prefer that the strips of cardboard or other material should be formed
into spirals or corrugations; or they might be made up into a number
of tubes, or be of other curved or bent forms. The sides of boxes made
as above described may be covered over with canvas, leather, or other
material.
.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, and readily
carried into effect, I have in the Drawings hereunto annexed shewn
examples of crates, packing cases, and travellers' and other boxes
constructed in the manner I prefer for carrying out my Invention.

page_text: the lid or top a partially raised; Figure 2 is a front elevation with the
lid down; Figure 3 is a plan, and shews the method by which the sides
are made secure by being bevilled into the front and back of crate
at b, b; Figure 4 is a plan of crate with the sides opened to allow the
contents of the crate to be removed. The lid is shewn doubled back on
the back to which it is hinged, and the top member o of each side is
further jointed at d, and the bottom of the crate hinged in the centre
at e, that the whole may be folded into a small convenient form when
not in use.
At Figures 5 and 6 is shewn a different method of forming the sides
and joints of a similar form of crate to the one above described.
Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10 represent another construction of crate.
Figure 7 is a side elevation; Figure 8, a transverse section; Figure 9,
a plan, and Figure 10, a plan with the lid removed in order to shew the
method of fastening the whole together. The side battens f, ƒ, are
furnished at their lower end with a hooked joint g, in order that they
may be separately removed, and the whole packed in a small compass.
The battens forming the sides, one of which is shewn separately in
Figure 11, are securely connected together at the top by a number of
small wire bolts h, h, on a frame i beneath the lid, as seen in Figure 10;
Figure 12 shews the form of one corner of the bottom of the last-
described crate, and Figures 13 and 14 shew the form of the corner
batten, the lower end of which is hinged in the recess cut for that purpose
in the corner.
Figures 15, 16, and 17 shew. different methods of constructing the
joints and fastenings of the side battens.
Figures 18, 19, and 20 represent another construction of crate with
the battens j,j, of the two sides jointed to the top, and the two battens k
of the ends jointed to the bottom, while bolt 2 passing through the top
and through the two end battens secure the whole firmly together.
Figure 18 is a plan of the crate; Figure 19, a transverse section; and
Figure 20 a side elevation. The sides are jointed as shewn at m to
admit of the crate being folded up in a small compass.
Figures 21, 22, and 23 shew a construction more especially suitable
for a large form of crate for holding trunks or large boxes. Figure 21
is a side elevation, Figure 22, a plan, and Figure 23, a plan with the lid
removed for the purpose of shewing the arrangement of fastening the

page_text: side and end battens, one of which is shown separately in Figures 24
and 25. These battens are hinged at their lower ends by means of wire
bolts n, n, passing through staples in the bottom of the crate. It will
be seen that the method of fastening the upper ends of the battens is
similar to that already described in form of crate shewn in Figures 7, 8,
9, and 10. The half of each hinge o on the lid is tongued so as to bo
slipped under the staples p on the bolting frame, thus allowing the lid
to be casily removed when lifted free from the lock staple g.
Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 2, shew a front elevation (with door removed)
and a transverse section of an improved form of trunk or traveller's box.
These trunks are exceedingly light, being made of cardboard and canvas,
or other similar material stretched on a light wood framing. The card-
board and canvas may be strengthened when necessary by small wires
stretching across the frames as seen at r, r, in the top and bottom of tho
transverse section of the trunk, Figure 2, or the cardboard and canvas
covering between the frames may be strengthened, as shewn at Figures 5
and 6, by a cellular arrangement of rings of cardboard or similar
material. These trunks are fitted with sliding shelves 8, 8, running on
and between guide rollers t, t, and u, u, as will be clearly seen in the
Drawings.
Figures 3 and 4 shew an improved construction of hat box crate.
The top in the form of a cross is hinged at one extremity v to one of the
side battens, the other extremities dovetailing into the upper ends of
the three remaining sides at w. These sides are jointed, as shown at x,
that the whole may be folded up
into a convenient form.
Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 show various methods of forming the
hinged joints at the lower ends of the side and end battens of crates,
such as herein-before described.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the details above described; but that what I claim
is,―
First. The constructing crates and packing cases with the sides and
ends jointed to one another, substantially as herein-before described.
Second. The constructing travellers' boxes substantially in the manner

page_text: Third. The constructing the sides of boxes, substantially in the manner
herein-before described.
a
In witness whereof, I, the said William Young, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.