US1177364A - Envelop-lock. - Google Patents

Description

v G. F. SMITH.

ENVELOP LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-20, 1915.

1,177,364. Patented Mar. 28, 1916.

WITNESSES I G F ZIZNJ ENTUR- v l7?! 6 3 W r H AITOHNEYS THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH (20.. WASHINGTON, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. SMITH, ornnw pnx, 15 Y., r s's'ienon or ONE-HALF ro HARRY H. V

nrsrnnv, on NEW YORK, NY.

ENvnLoP-Loc Specification of Letters Patent. P t nt Man 2 1 Application filedNovember 20, 1915. Serial No. 62,521.

a citizen of the United States, and aresident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattaminthe county and State ofNew York, have invented a new and Improved Envelop-Lock, of which the following. is' a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to sheet'metal fasteners adapted-especially for sealing or lock ,ingenvelopsor similar contain'ers' so that they-cannot be opened without detection.

Among the objects of the invention, therefore, is'to provide an improved form of fastener adapted for the above stated purpose.

.Another object of the invention is to constructa paper or similar container adapted for use especially'with my improved sheet metal device.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed herein,'still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the' sheet metal fastener or locking device in the form assumed by it just prior to application to the container; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a paper container shown in the form of an envelop. theouter sealing flap being open in normal position and showing the lower flap turned down from its normal position to better indicate the relative arrangement of the end flaps; Fig. 3. is a central transverse sectional view indicating the envelop locked: and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 11 of Fig. 3.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings I show at 10 a sheet metal device formed preferably by stamping from a strip of metal of uniform thickness and comprising upper and lower tongues or plates 11 and 12 respectively connected along a bending line 13. The tongues are preferably of the same fo m and size and are adapted to overlap each other when the device is in looking position.

V g The upper tongue is formed-with a pair of prongs 14: struck out from the body of the plate and downwardly toward the bottom plate,- the points of'theprongs being spread apart slightly to a distance greater' than the distance between the bases'of the prongs. with a pair of slits 15 formedparallelto each other'longitudinally of the plate, and that portion 16 of the plate between the slits is bent downwardly from the main portion ofthe plate so as to provide lateral openings between the ends of the portion 16 and the main body of the plate. The portion 16 or anvil is arranged in such posi-' tion as to be engaged by the points of the prongs when the two plates are bent against or toward each other, the slits being slightly farther apart than the distance between the points of the prongs.

. The container is shown in the form ofan envelop made along somewhat conventional lines in so far as the front 17, endflaps 1S and bottom flap 19 are concerned. The flaps 18 are formed to overlapeach other at the middle portion of thecontainer, and the bottom flap is designed to begummed directly upon the overlapping portions of the end flaps in the usual manner. This overlapping of the end and bottom flaps may constitute what is termed an anchor portion of the container.

The upper sealing flap 20 is provided with a tongue 21 at its central portion and at its free edge. This tongue is of sufiicient length to lie double squarely upon the overlapping portions of the sealing flaps 18 and 19. The

The, bottom plate 12 is provided tongue may be secured in any suitable manner to the flap 20 but preferably is made integral therewith as indicated. The extreme end of the tongue '21 is bent beneath the main portion of the tongue and adapted to lie ina plane between the planes of the upper flap 20 and the lower flap 19.

The manner of application and operation of the invention may be briefly described as follows: 7

The plate 11' is slipped into the space he tween the two parts of the tongue with the free edge of the plate within the crotch formed by the two parts of the tongue and with the points of the prongs projected f through the free endof the tongue inwardly with respect to the envelop when closed.

' After thus connecting the fastener to the tongue 21 the base plate 12 is slipped beneath the, overlapping central portions of the end and bottom flaps, the upper flap being bent to accommodate this action; All the parts will now be in position approximating the final position, and a firm pressure or blow upon the outer surface of the tongue made applicable at the same time upon the upper plate 11 of thefastener will force the points of the prongs 14: directly through the overlapping portions of the flaps l8 and 19 and against the upper surfaceof the anvil 16. Since the prongs are slightly away from each other, the application of force thereto will cause the points thereof to be directed outwardly lat erally from each other through the slits, and

thereby the prongs will be securely clenched through the free end of the tongue, the overlapping portions of the flaps 18 and 19, and beneath the side portions of the base 12, as shown in Fig. l, though in a somewhat distorted position due to the fact that the paper in practice will not be so thick as indicated by the figure. The anvil constitutes the clencher and at the same time protects the contents of the container (not shown) from damage by the points of the prongs. The

device is cheap in construction, simple or application, and of such a nature as to dispense with the necessity for applying gum or moisture to the sealing flap 20, and at thesame time providing a means whereby the container ispractically locked against surreptitious opening. It is obvious, however that the sealing flap 20 may be provided with gum, if desired, for additional security,

though my purpose isto dispense with moisture or gum on this part. It will be appre- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each,- by addressing the .Commissioner of Patents,

ciated that the outer or middle portion of the tongue constitutes a cover for the. fastening'plate.

I claim:

1. The combination witha container hav-' other, one of the plates having a pairof prongs directed toward the other plate and said other plate having an anvil portion and a pair of slits at the-ends thereof through which said prongs arezadapted to be forced and clenched by contact with the anvil portion, one of said plates being slipped beneath the anchor portion of the container and the other being inserted into. the folded tongue aforesaid, substantiallyas set forth.

2. The herein described fastener comprising a unitary sheet metal structure bent upon itself to form a pair of plates, one; plate havinga pair of prongs struck'down wardly therefrom toward the other. plate andv the other plate having a pair of paralr lel slits through which the points of said prongs are adapted to be forced, that portion of the lattermentioned plate between the slits being bent away from the first mentioned plate to form an anvil against which the pointsof the prongs are caused to im,

pinge and be bent outwardly throughthe slits.

GEORGE" F. SMITH! Witnesses:

GEO. L. BEELER, HARRY EPSTEIN.

Washington, D. C.

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