US1633A

US1633A - Improvement in the construction of the mouth-piece of mail-bags

Info

Publication number: US1633A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1840-06-12
Anticipated expiration: 1857-06-12

Description

fU'NrTED STAT-Es JAMES SELLERS AND .ABRAHAM L. PENNOCK, OF PHILADELPHIA, 'PENNSYLE A 'PATENT OFFICE.

VANIA.

TNPRovENENT 1N THE CONSTRUCTION 0E THE MOUTH-PIECE 0E NAIL-meiste.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No; 1,633, dated June 12, 1.840.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMES SELLERS and ABRAHAM L. PENNooK, of the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Mode of Constructing Mouth-Pieces for Mail-Bags, Traveling- Bags, and other Analogous Articles, which mouth-pieces are to be used insteadof the chains and staples, clasps, and other means now in use.

Our mode of making such mouth-pieces we modify in various ways, but in each of them the mouth-piece consists of three or more pieces or sides, so arranged that two or more of them, which must be inflexible, connected by a single fastening, confine the remainder. If formed of three pieces or sides, two of them are of wood, metal, or other inexi ble material, hinged or joined together bya iiexible connection, and one of them of a flexible ma-4 teriah If formed of four or more pieces or sides, all of them are made of an inflexible material hinged or joined together by a flexible connection, or at least so many of them as are requisite to confine eectually the mouth of the bag when closed. When flexible pieces are employed, they are to be contained, when the mouth is closed, between other pieces which are inflexible.

Vhen our mouth-pieces form a figure not exceeding four sides, two opposite sides are to beunited for the purpose of fastening the whole. In figures of six sides, ,when all are external, the two middle piecesA are to be united. Y In figures where all the sides except two yare included betweeny or held confined by two external or controlling pieces,these controlling-pieces are to be united, and 'in' radiating gures the pieces composing alternate sets are also to be united. In each case this union is to be eected by some means appropriate to the purpose, and by which a catch, lock, or other device for securing the mouth may be attached. Such means may consist of plates projecting from those pieces lin a line coinciding with the face-line of such pieces, and a hasp to confine them, thehasp being -secured at one end by a hinge and at the other held dow-n by the shackle of a padlock or other catch passing over such hasp and through one or more of the projecting plates;

or when the connection is effectedby the union required catch or lock. VWe believe such a mouth-piece is altogether new, it being-sub- -n l stantially different from` the ordinary bagclasp, which consists of two arched pieces.

hinged at their extremities. Y

In illustration of this improvement the following plans are given: Any of the forms of mouth-piece described may be attachedv to Y bags having their openingsat the end, and

several of them to bags of other kinds.. In the latter Vcase such .adaptation `is stated.

Further varieties, but ,involving the same principles, might be given,b ut these will fully. exemplify our invention. The bags are sev-f erally attached to the mouth-pieces bynail-4 ing, riveting, sewing, or otherwise, as may be most convenient and appropriate.

desired to secure the mouth of the bag. They side, orv a portion of the bag itself may be'used forl this purpose.

the vmouth is shut, and to beheldthere by the the other.

Fig. l shows the bag as closed, and Figf2;

as open.

In adjusting the bag tothe mouthfpiece it would be well to have a plait in the former at the end next the hinge corresponding with the fold at the end next the fastening, both,

for vsymmetry and in View of a l consequent of two pieces only, the ligament, when other convenience does not forbid, may be astaple -v fastened to one piece and passing sufficientlyl through the lother to admit of attaching'thev are also connected'at this end bya leather or other flexible piece CZ cl, forming the third M t Such piece is intended to i be folded in between the two other `pieces when compression' of ,theI includingsides, or by a pin or studprojecting from one of the inf-V. cluding'sides, with a corresponding cavity in convenience. In that case thehinge may be f, made so vas to separate into twoparts an d thnsadrnit the bagtoopen .its fullextent.

Figs. 3 and 4 show the mouth-piece in the form which we denominate the quadrangle. In making our mouth-pieces under this modification we take four pieces of wood or metaltwo of them a a, longer than the other two b b. They are connected with each other at theQen'dsin. the way necessary to ftheclosing or opening of the bag by hinges, for which the bag itself may be used if suitable, it being proper, in order that the sides of the mouth-piece should, be preserved in a fixed relation to each other when closed, that sti hinges,bywhich we mean hinges moving only in one direction, should be used near the middle of the mouth-piece. In the arrangement of the pieces-the longer and shorter alternate, so 'that' when the mouth-piece is open a parallelogram is exhibited, as in Fig. 3. When it is closed, the two longer pieces overlapping a staple c on one piece and a hole d in the other furnish ainode of fastening by means of a padlock; or platesattached to the inner sidesofy those pieces projecting above the top and perforated above the hasp or yoke--which should: be made to confine them so as to receive a padlockfurnish a similar mode of fastening, or.l a staple on one and a catch or lock on the other the means of yimmediately fastening them.

IfY some iiexibilityis desired iu the mouthpiece, the overlapping may be dispensedwith and the opposite sides made equal. In such case, if two opposite sides are securely fastened; near the middle joint, the hinges may beof such kind as to allow of motion in difl ferent directions. Y y

A quadrangular mouth-piece, as above'described, maybe attached to the end ofA bags, to the side ofi-cylindrical bags, or to saddlebags. In the latter case it will be convenient to give the mouth-piece acurvature suited to the position ofv the bag when in use, elongatingl the upper portion, and should` the hingesbe of` suchkind-as not to prevent the arcs which are unconfined by the fastening fromseparating, a stud' project-ing from one arc and passing intoa corresponding cavity in the other arc may be used for that purpose.

rIlhe form which-we call the ,hexagon requires six pieces-.- If the endpieces fold so as to be contained between the middle pieces withoutpassing each other, the hexagon must 'necessar-ily be irregular. Figs. 5 and 6 exhibit a liexagon of this` description. Two of the pieces d a. are long and'four of nearly half the length of these, as b b, hinged so as to moveonlyin one plane and so as-to suittheir folding with the longer pieces on the outside, the `shorter between them, and that when open they may exhibit the above gure. The bag is fastened by securing the two outerA pieces together-in any of the modesabove described.

Figs. 7 and 8 showa hexagon of like construction, except that forthe two inflexible pieces (marked'b b) in Figs. 5and6, and immediately connected-with lone of the long pieces tach them requires.

f mouth-piece.

two equivalent flexible pieces d dare Vsubst-ituted. In this arrangement the bag, iffitwzwill be convenient to do so, maybe used to supmeans of fastening. As this staple will not be sufficient to keep the two portions or sidesk Vof-the mouth-piece in their proper relation to eachother, iniorder to attain this, one of the two portions of the mouth-piece may overlap the'o'ther, or studs, as before described, nl ay -be used.

Figs. 9 and l0 exhibit another modification of thehexagon arrangedwith particular erence to being attached-t0 saddle-bags.` We y make the end pieces afa a to fold obliqllely Vto the edge of the middle pieces b b,and* on;`

such an angle as the gorecto which'weat- A curvature is given=to the-middle pieces, the upper of which maybe slightly elongated; At d d, wherethe endif pieces are hingedtogether, their shape isreot.` Their otherextremity e eis of auch? anangle as willl conform to the shapeofY thev gore c. le connect these pieces together` `at d by a sli hinge, and we connect thorn to the middle pieces b bby a hinge f f,

angular.

mitting of motion in two directions, which we construct as follows: We take alinkrof".

metal in the form of a rectangular triangle,

and we make the twolegs of this trianglethe 'i Yaxes of two plates-which form the leavesthe hinge. Joining the middle andfend l by such a triangle, We have a connection-fhl` lowing of thenecessary motion.

which the endpieces are-attachedfarelma'de to coincide with the outside edge ofthe mid# dle pieces and bag, and the.` endpiecesare; p Vmade to lie between the links, whichconlneA y them firmly when the mouth is closed. staple g on the lower middlepie'ce passing through an aperture in the upper furnishes? the means offastening and completes the@ To the edges of the pieces; of l `leather which formthebag, gores inthe forniti of isosceles triangles, at thel distance apart ofe the length ofthe middle vpieces and eachlof whose basesis equal to the length of twoendV pieces, are tobe attached, or thereisto equivalent constructionV of the bag. These gores are made tol fold inward: Wfhelrexf",` tended, their bases with theV edges of the up,V

per and lower port-ions of the. bag contained between-them exhibit the form` of aparallel i yogram, or nearly so. To the margin of the` figure thus presented the mouth-piece isfto'be attached.

Instead-of a hingefm-medY by thetriangular@ link above described, a hinge having for its axesa. rod bent at rightA angles (represented y bythe letter L) may be used; A- 1oepl1inge` may also befused', or the bag-itself; when-.the material is suitable, may be employedWo? The legs-wf l form the connection, as represented in Fig. ll. In these cases, in order to prevent the upper and lower pieces from changing their proper relation to each other, and thus admit of access to the bag, we use pins or studs ct a, attached to the lower middle piece and entering into holes prepared for them in the upper piece or other means adapted to the purpose; and in the last case, to strengthen and further control the connection, we extend the upper plates inward, as at b, with an orifice for the studs, so that the extension shall pass, between and be held by the middle pieces when the mouth is closed.

Figs. 12 and 13 represent the form denominated the Octagon In constructing the mouth of this form we take eight pieces a a a ot a similar length, which form, when closed, a star. These pieces are to be hinged so as to move only in one plane and admit of this adaptation.

As a mode of fastening the mouth-piece when closed, an iron plate or hasp is used. Inv this are holes fitting four metal plates, which project above the top, and which are attached near the middle of the closed mouthpiece to the inner sides of the four pieces, which form two opposite arms ot' the star. To one of those pieces the hasp i is hinged. Through the two projections farthest from the hinge a hole immediately above the hasp,when

in its place, furnishes the means of securing by a padlock. This arrangement will be rendered clear by the drawings; but other modes of fastening might be adopted; A mouthpiece formed according to this m'ode may be attached to the side of a cylindrical bag by means ofraband of flexible materiaL The widthbetween the mouth-piece andbag should be equal to the length of one of the pieces composing the star, and the hole in the bag may be a square equal on each side to two of tac-t with the bag when closed.

We have thus described a variety of modi.- fications of our mouth-,pieces for bags or various descriptions, fully, as we believe, illustrating the nature of our invention, and it would be easy to exhibit others; but we do not think. that by so doing we should render our intention more clear than we have already done.

We now declarethat what We claim as our invention, and vdesire to secure by Letters Patent, is T- The making or' such mouth-pieces so that they shall consist of three or more sides and be so formed and arranged upon the principle and in the manner herein shown that two or more of the sides which must be intleXible shall confine the remainder by a single fastening, the flexible portions when used being embraced'and confined between other portions- .which are inflexible, in the manner herein shown.

JAMES SELLERS. ABM. L.y PENNooK.

Witnesses:

THOMAS A. WRIGHT, y SAMUEL HUTCHINsoN.