US1871283A - Adjustable box form - Google Patents

Description

R. A. SQUIER 1,871,283

ADJUSTABLE'BOX FORM Filed Jan. '25, 195o 2 sheets-sheet 1 l Aun v //Jvwntoz u ll Aug. 9, 1932.

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mm 1 a z l|| Aug.; 9, 1932. R. A. SQUIER ADJUSTABLE BOX FORM '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 25, 1930 :lll LIIC Patented Aug, 9, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE j RALPH A. SQUIER, F TIETON, WASHINGTON .ADJUSTABLE BOX FORM Application led January 23, 1936. Serial No. 422,877.

This invention relates to forms for making wooden boxes, the sides and bottom of which are nailed to the ends or heads and particularly to a form of this character designed for supporting the heads in place o that the bottoms or side panels of the box may be accurately alined with the ends of the heads without any care being taken onthe part of the operator.

A further object is to provide means whereby the cleats of a box may be accurately alined with the outside faces of the heads and outside edges of the side or bottom panels without the necessity of particular care on `the part of the operator.

A further object is to provide a box form of this character having opposed vertical supporting members, one of which is resiliently supported so as to permit the easy insertion of the box heads and eliminate any chance of the box binding within the. form and preventing its ready removal and reinsertion in another position.A

Another object is to provide resiliently actuated head clamping members which are provided with adjustable stops, limiting the inward movement of the clamping members against the box heads so as to prevent any binding action.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description. j

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein l Figure 1 is a front elevation of abox form constructed in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof; Figure 3 is a section transversely across the box form through the middle thereof;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary rear elevation of one end of the box form;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view through a box and through one end of the box form; A

Figure 6 is a detailed vertical section on the line 6 6 of Figure 2; Y

In the? drawings, I have shown my box form arranged for the formation of a pair of boxes in order to illustrate my invention.

Referring to these drawings, 10A and 10a designate two parallel supporting members constituting the base of the form.` These supporting members arev provided preferably with the angular attaching members 11 whereby the form may be engaged with the bench, such a bench as is shown in my prior application, Serial No. 365,488 liled on May 23, 1929.

Rigidly attached to the member 1,0 are the rods or bolts 12 which extend transversely across the form adjacent the bottom thereof and pass through openings in the opposite memberl 10a, this end of the rod 12 being screw-threaded at 13 and provided withk the nuts 14 whereby the member 10a on'one side may be adjusted nearer to or further from the member 10 on the opposite side.

The members 10 and 10a are preferably metallic and cast with the member 10 Vor otherwise rrigidly connected thereto are the uprights 15. Associated with the member 10a are the uprights or standards 15a through which the bolts 12 may pass as shown in Figure 1, though it is to be understoodV that the standardsvla might lbe cast withthe base members 10a. Mounted upon the standards 15a is a plate 16a whose outer edge face is beveled as best shown in Figure 2. This plate 16al is spaced from the upper face of the corresponding member 10a. Opposed to the member 16a is a corresponding plate 16 of the same form as the plate 16a. This is ,carried by bolts 17 on therstandards 15, the bolts carrying the nuts 18, these nuts being adjustable to limit the inward movement of the plate 16 with reference to the corresponding standards 15. a

Attachedto the member 10.by a bolt 19a and extending upward therefrom'is a preferably metallic arm 19 carrying at its upper end the coiled compression spring 20, which bears against the. plate 16 and urges this' plate inward but permits thel plate to be moved outward against the action of the spring. The plates 167 and 16a are shorter than the members 10 and 10a and do not extend rearward' as far as the members 10 and a. The mounting of the end plate 16 shown in Figure 2 and heretofore described is an at the factory and before the box form is sent to the user so that the plate 16 is truly vertical when the spring 26 forces the plate 16 inward. These four bolts, therefore, always hold the plate 16 in a truly vertical position andat right angles tothe longitudinal axis of the forni. These lock nuts merely limit the inward movement of the end plate 16. This inward movement of the .end plate 16 is designed for the purpose of facilitating the turning of the box when the box is being constructed in case the box end is warped or untrue. The plate 16 is held in place, that is,; forced inward by the spring 20 which bears against the tension plate 19, this plate being held in place at its lower end by means of the nut 19a shown in Figure 4 and by rotating son this nut the degree of tension on the plate may be adjusted.` The pressure on this plate 16 exerted by the spring 20 and' the tension plate is also greater than the'pressure of the s ring 29' of the corres Jonding clama 30.(

P e l s l With this construction, assuming that the "box material is warped or untrue, then ,material to turn freely.

whenthe operator turns the box in this form, the plate 16 and the` clamp `30 will both give and allow crooked box By having the tension on spring 20 greater than that of spring.A 29, this end plate 176Y will always assume its proper positionas soon as the turning of the box is completed and the four point suspension of plate 16.insures an equal pressure on the whole 4surface'of the box end. With this arrangement, a box end which varies in thickness, say from'two inches 'f by clamp 30. Thus all variations in box ma-` 'thick on one side to one inch thick on the opposite side, will be held firmly against plate 16 terials will be on the inside of the box and thus making a very true and'neat job.

Box ends are made to a large extent out o two pieces heldtogether with corrugated fasteners driven in by machine and often these I a box end that has two diiferent'thicknesses fasteners are not driven clear in or bent so that they interfere with the turning of the box inthe form. In this two piece construction,V

of the box end, it is quite common to run into of lumber and thus thereis a shoulder on the end and that gives a great deal of bother to` the box maker. Furthermore, in these box ends oftentimes, aloose nut has .worked out of place and this causes bother. In box forms known to me and in use, the end plates are oftentimes so narrow that one of these obstructions will be below the lower edge of the end plate and thus when the operator goes to turn the box, this obstruction will catch on the lower edge of the end plate. In my construction, the end plates cover most of the box end and the operator is thus not bothered' with these faults in material and furthermore, as explained above, one of the box ends is resiliently held in position so as to compensate for diHer-ent thicknesses of material.

Mounted upon the rea-r ends of the members 10 and 10a are the uprights 21 and 21a.

These uprights may be cast with the members 10 and 10'd or otherwise rigidly engaged therewith. One of these uprights is shownY in detail in Figure 4. vEach upright carries upon its upper end, the plate 22 which is cut away at 23, the inner margin of the plate being upwardly extended as at 24.

Attached to this upward extension is a metallic bar or strip 25 which is adjustably mounted upon thel extension bar 24 by means of the bolt 26, thisbolt being adapted to pass through any one of a number of perforations 27 in the extension and the bolt being surrounded as shown in Figure 3 by a ycoil spring 28. Preferably the extension 24 is slightly concavo-convex transversely and the bar is also slightly concavo-convex so as to fit within the extension 24.

It will be seen that the bar 25 may be raised or lowered or may be turned into angular relation to the extension 24. Each of the plates 22is supported upon the stand-V ard or upright 21 or 21a by means of bolts 28 which pass through any one of a number of bolt holes28a so that the plate 22 may be raised orlowered with reference to the corresponding upright21.

Bolted to the inner margin of each plate 22 is a spring hinge designated generally 29. One leaf of this hinge is bolted to the corresponding plate 22, the other leaf of thehinge being bolted to a clamp 30, shown particularly clearly in Figure 2. This clamp is bowed inward and is adapted to be urged againstv the inner face of the headof a box and hold the head of the Ybox clamped firmly between the clamp 30 and the corresponding end member l16 or 16a. The inner end of the. clamp (seevFigure 2) is shown as being provided with an outwardly extending angular flange 31 at the butt end of the clamp and extending through the plate 22 is an adjustable stop 32 shown in detailin Figure 6 which is i-n the form of a screw. and .whoseinner end bears against theV confronting lface of the iiange 31. By rotating this screw in one di? rection or the other, this stop formed by the screw may be adjusted to thereby adjustably limit thejinward movement' of the clamp 30.

Each plate 22 is so mounted that its outer edgeis inV alinement with the innerface of' th-e corresponding end plate 16 or 16a and each plate 22 extends slightly above the upper edge of the member 16 or 16a. The upper edge of each of the members 16 or 16u is formed with openings 33 as shown in Figure 5 which extend downward through the end member and then laterally outward, these openings being designed for the reception of nails 34 passing` through a wooden cleat 35 which forms the top edge of the plates 16 or 16a. Vhen these. wooden cleats or facing pieces have become damaged, the nails 33 may be readily withdrawn and new cleats put in place. These wooden facing pieces or cleats are used upon the upper edges of the plates 16 or 16L for the purpose of prevent ing the blows of a hammer being received directly against the metallic end plates, thus providing a cushion for the hammer and a facing piece which may be readily7 removed when it is damagedto permit a new facing piece to be put in place. These cleats or facing pieces 35 also form guides for the cleats of the box as shown in Figure 5. f

For the purpose of permitting this box form to be used for boxes of various sizes and shapes, I provide auxiliary supporting members designated as 36`and 36a and shown particularly in Figures 1 and 2. These auxiliary members are each angular in cross section to provide a shoulder 3k?? and these members 36 and 36a may be either dispensedwith entirely or disposed, as illustrated in Figure 1, with the shoulders 37 in vertical planes or these members may be disposed with the shoulders 37 in horizontal planes and disposed beneath the lower edges of the mem bers 16 and 16a. The auxiliary support 36L is preferably formed with recesses or grooves 38 to receive the standards 15a when the member 36a is disposed in what may be termed a vertical position.

. The member 36, however, is not formed with any grooves but is disposed flat against the standards 15. A rod 39 or dowel has its ends inserted in openings extending through the shoulders 37, when the auxiliary supports 36 and 36a are disposed in a horizontal plane and thisrod is surrounded by a coil spring l0 which urges the auxiliary supports 36 and 36a away from each other. Each .of the auxiliary supports is also formed with an opening 41 in the back of the support into which the ends of the dowel or rod 39 may be inserted when these auxiliary supports are disposed in a vertical plane.

In the use of this form, the heads A of the boxes are disposed against the end plates 16 and 16a as shown in Figure 5 and between the end plate 16al and the clamps 30. In this position of the parts, the upper edge of the head A is level with the upper edges of the plates 16 and 16a. One of the bottom f panels B is then'disposed upon the top of the heads A and is guided into tliisvpo'sition without any special care on the part of the op- Y erator by the cleats 35 as shown in Figure 5. This bottom is forced back until it strikes the limiting bars 25 or the plates 22, the inner faces of the limiting bars being flush with the inner faces of the plates 22 and when the element B has been forced back against these plates 22, the operator knows that the edge of the element B is in a-linement with the edges of the elements A.

A cleat C may then be disposed upon the top of the element B at the ends thereof as shown in Figure 5 and in putting this element C in place, the operator forces the end of it against the upstanding portion of the corresponding plate 22 and against the inside face of the cleat 35 and thus without any special care, the cleat Cfis alined properly with the panel B and with the heads A.

The panel B, the cleats C, and the heads A may then be nailed together by nails driven through the cleats C. It will be noted that the cleat C will be under these circumstances above the adjacent portion of the adjacent plate 22 and the most adjacent metallic part which will be sufliciently spaced from the point where the nails are to be applied as to prevent the operator from striking this part 25 with the hammer, any accidental blows from a hammerv being received upon the wooden cleat 35 forming the upper edge facing for the plates 16 orr16a.

The above description applies to the operation of placing bottoms upon the heads and nailing the bottoms thereto and applying sides to the heads. The end plates 16 and 16a only hold the heads in place and do not aline the sideswith the heads as they do when applying bottoms. At least this is the case in the formation of apple boxes as apple box heads are 10i/2 inches deep by 111/2 inches wide. Therefore, when the operator applies the heads, he places the side on heads with one hand, pushes the side back against the parts 24 and alines the ends of the sides with the outer surfaces of the heads with the other hand. In making apple boxes, the auxiliary elements or supports 36 and 36a are not used, but the heads of the boxes vare disposed directly on the supporting members 10 and 10a. The members 25 and the supporting members 36 and 36a are designed primarily forense in making pear boxes, a pear box head being the same width as the apple head but the depth of the pear head being about 1% inches less than eol the apple head. Therefore to make pear I members 36 and 36a are about 1% inches Y higher than the Vtop of ,the extension 24.

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sides of the pear box to the heads, it will be necessary to shift the parts upward to meet K this requirement. I

These parts are convexed so that the springs 28 will hold the part 25 in an upright position. The attaching leaif ot the hinge 29 is adjustable upward and downward on the corresponding` plate 22 by providing apertures 29a in which the bolts for thehinge 29 may be adjusted. This adjustment is necessary in the making of some boxes. The plates 22 are also adjustable up and down upon the standards 21 and 21L as shown in Figure 4:. The tension of the spring 20 is adjustable by the bolt 19:L shown in Figure 3 which holds the metallic arm 19 in place.

This adjustable box form is so constructed that 1t is not necessaryto vuse an elaboratebench to do good work on as the weight of itself is suiilcient toenable the operator to drive the nails home with the least exertion. This form can be readily moved from place to place which is not the case where the benchV and form are combined. Another improvement present in my construction which is not to my knowledge found inany other box form is the means whereby the form is fastened down to the bench. Most of the forms are fastened on all four corners while I simply use two brackets 11 at themiddle ot the parts 10 and 10a. By so doing, the bench to vwhich this form is fastenedl may warp quite a bit before it will pull'this torm'out oil shape. By

'es' the use of the auxiliary members 36 and 36,

my form may be used li'or the making of ap-4 36 or 86, this form is made to make apple boxes and Cannery packing cases and any other boxes of about these dimensions.

Attention is particularly called to the means whereby I secure the rod 12 to the member 10 as shown in Figure 1, this rod being permanently enga ged with the member 1,0 by expanding the rod and forcing the rod'into the member 10 and then overturning the rod. By this means, the rod cannot become loose by hammering on the bench.V Vhere lock nuts are used at opposite ends of the rods 12 for engaging the members 10 and 10a constantly hammering on the bench will eventually loosen the lock nuts and allow the form to loose its adjustment.

My form is an open-back form, that is, the two lateral elements oi' the form are not connected above the base of the form by means of strips or like elements and with an open-back form there is no limit to the adjustment that may be made in the length of the form, the limit only depending upon the length of the bolts 12.

I am awareof no other -orm Whichfhas been devised or is on the market which will makemore than apple or pear boxes, whereas my form is adaptable not'only for the inaking of apple and pear boxes but to a large number of other boxes as well.

TWhile I have illustrated certain details of construction and arrangement of parts which I think to be particularly eiiective,` I do not wish to be limited to these details as obviously many changes might be made therein without departing from the spirit V of the invention as defined in the appended claims. i

I claim A 1. A box form including parallel spaced horizontal head supports, vertical end platesf carried by the head supports, one oi vsaid plates being yieldingly mounted and being resiliently urged toward the other plate, rear vertically disposed plates carried by the supports extending fat'right angles to the' vertical end plates, and spring actuated head clamps carried by saidlast named plates and resiliently urged toward the corresponding end plates. i

2. A box form including parallel spaced horizontal head supports, vertical end plates carried by the head supports, one of said plates being-yieldingly mounted and being resiliently urged toward the other plate, rear vertically disposed plates carried by the supports extending at right angles to the vcrtical end plates, and spring actuated head clamps carried by said last named plates and resiliently urged toward the corresponding end plates, the plates supporting the head, clamps being adjustable vertically with relation to the head supports'.

3. A box'form including parallel spaced horizontal head supports, vertically disposed end `plates operatively carried by the 'supports, rear vertically disposed plates operatively carried by said supports and extending at right angles to the vertical end plates, and' spring actuated head clamps carried by the last named plates and resiliently urged each toward its correspondingend plate, and adjustable means for'limiting the inward movement of said clamps.

4. A box -form including parallel spaced horizontal head supports, vertically disposed end plates operatively carried by the supports, rear vertically disposed plates operatively carried by said supports, and springl actuated head` clamps carried by the last named plates and resiliently urged each tolward its corresponding end plate, and adj ustable means for limiting the inward movement of said clamps, includinga flange on each of the clamps and a'screw extending through the plates supporting the clamp and engaging said flange.'v

5. A box form including parallel spaced horizontal head supports, vertically disposed end plates carried by the supports, standards extending upward from the rear ends of said supports, vertically disposed rear plates adjustably mount-ed upon said standards for vertical adjustment, and spring actuated head clamps carried by the last named plates and resiliently urged each toward the corresponding end plate, each of said clamps being outwardly curved at its free end.

6. A box form including parallel spaced horizontal head supports, vertically disposed end plates carried on the said supports and extending parallel therewith, the rear vertically disposed plates operatively mounted upon said supports and constituting means limiting the rearward movement of box heads disposed against the end plates, and wooden cleats removably disposed upon the upper edges of the end plates and extending above the adjacent end corners of the rear plates.

7. A box form including parallel spaced horizontal head supports,standards mounted thereon, vertically disposed Vend plates carried by the standards and extending parallel to the outer edges of said supports, standards extending upward from the rear ends of the supports, rear vertically disposed plates adjustably carried upo-n said standards and acting to limit the inward movement of box heads disposed upon said supports and against the end plates, spring actuated head clamps mounted upon said rear plates and resiliently urged each toward its corresponding end plate, each rear plate along its inner margin being extended upward, a bar pivotally mounted upon the inner face of said extension of each rear plate, and means frictionally holding said bar against movement from a rotatably adjusted position.

8. A box form including parallel spaced horizontal head supports, standards mounted upon the head supports, vertically disposed end plates carried by the standards and disposed with their lower edges in spaced relation to the upper edges of the head supports, head clamps disposed opposite each of said end plates and resiliently urged each toward its corresponding end plate, and auxiliary head supports adapted to be mounted upon and rest on the main head supports and resilient means urging said auxiliary supports away from each other.

9. A box form including parallel spaced horizontal head supports, standards mounted upon the head supports, vertically disposed e-nd plates carried by the standards and disposed with their lower edges in spaced relation to the upper edges of the head supports, head clamps disposed opposite each of said end plates and resiliently urged each toward its corresponding end plate, and auxiliary head supports adapted to be mounted upon and rest on the main head supports, each of the auxiliary supports being angular in cross section to provide a shoulder and each of said Vsupports being adapted to be disposed with the face of the shoulder either in a horizontal or a vertical position, with the sup-V ports disposed beneath the lower edges of the end plates, and resilient means urging said auxiliary supports against the standards.

10. A box form including parallel spaced horizontal head supports, standards mounted uponV the head supports, vertically disposed end plates carriedV by the standards and disposed with their lower edges in spaced relation to the upper edges of thehead supports,v.headclamps disposed opposite each of said end plates and resiliently urged each toward its correspondingv end plate, and auxiliary head supports adapted to be mounted upon and rest on the main head supports, `each ofthe auxiliary supports being-angular in cross section to provide a shoulder and each of saidV supports being adapted to be disposed with the face of the shoulder either in a horizontal position or a vertical position, `with the supports disposed beneath the lower edges of the end plates, and resilient means urging said auxiliary supports against the standards, and including a rod engageable in the. auxiliary supports when the auxiliary supports are disposed either in a horizontal or a kvertical plane, and a compression spring surrounding said rod and bearing against said auxiliary supports.

11. A box form including parallel spaced horizontal head supports, standards mounted upon the head supports, vvertically disposed end plates carried by the standards and disposed with their lower edges in spaced relation to the upper edges of th-e head supports, head clamps disposed opposite each of lsaid end plates and resiliently urged each toward its corresponding end plate, and auxiliary head supports adapted to be mounted upon and rest upon the main head supports, each of the auxiliary supports being angular in cross section to provide a shoulder and each of said supports being adapted to be disposed with the face of the shoulder either in a horizontal position or a vertical position, with .the supports disposed beneath the lower edges of the end plates, and resilient means urging said auxiliary supports against the standards, and including a rod engageable in the auxiliary supports when the auxiliary supports are disposed either in a horizontal or a vertical plane, anda compression spring surrounding said rod and bearing against said auxiliary supports, one of said auxiliary supports being recessed upon its rear face to receive the corresponding standards when the auxiliary support is disposed ina vertical plane. Y

121A box form including parallel spaced horizontal head supports, standards mounted upon the head supports, end plates carried by the standards, andr'rods connecting said head support-s, all of said rods being rigidly engaged with onevof said head supports, the opposite ends of the rods being screwthreaded and passing loosely through the other head support and corresponding standard and nuts on said rods engaging the screwthreaded portions thereof and clamping against the inner face ofthe last named head .support and the outer face of the correspond- .ing standards.

' 18. A box form including parallel spaced horizontal head supports, vertical end plates carried by the head supports, one ofl said plates being mounted for limited rectilinear movement toward or from the opposite plate, means resiliently urging said movable plate toward or from the opposed end plate, rear vertically disposed Vmembers carried bythe support, spring actuated head clamps, one carried by each of said last named members, and springs resiliently urging the clamps 'toward the'fcorresponding end plates, the spring of thecorresponding clamp, being less in strength than the spring engaging the end plate.

14. vertical members extending upward Jfrom the base, an end plate carried uponY the vertical members at one end of the base, a pluralityof bolts extendingthrough. the vertical memvbers at the other end of the base, the bolts being slidingly mounted through said members, an end plate carried bysaid bolts for f rectilinear movement toward or from the last named end plate, a member extending up- ,Y ward from the base exterior to the last named -Y end plate, a compression spring disposed v between the last named end plate and saidl member, spring actuated head clamps operatively supported from the base and disposed inward of each of the end plates, and resiliently urgedl each towardits corresponding end plate, the spring of the clamp coacting with the movable end plate being less in strength than the strength of the spring v y urging said end plate inward.

15. Abox form includingtparallel spaced horizontal head supports adjustable toward or from' each other, vertical members extending upward from the head supports, vertical end plates carried directlyon the end members, rear vertically disposed plates extending at right angles to the vertical end plates, and headY clamps'carried by the last named plates and resiliently urged toward said end plates ,whereby the head supports with the end plates and rear plates and head clamps may be freely adjusted toward or from each other.

In testimony whereof I hereunto ax my signature. l RALPH A.

A box orm including abase structure, Y

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