US209008A - Improvement in metallic seals - Google Patents

Description

E. J. BROOKS. Metallic-Seal.

10.209,008. Patented oct.15,1s7s.

f REMARKS.

W/ TA/ESSES.- 7^/ VEN T09: V law Lamb @www UNITED STATES PATENT GEEIoE IEDVARD J. BROOKS,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.'

IMPROVEMENT IN METALLIC SEALS.

Spccilicaiion forming part of Letters Patent No. 209,00, dated October 15, 1873; a'pyilication Ilcd October l, 1878;

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDWARD J BRooKs, of the city and county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Metallic Sea-ls, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My present invention relates to the combination of a labeling-tag with a metallic seal, such as a cording-sea-l, the objects being to readily attach the former in the act of pressing the seal, and so as to support the tag in the most 'secure and convenient manner, and so as to permanently attach the pressed sealdisk thereto for future reference.

Heretofore the only method of attaching such a tag has been to pass the shackle through a hole or eyelet in the tag before applying the seal-disk. The tag thus attached was in the way during thc pressing operation. It could not be readily examined, owing to the angle at which it was unavoidably held, and it was not adapted to form a permanent record in combination with the seal, the seal in such examples being detached in the act of severing the shackle.

My said invention consists in a soft-metal seal-disk having` one or more projecting studs, and adapted to receive a shackle of any preferred form, in combination with an eyelet or its equivale-nt in a labeling-tag, for attaching the latter in the manner and for the objects above stated, as hereinafter more fully set forth. v

Figure l of the accompanying drawings is a face view of the separated parts of a combined cording-seal and tag, illustrating this inven'- tion. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the seal-disk ofthe saine; and Figs. 3 and 4 are front and rear views of the said seal and tag after the seal-disk has been pressed. Fig. 5 is a face or back view, and Fig. 6 an edge view, of an unpressed seal-disk, illustrating a modification. Fig. 7 is a face .or back View, and Fig. S an edge view, of another unpressed sealdisk, illustrating another modication. Fig. 9 is a face view, and FiO. 10 a central longitudinal section, of another pressed seal, illustrating the application of thc invention to ilat shackles.

Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The combined cording-seal and tag, illustrated by Figs. l, 2, 3, and 4, consists of a shackle, S, of cord or twine, a metallic sealdisk, D, which may be of lead, copper, or a soft alloy, adapted to be fastened upon the former, and to receive an imprint in a handpress, and a labeling-tag, T, which may bc of paper or any preferred material.

The separated parts of the unpressed sca-l, as represented in Figs. l and 2, show their individual construction. The shackle S, which is simply illustrative, is a plain piece of cord or twine of proper length.

The seal-disk D is molded with ordinary threading-apertures a a, parallel to its face, and with a cut-away back, b, to equalize the thickness of metal therein, and with a stud, c, projecting at right angles from its fiat face, this stud being notched or grooved at its base to form a shoulder, d. Said stud c, without limitation to its shape or shoulder, and the said threading-apertures' a., or their equivalent, are the only essential features of this construction.

The tag T has an ordinar i metallic eyelet, c, at its upper end, forming an aperture which is adapted to receive said stud c, and the information which said tag is designed to impart and preserve is in part printed thereon, including a number, f, for the seal. rllhe said printed matter will vary with the use for which thev seal is designed, and is not an essential feature.

As another lprovision for preventing duplication or counterfeiting and for distinguishing the tags of different companies, which is the primary object of such printed matter, I propose the use of a tint or combination of tints, or lathe-work engraving, or the like, printed or otherwise applied to the tags, as a part of the process of manufacture.

In the illustration the tag is designed for a railway freight-car, and shows, in use, the road to which the seal belongs, the route, destination, and contents of the car, the number of the'car, in connection with that ofthe seal, and the places and dates of sealing and unsealing, with the si gnaturcs of the agents who performed the two operations 5 and on the back is space for remarks, which may include the condition of the seal when the shackle was cut. Said tag is t-hus adapted to contain all the matter for which a card, tacked or otherwise attached to the side of the car, is commonly employed, together with a seal-number, and all the requisite information in regard to the sealing and unsealing of the car.

The shackle S is passed through the sealing staples of a car-door, for example, and its ends are passed through the seal-disk D in ordinary manner. The tag T is then applied, face outward, to the stud c on the face of the seal-disk, and is held back against said face by the shoulder d of said stud. The seal-v disk is now pressed in the usual manner, or in a similar way, without any additional trouble, the dies being adapted to leave an impression on the pressed stud, as well as on the more ample back of the seal. In the illustration the pressed stud shows the initials of the road to which the seal belongs, together with a special mark, and the back shows the place at which the seal was pressed. If preferred, the face of the tag may be turned toward the back of the seal-disk, and the imprint need only be in one surface in some cases. In either case the tag is attached in the act of pressing the seal, and the former is supported invertical position, parallel to the surface against which the seal hangs.

The pressed stud c, in combination with the metallic eyelet c, forms a most secure fastening, the softer metal of the former embracing Ithe latter on all sides, so as to render it practicallyinipossible to detach a tag from apressed seal without the tampering being manifest. All the parts of the pressed sea-l, including the tag which bears its number, &c., are thus permanently united, and constitute vtogether most reliable' evidence for preservation.

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate molding of one or more tag-attaching studs, c2, without shoulders, on an ordinary seal-disk, D2, for use in connection with a shackle, either of cord or of wire. By employing two studs, 'as .in the illustration, and locating theln opposite the threading-apertures a2, said studs will perform the additional function of insuring the filling of said apertures in the pressing operation.

The modification illustrated by Figs. 7 and S consists in providing the attachingstud c3 of a seal-disk, D3, with a Thead, h, which not only forms a shoulder, but utilizes a more secure mode of holding a tag, T2, in place preliminary to pressing, the latter (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7 being provided with an ob, long eyelet or aperture, e2, adapted to pass over said T-head in one position and to be at an angle thereto when the tag drops to vertical position, as shown. A stud of this description may be molded on any style of sealdisk, and is intended to be pressed in the act of sealing the shackle the same as the forms before described.

When flat shackles S2 of sheet metal or the like are preferred, I propose to pass the attaching stud or studs c of a seal-disk, D4, through apertures in the shackle ends, and then through the eyelet or eyelets of a tag, T, as illustrated by Figs. 9 and 10.

The shackle and seal-disk, either or lboth, when the latter contains the threadingapertures, will usually be provided with locking or anchoring devices, such as described by me in previous specifications; but thesefornl no part of the present invention.

The following is what I claim as new and of my own invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, namely:

Ameta'llic seal-disk adapted to be applied to a sealing-shackle, and constructed with one or more projectin g studs, in combination with a labeling-tag having an aperture or apertures at its upper end to receive said stud or studs, the latter serving to attach said tag in the act of pressing the seal, substantially as herein specified, for the purposes set forth.

E. J. BROOKS.

Vitiiesses:

Jas. L. EwIN, Isinon Gnm'nnnn.

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