US363130A - Mail-bag fastener - Google Patents

Description

s. A; FIELD.

MAIL BAG FASTENEE.

No. 363,130; Patented May 17,1887.

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Damn Tarps SAMUEL A. FIELD, OF PUTNAM, CONNECTICUT.

MAIL-BAG FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 363,130, dated May 17, 1887.

Application filed April 11, 1887. Serial No. 234,367. (Modeh) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL A. FIELD, of Putnam, in the county of \Vindham and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in MaiLBag Fasteners; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. I

My invention relates to an improvement in fastenings for mail-bags.

Hitherto in that class of mail-bag fastenings in which a clasp moving in the plane of the closed jaws has been employed to close the mouth of the bag the top of the bag has been bound by flexible material, and in order to open it the corners of the month were necessarily drawn toward each other, whileit was necessary to apply a strain of some description or by some means to hold the mouth open.

The object of my present invention is to provide a fastening which shall be capable of closing the mouth of a mail-bag against the introduction of a wedge or other purchase to pry the jaws apart, and also against theintroduction of rain and moisture.

A further object is to provide a fastening which will, when open, hold the mouth of the bag broadly open,and form a flaring or fu nnelshaped receiver to guide the mail-matter tossed therein down into the body of the bag.

A further object is to provide a simple and quite inexpensive fastening without any de tachable parts, excepting thel'ock, and which shall be well calculated to withstand the hard I usage to which mailbags are commonly subjeeted.

\Vith these ends in View my invention consisl's in certain features of construction and combination of parts,as will be hereinafter dc scribed, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 isa side view of the fastening in locked adjustment. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of same in open adjustment. Fig. 3 is a partial reverse side view. Fig. 4 is a view' in transverse section through the center, and Fig. 5 is a modificatiou.

A A represent a pair of jaws, semi-rectangular, semicircular, bow-shaped, or other desired shape in longitudinal contour, provided only the extreme ends of each jaw be extended on the same side of the body of the jaw, substaniiall y as shown. The jaws A A are formed of some essentially rigid material-sheet metal, for example-and are hinged together at their extreme ends, as shown at a. Each of the jaws is provided with a flat lip portion, B, and with a flaring portion, as b, the latter in each instance gradually diverging outwardly from the opposite jaw. Along the lower edges of the flaring portions 1) there is a series of perforations, C, through which the flexible material of which the bag proper is composed is firmly secured to the jaws. One of the jaws, in the present instance A, is provided with a laterally extending-flange, 0, adapted to pro ject over the edge of the opposite jaw when the latter is in closed adjustment.

D represents the securing-clasp. Its general shape is such as to conform to the con- 7 tour of the meeting edges of the jaws, and it is made U-shaped in cross-section in order to embrace the opposite sides of the edges or lips of the jaws. The clasp D is designed to extend from hinge to hinge throughoutthe entire length of the lips; and in order to make the closure of the jaws as tight as possible I prefer to construct the lips B slightly thicker at the base than at the outer edge, and con struct the sides of the clasp slightly diverging from the crown toward its edges, the effect of which will be to force the adjacent faces of the lips B into snug contact with each other when the clasp is pressed into closed adjustment. The clasp D is provided with elongated slots (1, their elongations being at right angles to the line joining the hinges of the jaws; and studs or rivets d set in the back of one of the jaws, as A, are adapted to extend through the said slots, and are provided with heads d", which serve to lock the clasp D permanently to the jaw in a limited sliding adjustment toward and away from the edges of the lips of the jaws.

The length of the sliding stroke of the clasp is intended to be just sufficient to free the edge of the jaw A from the edge of the clasp when the clasp is at the limit of its outward movement, and to bring the crown of the clasp into ICC , pressed into closed adj nstment, and the hasp of the padlock G, or other well-known or approved form of lock, may be then inserted through the staple to lock the hasp F in position.

In order to close the mouth of the bag still more effectually to the entrance of moisture the contactfaces of the lips B may be coated with sheet-rubber or other elastic coating, as shown at G. A simple precaution of this character-the attachment of the bag'to the jaws being made with due care-wonld protect the-contents of the bag from injury for a. con siderable length of time even when submerged.

The mouth of the bag when provided with the above-described fasteningis held wide open, as shown in Fig. 2, by simply swinging the jaws apart, and when the jaws are so separated there is formed a flaring mouth,due to the divergenee of the portions 1), into which the mailmatter may be readily tossed.

The closure and opening of the bag can be effected in a moments timc,and thejaws being held together by the clasp extending throughout their entire length are proof against any ordinary attempt to pry open and extract mail.

It is evident that the clasp D might be formed in two sections and a single locking device employed to lock both sections at their meeting ends. Such a construction is shown in Fig. 4, in which the sections D are hinged to the jaw A in swinging adjustment toward and away from the edges of the lips, and the hasp of the padlock is adapted to extend through the jaws and the overlapping ends of the sections and lock them in position.

The fastening described might also be applied to other receptacles than mailbags, and numeronsslight changes might be resorted to in theform and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention; hence I do not wish to limit myself strictly to the construction herein set forth; but,

Having full y described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a mail-bag fastener, the combination, with a pair of rigid jaws hinged together, of a clasp adapted to embrace the opposite sides of the meeting lips of the jaws, the said clasp being secured to one of the jaws in adjustment toward and away from the meeting lips of the jaws, and a fastening common'to the jaws and the clasp, substantially as set'forth.

2. In a mailbag fastener, the combination, with a pair of rigid jaws hinged together, of a clasp adapted to embrace the opposite sides of the meeting lips of the jaws, the said clasp being secured to one of the jaws in a limited sliding adjustment toward and away from the edges of the lips of the jaws, and a fastening common to the jaws and the clasp, substantially as set forth.

3. In a mail-bag fastener, the combination, with a pair of jaws hinged together and provided with flat meeting lips and with flaring portions diverging from each other as they extend from the lips toward the body of the bag, of a clasp extending along the entire length of the meeting lips, and secured to one of the jaws in a limited sliding adjustment toward and away from the meeting lips, and means for locking the jaws and clasp in closed adjustment, substantially as set forth.

4. In a mail-bag fastener, the combination, with a pair of jaws having their meeting lips gradually thickened from their outer edges toward the body of the bag, of a clasp U- shaped in cross-section adapted to embrace the opposite sides of the said lips, whereby the lips are forced into snug contact, substantially as set forth.

5. In a mail-bag fastener, the combination, with a pairof rigid jaws hinged together and provided with an elastic coating between their meeting faces, of a clasp secured to one of the jaws and adapted to embrace the opposite sides of thejaws, and means for locking the jaws and clasp, substantiallyas set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. Y

SAMUEL A. FIELD.

Witnesses:

' PRESCOTT A. BROWN,

SAMUEL H. SEWARD.

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