US70480A - Improvement in mail-bags - Google Patents

Description

EMM/ff! f f o 0 e 'i n! o www@ d "PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON D C @uitrit tstes @strat @Hire vEDWAltD STEVENS AND 'JOHN A. KNIGHT, Ol" ST. LOS. MlSSOURI. Letters Patent No. 70,480, dated November 5, 1567.

IMPROVEMENT IN MAIL-BAGS.

TO ALL WIIOM IT HAY CONCERN:

Be it known that we, EDWARD STEVENS and JOHN- A. KrUGH'r, both ofthe city and county oifSt. Louis, and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mail-Bags; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full and clear description thereof, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates, firstly, to an improvement in the bag itself, whereby its clearly-defined angular corners give it all the advantages of the wooden box, while the yielding nature ott the leather or other` brous material of which it is constructed secures all thc benefits of the old leathern mail-bag; secondly, the invention relates to a belt or strap for retaining in their proper positions the several packages oi' letters within lthe bag, and also to the partitions which subdivide the several packages of letters one from another. There is also, in connection with this partition, a peculiar retaining device which secures it to the enclosing-strap.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use our improved mail-bag, \\c will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

Figure I of the drawings is a perspective elevation of one of the improved bags, in which view a portion of the side of the bag is broken out, so as to disclose the interior arrangementsof the saine.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of one of the dividing partitions. 1

Figure 3 is a transverse section of the partition, showing more fully the device for securing it to the strap.

A is the mail-bog, the mouth of which is closed by means of the strap a, passing through metallic loops al, and secured by means of a padlock, (not shown.) This bag isv to be constructed et' leather, canvas, or some similar brous material, yielding and pliable in its nature. 'There are to be cords-a2 sewcd into the corners ot` the bag, and it is to be cut out and sewed up in such a manner as to make it rectangular in its general form. This gives to the bag all the advantages for stowage of the rectangular wooden boxes, while the yieldingnature of the material renders it far superior to the boxes in weight and durability, and equal, in the latter res/peet, to the old-fashioncd'leathern bags. The belt B which surrounds the various packages of lett-ers within the bag is combined with several movable partitions, B1, which are locked to the belt in a peculiar manner, as hereinafter described, for the purpose of securing ,together in a single parcel those letters which are destined to a single station. The belt may be wrapped-around and sewed to the first or. back partition, and may be passed throughA loops or slots in the central partitions, so' as to allow the latter to be slid easily in either direction, as more or less letters may be included in either compartment. These partitions should be of thick leather, or some similar material, and should be provided with metal facings for the loops or slots through which the belt is to bc passed. The last or end partition should be provided with a locking-bar, B2, pivoted to the facingplates l) at rr, so as to swing outwardly when released from the retaining-loop El, which is vpivotcd at :el to the same plates. The partsure arranged so that whenl the bar I32 is closed, and secured in its position by the loop i b1, it will compress the strap or belt so that it cannot move in either direction, as is clearly shown in iig. 3, and

the various packages between the partitions will, in this manner, be held securely in their proper positions. A spring stud, L2, advances beyond the face of the plate I), and holds the loop up over the end of thc bar B2, as shown in iig. 2. When this studis depressed below the face of the plate (by'a pcrsons thumb, for instance,) thc loop may be thrown back, as in the red line-s in g.2, and the bar will then be allowed to open for tlic reception of thc strap, as is also shown by th-e red lines in the same figure: i

The formation of the bag A must not bc confounded with a still1 sole-leather borg already patented, as all use of a rigid box of any kind is hereby disclaimcd.

Having described our invention, what wc claim is v The bar B2, vthe loop b1, and the partition B1, combined and operated as herein shown and described. ED. STEVENS, JOHN,A. KNIGHT.

Witn esscs:

M. RANDOLPH, Gao. I. IInnTIInI., Jr.

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