US406156A - Metal corner-piece for boxes - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

J. G. WEIR. METAL 001mm PIECE FOR BOXES.

No. 406,156. Patented July 2, 1889.

Fig.4.

I 11H Emm Wim E5525 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES C. \VEIR, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

METAL CORNER-PIECE FOR BOXES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 406,156, dated July 2, 1889.

Application filed October 16, 1883- Serial No. 288,275. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES C. \VEIR, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco, and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Corner-Pieces for Trunks and Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relates to improvements in the construction of trunks and boxes that are used for the transportation of goods and wares; and it has for its object the production of an improved metallic corner-piece, by which the construction of the trunk or box is rendered easier and cheaper, besides being greatly increased in strength and made capable of standing rough handling and usage.

In the accompanying drawings, that form a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a trunk or packing-box with my corner-pieces applied to the corners of the body and also to the lid, a portion of the front being broken away to expose the inside. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of a box without a lid or cover, which is adapted for transporting fruit, produce, merchandise, and other matter in an uncovered state, such boxes when filled being piled up one 011 the other, and the bottom of one box serving as the cover of the one beneath. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of my metallic corners before the boards are fixed in place. Fig. 4 is a top view of the cornerplate for the bottom corner-pieces, the bottom, side, and end of the box at one corner being shown in section. Fig. 5 shows the under side of the lower corner-piece.

Myim proved corner-piece is produced from any suitable metal, preferably by casting, and is formed of two angle-plates a a, each of which is a right-angle plate, and the two are so placed and attached together in parallel position and one within the other that a right-angle channel a is left between them. This channel corresponds in width to the thickness of the stuff used for the box or trunk, or, as illustrated in the drawings, the lumber of which the sides and ends are made can be somewhat thicker than the space between the plates, and both the inner and outer-plates of the corner-pieces can be let into the wood flush on both sides. The two plates are united along corresponding edges by the web a which in the corners A produced for the top unites the top edges of the plates and in the corners A for the bottom is directly reversed and unites the bottom edges of the plates. The plates at a and the web a and preferably the projection c, as hereinafter described, are formed integral, preferably by casting. Those plates produced for the bottom corners of the box have a flange-plate a filling the inner angle and setting flush with the lower face of the corner-plate on which the bottom of the box is placed.

Holes 1) b, for screws or nails, are prox ided through the plates at a, and also through the bottom flanges, if desired, and in some kinds of boxes, where additional strength and stiffness are desired at the corners, the angle-irons B B are combined with the corner-plates, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 more especially, and in such case additional holes for screws or nails to secure the ends of the angle-irons are provided. By using these angle-irons in connection With the metallic corner-pieces a strong box can be constructed of comparatively thin or light lumber, and in most cases, and particularly in boxes of ordinary sizes, no other nails or fastenings need be used in the box, as the sides, ends, and bottom will be held in place and close joints obtained bythe cornerplates and the angle-irons. Such construction applies more particularly to boxes wherein tight joints are not essential, as in the open packing-box represented in Fig. 2. It should be mentioned, also, that the sides and ends of a box may be properly held, without nails or other fastenings, by mitering the corners and driving the metallic corner-pieces in place, the stuff of which the box is made being of suitable thickness to fit tightly into the chan nels between the plates a a, and then fixing the angle-irons in place after the bottom of the box is set. I

The plate A, that is produced for the upper corners of a box or a trunk, has avstanding lug or pin 0 on the top, and the bottom of the corner-plate A that is intended for the lower corner of the box and of the lid or cover, is furnished with a hole or recess 0*, correspond ing with the lug C in form, so that when two opposingcorner-plates A and A are brought together the lugs at the corners of the receptacle will fit into the recesses of the corners of the part that sets down on the box, and thus secure the two articles from lateral movement. Boxes provided with these cornerplates can be piled upon one another and the bottom of one be made to form the cover of the box next beneath it.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination,with a box, of a cornerpiece for the upper corner, consisting of two parallel angle plates and a connecting-web, an angle-piece for the lower corner, consisting of two parallel angle-plates,a connecting- \Vitnesses:

C. XV. M. SMITH, CHAS. E. KELLY.

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