US451513A - Trunk - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

F. J. PALIOA.

TRUNK.

No. 451,513. Patented May 5,1891.

W M I I w l M M .1 Q

* UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK J. PALIGA, OF RACINE, \VISCONSIN.

TRUNK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters'Patent N0. 451,513, dated May 5, 1891.

v Application filed December 3, 1890. serial No. 873,432. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK J. PALICA, a citizen of the United States, residing at Racine, in the county of Racine and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and useful Trunk, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to improvements in trunks; and the objects in view are to provide a strong durable trunk devoid of sharp corners, and therefore less apt to become injured by rough handling and to protect the hinges of the cover and locate them at such points as will prevent them from contact with other objects during such handling.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective of a trunk construct-ed in accordance with my invention, the same being open. Fig. 2 is a similar view taken from the rear, the same being closed. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section,the lid thrown back. Fig. 4 is a detail in perspective of the hinge.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates the opposite end. walls of the trunk-body, the upper edges of which decline toward the front and terminate at their rear ends in inclined shoulders 2, directly in rear of which they are beveled, as at 3, and connected by a thickened corner cross-piece 4, the outer face of which is rounded. The bottom 5, rear wall 6, and front 7 are of the usual construction.

In constructing the top or cover the same consists of opposite end pieces 8, connected by the superimposed roof-piece 9, said end pieces having their front edges beveled, as at 10, similar to the beveled ends 3 and connected by means of a front transverse thickened corner-strip 11, the outer face of which is rounded similar to the strip 4. The under edges of the end pieces 8 are also inclined in contradistinction to the inclination of the upper edges of the end walls 1 of the trunkbody.

The valance 12 is formed of the usual strip or sheet metal, and is tacked or otherwise secured to the edges of the cover, and consists of the front portion 13, the rearwardly and upwardly disposed side or end portions 14,

and the rear upper transverse portion l5,designed to cover the interval between the rear edge of the trunk-cover and that of the body of the trunk, said interval, it will be observed, occurring upon the top of the trunk or in advance of what would be the corner of the same if such were actually formed, so that in handling the trunk, subject as it is to the rough usage and shocks, the cover is not liable to be torn off by coming in contact with other obstacles.

16 designates the usual strips for binding the trunk and its cover, and it will be observed that they comprise in this instance, as heretofore, a bodybinding section and a cover-binding section, the meeting ends of the strips occurring directly above the rear edge of the valance, and as they snugly embrace all portions of the trunk with which they have contact it will be observed that they are curved and partake of the rounded corners of the trunk.

If desired, an ordinary trunk-hinge may be employed in connection with my improved trunk, the onlychange necessary being to invert the hinge, so as to place the pintle-receiving eyes upon the inner side and between the two meeting ends of the strip-sections 16. In this position it will be observed that the hinge presents simply a plain surface, and the pintles being upon the inside and guarded by the meeting ends of the strips 16 are not liable to be torn off during handling. It is also necessary to curve slightly the outer hinge-leaf, so as to agree with the curvature of the rear end of that section of strip 16 which extends along the rear wall of the trunk. It will be noticed, also, that the point of pivot between the hinged leaves, which is the pintle, occurs not at the corner of the trunk where it is liable to be struck by various objects, but considerably up upon the top of the trunk out of the usual range. In the present instance I make an addition to the usual hinge, whereby the same is not only securely guarded itself, but also acts in a manner to guard the corners and edges of the strip-sections where they meet, which construction I will now proceed to describe.

17 designates the rear leaf or section of the hinge, which is secured by screws, nails, or rivets 18 securely to the rear section of the strip 16, said section being curved so as to fit snugly over the strip, as shown, and is provided at its front end and at opposite sides with depending strip-embracing ears or lugs 19. At its front and center the leaf is provided with a pintle-eye 20, which aligns with 5 the pair of pintle-eyes 21 of the front hinge section or leaf 22, which is secured by screws, nails, or rivets 23 to the rear end of the coven strip section 16, and said leaf-section, like the section 17, is provided with opposite depending strip-embracing ears 2s. The eyes of the two leaves are connected by the pintle 25. If desired, the end wall of the body and that of the cover maybe connected by the hinged or pivoted sections 26 of the usual brace.

From the above description it will be seen that I provide a trunk which by the construction of hinge shown and its location permits of the opening of the cover to a limited extent-namely, a little over one-quarter of the revolution or ninety-five degrees-and thus the accidental falling back of the cover and injury to its connections in the event of the breaking of the brace or stay26 is impossible. It will also be seen that the space between the cover and the edges of the body are thoroughly protected by means of the valance constructed, as described, that the corners are rounded of both the body and the cover, and hence deep indentations avoided, and that the pintles of the hinges, as well as the hinges themselves, are located at such a point as to be out of the way and not liable to be torn off, and that said hinges are so constructed as to protect the ends of the strips, and thus prevent them from tearing off and engaging with adjacent objects.

It will be seen that I provide a trunk which is rounded off at the top both in front and rear, this feature of construction being one much sought after by purchasers. It will also be seen that by rounding off and extending the rear wall of the trunk up over the top, so as to bring the line of separation between the cover and the top in advance of the rear wall of the trunk-body, I am enabled to place the hinges in such a position where they will not be injured.

By reference to Fig. a it will be seen that the pintle of the hinge-leaves is not directly coincident with the line of separation between the cover and the body, but, on the contrary, is set back slightly, so as to cause the cover to be self-supporting when raised. liy this means it is not really necessary to use the braces 26, and I have therefore omitted them from this figure, though it is difficult to make customers understand this.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination, with a trunk-body having its rear wall extended over and upon the upper edge of the body and curved and a coverfitting this reduced opening of the body, of strips secured to the exterior of the body and coverand having their adjacent ends occurring a slight distance in rear of the meeting edges of said body and cover, thereby providing an intermediate space, and a hinge the leaves of which are curved to agree with the curvature of the strips and having their pintle-receiving eyes located upon their under side and between the ends of the strips, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with the trunk-body comprising the opposite end walls having their upper edges inclined and terminating in front and rear beveled faces, the front and rear wall, the bgttom, and the rear upper curved transverse strip secured to the rear beveled faces of the end walls and having its exterior rounded, of the cover hinged to the upper edge of said strip and having its lower edge inclined to correspond with the upper edges of the end walls and having the upper front corners of its end walls beveled, a transverse strip connecting the two and having its exterior rounded or curved, the valancestrap extending along the front edge of the cover, up the inclined sides thereof, and over the rear edge of the same, the strip-sections rounded and connected to the cover and to the body of the trunk, and the hinges connected to the strip-sections, substantially specified.

The combination, with the trunkbody having its rear wall curved at its upper end and extending over the upper edge of the body and a cover fitting the reduced opening of the body and having strips connected snugly thereto, the adjacent ends of which combine to form a space adjacent to the meeting edges of the cover and body, of a hinge the leaves of which are secured to said strip-sections and pivoted to each other, the pintle side being underneath, each of said leaves being provided at opposite sides and at their meeting ends with depending stripembracing guard-ears, substantially as specilied.

4C. The trunk-body having the upper edges of the opposite end walls inclining from the front toward the rear, at which point they join with inclined shoulders 2, the rear faces of which are also inclined or beveled, the thickened corner cross-piece 4-, the outer face of which is rounded, fitting upon the beveled faces of the shoulders 2, and the cover hinged at its rear edge to the piece 4, the end pieces of the cover having their front edges beveled, and the front transverse thickened strip 11, fitting the beveled edge, set in between the adjacent edges of the top and front wall of the cover, and having its outer face rounded, whereby the top of the trunk is made rounding at both front and rear, as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK I. PALILA.

Witnesses:

J. E. Doneu, F. M. FISH.

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