US262080A - Baggage check and clasp - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

' J. E. MGLEARY.

BAGGAGB GHBGK AND CLASP. No. 262,080. Patented Aug. 1, 1882.

27'?. JT ffy.

WITNBSSES ATTORNEYS.

- Unita@ States PATENT Errea JAMES H. MCLEARY, OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.

BAGGAGE CHECK AND CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 262,080, dated August 1, .1882. y

Application tiled October 21, 1881. (No model.) i I To alt whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JAMES Il. MCLEARY, of San Antonio,in the county of Bexar andState ot' Texas, have invented a new and usefullmprovelnent lin Baggage Checks and Glasps, of which the ibllowing is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the annexed drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a sideview ot the check, directionplate, and clasp; Fig. 2, a view of the opposite side ot' the check with the clasp removed; Fig. 3, a view ofthe direction-plate reversed and detached from thecheck; Fig. 4,

a section ofthe check and direction-plate, and Figs. 5, 6, and 7 printed wafers.

My invention relatesto checks for labeling baggage for transportation; and it consists in a novel construction and arra-ngement of a check, a direction-plate, and a clasp for securing said parts to an article of baggage, as will be hereinafter fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents a check of circular form consisting of a solid plate havingan annular lateral tlange near its rim, to which is secured a plate, a, having an elliptical opening, a. The greatest diameter of the said elliptical opening coincides with the diameter of the plate A inside the said annular ange, and the portion ofthe plate or back a which is not thus cut away projects over the solid plate so as to form in connection therewith a hollow casing. A perforation, b, which is made through the two plates at a pointnear theirouter rim, is designed to receive a metal clasp by means of which the check is to be secured to the baggage.

In constructing the check, while the general form above described will be preferred, the method ot' constructing the same will vary ac cording to the material employed, since it may be molded of various materials or cast of suitable metal. The face of the check will be stamped with the name of the railroad company or other company or individual by whom the check shall be issued, and with a number, by means of which the baggage shall be identiled.

1 also provide a direction plate or tablet, 0, which is of elliptical form, and of such a size that it may be inserted into the elliptical opening a in the check. Near each end of this plate is formed a curved slot, c, which may be made to register with the perforation b in the check by turning the said direction-plate within the casing or check proper, and by means ot' which it shall be secured thereto and to the clasp. One side of this plateis to be stamped with the same number and name as those upon the face of the check, and upon the opposite side thereof is to be attached a blank tablet or wafer, c', upon which may be Written in pencil the destination ofthe baggage, it it is on the same road with the point of departure, or if it is on a different road the name of the place of departure and destination may both be written on the wafer. Otherwise, wafers may be prepared with such names of places printed thereon, as shown in the drawings, and these can be attached as readily as a postage-stamp.

Another plate, the fac-simile or duplicate of the last-described plate, is to be given to the passenger as his voucher for the baggage.

For attaching the check to the baggage I employ a clasp, E, which consists ot" a piece of round wire bent in an elliptical form, and having 011e end provided with an eye, d, and the other bent so as to form a hook, d, the point of which shall be adapted to enter the eye automatically when allowed to resume its normal position, after being pressed open. The hook ot' this clasp is to be inserted into the perforation b in the check and through one of the Vcurved slots in the direction-plate G, when the check maybe easily passed along the wire to one of the curved portions of the clasp, and

the latter attached to a trunk.

With this construction, and especially with the use of printed labels, the checking of baggage will be greatly facilitated. The wafers or labels are the only part that will need to be changed, and where blank wafers are used the pencil-marks may be easily erased and others substituted, as the case may require. Everything that is necessary to identify the baggage is stamped on the metal and only memoranda are committed to pencil-marksor printed labels. The plates need not be made exclusively of metal, but can be of ivory, pasteboard, celluloid, or gutta-percha, or any other suitable material.

Among other advantages secured by my invention the following may be mentioned: 1t can be attached to a piece ot' baggage or removed therefrom in less time than where the ordinary leather strap is used. The direction-plate, Whether made of metal or other materials, is, owingl to its method of attachment, of great durability, and as it is ot' the same size and shape as the passengers duplicate it may be substituted for the duplicate, in case the latter should be lost.

Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. A baggage-check consisting of a shell having a circular chamber and au opening ot' elongated form leading to said chamber, a. destination-plateof elongated form which is adapt-

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