US707866A - Berry-box. - Google Patents

Description

No. 707,866. Patented Aug. 26, I902.

C. B. PROGTDB.

BERRY BOX.

(Application flled May 6, 1901.)

(No Model.)

UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. PROCTOR, OF INDIANOLA, IOiVA.

BERRY-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 707,866, dated August 26, 1902.

Application filed May 6,1901.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES B. PROCTOR, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Indianola, \Varren county, Iowa, have invented Improvements in Berry Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

My object is to simplify the construction, improve the efficiency, and reduce the cost of boxes made of sheet material and specially adapted for marketing berries placed therein for protection and sale in small quantities.

Heretofore a piece of sheet material has been provided with a transverse slot in one of its end portions and its other end with an extension adapted to enter the slot for retaining the two ends connected. The two ends of a piece of rigid sheet material have also been dovetailed together. The wall of a box formed of a single piece of sheet material has also been provided with a fixed bottom made of a single piece of sheet material; but in no instance have the ends of a wall been shaped and detachably connected and a bottom made of a single piece detachably connected with the wall to produce a complete box that could be taken apart and the wall and the bottom folded flatupon each other,as contemplated by my invention,which consists in the peculiar construction of the ends of the wall and the manner of detachably connecting the bottom with the wall, as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a foursided box in which the wall and the bottom having reinforcin g-pieces are detachably connected, so they can be separated and folded flat in overlying position to economize space in storing and shipping. Fig. 2 shows the end portions of the wall adapted to be detachably connected, and in juxtaposition therewith is the detached bottom, that has integral extensions adapted to overlie and reinforce two of the parallel sides of the box. Fig. 3 shows the piece of material adapted to form the Wall of a box spread out flat, as required in packing and shipping the material in readiness for being utilizedfor making a berry-box advantageously. Fig. 4. shows a slight modification of the slotin one end and the T-head at the other end of the parts that Serial No. 58,948. (No model.

are adapted to be detachably connected as required to serve as the wall of a berry-box. Fig. 5 shows the sheet adapted to produce the wall bent into shape as required to produce a cylindrical box.

The numeral 10 designates the piece of sheet material adapted to produce the main Vertical portion or wall of a box that may vary in size as desired. It is quadrangular in shape, as shown in Fig. 4, and specially adapted for detachably connecting its ends. In the central part of one end of the piece is an open slot 11, extended inward from the edge of the piece and the inner end of the slot extended laterally and enlarged toproduce shoulders 12 and 13, adapted to engage a T-head extension 14, formed on the other end, in such a manner that the said head can be readily slipped into the open slot 11 to engage the shoulders 12 and 13 for securely and detachably connecting the ends of the sheet 10 as required to produce the main upright portion or wall of the box. By thus forming a T-head at one end of the body portion and an open slot at its other end that is enlarged at its inner portion .the two ends can be readily connected as required to prevent any lateral motions relative to each other, and consequently no lugs are required at the side edges of the piece, as heretofore, to prevent lateral movement and separation of the ends of the piece. A blank is thus produced that allows the two ends to be advantageously interlocked as required to produce a wall without any extraneous fastening devices, that can be readily opened and laid out flat.

The sheet adapted to serve as the bottom of the box and to reinforce the Wall consists of the central part 15, fitted in size to enter the bottom portion of the Wall, and integral extensions 16 and 17 at its ends adapted to overlie the inside faces of two of the parallel sides or ends of the wall to reinforce them and stiffen the box, so that a plurality of filled boxes can be placed in tiers in a crate in such a manner that the lower ones will not be crushed by the weight of the upper ones.

To detachably connect the top ends of the parts 16 and 17, that are integral with the bot tom 15, I fasten hooks 18, made of thin sheet material, to the central portions of the ends by means of cement or in any suitable way,

so that the hooks can hang on the top edges of two of the parallel parts of the Wall, as shown in Fig. 1. It is obvious such books may be formed integral with the parts 16 and 17 to serve as means for securely and detachably connecting the bottom and its reinforcing extensions with the wall of the box.

Having thus described the construction and combination of the distinct parts, the novelty and utility of my invention will be readily understood by persons familiar with the art to which it pertains, and

What I claim as new, and desire to secure 7 by Letters Patent, is

A box made of sheet material consisting of a piece or plate of uniform Width that has an open slot at one end and the slot widened at CHARLES B. PROOTOR.

Witnesses:

W. H. BERRY, W. A. OLIVER.

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