Untitled record

Application filed April 5,1886. Serial No. 197,821. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Mellen Bray, of Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and 5 useful Improvements in Trunks, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to trunks, and particularly to that class of trunks which are io made from sole-leather or similar material; and it consists in a trunk the sides, top, ami ends of which are made of sole-leather and have secured thereto, by riveting, a series of strips of rawhide, sole-leather, leatheroid, or 15 similar material, having ribs or corrugations extending lengthwise of said strips, having the spaces formed by said corrugations, filled with pieces of wood or similar material,which will stiffen said strips,and which may be bent, 20 but will not retain said bent position, all as will be readily understood by reference to the description of the drawings, and to the claim to be hereinafter given.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 represents aper25 spective view of a trunk embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a sectional plan of the same; and Fig. 3 represents a section of one of the stay-pieces and a portion of the side to which it is secured, said figure being 30 drawn to an enlarged scale.

Sole-leather trunks as usually constructed are easily beut out of shape in consequence of the rough usage to which they are sometimes subjected, and as this is a very serious 35 objection, on account of the liability of damaging the contents thereof, it has been found desirable to stiffen the sides, ends, and top of trunks made in this manner, and to accomplish this object is the aim of my present 40 invention.

The trunk A shown in the drawings is made from sole-leather or similar material, in any usual manner, the joints, however, between the ends and the sides thereof being se45 cured together, preferably by rivets. The sides and ends of the box portion of the trunk, as also the outer surface of the cover thereof, have secured thereto a series of corrugated strips B of rawhide sole-leather leath50 eroid, or some similar material which is flexible, while at the same it has a certain degree of stiffness and elasticity. These strips B are secured to the sides of the trunk by the rivets a a, which are provided with suitable heads upon their outer ends, which bear upon the 55 flat surfaces of said strip between and outside of the corrugations b b, which extend the entire length of said strips, while the shanks of said rivets pass through the said strips and the side of the trunk, and are upset or clinched 60 upon the inner surfaces of the sides of the trunk, and between which clinched end and the heads of the rivets the strips are securely clamped to the side of the trunk.

The ends of the trunk A are provided with 65 the handles G, of any usual construction.

By manufacturing trunks in this manner the sole- leather sides are greatly stiffened, and thereby prevented from being readily bent out of shape, while at the same time the cor- 70 rogations bb of the rawhide strips B,which accomplish this object, also prevent the . sides from being chafed and rubbed,and thus allows the trunk to present a handsome appearance for along time. 75

In orderto additionally strengthen the sides and ends of the ti unlj, I sometimes insert into the spaces formed by the corrugations b b suitable filling-pieces c c,of rawhide,wood, or other comparatively stiff but somewhat elastic 80 material, whereby the stiffness of the sides, ends, or top of the trunk is considerably increased.