US2762522A - Fastener for wirebound boxes - Google Patents

Description

p 11, 1956 w. J. HOGAN FASTENER FOR WIREBOUND BOXES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 21, 1952 INVENTOR Willi/am lflo 'an BY W q ATTOR P 1, 1956 w. J. HOGAN FASTENER FOR WIREBOUND BOXES 2 Sheet-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 21, 1952 INVENTOR William J Ho an BY mwm+ zwf ATTO Y5 FASTENER FOR WIREBOUND BOXES William J. Hogan, Dover, N. J., assignor to Stapling Machines Co., Rockaway, N. J., a corporation of Delaware Application October 21, 1952, Serial No. 315,940 1 Claim. (Cl. 21" I68) This invention relates to fasteners for wirebound boxes (which term is used herein to include crates and other containers), and more particularly, to interengageable loop fasteners, such as are used at the closing corners of wirebound boxes.

In the commercial manufacture of wirebound boxes, the wirebound box blanks are formed by stapling together side material and reinforcing cleats to form a plurality, usually four, box sections or sides secured together by binding wires stapled thereto. The box blanks normally issue from the box blank-making machine in a continuous succession secured together by the binding wires, with spaces between the adjacent box blanks in the chain to provide short lengths of wire at either end of each box blank for the subsequent formation of interengageable fasteners.

The present invention constitutes an improvement in fasteners of the loop or rock fastener type, such as are disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 1,933,030 issued to A. L. Rosenmund October 31, 1933. These fasteners are customarily formed in machines of the type disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 1,933,031, also issued to A. L. Rosenmund October 31, 1933. In such machines, the binding wires are severed near the center of the spaces between adjacent box blanks, downwardly extending prongs are formed in the wire ends, and the wires are bent to form loops in their end portions and to place the prongs over the edges of the box blanks. The prongs are then driven through the side material of the box blanks and clinched down against their under-surfaces to secure the loops.

When the box blank is folded around to set up the box, the loop fasteners at one end of the box blank, being somewhat narrower than those at the other end of the box blank, are inserted through the latter and are bent down to secure the box closed. These loop fasteners have the decided advantage over other types in that they may be opened by hand. Moreover, they may be opened and closed repeatedly without destroying or deforming them, so that they give the boxes an extended useful life.

However, unless special precautions are taken in locating the staples which secure the binding wires to the box sections, these loop fasteners have one disadvantage: in opening boxes or crates having such loop fasteners, it is difiicult to avoid bending the loop fasteners back from the outer surfaces of the box sides. This opens up the clinched-over fastener prongs and weakens the fasteners. Moreover, when the loop fasteners are again bent down against the box sides to secure the box closed, the prongs are forced away from the inner surfaces of the side material and project into the box where they may injure personnel handling the box or cause damage to the contents of the box.

The present invention obviates this disadvantage by providing loop fasteners wherein the wire ends are merely crimped or kinked and are secured to the box sides by staples driven astride the wire ends in front of the crimps.

The. present invention has the additional advantage that it does not involve driving portions of the binding wires themselves through the box sides; it thereby permits the use of binding wires made of softer or finer gauge material, of lower cost than binding wire stock required by previous loop fastener constructions. The loop fasteners provided by the present invention may also be made with relatively simple and inexpensive handor power-operated stapling devices. a a

The staples which secure the loop fasteners may be clinched into the box sides and flush with their inner surfaces so as to eliminate any possibility of damage to the contents of the box. The staples alford an exceptionally strong anchor for the loop fasteners, even when driven in such materials as thin veneer, corrugated fiberboard, or the like, which are frequently used as side material in wirebound boxes.

Other advantages and objects of the present invention will be apparent hereinafter.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of a wirebound box blank having loop fasteners embodying features of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view, at slightly enlarged scale, of a completely assembled, closed and partially secured wirebound box formed from a box blank of the type shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view, at still further enlarged scale, of a portion of the top of the box, showing one of the loop fasteners thereon;

Figure 4. is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 4 4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the closing corner of the box, with the top in closed position, showing the loop fastener on the front side of the box insertedthrough the loop fastener on the top of the box, before securing of the fasteners together; and

Figure 6 is a perspective view similar to Figure 5 but showing the loop fasteners secured together to maintain the box closed. The wirebound box blank shown in Figure 1 has fou'r box sections or sides, generally indicated 10, 12, 14 and 16, formed of side material 18 and reinforcing cleats 20 and 20 stapled thereto. The box sections aresecured together by binding wires 22 which extend the length of the box blank and are secured to the several box sections by staples 24 driven astride the binding wires 22 and into the box sections.

At the opposite ends of the box blank, the binding wires 22 are formed so as to provide loop fasteners 26 and 28. As indicated in broken lines, these loop fasteners are formed from the portions of the binding wires between adjacent box blanks in the continuous succession of box blanks issuing from the box blank-making machine. The end portions of the binding wires 22 are bent so as to form the loop fasteners 26 and 28 and to place the ends of the binding wires over the adjacent edges of the end sections of the box blank. These wire ends are secured to the box sections in the manner best shown in Figures 3 and 4. As may be seen in these figures, the end of each of the binding wires is provided with two crimps or kinks 30, and a pair of staples 24 are driven astride the binding wire to secure the wire end to the box side.

In the particular form of fasteners shown in the drawings, each of the crimps has the shape of an open loop extending outwardly from the adjacent surface of the box side along a plane generally perpendicular to such surface. Each of the staples is driven down tightly against the straight or uncrirnped portion of the wire, adjacent one of the crimps on the side of the crimp nearest the adjacent edge of the box blank.

As may be seen in Figure 4, the ends 24a of the staples 24 which secure the wire ends are clinched down into the undersurface 18a of the side material 18 of the'box blank, so that they are flush with the inner surface 13a and will not project into the interior of the assembled box where they might damage the contents of the box.

In Figures 2 and 5, the box is shown in closed position with the narrower loops 28 which extend upwardly from the front section 16 of the box inserted through the wider loops 26 which project forwardly from the top section 10 of the box. Figure 6 shows one of the fasteners after the loop 28 has been pulled downwardly and pressed against the outer surface of the front section 16 ofthe box to secure the two loops together and maintain the box in closed position;

The box illustrated in Figure 2 is of the All-Bound type wherein the box ends 32 are secured to the box sides by loop fasteners 34 formed at the ends of binding wires 36 stapled to the box ends, the loop fasteners 34 being inserted through notches 20a in the cleats 20 of the front and back sections 16 and 12 of the box and bent around the corners of the box to secure the box' in assembled relation. These loop fasteners are formed like the loop fasteners 26 and 28, being secured by crimps and by staples driven astride the binding wires in front of the crimps. accordance with the present invention may be used on various box parts wherever loop fasteners are used to secure adjacent box parts together in the assembled box.

These fasteners may be disengaged and reengaged repeatedly without destroying them or reducing their effectiveness and without potential damage to the contents of the box or injury to personnel handling the box. The combination of crimping and stapling embodied in the present fasteners has been found to give them exceptional pull-out resistance. the wire is anchored at two spaced points, the loop is fixed against lateral movement in the plane of the loop to a degree not possible with previous constructions. This enables the fasteners strongly to resist longitudinal shift- This illustrates how fasteners constructed in over staple ends (in lieu of the one clinched-over prong of' conventional rock fastener constructions) the possibility of failure due to tearing of the side material is appreciably reduced, an attribute of the present fastener which particularly recommends it for use with relatively thin or fragile side material.

Although each of the loop fasteners shown and described herein is provided with two crimps and two staples, modified forms of loop fasteners embodying the same general principle but having more or less than this number of crirnps and staples have been found satisfactory for many applications. Thus, while it will be appreciated that the aforementioned and other desirable objects have been achieved by the particular embodiment of the invention disclosed herein, it should be emphasized that this embodiment is intended as merely illustrative and not as restrictive of the invention.

I claim:

In awirebound box part of the type having a binding wire stapled thereto, an improved loop fastener comprising a length of said binding wire extending from an edge of said box part and having its end portion bent back over said box part to form an interengageable loop, a crimp in said end portion, said crimp extending outwardly from the surface of said box in the general shape of a shallow U with its open end facing the surface of said box part and with the portions of the binding wire on 1 either side of said crimp engaging the surfacevof said box part, and a staple driven astride said binding wire closely adjacent the side of said crimp nearer said edge of said box part, with the two legs of said staple being driven through said box part and clinched over against its under-surface to secure said loop fastener.

Moreover, since the end portion of ing of the two adjacent box sections relative to one another and gives unusual strength and rigidity to the box. And, since the wire end is anchored by means of four clinched- References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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