Hello justjon
Thank you for the additional information’s — for the future: Please give already all of additional information’s in the explanations of yours question itself. That prevents time consuming investigations; and could better sound results.
Yours certain apprehensions of to have a “red herring” with the word
UNECHT, struck inside of your cigarettes case. It isn’t a “red herring” for them, who have more as only a basic knowledge in markings.
Well for others it’s maybe confusing; because on same item »official assay marks« are in neighbour ship to this; why that?
Every nation who has an official »Assay Office System«, and his control mechanisms, like e.g. Austria-Hungary, France, GB, Russia (until 1917), has regulated the kind of marking of necessary components, made of non-precious material as such, be used in items made of precious material. Look here, e.g. GB »The Hallmarking Act 1973«, pages 30-31: http://www.assayofficelondon.co.uk/docs ... ng_Act.pdf In your case the non precious, but for controls maybe invisible part, is the torsion bar spring in hinges tube, between the two main flaps of holding the cigarettes.
For to could handle the cigarette case, with only one hand to be “free”, and for to could offer to the other in a gesture of elegancy a cigarette, it was necessary to build in a spring mechanism, who opens already by “one touch” only.
The main advantages of a torsion bar spring is their durability; and their slim profile in the dimension of the hinge. She needs less of the item's interior or exterior volume, in comparisions to other springs systems, like e.g. coil springs. A torsion bar spring is like as a “normal” bar, who fits the two parts of a hinge together to a functional hinge.
One end of the torsion bar spring is fixed on one end of the, let me say lower end of left hand flap; the other end is fixed on the upper end of the right hand flap.
In “open” position, the torsion bar spring is in a “relaxed” or “0” position — when be closed, the a torsion bar spring ends have moved their ends position to each other; and be laying in wait on the opportunity to could serve again, opening the flaps wide open again.
Until yet I don’t know the primary inventor of the torsion spring principle — in the first halve of 20 century has start the application of that principle in the automotive industry. Look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torsion_bar Many claims were made, to be the inventor — maybe all were smokers? But in the Patent Registry Offices were smokers as well. Kind regards silverport
P.S. Please look also here for some other general information’s:
http://www.assayofficelondon.co.uk/down ... links.html.
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