US573829A - Fastener or clasp for articles of apparel - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

C. E. MIXER 8a C. L. LEWIS. FASTBNER 0R G LASP FOR ARTICLES OP APPAREL.

No. 573,829. Patented Dec. 22, 1896.

` f. ceed to describe in detail and pointout with UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE. i

V CHARLES E. MIXER AND CAROLINE LEVIS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS;

FASTENER OR CLASP FOR ARTICLESV OF APPAREL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 573,829, dated December 22, 1896..

Application led April 1'7, 1896. Serial No. 587,902. (No model.)

fo cir/ZZ whom, it mctz/ concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES E. MIXER and CAROLINE L. LEWIS, of Boston, in the county of Suifolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fasteners or Olasps for Articles of Apparel, of which the following is a description sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains or with which it is most nearly connected to make and use the same. y

This invention has relation generally to fas teners or clasps for articles of apparel; and it has for its object the provision of a fastener or clasp which shall be a perfect substitute for the hook-and-eye form of fastener and have advantagesl over and fields of use beyond the hook and eye.

To these ends the invention consists of a fastener or clasp comprising in its construction two membersLeach of which may be formed from a piece of sheet metal, one member consisting of a base-plate provided at the sides ofits forward end with upturned guidingears and a part bent over upon the baseplate with its free end terminating `between the said ears and bent into the form of a catch, and the other member also consisting of a plate of metal having the inner end doubled or bentjinto the form of a latch adapted to engage the catch of the other member, the construction beingsuch that the latch maybe guided by the ears and slipped under i and engaged bythe catch, so as to hold the members in clasped or connected position when draft is made upon' the members in opposite direction, but so that when the connected members are buckled or bent back the catch will be raised or sprungupward andthe latch released, all as we will now proparticularity in the appended claim.

Reference is to be had to the annexed drawings, and to the letters marked thereon, forming a part of this specification, the same letters designating the same parts or features, as the case may be, .whereverthey occur. i

Of the drawings, `ligure l is a rear View of a garment or two piecesof fabric having the fastener or clasp thereto, the whole beingrepresented on an enlarged scale. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of thefabric `or garment on:

the line 2 2, showing the invention in side elevation. Fig. 3 is 'a sectional View of the fabric and invention, taken on the line '-5 3 `of Fig. l, `showing the fastener in clasped or f in which they will be` on the instant of being rIheinvention consists of two members, one

of which we have for conveniences sake termed the catch member, and the other the latch member. The former or catch `member is composed, as herein shown, of a piece of sheet metal bentupon itself, so as form a base-plate a and a spring catch part` bl .A The free end of the latter vpart is bent,

asshown, so as to constitute acatch c, preflerably frounded on` its outer surface, for a purpose to be presently eXplained.

The catch c is thus an to4 itself.

The plate a and the spring-catch part b are substantially parallel, except that the end of the latter is first bent out before it is doufbled upon itself, as shown at c, so as to form ,an angular recess. `offset or bead formed of the end of the part `b bent double at substantially a right angle The base part c has on the sidesof `its inner end two lipsor ears CZ, turned upward at right angles to the base ot, in order to guide thelatch memberiin'its movements, as Will be presently described. L f

`Th base-plate ot is provided at its inner end and extending outward from the sides thereof` with ears e, which are perforated, as at f, for the purpose of forming eyes through which thread may be sewed to attach the catch member to a garment, as is clearly shown in Fig. '1. The inner end of the base- Aplate a mayalso be provided with a hole or eye g for theyreception of sewing-threads or for a' similar purpose, as is indicated in Figs. Sandri. i

The latch member consists of a base-plate h, the inner end of which is bent over and down in triangular or wedge-shaped form, so as to provide a latch or catch t' to engage IOC the catchof the part bwvhen the latch is slipped under the said part, as shown. outer part ofthezlatch which engages the The f catch is curved so as to adapt it to more easily slide thereunder and be disengaged therefrom. The outer part of the base-plate h is provided with eyes jfer the purpose of receiving therethrough sewing-threads to attach the said latch member to the opposite part of a garment, as is most fully shown in Fig. l.

In use one member will be attached to one part or piece of a garment or article of apparel and the other member. to another part or piece, and in order to connect the clasps the latch member h will be thrust under the part b of the catch memberand be engaged by the catch c of said member by reason of the resilient proprieties of the said part Y), and as is most clearly illustrated in Fig. 3. In this position the members will not be disengaged by any considerable draft that may be put upon the parts of the garment to which the members are attached -With a tendency to pull them apart.

To disengage or unclasp the members, it will be necessary only to place a inger of the hand in front of the garment to which the parts are attached and bend or buckle the same inward, as it were, to a central point, so as to spring the plate or part b outward and allow the catch part t' to slip past or from under the catch c, as is most clearly illustrated in Fig. 4.

It will be observed that there is no projection or extension of the catch part l) beyond the catch c, so as to cause an accidental disengagement of the parts or so as to in any wise interfere with the operation of the clasp or to render the same in any degree uncomfortable to the wearer.

The ears d may in some instances be dispensed with, though they serve as a guide for the entry of the latch member 71. under the catch c of the catch member, and if need be the outer ends of the ears d may be made to dare outwardly, so as to more readily engage the latch with the catch.

It will be understood that in the drawings the parts are represented on an enlarged scale7 and that where the fastener or clasp is to take the place of a hook and eye it may be made quite small, though where it maybe employed as a glove-fastener, a garment-supporter, or as a clasp for the waistband of trousers, or any similar case, it may be made on a much larger scale. Furthermore, it will be understood that the fastening-eye g may be dispensed with, or it may be differently located or disposed, as may also the other eyes of the two members.

In all cases the part b of the latch member will be made resilient and the catches c and t' be so constructed as that they may not hold rigidly one upon the other, but be slipped one past the other frictionally after they have been separated to a considerable extent.

Instead of providing the members with thread eyes, as shown and described, fastening-prods may be struck up from the parts for the purpose of attaching the members to a fabric, much in the same manner as paperfastenings are used to connect several sheets of paper.

IIaving thus explained the nature of the invention and described a Way of constructing and using the same, though without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modes of its use, it is declared that what is claimed is- A fastener or clasp comprising in its construction two members, each formed from a pieceof sheet metal, one member consisting of a base-plate provided at the sides of its forward ends with upturned guiding and hold ing ears d and a part bent over upon itself, as at Y), to form a catch, and the other member also consisting of a plate of metal adapted to be passed between the said ears and having its inner end made into the form of a catch c, the construction andarran gement of the parts being such that the latch member may be guided by the ears d and slipped under and engaged by the catch to hold the members in. clasped position, but enable the same to be buckled or bent back to raise the latch upward and release the member from clasped position, as set forth.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 6th day of March, A. D. 1896.

CHARLES E. MIXER. CAROLINE L. LEXVI'S. lVitnesses:

ARTHUR W. CRossLEY, C. G. STECHER.

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