A NEW OR IMPROVED CRINOLINE FASTENER
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Enoch Dance, of the firm of Abbatt and Dance, of
Bolton, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturers, for the Invention
of "A NEW OR IMPROVED CRINOLINE FASTENER."
Sealed the 20th December 1861, and dated the 24th June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Enoch Dance at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th June 1861.
I, ENOCH DANCE, of the firm of Abbatt and Dance, of Bolton, in the County
of Lancaster, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "A NEW OR IMPROVED CRINOLINE FASTENER," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a crinoline fastener made from sheet metal as
herein-after explained, the said fastener being used for fastening or connecting
the ends of the strips or pieces of cane or other material so as to form crinoline
hoops, and disconnecting the said ends of the hoops from the fastener when'
required.
In carrying my Invention into effect I cut from sheet steel a nearly square
blank, and pierce it at opposite points in the middle of the blank and near the
edges of its shorter sides with rectangular piercings, the said piercings forming
tongues, the free ends of which tongues face each other. The free ends of the

page_text: tongues are serrated or have teeth on their edges. The longer sides of the blank
being bent in opposite directions, upon the middle part of the said blank a flat
tube is produced, the edges of which do not quite touch each other. The ends
of the serrated tongues are bent into the interior of the tube or fastener.
In connecting together the ends of the cane or other material so as to form
a hoop, the said ends are inserted in the open ends of the fastener respectively
until they raise and pass the bent and serrated ends of the tongues in the
said fastener. By the elasticity of the tongues their serrated ends engage in
the crinoline and fasten the two ends together and form a hoop. By raising
the elastic tongues from the crinoline the ends of the said crinoline can be
released from the fastener and separated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Enoch Dance in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st
December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ENOCH
DANCE, of the firm of Abbatt and Dance, of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster,
Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Enoch Dance, Her special licence that I, the said Enoch Dance,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Enoch Dance, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED CRINOLINE
FASTENER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Enoch Dance,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Enoch Dance, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of a crinoline fastener made from sheet metal
essentially in the manner herein-after described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawing, the said fastener being for the purpose of connecting the ends
of the strips or pieces of cane or steel or other material so as to form crinoline
hoops, the said fastener also permitting the said ends of the crinoline hoops
being disconnected from the fastener when required.
My new or improved crinoline fastener consists essentially of a flat metallic
tube, in the interior of which the ends of the crinoline hoop are held by means
of teeth or serrations situated within the said tube. I prefer to make my new
or improved crinoline fastener of sheet steel, but I do not limit myself thereto
as iron, brass, or other hard sheet metal or alloy may be employed.
In carrying my Invention into effect I cut a rectangular blank from the
sheet steel or metal, one of the said blanks is represented in plan, and edge
view in Figure 1 of the Drawing and marked a. I pierce the said blank a,
Figure 1, in the manner represented in Figure 2, that is to say, I make two
openings or piercings b, b, therein; the position in the blank of the said
openings or piercings will be readily understood by an examination of the said
Figure 2. The said piercings b, b, form in the blank the two tongues c, c,
the free ends of which tongues are serrated or have teeth on their edges.
The blank when made of steel is next softened or annealed. The blank is
now bent by means of a press and pressing tools, in the manner represented
in Figure 3. The sides d, d, of the blank are bent into planes nearly at right
angles to that part of the blank in which the serrated tongues c, c, are situated
so as to give the said blank a trough-like form. The blank in this stage of
its manufacture is represented in Figure 3, e being an end elevation, fa side
elevation, g a plan, and h a transverse section on the line 2. The partially
formed fastener Figure 3 is next bent by a press and pressing tools in the
manner represented in Figure 4, that is, the sides d, d, of the blank are pressed
or bent towards each other as best seen in the end view marked i of Figure 4,
in which Figure 4 the side elevation of the fastening, in this stage of its
manufacture, is marked k, the plan of its under side is marked and the plan
of its upper side is marked m. The partially formed fastener is again operated
upon so as to bend the sides d, d, parallel with that side of the fastener in
which the serrated tongues c, c, are situated; and thereby to produce a flat

page_text: open jointed tube, that is, a tube the edges of which do not quite touch each
other. The fastener in this stage of its manufacture is represented in Figure 5,
in which Figure the end elevation is marked n, the side elevation is marked o,
the longitudinal section is marked p, and the plan of under side is marked q.
The flat tube-like fastener is finally finished by bending the ends of the serrated
tongues c, c, into the interior of the tube or fastener, as illustrated in Figure 6,
in which Figure the end elevation of the finished fastener is marked r, the
longitudinal section is marked s, and the plan of the upper side is marked t.
When the fastener is made of steel it is next hardened and tempered.
Figure 7 represents in longitudinal section the finished fastener having the ends
of a piece of crinoline fastened therein. In connecting together the ends u, u,
of the cane, steel, or other crinoline material, so as to form a hoop, the said
ends are inserted into the open ends of the fastener respectively until they
raise and pass under the bent and serrated ends of the tongues c, c, in the said
fastener. When the ends of the crinoline have passed the tongues c, c, the
serrated ends of the said lifted tongues c, c, are by the elasticity of the said
tongues pressed against and made to engage in the ends of the crinoline,
and thereby to securely fasten the two ends together, and form a crinoline
hoop. By raising the elastic tongues c, c, by inserting a knife or other suitable
instrument in the side slots of the piercings the tongues can be raised
and the ends u, u, of the crinoline released from the fastener and separated.
When the material of which the crinoline hoop is made is not flat, the ends
of the crinoline hoop are made flat before inserting them into the fastener.
The tools which I employ for cutting out and piercing the blank, as well as
the bending or pressing tools by which the said blank is made into the fastener,
are worked in a press. The said press and tools are similar in construction
and action to those ordinarily used for cutting out, piercing, and bending or
pressing metals for other purposes, such as the manufacture of the tips or
metallic parts of penholders, and I therefore do not consider a description of
the said press and tools necessary. Crinoline fasteners made according to my
Invention being flat effect the junction of the ends of the crinoline hoop with
great neatness, the said hoop having none of the unsightliness or bulkiness at
its junction which is presented by crinoline hoops fastened by the ordinary
crinoline fasteners.
Although I have described the manner by which I prefer to carry my Inven-
tion into effect, yet I do not limit myself to the precise details described and
represented, as the details may be varied without departing from the nature
of my Invention. I claim as my Invention a new or improved crinoline

page_text: fastener constructed essentially in the manner herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, a crinoline fastener
consisting of a flat tubular body in conjunction with teeth or serrations, which
said teeth or serrations hold the ends of the crinoline hoop within the said flat
tubular body, and thereby fasten the said ends of the crinoline hoop together.
In witness whereof, I, the said Enoch Dance, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twentieth day of December in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
ENOCH DANCE. (L.S.)