IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR BAGS, PURSES, AND SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ludwig Pohl, of the Firm of Edward Posen and
Company, of Offenbach, in Germany, Manufacturers, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR BAGS, PURSES, AND SIMILAR PURPOSES."
Sealed the 4th January 1860, and dated the 31st October 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ludwig Pohl at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 31st October
1859.
I, LUDWIG POHL, of the Firm of Edward Posen and Company, of Offenbach,
in Germany, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR BAGS, PURSES, AND SIMILAR PURPOSES,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention has for object the more convenient operating of fastenings
for bags, purses, and similar purposes. Hitherto, in known constructions of
fastenings, pressure for opening them has been exerted on an appliance at
the top or edge, or generally in a different direction from that in which the
mouth or frame of the article opens, whereas, according to my Invention, I
construct fastenings in such manner that the opening may be effected by
applying pressure in the same direction as that in which the bag or other
article opens, thereby considerably facilitating the operating of the fastening.

page_text: In one arrangement, which is the one preferred for carrying the Invention
into effect, the opening is effected by exerting pressure on a lever arm or
piece, and thereby causing it to work on a pin or centre, by which action it
moves a loop or eye, and releases it from a hook or catch opposite. When
pressure is removed from the lever, a spring restores it to place, allowing book
and loop to re-engage. The lever or arm may be conveniently worked by
pressing on a button attached to it, and slightly protruding from the front or
back of the frame.
This arrangement may, however, be modified to allow of the lever or arm
being actuated otherwise. Of course I do not restrict myself to the foregoing
details. A lock may be combined with the fastening for locking the lever
or arm.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Ludwig Pobl in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th
April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LUDWIG
POHL, of the Firm of Edward Posen and Company, of Offenbach, in Germany,
Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Ludwig Pohl, Her special licence that I, the said Ludwig Pohl,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Ludwig
Pohl, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR
BAGS, PURSES, AND SIMILAR PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Ludwig Pohl, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in-
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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

page_text: filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said .Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Ludwig Pohl, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
i
My Invention has for object the construction of fastenings for bags, purses,
and similar purposes, in such manner that the fastenings may be more
conveniently operated. Hitherto, in known constructions of fastenings for
such purposes, pressure for opening them has been exerted on an appliance on
the top or edge, or generally in a different direction from that in which that
side of the frame (of the article) on which is the fastening, opens, whereas
according to my Invention I construct fastenings in such manner that the
opening may be effected by applying pressure in the same direction as that in
which the bag or other article opens, that is to say, in a direction transverse
to the plane of the frame, or perpendicular to it, supposing the plane lying
horizontally, thereby considerably facilitating the operating of the fastening.
In one arrangement, which is that preferred for carrying the Invention into
effect, the opening is performed by exerting pressure on a lever arm or piece,
and thereby causing it to work on a pin or centre, by which action it moves a
loop or eye, and releases it from a hook or catch opposite. When pressure is
removed from the lever a spring restores it to place, allowing hook and loop.
to re-engage. The lever or arm may be conveniently worked by pressing on
a button attached to it, and slightly protruding from the back or front of the
frame.
This arrangement may, however, be modified to allow of the lever or arm
being actuated otherwise. Of course, I do not restrict myself to the foregoing
details. A lock may be combined with the fastening for "locking" the lever
or arm.
The accompanying Drawings represent two modifications of fastenings on the
foregoing plan, and particularly exemplify the mode in which my Invention
may be carried into effect. Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, relate to the first modi-
fication. In Figure 1 the improved fastening is represented as applied to a
travelling bag; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the fastening, with the front
of the box or casing A removed to exhibit the internal parts; Figure 3,
transverse vertical section of Figure 2 (through the line x, x,); Figures 2, 3,
and 4 are on an enlarged scale. A is a metal box or cap encasing the internal

page_text: works of the fastening and connected to the frame of the bag. It has an
orifice in front to receive a button knob or convex cap a, which slightly
projects therefrom, and is connected to a lever or arm 6 placed within the
box A, and centered on a wire or pin c, held in projections d, d, on the inside
surface of the back of the box; Figure 4 is a detached view of the button a
and lever b; the lower extremity b₁ of the lever is bevilled or cut at an angle,
and passes through a slot in the top of the frame B; e is a metal eye below
the lower surface of the top of the frame B, to which it is connected by its
stem or shank e', which forms a spring, and f is a hook or catch attached on
the opposite side of the bag frame. When the eye e engages the hook f, the
bag is fastened. The knob a when pressed upon, that is to say, pressed
inward, causes the lever to work on its centre c, and to throw its end b¹ in
a forward direction, assuming the position shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 3, so
that it presses upon the spring or shank e', which it thus forces down, and
disengages the eye e from the hook f, and so allows the bag to be opened.
When pressure is removed from the button a, the spring e' acts, whereby the
lever bis returned to its original position, its end 6' clearing the shank e¹, and
ceasing to exert pressure thereon, and the eye e being restored by the spring el.
to its original or raised position re-engages the hook f (supposing the lips of
the frame placed together), and fastens the bag; g is a key-hole in the front of
the box A for admitting a key to work a lock h fitted therein, and combined
with the lever b in such manner that, by turning the key, the bolt of the lock
is shot behind the lever, and retains the latter in its vertical or closing position,
and so locks the bag, that is to say, prevents it being opened by pressing on
the button a.
Figures 5, 6, and 7 relate to the second modification; Figure 5 is a front
elevation in which the working parts are mostly concealed by the box A;
Figure 6, back elevation with the back of the box A removed, shewing a
plate A fitted between the front and back of the box, leaving a certain space
between it and them for parts to work in; Figure 7, transverse section
through the line y, y, of Figure 6. a is a knob or button fitting into an
orifice cut in the front of the box, but protruding a little therefrom; it is held
in place by a screw or stud i; thus the knob is solid,.except that it has a small
orifice a¹ formed in it on its inner face, extending partially through it in the
direction of its axis, into which orifice the shank of the screw i
passes, first
passing through an orifice in the plate A' opposite to the orifice a', and so
holds the knob, but allows it the necessary to-and-fro play while steadying it,
or preventing it from deviating from the horizontal line when pressed upon;.

page_text: b, b, are two bell-crank levers centered at b² in a projection b in the box, and
connected at their lowest angles by a wire or pin c in the space between the
front of the box and the plate A2; they are also connected at their angles b¹,.b,
by another wire or pin d, which carries an arm hook or bolt e, the wire d
passing through orifices in the branches e', e¹, in which e terminates at top;
k is a spring held on a stud ³, and bearing against an abutment ³ on the
plate A2, it enters a notch on the piece e. When the knob a is pressed upon
(that is to say, pressed inward,) the back thereof comes in contact with the
wire c, presses against it, and causes the bell-crank levers to work on their
centres, and raise their angles ', ', which lift with them the wire d, and
theuce the arm or bolt e, which the latter carries, thus lifting the lower end of
the arm or bolt e clear from a hook, staple, or catch on the opposite side
of the bag frame; by these means the bag is unfastened. When pressure is
removed from the knob the wire c ceases to be pressed upon, and the spring k
acts, causing the bell-crank levers b, b, to return to their original position and
their angles 61, the wire c, and piece e to drop, the latter re-entering the hook
in which it is retained by the spring k, whereby the bag is fastened; a lock
may be fitted in the space between the front box plate and the plate A³, so
that by turning a key introduced through the hole g, the piece e is retained in
the fastening position, the tumbler or bolt of the lock coming behind the
back of the knob a, and so resisting the exertion of pressure thereon.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that the distinctive feature
thereof consists as herein set forth in constructing fastenings for bags, purses,
and similar purposes, in such manner that the opening of the same may be
effected by applying pressure in a direction transverse to the plane of the
frame, or perpendicular to it supposing it lying horizontally; and though I
have herein particularly described and represented in the Drawings two modi-
fications for carrying the Invention into practical effect, I do not restrict or
confine myself to the details thereof, as the same may be varied, provided the
general character of the Invention as herein set forth be retained, and I
declare that I claim as of my said Invention,-
Constructing fastenings for bags, purses, and similar purposes, in such
manner that the opening thereof may be effected by applying pressure in the
direction herein-before explained.
And I specially claim the modes of carrying the Invention into effect
herein particularly described, that is to say, the arrangement and combination
of parts forming the fastening represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the

page_text: Drawings, and herein-before described; and the arrangement and combi-
nation of parts forming the fastening represented in Figures 5, 6, and 7 of the
Drawings, and herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ludwig Pohl, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year One thou-
sand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
M. HENRY, Patent Agent,
84, Fleet Street, London.
LUDWIG POHL. (L.S.)