IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY PINS AND HOOKS TO BE USED EITHER IN COMBINATION OR SEPARATELY FOR SUSPENDING CURTAINS AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Barlow, of Dalston, in the County of Middlesex,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY PINS AND HOOKS TO BE
USED EITHER IN COMBINATION OR SEPARATELY FOR SUSPENDING CURTAINS
AND OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 27th June 1879, and dated the 2nd January 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Barlow at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd January 1879.
ROBERT BARLOW, of Dalston, in the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SAFETY PINS AND HOOKS TO BE USED EITHER IN COMBINATION OR SEPARATELY
FOR SUSPENDING CURTAINS AND OTHER PURPOSES."
My Invention consists in an improved safety pin and hook, the former to be
used either for purposes of dress, as usual, or in combination or not with the latter,
for attaching curtains to the runners or rings by which they are generally hung
from cornices and cornice poles.
The improved safety pin is made of bent wire as usual, but instead of being of
the straight form, i.e., two parallel limbs with a spring bow or coil at one end, it is
made of triangular form, the spring bow or coil being at the vertex of the triangle,
of which the pin proper (or sharp pointed limb) is the base. The point of this pin
is held by a catch on the other limb, as usual, provided with a guard when the
safety pin is to be used for purposes of dress, although this guard is not required
for curtains.
The advantages of this improved form of safety pin, whether used for dress or
for curtains, are that when passed through a thick or heavy fabric the limbs of the
pin are not bulged outwards; the point of the pin proper does not pull out of the
catch or guard; the fabric cannot get inserted and caught between the coils of
the spring bow, and so spread and weaken it; the safety pin is more easily held in
the hand when being inserted in the fabric, and it is cheaper to make. This safety
pin, when used for suspending curtains, may be connected directly with the curtain
rings when these are made of wire of sufficiently small section to admit of being
passed between the coils of the spring bow without spreading them too much in
order to connect the safety pin to the ring. In other cases a hook of peculiar form
is used to connect the safety pin with the eye of the cornice ring or runner as the
case may be. This hook consists of a straight stem bent inwards at one end to form
a loop or eye, which engages with the bow of the safety pin. The head of the hook

page_text: is bent to a curve of small radius, that is to say, large enough only to receive the
eye of the ring or runner, and the point of the hook is considerably longer than
the stem, and is curved outwards to facilitate its insertion through the eye of the
ring or runner. This curved point lies close against the loop on the end of the stem
(by which the hook is attached to the safety pin, as above described) to prevent the
hook becoming detached from the eye of the ring or runner,
and the necessary
spring or flexibility of this curved point of the hook is obtained by giving it an
outward bulge or curve between the head of the hook and the point where it
approaches the said loop.
The hook need not of necessity be employed in combination with the safety pin,
but may be used in place of the ordinary curtain hook.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Robert Barlow in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd July
1879.
ROBERT BARLOW, of Dalston, in the County of Middlesex. IMPROVEMENTS IN
SAFETY PINS AND HOOKS TO BE USED EITHER IN COMBINATION OR SEPARATELY
FOR SUSPENDING CURTAINS AND OTHER PURPOSES."
My Invention consists in an improved safety pin and hook, the former to be
used either for purposes of dress, as usual, or in combination or not with the latter
or any other form of hook for attaching curtains to the runners or rings by which
they are generally hung from cornices and cornice poles.
The improved safety pin is made of brass or other wire, as usual, but instead of
being of the ordinary straight form, ż.c., two parallel limbs with a spring bow or
coil at one end, it is made of triangular, or more correctly speaking, trilateral form,
the spring bow or coil being turned inwards and situated at the vertex of the
triangle of which the pin proper (or sharp pointed limb) is the base. The point of
this pin is held by a catch on the other limb, as usual, provided with a guard when
the safety pin is to be used for the purposes of dress, although this guard is not
required for curtains.
The advantages of this improved form of safety pin, whether used for dress or for
suspending curtains or other articles, are, that when passed through a thick or
heavy fabric the limbs of the pin are not bulged or bent, the point of the pin proper
does not pull out of the catch or guard, but on the contrary an extra strain causes
the pin to slide more into the catch; the fabric cannot get inserted and caught
between the coils of the spring bow, and so spread and weaken it; the safety pin
is more easily held in the hand when being inserted in the fabric.
This safety pin, when used for suspending curtains, may be connected directly
with the curtain rings when these are made of wire of sufficiently small section to
admit of being passed between the coils of the spring bow (without spreading them
too much) in order to connect the safety pin to the ring. In other cases a book of
peculiar form is used to connect the safety pin with the eye of the cornice ring or
runnor no the case may ha
Figure 1 represents my improved safety pin separately; Figures 2 and 3 repre-
sent two views of the safety pin combined with the improved hook for connecting
it to the curtain rings or runners, the hook being shown in perspective in Figure 2,
and in side view in Figure 3; Figuro 4 represents the safety hook attached directly
to a curtain ring. These Figures are drawn to an enlarged scale.
Referring to Figure 1 it will be seen that the safety pin is made of a single piece
of wire bent to a triangular or trilateral form, and that the coil or bow b, which
gives it the necessary elasticity, is situated at the vertex of the triangle, and serves
at once the above purpose, and as the means of attaching the safety pin to the hook
or directly to the curtain ring, as the case may be. This bow b may consist of one
or more coils or spirals, according to the elasticity required. The sharp pointed
limb or pin proper a is the base of the triangle, and is preferably rather longer than
either of the other two sides c, d, which are preferably equal to one another. The side c
terminates in a hook-shaped catch e, in which the point of the pin a is retained; or
instead of a simple catch it may be a guard of the form usually provided on safety
pins. If desired I may provide a second coil or bow b' at the angle of the pin a
and side d, as shown in Figure 5, to give the pin greater elasticity, but I do not
consider this necessary.
Referring to Figure 4, m is an ordinary curtain ring made of brass wire. It is
connected to the spring bow b of the safety pin by inserting it between the coils of
the latter in the same way that a key is put on to a split key ring.

page_text: I am aware that pins of the form shown in Figure 6 have been made, but I would
observe that the bowl is merely a means of attaching the safety pin to the curtain
hook or ring, and being turned outwards instead of inwards, as in my improved
safety pin, does not render the pin elastic.
Referring to Figures 2 and 3, it will be seen that the improved curtain-hook, by
which my safety pin is attached to the ring or runner, consists of a straight stem f
bent inwards at the extremity g to form a loop or eye which engages with the bow b
of the safety pin, as shown. The head of the hook is bent to a sharp curve h, that
is to say, large enough only to receive the eye of the curtain ring or runner. Owing
to the straight stem f, the inwardly turned loop g and the sharp bend at h, a heavy
weight has little or no tendency to drag the hook open. The point i of the hook is
considerably longer than the stem, and is curved outwards to facilitate its insertion
through the eye of the cornice ring or runner, and lies close against the loop g, as
shown, to prevent the hook becoming accidentally detached therefrom. The necessary
spring or flexibility is obtained by curving the hook outwards at 7.
Figure 7 shows two views of a similar hook intended to be attached to the
curtain by sewing like an ordinary curtain hook, instead of being attached to a
safety pin.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner of performing the
same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by the herein-
after in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1st. A safety pin of triangular or trilateral form, having an inwardly turned
bow at the vertex of the triangle, substantially as and for the purpose shown and
described.
2nd. The combination in a curtain hook of the straight stem f, the inwardly
turned loop g, and the sharp bend at h, substantially as and for the purpose herein
shown and described.
3rd. A curtain hook having an inwardly turned loop for attachment to a safety
pin or to a curtain, and to serve in conjunction with an inward bend at the point of
the hook to prevent the hook becoming detached from the curtain ring or runner,
as set forth.
4th. The combination of triangular safety pin and curtain hook of the peculiar
shape herein specified, substantially as shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Barlow, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Second day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-nine.
ROBERT BARLOW. (L.S.)