Improvements in Garment Hooks.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Feb., 1893-Accepted, 1st Apr., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Garment Hooks.
I, FRANK EMMERSON DE LONG, of 2032 North Eighteenth Street, in the City
of Philadelphia, County of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, United States of
America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
-
My invention relates to garment hooks which are made from a single piece of
wire bent to the desired form, and which are employed, in connection with eyes,
for fastening wearing apparel, and for kindred purposes; and further relates, and
is especially applicable, to that class of the same in which both the hook and the
eye are intentionally made quite wide, so as to cause them to present a broad
bearing upon or with respect to, and to prevent the puckering of, the material to
which they are applied.
In the use of these hooks, as in the use of the ordinary hooks and eyes, it is a
desideratum to provide as a part or member of the hook itself some device or means
to prevent accidental or too easy disengagement of the eye.
It is the object of my invention to secure this desirable result, and to such end
my invention comprehends a garment hook formed of a single piece of wire bent to
form a bill a shank and thread-eyes, and also bent to form and embody two
laterally disposed inwardly-compressible spring guards or eye-detaining keepers,
which are so formed and disposed relatively to the bill as to perform the function
of slightly obstructing both the engagement and the disengagement of the eye with
respect to the hook.
In the accompanying drawings I have represented preferred forms of hooks alike
embodying my improvements, and differing only from each other in the formal
arrangement of the component wires, all of the hooks represented being hooks
having considerable breadth, although it is not to be understood that my invention
is confined to wide hooks.
In the drawings,
Figure 1 is a top plan view, and Figure 2 a bottom plan view, of a hook
embodying a good form of my improvements, and of an eye engaged therewith.
Figure 3 is a right hand side view of the hook as represented in Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a view in perspective of the hook represented in Figure 1, as it
appears when applied to the edge of a fabric in the ordinary mode of applying the
hook to a garment.
Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 of the same hook, representing the
position which the parts occupy during the operation of engaging or disengaging
the eye.
Figure 6 is a top plan view, and Figure 7 a bottom plan view, of a hook
embodying my improvements in a slightly modified form, and of an eye engaged
therewith.
Figure 8 is a right hand side view of the hook as represented in Figure 6.
Figure 9 is a view in perspective of the hook represented in Figure 6, as it
appears when applied to the edge of a fabric in the ordinary mode of applying the
hook to a garment.
Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 9 of the same hook, representing the
position which the parts occupy during the operation of engaging or disengaging
the eye.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
Referring first to the hook represented in the first five figures of the drawings :
The bill of the hook is formed of single piece of wire, continuous as the bill-

page_text: side-bars, a a, in each direction from its apex or point A, conveniently in the form
shown, to the eye-engaging bends a' a', where upon each side it returns upon
itself, so to speak, and passes back to form the shank-bars a² a², which together
constitute the shank portion of the hook, and which at the rear are respectively
bent around, preferably outwardly, to form the thread-eyes a*, which may be made
either in the form represented or in any other preferred form, from which the
wires are then. carried outward and forward, outside of, in substantial parallelism
with, and approximately in the plane of said shank-bars, to form what I term the
guard-base-bars as a³, which are carried forward as far as the eye-engaging bends a¹,
and are then bent upwardly with a curvature preferably generally correspondent to
that of said bends, and are then as the counterpart spring-guard-bars at a carried
backward along the bill-bars, and laterally slightly bellied outward in opposite
correspondence, and conveniently provided, preferably but not restrictively above
the bill-bars, with in-turned bends or folds as a³, such, for instance, as those
shown.
In the application of the eye B to a hook embodying the construction above
described, the eye as represented in Figure 5 embraces both the bill proper and
the spring-guard-bars, a a, and is intentionally of such width as, in its passage
over the bellied portions of the latter, to occasion against the stress of their natural
resilience, the temporary opposite inward forcing or compression of said bars, until
it has passed over said bellied portions and seated itself in the eye-engaging bends
of the bill, with the result that it will be retained by said spring-guard-bars, which,
after its passage, assume their normal set, and can only be disengaged by the
exercise of such slight force as will again occasion opposite compression of said
spring-guard-bars.
The entire hook being, as explained, made of a continuous piece of wire, it is
immaterial what form the thread eyes assume, and they may be either central, so
to speak, or bent inward or outward, and may moreover possess any desired form.
As already explained, I prefer to dispose of the spring-guard-bars in the manner
shown in the hook represented in the first five figures, in which organization the
guard-base-bars from which said spring-guard-bars emanate are disposed outside of
the side-bars of the shank. This arrangement or relationship of the parts is not,
however, of the essence of the invention, and in Figures to 10 I have represented
a hook embodying my improvements in which the guard-base-bars are disposed
inside of the side-bars of the shank, although the spring-guard-bars occupy the
same relationship relatively to the bill that they do in the structure first described.
In the operation of a hook embodying the structure last referred to, the spring
movement of the spring-guard-bars may be considered as relegated to the thread-
eyes, whereas in the structure first described the movement has its axis of origin
in the region of the bend which connects each spring-guard-bar with its guard-
⚫ base-bar.
Such being a description of a hook made from a single piece of wire embodying
my improvements, it will be apparent that its breadth will be dependent upon the
distance apart of the side-bars of the shank, and may be varied according to the
lateral extent or breadth of bearing which it is desired that the hook shall possess.
Thus, the distance may be greater or less than that represented in the drawings.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A hook formed, substantially as set forth, of a single piece of wire bent to
form a bill, a shank, thread-eyes, and the oppositely-disposed outwardly-bellied
inwardly-compressible spring-guard-bars hereinbefore described.
2. A hook formed of a single piece of wire bent to form a shank and a bill, and
a portion of which is extended from the region of the eye-engaging bends along
the bill and is bellied laterally away from said bill, substantially as set forth.
3. A hook formed of a single piece of wire bent to form a shank and a bill,

page_text: and a portion of which is extended from the region of the eye-engaging bends
along the bill and is bellied laterally away from said bill on each side thereof,
substantially as set forth.
4. A hook formed of a single piece of wire bent to form a shank and a bill, and
portions of which wire are extended along the shank to the region of the eye-
engaging bends, are curved upward in the vicinity of said bends, are extended
along the bill, and are bellied laterally outward one, on each side of said bill,
substantially as set forth.
5. A hook formed of a single piece of wire bent to form a shank and a bill, and
portions of which wire are extended along the shank to the region of the eye-
engaging bends, are curved upward in the vicinity of said bends, are extended
along the bill, are bellied laterally outward one on each side of said bill, and are
formed with return bends, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 20th day of January A.D. 1893.
FRANK EMMERSON DE LONG.