A NEW OR IMPROVED BUCKLE OR TIE FOR FASTENING HOOPS OR BANDS OF METAL AROUND BALES br COTTON AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Keen, of Edgbaston, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
BUCKLE OR TIE FOR FASTENING HOOPS OR BANDS OF METAL AROUND BALES
br COTTON AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES." -A communication from
abroad by John S. Wallis, of New Orleans, United States of
America.
Sealed the 4th March 1870, and dated the 2nd October 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur Keen at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd October 1869.
I, ARTHUR KEEN, of Edgbaston, in the County of Warwick, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR
IMPROVED BUCKLE OR THE FOR FASTENING HOOPS OR BANDS OF METAL.AROUND
BALES OF COTTON, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
The object of the said Invention is to produce a buckle or tie for
fastening hoops or bands of metal around bales of cotton, and for other
like purposes, without vertical or oblique projections on its faces, and

page_text: which shall possess the requisite strength to resist the tension to which
in use it is exposed, and besides being convenient in use or application
shall afford great facility in obtaining equal tension in the several bands
and consequent symmetry and regularity of figure in the bale itself. The
said buckle or tie consists of a rectangular (or other shaped) plate of
metal cut from strips of iron of a wedge shape in cross section. The
'said plate is consequently thick at one edge and tapers to the opposite or
'thin edge. In the taper plate two parallel rectangular slots are cut of a
size and shape proper to receive the ends of the hoop or band of metal
to be fastened. The ends of the slots extend from near the thin edge
of the plate towards the thick edge, but the said slots are not
symetrically situated in the plate as they are nearer the thin edge than
the thick edge, and are also nearer one end of the said plate than the
other end, thus leaving greater breadth of plate between one slot
and the end of the plate than between the other slot and the end of the
plate. In the thin edge of the plate a cleft or opening is made into the
slot, between which and the end of the plate there is the greatest breadth
of metal, the said breadth of metal compensating for the diminished
strength caused by making the said cleft or opening. The greater
thickness of the plate at the edge opposite to that at which the cleft is
made also compensates for the diminished strength caused by making
the said cleft. The plate with its slots and cleft may be made or cut at
one operation from the taper strips of iron herein-before referred to.
The ends of the hoop or band by which the bale is bound are fastened to
the two slots described, one end of the hoop being fastened by being
passed through the closed slot and doubled or folded, and the other end
after having been doubled or folded the proper length is passed through
the cleft or opening into the other slot. By the last end of the band
being slipped into its slot edgeways through the cleft all the slack of the
band can be taken up, and an equal length and tension secured in all the
bands of the bale, thereby producing a symmetrical and regular form
in the bale itself.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Arthur Keen in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 9th March 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ARTHUR
KEEN, of Edgbaston, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Arthur Keen, Her special licence
that I, the said Arthur Keen, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Arthur Keen, 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;
BUCKLE OR TIE FOR FASTENING HOOPS OR BANDS OF METAL AROUND BALES OF
COTTON, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," a communication to me from abroad
by John S. Wallis, of New Orleans, United States of America, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Arthur Keen, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Arthur Keen, 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 :-
The object of the said Invention is to produce a buckle or tie for
fastening hoops or bands of metal around bales of cotton, and for other
like purposes, without vertical or oblique projections on its faces, and.
which shall possess the requisite strength to resist the tension to which

page_text: in use it is exposed, and besides being convenient in use or application
shall afford great facility in obtaining equal tension in the several bands
and consequent symmetry and regularity in the bale itself. The said
buckle or tie consists of a rectangular (or other shaped) plate of metal
cut from strips of iron of a wedge shape in cross section. The said
plate is consequently thick at one edge and tapers to the opposite or
thin edge. In the taper plate two parallel rectangular slots are cut of
'a size and shape proper to receive the ends of the hoop or band of metal
to be fastened. The ends of the slots extend from near the thin edge of
the plate towards the thick edge, but the said slots are not symmetrically
situated in the plate as they are nearer the thin edge than the thick
edge, and are also nearer one end of the plate than the other end, thus
leaving greater breadth of plate between one slot and the end of the
plate than between the other slot and the other end of the plate. In
the thin edge of the plate a cleft or opening is made into the slot,
between which and the end of the plate there is the greatest breadth of
metal, the said breadth of metal compensating for the diminished
strength caused by making the said cleft or opening, The greater
thickness of the plate at the edge opposite to that at which the cleft is
made also compensates for the diminished strength caused by making
the said cleft. The plate with its slots and cleft may be made or cut at
one operation from the taper strips of iron herein-before referred to.
The ends of the hoop or band by which the bale is bound are fastened
to the two slots described, one end of the hoop being fastened by being
passed through the closed slot and doubled or folded, and the other end
after having been doubled or folded the proper length is passed through
the cleft or opening into the other slot. By the last end of the band
being slipped into its slot edgways through the cleft all the slack of
the band can be taken up, and an equal length and tension secured in
all the bands of the hale, thereby producing a symmetrical and regular
form in the bale itself.
Having explained the nature of the said Invention I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a buckle or tie constructed according
to this Tnvention the said buckle on tie haine nonmesented in
that

page_text: view of the buckle or tie separately; and Figure 3 is an edge view of
the same.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in
each Figure.
The plate of iron or other metal forming the bale buckle or tie is
marked a, the said plate being cut from strips of a wedge shape in cross
section; the wedge shape of the plate is seen in Figures 1 and 3. In
the said plate two slots b, b³, are made, a cleft or opening c being made
in the slot . The slots b, b², serve the purpose of holding the ends d, e,
of the hoop or band to be fastened in the position represented in
Figure 1, while the cleft c provides a way for the introduction of the
last end of the band that is fastened to the buckle or tie after the band
is put around the bale. The cleft c is just wide enough to permit the
end e of the band (after the proper length of the band has been ascer-
tained, and its end has been bent or folded over so as to form a hook or
loop, as shown in Figure 1) to be slipped edgewise through the said
cleft c into the slot 6, into which the said cleft opens. As the hooked
or looped end of the band can be slipped into the buckle or tie edgewise
all the slack can easily be taken up, and hence every band on the bale
may be made precisely of the same length, and each have on it the same
amount of tension. When the bale is withdrawn from the compressing
machine it will retain the regular form given to it therein so long as
the bands hold, and will therefore be better adapted to be conveniently
handled and stowed either on vessels for transportation or in ware-
houses. The other end of the band marked & may be attached, as
represented in Figure 1, at the manufactory, or at any time afterwards
as convenience may dictate or circumstances require. By an examina-
tion of the Drawing it will be seen that the slots b, b, of the buckle or
tie a extend from the thin edge a³ of the said buckle or tie towards the
thick edge a³, but the said slots are not symmetrically situated in the
plate, as they are nearer the thin edge a³ than the thick edge a³, and are
also nearer one end of the plate than the other end, thus leaving greater
breadth of plate between the slot 6* having the cleft c cut in it, and
the end at of the plate than between the other slot 6 and the other end a³
of the plate. It will also be seen that the cleft or opening c of the
5 slot b' is made in the thin edge a³ of the plate, between which cleft and
the end a of the plate there is the greatest breadth of metal, the said
breadth of metal compensating for the diminished strength caused by
making the said cleft. The greater thickness of the plate a at tho

page_text: edge a³ opposite to that at which the cleft c is made also in part
compensates for the diminished strength. caused by making the said
cleft c.
Although I have represented in the accompanying Drawing a bale
buckle or tie having a rectangular form, yet I do not limit myself
thereto, as the external configuration of the said buckle or tie may be
varied; nor do I limit myself to the particular proportions represented,
as they also may be varied within considerable limits without affecting
the efficiency of the buckle or tie; nor do I limit myself to the. exact
section of iron represented in Figure 1, as other sections of iron thicker
on one edge than on the other edge may be employed; for example,
the sections of iron represented in Figure 4 may be employed in place of
that represented in Figure 3.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
claim as the said Invention the new or improved buckle or tie for
fastening hoops or bands of metal around bales of cotton, and for other
like purposes, herein-before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawing, that is to say, a buckle or tie consisting of a plate
of iron or other metal thicker on one edge than on the other edge, the
said plate being without projections on its faces, and having an open
and a closed slot made in it for attaching the two ends of the metal hoop
or band, the said slots being arranged in the plate substantially as
described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Keen, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
W. F. JONES,
Smethwick.
ARTHUR KEEN. (L.s.)