AN IMPROVED RAIL OR HOLDER FOR COATS OR OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Clapp, of North Place, Balls Pond
Road, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
RAIL OR HOLDER FOR COATS OR OTHER ARTICLES."
Sealed the 10th November 1863, and dated the 21st May 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Clapp
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st May 1863.
I, WILLIAM HENRY CLAPP, of North Place, Balls Pond Road, in the County
5 of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "AN IMPROVED
RAIL OR HOLDER FOR COATS OR OTHER ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object an improved rail or holder for coats or other
articles. For this purpose I employ two brackets, by preference of metal,
made to resemble ordinary hat pegs, and they have at their ends notches formed
> thus ☐ or in other convenient manner. In conjunction with these brackets
a rail is employed, by preference made of wood, but with metal fittings at the
ends; these end fittings each consist of two dises or flanges, with between
them a piece shaped to fit the notches in the ends of the brackets. The outer-
most disc is not fixed, but screws on to a stem projecting from the innermost
disc. The coat or other article to be held is folded and placed over the rail,
this is then put into its place on the brackets, the ends of the brackets entering
between the flanges at each end of the rail, and as the rail at these parts fits
the ends of the brackets, it is held securely so that it cannot turn, otherwise

page_text: the coat or article might run off. The rail can be secured by screwing up the
two outer discs so as to clip the ends of the brackets, and for convenience their
screws are made right and left handed, so that to secure the rail they may
both require to be turned the same way, either towards or from the person
using the article. The rail may also be held on suitable supports formed on
the brackets near their root or where they spring from the wall or partition,
and the brackets can then be used as hat pegs. The screw discs cannot come
off the stems, as these are rivetted over to retain them.
This apparatus will be found a very convenient fitting for churches and
chapels and other places of public resort.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Clapp in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th November 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY CLAPP, of North Place, Balls Pond Road, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Henry Clapp, Her special licence that I, the said William Henry
Clapp, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Henry Clapp, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "AN IMPROVED RAIL OR
HOLDER FOR COATS OR OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Henry Clapp, 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 William Henry Clapp, do bereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is

page_text: to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object an improved rail or holder for coats or
other articles. For this purpose I employ two brackets, by preference of
metal, made to resemble ordinary hat pegs, and they have at their ends
notches formed thus or in other convenient manner. In conjunction with
these brackets a rail is employed, by preference made of wood, but with metal
fittings at the ends; these end fittings each consist of two discs or flanges, with
between them a piece shaped to fit the notches in the ends of the brackets. The
outermost disc is not fixed, but screws on to a stem projecting from the innermost
disc. The coat or other article to be held is folded and placed over the rail;
this is then put into its place on the brackets, the ends of the brackets entering
between the flanges at each end of the rail, and as the rail at these parts fits
the ends of the brackets, it is held securely so that it cannot turn, otherwise
the coat or article might run off. The rail can be secured by screwing up the
two outer discs so as to clip the ends of the brackets, and for convenience their
screws are made right and left handed, so that to secure the rail they may
both require to be turned the same way, either towards or from the person
using the article. The rail may also be held on suitable supports formed on
the brackets near their root or where they spring from the wall or partition,
and the brackets can then be used as hat pegs. The screw discs cannot come
off the stems, as these are rivetted over to retain them.
This apparatus will be found a very convenient fitting for churches and
chapels and other places of public resort.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood, I will
proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a front view, Figure 2 a plan, and Figure 3 an end view
of a rail supported by two brackets in the manner above described.
a is the rail, which is made by preference of wood; on each end of the rail
is a metal fitting b; a portion c of each of the fittings is made of a suitable
shape to fit into the notches in the brackets formed to receive them; the
brackets are made to resemble ordinary hat pegs, and the notches are formed
in their upper ends; the notches are of the shape shewn in the Drawings, so
that the bar, when placed in the notches, is unable to turn. On each side of the
portion c is a disc or flange; one disc is made in the same piece with the
portion c; this disc is seen at Figure 4, which is an end view of the rail, and

page_text: the other is carried by a nut d, that screws on to a stem that projects from the
portion c. When the rail is put into its place the two dises come one on either
side of the notch in the bracket, and the rail can be secured by screwing up
the nut d, thus clipping the end of the bracket between them. In place of the
outer disc or flange being carried by a nut as above described, so that by
screwing up the nut the end of the bracket may be nipped between the two
discs or flanges, the two flanges may both be made in one piece with the
portion c that fits the notch in the bracket. The rail, when made in this
manner, can thus at any time be lifted in or out of its notches in the brackets;
this arrangement is more especially suitable when the brackets and rail are in
such a position that the rail is not liable to be by accident lifted out of its place
in the brackets.
Figure 5 is a side view, and Figure 6 a front view of a bracket for receiving
a rail. The rail is to be held on supports e, formed on the brackets near where
they spring from the wall or partition; in this case the upper portions of the
brackets can be employed as hat pegs. In other respects the brackets are
similar to those shown at Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, and like parts are marked
with similar letters of reference..
Brackets made with notches such as are above described and shewn in the
Drawings hereunto annexed are very suitable for being used in place of the
ordinary pegs; the notch in the bracket can then be used for receiving
the tape or loop by which a coat is ordinarily suspended.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Clapp, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
317
W. H. CLATT. (L.S.)