A NEW OR IMPROVED DRESS FASTENING
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nehemiah Brough, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Machinist, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED DRESS
FASTENING."
Sealed the 28th November 1854, and dated the 19th August 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nehemiah Brough at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th August 1854.
I, NEHEMIAH BROUGH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW
OR IMPROVED DRESS FASTENING" to be as follows:-
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents my Invention in plan;
Figure 2 represents the same in section; and the other Figures represent
portions of the same. It consists of two metallic plates a, b, one of which is
connected with one of the parts of the dress to be fastened, and the other with
the other part of the said dress. In the Drawing I have represented my
Invention applied as a fastening for a garter. The plate a has an elliptical
perforation c, and the plate 6 has a head d, a little shorter and somewhat
broader than the perforation c. The plate a is shown in plan and section in
Figure 3, and the plate is represented in plan and section in Figure 4. In
using my Invention, the plate 6 (Figure 4) is raised into a position nearly

page_text: perpendicular to the plate a, Figure 3, and while in that position the head d
is introduced into the perforation c. The two plates a, b, are then brought
into the same plane as represented in the section, Figure 2, in which position
the head d cannot be withdrawn from the perforation c. By raising the
plate 6 into a position nearly perpendicular to the plate a, the two plates may be
separated. The form of the parts may be varied without departing from the
principle of my Invention. My Invention is applicable as a dress fastening
generally.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Nehemiah Brough in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th February 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NEHEMIAH
BROUGH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, hearing date the Nineteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Nehemiah
Brough, Her special licence that I, the said Nehemiah Brough, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Nehemiah Brough,
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 DRESS
FASTENING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Nehemiah
Brough, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 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 Nehemiah Brough, 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) :-
My Invention consists of a dress fastening constructed in the manner
herein-after explained, which said fastening may be used for fastening articles

page_text: of dress in general, but is more especially applicable as a belt and garter
fastening.
b
Figure 1 represents, in plan, a fastening constructed according to my
Invention. It consists of the part a, shown separately in plan in Figure 2,
and of the part b, shown separately in plan in Figure 3. I prefer to make
my fastening of metal, but I do not limit myself to the use of any par-
ticular material. The part a, Figure 2, is attached by the bar c to one end
of the belt or other article of dress to be fastened; and the part 6, Figure 8,
is attached by the bar d to the other end of the belt or other article of dress.
The part a has a circular or elliptical perforation e, and the part 6 has a head
f, of a somewhat larger size in one direction than the perforation e; the parts g
of the head fare shoulders or flanges, which engage under the edge of the
perforation e, in the manner herein-after explained. In order to fasten the
parts a, b, together, the part 6 must be raised, so as to make an angle with
the plane in which the part a is situated. The angle indicated in Figure 4 is
sufficiently great for the purpose. The part 6 when at this angle may be readily
introduced into and taken out of the part a. When the part 6 has been
introduced into the part a, as represented in Figure 4, and the said part 6 is
brought into the same plane as that in which the part a is situated, as repre-
sented in the section, Figure 5, the part 6 can no longer be withdrawn from
the part a, and the fastening is effected. The portions g of the part 6 engage
under the edge of the perforation e, and prevent the said part 6 from being
withdrawn therefrom. In order to separate the two parts of the fastening, the
part b must be raised into the position represented in Figure 4, when its head
f may be withdrawn from the perforation e. The fastening I have described
and represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, is of a form and size suitable to
be used as a belt fastening. In Figures 6 and 7 I have represented the parts
of a smaller fastening, suitable for bracelets or garters; Figure 6 representing
in plan and section one part of the said fastening, and Figure 7 representing
in plan and section the other part of the said fastening. When the part,
Figure 7, is introduced into the part, Figure 6, (being inclined thereto, as
herein-before described with reference to Figure 4,) and brought into the
same plane as that in which the part, Figure 6, is situated, the said part,
Figure 7, can no longer be withdrawn from the part, Figure 6. As the action
of the fastening, Figures 6 and 7, exactly resembles that of the fastening,
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, I do not think it necessary more minutely to describe
the said fastening, Figures 6 and 7. The form of the two parts of which my
fastening is composed may be varied without departing from the principle of
my Invention.

page_text: My improved fastening may be made of sizes suitable for every kind of
dress fastening.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I claim as my
Invention, a dress fastening, in which the two portions constituting the same
are made to engage with and disengage from each other in the manner
herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nehemiah Brough, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
NEHEMIAH BROUGH. (L.B.)
Witness,
THOMAS WHITEHEAD.