IMPROVE- MENTS IN BUCKLES
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Joseph Beverley Fenby at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th April 1864.
I, JOSEPH BEVERLEY FENBY, of the City of Worcester, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for." IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BUCKLES," to be as follows:-
In buckles of the ordinary construction all the parts are in or nearly in the
same plane, and the end of the strap or band which is adjusted and fastened
by the buckle has to be so bent that it is difficult to unfasten the said strap
or band and detach it from the tongue of the. buckle. This difficulty is
greater in proportion as the strap is strong, and in the case of harness often
occasions great inconvenience, especially when it is required to unbuckle a.
strap quickly, as for example, when a horse in harness has fallen down. The
bending of the traces and other thick straps by the use of the ordinary
buckles also causes them to crack and finally to break.
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described, in
constructing and arranging the parts of buckles, whereby the difficulties
before referred to are obviated. and great rapidity in fastening and unfastening
straps is attained. The cracking and breaking of the leather is also avoided
as the strap at all times is perfectly straight, and the tongue perpendicular
whenever the strain is brought to bear on the strap.

page_text: I make and arrange the parts of the buckle in the following manner: 1ne
frame is of a nearly rectangular figure, and has two cross bars situated at or near
its middle; one of the said cross bars is in the same plane as the frame, and
the other cross bar is fixed underneath the former, the lower cross bar being
connected to the frame by brackets or side arms. The tongue of the buckle
turns upon the lower cross bar, and the point of the said tongue, when the
buckle is in use, bears against the upper cross bar; the buckle is also pro-
vided with a bar or plate on a somewhat lower level than the lower cross bar,
to which bar or plate the fixed portion of the strap or band is connected.
At the back of the eye of the tongue, or that part which surrounds the lower
cross bar, I make a projection which when the moveable strap is disengaged
from the tongue is pressed upon by the said strap and the tongue is thereby
made to present its point- upwards so as to be ready to engage with the strap
or band whenever one of the holes is brought over the point of the tongue; or
a spring be fixed at the back of the eye of the tongue for the same purpose.
The action of the buckle is as follows:-The end of the moveable strap
being passed under the frame, and between it and the lower cross bar, the
pressure of the strap upon the projection or spring on the eye of the tongue
causes the tongue to rise, its end pressing against the strap ready to enter any
hole in the strap which may be brought over it. When the strap has been
adjusted to the proper length it is only necessary to tighten it when the tongue
passes through the hole in the strap, and the end of the tongue is brought into
contact with the upper cross bar, and the fastening of the strap is complete.
I prefer to make the holes in the strap somewhat oblique in order to facili-
tate the engaging of the tongue therein.
I also construct double buckles according to my Invention, with which
double buckles two straps, such, for example, as two traces, may be fastened
end to end without either of them being permanently fastened to the buckle.
In this case the straps are situated in parallel planes in the frame of the
buckle, two tongues being used, one moving upwards to engage with the upper
strap and the other moving downwards to engage with the lower strap. The
tongue for the lower strap is placed in a lower plane than the tongue for the
upper strap, to allow the upper strap to pass over the said lower tongue; I
prefer to place the projection on the eye of the lower tongue so that it will
move upwards when the lower strap is introduced into the buckle, the lower
strap having been first introduced into the buckle and fixed by its tongue, the
upper strap is afterwards introduced and fastened in the manner herein-before
described with reference to the single buckle. The upper strap when secured
in the buckle presses upon the projection on the lower tongue, and by prevent-

page_text: ing it rising fixes down the said lower tongue and secures both straps to the
buckle.
Buckles made according to my Invention are particularly applicable
to harness, and to purposes where thick straps or bands are to be fastened,
but are also applicable to all purposes to which buckles are or may be
applied.