NEW OR IMPROVED FASTENINGS FOR WEARING APPAREL, AND FOR SUCH OTHER PURPOSES AS THE SAME ARE OR MAY BE APPLICABLE TO
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Frearson, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "NEW OR IMPROVED
FASTENINGS FOR WEARING APPAREL, AND FOR SUCH OTHER PURPOSES AS THE
SAME ARE OR MAY BE APPLICABLE TO."
Sealed the 1st July 1859, and dated the 6th May 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Frearson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th
May 1859.
I, JOHN FREARSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "NEW OR IMPROVED
FASTENINGS FOR WEARING APPAREL, AND FOR SUCH OTHER PURPOSES AS THE SAME
ARE OR MAY BE APPLICABLE TO," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the fastenings herein-after described, which said
fastenings are especially applicable for fastenings for wearing apparel, but may
also be used for other purposes.
The objects of my Invention are, firstly, to effect the junction of parts of
dress or other articles by a neater and less bulky fastening than the ordinary
hook and eye.
Secondly, to prevent or diminish injury to the fastening by pressure, as in
ironing or mangling.

page_text: Thirdly, to provide a more secure fastening when the parts fastened are
slack than the ordinary hook and eye.
I carry my Invention into effect in the following manner :-I construct the
hook part of the fastening of wire, and make the part called the beak open;
that is to say, the said beak consists of a double wire, the two branches not
lying parallel, but separating so as to form a bulb or lozenge-shaped beak.
Those parts of the wire forming the body of the hook are also open, the
widest part of the body being near where the beak commences. From this
part to the needle holes the sides of the hook approach each other, and touch
or nearly touch each other immediately before the ends of the wire turn to
form the needle holes, the beak is slightly raised to allow it to enter a metallic
eye. The said eye is of the ordinary construction, excepting that the end
which engages with the hook is bent somewhat out of the plane of the other
part. The bulbed beak of the hook is so near the open sides of the hook that
the beak or sides of the hook have slightly to yield as the hook and eye are
engaged with or disengaged from each other.
The hook described is well suited for a silk or cotton loop, and also for
thread-worked eyelet holes, making a secure and neat fastening therewith.
I sometimes modify the hook described as follows:--I make the sides or
body of the hook so short that the needle holes formed at the ends of the wire
do not extend so far as or but little farther than the bulbed beak. With this
hook I use a hooked eye, that is, an eye the end of which is turned so as to
form a short beak.
In the last described hook all the parts are in the same plane. I some-
times modify the first described hook by making the body of the hook with
parallel sides, or of a bulbous figure instead of the beak. The needle holes of
the hook may be turned either inwards or outwards, then the hook is to be
used with a loop or eyelet hole, I prefer to make the beak at a slight incli-
nation to the body of the hook. The side bars and beak of the hook may be
flattened, or partially flattened or ornamented.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Frearson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd November 1859.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said John Frearson, Her special licence that I, the said John
Frearson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Frearson, 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 Ire-
land, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "NEW OR
IMPROVED FASTENINGS FOR WEARING APPAREL, AND FOR SUCH OTHER PURPOSES AS
THE SAME ARE OR MAY BE APPLICABLE TO," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Frearson, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Frearson, 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 said Invention consists of the fastenings herein-after particularly
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, which said fastenings
are especially applicable for wearing apparel, but which may also be used for
other purposes. My said new or improved fastenings may be used in place of
the ordinary hook or eye.
The objects of my Invention are, firstly, to effect the junction of parts of
dress or other articles, by a neater and less bulky fastening than the ordinary
hook and eye.
Secondly, to prevent or diminish injury to the fastening by pressure, as in
ironing or mangling.
Thirdly, to effect a more secure fastening when the parts fastened are slack
than is effected by the ordinary hook and eye.
Figure 1 of the Drawing represents in plan, and Figure 2 in side elevation,
one part of one of my improved fastenings; and Figure 3 represents in plan,
and Figure 4 in side elevation, the other part of one of my improved fasten-
ings. The mode of attaching each part to the fabric or parts of the garment

page_text: or other article to be fastened is also represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4.
The same letters are used to indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4,
and 5. Both parts of the fastening are made of wire. The beak a of the
hook part of the fastening, represented in Figures 1 and 2, is made open; that
is to say, the said beak is not composed of a double wire, the two portions of
which are parallel, but of a wire bent into a bulb shape, as seen at a. All the
parts of the hook, Figures 1 and 2, are in the same plane, the body of the
hook being formed by the wire returning on either side of the neck of the
beak, and terminating in needle holes b, b, nearly in a line with the bulb of
the beak.
The eye part of the fastening, represented in Figures 3 and 4, is made of
wire, bent into the form represented. The end of this eye is hooked, that is,
raised out of the plane in which the other parts are situated, as will be under-
stood by reference to Figure 4, where the hooked end is marked c. In
Figure 3 I have indicated the form of the eye in dotted lines, as the said eye
is attached to the under side of the fabric or part of garment e. The hook,
Figure 1, is fastened upon the upper side of the fabric or part of garment d.
When the fabric e is raised and placed upon the fabric d, the two parts of the
fastening are in their proper relative positions to engage with one another.
The parts b, b, which form the needle holes of Figure 1, are sewn upon the
upper side or surface of the fabric or article d, and the needle holes b, b, of
Figure 3 are sewn to the under side or surface of the fabric or article e, the
beaked part marked c being turned from the fabric or article, as seen in
Figure 4. To engage the parts of this fastening tlie part c is passed over the
bulb or loop a, which loop a is made to enter and pass through the opening
f, when the fastening is engaged, and with it the parts of the dress or other
article to which the two parts of the fastening are respectively attached.
The whole of Figure 1 being in the same plane, and the parts which con-
stitute the needle holes both of it and Figure 3 being sewn firmly to the
garment, it will be perceived that when the two parts of the fastening are
engaged, the fabric or dress d will press against the beak c, and cause those
parts of the fastening marked g, g, to be raised from, and the bulb a to incline
to the plane of the fabric or dress, thus causing Figure 1 to turn or swivel
upon those parts sewn down. As the part c is curved, as shown in the end
elevation, Figure 5, the parts y, y, coming in contact with the sides of the
bulb nearest to the needle holes, will prevent the parts of the fastening from
becoming accidentally disengaged; Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9 represent another of
my new or improved fastenings, and the manner in which each of the two
parts is attached to the flexible material of the garment or other article;

page_text: Figures 6 and 7 represent, in front and side elevation respectively, the eye,
constituting one part of this fastening, which eye is similar in construction to
that herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 3, 4, and 5, and marked
with the same letters. The same letters are employed to indicate the same
parts in Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Figures 8 and 9 represent the hook in
plan and side elevation respectively. The hook being sewn on the under side
of the garment e, is indicated in dotted lines; Figure 9 shows which side of
the hook is to be attached to the dress, and the thread lines b, b, show which
parts are sewn to the garment. The side bars or body of the hook marked k, k,
and also those parts which constitute the needle holes at b, b, are all in the
same plane. The whole of the beak a is raised or elevated above or depressed
below the body of the hook to the height or depth of nearly the distance of the
diameter or thickness of the wire, of which the hook is composed, that is to
say, the beak a is situated in a plane different from that in which all the other
parts of the hook are situated, the two planes being parallel, and separated
from one another by a distance nearly equal to the diameter of the wire, of
which the hook is made. The beak a is open, that is, of a bulbous figure
or lozenge-shape, and each of its sides, from the point to its widest part,
is nearly parallel with, and so near to its side bars k, that the sides of the beak
and the side bars somewhat pinch or press upon the eye at those parts marked
y, y, in Figure 5, during the insertion of the bulb a into the eye. When this
hook is used with a flexible loop of thread or silk, or with a thread or silk
worked eyelet hole instead of the eye, Figures 6 and 7, the point of the beak
should be raised into a plane, inclined to that in which the body of the hook
is situated, as shown in Figure 10, so that the parts marked 1, 1, and k, k, in
Figure 8 will be so near each other as lightly to pinch the loop or eyelet bole
when being inserted in or withdrawn from the said eyelet or loop.
Figures 11, 12, 13, and 14 represent another of my new or improved
fastenings. Figures 11 and 12 represent the eye part of the fastening in
front and side elevations respectively. The same letters are employed to
indicate the same parts in Figures 11, 12, 13, and 14. The said eye is
attached to the garment d. This eye is similar to that I have herein-before
described and illustrated in Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. It is also attached to
the garment in a similar manner. The hook, Figures 13 and 14, is similar
in its action to that described and illustrated in Figures 8 and 9, and is
attached to the dress in the same manner; but the hook, Figures 13 and 14,
is somewhat different in its construction from the hook, Figures 8 and 9.
Instead of the open or bulbous beak, the beak a of the hook, Figures 13 and
14, is closed, and the side bars which form parts of the body of the hook are

page_text: of a bulbous figure, as shown at m, m, in Figure 13, and the side bars k, k, are
parallel, or nearly so, with the centre of the beak of the hook. The whole of
the beak of this hook is elevated above the plane of the body of the hook, as
seen in Figure 14, and the raised beak may be parallel or inclined to the body
of the hook, but when used with an eyelet hole or loop, the point of the beak
must be more elevated above the base of the hook than when used with a
metallic eye. In order that the ordinary eye, which has all its parts in the
same plane, and left in the round wire state, may be used with the hooks of
my Invention, I raise the beak higher than when used with the beaked or the
flattened eye, so as to leave the space o, Figures 15 and 16, the proper size
for the round wire eye, and I raise the side bars k, k, of a bulbous figure, as
seen in Figure 15, or I make the beak a of a bulbous figure, as seen in
Figure 16, so as to offer a slight pressure upon the eye when being fastened
and unfastened.
The fastening represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 may be so flattened on
the sides and at the parts which come in contact with each other when united,
as to do without the eye being beaked or bent out of its plane, that is, to do
without the projection c, as seen in Figures 4 and 5; thus, if the parts in
question be flattened to half the thickness of the wire, the two parts of the
fastening when engaged with each other will together be only of the thickness
of the wire, of which the fastening is made. The bulbous beak of the fas-
tening represented in Figures 8 and 9, and the beak of that represented
in Figures 13, 14, 15, and 16, may be flattened throughout, or partly
flattened, or the parts on the surface which come in contact with the eye
and the side bars of the hooks may be flattened. The eyes used with the
several hooks described and represented, may be flattened all over, except
at those parts which surround the needle holes; but in this case the points
of the hooks should be a little more elevated than when the said hooks
are to be used with the beaked eye, having its end turned or bent out
of the plane of the body, as represented at c in the several figures of
eyes. The upper surface of my new or improved fastenings may be orna-
mented by means of dies with any device, and the beak of the hook repre-
sented in Figure 13 may be of the "swan bill " shape, flat on one side and
convex on the other. I prefer to make the under side of the beak convex, so
that it may the better fit the inner concave part of the eye, marked c in
Figure 5, with which part of the eye the under side of the beak comes into
contact when the two parts of the fastening are engaged together. But
when a flattened eye is used, I prefer to make the convex side of the beak
uppermost. I sometimes attach the eyes used with the hooks represented in

page_text: Figures 8 and 13 to the under surface of the dress d, as indicated by the
dotted lines in Figures 6 and 11, with the part c extending beyond the edge of
the dress.
The whole of the fastenings made according to my Invention are made of
wire. And in order that my Invention may be particularly ascertained, I will
point out what parts are old and what are new in the fastenings described and
represented. I am aware that hooks have been made having bodies some-
what resembling the body of the hook represented in Figure 8, but such
hooks have closed beaks, and all their parts except the point of the hook are
in the same plane, and the said hooks are flattened all over. I am also aware
that other hooks have been made having the whole of their parts in the same
plane, none of the parts being flattened, and their needle holes nearest the
point of the beaks of the hooks were widely apart from each other. I am
also aware that other hooks have been made with all their parts in the same
plane, excepting that at the root of the beak there was an indentation; the
beaks of these hooks being in some cases flattened from the indentations to
the end, and having needle holes nearest to the point of the beaks sufficiently
wide apart to allow of the eye being passed between them on to the beaks.
I am also av. are that open beaks of a bulbous figure have been used, and that
beaks which were closed have been depressed and the wires which formed
parts of the body of hooks raised of a bulbous figure; but the beaks of all
such hooks were bent over the body of the hooks, and the said hooks were
much more bulky and more likely to be injured by mangling than those
constructed according to my Invention. I am also aware that the eyes I use
in connection with the hooks constructed according to my Invention are not
new, but in their application to hooks constructed according to my Invention
they constitute new and useful fastenings.
Having described and illustrated the nature of my Invention and what parts
of the fastenings described are not new, excepting in combination with the other
parts, I will now proceed to describe what I believe to be new and useful. I
believe to be new, and I claim as of my Invention, the short hook herein-
before described and illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying
Drawing, whether with an open or closed beak, which said hook does not
occupy more space lengthwise; namely from the edge of the dress in the
direction of the beak, than eight times the diameter of the wire of which the
hook is composed.
The said hook, Figures 1 and 2, with the eye represented in Figure 3, makes
a fastening composed of less wire than, and not so bulky or so likely to be

page_text: injured by washing or mangling as, the ordinary turn-over hook and eye.
The said fastening, composed of the hook, Figure 1, and eye, Figure 3, is a
more secure fastening than the ordinary book and eye. I claim as of my
Invention, the combination of the eye, Figures 3, 4, and 5, with the hook,
Figures 1 and 2.
I believe that the open bulbous beak combined with the open body of the
hooks as herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 1 and 8 of the
accompanying Drawing is new. The said open beak causes the hook to
remain securely fastened with a flexible loop or eyelet hole, or with a metallic
eye. And I claim as of my Invention, the said open beak when the bars
which sustain the beak are open, as described and represented in Figures
1 and 8.
I claim also the application of the ordinary eye to the open or bulbous
beak, when the side bars which sustain the beak are open, as described and
represented in the accompanying Drawing. I believe that the bulbous
figure of the side bars, as berein described and represented at m, m,
in Figure 13, and at k, in Figure 15, and the depressed or bulbous beak, as
herein described and represented at a in Figure 16, when the side bars which
sustain the beak are open, are new. The said bulbous side bars, in connection
with the beak used and the bulbous beak, Figure 16, with the lateral bulbous
sides, Figure 13, constituting a fastening secure in action and less liable to
injury than the ordinary hook and eye; and I claim as of my said Invention,
the bulbous open side bars, as herein described and represented in Figures 13
and 15 of the Drawing, and the bulbous beak with open side bars, as herein-
before described and illustrated in Figure 16 of the accompanying Drawing,
and the application of the eye to these hooks, as herein described and illustrated
in Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, and 12.
I believe that the raised beak herein-before described and represented in
Figures 9, 10, 14, 15, and 16, with open side bars, is new, and also that the
raised point of the beak is new. When the parts which form the needle
holes nearest the point of the beak are apart from each other a distance equal
to the width of the beak and also new, when the hook is only partly flattened
and partly left in the round wire state, whether the parts which form the
needle holes are apart or touch each other. The raised beaks are more
easily engaged with the eye than beaks not raised. I claim as of my Invention
the raised beak of the hook with open side bars, as herein-before described
and illustrated in Figures 9, 10, 14, 15, and 16 of the accompanying Drawing,
and also the raised point of the beak with open side bars, when the wires at

page_text: the root of the beak are not turned over the body of the hook and when left
in the round wire state or partly flattened.
I also claim the combination of the eyes, as described and represented with
the raised beaks, as described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Frearson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOHN FREARSON. (L.S.)