AN IMPROVED FASTENING FOR BAGS, PURSES, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John James Henry Gebhardt, of Lawrence Lane, in
the City of London, Merchant, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
FASTENING FOR BAGS, PURSES, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES."-A com-
munication from abroad by Anton Berg, of Frankfort-on-the-Maine, in
Germany.
Sealed the 25th September 1862, and dated the 2nd June 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John James Henry
Gebhardt at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 2nd June 1862.
I, JOHN JAMES HENRY GEBHARDT, of Lawrence Lane, in the City of London,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
FASTENING FOR BAGS, PURSES, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," communicated to
me from abroad by Anton Berg, of Frankfort-on-the-Maine, in Germany, to
be as follows-
This Invention consists of an improved fastening in which is a lever so
arranged that when depressed at one end it depresses a spring placed beneath
it, and thereby releases from each other the two engaging parts of the fastening,
but when it is released or restored to its previous position, it allows the spring
to rise, and the parts of the fastening (supposing 'them placed together) to be
again engaged. The lever is worked from outside the bag (or other article
to which the fastening is attached) by a handle, finger-piece, or end, on raising
which or moving it in an upward direction the opposite or inner end of the
lever is depressed, the spring forced down, and the fastening opened. Some-

page_text: times one of the engaging parts of the fastening may be on the lever, or it
may be on the spring; or these engaging parts may be otherwise arranged, as
convenient,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John James Henry Gebhardt in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 2nd December 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
JAMES HENRY GEBHARDT, of Lawrence Lane, in the City of London, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters_
Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John James Henry Gebhardt, Her special licence, that I, the said John James
Henry Gebhardt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John James Henry Gebhardt, 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 "AN IMPROVED
FASTENING FOR BAGS, PURSES, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," communicated to
me from abroad by Anton Berg, of Frankfort-on-the-Maine, in Germany,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John James Henry
Gebhardt, 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 John James Henry Gebhardt, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Draw-
ings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
This Invention consists of an improved fastening in which is a lever so
arranged that when depressed at one end it depresses a spring placed beneath

page_text: it, and thereby releases from each other the two engaging parts of the
fastening, but when the lever is released or restored to its previous position, it.
allows the spring to rise, and the engaging parts of the fastening (supposing
them placed together) to be again engaged. The lever is worked from
outside the bag (or other article to which the fastening is applied) by means
of a handle, finger-piece, or end, on raising which or moving it in an upward
direction, the opposite or inner end of the lever is depressed, the spring forced.
down, and the fastening opened.
Having thus set forth the nature of the Invention, I now proceed, in order:
that the mode of carrying it into effect may be fully understood, to describe.
the accompanying Drawing, which represents a fastening constructed according.
to this Invention, and shewn by way of example as applied to an ordinary
bag A, A¹, A.
Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Figure 2 a transverse section, shewing the
fastening closed; Figure 3 is a perspective view, and Figure 4 a transverse
section, shewing it open; Figure 5 is a longitudinal section, shewing the side
of the bag mouth on which is the spring. A is the body of the bag, and A¹, A³,
its frames; a is a lever, fitted in and working through one of the frames or
jaws A. The outer end of the lever has attached to it, or is formed into, a
handle c, of any convenient shape for being worked by the finger and thumb;
b is a socket or piece bent as shewn, and fixed to the frame A¹; it connects.
the lever to the frame, and the part a³ of the lever works in it; d is a spring,
attached to the under side of the frame A', and pressing against the under
surface of the lever a, as shewn in Figure 5. On the inner end a¹ of the
lever is formed an eye or staple for engaging a pin or catch e fixed opposite it.
on the under side of the other frame or jaw A² of the bag, that is, the frame
or jaw opposite to that in which the lever above described is fitted. These:
parts e and a¹ are the engaging parts of the fastening, that is to say, when
they are engaged the fastening is closed, and when they are disengaged the
fastening is open. To open the fastening, the handle c is raised or moved in
an upward direction, thereby raising the outer end of the-lever a, and depressing
its inner end a so as to disengage it from the pin or catch e; the lever in
thus working forces down the spring d, and the fastening will then be open, as
shewn in Figures 3 and 4. To close the fastening the engaging parts a¹³, e,
are brought together, and the handle c having first been raised to depress the
end a and bring it under the catch e, is then released or restored to its
previous position, thereby releasing or restoring the lever a to its previous
position, that is to say, depressing its outer or handle end, and raising its inner
end a', which will thereupon engage the catch e, as shewn in Figures 1 and 2.

page_text: The spring d, rising and pressing up against the lever a, keeps the parts a', e,
duly engaged, and the fastening closed.
I have shewn the fastening as attached to a bag by way of example, but it
may be applied in like manner to purses and other articles similar to bags and
purses.
It may sometimes be convenient to combine a lock with the improved
fastening, and Figures 6 and 7 exemplify how this may be done. x is a box
or case on the bag frame or jaw A³, containing a lock of ordinary arrangement
and construction, but adapted for being used with the fastening above
described, for which purpose it is provided with a hooked bolt y, projecting
downward, as shewn in the Drawing, and moved to and fro by the key.
When this hook y is propelled by the key beneath the lever a, it presses
against the under surface of its inner end a¹ and prevents that end from being
depressed, and the handle end c from being raised, and thus locks the fastening.
But when the bolt is shot back to its previous position, as in Figure 6, it
leaves the end a¹ free to be depressed by. the handle c; and allows the
fastening to be opened, as before described. In many applications of
my fastening, however, it is unnecessary to combine a lock therewith.
It is obvious that the particular shape of the parts a¹ and e may be varied,
care only being taken that they be so formed with respect to each other as to
be capable of engaging each other, and effecting a fastening uuder the action
of the lever above described.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim as the Invention
intended to be secured by the said Letters Patent, the improved fastening in
which the fastening and unfastening are effected by means of a lever acting in
manner described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John James Henry Gebhardt, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
M. HENRY, (Patent Agent,)
84, Fleet Street,
London.
J. J. H. GEBHARDT. (L.S.)