Improvements in Fastenings for Boots, Shoes, and other articles of Wearing Apparel.
Year: 1893

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Fastenings for Boots, Shoes, and other articles of
Wearing Apparel.
I, JOSEPH CHURCHILL HAMMOND Junior, residing at Number 26 Elm Street,
in the City of Rockville, County of Tolland, State of Connecticut, United States
of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of the invention is to provide a fastening or clasp that shall be
particularly adapted for use on shoes, overshoes, or other articles of wearing
apparel and one that can be cheaply constructed. To this end the invention
consists in the details of the several parts making up the fastening as a whole and
in the combination of such parts as more particularly hereinafter described and
pointed out in the claims.
Referring to the drawings:
Figure is a detail top or plan view of a fastening embodying my
improvements.
Figure 2 is a detail top view of the fastening with the tongue extended.
Figure 3 is a detail plan view of the under side of the fastening.
Figure 4 is a detail view in central cross section through the opened fastening
on the centre line of the parts.
Figure 5 is a detail view of the fastening shown attached to a take-up plate, the
frame being adapted to receive the end of a strap as a means of attachment of the
fastening to a shoe or other article.
In the accompanying drawings the letter a denotes the frame of the fastening
that is formed of wire bent to shape, the ends a² of the wire being turned back
toward the cross bar b and forming abutments so located as to be encountered by
the side parts of the tongue c in the opening and closing movement of the latter.
The wire of which the frame a is made is bent to form an eye a¹ through which a
rivet may pass as a means of securing the fastening to any article, as a flap of a
shoe. Between this eye and the wider part of the frame a shank a³ is formed, the
wire turning outward and forward to the proper shape to form the frame. In case
the frame is to be attached to a shoe or any like article by means of a strap the
wire is bent to form a loop d as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, but the remainder
of the frame is formed substantially on the outlines described and shown.
The cross barb is formed of thin metal secured across the side parts of the
frame as by bending the ends of the bar firmly around and down upon such parts.
This cross bar has sockets for the tongue pintles formed preferably by rolling up
projections left on the edge of the bar when the latter is blanked out from a thin
strip of metal. These sockets e are preferably circular in outline and adapted to
receive the tongue pintles, the tongue being hook-shaped and preferably formed of
a single piece of wire bent to shape, and folded, part of the wire forming the point
of the tongue and the ends being turned outward and forming the pintles c³ that
are adapted to fit into the sockets e.
When thus mounted on the tongue plate the tongue extends from the pintles
forward and upward between the arms and then backward over the plate thus
giving the tongue a peculiar hook-shape common in this class of fastenings. The
distance between the side parts of the tongue at the bend is greater than the
distance between the projections on the plate thus causing the tongue to be held in
either a closed or an opened position and to resist a tendency to open the tongue to
an extent determined by the stiffness of the spring metal of which the tongue is
formed. The inturned ends of the wire of the frame may also possess some

page_text: degree of resiliency and co-operate with the tongue in the spring action obtained
in the opening and closing movement of the latter.
A fastening thus formed mainly of wire possesses the advantages of simplicity
and cheapness of construction and possesses sufficient strength to readily adapt it
to any of the uses to which tastenings of this kind or class are put in the ordinary
use. The frame is readily and cheaply made in a machine into which the end of
a coil of wire is entered, the wire feeding into the machine as the frames are
successively formed of short lengths of wire cut within the machine from the end
of the coil. The tongue is in like manner formed to shape by an automatic
machine. When thus made from wire there is no waste in stock and the saving
in this regard is of importance as in this line of goods it represents the profit
made.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed declare that what I
claim is:
1. In a fastening for boots, shoes and other articles, the combination of a tongue
frame formed of wire bent to shape and comprising within the bent portion an eye
or socket to receive the fastening means and with the free ends of the wire turned
back upon the side parts of the frame and in the plane thereof, the cross bar
formed of thin metal and having pintle sockets, and a swinging hook-shaped
tongue pivoted to the cross bar and with its broadened. part adapted to pass
between the adjacent sides of the back turned ends of the frame, all substantially
as described.
2. In a fastening for boots, shoes and other articles, the combination of a tongue
frame formed of wire bent to shape and comprising within the bent portion an eye
or socket to receive the fastening means and with the side parts projecting
beyond the pintle socket, the cross bar formed of thin metal and having integral
rolled up portions forming pintle bearings, and a hook-shaped tongue with its
pivots arranged in the pintle bearings, all substantially as described.
Dated this Twenty-sixth day of January 1893.
OSEPH CHURCHILL HAMMOND, JUNIOR.
D. Young & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C,
Agents for the Applicant.