IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENING FOR BRACELETS, NECKLETS, DRESS BELTS, BRACES, GARTERS, SCARF RINGS, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF TOWEL TEDY « AND DRESS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robinson, of the Firm of Robinson and
McKewan, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers, for the
Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENING FOR BRACELETS, NECKLETS,
DRESS BELTS, BRACES, GARTERS, SCARF RINGS, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF
TOWEL TEDY
«
AND DRESS"
Sealed the 4th May 1880, and dated the 10th November 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robinson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th November 1879.
WILLIAM ROBINSON, of the Firm of Robinson and MoKewan, of Birmingham,
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR
in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers.
BRACELETS, NECKLETS, DRESS BELTS, BRACES, GARTERS, SCARF RINGS, AND OTHER
ARTICLES OF JEWELLERY AND DRESS."
My Invention consists of the improvements herein after described in fastenings
for bracelets, necklets, dress belts, braces, garters, scarf rings, and other articles of
jewellery and dress, by which improvements the said fastenings are made effective
in action, easy of manipulation, and secure in use.
I will describe my Invention in connection with a bracelet consisting of two
semi-elliptical bands of metal jointed together and opening and closing for the
To the
purpose of being placed upon and removed from the wrist of the wearer.
free end of one of the bands of metal a catch is fixed; this catch consists of a stem
having at its end a head, the said catch having the general figure of the letter T, the
top of the head being convex. In the free end of the other band of metal is an
oblong recess or opening, into which the said catch enters and is fixed by a snapping
action when the bracelet is closed on the wrist. The recess described opens into a
small case containing the mechanism by which the securing and liberating of the
catch is effected.
The said mechanism is constructed as follows:--
Immediately at the back of the plate in which the recess is made are two sliding
bolts working in guides. A spring connected to the bolts tends to force them
outwards. The inner end of one of the bolts is situated on one side of the opening,
and the inner end of the other bolt on the other side of the opening. The extreme

page_text: end of each bolt has a shoulder of a breadth equal to the breadth of the opening,
and when the sliding bolts are in their normal positions these shoulders extend a
short distance under the ends of the opening, thereby virtually contracting the
length of the opening and making it shorter than the head of the catch on the
other band. When the two bands are closed upon one another the head of the catch
in entering the opening forces back the two bolts by advancing between the
shoulders on their ends. When the head of the catch has passed the said shoulders
the bolts snap behind the head of the catch and fix it in the recess. The outer ends
of the bolts protrude from the sides of the band and constitute two pushers, by
pressing on which by the thumb and finger the shoulders of the bolts are made to
retire from behind the head of the catch, when the catch may be withdrawn from
the opening and the bracelet unfastened. The range of motion of the sliding bolts
may be limited by stops engaged in slots in the bolts.
The application of my Invention to necklets, dress belts, braces, garters, scarf
rings, and other articles of jewellery and dress differs in no essential respect from
its application to bracelets as herein explained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Robinson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th May
1880.
WILLIAM ROBINSON, of the Firm of Robinson and McKewan, of Birmingham, in
the County of Warwick, Manufacturers. "IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR
BRACELETS, NECKLETS, DRESS BELTS, BRACES, GARTERS, SCARF RINGS, AND OTHER
ARTICLES OF JEWELLERY AND DRESS."
My Invention consists of the improvements herein after described in fastenings
for bracelets, necklets, dress belts, braces, garters, scarf rings, and other articles of
jewellery and dress, by which improvements the said fastenings are made effective
in action, easy of manipulation, and secure in use.
I will describe my Invention in connection with a bracelet consisting of two semi-
elliptical bands of metal jointed together and opening and closing for the purpose of
being placed upon and removed from the wrist of the wearer. To the free end of
one of the bands of metal a catch is fixed. This catch consists of a stem having at
its end a head, the said catch having the general figure of the letter T, the top of
the head being convex. In the free end of the other band of metal is an oblong
recess or opening, into which the said catch enters and is fixed by a snapping action
when the bracelet is closed on the wrist. The recess described opens into a small
case containing the mechanism by which the securing and liberating of the catch
are effected.
The said mechanism is constructed as follows:-
Immediately at the back of the plate in which the recess is made are two sliding
bolts working in guides. A spring connected to the bolts tends to force them

page_text: outwards. The inner end of one of the bolts is situated on one side of the opening,
and the inner end of the other bolt on the other side of the opening. The extreme
end of each bolt has a shoulder of a breadth equal to the breadth of the opening,
and when the sliding bolts are in their normal positions these shoulders extend a
short distance under the ends of the opening, thereby virtually contracting the
length of the opening and making it shorter than the head of the catch on the other
band. When the two bands are closed upon one another the head of the catch in
entering the opening forces back the two bolts by advancing between the shoulders
on their ends. When the head of the catch has passed the said shoulders the bolts
snap behind the head of the catch and fix it in the recess. The outer ends of the
bolts protrude from the sides of the band and constitute two pushers, by pressing on
which by the thumb and finger the shoulders of the bolts are made to retire from
behind the head of the catch, when the catch may be withdrawn from the opening
and the bracelet unfastened. The range of the sliding bolts may be limited by
stops engaged in slots in the bolts.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the
manner in which my Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation and edge view, and Figure 2 in plan a
jointed bracelet to which a fastening constructed according to my Invention is
applied; Figure 3 represents in side elevation, and Figure 4 in plan the said
bracelet unfastened and opened; Figure 5 represents a vertical section of a
portion of the bracelet taken through the fastening; and Figures 6 and 7 are
horizontal sections of the said fastening drawn to a large scale. In Figure 6 the
two parts of the fastening are represented connected together, and in Figure 7
disengaged from one another but not separated; Figure 8 is a cross section of the
bracelet taken through the bolt part of the fastening; Figure 9 represents the bolt
part of the fastening separately with one of the bolts removed; and Figure 10
represents the catch part of the fastening separately; Figure 11 represents the two
bolts separately.
The same letters indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the Drawing.
a, b, are the semi-elliptical bands of the bracelet hinged together at c as usual.
To the free end of the part 6 of the bracelet a catch d with a convex head is fixed.
This catch projects from the face e of the carrying plate or case e, f, the said plate
being secured to the free end of the part 6 of the bracelet, the face parte closing the
said end, as seen in the vertical section Figure 5. The catch d is fixed in the face e
of the case by closing the ears or pierced out parts g, g, over the edges of the stein
of the said catch; h, h, are recesses constituting the neck of the catch d, into which
neck the bolts of the other part of the fastening engage. To the free end of the
other part a of the bracelet a similar carrying plate or case i, k, to that on the
part b is fixed. In the face i of the said plate or case i, k, is an oblong recess or
opening (see Figure 9) into which the catch d on the part b of the bracelet passes
to fasten the said bracelet. Working against the inside of the vertical part or
face of the carrying plate or case are two sliding bolts m, n, pressed outwards
by the bow spring p. The shape of the said bolts m, n, and their position
with respect to one another are best seen in Figure 11. On the inner end of
the bolt m is a shoulder m², and on the inuer end of the bolt n is a similar
shoulder n², slots being made in the said shoulders m², n³, for working upon the
fixed guide pins q, q. The said shoulders m² n², are of a shape proper to euter and
engage with the neck or recesses h, h, behind the head of the catch d. By an
examination of Figures 6, 7, and 11, it will be seen that the inner ends of the two
bolts cross the middle of the fastening, that is, the shoulder m² of the bolt m is
situated at one side of the opening in the carrying plate or case k, and the shoulder n³
of the other bolt n is situated at the other side of the said opening. As the
pressure of the bow spring p tends to press the bolts m, n, outwards, the two
shoulders m³, n², of the said bolts are consequently pressed outwards towards one
another, when the bolts are at liberty to move and occupy the position represented
in Figure 6. The outer ends of the two bolts m, n, project from opposite sides of

page_text: the band a carrying the bolt part of the fastening, the projecting parts of the bolts
constituting pushers m³, n³, for releasing the fastening.
The action of the fastening is as follows:-When the two semi-elliptical bands a, b,
of the bracelet are closed upon one another the head d of the catch on one part in
entering the recess or opening in the other part bears against and pushes back the
two shoulders m³, ns, on the bolts m, n. When the head d of the catch has passed
the said shoulders, as represented in Figure 7, they are forced inwards or made to
approach one another by the action of the bow spring p, and the said shoulders
snap into the neck or recesses h, h, behind the head of the catch d and fix the said
catch in the recess or opening 7, and thereby securely fasten the two parts of the
bracelet together.
To release the fastening the pushers m³, n³, of the bolts are pressed inwards by
the thumb and finger; the two shoulders m², n², of the bolts are thereby withdrawn
from out of the recesses h, h, behind the head of the catch d, as illustrated in
Figure 7. The catch is thereby unfastened, and may be withdrawn from the
opening and the bracelet opened, as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4.
The application of my Invention to necklets, dress belts, garters, scarf rings,
gloves, and other articles of jewellery and dress, differs in no essential respect from
its application to bracelets as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the
Drawing.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to
the precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my Invention,―
But I claim as my Invention the construction and combination or arrangement
herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing of the parts of
fastenings for bracelets, necklets, dress belts, braces, garters, scarf rings, and other
articles of jewellery and dress.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robinson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
WILLIAM ROBINSON.
(L.S.)