Improvements in Corset Clasps.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Corset Clasps.
I, FREDERICK BRITTAN SPOONER of 56 Downing Street, Brooklyn, Kings
County, State of New York, United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby declare
the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CORSET CLASPS," and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to means whereby corsets are secured in position on the
wearer.
The object I have in view is to devise a clasp that shall be easy of manipulation
and secure against becoming accidentally unfastened. My improved clasp is in-
expensive to manufacture and very durable, and is not liable to injure the garments of
the wearer.
In applying the invention to a corset I make use of a series of the plates herein-
after described which are formed with slots or grooves, the said slots or grooves
being of unequal lengths and provided with stops arranged alternately at the top and
bottom of the slots or grooves. It is of course obvious that the stops may be
arranged alternately at the bottom and top of said slots or grooves and the same
result produced as when arranged alternately at the top and bottom. Either arrange-
ment is within the scope of my invention.
The said slots or grooves may be formed either by making a perforation of the
required form in the plate or clasp or by shaping the metal comprising the plate or
clasp in such manner as to provide in this way a slot or groove of the requisite
dimensions. I do not intend to restrict myself to any particular manner of making
the slot or groove as that is not, generically speaking, of the essence of my invention.
When the slot or groove is formed by shaping the metal, instead of perforating it, I
an enabled to produce a clasp having a smooth top forming a cover for the head of
the engaging stud, and this is the plan preferred by me, and it obviously offers the
best advantages since when thus formed its outer or front surface is smooth and the
stud or equivalent device is not exposed to view when within the slot.
To enable those interested in this class of inventions to construct and make use of
my improvements, I will now describe the same in connection with the accompanying
drawings which form part of this specification, and wherein like features are indicated
by like figures of reference in the several views.
In the drawings, Figure 1 is an inside plan view of a corset steel to which is
secured series of clasps or plates embodying my invention. Figure 2 is a longi-
tudinal sectional view through the line xx of figure 1. Figure 3 is a cross-section
through the line y y of figure 1. Figure 4 is an outside plan view of the corset-steel
shown in figure 1, and the companion-steel provided with studs, or their equivalent,
which cooperate with the plates of the first-mentioned steel, this view showing in
full lines the parts disconnected-and in dotted lines the parts connected. Figure 5
is an outside plan view of the corset-steel showing a modified form of clasp.
Figure 6 is a view similar to figure 4 showing the form of clasp indicated in figure 5,
and the companion steel provided with studs, or equivalent devices, cooperating
therewith, this view indicating the parts fastened together. Figure 7 is another
modified form of the shape of the plate.
Referring to the drawings, 10 designates the corset-steel to which the plates 11
are secured. These plates may be rivetted to the steel 10 as shown. In figures 1
to 4 the style of plate 10 is shown which I prefer to employ. That portion of the
plate which does not lap onto the steel 10 is stamped up in such manner as to form
a tube with a longitudinal groove or slot 12 on its under surface which is adapted

page_text: to receive the stud, or its equivalent, 13, by which the fastening is effected. This
construction gives to the face of the clasp or plate a smooth surface which while not
essential is very desirable, since it serves to conceal the stud and avoids all liability
of the latter interfering with the clothing of the wearer.
One end of the longitudinal slot or groove 12 is open while its opposite end is
closed, and the several slots or grooves in which the studs slide are required to be of
unequal lengths, as shown. The closed ends of the slots 12, when such construction
is made use of, serve as stops, 14, for the studs 13 (secured to companion steel 15)
and they avoid any liability of the studs passing clean through the slots-thus
facilitating the operation of the invention. The plates 11 are not required to be of
unequal lengths though they are thus illustrated in the drawings. They may all be-
of one length and have their grooves or slots formed of the requisite lengths and
their stops when these are employed-arranged within the grooves at the required
distances from the entrances to the grooves or slots. In practice I shall generally
provide each steel 10 with four plates or clasps, but two may be employed, and also
a greater number than four. And the plates 11 are attached to steel 10 in such
manner as that the slots or grooves of the same are parallel with the length of
said steel.
Beginning either at the upper or lower end of the steel 10, the plates or clasps 11
are arranged in such order-the required distances apart as that the groove or
slot of each successive clasp will be of decreased or increased length, the shortest
groove or slot being at the lower end of the steel or at its upper end, according as
to whether the slot of greatest length is at the upper or lower end.
In figures 5 and 6 a modified form of making slot 12 is shown. In these views the
slot instead of being formed by stamping up the metal of plate 11, by which mode of
construction the face or outer surface of the plate furnishes a cover for the stud, the
same is formed by perforating the plate. The slots 12 are cut in the plates of the
desired lengths and at one of their ends there is made an enlargement 16 to permit
the head of the cooperating stud to enter in effecting the fastening. This form of
the plate also differs from that previously described in that the slot is closed at
both ends, one end only however serving as a stop to limit the vertical movement.
of the stud. The enlargement 16 may be altogether on one side of the slot, as
shown in figure 5-which construction by avoiding the angular edge at the point
indicated facilitates the insertion and removal of the studs 13-or equally on both
sides, as shown in figure 7. In the construction of clasp shown in figures 5 to 7
the end of the slot serves the function of, and is in fact, stop 14.
The manner in which my invention operates will be fully understood from an
inspection of figures 4 and 6 of the drawings. In figure 4 the companion steel 15
is shown in full lines in the position it occupies when brought up to steel 10 to effect
the fastening, while in figure 6 the two steels 10 and 15 are shown fastened together.
In the operation of effecting the fastening the stud 13 is engaged with the slot of
clasp A at its open lower end which brings the stud of clasp B in position at the top
of its slot, and a movement downward causes the latter stud to pass into the slot of
this clasp (B), the stop of said clasp preventing the stud of clasp A from moving far
enough down to become disengaged from its slot. The act of joining clasp B and its
stud brings the stud of clasp Cat the bottom of its slot and an upward movement of
steel 15 carries this stud into said slot, which movement of steel 15 carries the
studs of clasps A and B upward, the stop of plate C preventing the disengagement
of the studs of clasps A and B. By the last-mentioned movement of steel 15 the
stud of clasp D is brought at the top of its slot and a downward movement
completes the locking of the series of clasps, this movement being limited by the
stop of the clasp D. The locking, it will be observed, is accomplished by an alternate
up and down movement of the steel 15. The rigidity of the steel renders the
fastening very easy to effect, and no ordinary movement of the body will be great
enough to cause the fastenings to become disconnected.
It is essential to the operation of my invention that the slots of the several plates
"

page_text: secured to the corset-steel-and in which the studs slide-should be of unequal lengths,
and also that the entrances to said slots should be arranged alternately at top and
bottom (or vice versa) of the series of plates.
Ordinarily the friction of the studs within the slots will answer to prevent the
parts from becoming separated, but in some cases it may be desired to provide a
supplemental fastening device at the lower or upper ends of the steels 10 and 15.
This fastening device may be of any of the well-known forms an example of which
is shown at 17 figure 6. In making use of my invention there is no necessity for
springing or bending the corset-steels, which fact greatly facilitates the operations of
fastening and unfastening the corset.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what 1
claim is :-
1. A corset-steel having plates attached thereto, said plates shaped at their outer
edges to form grooves on their under surfaces extending parallel with the length of
the corset-steel, said grooves provided with stops at their ends, in combination with a
companion steel provided with engaging studs, substantially as set forth.
2. A corset-steel provided with a series of tubular plates slotted or grooved parallel
with the length of the steel to which they are attached and having stops to limit the
passage of the rivets or studs on the opposite steel with which they engage, said stops
arranged alternately at the top and bottom of said tubular plates, substantially as sot
forth.
3. A corset-steel provided with a series of plates each of which is formed with a
longitudinal groove or slot provided with a stop, the said grooves or slots being of
unequal lengths and the stops arranged alternately at the top and bottom of the
grooves or slots, in combination with a companion steel provided with studs or
analogous devices, substantially as set forth.
4. A corset-steel provided with a series of plates which are grooved or slotted on
their under surfaces and smooth on their exposed or outer surfaces, the said grooves
or slots being of unequal lengths and each provided with a stop, the said stops
arranged alternately at the top and bottom of the grooves or slots, in combination
with a companion steel provided with studs or analogous devices, substantially as set
forth.
Dated this 4th dow of February 1890
FREDERICK BRITTAN SPOONER.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.