IMPROVEMENTS IN LACING HOOKS AND IN MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED IN COMBINATION THEREWITH FOR FASTENING BOOTS, GLOVES, AND THE LIKE
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
and Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LACING HOOKS AND IN MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED IN
COMBINATION THEREWITH FOR FASTENING BOOTS, GLOVES, AND THE LIKE."
A communication from abroad by Mellen Bray, of Newton, Massachusetts,
United States of America, Manufacturer.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th April 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN LACING HOOKS AND IN
MEANS TO BE EMPLOYED IN COMBINATION THEREWITH FOR FASTENING BOOTS,
GLOVES, AND THE LIKE." A communication from abroad by Mellen Bray, of
Newton, Massachusetts, United States of America, Manufacturer.
The object of this Invention is the production of lacing hooks adapted for use on
ladies' side lace boots, for lacing the wrists of gloves, and for other purposes, which
hooks can readily be laced and unlaced, and which will not lock or catch together
in walking when applied upon the inner or contiguous sides of the boot legs, or
catch in or become entangled with fringes, laces, or other clothing when applied
either to the boots or gloves, and it consists partly in the employment of lacing
hooks arranged upon opposite sides of the slit or opening in the boot or glove, the
bent or curved portions of which hooks lie in planes parallel or nearly so to the
outer surface of the material to which they are secured.
It further consists in the combination with a single lacing cord secured by one
end to the article to be laced, of two series of hooks having their necks bent in
planes parallel or nearly so to the surface of the material to which they are secured
and arranged in'pairs with their open sides all in the same direction, whereby the
boot, glove, or other article may be so laced that the draught upon the lacing cord
shall tend to press the ends or points of the said hooks close upon the article laced,
and thereby reduce the liability of the said hooks to catch into fringes, laces, or
Din G31

page_text: other articles of wearing apparel, or the hooks upon one boot to become entangled
with the hooks or lacing on the other boot when applied to side lace boots.
It further consists in the employment of a lacing hook having its bent or hook
portion curved in a direction parallel or nearly so to the outer surface of the material
upon which it is to be secured, or to the portion which bears upon the material at
or around the point of attachment and also having formed therein a double reverse
curve in a direction at right angles to the main curve of the said hook for the
purpose of forming a space between the said hook and the material upon which it is
secured for the lacing cord, and a recess or depression on its upper side to receive
that part of the lacing cord which passes over the hook.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents my improved lacing hooks applied to a piece of leather,
which may represent a portion of the upper of a boot or shoe.
Figure 2 is a plan of the said lacing hook drawn to an enlarged scale, and
Figure 3 is a side elevation of the same with a tubular rivet inserted therein as a
means of attaching it to the boot or other article.
Figure 4 is an end view of Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a vertical longitudinal section of the said hook on the line x, x,
Figure 1, with the rivet therein.
Figure 6 is a plan of a partially formed hook, in which the hook and the means
of attaching it are formed in one piece, and
Figure 7 is a side elevation of the said hook completed ready to be set or secured
in the material to which it is to be attached.
The hook illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 has a thin and nearly circular
disc a, from one side of which projects a wire like neck b bent horizontally or
substantially parallel with the disc a, and terminating in the ball c at its end, as
shewn. This neck b is also curved upward and downward or at right angles to the
disc a so as to form in its underside the arch d to span the cord e, which is passed
between the said hook and the surface of the article upon which it is secured, and
upon its upper side near the ball c a depression f, in which the said cord, when
it is passed over the said hook, lies, as shewn in Figure 1, and as indicated by the
dotted lines in Figure 2.
The rise of the metal of the hook upon either side of the depression f protects
the lacing cord e from injury by rubbing or chafing, and also prevents the said cord
from being slipped off from the end of the hook, while at the same time the act of
drawing the lacing cord taut to draw the two parts of the boot or glove together
causes all the hooks to hug closely to the surface of the boot or glove, thereby pre-
cluding the catching of the clothing under the said hooks, or the hooks in one
boot catching into or interlocking with the hooks or lacing upon the opposite
boot.
It will be observed by reference to Figure 1 that these hooks must be made right
and left handed, and arranged in pairs with the open sides of all of the hooks
turned from the point where the lacing cord is made fast to the boot, glove, or
other article.
The hook represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 is provided with a hole g in the
centre of the disc a, in which hole is inserted the tubular rivet h as a means of
securing the said hook to the boot, glove, or other article by being passed through a
perforation formed therein and clinched upon the inner or back side thereof in a
well known manner.
If desired however the hook may be made as illustrated in Figures 6 and 7,
where the hook proper and the means of securing it upon the boot, glove, or other
article are made in one piece, the disc a being provided with two or more pointed
prongs i, i, which are bent at right angles to the said disc, as shewn in Figure 7,
and pass through the material, and are clinched upon the back side thereof.
This hook is well adapted for some kinds of work, but for general use I prefer

page_text: the tubular rivet fastening, but as the mode of attaching the hook forms no part of
the present Invention I do not claim either form of attachment, neither do I wish
to be limited to either or both of the forms of attachment shewn and described.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,-
-
First. A lacing hook for boots, gloves, and other articles provided with a flat
disc-like portion adapted to rest upon the material when applied for use, and a
hook extending from the said disc in a plane parallel or nearly so to the body of the
same, substantially as herein described.
Second. A lacing hook for boots, gloves, or other articles, having its neck bent in
a plane parallel or nearly so to the flat surface of the portion which rests upon the
material when secured thereto, and also bent at right angles to the said surface to
form the arch d and depression f, substantially as above described.
Third. As means for lacing boots, gloves, or other articles of wearing apparel, the
combination with a single lacing cord secured by one end to the article to be laced
of two series of hooks having their necks bent in planes parallel or nearly so to the
material to which they are secured, and arranged in pairs with their open sides all
in the same direction, whereby the boot, glove, or other article may be so laced that
the draught upon the lacing cord will tend to press the ends or points of the said
hooks close upon the article being laced, substantially as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.