AN IMPROVEMENT IN: THE CONSTRUCTION OF FASTENERS OR CONNECTORS FOR FLEXIBLE OR INFLEXIBLE ARTICLES, WHERE Two PARALLEL EDGES ARE REQUIRED TO BE BROUGHT OR KEPT TOGETHER
Year: 1871

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Saxon John Mac Carthy at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
. 27th September 1871.
}
I, SAXON JOHN MAC CARTHY, of 23, Pentonville Road, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare, the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN: THE CONSTRUCTION OF FASTENERS OR CONNECTORS FOR
FLEXIBLE OR INFLEXIBLE ARTICLES, WHERE Two PARALLEL EDGES ARE REQUIRED
TO BE BROUGHT OR KEPT TOGETHER," to be as follows:-
.My improvements consist of the contrivances and modes herein-after
mentioned and more particularly described, by which I form a fastening.
for drawing together and retaining in position the straight or parallel or
curved edges of corsets, gloves, trousers, leggings, boots, shoes, and other
articles of dress and wear, and. of bags, wrappers, trunks, portmantéaus,
or other flexible or inflexible articles and things, the edges of the said
articles and things being by my improvements closed, secured, or
held together, or otherwise opened or seperated at will without the use or

page_text: employment of pins, buttons, hooks, or strings, or other of the ordinary
means now used for such purposes.
My said improvements are also applicable to marquees and waggon
coverings and tarpaulings, and also for ambulance and other stretchers,
chairs, or couches which may be desired or required to be disconnected
or detached in various parts or pieces, and to windows, doors, shutters,
and other rigid or inflexible substances such as sheet iron and zinc
erections and buildings, and whether such erections and buildings be
wholly or in part of sheet iron and zinc, by means whereof screws, bolts,
rivets, or nails as now used in such erections or buildings are wholly
dispensed with.
According to my said improvements I affix to or raise on the margins
of the materials and things to be connected together slots, or grooves, or
ribs, undercut or undersunk, so as to permit of cramps or connectors
travelling in and binding together the materials on which such grooves,
slots, or ribs are constructed or affixed, and by the construction of such
grooves, slots, or ribs as before described, the cramps or connectors can
only travel in a forward or backward direction, parallel with the edges of
the material, but not from side to side. These said cramps or connectors
are formed in one or more pieces and are put in use by bringing the
grooves, or slots, or ribs together, and are inserted over the ends of the
grooves, or slots, or ribs, and then moved along to their positions; and
when two or more of these said cramps or connectors are required to be
put in use or kept in certain positions on any article, thing, or erection,
they are coupled or linked together by means of a cord, chain, or other
ligature, flexible or stationary, cut in such lengths as may be required;
both ends of this said cord, or chain, or ligature being stationary or
otherwise as occasion may require. By these means the said grooves; or
slots, or ribs may be wholly or partially connected or disconnected
at will.
For the purposes of dress or wear, or for any of the purposes aforesaid,
where a flexible material is required, I use a metallic woven fabric
.formed of any mineral that will not oxidise, or of any mineral coated
with an anti-corrosive material, and this metallié woven fabric subsequent
to its being woven I submit to a process of flatting out or rolling, so as
to present a uniform even surface, and admit of its being stitched on, or
otherwise connected with, the articles of dress or wear herein-before
mentioned.

page_text: I also use for some of the purposes aforesaid vulcanized india-rubber,
gutta percha, leather, horn, or other flexible or elastic substances or
materials.
I also form the cramps or connectors of brass, copper, or any anti-
corrosive composite metals, or of iron or steel galvanized or coated
with tin, or of vulcanized india-rubber, gutta percha, or similar material.
.
In the construction of tents and marquees I stitch in or rivet a cording
or piping close to the edges of the canvas or other cloth. I then bring
the edges when so corded together and I run the cramps or connectors
end on as herein-before described.
In covering the sides or roofs of houses or other erections with
corrugated or plain iron or zinc, I turn the rib, or groove, or slot in the
material or covering itself, and then place the edges, when so grooved
or slotted, together, and put on them the cramps as herein-before
stated.
I claim for this portion of my improvement a great superiority over
the ordinary mode and system of constructing such buildings and
erections, inasmuch as I dispense with screws or rivets as now employed,
and thereby preserve the materials in the roofs and sheeting from being
perforated, and as a consequence protract the term of its existence; and
I also by my said improvements save the expense of skilled labor in
respect of the subject matter of this part of my improvement, as any
ordinary or unskilled person may put all the pieces and parts together,
and vice versa, without the smallest difficulty.