IMPROVEMENTS IN STAY AND OTHER LIKE FAS- TENINGS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Drew, of the firm of Drew, Nephew,
and Company, of Bath, in the County of Somerset, Stay Manu-
facturers, and John Bayliss, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Rifle Implement Manufacturer, for the Invention of
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Drew and
John Bayliss at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, witli
their Petition, on the 9th September 1858.
We, ROBERT DREW and Jonx BAYLISS, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STAY AND OTHER LIKE FAS-
TENINGS" to be as follows:-
This Invention relates chiefly to the manufacture of stay fastenings,
the object being to provide a simple construction of fastening, which
will admit of the stay being readily removed from the body of the
wearer. To this end we attach the busk of the stay to one edge
thereof, and to the other edge we secure a thin strip of steel, and
cause the latter to overlay the former by providing it with slots to re-
ceive studs projecting from the face of the busk.

page_text: By bending forward the busk the studs are severally brought to the
enlarged end of the slots and the overlaying strip may be readily disen-
gaged therefrom.
Or, instead of overlaying, we cause the edges of the steel strips to
abut against each other. In that case the studs or hooks project from
the side of one steel strip to take into the slots of the other.
We also provide the slotted strip with a tongue and catch at its ends
to take into boxes or recesses provided on the other strip to receive
them. By bending forward the busk and disengaging one catch from
the box the steel strips are readily sprung apart and the stay is un-
fastened.
It will be obvious that articles of various kinds will admit of this
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Drew and John Bayliss in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 9th March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
ROBERT DREW, of the firm of Drew, Nephew, and Company, of Bath,
in the County of Somerset, Stay Manufacturers, and JOHN BAYLISS,
of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Rifle Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Robert Drew and John Bayliss, Her
special license that we, the said Robert Drew and John Bayliss, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Robert Drew and John Bayliss, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle

page_text: of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STAY AND OTHER LIKE
FASTENINGS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Robert Drew and John Bayliss, by an instrument in writing under our
hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Drew, on behalf of
myself and of the said John Bayliss, do hereby declare the nature of
our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
This Invention relates to the manufacture of fastenings to be applied
chiefly to stays, the object being to provide a simple construction of
fastening which will admit of the stay being readily removed from the
body of the wearer. To this end we employ the contrivance shewn in
the accompanying Drawing as detached from the stay. The busk of
the stay, which is intended to be attached to one edge thereof, is shewn at
a, a, in Figures 1, which represent the fastening in front, and edge views.
b, b, is a thin strip of steel intended to be secured to the other edge of
the stay. The busk a, is provided with a series of studs c, c, which
enter slots formed in the steel strip b, when the edges of the stay are
brought together. In that case the steel strip overlays the busk, and by
the studs c, c, projecting through the slots of the steel strip the attach-
ment of the stay to the body of the wearer is secured.
When it is required to unfasten the stay this may be readily effected
by bending forward the busk, and sliding the steel strip until the studs
are severally brought to the enlarged end of the slots; the overlaying
steel strip may then be readily disengaged from the studs. By refer-
ring to the Drawing it will be seen that the relative distances apart of
the studs and the slots are such that when the fastening is straight
the studs cannot all occupy at one time the same relative position
in their respective slots. By this simple arrangement the liability
of the fastening to become disengaged by accident will be avoided.

page_text: When a fastening of less thickness than that above described is
required, instead of overlaying the pieces of metal, we cause the edges
of two steel strips to abut against each other, as shewn at Fig. 2,
wherein the strip d, is furnished with a tongue e, and spring catch f, at
its opposite ends for the purpose of taking into metal loops provided on
the strip g, to receive them; and in order the more securely to connect
the steel strips together an intermediate catch h, is employed, which
is rivetted to the strip d, and caused to take on to the outer edge of the
strip g. This fastening is applied, like the former, to the adjoining
edges of the stays. In using it the tongue e, of the strip d, is first
inserted in the loop i, which is rivetted to the strip g; the catch h, next
takes into its slot, and the spring catch f, is lastly pressed into its loop
or holdfast. To detach the stay from the body of the wearer it is
only necessary to press back the catch f, out of contact with the re-
taining edge of its holdfast, and the steel strips may be readily sprung
apart.
It will be obvious that articles of various kinds, such as boots,
gaiters, &c., will admit of this Invention being applied thereto.
Having now set forth the nature and object of our Invention of "im-
provement in stay and other like fastenings," we wish it to be understood
that under the above in part recited Letters Patent we claim the con-
struction of fastening, as above described, and shewn in the accom-
panying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Drew, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Ninth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT.
66, Chancery Lane.
ROBERT DREW. (L.S.)