A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT IN BUCKLES
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
SIMPSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Second day of March, in the sixth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and graut unto me, the said:
Thomas Simpson, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Thomas Simpson, my exors, adiñiors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas Simpson, my exors, adiiors, or assigns, should at any
tinie agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, usė, exer-
cise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of "A CERTAIN IMPROVEMENT IN BUCKLES;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Thomas Simpson, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what'
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear..
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Simpson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and

page_text: ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
(that is to say):
My improvement is applicable to every kind of buckle, but particularly to
buckles used in the construction of harness, and consists in making the pin or
axis on which the tongue of the buckle works detachable or moveable from
the other parts of the buckle, so as to admit of the easy removal of the buckle
from the article to which it is attached, and also to admit of the use of a tongue
stronger than those used in buckles of the common construction.
In order to define more clearly my Invention, I will first describe a
harness buckle of the common kind, and will afterwards describe a harness
buckle in which my improvement is adopted.
Figure 1 is a front view of a common harness buckle; Figure 2, a side
view of the same; Figure 3 represents the tongue of a common harness
buckle. This buckle consists of but two pieces a, a¹, and b, the arched
part a and the pin or axis a¹ being cast in one piece. The tongue b is
attached to the-pin or axis a¹ by bending the end of the former round the
latter, as seen in Figure 2. A buckle thus constructed has many disad-
vantages. The axis a¹ being cast to the arched part a, cannot be made of
a cylindrical form by turning, and consequently the tongue b cannot work
smoothly on it as an axis. The mode of attaching the tongue by bending
its end round the axis (see Figure 2) renders it still more difficult to make the
former work smoothly on the latter; a tongue thus constructed has the further
disadvantage of being weaker near the axis of its motion than at any other
point. When a buckle thus constructed is attached to any article (a part of
harness for example) it can only be detached from the same by cutting the
sewing by which it was affixed. By my improvement all these disadvantages
are avoided. Figure 4 is a front view of a harness buckle in which my
improvement is adopted; Figure 5 is also a front view of the same, partly in
section; Figure 6 is an end view of the same; Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10 represent
the several parts of the same. c is the pin or axis on which the tongue of the
buckle turns. This axis consists of a cylindrical rod of metal, one end of
which is formed into a screw c¹ and the other is furnished with a screw head c¹¹.
This pin or axis is fixed to the projections d, d', on the sides of the buckle, by
the screwed end of the pin or axis screwing into the projection d. This pin
or axis is represented separately in Figure 9. The tongue a (represented
separately in Figure 8) is cast solid, and the hole e through which the
axis c passes is formed by drilling. f, f', are collars working loosely on the
pin or axis c, and serve to keep the tongue in its proper place on. the axis.

page_text: In using my improved buckle in the construction of harness, it is only neces-
sary to supply the harness-maker with the collars f, f', in order that he may
make the loops in the straps of a proper size to receive them; the buckles
can be added at any future time. In order to attach my improved buckle to
any article (a part of harness for example), the arched part y and the tongue
x must be placed in their proper positions with regard to the loop of the strap,
and the pin or axis c passes through the projections d', d, and the bole in
the tongue; by driving home the screw c¹ by the screw head c" the whole is.
secured. The buckle may be removed by unscrewing the pin or axis c. It is
evident that by the use of my improvement the buckles of a set of harness
may be changed with great facility without cutting, unsewing, or otherwise
injuring any part of the said harness.
.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in-
which the same is to be carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do
not limit myself to the precise mode of constructing my improvement herein-
before described; but I claim as my Invention the construction of buckles
in which the pin or axis on which the tongues of the said buckles work, and
by which the said buckles are affixed to articles moveable or detachable from
the other parts of the said buckles, whether such pins or axes be attached
to the other parts of the said buckles and detached therefrom by the method
herein-before described, or by any other method.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Simpson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.