Improvements in Garment-supporters.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Oct., 1895-Accepted, 7th Dec., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Garment-supporters.
I, EDWARD SPENCER SMITH, of Waterbury, County of New Haven and State
of Connecticut, United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manuer the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to improvements in garment-supporters of the class in
which there is a suspending tape carrying a suitable stud and a loop having a
"key-hole "opening or slot therein. the said loop and stud co-acting in the manner
herein after fully set forth and described, to securely hold the garment to be
supported.
The object of my invention is to provide a new and useful garment-supporter-
loop which will, after being attached to the garment to be supported, securely hold
and prevent any accidental disengagement of the same. Other objects are to
provide, in a garment-supporter, a loop which is handsome in appearance simple in
application, effective in operation, and which will, by the presence of a smooth
lining-piece around the lower, inner edge of the loop, prevent the garment
supported thereby from being unduly worn or otherwise injured at that point by
contact with any sharp edges at the lower end of the loop, or otherwise.
My invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which,
Figure 1 is a front view of the lower end of a garment-supporter carrying a loop
of my improved construction and a stud, illustrating the mode of attachment of
said loop and stud to a garment.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1, the garment being shown
in central vertical section.
Fig. 3 is a front view of the frame of a loop of my improved construction.
Fig. 4 is a front view of the completed loop and
Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-section of the loop shown in Fig. 4, taken on the
line y-y.
Similar letters refer to similar parts.
A is a suspending tape carrying toward its lower end a loop B, the frame of said
loop comprising an upper portion which may have a transverse slot in the same to
facilitate its being attached to said tape A, and curved side arms B' B' projecting
downwardly and slightly separated at their lower ends, as clearly illustrated
in Fig. 3. The space between said side arms may be designated by the term
"key-hole opening," that is an opening which is broader toward its upper end than
at its lower extremity. This space between the said side arms is by preference
slightly constricted at an intermediate point in the length of the loop, for the
purpose hereinafter described. DD are recesses in the inner edges and toward
the lower ends of the side arms B' B'. E is a lining-piece adapted to act as a
bridge between the lower ends of the side arms B' B', the said lining-piece forming
also a smooth rounded surface at the inner lower end of the key-hole opening, so
that, in operation, the garment being supported will not be subjected to any sharp
edges. The said lining-piece E is drawn down around the opposite sides of the
arms B' B' as indicated in Figs. 4 and 5, and may be, if desired, pinched together
at the lower end of the loop so that its detachment from the loop cannot be
effected. The preferable mode of preventing the lining piece from being dis-
engaged from the loop is by extending the ends of the lining piece into the
recesses D D as clearly indicated in Fig. 4, so that the shoulders formed by said

page_text: recesses will act as an obstruction to prevent the withdrawing of the lining-piece.
F is a stud or button supported by said tape A at a point by preference below the
point where the loop is supported. G is a portion of a garment to be supported.
In operation a thickness of the fabric of the garment is placed over the stud-head.
The upper or wider portion of the key-hole opening in the loop (which is large
enough to admit the stud-head) is then pressed down over the said stud-head and
fabric. By then drawing the loop laterally with respect to the shank H of the
stud F the fabric of the garment is drawn under the edge of the stud-head and
partially around said shank H, inasmuch as the said button and fabric pass into the
narrower space toward the lower end of the loop (which is of less diameter than
the diameter of the stud-head). When the parts reach the position indicated in
Figs. 1 and 2, the garment is securely held between the shank of the stud and the
side arms and lining-piece of the loop. The purpose of forming the constricted
space at an intermediate point in the length of the loop, which space it should be
stated, is preferably of slightly less diameter than the diameter of the stud-shank,
is to provide an obstruction to prevent the accidental disengagement of the
garment after the same has been gripped in the lower end of the loop, as before
described. Where the said constricted space is provided it will be seen that, when
the stud-shank is slipped from the upper into the lower end of the loop, the side
arms B B are required to yield laterally when the shank H is passing the said
constricted space, this being permitted by reason of the fact that the lower
extremities of the side arms are separated. When the stud-shank has passed into
the lower end of the loop, the side arms spring back to their normal positions, and
a corresponding degree of pressure is necessary in order to reverse the operation
and detach the said stud from the loop. It will be seen that the loop thus
described possesses merit not found in the ordinary loop, in that it prevents any
accidental disengagement of the garment, at the same time permitting the same to
be readily detached when desired. The construction of the loop is simple and it
cannot get out of order, and inasmuch as the stud-shank is ordinarily of but
slightly greater diameter than the width of the constricted throat, the side arms
are required to yield but slightly and in ordinary use never enough to unduly strain
Another advantage of projecting the ends of the lining-piece into the
recesses D D is that, when in said recesses, the ends of the lining-piece are
substantially Hush with the adjacent edges of the side arms, thus preventing any
wear on the garment.
the same.
It is also obvious that if desirable the side arms may be separated at the upper
end of the loop instead of at the lower end thereof.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
1 claim is
1. In a garment-supporter, a loop suspended by suitable means, yielding side
arms, shaped to form a key-hole opening between the same, said side arms being
separated at one end of the loop, and means as described for bridging said
disunited ends.
2. In a garment-supporter, a loop suspended by suitable means, depending yield-
ing side arms curved to form a key-hole opening between the same, said side
arms being separated at the lower end of the loop, and means for bridging said
disunited ends.
3. In a garment-supporter, a loop suspended by suitable means, depending
yielding side arms curved to form a key-hole opening between the same and a
constricted throat at a point intermediate in the length of the loop, said side arms
being separated at the lower end of the loop, and means for bridging said disunite i
ends, substantially as describeil.
4. A garment-supporter, comprising a stud having an enlarged head, a loo
having yielding side arms the inner edges of which form a key-hole opening or
slot, said side arms being recessed as described and disunited at one end of the

page_text: loop, and a lining-piece bridging said disunited ends and held in place by resting in
said recesses, substantially as described.
5. A garment-supporter comprising a stud supported by suitable means and
having an enlarged head, a loop supported by the same means having yielding side
arms, the inner edges of said side arms forming a key-hole opening, recesses in the
lower inner edges of said side arms, said side arms being disunited at the lower
end of the loop, and a lining-piece bridging said disunited ends, the ends of said
lining-piece resting in said recesses and projecting down over the sides of the
said arms, substantially as described.
6. In a garment-supporter, a loop, the side arms of which meet at one end and
are disunited at the opposite end of the loop, with a lining-piece shielding the said
disunited ends of said side arms, said lining-piece being loosely held in position by
recesses formed in the inner edges of said side arms in which recesses the ends of
the lining-piece loosely rest.
7. In a garment-supporter, a loop the side arms of which meet at one end of said
loop and are disunited at the opposite end of the said loop, with a lining-piece
shielding the said disunited piece of the said side arms, said lining-piece being
loosely held in position by recesses formed in the inner edge of said side arms to a
depth equal substantially to the thickness of the metal lining-piece, the ends of
which lining-piece loosely rest therein, the lower opposite edges of the lining-piece
being pinched toward each other underneath said loop.
Dated this 28th day of October 1895.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.