IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENING DEVICES FOR GLOVES AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1885

page_text: I WILLIAM RIGHTER COMINGS, of N° 128 Queen Victoria Street London EC
in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my
Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENING DEVICES FOR GLOVES AND OTHER
ARTICLES, to be as follows:-
My Invention consists broadly of the following elements.
First A Metalic Socket or Button-hole, provided with suitable means or devices
for fastening it to a Glove or other article.
Second A Stud or Button adapted to operate as a fastening device with said
socket, and provided with suitable means or devices for fastening it to a Glove or
other article.
Third The employment with the above mentioned Socket and Stud of leverage
for seperating the two members. The lever or levers used for this purpose being
preferably wholly or in part concealed from view by placing the same more or less
upon the underside of the material upon which the fastener is applied.
This employment of leverage to seperate the two parts of the fastener enables
it to be opened with the greatest ease although the stud and socket are adapted to
work with each other only by overcoming considerable resistance. Thus producing
a Fastening which while holding securely can be opened with the greatest facility
by simple pressure upon one or more of the levers.
For the purposes of this invention the Socket or Stud can be constructed to
operate as a fastening either with or without spring action, but as a rule I prefer
to construct either the Socket or Stud to work by spring action, as the tools for
forming them in this manner require to be less accurate and exact than in the case
when the parts fasten otherwise than by spring action.
The Levers mentioned as employed for seperating the stud from the socket are
provided with suitable devices for attaching them to the material in the proper
position to act as described in opening the fastening.
The principle of the invention may also be carried out by employing a spring
stud and rigid button hole or eyelet in combination with levers for opening as
described above.
For the sake of neatness in appearance, the spring button-hole or eyelet iş
preferably covered upon its upper surface so as to make an unbroken finish,

page_text: I am aware that spring sockets as well as spring studs have been previously
employed, but with all of these, if the spring part is made sufficiently strong to
hold properly, the fasteners open with too great difficulty.
Another form of fastener has also been made consisting of a ball and spring
socket, each member of which was provided with a lever arm made from the same
peice of metal as the ball and socket. This fastener was applied to the upper
surface of the glove or other article and required two unsightly rivets for fastening,
this system answered the purpose very well but was cumbersome in appearance and
expensive to make, for in order to give the levers sufficient strength it was
necessary to make the other parts too heavy. Another very serious objection to
this fastener as applied to gloves, was, that the parts could not be properly fastened
upon a glove that had been already cut for the ordinary buttons, and to apply it
properly the glove required to be cut expressly with reference to the needs of the
fastening.
My new class of fastener when finished, can be applied with perfect success to
gloves already made with buttonholes and no change is therefore required in the
manufacture of the gloves.
As an illustration of carrying out my invention, I will describe one form of the
same as designed and applied for a Glove Fastener, for this purpose there are two
members, one for each side of the wrist.
1st Member. The spring socket or Button-hole. I first form a top of thin metal,
similar to that now used for the ordinary Brass Glove button, and having the edge
adapted to be fastened to the base, by turning over, the base I form of a flat plate
of preferably thicker metal than the top, from the center of this is raised up by
punching or otherwise a short conical tube or series of projections, forming
together a sort of conical socket, this base plate with the cone projection preferably
turned downwards, is next fastened to the top plate by having the edge of the
latter turned over it as in making the ordinary glove buttons. The lever for this
part, is a flat peice of metal terminating in a flat ring adapted to fit over the conical
projection or socket.
The whole is fastened to the glove by passing the conical part of the top peice
through the button-hole of the glove from the upper or finished side of the leather,
from the underside the ring of the lever is then pressed over the conical part with
its arm extending backward from the edge of the wristlet. A portion of the conical
projection is then turned down and clinched over the ring thereby fastening the
two parts to each other, and to the glove.
2nd Member. The Stud. This is a short stud having a thin flat base, and made
so that the shank next the plate is smaller than the top part of the stud, the base
plate is provided with a lever arm extending backward from the edge of the wrist,
this stud and plate can be struck up from a single peice of sheet metal, or can be
formed from two or more peices fastened together.
The base plate has raised up from its surface, points suitable for fastening it to
the glove, to which it is applied as follows. A hole is first cut in the leather, a
little larger than the stud, the stud is passed through the leather from the
underside, then a flat metal ring or washer also a little larger than the stud, is
passed over it and rests upon the upper surface of the leather, this ring or washer
has holes that correspond with the fastening points on the stud plate, these points
are passed through the holes in the ring and then clinched down fastening the
whole of the second member together and to the glove. It is of course quite
immaterial whether the points for fastening are upon the stud plate or upon the
ring, or if desired, the parts can be fastened by sewing.
To fasten the glove, the socket of first member is pressed over the stud of the
second member, the projecting socket part of the first springing over the head of
the said stud and closes in upon the shank, thus holding the glove firmly fastened,
All that then shows of the fastener, is the top plate of the number one member,
which can be made as small and neat in appearance as may be desired, and of any
shape required. To unfasten the glove, press with the thumb and forefinger upon

page_text: the leather at each side of the top plate of number one member, and this pressure
will then act on the lever arms to force the two members apart upon the principle
of a lever of the first class.
To facilitate this lever action, I form a fulcrum by fixing a slight projection
upon one of the lever arms near the stud, it being immaterial whether the said
point or edge projects downwards from the number one arm, or upwards from the
number two, and the nearer this point is to the stud the greater will be the
leverage and the easier the action.
The invention may be modified by having no lever arms upon the stud plate,
and then making the lever arm of the number one member extend forward towards
the edge of the leather, and then by bending upwards and clinching over the
leather serve to stifen the edge and prevents it turning up, then by pulling up, the
part so formed acts as a lever of the second class to open the fastener.
The same idea could also be carried out by placing the number two member upon
the button-hole side of wrist with the stud extending downward, the broad
principle of the invention being the same, and consisting, in combining with any
form of stud and socket fastener, one or more lever arms, preferably underneath
the leather or material, adapted for readily seperating the fastener.
The two parts of the second or stud member can be fastened in position more
neatly by making the stud at first without a head, and the hole in the ring or
washer of the same size, then after the ring is placed over the stud upset the stud
so as to form a head of the shape required, and at the same time rivet the ring to
the base plate of stud leaving the leather tightly fastened between the two, With
this construction, the top plate or ring should have openings cut that will allow
the socket part of number one member to pass through it and rest upon the base
plate of stud, as otherwise, the fastener could not close tightly so as to bring both
surfaces of the leather into close contact.
In making the first member, the socket may be constructed to fasten upon the
stud by friction instead of spring action."
The parts of each member may be fastened to the leather or other material by
any of the methods usually employed for such purposes.
By these improvements each part of the fastener can be proportioned to the
demands upon it, and as the levers are not visible, they can be made as heavy as,
desired, of shapes much cheaper to manufacture, moreover all the parts except the
levers can be made perfectly round, and manufactured by the same class of
machinery as is now employed for making buttons.
As here described, the number one member consists of three peices. First. Top
plate for socket. Second. Bottom or socket plate. Third. Lever peice. For some
purposes the top plate can be dispensed with, for others I make it one peice with
the socket, and in some instance I prefer to construct the socket and lever in one
peice.
For variety in finish, almost any sort of material commonly used for buttons,
can be employed for the top plate, such as pearl, rubber, horn, cloth, glass, and said
substances are fastened to the socket plate after the systems in general use for the
manufacture of buttons from the same materials.
In the construction and application of the Second or stud member, the ring
may in many cases be dispensed with, and the stud with or without a base plate
can be attached to the material by any of the usual methods.
In some cases where their appearance would not be objectionable the lever or
levers for opening may with advantage be placed upon the upper surface.

page_text: I, WILLIAM RIGHTER COMINGS of No. 128° Queen Victoria Street London E.C in
the County of Middlesex, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention consists broadly of the following elements―
First A Metallic Socket or Button-hole provided with suitable means or
devices for fastening it to a Glove or other article.
Second A Stud or Button adapted to operate as a fastening device with said
Socket, and provided with suitable means or devices for fastening it to a Glove or
other article.
Third The employment with the above mentioned Socket and Stud of leverage
for separating the two members. The lever or levers used for this purpose being
preferably wholly or in part concealed from view by placing the same more or less
upon the underside of the material upon which the fastener is applied.
This employment of leverage to separate the two parts of the fastener enables it
to be opened with the greatest ease although the stud and socket are adapted to
work with each other only by overcoming considerable resistance. Thus producing
a fastening which while holding securely can be opened with the greatest facility
by simple pressure upon one or more of the levers.
For the purposes of this invention the Socket or Stud can be constructed to
operate as a fastening either with or without spring action, but as a rule I prefer
to construct either the Socket or Stud to work by spring action as the tools for
forming them in this manner require to be less accurate and exact than in the case
when the parts fasten otherwise than by spring action.
The Levers mentioned as employed for separating the stud from the socket are
provided with suitable devices for attaching them to the material in the proper
position to act as described in opening the fastening.
The principle of the invention may also be carried out by employing a spring
stud and rigid button hole or eyelet in combination with levers for opening as
described above.
To clearly explain the nature of my invention reference is made to the accom-
panying drawings in which like letters of reference refer to corresponding parts in
all the figures.
Fig. 1 represents in plan a spring socket attached to a lever.
Fig. 2 a plan of the stud adapted to fit therein.
Fig. 3 a perspective view of the spring socket detached from the lever.
Fig. 4 a side sectional elevation of, a spring socket attached to a glove or other
article.
Fig. 5 a sectional elevation of a spring socket with the stud therein both members
being attached to a glove or other article..
Fig. 6 a plan view of a modified form of spring socket.
Fig. 7 a plan view of a modified form of stud adapted.to fit therein.
Figs. 8 and 9 sectional elevations of the two members when in use.
Figs. 10, 11 and 12 sectional elevations of spring sockets.
19 a plan mism of the bottom of thin 10

page_text: Figs. 14. 15 and 16 sectional elevations of studs attached to gloves or other
articles Fig. 15 representing the stud before being headed and Fig. 16 after the
stud is complete and Fig. 17 an elevation of the two members shown in Figs. 1
to 5 when being separated by pressure on their attached levers.
In Figs. 1 to 5 the spring socket is formed with side springs a which pass down
from the inside head b through the glove or other article d and through its lever c
to which it is secured by clipping pieces e. e the glove or other article being firmly
held thereby between the inner faces of head b and lever c.
The stud h may be attached to or form part of its lever c¹ and passes up through
the glove or other article and through a ring or washer f which is here shown as
being provided with clipping pieces e which pass through and are rivetted to the
lever.
When the two members are in use projection g cut up from socket lever c rests
on washer f and forms a fulcrum so that the two members may be readily separated
by pressure upon their levers as shown in Fig. 17 or instead of the fulcrum being
formed on the lever it may be made as or form part of the washerf but if the jaws
of the spring socket a are made sufficiently short the washer f will be in contact.
with lever c in which case no special fulcrum will be required as the lower jaws of
the spring socket pass through washer f and lower material d as shown thus
bringing the two surfaces of said material into close contact and prevent any strain
upon them from separating the two members or any pulling over of the stud
member.
In Figs. 6. 7 and the long arm of the levers c. c¹ are dispensed with the
fulcrum g being shown as cut up from washer f upon the under side of the socket
member which in this case as in Fig. 11 is represented as being made from the
same piece as the spring socket, the clips e being also cut therefrom. The ball
member is shown as made from a flanged hollow rivet, which after being passed.
through material d and washer f is headed or rivetted down. The under flange is
represented with projecting piece or protector i which is turned over and pressed
down upon material d as shewn although it will be evident that piece i may
be formed upon washer f or upon both of these parts as also upon the socket
member.
In Fig. 9 the spring socket is represented as being made with a convex top.
which is placed under the material d and adapted to fit within the concave
external head b to which it is secured by pin or tack j passing through material d.
The ball member h is shrown as made from a hollow rivet passing through upper
and lower washers to the latter of which it is secured, said washers being slightly.
curved as shown as this form I deem preferable to that represented in Fig. 14
where the washers are flat and do not consequently so well grip the material d.
In Figs. 10 and 13 the same arrangement of ball socket is represented as in
Fig. 9 except that the external head b and the socket a are secured by a rivet or
eyelet passing through both. These forms of sockets hold material d more by
clamping it than by means of the pins or rivets which pass through it.
When making very small sockets such as are adapted for ladies gloves it is
difficult to get the requisite spring therein and to secure this I split the socket
pieces into two or more sections as shewn in Fig. 12 and find by experiment that
considerable advantage results therefrom.
In Fig. 15 the ball member h is shewn as being made from an external flanged
hollow rivet an internal one of smaller size, the latter passing through the
material d and into the external one both being subsequently headed down as
shown in Fig. 16.
I am aware that spring sockets as well as spring studs have been previously
employed, but with all of these, if the spring part is made. sufficiently strong to
hold properly, the fasteners open with too great difficulty. Another form of
fastener has also been made consisting of a ball and spring socket, each member
of which was provided with a lever arm made from the same piece of metal as the
ball or socket. This fastener was applied to the upper surface of the glove or

page_text: other article and required two unsightly rivets for fastening, this system answered
the purpose very well but was cumbersome in appearance and expensive to make,
for in order to give the levers sufficient strength it was necessary to make the
other parts too heavy. Another very serious objection to this fastener as applied
to gloves, was, that the parts could not be properly fastened upon a glove that had
been already cut for the ordinary buttons, and to apply it properly the glove
required to be cut expressly with reference to the needs of the fastening.
My new class of fastener as herein before described can be applied with perfect
success to gloves already made with button holes and no change is therefore
required in the manufacture of the gloves.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1st A socket member the spring socket of which passes through the material d
in combination with an under lever or washer and a fulcrum substantially as
described.
2nd A ball member formed from a flanged lever ball piece the upper portion of
which passes through the material and a superposed washer the parts being secured
in position substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
-
3rd A ball member formed with an under flange and a superposed washer one or
both of which being provided with a piece or protector adapted to be turned over
the edge of material d for strengthening and stiffening purposes substantially as
set forth.
4th A socket member in which the spring socket is formed with a flange adapted
to be received and held by the external head b as represented in Figs. 1. 3. 4
and 5 or is made from the same piece as represented in Figs. 8 and 11 substantially
as set forth.
5th A socket member formed of an external bead b adapted to receive the
material d and spring socket a to which it is secured by pins rivets or eyelets
substantially as described.
6th A ball member made from a hollow rivet passed through a lower washer
and through material d and an upper washer the parts being held in position by
riveting the lower part of the rivet over the lower washer and heading the upper
part down over the upper washer substantially as described.
7th A ball member made from an external flanged rivet and an internal one of
smaller size the latter being passed through the material d and into the external
one both being headed down substantially as described with reference to Figs. 15
and 16.
8th A ball member so constructed as to permit the jaws of the spring socket to
pass through the superposed washer and the material and rest upon the lower
washer or flange substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
9th A socket member formed with a projecting piece or protector adapted to be
turned over the edge of the material for strengthening and stiffening purposes
substantially as described and as illustrated in Fig. 8.
Dated this 5th day of October 1985