the Back-bands of Harness.
Year: 1886

page_text: the Back-bands of Harness.
:
I JOHN BURGESS, of 32* Fountain Street, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Carrier, do hereby declare the nature of said Invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BUCKLES, PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO BUCKLES FOR THE BACK-BANDS
OF HARNESS, to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to prevent excessive wear and tear on back-bands
or straps ordinarily caused by the crossbar or top part of the frame of the buckle
bearing upon and bending the band which thus receives undue pressure and strain
at the point where it is already weakened by being pierced for the tongue.
To effect this I construct my improved buckle with the top part of the frame on
which the point of the tongue (or tongues) rests of a broad piece of metal formed
with a slot (or slots) to receive the tip or front part of the tongue; the back or
under surface of this top part of the buckle which rests on the leather is slightly
curved so that the back-band or other strap lies in the buckle in a straight line or
nearly so; in this manner sharp bends of the leather are avoided and much greater
durability is secured.

page_text: the "Back-bands" of Harness.
I JOHN BURGESS, of 32 Fountain Street, Manchester in the County of Lancaster,
Carrier, do hereby declare the nature of said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BUCKLES, PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO BUCKLES FOR THE BACK-BANDS OF
HARNESS," and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to improvements in buckles, particularly applicable to
buckles for the "back-bands of harness and the object of my Invention is to
prevent excessive wear and tear on "back-bands" or, on other straps ordinarily
caused by the cross-bar or top part of the frame of the buckle bearing upon and
unduly bending the "back-band" or strap which thus receives excessive pressure
and strain at the point where it is already weakened by being pierced for the
tongue.
i I attain this object by constructing my improved buckle with the top part of
the frame on which the point of the tongue (or tongues) rests of a broad piece of
metal, for the sake of convenience hereinafter called the "cross-plate" which is
'formed with a slot (or slots) to receive the tip or front part of the tongue; the
back or under surface of this cross-plate which rests on the leather is slightly
curved so that the "back-band" or other strap lies in the buckle in a straight
line or nearly so, and in this manner sharp bends of the leather are avoided and
much greater durability is secured.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect I will describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, reference. being
had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a side view of my improved buckle connected to a strap. Fig. 2 is
a plan of the same with the tongue shown resting on the cross-plate and the strap
removed and Fig. 3 a plan with the tongue raised. Fig. is a front view and
Fig. 5 a side view of my improved buckle as applied to a "back-band" and a
metal "tug" or. hoop through which the shaft of the vehicle is passed and Figs. 6
and 7 are similar views to Figs. 4 and 5 showing my improved buckle as applied
to an ordinary leather "tug."
In these views.-a is the frame of the buckle, a' the broad metal piece or cross-
plate which I employ according to this Invention instead of an ordinary cross-bar;
a is the slot in the cross-plate a¹ which slot a³ is formed to receive the tip or point
of the tongue b. The tongue b near the tip is preferably bent in a peculiar manner
as best shown by the dotted lines, Fig. 1, also clearly shown in each of the other
side views, Figs. 5 and 7. It is obvious that a straight tongue might be used in
place of the bent tongue b, but I prefer to use the latter. Fig. 1 shows an ordinary
strap c threaded on the tongue b. Figs. 4 and 5 show a "back-band" c¹ threaded
on the tongue b the buckle being connected by a loop a³, preferably formed with
the frame a, to the metal shaft "tug" d. Figs. 6 and 7 show the "back-band" cl
and a leather shaft "tug" d which is suspended from the bottom bar of the
buckle frame a in the ordinary manner.

page_text: It will be observed that the back or under surface of the cross-plate a¹ which
rests on the leather is slightly curved (see side views, Figs. 1, 5 and 7) so that the
strap c or back-band c¹ lies in the buckle in a straight line or nearly so and thus
sharp bends of the leather are avoided and much greater durability is secured.
It is obvious that in place of one tongue 6 and one slot a for each buckle, two
or more tongues in combination with a corresponding number of slots in the cross-
plate a¹ may be employed.
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
I claim is-
1. In a buckle, the combination of the frame a, the cross-plate a¹, slot a³, and
tongue b, all substantially as herein shown and described, for the purposes
specified.
2. In a buckle, the combination with the cross-plate a', the under surface of
which is or may be slightly curved or rounded as shown, of the slot a³, substantially
as and for the purposes herein described and as illustrated by the Drawings
annexed.
3. The use and application of the improved buckle herein described for the
* back-bands" of harness, in combination with a metal shaft "tug" substantially as
described with reference to Figs. 4 and 5.
4. The use and application of the improved buckle herein described for the
"back-hands" of harness in combination with a leather shaft "tug," substantially
as described with reference to Figs. 6 and 7.
H. B. BARLOW,
Agent.