CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN BUCKLES, CLASPS, AND OTHER FASTENINGS
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTUS
SEPTIMUS BRAITHWAITE, of Saint Martin's-le-Grand, in the City of London,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
the Twenty-second day of May, in the eighth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Augustus Septimus Braithwaite, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Augustus Septimus Braithwaite, my exors, admors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Augustus Septimus Braithwaite,
my exors, admors, or assigns, should at. any time 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, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, an Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN BUCKLES, CLASPS, AND OTHER FASTENINGS," communicated to
me by a Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso that I, the said Augustus Septimus Braithwaite, shall cause a parti-
cular description of the nature of the 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Augustus Septimus Braithwaite, do hereby declare that the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed.
First, I manufacture a buckle of the form represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3,
by stamping the whole thereof out of metal at one operation, with the excep-
tion of the two cylinders (E, E,) herein-after mentioned, and then fashioning
it in certain parts by hand or hand tools. Figure 1 represents a plan of the
buckle as first stamped out by a stamping machine (such as is ordinarily
employed for stamping-out purposes. Figure 2 a plan, and Figure 3 a side
view of it in its finished state. A, A, is the larger wing of the buckle.
B, B, the tongues, which are bent by hand or hand tools into the hooked form
shewn in Figure 3. C, the smaller wing of the buckle, which, after the
tongues have been bent out of the way, is pressed down also by hand or hand
tools into the shape shewn at C in Figure 2. D, D, two' loops pendant from
A. A, which, being twisted by hand or hand tools one half turn round, assume
the shape shewn in Figure 2; and E, E, are two rollers (made separately from
the rest of the buckle), which fit into the space between the two loops, having
their bearings in the holes a, a, b, b, of the loops.
Second, I modify the form of the buckle first before described in the
manner represented in Figures 4, 5, and 6, where only one cylinder E is
employed, which is fixed between the loops C, C, by means of a rectangular
piece of metal or wire F cut through in one part, as shewn in the separate
view of it given in Figuro 4, the two ends of this piece being passed through
the holes made in the loops for its reception, and then inserted into the
cylinder (E).
Third, I attach buckles of either of the forms before described to double
end braces by an improved mode, by which any slipping of the brace through
the buckle is effectually prevented. Figure 6 represents this mode of
fastening, as applied to a one cylinder buckle. G, G, is the double end piece
which is passed over the cylinder E, as shewn. H, I, K, is a short curb
piece of the same material as the brace, which is stitched thereto by its two
ends, and brought over the under side of the rectangular piece F so as to
leave the brace free to move from H to I, but no farther. Figure 7 repre-
sents this secure mode of attachment as applied to a double cylinder buckle of
the form shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
Fourth, I manufacture in the same way as before described, that is, partly
by stamping and then by fashioning certain parts by hand or hand tools,

page_text: buckles of any other variety of form which may be required, and which this
system of construction admits of. Two farther exemplifications are given in
Figures 8, 9, and 10. The Figure 8 shews the buckle pieces as they appear
when first stamped out of the sheet of metal,, and Figure 9 the same pieces
after the lesser wing or wings are pressed down by hand or otherwise, and the
tongue left projecting. Figure 10 is a side view of Figure 9.
-
Fifth, I manufacture by casting a buckle of the form represented in
Figures 10, 11, 12, and 13, which has, the advantage of being at once
extremely simple and of allowing the strap, brace, or belt to which it is
attached to be released from it with great readiness. Figure 10 is a plan of
this buckle. Figure 11, a side view. Figure 12 is a front view of it, with
strap or brace attached, and Figure 18 a sectional view of Figure 12. A is
the body of the buckle; B, the hook; C, one end of the strap which is passed
through the buckle from behind and under the collar E; and F, the opposite
end of the strap. By pulling up the strap C the hook catches into one or
other of the eyelet holes a, a, a, and by simply pulling down the end D. of this
strap it is released. A buckle of this sort may have a small roller inserted
across the open part, as shewn in Figures 14 and 15, in order to afford a
purchase for the strap when seeking to disengage it from the hook, but in
general this will not be found necessary.
Sixth, for the better securing of buckles of the form last herein described, I
occasionally attach to them a guard of the description represented in Figures 16
and 17; this guard is first cast in the form represented in Figure 16,
the two parts G and H facing different ways. The part G bas then a hole
made in the middle of it, and upwards from that hole it is slit into two pieces
b, b. The under part of the buckle is dropped between these two pieces b,.b,
which being then brought together take fast hold of the buckle, as. shown in
Figures 18 and 19. The under part H is sewn to the strap or brace or belt,
having holes made in it for the purpose. Instead of forming and applying
this guard in the manner before described, it may be made and applied as
shewn in Figures 20, 21, 22, and 23.
And, seventh, I manufacture buttons partly of steel and partly of iron or
other metals or substances, in manner following:-I make the shank and
button shewn in Figure 24, and the cap shown in Figure 25, both of iron or
some other cheap metal or substance, and the upper or outer plate, shewn in
Figure 26, of steel, which upper or outer plate can have any shape or
configuration, and any degree of polish given to it which may be desired, by
means of the processes ordinarily followed for such purposes in the button
manufacture, and which being well known need not be here detailed.

page_text: And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is as
follows:-
First, I claim the making of buckles of the different forms represented in
Figures 1 to 10, both inclusive, of the Drawings hereunto annexed, or of any 5
other analogous forms, partly by machine stamping and partly by hand
finishing, as before described.
Second, I claim the curb represented in Figures 6 and 7, and before
described.
Third, I claim the making of buckles or clasps of the different forms 1
represented in Figures 10 to 15, both inclusive, and of any analogous forms, as
before described.
Fourth, I claim the guards represented in Figure 16 to 23, and before
described; and,
Fifth, I claim the making of buttons consisting of an upper or outer 1
plate of steel, and of an under cap, button, and shank, all of iron or of some
other cheap metal or substance, as before described.
And such the said Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
entirely new, and never before used within that part of Her Majesty's United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of 2
Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare this to be my
Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe this my said Specifica-
tion doth comply in all respects fully and without reserve or disguise with the
proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained;
wherefore I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to the said ?
Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Augustus Septimus Braithwaite, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of November, in
the year of our Lord 1845, the aforesaid Augustus Septimus Braithwaite,
came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged
the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and
specified, in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-second day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.