AN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE ATTACHED TO GARMENTS FOR PROTECTING WATCHES, PURSES, AND OTHER ARTICLES PROM BEING STOLEN FROM THE PERSON
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George North, of Lewisham Road, in the County of
Kent, Coach Builder, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO
BE ATTACHED TO GARMENTS FOR PROTECTING WATCHES, PURSES, AND OTHER
ARTICLES PROM BEING STOLEN FROM THE PERSON
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George North at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
July 1854.
I, GEORGE NORTH, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE ATTACHED TO GARMENTS FOR PROTECTING
WATCHES, PURSES, AND OTHER ARTICLES FROM BEING STOLEN FROM THE PERSON,"
to be as follows, viz. :-
This apparatus consists of a convex plate with a spring thereon, and a hook or
catch which abuts upon said spring; this spring and catch may be secured to this
plate by rivets, which may extend so far beyond the inner surface of the said
plate as to pass through the apparel, by holes formed therein, to a second plate
on the other side of the apparel, and through such second plate, the ends of
these rivets inside the second plate having hooks, for the purpose of receiving
the ends of a fastening bar, by which the whole is made fast to the apparel.
The watch ring, or an eye or ring attached to a purse or "porte-monaie," is to
be slipped into the catch between it and the spring, when it will be found that
the watch or purse cannot well bo withdrawn from the pocket by pulling at
the purse or watch chain, and yet may be readily released by the wearer.
Instead of the first-named plate having a spring attached to it, it might be a
spring plate in itself; and it is not absolutely necessary the plate should be

page_text: And
convex; and instead of having a spring and a catch, one spring catch might be
used, or two spring catches, one abutting against the first-named plate, and
the other abutting against the top of this first-named spring catch.
instead of having a second plate, with hooks at the end of rivets passing through
the apparel and secured by the fastening bar, one plate only may be used,
secured to the garment by sewing, or by eyes, through which a tape may be
passed, or otherwise.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George North in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
NORTH, of Lewisham Road, in the County of Kent, Coach Builder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
'said George North, Her special licence that I, the said George North, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
North, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE
ATTACHED TO GARMENTS FOR PROTECTING WATCHES, PURSES, AND OTHER ARTICLES
FROM BEING STOLEN FROM THE PERSON," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said George North, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George North, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment:-
The nature of my said Invention, as already intimated in the Provisional
Specification filed on application for the said Letters Patent, consists in an

page_text: improved apparatus to be attached to garments for protecting watches and other
articles, such for instance as lockets, keys, purses, and porte-monnaies, such
apparatus being a convex or other plate with a spring thereon, and a hook or
catch abutting against said spring, which spring and catch may be secured to the
plate by rivets, which may pass through the plate and extend so far beyond its
inner surface as to be capable of being passed through the garment or apparel
by holes formed in the same, and through a second plate on the side of the
garment nearest the person, where such rivets should terminate in hooks or
catches, for the purpose of securing the ends of a fastening bar turning on a
pivot secured to the inside of the second plate, whereby the whole can be made
fast to the garment, and yet may be released by the wearer as occasion may
require. The watch ring, or an eye or ring attached to a purse or porte-
monnaie, is to be slipped into the catch between it and the spring, when it will
be found that the watch or purse cannot well be withdrawn from the pocket by
pulling at the purse or the watch chain, and yet may be readily released by the
wearer. Instead of the first-named plate having a spring attached to it, it
might be a spring plate of itself, and it is not absolutely necessary the plate
should be convex; and instead of having a spring and a catch, one spring catch
might be used, or two spring catches, one abutting upon the first-named plate,
and the other abutting upon the top of this first spring catch; or the catch
might even be made as a split ring, secured by an eye or staple to the first-
named plate. Also, instead of having a second plate, with hooks at the end of
rivets passing through the garment, and secured by the fastening bar, one
plate only might be used, secured to the garment by sewing, or by eyes through
which a tape could be passed and secured. And it is obvious that other
methods of securing this apparatus to the garment might successfully be
adopted, as for instance, a split pin, or double wire, or spring pin, somewhat
similar to the linch pin used in coach building, could be passed through the
eyes instead of a tape.
Having thus set forth the nature of my said Invention, I now proceed to
illustrate the same by referring to the accompanying Drawings; as also to
particularly ascertain in what manner the same is to be performed, reference
being had to the said Drawings by the words, figures, and letters following,
|(viz.):―
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1, a side view of part of that arrangement of apparatus first adverted
to, which consists of a convex plate A, with the catch c formed thereon, (or it
may be affixed thereto by rvetting or soldering,) and has the spring 6 rvetted
thereto, as at *. To this plate (A) rivets 9, 9, are affixed, the ends of which

page_text: Figs. 7, 8, 9, shew a different
terminate in the hooks or catches g*, gx, (detail view of which is given at
Fig. 4). Fig. 2, top plan of Fig. 1, in which the above-mentioned letters of
reference denote the parts above described. Fig. 3, side view of the second or
fastening plate D, to be used in conjunction with that part of the apparatus
shewn at Figs. 1 and 2 (as before adverted to); this has attached (by the
pivot f) the fastening bar e, which is long enough to pass into the catches
g*, g*, one of which catches is open the reverse way to the other, so that the
bar e may in turning on its pivot or centre (f) move at once into both catches.
This fastening bare should be made of springy or resilient material, in order
that it may exert pressure against the inside of the catches and against the
second plate, keeping it as near the first-named plate (A) as the nature of the
case will permit. Fig. 5, top plan view of Fig. 3, in which the letters of
referer.ce mentioned in regard to Fig. 3 are repeated, for denoting the same
parts. Fig. 6, a view of the inner side of the plate A, shewing how the appa-
ratus may be arranged so as to require the use of that plate only, which may
be sewn on to the garment by means of the round perforations therein exhibited
by this Figure, the upper surface of the said plate being provided with the
requisite spring and catch or spring catch.
form of the upper plate A, that is, plano-convex and hollow, within which is the
spring 6 (shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 7, an opening h being formed in the
plate A. Fig. 8 shews this spring in detail. The Fig. 9 shews the spring as
of the wire coil form. In all these cases the spring presses against the catch
at the opening h, as shewn at Fig. 9. Fig. 10 shews another form of catch, the
peculiarity whereof is, that it has a rounded notch, marked , which is for the
purpose of retaining with greater certainty the ring of the watch, purse, &c.
Fig. 11 shews a spring 7, suited for this catch and that shewn at Fig. 12, and
abuts upon a catch, which is similar to that shewn at Fig. 10, except that it
has two rounded notches instead of one; the ring of the watch, purse, &c. is to
be introduced into the second notch, whereby double security will be obtained,
as the ring of the purse, watch, &c. will, upon any attempt at withdrawal,
even supposing it to be drawn from the second notch, be detained in the first
one, from which it must be drawn forth ere it is left to encounter the pressure
of the spring. Fig. 13, an arrangement of double spring band ', with a
catch a-top (in dotted lines); the watch or purse ring, &c. in this case having
to pass between 6' and the catch and b, and the catch into the rounded notch
k, where it may be effectually secured; as to withdraw it will require it to
go through the same routine again, only reversed. Fig. 14, a double spring
catch, (m) being a catch of springy or resilient material; and n, a small spring
abutting against m. A single spring catch, as m, without the spring n, could

page_text: be thus formed, if desired. The watch or purse ring, &c. is to be passed
between n and m, and lodged beneath the catch, where it is secured. Fig. 15,
an arrangement of fastening pins, to be applied to the back of a plate such
as before adverted to. In this Fig. A is the plate; and o, o, are two pins,
similar to ordinary brooch pins, but having a cross piece p, forming the axis
upon which they move up or down, the ends and centre of this piece (p) being
secured to the plate by small straps or staples, shewn in dotted lines. The
dotted lines at the points of these pins indicate the situation of the catches
for such points, which are similar to the catches used to secure the points of
ordinary brooch pins. The two pins o, o, are to be pushed through the
garment to which this apparatus is to be secured, and their points then forced
into their catches, when the whole will be secured to the garment. Although
the Drawings shew varieties of constructions of my apparatus, all of them
unornamented, yet they may be easily rendered highly ornamental, as will be
self-evident to practical men.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and ascertained in
what manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I claim, in
respect of the said Letters Patent granted to me by Her said most Excellent
Majesty, as aforesaid, my Invention for an improved apparatus to be attached
to garments for protecting watches, purses, and other articles, herein-before
set forth, the nature whereof is described in the outset of this Specification, it
being understood that I do not claim the component parts of the arrangements
described except as constituent parts of my Invention, although I do not restrict
myself to the precise combinations exhibited by the Drawings, which simply
illustrate the character of these arrangements, which I consider may be found
available.
In witness whereof, I, the said George North, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifter fin
Signed and sealed in the presence of
F. W. CAMPIN,
Patent Agent,
156, Strand.
GEORGE NORTH. (L.S.)