IMPROVEMENTS IN DRESS HOLDERS
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Manning Knight, of the Firm of Henry Knight
and Company, of Love Lane, Wood Street, in the City of London, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRESS HOLDERS."
Scaled the 22nd October 1878, and dated the 11th May 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Manning Knight at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th May 1878.
HENRY MANNING KNIGHT, of the Firm of Henry Knight and Company, of
Love Lane, Wood Street, in the City of London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRESS
HOLDERS."
This Invention relates to improvements in that class or form of dress holder in
which the dress is held or secured between two curved or other shaped plates or
spring clips which are connected together by a link, and my improvements consist
in applying an additional link or arm to the jointed end which serves as a lever to
raise the link, and thus open and release the parts by compressing the parts between
the finger and thumb, or by moving the lever outwards.
The lever may either be a plate or be formed of stout wire, or otherwise.
The parts where they come together to clip and hold the dress have india-rubber
or other soft material applied thereto, a recess being formed in them to receive the
rubber so as to prevent injury to the dress.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said Henry Manning Knight in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th
November 1878.
HENRY MANNING KNIGHT, of the Firm of Henry Knight and Company, of
Love Lane, Wood Street, in the City of London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRESS
HOLDERS."
This Invention relates to improvements in that class or form of dress holder in
which the dress is held or secured between two curved or other shaped plates or
spring clips which are connected together by a link, and my improvements consist
in applying an additional link or arm to the jointed end which serves as a lever to
raise the link, and thus open and release the parts by moving the lever outward.
The lever may either be a plate, or be formed of stout wire, or otherwise.
The parts where they come together to clip and hold the dress have india-rubber
or other soft material applied thereto, a recess being formed in them to receive the
rubber so as to prevent injury to the dress.
And in order that my Invention may be clearly understood and readily carried
to practice, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereto annexed.
Figure 1 shows an edge view, and Figure 2, a side view of a dress holder arranged
and constructed in accordance with my Invention, the parts being closed for
holding.
Figure 3 shows an edge view of the same dress holder when the parts are open.
a and b are the two parts of the spring clip or dress holder connected together by
the link c. The part a in this arrangement is made of stout wire, and the part bis
a bent metal plate. is an arm jointed to the link c, so as to move freely thereon.
The end of the arm & near the joint is formed with shoulders and projections d', d',
which on raising the arm d act as a lover on the link c and the back of the joint to
raise and withdraw the part a of the clip out of the hooked end of the part b, and
thus release the part of the dress held between them.
Figures 4, 5, and 6, show corresponding views of a similar dress holder made of
stout wire. The lever d in this arrangement acts to open and release the parts a
and b by being raised and pressed against the joint which connects the link c with
the part b, thus lifting the link c, and thereby withdrawing the holding end of the
part from the booked end of the part b.
The holding ends of one or both of the parts a and b, if desired, may have india-
rubber or other soft material applied thereto, to prevent injury to the dress.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
or carrying the same into practice, I would remark that I do not claim any of
the parts separately, which are well known and in common use, but what I claim
is, the application of the lever arm & to spring clips or dress holders for the
purpose of opening and releasing the parts a and b, substantially in the manner
and for the purpose herein-before described and represented in the Drawings
annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Manning Knight, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.