AN IM- PROVED METALLIC BAND FASTENER
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in
the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IM-
PROVED METALLIC BAND FASTENER."-A communication from abroad by
Arthur Barbarin, of New Orleans, Louisiana: United States of America
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th October 1866.
1, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED METALLIC BAND FASTENER," a communication to me from abroad
by Arthur Barbarin, of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America,
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar fastener for securing the metallic bands
on bales of cotton or other goods, whereby facility is afforded for readily
securing and releasing such bands when required, whilst the fastener itself
may be used several times without being injured. This improved metallic
band fastener consists of a flat C-shaped piece of metal provided with an
inclined projection or stop at one or both ends, and having in some cases a
slot made in the lower part of the fastener conforming to the inner curve of
such fustener. The upper and lower portions of the fastener and the corre-

page_text: sponding portion of the slot when used may be made straight and parallel, or
nearly parallel, with each other, so as to afford a better hold for the ends of
the metallic band, which are to be formed into a loop and secured by being
slipped over the ends or into the slot of the fastener, such loops being secured
or not by a rivet. When using a slotted fastener it may remain permanently
attached to one end of the band, and when it is required to release or remove
the band it is simply requisite to turn the fastener round until its upper limb
withdraws itself from the loop in the band. This turning of the fastener is
accomplished by the aid of a suitable hooked instrument, which is inserted
into one or other of a series of holes made for that purpose in the upper
portion of the fastener..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th April 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said. John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 METALLIC BAND FASTENER," a communication to me from abroad by
Arthur Barbarin, of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to a peculiar fastener for securing the metallic
bands on bales of cotton or other goods, whereby facility is afforded for readily
securing and releasing such bands when required, whilst the fastener itself
may be used several times without being injured. This improved metallic
band fastener consists of á flat C-shaped piece of metal provided with an
inclined projection or stop at one or both ends, and having in some cases a
slot made in the lower part of the fastener conforming to the inner curve of
such fastener. The upper and lower portions of the fastener and the corre-
sponding portion of the slot when used may be made straight and parallel, or
nearly parallel, with each other, so as to afford a better hold for the ends of the
metallic band, which are to be formed into a loop and secured by being
slipped over the ends or into the slot of the fastener, such loops being secured
or not by a rivet. When using a slotted fastener it may remain permanently
attached to one end of the band, and when it is required to release or remove
the bands it is simply requisite to turn the fastener round until its upper limb
withdraws itself from the loop in the band. This turning of the fastener is
áccomplished by the aid of a suitable hooked instrument, which is inserted
into one or other of a series of- holes made for that purpose in the upper
portion of the fastener.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall.
refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
In Figure 1 of the Drawings the fastener consists of a C-shaped metallic
platè A. Its upper end B at the mouth of the opening m is provided with a
projecting shoulder b, which has an inclined face a. The lower end C has no
projecting shoulder, but in lieu thereof has formed in it a slot c of suitable
length, curved so as to follow the outline of the opening m. Above the slot
is a series of holes d, which are punched or otherwise formed in the fastener..
The fastener in Figure 2 is identical in most respects with that represented
in Figure 1; the difference being that the slot c is not made in this.fastener,
it lower end C-being provided instead thereof with a shoulder 6 having an*
inclined face a¹, and differing in no respect from the shoulder b on the upper,
end B. The arrangement-and disposition of the shoulders b, b', relatively

page_text: to the ends of the fastener upon which they are respectively formed and to
the mouth of the opening m are substantially the same. The interior and
opposite edges of the arms B, C, are straight and parallel, or nearly so,
with each other. That portion of the slot c which is formed in the arm C is
also straight and parallel with the inner edge of the arm. The object of
constructing these parts with straight edges is to give as much bearing surface
as possible to the ends of the metal band when attached to the fastener in the
manner about to be described. When the cotton or other article to be baled
is under pressure, the band which holds it together is passed around the bale,
oné end of the band D, Figure 8, having first been inserted in and through
the slot c of the fastener (Figure 1), or bent over the lower end C of the
fastener in Figure 2, so as to form a loop or hook. The end ƒ may be kept
in position by riveting it at k to the band, care being taken that the loop
thus formed shall be large enough to allow the end C of the fastener to move
freely therein; the other end 9 of the band after having been passed around the
bale is drawn over and bent around the upper end B of the fastener as shown
in Figure 3. After the requisite number of bands have been secured around
the bale it will be found that when the pressure of the baling press is removed
the fasteners hold the bands firmly and tightly in place; the end of the band
which is bent around the upper arm B is held by the shoulder b, while the
other end is held by the shoulder 6 or in the slot c. The construction of the
fastener enables the workmen to loosen the bands, and expoditiously. When
it is desired to open the bale a hook or other suitable instrument is inserted
in one of the holes d of the fastener when in position on the bale as shown at
M, Figure 4. By pulling the hook when thus engaged with the fastener in
a downward direction the fastener on account of its curved form is caused to
revolve in the loop f. The upper end of the fastener is thus drawn away from
the bent end g of the band, the latter slipping easily over the inclined face a
of the shoulder b until it becomes entirely disengaged therefrom, as shown at
N, Figure 4. It will be seen that by the employment of a fastener thus
constructed a metal band can be secured on or released from the bale with
the greatest ease, and that the fastener itself may be used many times without
being materially injured or rendered unfit for use. For some reasons it is
preferred that the fastener be constructed with a slot c (Figure 1), for under
this arrangement the end f of the band is less liable perhaps to become
detached from the fastener, but in most cases the fastener shown in Figure 2
may be used with equal good results; or the two forms of fastener may be
combined, the end C having both a projecting shoulder b¹ and the slot c.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the metal band fastener for
securing metallic bands on cotton and other bales, substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-seven.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)