Improvements in Buckles for Harness and other purposes.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Nov., 1897-Accepted, 12th Feb., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Buckles for Harness and other purposes.
We, ALFRED AUGUSTUS GRACE, of Nelson, in New Zealand, Gentleman, and
THOMAS SAMUEL GRACE, of Blenheim, in New Zealand, Clergyman, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
This invention consists of an improvement in buckles and the modes of fastening
buckles to straps, leathers, collars and the like. In the buckles now in use the
buckle is permanently fastened to the strap, leather, collar or the like, by means
of sewing, stitching, or rivetting, and the buckle is then ready for use. Now, our
invention essentially consists of an improved buckle which renders sewing, stitching
or rivetting unnecessary: the buckle is also of such a form, and shape that it is
its own keeper.
We effect our purpose of making a buckle which requires no sewing, stitching
or rivetting, by an application to buckles and buckle fastenings of a method or
contrivance somewhat similar to the reefknot method used in tying ropes. Our
buckle may be constructed of any kind of metal or of any other suitable material.
We will now describe our buckle and mode of fastening, and for this purpose we
will refer to the annexed drawings.
Figure 1, represents our buckle as it would be made for ordinary straps, such as
dog collars and the like.
AA is the ordinary hollow square, or oblong, or semicircle, to which is attached
the moveable piece or buckle tongue 13 as in ordinary buckles. C is a piece or
connection fixed between the square, or oblong, or semicircle A A, and the part D.
D is a hollow oblong-shaped attachment fixed to the end of the piece or counec-
tion C. The strap, leather, collar or the like to which the buckle is to be fastened,
has at the end which is to be fastened to the buckle by means of our invention, a
slit or cut as shown in Figure 2. To fasten or place the buckle to the strap, the
square, or oblong, or semicircle A A, and the piece C, or the oblong 1) and piece C,
are first placed through the slit or cut as shown in Figure 3. The other end of
the strap is then put and the strap drawn through the oblong D in a direction
away from the square, or oblong, or semicircle A A, so that the end of the slit or
cut in the strap is pulled against the piece or connection C, and prevented from
slipping off the piece or connection C by the oblong 1) as shown in Figure 4. When
this has been done the buckle is secured or fastened to the strap and ready for
use. The end of the strap pierced with the ordinary buckle holes is put through
the buckle in the usual way, as shown in Figure 5, and the oblong D on the
buckle is the keeper, so that by this means all leather and other keepers are dis-
pensed with, and compactness and strength are secured to the buckle without the
uecessity of using any sewing, stitching, or rivetting as before mentioned.
Now, in this buckle and buckle fastening which we have just described, the new
features are, a piece or connection as shown in Figure 1. and marked C, at the
end of which is fixed a hollow oblong as shown in Figure 1, and marked D. and
in the second place, the particular mode of fastening the buckle to the strap,

page_text: leather, collar or the like, whereby all sewing, stitching, or rivetting is rendered
unnecessary. Now, it will be seen that our new buckle and buckle fastening can
be used for every purpose for which the ordinary buckle can be used,
and in the applications to different purposes and uses of our invention, certain
alterations and changes will in certain cases be necessary in the shape and form
of the buckle which we will describe.
Our buckle for use on harness traces, as illustrated in Figure 6, will be sub-
stantially as hereinbefore described, and of course will be made of suitable size
and strength.
For application to stirrup leathers our buckle will be in the form and shape
illustrated in Figure 11, in which A A is the ordinary hollow square, or oblong, or
semicircle to which is attached the moveable piece or buckle tongue B. C is a
piece or connection at the end of which is fixed the solid piece or bar D. E is a
hollow oblong raised on the same side of the square, or oblong, or semicircle AA,
as the side to which the moveable piece or buckle tongue B is attached; the piece
or connection C is joined to the side of this oblong opposite to the side on which
the moveable piece or buckle tongue B is attached. Figure 12 is a side view
of this buckle, and Figure 13 a perspective view showing the hollow oblong E.
In this buckle the piece or connection C is placed through the slit or cut at the
end of the stirrup leather, and as the leather then hell against the bar D, the
buckle is by that means fastened to the strap. The other end of the strap is put
through the square, or oblong, or semicircle A A in the ordinary way. The
hollow oblong E is the slot or keeper for the leather and this buckle therefore
dispenses with all leather and other keepers.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. In buckles of the class herein described for ordinary straps, leathers, collars,
and the like, the piece or connection fixed between the ordinary hollow square,
or oblong, or semicircle and the hollow-oblong shaped attachment, and the said
hollow oblong-shaped attachment, substantially as illustrated and described.
2. In buckles of the class herein described for stirrup leathers, the piece or con-
nection fixed between the ordinary hollow square, or oblong, or semicircle, and the
solid piece or bar, the said solid piece or bar, and the hollow oblong raised on the
side of the ordinary hollow square, or oblong, or semicircle, substantially as herein-
before mentioned and described.
3. In buckles of the class herein described as applied to a harness surcingle and
shaft-holder, the piece or connection bent and shaped as shown, fixed to the
ordinary hollow square, or oblong, or semicircle, and the open oblong or keeper
fixed to the end of the said piece or connection.
4. The mode of fastening buckles to straps, leathers, collars, traces, surcingles
and the like, by means of a slit or cut in the strap, leather, collar, trace, surcingle
and the like, as hereinbefore illustrated and described.
Dated this 4th day of Nam 100-
E. EATON,
Agent for Applicant.