Improvements in Garment Fasteners.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Jan., 1897-Accepted, 13th Mar., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Garment Fasteners.
We, CAROLINE LOUISA LEWIS, Lady, of 4 Whitman Street. Dorchester, in
the City of Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States of America, and
CHARLES EDWARD MIXER, Commission Merchant, of 4 Liberty Square, in said
City of Boston, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained; in
and by the following statement:-
This invention has relation generally to fasteners or clasps for articles of apparel;
and it has for its object the provision of a fastener or clasp which shall be a perfect
substitute for the hook-and-eye form of fastener; and have advantages over and field
of use beyond the hook and eye.
To these ends the invention consists of a fastener or clasp comprising in its
construction two members, each of which may be formed from a piece of sheet
metal, one member consisting of a base plate provided at the sides of its forward
end with upturned guiding ears, and a part bent over upon the base plate with its
free end terminating between the said ears and bent into the form of a catch, and
the other member also consisting of a plate of metal having the inner end doubled
or bent into the form of a latch adapted to engage the catch of the other
member, the construction being such that the latch may be guided by the ears and
slipped under and engaged by the catch so as to hold the members in clasped or
connected position when draft is made upon the members in opposite direction, but
so that when the connected members are "buckled" or bent back, the catch will
be raised or sprung upward and the latch released, all as we will now proceed to
describe in detail and point out with particularity in the appended claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters and
figures marked thereon, forming a part of this specification, the same letters
designating the same parts or features as the case may be, wherever they occur.
Of the drawing-
Figure 1 is a rear view of a garment or two pieces of fabric having the fastener
or clasp thereto, the whole being represented on an enlarged scale.
Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the fabric or garment on the line 2-2, showing the
invention in side elevation.
Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the fabric and' invention taken on the line 3-3 of
Fig. 1, showing the fastener in clasped or closed position.
Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3; showing the members in the position in which
they will be on the instant of being unclasped!
Fig. 5 represents the two members in perspective, the car on one being shown as
broken off.
The invention consists of two members, one of which we have for convenience'a
sake termed the "catch" member, and the other the "latch" member. The
former or catch member is composed as herein shown of a piece of sheet metal bent
upon itself so as to form a base plate a and a spring catch part b. The free end of
the latter part is bent as shown so as to constitute a catch c, preferably rounded on
its outer surface for a purpose to be presently explained.
The plate a and the spring catch part are substantially parallel; except that the
end of the latter is first bent out, before it is doubled upon itself as shown at c, so

page_text: as to form an angular recess. The catch c is thus an offset, or bead, formed of
the end of the part 6 bent double at substantially a right angle to itself.
The base part a has on the sides of its inner end two lips or ears d turned
upward at right angles to the base a, in order to guide the latch member in its
movements, as will he presently described.
The base plate a is provided at its inner end and extending outward from the
sides thereof with ears e which are perforated as at f for the purpose of forming
eyes through which thread may be sewed to attach the catch member to a garment
as is clearly shown in Fig. 1. The inner end of the base plate a may also
be provided with a hole or eye g for the reception of sewing threads, or for a similar
purpose, as is indicated in Figs. 3 and 4.
The latch member consists of a base plate h the inner end of which is bent over
and down in triangular or wedge-shaped form, so as to provide a latch or catch i
to engage the catch of the part 6 when the latch is slipped under the said part, as
shown. The outer part of the latch which engages the catch is curved so as to
adapt it to more easily slide thereunder and be disengaged therefrom. The outer
part of the base plate is provided with eyes j for the purpose of receiving there-
through sewing threads to attach the said latch member to the opposite part of a
garment, as is most fully shown in Fig. 1.
с
In use, one member will be attached to one part or piece of a garment or article
of apparel and the other member to another part or piece and in order to connect
the clasps, the latch member will be thrust under the part of the catch member
and be engaged by the catch c of said member by reason of the resilient properties
of the said part b, and as is most clearly illustrated in Fig. 3. In this position, the
members will not be disengaged by any considerable draft that may be put upon;
the parts of the garment to which the members are attached with a tendency to
pull them apart.
To disengage or unclasp the members, it will be necessary only to place a finger
of the hand in front of the garment to which the parts are attached and bend or
buckle the same inward, as it were, to a central point, so as to spring the plate or
part 6 outward and allow the catch part i to slip past or from under the catch c, as
is most clearly illustrated in Fig. 4.
b
It will be observed that there is no projection or extension of the catch part b
beyond the catch e so as to cause an accidental disengagement of the parts, or so as
to in any wise interfere with the operation of the clasp or to render the same in
any degree uncomfortable to the wearer.
The ears d may in some instances be dispensed with though they serve as a guide
for the entry of the latch member h under the catch c of the catch member, and if
need be, the outer ends of the ears i may be made to flare outwardly so as to more
readily engage the latch with the catch.
It will be understood that in the drawings, the parts are represented on an
enlarged scale and that where the fastener or clasp is to take the place of a hook
and eye, it may be made quite small though where it may be employed as a glove
fastener, a garment supporter, or as a clasp for the waist-band of trousers, or any
similar case, it may be made on a much larger scale.
•
Furthermore, it will be understood that the fastening eye o may be dispensed
with or it may be differently located or disposed, as may also the other eyes of the
two members.
In all cases, the part 6 of the latch member will be made resilient and the
catches c and i be so constructed as that they may not hold rigidly one upon the
other, but be slipped one past the other frictionally after they have been separated
to a considerable extent.
Instead of providing the members with thread eyes as shown and described,
fastening prods may be struck up from the parts for the purpose of attaching the
members to a fabric much in the same manner as paper fastenings are used to
connect several sheets of paper.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
A fastener or clasp comprising in its construction two members, each formed
from a piece of sheet metal, one member consisting of a base-plate provided at the
sides of its forward ends with upturned guiding and holding ears d and a part bent
over upon itself, as at b, to form a catch, and the other member also consisting of a
plate of metal adapted to be passed between the said ears and having its inner end
made into the form of a catch c, the construction and arrangement of the parts being
such that the latch member may be guided by the ears d and slipped under and
engaged by the catch to hold the members in clasped position, but enable the same
to be buckled or bent back to raise the latch upward and release the member from
clasped position, as set forth.
1
T
CAROLINE LOUISA LEWIS.
CHARLES EDWARD MIXER..
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.