Year: 1887

page_text: I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex, 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 relates to improvements in safety pins which are provided with
shields such as are usually formed out of thin blanks of sheet brass or other material,
and the invention consists of a safety pin whose shield is constructed and which operates
substantially as is herein described.
In the accompanying sheet of drawings
Fig. 1 is a view of my safety pin
engage with the shield.
when the sharpened member has been made to
Fig. 2 is a view of the same when this member is about to be engaged with or
disengaged from the shield.
Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views in the line xx fig. 1, the former showing a slot in
one face and the latter slots in both faces of the shield.
Fig. 5 shows the invention in a modified form.
Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in the several figures.
The object of this invention is to supply a safety pin in which provision is made for
more securely guarding in a convenient manner the point of the pin; than is the case
in any of the well known safety pins now in use. The sharpened member a, and coil
DQ77

page_text: or spring bare the same in my pin as in numerous others and constitute no part of
the invention. The member c however has formed at its free end a loop e and may
be bent near this end into the shape indicated in fig. 5 or it may be of the shorter
form represented in figs. 1 and 2, which is the form that I prefer. The shield A may
have any convenient shape and may be produced by any well known process,
either from a blank, or otherwise. It differs from the ordinary shield, so far
as its construction is concerned in having practically two complete faces; in the
shape and position of its lateral opening or openings; and in the manner of its
attachment to the member c. The shield is united to the member c by means of a
pivot o which passes through the shield and the loop e which is inserted between the
faces of the shield, and the locotion of the pivot is near the outer end of the shield and
close to either its back or front edge according to the shape adopted for the member c.
A diagonal slot affords a passage way for the point of the pin in and out of the
shield. There may be only a single slot, or if desired one may be placed in each face
of the shield. When the member c is of the form shown in fig. 5, the curved part h
may be left flush with the outer edges of the two faces of the shield, so as to impart to
the latter a good finish even though the faces should not be joined at this point.
Such is the construction of my safety pin. The shield it will be observed instead of
being rigidly joined to the member c of the pin in the usual manner is here permitted
to turn upon the pivot o within certain limits which are indicated in the drawings in
figs. 1 and 2. Care should be taken however to have the parts bound closely enough
together by the pivot to prevent the shield from turning too freely, in which event
annoyance might be caused in manipulating the pin, and besides it would also be likely
to rattle. The pin is attached to a piece of fabric for example by swinging the shield
into the position indicated in fig. 2, where if it be not too loosely pivoted to the
member c, it will remain when left alone, and will present the slot fin the proper
direction to receive the sharpened end of the member a, which after having been passed
through the fabric is forced to engage with the shield by being introduced into the
latter through the slot. As soon as the pressure which is necessary to effect this result
is removed the coil spring b separates the members a and c as far as possible and the
shield forthwith assumes the position indicated in fig. 1. In this state it rests unless
disturbed by the application of further force. To detach the pin from the fabric the
shield is turned sufficiently to allow the member a to pass out through the slot when
the pin like any other can be readily withdrawn from the fabric.
The chief advantage which this pin is conceived to possess over others is found in
the almost complete security with which its use is attended against any damage likely
to result from the point of the pin becoming disengaged from the shield. Danger from
this source is always felt to some extent when safety pins of any of the ordinary
varieties of construction are employed. In the pin herein described however the
sharpened end is practically locked within the shield for it can only become free
when the member a is brought within a certain distance of the member c, and the
shield is also tilted correspondingly, and in addition force is exerted to move the end
of the pin laterally as well as downward through the opening f, all of which conditions
it is manifest will rarely if ever be accidentally present at the same time, inasmuch as
the shield remains stationary, even when the member a is made to approach close to the
member C
unless acted upon by force applied directly to itself. It will be observed
that between the inner end of the slot and the front edge of the shield is left a small
portion of the face which forms a lip v. This is to aid in keeping the pointed member
in place should the shield happen to get turned over by accident. This pin is con-
venient to use and presents a neat appearance.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is:
1. A safety pin provided with a shield constructed to turn about an axis
substantially at right angles with the lateral surfaces of the shield.

page_text: 2. A safety pin provided with a turning shield secured by a pivot passing through
the shield and through the unsharpened member of the pin.
3. A safety pin provided with a shield which turns about an axis substantially at
right angles with the lateral surfaces of the shield, and in one position locks the point
of the pin in the shield, and in another position permits the disengagement of the
point therefrom.
4. A safety pin provided with a shield which turns about an axis substantially at
right angles with the lateral surfaces of the shield, and has an opening to admit the
point of the pin within the shield, as and for the purpose described.
5. A safety pin having the following elements in combination; the sharpened
member a, spring b, unsharpened member c, and shield A pivoted near its outer
edge to the member c and provided with a diagonal slot f, all constructed and
combined substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London,
Agents for the Applicant.