CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SNAP OR PORTABLE CONNECTORS FOR HARNESS AND OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES WHERE A METALLIC PORTABLE CONNECTOR MAY BE REQUIRED
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Septimus Cockings, of Birmingham, in
the County of Warwick, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SNAP OR PORTABLE CONNECTORS FOR HARNESS
AND OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES WHERE A METALLIC PORTABLE CONNECTOR MAY
BE REQUIRED."—A communication from abroad by Samuel Reynolds,
of Pittsburg, State of Pennsylvania, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Septimus
Cockings at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 12th January 1874.
I, JAMES SEPTIMUS COCKINGS, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Paten Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SNAP OR PORTABLE CONNECTORS FOR HARNESS
AND OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES WHERE A METALLIC PORTABLE CONNECTOR MAY BE
REQUIRED," a communication to me from abroad by Samuel Reynolds, of
Pittsburg, State of Pennsylvania, United States of America, to be as
follows (that is to say) :-
The Invantion onnling to a snan or catch connector whereby the ring.

page_text: force of the spring preventing the disengagement of such ring or loop
from the hook without the deflection of the spring catch. And the
improvements in the manufacture simply consist in so moulding. and
casting the hook that a hollow is formed so as not only to provide a seat
for the spring but to afford full play for its action. In effecting this the
spring may be deflected by the pressure of the thumb or by a lever
catch either attached to the spring or working on a lateral axis from the
open or back side of the shank of the hook. If such spring connectors
are required for attaching to harness a loop may be formed for such
attachment, or a buckle if preferred, or in like manner a solid extension
of the shank may be formed for rivetting to a swivel eye so as to permit
the hook turning or revolving in a line with its draft action.
The hook when cast of malleable iron or other ductile metal permits
the rivetting to the swivel or counter part with facility, and although I
have described the Invention as suitable for harness there are many
other purposes to which it may be adapted.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Septimus Cockings in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 10th July 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
SEPTIMUS COCKINGS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said James Septimus Cockings, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
James Septimus Cockings, my executors, administrators, and 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 the Isle of Man,
an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SNAP OR PORTABLE CONNECTORS FOR

page_text: "
HARNESS OR OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES WHERE A METALLIC PORTABLE CONNECTOR
MAY BE REQUIRED," as communicated to me from abroad by Samuel
Reynolds, of Pittsburg, State of Pennsylvania, United States of America,
upon the conditions (amongst others) that I, the said James Septimus
Cockings, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Septimus Cockings, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be preformed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say) :-
The Invention applies to a snap or catch connector whereby the ring
or loop of one part is passed over a spring and under a hook, the closing
force of the spring preventing the disengagement of such ring or loop
from the hook without the deflection of the spring catch. And the
improvements in the manufacture simply consist in so moulding and
casting the hook that a hollow is formed so as not only to provide a seat
for the spring but to afford full play for its action. In effecting this the
spring may be deflected by the pressure of the thumb or by a lever
catch either attached to the spring or working on lateral axis from.the
open or back side of the shank of the hook. If such spring connectors
are required for attaching to harness a loop may be formed for such
attachment, or a buckle if preferred, or in like manner a solid extention
of the shank may be formed for rivetting to a swivel eye so as to permit
the hook turning or revolving in a line with its draft action.
The hook when cast of malleable iron or other ductile metal permits
the rivetting to the swivel or counterpart with facility, and although I
have described the Invention as suitable for harness there are many
other purposes to which it may be adapted.
But in order that the Invention should be well understood I will refer
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the various figures and letters
marked thereon, observing that in diversifying the views and sections of
the same parts the same letters of reference are used to define the same
where they occur (that is to say) :-

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a top view of the improved spring snap formed with
a loop at a for an engagement with a strap of leather for harness or
other ordinary purpose where a portable connection is required, such as
a ring or other loop, as exhibited in perspective at Fig. 2. b, Fig. 1, is
a spring attached to the hook by a rivet as at c. The open casting in
the frame of the hook within d, d, is for the ready application of the
thumb to deflect the spring in order that the ring or loop may be
disengaged from the hook e.
Fig. 3 is a section of Fig. 1, showing the opening left in the frame or
body of the hook which forms an essential feature of the improvement,
as the manufacture of these spring hooks can be moulded and cast in
malleable cast iron or other suitable molten metal without the necessity
of coreing, as will be well understood by an ordinary skilled workman
accustomed to moulding and casting articles in metal; the application
of the spring being a subsequent operation after the hook has been cast
and finished by dressing, and tinning or otherwise.
As a modification of this mode it may be preferred to form the hook
as exhibited in a flat view at Figure 4, perspective view, Fig. 5 (with a
ring attached), and sectional view, Fig. 6. In this case a stop fas
represented in a top view at Fig. 8 is introduced, having axis on each
side marked 9, 9, which works in lateral vertical grooves formed in the
open casting in the body of the hook as at h, h. This stop is held up in
position by the spring which is rivetted to the frame of the hook by
the rivet m. This construction admits of the disengagement of the loop
or ring from the hook without depressing the spring by the finger or
thumb, as the pulling of the ring or loop out of the hook will cause the
stop working on its axis to deflect the spring and afford room for the
disengagement.
Fig. 7 represents a bottom view of Fig. 4, defining more particularly a
the recesses h, h, in which the axis of the stop works as also the
spring k. In this example, instead of representing a loop, as at a, Fig. 1,
a pierced circular plate is formed with the hook for securing the same
by a rivet which will give to the hook a central pull from any direction,
which in some instances may be requisite.
Having thus given a general description of the Invention and the
manner in which the same may be carried into effect by artizans

page_text: accustomed to the production of ordinary harness metal work, it is
evident that the same may be variously ornamented or modified
according to the taste or purpose for which snap hooks may be required;
but what is claimed and sought to be protected under this Patent right
is the facility disclosed in their manufacture by casting them in
malleable cast iron or other metal, without cores, as herein described
and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Septimus Cockings, have
Witness,
E. A. BOWEN,
Clerk to J. S. Cockings,
Patent Agent,
Birmingham.
JAMES S. COCKINGS. (L.S.)