Improvements in Hooks and Eyes.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Nov., 1898-Accepted, 3rd Dec., 1898
Improvements in Hooks and Eyes.
I, HENRY RUNDBAKEN, of No. 8, Goodman Place, in the City of Hartford, County
of Hartford, and State of Connecticut, United States of America, Jeweller, 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 that class of hook-and-eye fastenings in which the eye
member is of the usual and well-known form and the hook member provided with
guards which act in conjunction with the bill after the parts or members have been
snapped to retain the eye member in engagement with the hook member against
accidental displacement due to strain or relative movements of the hook and the
eye members incident to a playing of the one on the other, which frequently
happens in the practical operation of such fastenings.
The primary object of the invention is the provision of a hook of novel formation
which can be used in connection with the ordinary eye, which will present a compact,
neat, pleasant, and agreeable appearance, and which can be economically manufac-
tured and placed upon the market at about the same cost as the ordinary hook-and-
eye fastenings, from which it differs in construction only by shortening the bill and
turning its end up abruptly, separating the members of the shank and extending
the ends of the wires, after forming the attaching-eye, parallel with and in the space
formed between the said separated members of the shank, and having the ends
formed into eyes to provide the guards which act in conjunction with the bill to
retain the eye in place after the parts of the fastening are engaged, the longitudinal
edges of the shank members and guards touching and lying in the same plane,
whereby they mutually strengthen, brace, and support one another.
In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan of a hook embodying my invention, and Fig. 2
is a side elevation of said hook, showing the eye member engaged therewith and in
section.
The fastening comprises an eye member 1, of ordinary and well-known construc-
tion, and a hook member 2. The hook member is formed from a single blank or
length of wire, as is usual in constructing this class of fastenings, which is folded
upon itself midway of its ends, the folded portion being bent to provide the short
bill 3, which is deflected abruptly at its end away from the plane of the shank and
forms therewith an angular incline, as shown at 4. The shank is composed of
parallel members 5, which extend in straight lines and are spaced a sufficient
distance apart to receive the guards 6. The attaching-eyes 7 at the rear end of
the shank form means for securing the hook to the garment or other article to
which the fastening is to be attached by means of stitching in the usual manner.
The spring-guards 6 extend in parallel relation and occupy the space between the
members, the outer portions 8 being deflected upwardly away from the plane of
the shank to provide a space 9 for the reception of the eye member when the parts
of the fastening are engaged. The extremities of the guards 6 are bent outward and
formed into eyes, rings, or curls 10, which approach close to the outwardly-deflected
end 4 of the bill, so as to retain the eye 1 in place against accidental disengagement.
The space 11 between the contiguous portions of the bill 3 and the eyes or active

page_text: ends 10 of the guards is less than the thickness of the wire from which the eye 1 is
formed, thereby preventing accidental disengagement of said eye from the hook.
The rings or curls 10 flare in opposite directions to admit of the ready disengage-
ment of the eye from the hook by a proper movement when it is required to
disengage the parts of the fastening, although this feature is not essential to the
effectiveness of the fastening.
From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying
drawings, it will be seen that the hook is compact in its organization and capable of
being constructed of a minimum amount of wire, and hence is both light and neat
and graceful in appearance.
In using the fastener the eye is snapped into the bill of the hook in the ordinary
manner. To free the eye or disengage it from the hook, it is necessary to give the
said eye a quick twist and at the same instant press the hook and eye apart. By
performing this operation in a deft manner the hook and eye can be disengaged as
readily as the ordinary form of hook-and-eye fastening; but by reason of the narrow
passage 11 the eye cannot become accidentally disengaged from the hook by any
looseness or playing of the eye upon the hook.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
In a hook and eye, a hook provided with a bill, a shank comprising parallel
members, and guards formed by bending the rear ends of the shank members
inwardly and extending them forwardly in the plane of the shank members, and
having their free ends bent, upward and outwardly turned to form curls or eyes at the
point of nearest approach to the bill, the guards and shank members touching at
their longitudinal edges, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
ed this 1st day of November 1898.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.