AN IMPROVED ATTACHMENT FOR TROWSER SUSPENDERS AND FOR OTHER USES."
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Hodges Bishop, of Liverpool Road, Islington,
in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of "AN IMPROVED ATTACHMENT
FOR TROWSER SUSPENDERS AND FOR OTHER USES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Hodges Bishop at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd February 1880.
ROBERT HODGES BISHOP, of Liverpool Road, Islington, in the County of
Middlesex. "AN IMPROVED ATTACHMENT FOR TROWSER SUSPENDERS AND FOR
OTHER USES."
This Invention relates chiefly to means for attaching braces or other suspenders
to trowsers and similar articles of wearing apparel, but it also applies to other
uses, such as connecting together the ends of straps or bands.
In carrying out my Invention, I take a rectangular plate of metal of the required
size, and I cut a slot across it near its upper edge of any desired length. I also
make two taper cuts in the plate from the bottom odge upwards for about half the
depth of the plate, and parallel with and near the side edges thereof, and I pierce a
hole at each corner of the plate. The sides of the plate I then turn back at right
angles to form bearings for two clips which are pivotted to the plate at opposite
ends thereof. The edges of these clips which are parallel to the plate are bent over
at right angles to form gripping pieces.
In connecting this attachment to the brace the top clip is opened, and the brace
band or leather end is inserted between the heel of the clip and the plate, and the
band is then passed out through the transverse slot to the front of the plate. The
clip is then closed down and nips the brace against the plate.
To connect the attachment to the trowser, the bottom clip is opened, and the
edge of the trowser band is inserted between the sides and the body of the plate,
and the clip is closed down, when the trowser will be firmly held.
Instead of applying the attachment to the brace, it may be applied to a tab of
leather or webbing secured to the lining of the waistcoat, in which case the direct
drag on the shoulders of the wearer will be relieved to a great extent.
To adapt this attachment for use where buttons are provided on the trowsers,
I slot the lower end of the plate transversely to receive a metal hook connected
with the tabs of the brace.
In case of a tab breaking or the buttons giving way, the trowser band may then
be gripped by the fastening as already explained.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Robert Hodges Bishop in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 23rd
August 1880.
ROBERT HODGES 'BISHOP, of Liverpool Road, Islington, in the County of
Middlesex. 'AN IMPROVED ATTACHMENT FOR TROUSER SUSPENDERS AND FOR
OTHER USES."
This Invention relates to means for attaching braces or other suspenders to
trowsers, the object being to provide a means for holding up the trowsers in case a
brace button on the waist-band of the trowsers has been lost, or when one of the
ordinary tabs of the braces has broken down.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shown in several views my improved brace
attachment, and the parts composing the same, and have also illustrated two modes
of its application.
This attachment, when used in connection with the forward end of the brace,
may be designated as a double lever clip buckle, and when modified to suit it to
the back end of the brace it will constitute a single lever clip buckle.
The buckle is composed of sheet metal, and the main portion is stamped out
from a rectangular piece of sheet metal. Fig. 1 represents a blank for a double
lever buckle before it is bent into shape. a is the body of the blank, and a¹ is a
transverse slot cut therein near its upper edge of any desired length to receive the
brace or strap. 6', b', are two taper cuts made in the blank parallel with or nearly
parallel with the side edges thereof, for the purpose of forming side strips b, b.
Through the opposite ends of these strips, holes c, c, are pierced to form bearings for
two lever clips, as will be presently explained. a is a transverse slot made in the
blauk to perinit of the brace end when brought over the face of the buckle, being
led to the back of the buckle. Below this slot a³ is a loop d for receiving the metal
hook of a tab by which the brace is or may be attached to the trowsers.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the blank, the strips b having been bent up
into position, and the body of the blank having been corrugated longitudinally to
impart to it increased stiffness. The shell thus formed is fitted with lever clips
which have their bearings in the side pieces b, b. These lever clips are shown
detached at Figures 3 and 4, Figures 3 representing in plan view the blank from
which the clip e is formed, and the formed clip in edge view, and Figs. 4
representing in plan view the blank from which the clipfis formed, and the formed
clip in edge view.
Fig. 5 is a front view of the buckle complete with the brace g applied thereto in
the manner proper for enabling the buckle to receive the waist band h of the
trowser; Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of the buckle, the lever clips being open or
in the position they would assume when the brace and the waist band of the
trowsers are intended to be inserted in the buckle, and Fig. 7 is a similar section
showing the brace and trowsers firmly clipped in the buckle.
The lever clips, it will be seen, are formed with pivot projections to enter their
bearings c, and in line with these pivots the edge of the metal is bent over so as to
form a clipping edge, which, when brought into contact with the brace, or the
trowser waist band, as the case may be, will hold the same firmly as indicated in
Fig. 7. To prevent the side strips 6 from springing under the pull put upon the
lower lever clipf, and thereby allowing that clip to become displaced, I form rivet
heads on the pivot projections of that lever clip, as shown at Fig. 5, but no such
provision is requisite for securing the upper clip lever.
Fig. 8 shows the ordinary way of using the buckle. In this case the brace g is
passed under the lever clip e, brought down in front of the buckle, and then led
through the slot a² to the back of the buckle, thereby covering the greater portion
of the face of the buckle. In this Figure i is an ordinary double tab provided with

page_text: a metal hook for entering the loop & of the buckle, and it is only when, by the
giving way of a brace button or the breaking of one of the tabs, that the gripping
of the waist band by the buckle, as shewn at Fig. 7, is resorted to.
This improved buckle is shewn at Figures 9 and 10, as modified in form to adapt
it to the back end of the brace. The shell a of the buckle is formed with two loops
d, d*, but in this case no transverse slots are made. There is no upper lever clip,
but in other respects the buckle resembles that shown at Figures 6 and 6. The
brace g is attached to the loop d* by a metal clip hook, and a tab is connected to
the buckle by its hook entering the loop d. When the tab is thrown out of use,
the band of the trousers is gripped in the buckle by the lever clip f in the manner
above described, and thus the loss of a back brace button is readily compensated
for.
It will be also understood that the buckle may be employed for connecting
together the ends of straps or bands when thought desirable. In such case the
opposite ends of the strap are passed under the lever clips e and f, and the levers
are then pressed down into their closed position, when they will grip the ends
firmly.
Having now described the nature of my Invention for " An Improved Attachment
for Trouser Suspenders and other Uses," and explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent I claim, a lever clip buckle constructed as above described for
connecting brace straps to trowsers without the aid of tabs or brace buttons, and
applicable also to the securing together strap or belt ends, as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Hodges Bishop, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty first day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.