AN IMPROVED CLASP OR FASTENER FOR REVERSIBLE BELTS, BANDS, OR STRAPS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Brierley, of Park Terrace, Halifax,
Manufacturer, Beech Hill Mills, Halifax, and 58, Aldermanbury, London,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CLASP OR FASTENER FOR REVERSIBLE
BELTS, BANDS, OR STRAPS."
Sealed the 25th July 1862, and dated the 29th January 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Brierley,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th January 1862.
I, JOHN HENRY BRIERLEY, of Park Terrace, Halifax, Manufacturer, Beech
Hill Mills, Halifax, and 58, Aldermanbury, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CLASP OR FASTENER FOR RE-
VERSIBLE BELTS, BANDS, OR STRAPS," to be as follows:-
I employ two plates of metal or any other material, similar to those used for
the clasp called a double clasp, which consists of two clasps joined together
when worn, by a hook on the one and an eye on the other; to the back of each
plate of metal I attach a wire bar of suitable width; I also further form out
of the metal or attach to it two hooks, one on each side of the part usually
having but one, but so arranged as not to be visible when worn on the person;
to the other part, usually containing the eye or slot, I attach a projecting piece
of metal having a groove or slot cut or formed in it, for the purpose of receiving
a sliding bar having an eye at each end, wider than the groove or slot, and
thus am enabled to make the eye or slot project from either side as occasion
requires.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Brierley, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th July 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY BRIERLEY, of Park Terrace, Halifax, Manufacturer, Beech Hill Mills,
Halifax, and 58, Aldermanbury, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Henry Brierley, Her special licence that I, the said John Henry
Brierley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Henry Brierley, 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 Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
IMPROVED CLASP OR FASTENER FOR REVERSIBLE BELTS, BANDS, OR STRAPS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Brierley, my executors
or administrators, by an- instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 John Henry Brierley, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement,, that is to say :-
I employ two plates of metal (or any other material,) similar to those used
for the clasp generally, understood by those connected with the trade. as a
double clasp, which consist of two clasps connected together, when worn on
the person, by a hook on the one and an eye on the other; to the back of each
plate of metal (or other material) I attach a metal wire bar of suitable width;
I also further form out of the plate of metal (or other material) or attach to
it two hooks, one on each side of the part usually having but one, but so ar-
ranged that neither of the hooks can be seen when worn on the person. To the
other plate of metal (or other material) or part of the double clasp usually

page_text: containing the eye or slot, I attach a projecting piece of metal having a groove
or slot cut or formed in it, for the purpose of receiving a sliding bar, wider
at each end than in the centre portion, and having an eye at each end so formed
that the eye will receive either of the hooks, attached to the other portion of
the clasp, so that by moving the sliding bar, the double reversible clasp may
be connected from either side at pleasure, and having attached the double
reversible clasp to a belt, band, or strap, made of leather, and silk on the one
side, and leather only on the other side, the belt, band, or strap, may be con-
nected and worn either side outwards according to the wearer's choice. In
order more fully to explain the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe the Drawings annexed.
No. 1 is a view of the back of the clasp shewing the two hooks on the one
portion of the clasp, and the sliding bar, &c. on the other portion; No. 2 is a
transverse section of the same; No. 3 is the view of the clasp when connected
and worn on the person. A, A, are the hooks; B, B, is the sliding bar; C is
the staple in which the sliding bar moves.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, I would have it
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein.shewn
and described, so long as the peculiar nature of my Invention is retained, but
what I do claim is,-
1st, the employing of two hooks on that portion of a double clasp
hitherto having but one.
2nd, the employing of two eyes on that portion of the clasp bitherto having
but one.
3rd, the moving bar in which two eyes are formed.
4th, the separate or combined use of any of the parts before described.
5th, the principle by which this belt, band, or strap is reversed, viz, by the
connecting, by any means, of the two inner or the two outer edges of the same
clasp at the pleasure of the wearer.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Brierley, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
BARZILLAI GREENWOOD.
JOHN H. BRIERLEY. (L.S.)