IMPROVEMENTS IN NECKTIES WITH FASTENERS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henri Feldtrappe, of the Firm of H. Feldtrappe
et Tharel, of Boulevard de Strasbourg, No. 123, at Paris, Manu-
facturers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN NECKTIES WITH
FASTENERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henri Feldtrappe at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th June 1874.
•
I, HENRI FELDTRAPPE, of the Firm of H. Feldtrappe et Tharel, of
Boulevard de Strasbourg, No. 123, at Paris, Manufacturers, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN NECKTIES
WITH FASTENERS," to be as follows:-
The different kinds of fasteners now used for "sailor's knot" and
other neckties have the great drawback that they necessitate the forming
of the back of the tie into a sort of sheath or guide into which the
end of the band which passes round the neck is introduced. These
fasteners cause the said band to wear rapidly; besides, the mechanism

page_text: of the fastener itself is often hindered in its action, and as it is enclosed
within the silk or other material of which the necktie is composed it is
necessary to unstitch the tie to put the fastener right. It is to obviate
these inconveniences that I have devised a system of hinged nipper
fastener which forms the subject of the present Invention.
In my fastener the engagement in the nipper of the end of the band
which passes round the neck is effected laterally instead of its being
made to slide into and through a sheath.
Further, the sheath which is generally formed at the back of the
knot of the tie is replaced in my fastener by a sort of turned-down piece
which allows by the opening of the tic of uncovering the mechanism
of the fastener, which is of great advantage for regulating its action.
The mechanism of my fastener is composed of only two pieces, viz.,
a fixed plate which is stitched to the back face of the knot of the
tic, and a hinged nipper which is jointed to the plate and which is
terminated at its free end by a hook which is intended to engage firmly
into a catch or notch on the plate. The nipper is fixed by sewing
within a turned-down piece which takes the place of the sheaths now
usually employed.
The fixed plate is also provided with two lateral flanges between
which the nipper is engaged, which forms a firm holder for the band of
the tie. The said band is not introduced as before into a sheath, it is
simply engaged at the side in the angle formed by the plate and its open
nipper. There is no longer any cause for wear of the material of the
band since the thin metal stiffener ordinarily employed is dispensed with,
nor for the breaking of the spring.
According to a modified arrangement the plate may be hollowed out
at its middle, and the nipper be furnished with a projection which will
lock or secure the end of the band of the tie at that part. The fact of
the lateral introduction of the end of the band into the fastener allows
of the fastener being applied to ties having broad ends, such as cannot
be passed through the sheaths now generally used.
I give to the neckties provided with my fasteners the name of the
"Sphinx."

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henri Feldtrappe in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 17th December 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRI
FELDTRAPPE, of the Firm of H. Feldtrappe et Tharel, of Boulevard de
Strasbourg, No. 123, at Paris, Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henri Feldtrappe, Her special licence,
that I, the said Henri Feldtrappe, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Henri Feldtrappe, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
NECKTIES WITH FASTENERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Henri Feldtrappe, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
scals, 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 Henri Feldtrappe, 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 thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :-
The different kinds of fasteners now used for "sailor's knot" and
other neckties have the great drawback that they necessitate the forming
of the back of the tie into a sort of sheath or guide into which the end
of the band which passes round the neck is introduced. These fasteners
cause the said band to wear rapidly; besides, the mechanism of the
fastener itself is often hindered in its action, and as it is enclosed within

page_text: the silk or other material of which the necktie is composed it is
necessary to unstitch the tie to put the fastener right. It is to obviate
these inconveniences that I have devised a system of hinged nipper
fasteners which forms the subject of the present Invention.
In my fastener the engagement in the nipper of the end of the band
which passes round the neck is effected laterally instead of the said
end being made to slide into and through a sheath.
Further, the sheath which is generally formed at the back of the knot
of the tie is replaced in my fastener by a sort of turn-down piece, which
allows by the opening of the tie of uncovering the mechanism of the 1
fastener, which is of great advantage for regulating its action.
My hinged nipper fastener and the mode of applying it will be under-
stood by the annexed Drawings:-
Figure 1 is a view of my fastener detached.
Figure 2 shews a necktic with my fastener applied and with the parts 1
fastened.
Figure 3 shows the same with the parts unfastened.
Figure 4 is a side view of a modified form of the fastener.
The mechanism of the fastener is composed of only two pieces viz.,
a fixed plate a which is stitched to the back face of the knot of the 2
tie, and a hinged nipper 6 which is jointed at c to the plate a and
which is terminated at its free end by a hook d which is intended to
engage firmly into a catch f on the plate a. The nipper is fixed by
sewing within a turned-down piece 9 which takes the place of the
sheaths now usually employed.
The fixed plate a is also provided with two lateral flanges h, h, between
which the nipper bis engaged, which forms a firm holder for the band i
of the tie (see Figure 2). The said band i is not introduced as before into
a sheath, it is simply engaged at the side in the angle formed by the
plate a and its nipper 6 when open, as in Figure 3. There is no longer
any cause for wear of the material of the band since the thin metal
stiffener ordinarily employed is dispensed with, nor for the breaking of
the spring.
In some cases I adopt the modified arrangement represented in
Figure 6.
The nipper is here prolonged beyond its pivot c in a small arm b',
which acts as a spring against the plate 62, causing the part a to bend
3

page_text: slightly on its rivet a¹. I can also fit a small pin m which passes through
the piece a and runs into the end piece of the tie to further insure the
secure fastening of the tie.
In the modification represented in Figure 4 the plate a is hollowed
out at its middle, and the nipper is furnished with a projection m
which will lock or secure the end of the band of the tie at that part.
The fact of the lateral introduction of the end of the band into the
fastener allows of the fastener being applied to ties having broad ends
such as represented in Figure 5, and which cannot be passed through
the sheaths now generally used.
I give to the neckties provided with my fasteners the name of the
"Sphinx."
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
1st. Constructing necktic fasteners, substantially as herein-before
described, with a fixed plate to which is jointed a hooked nipper (Figures
1 to 4) or an arm acting as a spring (Figure 6) to effect the fastening
or securing of the tie in combination or not with a catch on the fixed
plate.
2nd. Forming the tie with a sort of turn-down piece at the back, sub-
stantially as hercin-before described, attached to the movable nipper of
the fastener whereby the end of the band may be introduced laterally
into the fastener, as and for the purposes explained.
3rd. Constructing neck ties with fasteners, as herein-before described
and represented in the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henri Feldtrappe, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Third day of November One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-four.
0 Witness,
NOËL SIMONNET,
47, Ruc des Marais,
à Paris.
HENRI FELDTRAPPE. (L.s.)