Improvements in Hooks and Eyes.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Aug., 1897-Accepted, 25th Sept., 1897
Improvements in Hooks and Eyes.
I, IRVIN PARKER DOOLITTLE, of Redlands, in the County of San Barnardino,
and State of California, United States of America, Manufacturer, at present
residing at No. 89 Peter Street, Toronto, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, 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 the garment fastenings known as hooks an eyes. The
object of my imvention is the production of a hook and eye in which the parts
when engaged are reliably locked against accidental detachment and which can
at the same time be easily disengaged.
In the accompanying drawing::
Figure 1 is an inner or rear view of my improved hook and eye engaged with
each other.
Figure 2 is an edge view thereof.
Figure 3 is a detached perspective view of the hook and
Figure 4 is a horizontal section in line 44, Figure 2.
Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures:
A represents the eye which is preferably bent from a single piece of wire and
provided at the rear ends of its side members a with the usual eyelets a¹ for
sewing or otherwise attaching it to the garment. The bow or front portion_a
of the eye is provided midway between the side members a with an inwardly
extending loop a³, which is enlarged rearwardly, so as to form a locking head
or enlargement which is connected with the bow of the eye by a neck or contracted
portion
The hook forming the other part of the fastening is preferably constructed
of a single length of wire and is provided with attaching eyelets or loops b, b1, b.
The hook is double or composed of two separated hook members 63 63, arranged
side by side and adapted to engage with the bow of the eye A on opposite sides
of the neck a', when the parts are interlocked, as shown in Figure 1. In the
construction shown in the drawing each hook member is double or composed
of two thicknesses of wire and the bodies or shanks 6 thereof are connected at
their outer or rear ends by the central loop or eye 61 which latter forms a spring
whereby the two hook members are rendered elastic and permitted to yield laterally
dr away from each other. The shanks of the hook members and their noses or
ends 65 are parallel and are held against each other by the spring while the hooks
of the two members are permanently spread apart or bent outwardly as shown
in Figures 1 and 3, so as to leave between the same a space or aperture c which
receives the locking head a³ of the eye A. In the normal position of the hooks
the aperture c is narrower than the locking head of the eye, so that the hooks
must spring farther apart in order to allow the locking head to pass through
the aperture:
In interlocking the parts, the hook is simply engaged with the eye by a
lengthwise movement of the parts on each other, in the manner of engaging an

page_text: ordinary hook and eye. In drawing the hook into the eye, the locking head a³
of the latter enters the aperture c between the elastic hook member and forces
the latter farther apart, until the head passes through the aperture when the hook
members again contract and bear against opposite sides of the neck at of the
eve, thereby locking the double hook in the bight of the eye with sufficient
security to prevent its accidental disengagement therefrom. In order to discon-
nect the parts, the same are simply turned at an angle to each other and the hook
is forced outward in the eye, or in other words, pushed away from the person of
the wearer, whereby the noses of the two hooks are forced apart and the neck a¹
of the eye is permitted to pass between the same. This method of disengaging
the hook and eye is advantageous when the parts are attached to a tight-fitting
garment which permits the meeting edges of the garment to be drawn together
only to a small extent but when the fastening is applied to a loose fitting garment,
the parts may be disengaged by simply moving the same lengthwise on each
other sufficiently to spring the hooks over the head a³ of the eye.
When the hook is formed from a single length of wire, as shown in the
drawings, a piece of wire of suitable length is first doubled at its middle to form
the combined attaching eyelet and spring b¹ and its ends are then bent to form
the side eyelets 6 63; next the branches of the doubled wire are doubled outwardly
upon themselves midway between their ends and the first described bend to form
the straight blanks of the hook members; these straight doubled branches are
then bent to form the hooks, and finally the hooks are spread apart to form the
aperture c, the noses or ends 65 of the hooks being held against each other during
this spreading operation.
The inner wires of the two hook members preferably extend outward slightly
beyond their outer wires, as shown in Figures and 4. By this construction
the bights or inner surfaces of the hook members converge toward the aperture c
and form a flaring guide which facilitates the entrance of the locking head a³
into said aperture, as shown in Figure 4.
To facilitate the engagement of the hook with the locking head a³ of the eye,
the body or main portion of the eye onl
which said head is formed
is raised above or extended outward beyond the plane of the attaching
eyelets a¹, as shown in Figure 2. By this construction, the locking
head is located at a distance from the fabric to which it is attached, thus permitting
the hook to be conveniently passed through the eye and interlocked with said
locking head.
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:
1. The combination with an eye member having its bow provided with a locking
head or enlargement which is connected with the bow by a contracted neck, of a
hook member composed of a pair of laterally yielding shanks arranged side by
side and provided at their front ends with hooks adapted to engage with the bow
of the eye member on opposite sides of said contracted neck and separated at
their bends by an aperture adapted to admit said locking head or enlargement,
said hooks having plain or unenlarged ends, whereby the same can be with-
drawn through the spaces between said contracted neck and the opposing sides
of the eye member by turning the two members at an angle to each other, substan-
tially as set forth.
2. The combination with an eye member having its bow provided with a locking
head or enlargement which is connected with the eye by a contracted neck, of a
hook member formed of a single length of wire and comprising two parallel
shanks connected at their rear ends by a spring loop and each provided at its
front end with a plain ended hook, the branches which form said shanks being
doubled backward upon themselves to form double shanks and the doubled
branches being bent to form the plain ended hooks of the shanks, the ends of

page_text: said branches terminating in attaching eyelets arranged on opposite sides of the
shanks, substantially as set forth.
3. The combination with an eye provided in its bight or bow with a locking
head or enlargement connected with the eye by a contracted neck, of a hook
formed of a single length of wire and comprising two hook members, each con-
taining two thicknesses of wire, the hooks of said members being bent outward
to form an aperture between the same and the inner wires of said hooks extending
outward beyond their outer wires, whereby the lights of the hooks converge
towards said aperture, a spring connecting the shanks of said hook members, and
attaching eyelets formed on opposite sides of said shanke, substantially as set
forth.
Dated this oth day of August 1897.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.