IMPROVEMENTS IN BUCKLES OR FASTENINGS FOR BRACES, BELTS, AND BANDS."
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Holloway, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUCKLES
OR FASTENINGS FOR BRACES, BELTS, AND BANDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Holloway at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th June 1866.
I, JOHN HOLLOWAY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BUCKLES OR FASTENINGS FOR BRACES, BELTS, AND BANDS," to be as
follows:-
My improvements consist of the arrangement or combination herein-after
described of the parts of a buckle or fastening for braces, belts, and bands.
I will describe my Invention in reference to a buckle for a brace. The
buckle or fastening is made of two parts, and by preference by stamping out
of sheet metal. Through one of the parts (which when in use is uppermost,
and which I will call the upper part,) the brace is passed, and to the other
part (which when in use is undermost, and which I will call the lower part,)
the tabs of the brace are connected. The upper part consists of a nearly flat
picco of metal, the lower edge of which is straight; a slot is made in this
part of the fastening parallel with the lower edge. The metal between the

page_text: slot and lower edge constitutes a bar, over which the web of the brace is
passed in the manner herein-after explained. At the ends of this part of the
fastening and at the lower edge are two projections or bearings, to which the
lower part of the fastening is jointed. The lower part of the fastening consists
of a flat piece of metal, having a hook or ring at its lower edge, to which the
tabs of the brace are connected; its upper edge is straight. At a short
distance below its upper edge are two projections, one on each side; these
projections enter holes in the projections or bearings on the upper part, and
thereby form a joint, by means of which the lower part can either be brought
into the same plane as the upper part, or raised out of that plane. By means
of stops or projections on the lower part the said part is arrested when it is
brought into the same plane as the upper part; the said lower part can hence
only be raised in one direction out of the same plane as the upper part.
When the lower part is in the same plane as the upper part the top edge of
the lower part and the bottom edge of the upper part are presented to one.
another with only a very narrow space between them. When the lower part
is raised out of the plane in which the upper part is situated its top edge
recedes from the bottom edge of the top part. In using the fastening the
brace is passed from behind through the slot and over the bar; it then
passes between the lower side of the bar, that is the lower edge of the upper
part of the fastening and the top edge of the lower part of the fastening to
the back of the said lower part. In order to lengthen or shorten the brace
the lower part of the fastening is raised, and the space between its top edge
and the bottom edge of the upper part is widened, and the brace can either
be lengthened or shortened. After the brace has been adjusted to the
required length the lower part is brought into the same plane as the upper
part, when the edges of the two parts approach and firmly hold the brace
between them. Although I prefer to make the two edges between which
the brace is held plain, yet the said edges may either be serrated, scolloped,
or indented.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Holloway in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th November 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HOLLOWAY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Holloway, Her special licence that I, the said John
Holloway, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Holloway, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN BUCKLES OR FASTENINGS FOR BRACES, BELTS, AND BANDS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Holloway, 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
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 John Holloway, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
My improvements consist of the arrangement or combination herein-after
described of the parts of a buckle or fastening for braces, belts, and bands.
I will describe my Invention with reference to a buckle for a brace. The
buckle or fastening is made of two parts, and by preference by stamping out
of sheet metal. Through one of the parts (which when in use is uppermost,
and which I will call the upper part,) the brace is passed, and to the other
part (which when in use is undermost, and which I will call the lower part,)
the tabs of the brace are connected. The upper part consists of a nearly flat
piece of metal, the lower edge of which is straight; a slot is made in this
part of the fastening parallel with the lower edge. The metal between tho
slot and lower edge constitutes a bar, over which the web of the brace is
passed in the manner herein-after explained. At the ends of this part of the
fastening, and at the lower edge are two projections or bearings, to which the
lower part of the fastening is jointed. The lower part of the fastening consists
of a flat piece of metal, having a hook or ring at its lower edge, to which the
tabs of tho brace are connected; its upper edge is straight. At a short

page_text: distance below its upper edge are two projections, one on each side; these
projections enter holes in the projections or bearings on the upper part, and
thereby form a joint, by means of which the lower part can either be brought
into the same plane as the upper part, or raised out of that plane. By means
of stops or projections on the lower part the said part is arrested when it is
brought into the same plane as the upper part; the said lower part can
hence only be raised in one direction out of the same plane as the upper part.
When the lower part is in the same plane as the upper part the top edge of
the lower part and the bottom edge of the upper part are presented to one
another with only a very narrow space between them. When the lower part
is raised out of the plane in which the upper part is situated, its top edge
recedes from the bottom edge of the top part. In using the fastening the
brace is passed from behind through the slot and over the bar; it then
passes between the lower side of the bar, that is the lower edge of the upper
part of the fastening and the top edge of the lower part of the fasting to the
back of the said lower part. In order to lengthen or shorten the brace the
lower part of the fastening is raised, and the space between its top edge and
the bottom edge of the upper part is widened, and the brace can either be
lengthened or shortened. After tho brace has been adjusted to the required
length the lower part is brought into the same plane as the upper part, when
the edges of the two parts approach and firmly hold the brace between
them. Although I prefer to make the two edges between which the brace
is held plain, yet the said edges may either be serrated, scolloped or
indented.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe
with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents a front elevation, Figures 2 and 3 edge views, and
Figure 4 a section of a brace buckle or fastening constructed according to
any Invention; Figures 5 and 6 represent the two parts of which the buckle
is composed; Figure 7 represents in front elevation a brace to which a
buckle constructed according to my Invention is applied; and Figure 8 is a
section of the same. The same letters indicate the same parts in each
Figure.
The said buckle or fastening is, made of two parts, marked respectively a
and b. I prefer to make the said parts a, b, by stamping out of sheet metal.
The upper part a of the buckle consists of a nearly flat piece of metal, the
lower edge of which is straight, and in the said part a slot c is made paralle!
with the said lower straight edge. The metal between the said slot c and

page_text: b
lower edge constitutes a bar d, over which the web of the brace is passed, as
herein-after explained. The ends of the part a of the buckle are provided
with two projections or bearings e, e, pierced with holes, as represented. The
lower part 6 of the buckle consists of a flat piece of metal having a ring ƒ at
its lower end, to which the tabs 9, 9, of the brace h, represented in Figures 7
and 8 are connected by being hooked together. Instead of the ring fa hook
or other means of connection may be adopted. The upper edge of the part b
is straight, and when the two parts a, b, are jointed together is parallel with
the bottom edge of the bar d of the part a. The two parts a, b, of the buckle
are jointed together by studs or projections i on the lower part b, entering the
holes made in the bearings e, e, of the upper part a, as illustrated in the
several Figures. The part 6 is also provided with stops k, which limit
the motion of the said part 6 upon the part a. By this jointing of the two
parts together the lower part 6 can either be brought into the same plane as
the upper part a, as illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 4, 7, and 8, or be raised out
of that plane, as illustrated in Figure 3. By means of the stops k the lower
part 6 is arrested when it is brought into the same plane as the upper part a,
and hence the part 6 can only be raised in one direction out of the plane of
the part a. The brace h is connected to the buckle or fastening in the
manner represented in Figures 7 and 8, that is to say, the end of the brace
to be fastened to the buckle is passed from behind through the slot c and over
the bar d. The lower part 6 having been raised out of the plane of the part a,
as represented in Figure 3, the brace is next passed between the lower edge
of the upper part a and the top edge of the lower part 6 of the fastening to
the back thereof, as best seen in Figure 8. By now bringing the lower part b
of the fastening into the same plane as the other part a the top edge of the
part 6 and the bottom edge of the part a are presented to each other with
only a very small narrow space between them, and the brace h is held or
gripped securely between the said edges, and thereby fastened to the buckle.
In order to lengthen or shorten the brace h the part 6 is raised out of the
plane of the upper part a, in the manner represented in Figure 3. By the
raising of the part 6 its top edge recedes from the bottom edge of the part a,
and thereby widens the space between the said edges, and permits the brace
to be either lengthened or shortened. After the brace h has been adjusted to
the required length, the lower part 6 is brought into the same plane as the
upper part, when the edges of the two parts approach each other and firmly
hold the brace between them, in the manner illustrated in Figures 7 and 8.
Instead of making the two edges between which the brace is held plain, as
described, oue or both edges may be serrated, scolloped, or indented.
b
A

page_text: buckle or fastening having the top edge of the lower part serrated, scolloped,
or indented is represented in front and side elevation in Figures 9 and 10 of
the Drawing. In the buckle or fastening previously described the stops by
which the motion of the lower part of the buckle is limited are made upon
the said lower part; the said stops may, however, be made upon the upper
part of the buckle. This modification of my Invention is also represented in
Figures 9 and 10, in which the stops upon the upper part a of the buckle are
marked 1, the said stops being formed by prolonging the bearings in which the
projections or studs of the lower part 6 turn.
b
Figure 11 represents in elevation a buckle or fastening constructed ac-
cording to my Invention, to be used as a belt or band fastening. In this
buckle the lower part 6 is made much broader than in the case of a brace
buckle, and is provided with a slot m, the ring or hook being disponsed with.
In fastening the belt or band the two ends to be fastened together aro
respectively passed from behind through the slots c, m, in the upper and lower
parts a, b, and are afterwards passed between the upper and lower edges of
the said parts a, b, the lower part 6 being raised out of the plane of the upper
part a. By bringing the two parts into the same plane the ends of the belt
or band aro grasped between the opposed edges of the two parts of the buckle
and securely fastened together and to the buckle, in the manner herein-before
described with respect to the web of a brace. Instead of jointing the two
parts of the buckle or fastening at their outer edges in the manner berein-
before described, the said parts may be jointed together in the manner
represented in Figures 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16; Figures 12 and 13 repre-
senting the two parts of the buckle separately, Figure 14 the said parts
jointed together; Figure 15 an edge view of the same, the parts being in
position for fastening the belt or band; and Figure 16 a section, the parts
being in position for releasing or adjusting the belt or band. In this modi-
fication of my Invention the inside of the upper part a is provided with
projections or studs n, n, and the lower part with eyes p, which eyes are
turned at right angles to the said lower part, and are fitted upon the
projections or studs n of the upper part, as represented in Figures 14, 15,
and 16. When the parts are arranged in this way they do not lie in the
same plane when brought together, but in parallel planes, the band or belt
being held between the upper edge of the lower part 6 and the lower edge of
the bar g of the upper part a, the action being precisely the same as that of
the buckles previously described. No stops are required in this buckle, as
the motion of the lower part b is arrested by coming against the lower bar r
of the part a.

page_text: Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated in the
Drawing, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention; but I claim as my Invention, the improvements in buckles or
fastenings for braces, belts, and bands, herein-before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, a buckle or fastening consisting
of two parts jointed together in the ways described, the web, belt, or band to
be fastened being gripped or held between the upper and lower opposed edges
of the said two parts of the buckle or fastening, or between the lower or
upper edge of one part and the edge of a bar on the other part of the buckle
or fastening, substantially in the manner herein described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Holloway, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOHN HOLLOWAY. (L.S.)