AN IMPROVED FASTENING FOR ARTICLES OF JEWELLERY, BROOCHES, OR DRESS ORNAMENTS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Forster, of Gravesend, in the County
of Kent, Jeweller, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED FASTENING FOR
ARTICLES OF JEWELLERY, BROOCHES, OR DRESS ORNAMENTS."
Sealed the 28th November 1856, and dated the 10th September 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Henry Forster
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th September 1856.
J, WILLIAM HENRY FORSTER, of Gravesend, in the County of Kent,
Jeweller, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IM-
PROVED FASTENING FOR ARTICLES OF JEWELLERY, BROOCHES, OR DRESS ORNAMENTS,"
to be as follows (that is to say):-
My Invention, which has for its object the attaching or detaching of articles
of jewellery, brooches, and dress ornaments by a more secure and expeditious
method than hitherto, consists of one or more curvilinear or talon-shaped pins
being secured to the articles of jewellery or otherwise (through the intervention
of a tube furnished with sliding stems or end pieces), in such manner, that
when necessary to attach or detach the ornament, the said pins are raised
simultaneously by simply pressing the sliding stems or end pieces which
slide within the tube so as to actuate the pins, which work on joint centres

page_text: attached to the same. Within the body of the tube are placed suitable reacting
springs, for the purpose of keeping the sliding stems or end pieces extended,
and the talon-shaped pins in an inclined position, so as to hold the dress or
otherwise to which the ornament is attached between the pins and the outer
surface of the tube to which the pins incline.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Forster in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th March 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY FORSTER, of Gravesend, in the County of Kent, Jeweller, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Henry Forster, Her special licence that I, the said William Henry
Forster, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Henry Forster, 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 FASTENING FOR ARTICLES OF JEWELLERY, BROOCHES, OR DRESS
ORNAMENTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Henry Forster, 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 William Henry Forster, 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, and the Drawings therein referred to (that is to say):-
My Invention, which has for its object the attaching or detaching of articles
of jewellery, brooches, or dress ornaments by a more secure and expeditious

page_text: method than hitherto, consists of one or more curvilinear or talon-shaped pins
being secured to the articles of jewellery or otherwise (through the intervention
of a tube furnished with sliding stems or end pieces), in such manner, that
the operation of attaching or detaching the ornament is effected by simply
pressing the sliding stems or end pieces which slide within the tube so as to
raise simultaneously the pins, which work on joint centres attached to the
same, the body of the said tube being provided with suitable reacting springs,
for the purpose of causing the stems or end pieces to slide or extend, and the
talon-shaped pins to incline to the outer surface of the tube, so as to clutch or
hold the dress or otherwise, to which the ornament is desired to be attached,
firmly between the said pins and the tube.
But in order that my said Invention may be more fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I now proceed to describe it by the aid of the
accompanying Drawings, reference being had to the letters and figures thereon
marked (that is to say) :-
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of my improved fastening for brooches and
other dress ornaments; Fig. 2, a section, taken longitudinally through the
same; Fig. 3, a transverse vertical section; Fig. 4, a side view of a brooch
with the improved fastening attached; Fig. 5, a longitudinal section thereof;
Fig. 6, a back or plan view of the brooch or fastening; Fig. 7, a detached
perspective view of one of the reacting spiral springs; Fig 8, a plan view of a
brooch with enclosed back; Fig. 9 shows the application of my improved
fastening to a brooch, with open or transparent setting; Fig. 10, a top or plan
view of an enlarged detached portion of the fastening; Fig. 11, a sectional
side view through a portion of the tube and sliding stem or end piece; Fig. 12,
detached portions thereof, separately shown; Fig. 13, a perspective view of
the tube and sliding stems or end pieces; and Fig. 14, a perspective view of
the fastening complete, showing the mode of attaching or detaching the same
through the medium of the thumb and finger. In each Figure the same letters
of reference denote similar corresponding parts.
A, A, tubular case or body of the fastening; B, B', sliding stems or end
pieces, fitting within the said case or body; C, C, and C, curvilinear or
talon-shaped pins; D, D, stud and pivot centres, attached or otherwise secured
to the tubular case or body, on which the said pins work; E, E, slot or opening
formed in the upper portion of the case for the reception of the pins aforesaid;
F, F, reacting spiral springs, for extending the sliding stems and maintaining
the pins in an inclined position; G, G, stops or bolts, sliding within the stems
or end pieces, for the purpose of affording additional security to the fastening,
by locking the sliding stems and pins, through the medium of thumb studs

page_text: H, H; I, I, motion pins and slots, for regulating the action of the sliding
stems or end pieces; J, J, stud movements for actuating the pins; K, K, the
brooch; L, L, the setting; M, M, closed back; N, N, dress or material.
In conclusion to the foregoing description I would here briefly note, that in
order to attach the brooch or ornament to the dress or otherwise it is simply
necessary to cause a contracting or inward sliding movement to be communi-
cated to the stems or end pieces, so as to raise the curvilinear or talon-shaped
pins in a suitable position for clutching or taking hold of the material to which
it may be desirable to attach the same, the effect of which, upon the pressure
of the thumb and finger upon the end pieces being removed, causes the pins,
through the intervention of the reacting springs, to resume their horizontal or
quiescent position in such manner as to hold the dress firmly between the pins
and the outer surfaces of the tube.
Having now fully described the nature of this my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I would have it clearly under-
stood that I do not intend to confine myself to the precise details herein-before
described, as the same might be varied without departing from the general
principle of these my said improvements; but that which I do claim as new
and of my said Invention is, the construction and employment of my im-
proved fastening for brooches, dress ornaments, and other similar articles
of jewellery, in the manner and for the purposes herein-before set forth and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Forster, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
WILLIAM HENRY FORSTER. (L.s.)
F. R. DARKIN CAMPBELL,
Clerk to Messrs. Weatherdon, & Co.,
77, Chancery Lane.