AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR BRACES, BELTS, BANDS, AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nehemiah Brough, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Tool Maker, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
OR IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR BRACES, BELTS, BANDS, AND OTHER
ARTICLES."
Sealed the 1st September 1871, and dated the 19th May 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nehemiah Brough at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th May 1871.
I, NEHEMIAH BROUGH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
5 Tool Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR BRACES, BELTS, BANDS,
AND OTHER ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in constructing fastenings for braces, belts,
bands, and other articles in the manner herein-after described, whereby
simplicity of construction, facility of manufacture, and security in the
fastening are obtained.
I will describe my Invention as applied to a brace fastening. The
said brace fastening is made by preference of one piece of metal, and

page_text: consists of a frame of three parallel bars, a top and bottom bar and a
middle bar. The bottom bar of the frame is prolonged, and its end is
made into a hook or other connection to which the tab of the brace
is hooked or otherwise fastened. The upper edge of the middle bar of
the frame is serrated or provided with teeth, the said teeth being curved
or bent out of the plane of the frame, and having a depth nearly equal
to the width of the opening between the middle bar and the top bar.
The brace web passes under the top bar, over the middle bar, and under
the bottom bar of the frame. When that part of the brace web passed
over the middle bar is situated in the same or nearly the same plane as
the said middle bar the curved or bent teeth on the upper edge of the
middle bar take into the web and fasten it to the frame, and so long
as the said web is in the position described the vertical pull of the brace
either upwards or downwards tends to fasten it more securely to the
frame. In order to lengthen or shorten the brace the brace web is
released from the serrated or toothed edge of the middle bar by bringing
that part of the brace situated between the upper and lower bars of the
frame at right angles to the said frame, that is, the brace in front of
the frame is made into a loop, the said loop being formed either from
the brace web below or above the frame according as the brace is to be
lengthened or shortened. By then tightening the web and preserving
the looped part at right angles to the frame of the fastening the said
web rides over the serrated edge of the middle bar without obstruction
until the looped part is brought parallel or nearly parallel to the frame,
when the teeth at the top edge of the middle bar again enter or engage
with the web and fix it securely in its adjusted position.
The application of my Invention to fastenings for belts, bands, and
other articles differs in no essential respect from its application to brace
fastenings herein-before described.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Nehemiah Brough, Her special licence
that I, the said Nehemiah Brough, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Nehemiah Brough, 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 IMPROVEMENT
OR IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR BRACES, BELTS, BANDS, AND
ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Nehemiah
Brough, 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
¡mmediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
OTHER
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Nehemiah Brough, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in constructing fastenings for braces, belts,
bands, and other articles in the manner herein-after described, whereby
simplicity of construction, facility of manufacture, and security in the
fastening are obtained.
The
I will describe my Invention as applied to a brace fastening.
said brace fastening is made by preference of one piece of metal and
consists of a frame of three parallel bars, a top and bottom bar and a
middle bar. The bottom bar of the frame is prolonged, and its end is
made into a hook or other connection to which the tab of the brace is
hooked or otherwise fastened. The upper edge of the middle bar of the
frame is serrated or provided with teeth, the said teeth being curved or
bent out of the plane of the frame and having a depth nearly equal to
the width of the opening between the middle bar and the top bar. The
brace web passes under the top bar, over the middle bar, and under the

page_text: bottom bar of the frame. When that part of the brace web passed over
the middle bar is situated in the same or nearly the same plane as the
said middle bar, the curved or bent teeth on the upper edge of the
middle bar take into the web and fasten it to the frame, and so long as
the said web is in the position described the vertical pull of the brace
either upwards or downwards tends to fasten it more securely to the
frame. In order to lengthen or shorten the brace, the brace web is
released from the serrated or toothed edge of the middle bar by bringing
that part of the brace situated between the upper and lower bars of the
frame at right angles to the said frame, that is, the brace in front of
the frame is made into a loop, the said loop being formed either from
the brace web below or above the frame according as the brace is to be
lengthened or shortened. By then tightening the web and pressing the
looped part at right angles to the frame of the fastening, the said web
rides over the serrated edge of the middle bar without obstruction
until the looped part is brought parallel or nearly parallel to the frame,
when the teeth at the top edge of the middle bar again enter or engage
with the web and fix it securely in its adjusted position.
The application of my Invention to fastenings for belts, bands, and
other articles differs in no essential respect from its application to brace
fastenings herein-before described.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe
with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in which the
same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation and section a brace fastening
constructed according to my Invention; Figure 2 represents a front
elevation, and Figure 3 a vertical section of the same applied to a brace,
and Figure 4 represents the brace in the act of being lengthened or
shortened; Figure 5 represents the fastening provided with a loop
instead of a hook for the tab connection. The said brace fastening
consists of a frame of parallel bars marked respectively a, b, c. The
bottom bar c is prolonged and its end is made into a hook d for receiving
the loop or ring of the tabs, or the bottom edge of the bar c is provided
with a ring or loop e, Figure 5, upon which the tabs are hooked or
otherwise fastened. The upper edge of the middle bar bis serrated or
provided with teeth fff, the said teeth f,f,f, being curved or bent
out of the plane of the fastening, as seen in the sections Figures 1, 3,
and 4. The teeth f,f, of the bar bare of a depth nearly equal of the

page_text: width of the opening or slot g between the top bar a and middle bar b;
h is the slot between the middle bar 6 and bottom bar c; i is the web
of the brace, the end to be secured to the fastening being passed
through the top slot or opening g over the middle bar b, and through
the bottom sloth to the back of the fastening, as illustrated in Figure 3.
When the part of the brace web passed over the middle bar 6 is
situated in the same or nearly the same plane as the said middle bar b,
as seen in Figures 2 and 3, the teeth f,f, on the upper edge of the
said bar 6 take into or engage with the web and fasten it to the frame,
the vertical pull of the said web above or below the fastening tending
to fasten it more securely in its place. To lengthen or shorten the
brace, the brace web i has first to be released from the serrated edge
of the middle bar b. This is effected by bringing the part 2 of the brace
web situated between the upper and lower bars a, c, at right angles
to the frame of the fastening, the said part of the brace web being
formed into a loop &, as illustrated in Figure 4. When the web at 22
is pulled at right angles to the frame it rides over the serrated edge of
the barb without obstruction. The brace loop may either be formed
from the brace web below or above the frame according as the brace is
to be lengthened or shortened. In Figure 4 the loop is represented
as being formed from the web above the fastening. After the loop has
been formed in the manner seen in Figure 4, the web is tightened by
pulling down the end 2 (Figure 4) until the looped part is brought
parallel or nearly so with the middle bar b, when the teeth f, f, of the
said bar enter or engage with the web and fix it securely in its shortened
position. If the brace is to be lengthened the part (Figure 4) of the
brace web is pulled upwards, the loop riding over the serrated edge
of the middle bar 6 without obstruction until it arrives at the position
Figure 3, when the lengthened brace is fixed as herein-before described.
23
I make the brace fastening represented by preference of one piece
of metal, but the said fastening may be made of two pieces of metal.
When I make the fastening of one piece of metal I cut out at a press
blanks of the form represented in Figure 6 and from the said blanks
I pierce the openings or slots g, h, as represented in Figure 7, the
opening g having in it the parts ƒ from which the teeth of the fastening
are to be made. By means of another operation the points of the
parts fare separated from the inner edge of the bar b, and the teeth
thus made are at the same time curved or bent out of the plane of the

page_text: fastening. After the hook has been made from the tail part d of the
blank the brace fastening is complete, as represented in Figures 1, 2, 3,
When the bottom edge of the fastening has a loop as in Figure 5
the blank is provided with a loop instead of the tail part d.
and 4.
In making the fastening of two pieces of metal I cut out at a press
the frame or blank provided with a large opening, as represented in
Figure 8, and a separate serrated bar b, as represented in Figure 9. In
the side of the frame Figure 8, small openings k, k, are made, and on the
ends of the serrated bar bears 1, 1, are made. By placing the serrated
bar b, Figure 9, across the middle of the opening in the frame Figure 8,
and passing the cars 1, 1, of the said bar 6 through the holes k, k, in the
frame and clinching the said ears on the inner side of the frame, as
illustrated in front elevation and section in Figure 10, a brace fastening
of the kind herein-before described is produced. Other methods than
that described may be employed for making the fastening of two pieces
of metal.
Figure 11 represents in elevation and cross section a fastening for
a belt, band, or other article constructed according to my Invention, and
Figure 12 represents a belt or band applied to the same. This fastening
is provided with an additional bar m situated at a lower level than
the bars a, b, c. To this bar m the one end p of the belt or band is
secured, the other or adjustable end q of the belt or band being passed
through the frame and over the serrated edge of the bar 6 in the manner
described with respect to a brace fastening. In applying this fastening
as a waiscoat fastening or adjuster one of the straps of the waistcoat
is fixed to the bar m, and the end of the other strap is passed through
the frame in the manner already described.
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,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I claim as my Invention, the improvement or im-
provements in fastenings for braces, belts, bands, and other articles
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings,
that is to say, making the said fastenings of a frame of parallel bars,
the edge of the middle bar or one of the middle bars of the frame
being serrated or made into teeth for engaging with and fixing the
brace, belt, or band, the brace, belt, or band being passed through the

page_text: said frame and fixed by the said serrated edge of the bar and released
therefrom substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nehemiah Brough, have hereunto
set my hand and seal this Thirteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
NEHEMIAH BROUGH. (L.S.)