Improved Garment Hooks.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Nov., 1896-4ccepted, 9th Jan., 1897
Improved Garment Hooks.
We, EDWIN FRANK SMITH and FRANK ASAHEL SMITH, of Union City, Connecticut,
United States of America, Manufacturers, 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 :-
Our invention relates to the class of garment hooks in which a tongue of metal lies
between the sides of the base and is provided with means for retaining the eye in
engagement with the bill, and has for its object to produce a hook of this class which
may be made with a short bill, which adds greatly to the strength of the hook, in
which the tongue shall be straight, which greatly increases its resiliency and permits
the bill to be low, that is, to be bent down closer to the base than has been possible
with ordinary tongued hooks, and which may be made from considerably less wire
than is required to make any of the tongued hooks now upon the market, thereby
effecting a great saving in cost, owing to the enormous quantity of books that are
made and sold every day.
With these ends in view we have devised the novel hook of which the following
description in connection with the accompanying drawing is a specification, numbers
being used to designate the several parts.
Fig. 1 is a plan view of our novel hook in connection with an eye;
Fig. 2 a section on the line - in Fig. 1, and
Fig. 3 is a plan view of the partly formed book before the bill is curved to shape.
1 denotes the bill of the hook, 2 the base, 3 the attaching eyes, and 4 the tongue.
The bill and base are made by doubling the blank of wire upon itself in the usual manner,
the bill being preferably flattened, as shown in the drawings, and one strand of the
blank being made longer than the other.
One of the attaching eyes is formed from the short strand of the blank, the end
lying against the outer side of the shank as at 5. The other attaching eye is formed
from the long strand of the blank, which after forming the eye is turned inward
between the sides of the base to form the tongue 4.
The novel feature of the tongue consists in a knob 6, which is formed near its
free end by swaging or forcing up a portion, approximately one half, of the diameter
of the tongue, that is to say, the tongue is left straight and full size on the under
side and the knob is raised above the upper surface of the tongue so as to partially
fill the space between the base and the bill by displacing metal of the upper half
of the diameter of the tongue. Our novel hook is shown as engaged by an eye
of ordinary construction, which we have indicated by 7.
The special advantages of our novel construction of hook are that we do not
weaken the tongue at this point, which is the place where strength is required and
as would be the case if the inetal in the whole diameter of the tongue was displaced,
nor do we stiffen the tongue, as is the case where the tongue itself is bent or curved.
It is very important in the manufacture of articles of this class that the construction
be such that they can be formed easily and rapidly by simple machinery, and that
the amount of stock used be reduced to the minimum. The requirements of the
trade are that the entire hook be as short as possible, and especially that the bill
be short, that the hook be flat, that is that the bill and the base lie as close together
as possible, and furthermore that means be provided for locking the eye within
the bill of the hook which will hold the eye firmly under all ordinary circumstances,
it being, however, especially desirable that the spring quality of the tongue shall

page_text: not be impaired, so that the eyo may be readily disengaged from the hook at any
time. It is a serious objection to many of the tongued hooks upon the market
that the lock is too secure. In other words, the eye is locked in the hook so securely
as to render it difficult to detach the eye. This results from the stiffness of the
tongue, which is produced by bending the metal from which the tongue is formed.
By making the tongue of our novel hook straight we are enabled to make the bill
shorter than is possible where the tongue is bent to form a locking device. The
hook is thereby increased in strength in proportion as the bill is shortened. In brief,
our novel construction enables us to make the hook flatter and shorter and therefore
stronger and more rigid, while on the other hand the spring quality of the locking
device is greatly increased.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. A garment hook provided between the sides of the base with a straight spring
tongue having near its free end a knob formed by raising a portion of the metal of
the body of the tongue near its free end, so that the bill may be short and low, and
the eye will be retained in engagement therewith.
2. A garment hook provided between the sides of the base with a straight spring
tongue having near its free end a knob formed by displacing the metal of the upper
side of the tongue which is left straight and full size on the under side as and for the
purpose set forth.
Dated this 3rd day of November 1896.
EDWIN FRANK SMITH.
FRANK ASAHEL SMITH.