IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR CORSETS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF SIMILAR DESCRIPTION
Year: 1885

page_text: similar Description.
I FRANCIS ROBERT BAKER of Birmingham in the county of Warwick Engineer
do hereby declare the nature of my said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS
FOR CORSETS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF SIMILAR DESCRIPTION to be as follows:-
The object of my invention is to make a fastening for a corset which is invisible
to the eye after the busk is covered, is perfectly secure and is easily released.
To do this I form upon one side at the bottom a tongue of steel with a bevelled
catch on its lower side and a spring on the upper side cut out of the tongue which
I rivet on the busk. And I rivet on two or more additional tongues also with
bevelled catches. The catches are all controlled by the one spring on the bottom.
These tongues fit into boxes or sheaths that are rivetted on to the opposite side and
the catches on the tongues engage into notches or holes cut out in the lower side of
the boxes. These are kept in position by the spring.
To release the parts you take hold of each busk at the bottom or top at will and
press up with one hand and down with the other.
The catches on the tongues are well undercut so as to form a good catch and
prevent coming undone.
Data LL 1
1
100x
PAYNE & TALBOT,
4 & 5, Arcade Chambers,
Corporation Street, Birmingham,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in Fastenings for Corsets and other Articles OI
similar Description.
I, FRANCIS ROBERT BAKER, of Snow Hill, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer, 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 improvements in fastenings for corsets and the like, the
object of the invention being to construct such fastenings so that they shall be
invisible to the eye when the corset or the like is fastened and a perfectly secure
fastening be provided which can be easily released.
For this purpose I provide at the bottom part of one of the halves of the busk a
tongue of steel, with a bevelled catch on. its underside and a spring on the upper
side cut out of the tongue which I rivet on the busk, and I rivet in positions above
the first named tongue one, two or more additional tongues also with bevelled
catches but without springs, the catches being all controlled by the one spring on
the bottom tongue.
These tongues fit into boxes or sheaths that are rivetted on to the opposite half
of the busk and the catches on the tongues engage into notches or holes cut out
in the lower side of the boxes and are kept in position by the said spring.
In order to enable my invention to be fully understood I will proceed to describe
the same by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which figure 1 represents a
front elevation of a corset busk provided with fastenings constructed according to
my invention, the halves of the busk being shown unfastened and separated;
figure 2 is a similar view to figure 1 but shewing the halves of the busk in the
position in which they are placed when commencing to fasten the corset ; figure 3 is
a similar view to figures 1 and 2 but shewing the halves of the busk fastened
together; figure 4 is a section on line A. B. of figure 3. Similar letters in all the
figures represent similar parts.
A and B represent the two halves of an ordinary corset busk; a, is the steel
tongue which I rivet to the lower part of one of the halves A of the busk; bis
the bevelled catch on the underside of the said tongue a, and c, is the spring on the
upper side of and cut out of the tongue a; a, a, a, are the additional tongues
(without springs) which I rivet to the half A of the busk in positions above the
tongue a, b, b, and 63, representing respectively the bevelled catches of the same;
d, d¹, d³, d³, are the boxes or sheaths (one for each tongue) which I rivet to the
opposite half B of the busk; e figure 4 shews the hole which I cut in the lower side
of each of the said boxes or sheaths, into which holes the catches of the tongues
engage when the corset is fastened, the said tongues being kept in the said position
by the action of the spring c, of the lower-most tongue a, bearing against the upper
part of its box or sheath d, as hereinafter described.
By this construction the two halves A and B of the busk being in their
separated or opened position, as shewn in figure 1, in order to fasten a corset
provided with such a busk it is only necessary to place the lowermost tongue a,
within its box or sheath d, its catch b, entering the hole e therein as shewn in

page_text: figure 2, whereby the corset will be fixed round the person's waist, and then to
similarly place the remaining tongues a¹, a³, and a³, in succession within their
respective boxes d', d, and d³, each catch rising in order to enter its box or sheath
and thereby compressing the spring c which causes the catches to engage with the
holes e (as shown in dotted lines in figure 3).
..
In order to unfasten the corset one part, A, of the busk must be pressed upwards
and the other part, B, downwards so as to compress the spring c, and disengage the
catches of the tongues a, a, a, a, from the holes e in their respective boxes or
sheaths d d', d', ds, and the two halves of the busk can then be drawn apart or
opened.
For the sake of clearness I have not shewn the busk covered as it is in practice
but it will be obvious that when it is so covered and the corset is fastened the
fastenings cannot be seen.
Although I have described and illustrated my invention as applied to a corset
busk it will be obvious that it is equally applicable for fastening other articles of
similar description.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In fastenings for corsets and other articles of similar description the combination
with a number of tongues having catches adapted to engage in corresponding sheaths
or boxes of a spring tongue and catch so arranged that the said spring tongue being
passed into its sheath or box, will keep the other tongues engaged in their sheaths
as and for the purposes hereinbefore described.
2. The manufacture and use of the improved fastenings for corsets and other
articles of a similar description hereinbefore described and represented in the
accompanying drawing.