IMPROVEMENTS' IN FASTENINGS APPLICABLE TO WEARING APPAREL. AND IN APPARATUS FOR MAKING THE SAME AND LIKE ARTICLES, AND ALSO IN THE METHOD OR METHODS OF PREPARING THE, SAID ARTICLES FOR SALE
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CHURCH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
::
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-seventh day of August, in the fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Church, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said William Church, iny executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said William Church, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS'
IN FASTENINGS APPLICABLE TO WEARING APPAREL. AND IN APPARATUS FOR MAKING
THE SAME AND LIKE ARTICLES, AND ALSO IN THE METHOD OR METHODS OF PREPARING
THE, SAID ARTICLES FOR SALE;" in which said Letters is contained a
proviso, obliging me, the said William Church, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
רגם..

page_text: in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,reference being thereunto
had; will more fully and at large. appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance, with the said proviso, I, the said
William Church, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):
:-
My improvements consist, firstly, in the novel and improved shapes or forms
which may be given to certain fastenings for wearing apparel, called spring
hooks and eyes, described in the Specification of a Patent granted the Thirteenth
day of May, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine, to John Henry
Rodgers, of Birmingham, in consequence of a communication from myself,
a foreigner (then) residing abroad; secondly, in the construction of certain
novel machinery or apparatus, by which spring hooks and eyes are formed or
manufactured from wire; and, thirdly, in the preparation of cards or sheets
of paper, or other material, and the mode of attaching hooks and eyes thereto
for sale. The improvements which I have now invented in the forms of hooks
and eyes, formerly described in the said Specification of John Henry Rodgers'
Patent, are these:-In the construction of the hook, I contract the breadth
of that part which is to form the beak, for the purpose of giving the hook,
when finished, a neater appearance, and allowing it to pass through a smaller
eye, yet preserving a sufficient opening at that part which is occupied by the
spring tongue to allow of its playing freely. As respects the eye which is to
accompany the hook, I make that part intended to lie between the beak of the
hook and its spring tongue nearly of a straight form and round, whilst the
other parts of the eye are flattened. This is designed to facilitate the passage
of the eye between the beak and spring of the hook in the various positions
to which it may be liable in the act of hooking or unhooking; and also in
forming a piece of wire into a sort of staple, as a substitute for ordinary loops
or eyes, to be used in connection with the hooks, all of which improved forms
will be shewn in the accompanying Drawings.
My improved machine for making the spring hooks, above alluded to, is
represented in the Drawings; of which Fig. 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 an
end elevation, shewing the machine complete; Fig. 3 is a vertical section,
taken longitudinally through the middle of the machine; Fig.4 is alsoavertical
section taken transversely, looking toward the left, in front of the feeding
rollers, and Fig. 5 is a horizontal section, taken in a plain coincident with the
point, at which the wire is fed in or introduced between the feeding rollers,

page_text: and passed onward to the cutter binders and dies, which form successive
portions of the wire, into the desired figures for constituting the spring hooks.
A, A, are the feet on which the machine rests; B, B, is the bed; C, C,
standards fixed upon the bed, and supporting the rotary shaft D; upon this
shaft the fast and loose pullies E and Fare mounted, and also the fly wheel
G; this shaft Dalso carries the several cams by which the working parts of the
mechanism are actuated. The wire is fed into the machine, in an horizontal
direction, between two grooved rollers I and Jsee Figs. 1 and 4, and is thence
passed through the conducting tube b, see Figs. 4 and 5, and over the top
edge of the guide c, fixed on the face of the plate H, H; the movement
of the lower feeding roller I is produced, at intervals, by the reciprocating
acting of a click d, which takes into the teeth of a ratchet wheel K, fixed
on the same axle as the lower feeding roller, and the upper feeding
roller J, mounted on the short axle f, is made to turn in an opposite direction
simultaneously with the lower one, by means of the two toothed wheelsy and
h,fixed on the respective axleseandf, which wheels take into each other. Near
the end of the main rotary shaft D, there is a cam i (best seen in Fig. 2),
which cam, as it goes round, acts upon the end of a shorter arm of a
bent lever L, mounted upon the fulcrum pinj, fixed in the standard. The
end of the longer arm of this lever L is connected by a rod to an arm M,
which turns loosely upon the axle e, and carries the click . Hence, at
every rotation of the main shaft. the cam causes the lever L to vibraté,
in doing which it brings up the arm M and click d, and thereby drives
round the ratchet wheel K, and consequently with it the feeding wheels
I and J, through such portions of their rotary movements as will cause thei
to conduct or feed into the machine a length of wire equal to that required for
producing one hook. When this advance of the wire has been effected, a
helical spring / brings the lever arm and click L, M, and d, down into the
position shewn by dots in Fig. 2, ready to advance another length or wire,
when the cam comes round again and acts upon the lever L. The wire a,
thus advanced, has passed through the tube b, and through an eliptical slot in
a sliding cutter n (see Figs. 4 and 5), and lies straight on the top edge of the
guide c, c, aud is also supported by two studs s, s, fixed in the plate H, as
represented in Fig. 4. The rotary progress of the shaft D has now brought a
cam to act against a stud m, set in the face of.the bridle piece or yoke N
affixed to the upper end of a vertical sliding bar O; the form of this bar is
represented detached from the machine, at Fig. 6, and it is also shewn in its
proper position in the machine at O, in Figs. 3 and 5. Racks or teeth are
cut in the sides of this bar, in which the segment pinions upon the two upper

page_text: horizontal spindles P, P, work; as represented in Fig. 5. One of these spindles
is shewn detached at Eig. 7, and it will be perceived that a pin 1, placed
excentrically, projects from the end of the spindle. The manner in which the
bar O is connected with and acts upon the spindles P, P, will be clearly
understood by inspecting Fig. ; it is, therefore,only necessary to say that as
soon as the elevated part of the cam 7 on the main shaft comes in contact with
the stud m, the bar O begins to ascend, and, in doing so, to turn the spiuples
P, P. These rotary movements of the spindles cause the excentric pins r,,
at their ends, to come down upon the wire lying on the top edge of the
guide c, as seen in Fig. 4, and there to confine it securely whilst the portion
designed to constitute the hook is cut off; at this moment a camp on the
main shaft comes into operation against the upper end of a lever Q, which
moves vertically upon its fulcrum pin q (see Fig. 4); to the lower end of this
lever Q, the rod is attached that carries that sliding cutter (through the
cliptical slot of which the wire a has been passed, as before mentioned, and as
the camp presses back the upper end of the lever Q, its lower end rises, and
the rod and cutter n are consequently drawn upwards. The knife edge of the
eliptical slot in the cutter as it ascends, cuts the wire through, leaving the
severed portion of the wire lying on the top of the guide c and studs s, s, as
shewn in Fig. 4. It being now understood that the piece of wire a,a,after it
has been cut off, rests upon the top of the guide c, cand the studs s, s, held
fast by the excentric pius 7, ". It is next to be observed that the further
progress of the revolving cam 7, continuing to raise the rack bar O,as above
described, causes the spindles P, P, to be turned about a quarter of a
revolution. These movements of the spindles P, P, bring round and depress
the executive pins 1,7, so forcibly upon these parts of the wire that lie between
the bearings c, c, and s, s, that the wire becomes thereby bent down between
the outer edges of the guide c, c, and the studs s, s, into two loops, which are
to form the eyes of the hook. These parts of the operation and the mechanism
by which they are effected will be better understood by reference to the
auxiliary Figs. 8, 9, and 10, which shew the guide cand face plate H in the
same situation as in Fig. 4, but detached, and the bending apparatus in
different positions, according to the progress of the operation. Fig. 8 shews
the pieces of wire partially bent down between the bearing's c, c, and s,s, by the
descent of the excentric pins 7,, as last described. This Figure also shews
the curved closing dies or breaks t, t, advancing ready to close the ends of the
wires and complete the forms of the eyes. It is, however, necessary, before
proceeding further with a description of the bending operation, to explain
the means by which the closing dies or beaks t, t, are worked. Fig. 11

page_text: represents one of the two lower horizontal spindles R, R, detached, the
positions of which in the machine are shewn by dots in Figs. 3 and 5, and
their ends are seen in Figs. 2 and 4. At the inner end of each of these
spindles R, R, a curved die or beak tis affixed, and they are made to revolve
by means of a segment pinion on each taking into a rack on the side of a
vertical sliding bar S; this bar S is shewn detached at Fig. 12,and in its place
in the machine in the sectional Figs. 3 and 5. At the time when the curved
closing dies or beaks t, t, are required to come round for closing the ends of
the wire to form the eye of the hook, as described, a can on the main shaft
acts against the top of the sliding bar S, and depresses it, which, through its
racks, gives rotary motions to the spindles R, R; by these means the beaks
t,t, are brought round, and the ends of the wire bent into the form represented
at Fig. 9. The escape of the cam from the end of the bar S now allows the
bar to be raised by the force of a spring acting under it, when the racks turn
the pinions round in the opposite direction, and cause the beaks t, t, to fall
back into their first positions, as shewn in Fig. 4; at this period a curved
groove or inclined cam w, ou the main shaft, as it revolves, draws inward the
upper end of a pendant lever T, the lower part of which is in connection with
the bosses at the outer end of the spindles P, P. The spindles, P, P, are
by these means slidden back longitudinally sufficiently far to withdraw the
executive pins 1,7, at their inner ends, from the eyes of the bent wire lying
upon the edge of the guide; this is done for the purpose of releasing the wire
previously to the mechanism coming into operation, by which the straight
part of the wire is looped or doubled.
A cam on the main shaft now
acts upon the top of the vertical sliding bar U (which bar is shewn
detached in two positions at Fig, 13, and in its place in the machine at
U, Figs. 3 and 5). The rotary movement of the cam depresses the bar U;
and as the bar descends a small nib (1), projecting from the front of that bar,
bears upon the middle of the straight part of the wire, and forces the wire
down the long recess y in the guide plate, thereby causing the wire to bend
and assume the form shewn at Fig. 10. It will be perceived that a longer
portion of wire is turned inward in forming the eye at one end of the loop
than at the other. This surplus of wire is to constitute the spring tongue of
the intended hook, the shape of which is produced by a die striking up
against the face of the bar U; this bar contains the counter die. The die (2)
is fixed in the end of a horizontal sliding bolt V, mounted in the middle of
the bed of the machine, as seen in Figs. 3 and 5. The face of the die 2
and of the bolt V are shewn in the detached Fig. 14, and the counter die (3)
is seen in the face of the bar in Fig. 13. The bolt V is connected to an

page_text: infinite lever W, W, worked by a vertical bolt X, its force being regulated by
an adjustable fulcrum bolt Y fixed in the back part of the bed; the cam Z
upon the main shaft, as it revolves, depresses the bolt X, which brings the
infinite levers down toward horizontal positions, and thereby projects the
bolt V with the die (2) forcibly against the bent wire in the recess y of the
guide plate; by these means the loop and needle eyes of the wire become
flattened between the face of the die in the bolt V and that of the bar U, and
the portion of the wire which is to constitute the spring catch of the hook is
duly shaped by the projection (2) on the die, and its corresponding recess (3)
in the counter die. The cam Z having passed the vertical bolt X, two helical
springs connected to the horizontal bolt V, acting in sockets Z, Z, in the bed,
force back the bolt V, and raise the infinite levers. At this time the cam
allowing the bar U to be thrown up by its spring, a sinall bevel edged
piece (4), fixed on the face of the plate H, pushes the bent wire out of the
counter die (3), and a stud (5) fixed in the face of the bar U, having an
inclined plane as it rises, prevents the bent wire returning into the recess, and
causes it to fall into a receptacle below; ready for the future operation of
bending up the beak.
In order to shew evidently the forms and positions of the several cains on
the driving shaft in the machine, I have added to the Drawing a detached
diagram, Fig. 15, which indicates their proper forms and relative positions.
The wire having been thus bent in the machine into the form described, I next
proceed to turn over the end, so as to produce the beak, which completes the
formation of the hoop. This I do by means of the machine shewn in
Figs. 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20. Fig. 16 is a front elevation of the beaking
machine; Fig. 17-a horizontal-view of the same as it would appear from
above; Figs. 18 and 19 are end elevations, shewn partly in section. A,A,A, is
the frame of the machine; B is an axle or spindle supported by the end
bearings in which it revolves, and also slides longitudinally; C is a collar
fixed on the spindle; D is a pulley turning loosely upon the spindle, but
coupled thereto by an inclined plain clutch, one part of this clutch is affixed
to one side of the pulley D, the other to the collar C. A band is passed twice
round the pulley and made fast to it, one end of which band is attached to a
spring below, the other end to a stirrup or treadle. The blank hook, as
received from the previously described machine, and now about to be beaked
is to be placed as at a, flat upon the bed b, near the end of the machine. The
blank hook is passed under the pin c, which pin extends from and is made
fast in the centre of the spindle B; there is also fixed excentrically in the end
of the spindle a piece'd, called a wiper, which travels round the centre where

page_text: the spindle turns. The blank hook a having been thus placed upon the bed, as
shewn in Figs. 17 and 18, the spindle is to be turned round, which is done by
drawing down that end e of the double band which is connected with the
treadle. By this rotary movement of the spindle the excentric pin d is made
to lift up the flat end of the hook and to bend it over the pin c, as in Fig. 19,
which produces the beak and completes the formation of the hook. The
spindle having at this moment performed half, of its revolution a stud g fixed
in its side, strikes against a stationary ledge h, and the pulley continuing to go
round causes its inclined plain clutch to force back the spindle, as shewn at
Fig. 20, which withdraws the pin c and wiper d, from the hook, and thereby
releases it. By allowing the treadle now to rise, the spring at the reverse end
of the band draws back the pulley D, when a helical spring k, coiled round the
spindle, drives forward the axle B, and the parts all again assume their
positions ready to form the beak of another hook, as in Fig. 17 and 18. In
Fig. 16, two of these beaking machines are shewn in the way in which I pro-
pose to place them for the purpose of allowing the operator to work with both
hands. In order to enable the machine to form the beaks of hooks of different
lengths, the stop piece 7 upon the bed b is made adjustable by a thumb
Screw m.
.
The
The improved form which I have above proposed to give to the spring
hooks made from wire will be seen upon an enlarged scale in the Drawing at
Figs. 21, in which that part intended to constitute the beak is contracted into
a narrow neck, whilst the part occupied by the spring is left wide.
improved form of eye is shewn in two views at Figs. 22, that part intended to
pass between the beak and spring of the hook is made straight and left round
as the ordinary figure of the wire, whilst the other parts of the wire are
flattened. Other forms of eyes or staples, to be employed as substitutes for
loops or eyes, are shewn at Figs. 23 and 24. One means by which I contract
the end of the hook and bring it into the form exhibited at Figs. 21 will be
seen by reference to the small machine shewn at Figs. 25, 26, and 27.
Fig. 25 is a horizontal view of the machine as seen from above. Fig. 26 is a
vertical section of the same, taken in front of the dies, and Figs. 27 is an end
elevation. The blank hook a, of the form described in the Specification of
Rodgers' Patent, above mentioned, is placed flat upon the table b of this
machine, as shewn in Figs. 25. A chap c is then brought down by means of
a treadle and rod dupon the shoulders of the blank hook, as shewn by dots in
Figs. 25, which confines it securely upon the table b; another treadle and rod e
is then depressed, which rod, being connected to the right angled levers f,f,
cause the dies g, g, to approach each other, and in doing so to pince the end

page_text: of the blank hook laterally, whilst that part which is under the chap c is
protected. Thus the blank hook is formed to the desired shape, as shewn at
Figs. 21, and from this machine it is moved to the beaking apparatus to be
turned up in the way and by the mean's above described.
I now proceed to shew a mode by which I give the improved form to the
eye, as represented at Figs. 22. The Drawing, Figs. 28, exhibits a horizontal
view of the apparatus for planishing the eyes. A, A, represents the bed of an
ordinary stamp, on which is fixed the lower die B. The standards to guide the
hammer are shewn at C, C, a long slider D, D, the upper surface of which is
in the same plain as that of the die B, is kept in its position by the guides
E, E, and F, F, F, their under surfaces coinciding with the face of the slider
D. The eyes to be operated upon are laid on the table K, as at a, a, a, which
may be done by a child. When the eyes are thus placed, the sliding plate G
is pushed forward for the purpose of bringing all the eyes in a coincident line
into the slider D. The slider D is then moved laterally, so as to bring these.
eyes opposite to the die B, when the sliding plate H is employed to push them
forward on to the die B, in such positions as shall cause the front edges of all
the
eyes to lie immediately over the groove b, b, in the dic; the sliding plate
H is then withdrawn, and the hammer allowed to fall, by which means the
shoulder parts of the eyes will become planished, whilst the front part is left
round, as represented at Figs. 22. It is only necessary to add, that whilst this
operation has been going on, another child might place a series of eyes upon
the other end of the table K, which, being pushed forward on to the slider D, by
means of the sliding plate I, in the way above described, this series of eyes may
now be operated upon under the stamp as the former. Lastly, hooksandeyes
are commonly made ready for sale by attaching them to cards by sewing; 1,
however, attach them to the cards or sheets by the following means:-The
cards or sheets to receive the hooks and eyes (being printed or otherwise orna-
mented, if required,) they are to be pierced, for the purpose of forming loops,
which may be done by a pair of dies, that would cut and at the same time raise
the loops, I then slip each pair of hooks and eyes into a loop, in the manner
shewn at Fig. 29.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Church, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of February, One thousand
eight hundred and forty-one.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twenty-seventh day
of February, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid William Church
came before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year above