US1493888A - A corpora - Google Patents

Description

A. H. MILLER May 13, 1924.

BUCKLE Filed may 17. 1923 IN V EN TOR.

A TTORN E YS.

Patented May 13, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERTO H. MILLER, or iamnenron'r, oonnno'rron'r, ASSIGNOR To 'rnnooivnno'riour WEB AND BUCKLE COMPANY, or BRIDGEIPOBT, CONNECTICUT, A ooRronA- BUCKLE.

Application filed May 17, 1923. Serial Ito-639,563.

To all 1072 0171. may 007106771.

Be it known that I, ALBERTO H. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Buckle, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to'buckles adapted for general use and especially for use in connection with suspenders, ladies and childrens hose supporters. This buckle is of the so-called rustless type. In this type of buckle, as generally constructed, it has usually been found necessary to provide the securing tongue of a lever with a series of teethin order that the buckle should hold and not slip. Those teeth, however, are ob jectionable because when the buckle is closed they are pressed into the web tending to cut the rubber and also the fabric of the web. Also when the buckle is opened the swing of these teeth about the pivot of the lever moves the points thereof under the stitches of the fabric and tears this fabric as the teeth move away from the web. This is particularly objectionable where a fancy or loosely woven web is employed. Numerous attempts have been made to overcome this objection, principally by omitting the teeth and relying on the straight free edge of the tongue to hold the web. These constructions, while they did away with the tearing effect of the teeth, were not satisfactory because they did not hold but slipped on the web when the web was placed under tension.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a buckle of this type which will not cut or tear the web and one in which the web is securely fastened, and,

therefore, will not slip. It is a further object of the invention to so shape the edge of the clamping tongue as to improve its action in the closing and the unlocking movements so that these may be more easily performed. v lVith the foregoing and other objects in view, I have devised the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which I Fig.1 is a plan view of a portion of a suspender or hose supporter showing the buckle in position thereon.

. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. '3 is a longitudinal central section through the same. l

Fig. 4: is a bottom view of the form of buckle shown in Figs. 2 and 3 open and removed from the web. v

Fig. 5 is'a' similar view of the buckle having a slightly different construction;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the end of the buckle showing the type of buckle in Fig. 5 and open. i

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view through the web andbuckle of Fig. 6, but showing the buckle closed, and i Fig. 8 is a plan view of the free plain edge the tongue showing the preferred con tour.

Referring to Figs. 2, 3 and. 4, I have shown a construction of buckle substantially that shown in the patent to George T. Brannigan, No. 1,454,666, issued May 8, 1923, with my improved means for facilitating the opening and closing of this buckle; In this construction of buckle there is a substantially rectangular frame, preferably of wire, which comprises front and back members 10 and 11 respectively. The back. member preferably is provided with a projection 12 to prevent turning of the end of the web 13 on this back member. To the front member 10 is pivoted a lever 14, preferably by suitable curved lugs 15 embracing the front member 10. This lever comprises a top 16 by which the lever is operated and which also rests on the top of the web when the lever is in closed position. The lever is provided with a securing tongue which has a body portion 17 extending forwardly under the top 16 from adjacent the pivots and is then bent at 18 at an angle to the body portion, preferably in a direction awayfrom the top, and terminates in a plain free edgev 19. The portion of the tongue between the bend at 18 and the free edge 19 is preferably substantially flat, and is so arranged that when the lever is in closed or securing position, shown in Fig. 8, this surface extends through the frame with the bend and the plain free edge lying on opposite sides of a line 20 extending through the centers of the front and backmembers 10 and 11 of the frame, and is also positioned adjacent the back member 11 so as to clamp the web against this back member. 1 The free end of the web 21 is wrapped around the back number 11 of the frame and stitched, as shown at 22, then extends through the loop' 28 of a'clasp, not shown, and down throughthe frame between. the front and back members and between the lever and theback member. The tongue of the lever is sufficiently resilient to yield or give the neces. sary amount when the lever is operated and also to allow use of different thicknesses of web.

Referring to Fig. 3 it will be seen that when the lever is pressed downwardly into closed position the surface between the bend 18 and free edge 19 engages the top of the web and presses the same against the back member 11 of the frame. Thissurface is so locateclthat when the lever is in fully closed position at least a portion of its plain edge 19 will have passed through the frame, or at least beyond the line 20 joining the centers of the front and back members of the frame and pressure of the web thereon will tend to bend the lever further towards closed position and so securely hold the lever in this securing position. The bend 18, however, is on the other side of the line 20 so that as tension is put on the web the pull thereof on the edge 19 will tend to move the lever further in a direction of its closing movement and the bend 18 will, therefore, tend to move somewhat nearer the back member of the frame and more securely clamp the web thereagainst. It will, therefore, be apparent that as the free edge 19 and bend 18 are on opposite sides of line 20 the lever is securely held in closed or securing position and the wel is securely clamped between the surface formed between the bend 18 and the free edge and the back member 11. of the frame so that there is very little likelihood of the lever inadvertently raising to unclamp the buckle, and also the web is securely fastened so that there is no slippage. As the free edge 19 is plain and not provided with teeth the web is not torn or injured in any way.

In the patented structure, however, the plain edge of the tongne'is shown as be ing straight and it will, therefore, be apparent that when the lever ismoved to or from closed position the entire edgewill pass through the frame of the buckle or past the back member '11 at the same time. It will also be apparent that with the straight edge, in opening and closing the buckle the resistance of the entire length of the edge of the tonguemust be overcome at practically the same instant. Therefore, in order to make a more smoothly and easily operating buckle I have'curved this plain edge somewhat, substantially, as shown, in the drawing, so that only a. small portion of it will pass through the frame or past the'back member 11 at a given instant in locking or unlocking the buckle. It Will thus be apparent that as the resistance of only a small portion of this edge must be overcome at the same time the lever will be much more easily operated either in locking or unlocking the buckle. The plain edge may be given various shapes but I prefer that substantially as shown in I i gs. l, 5 and 8. As will be apparent from these figures the edge projects the greatest amount at substantially the center of the tongue, as indicated at 24, and then gradually inclines l. aelnvardly on opposite sides of this center toward the lateral sides of the tongue, and I also preferably make the edge a short dis tanceinwardly from the sides of the tongue slightly concav-ed, as shown 25, but this is not necessary as the edges at this point may be straight or the inclines may extend directly to the sides. This form of the plain edge makes the clamping surface of the tongue between the bend 18 and the free edge 19 wide-r at substantially its central portion and then gradually decreasing in width from. this central portion to the sides of the tongue.

It will also be apparent that as the lever is. moved to closed or securing position the projecting portion 24 will be the first to pass through the frame followed by the inclined portions of the plainedge so that the passage of the edge through the frame will be gradual and not all at one time as would be the case with a straight edge. Also by placing the farthest advanced portion of the edge in the center instead of at one side of the tongue there is no lateral thrust on the lever in either direction. This construction has a wedging action and starts to close by dragging up the center of the web and drawing it laterally somewhat through the space 26 formed in making the projection 12 in the back meniiber 11, so that when tension is placed on the web a lateral pull or strain is induced on the web tending to clamp the same more securely. The center of the web is push d down somewhat farther through the frame than are the sides, as shown, at 30.

It will also be apparent that in opening or unlocking the buckle this shaped edge givcs'a smoother and easier operation for the same reasons as in closing because the entire edge does not pass through the frame at the same time. '7

deferring to the forms shown in Figs. 5. 6 and 7 I have applied this peculiarly shaped edge to a straight tongue 27 using the same back of the frame as in the first form, this straight tongue being applied to a buckle having a forward portion or top 28, the same as in the first form, and the plain free edge ofthis tongue is given substantially the same contour as that shown in the first form. The tongue is so arranged that at least a portion of this edge, and preferably all of it, passes through the frame when the lever is moved to securing position, substantially as shown in Fig. 7. "When this buckle is accurately made and the tongue 27 accurately positionedfor the thickness of web with which it is intended to be used, it holds very well, but as the web varies in thickness, and in manufacture the buckles also vary, this form cannot be depended upon in the trade, as the allowable error is not sufficiently large. This form of tongue holds better .if used with the type of back member 11 having the projections 12 and the space 26 into and through which the central portion of the web is drawn and wedged by the most of advanced portion ill of the tongue, as shown at 29 in Fig. 7.

The constructions above described provide a buckle which securely holds the web against slipping and also provides a lever which is very easy to operate both to and from the closed or securing position. This is important in the opening or unlocking operation, as well as in closing, especially as in the starting of the unlocking operation a full grip cannot always be secured on the top of the lever.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. A buckle comprising a frame having spaced front and back members, and a lever pivoted to the front member and provided with a front portion and a tongue extending forwardly from the pivot toward the back member to press a web thereagainst when the lever is in securing position and terminating in a plain edge, said plain edge being provided with a wedge shaped portion and so arranged that at least a portion of the edge will pass through the frame when the lever is moved to securing position.

2. A buckle comprising a frame having spaced front and back members, and a lever pivoted to the front member and provided with a front portion and a tongue extending forwardly from the pivot toward the back member to press a web thereagainst when the lever is in securing position and terminating in a plain edge, the tongue being longest at substantially its center and gradually shorter on opposite sides thereof so,

that the edge will be inclined baekwardly on both sides of the center, and said plain edge being so arranged that at least a portion thereof will pass through the frame when the lever is moved to securing position.

3. A buckle comprising a frame having spaced front and back members, and a lever pivoted to the front member and provided with a front portion and a tongue extending forwardly from the pivot toward the back member to press a web thereagainst when the lever is in securing position and terminating in a plain edge, said edge being inclined backwardly from substantially its center on opposite sides thereof and arranged so that at least a portion thereof passes beyond the back member when the lever is moved to securing position.

4. A buckle comprising a frame having spaced front and back members, and a lever pivoted to the front member and provided with a front portion and a tongue extending forwardly from the pivot toward the back member when the lever is in securing position and terminating in a plain edge, said tongue being bent laterally at a distance from said plain edge to form a surface adjacent the rear member extending through the frame when in securing position and press the web against the back member, said surface being widest at substantially its center and gradually narrower towards the sides of the tongue from said widest part.

5. A buckle comprising a frame having spaced back and front members, and a lever pivoted to the front member provided with a top portion and a tongue extending forwardly under the top of the lever from said pivot toward the free edge thereof, said tongue then being bent laterally away from the top and terminating in a plain edge spaced from said bend to form a clamping surface adjacent the back member and of sufiicient width to extend through the frame when in securing position and press the web against the back member, said surface being Widest at substantially its mid portion and gradually narrower from this portion toward the sides of the tongue.

6. A buckle comprising a frame having spaced front and back members, and a lever pivoted to the front member and provided with a front portion and a tongue extending forwardly from the pivot toward the back member to ress a web thereagainst when the lever is 111 securing position and terminating in a plain edge, said tongue being longest at substantially its center and gradually shorter on opposite sides thereof so that the edge will be inclined backwardly on both sides of the center, and said back member being provided with an offset portion at substantially its inidlength extending away from the lever and providing a space through which the projecting center of the tongue draws in the center of the web when the buckle is closed.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ALBERTO H. MILLER.

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