US227094A - Island - Google Patents

Description

-(Model.)

H. A. CHURCH.

Lacing-Hook.

- Not 227,094. Patented May 4, H.880.

IINVENTORI WITNESSESI NITED STATES PATENT Orrrea.

HENRY A. CHURCH, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

LAClNG-HOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 227,094, dated May 4, 1880.

Application filed March 31, 1880. (Model) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY A. CHURCH, of the city of Providence, county of Providence, and State of Rhode Island, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Lacing-Hooks, and in the art of making the same; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in the art of making lacing-hooks, by means of which the same may be made of steel or low iron, and a stronger, better, and cheaper article produced. It also has reference to improvements in the lacing-hook by which the weight of the hook is reduced and the strength increased, while the hook can be more readily and more firmly secured in place.

Figure 1 is a plan and sectional view of a blank of sheet-steel or refined iron, in which four slits are cut at the place where the tubular rivet is to be formed. Fig. 2 shows the blankin full view, also in section, after the sec ond step of the process in forming the semispherical cup has been performed. Fig. 3 is a view of and also a section of the blank after the third step in the process of drawing the tubular rivet has been performed. Fig. 4is a view of and a section of the blank after the fourth step in the process of cutting 05 the end of the tubular rivet has been taken. Fig. 5 is a View and a section of the blank after the fifth step in the process has been performed. Fig. 6 is a View and a section of the finished lacinghook after the sixth step of the process has been performed. Fig.7 is a view, partly in section, showing the lacing-hook secured to the material; and Fig. Sis a bottom view of the same.

Heretofore lacing-hooks for shoes have ordinarily'been made of brass or similar soft metal, and afterward coated with a black enamel, that they may harmonize with the color of the shoe.

Lacing-hooks thus constructed have been found objectionable in use, owing to the fact that the enamel soon wears off and leaves the bright and shining metal fully exposed to view.

To obviate this difficulty, secure greater strength and stiffness, and reduce the first cost of the material, I make my improved lacing-hooks of homogeneous steel orrefined iron, the natural color of which is not so objectionable as the color of brass, the strength of which is much superior and the cost much below the cost of the metals heretofore used.

Homogeneous steel and refined iron cannot be drawn and stamped into the forms required for lacing-hooks as readily while cold as brass or similar metal, and to produce the finished hook the various steps in the process must be arranged with a view to the greater tenacity of the material; and to facilitate the manufacture I stamp into the blank A, of soft homogeneous steel or refined iron, the slits I) b at the place where the tubular rivet is to be formed, as is shown in Fig. 1, and by thus separating the material the flow of the metal, when under pressure, is facilitated, and the semi-spherical cup shown in Fig. 2 is more readily formed and with less pressure than would be possible if the slits b I) had not been first cut.

The spherical cup 0 is made of considerable larger diameter than the tubular rivet which is to be formed out of the metal of the cup 0.

The metal composing that portion of the cup adjoining the blank is compressed while the drawing-out dies are being operated to elongate the tubular rivet, which is first formed with a closed'end, c, as illustrated in Fig. 3, which end is afterward removed, causing the blank to appear as shown in Fig. 4.. All these operations have been performed to produce thetubular rivet d, and the hook is still to be formed. The blank A, as shown in Fig. 4, is now subjected to pressure in a die, and the rounded button f and the raised rib g are formed as is shown in Fig. 5, both in view and section. 9 is a section through the line 1 2. The blank is now bent into the hook form shown. in Fig. 6. The raised rib 9, extending from the tubular rivet to the buttonf, increases the strength and stiffness of the neck and prevents the closing of the hook, to which hooks of the old construction are liable, and which is a great annoyance in the use of lacing-hooks.

Then these improved lacing-hooks are to be secured to boots, shoes, or other articles, the slits b I) allow the tubular rivet to open more readily than when the tube is solid, and

they will turn over and enter the leather, as shown in Fig. 7, holding the hook more firmly.

A tubular rivet or eyelet, when secured, forms a flange somewhat larger than the hole in the material, since the excessive strain, particularly the lateral strain exerted on a lacinghook, has a tendency to force the flange at the point opposite the hook through the hole and loosen the hook.

My improved hook has no such tendency, as the four bands enter the material at a greater distance from the hole, and are clinched so as to firmly hold the material, as is shown in Figs. 7 and 8. These hooks may be made in the improved form, of any material now used for lacing-hooks, and'they will be stronger, stiffer, and can be better secured than lacinghooks as heretofore made; but I prefer to make the lacing-hooks of homogeneous steel or refined iron, as they are stiffer, stronger, cheaper, and better suited for boots and shoes.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The method of making lacing-hooks, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, the same consisting, essentially, in first forming diverging slits in one end of the blank; second, in stamping a cup from such slitted portion; third, in drawing out a tubular rivet from said cup; fourth, in removing the closed end of the rivet; fifth, in stamping the raised rib g and button f and, sixth, in bending the button to the required shape, substantially as set forth.

2. A lacing-hook consisting of a tubular pronged rivet and a button connected with said rivet by a neck re-enforced by a rib, substantial] y as set forth.

HENRY A. CHURCH.

Witnesses:

Josnrn A. MILLER, J. A. MILLER, Jr.

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