US2378496A - Safety catch and method of making the same - Google Patents

Description

H. W. PETERS SAFETY CATCH AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME June 19, 1945.

Filed Oct. 21, 1943 jZiKPeZers INVENTOR.

r M ,w m 1 v Y B Patented June 19, 1945 SAFETY CATCH AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Henry W. Peters, Water town, Mass. Application October 21, 1943, Serial No. 507,141 2 Claims. (01. 24-157)' s This invention relates to safety catches of the type used with pins and other articles of jewelry for the purpose of preventing the pin from becoming accidentally unfastened.

Heretofore it hasbeen the practice to make safety catches of nickel silver but under present conditions the use of nickel silver in the manufacture of jewelry and jewelry findings is not permitted. Consequently it has been necessary generally to utilize silver without the nickel aly. Silver, however, reacts quickly to acids used for cleaning after soldering operations and, therefor, a silver wheel or retaining element, when cleaned with the base or body portion prior to soldering said base to a pin, will quickly be destroyed with the result that replacements must be made.

Furthermore it has been the practice heretofore to place on the market the complete safety catch consisting of a base or body member *and a wheel assembled at the factory. Thus should any part of the catch be mined it has been necessary to discard all of it.

An object of the present invention is to so construct the safety catch that the base or body and the wheel can be marketed'separately or assembled as preferred, it being possible for the jeweler or other purchaser to readily assemble the wheel with a base after the base has been soldered in position and without danger of solder joining the wheel to the base in such a manner as to render the device inoperative.

A stillfurther object is to provide a safety catch the parts of which can readily be formed bystamping, it being unnecessary, as heretofore,

to slot the parts after they have been assembled. Instead the present invention has for an object the production of a base and a wheel both of which are slotted at the factory and can be assembled either at the factory or by the purchaser.

Astill. further object is to provide a safety catch which can be manufactured by a method which reduces considerably the number of operations heretofore required in the manufacture and assembly of these devices.

A still further object is to provide a safety catch which can be produced of sterling silver, can be assembled by the purchaser after attachment to the article to be equipped therewith, and does not require slotting after assembly as heretofore.

A still further object is to provide a safety catch which permits treatment with acid after the soldering operation but before the assembly of the wheel therewith so that there is no danger fastener prior to being secured.

of this pinwheel being damaged by the acid during the cleaning operation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds. the invention consists of certain novel steps in the method and certain details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the method disclosed and in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawing the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

Insaid drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an assembled safety catch greatly enlarged and constructed in accordance with the present invention, a pin shank being shown in section in position in th Figure 2 is a verticaltransverse section through the fastener showing the shank of the pin clamped by the safety catch so as to hold it against accidental release.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the fastener with the parts positioned as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a section through the fastener taken on the lin 4-4, Fig. 2.

Figure 5 is a section through a partially closed blank from which the base or body portion of the fastener is'formed.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the wheel;

As has already been stated, the drawing shows this structure greatly enlarged. In practice it is to be quite small so as to be substantially the same size as safety catches commonly used on articles of jewelry.

Instead of forming the base with a slot, forcing the wheel into the slot, and then slotting across the wheel and base, as has been the prac. tice heretofore, the base is made by stamping it between dies to form opposed members each having a segmental recess. In Fig. 5' these members have been indicated at I and 2 and the segmental recesses have been indicated at 3. The bottom of the blank is formed with an angular recess 4 so proportioned that when the members and 2 of the blank are folded together. this bottom will flatten out to form a substantially flat base as indicated at 5 in Figs. 1 and 2.

At the time of shaping the members I and and forming the recesses 3 therein, each of said members is also provided witha side slot extending thereinto from its outer-side edge as shown at 6, the inner end of each slot being provided with a small recess or extension. The slot has been indicated at 6 and the recess at 1.

Likewise, during the shaping operation, each recess 3 is formed with a lateral extension 8 which can define a portion of a truncated cone and the top edges of the members I and 2 at the sides thereof are cut away as at 9. Y-shaped, recesses are located in the sides .of the blank between the cut-away portion 9 and the angular recess 4. Thus whenthe blank is folded after it has been shaped, the angle 4 will be straightened out to form the base and the opposed edges of the V-shaped recesses will come together as indicated at H in Figs. 1 and 2. The cut-away portion 9 will cooperate to provide a slot in the base opening upwardly as shown at l2 andthe extensions 8 of the recesses 3 will cooperate to provide substantially frusto-conical recesses l3- intersected by the slot 12. The inner end of the slot l2 can be semicircular and define an are about acenter M. This center, however, preferably does not coincide with the axial center of the frusto-conical recesses I3 and the arcuate recesses'3.

The wheel member of the safety catch can be of any shape desired but in the present instance is formed of oppositely extended substantially frusto-conical bearing portions l5 proportioned to fit snugly within the recesses l3 when the parts are assembled. From the central portion of this wheel is extended a small finger piece l6 which can be provided adjacent to its junction with the wheel, with oppositely extended stops H. The wheel has a slot l8 extending longitudinally thereof, the inner wall thereof being rounded to define a semicircle, as shown.

It will be apparent that the two parts of the safety catch can. readily be stamped of metal between dies and they can be supplied to the trade as separate blanks or, if preferred; after they have been assembled; If the parts are assembled at the factory, the operation. is effected simply by placing the wheel with the bearing portions IS in the recesses l3 of the open blank with the finger piece [6 extended through one of the slots 6.. The two members I and 2 are then pressed toward each other so as to close the recess l0 and tighten the walls of the recesses 3 and 8 about the'wheel. As these recesses are not concentricwith the center of the circle indicated by the inner ends of the slots l2, it will be apparent thatwhen the finger piece I6 is at one extreme position and the slot I8 is alined with the slot l2. said slot I8 will extend farther into the base than will the slot l2. This has been indicated by broken lines'in Fig. 1.

The base can be fastened to the article of jewelry by solder in the usual way although, where silver is used, care must-be exercised in the employment of acid for cleaning purposes. After the base has been'a'ttached, the shank S of a pin can be moved into the alined slot so as to come against the inner walls of the slot I2. Thereafter by moving the finger piece Hi from one extreme position to the other, the wheel'will be inverted and as this wheel is offcenter the inversion of the wheel will cause the inner end wall of the slot l8 to-straddle shank S and bind the shank tightly upon the inner end walls of the slots l2. In this connection see Fig. 2. Thus a tight fastener is provided because of this frictional contact or gripping of the shank as well as the frictional contact'between the'wheel and the base.

The shoulders H on the finger piece serve to enter the recesses I and thus limit the movement of the finger piece in both directions.

If the parts are to be assembled by the jeweler in such a way as to avoid damage due to displacement of solder and to the use ofcleaning acid, said base is joined to the article of jewelry by placing solder in the recess 4 so as to join the base to its support. The base is then treated with acid after which the wheel is forced into the base and the opposed portions of the base pressed together to firmly grip the wheel. Thus the parts are assembled neatly and accurately and the number of operations heretofore required to obtain the same results are reduced materially.

As the parts are formed bystamping metal between dies, it is possible to provide the base with suitable ornamentation as shown for example in Fig. i. This has not been possible heretofore. Furthermore it is possible to produce them at high speed, accurately and neatly and as it is possible for the jeweler to assemble the parts, he can readily make replacements of the wheel when necessary simply by spreading the base, inserting a new wheel and then pressing the exposed portions of the base toward each other to bind on the inserted wheel.

Obviously the structure illustrated, in addition to being greatly exaggerated in size, need not necessarily be of the proportions or configuration illustrated. Changes can be made in the shape of the base and of the wheel. It is essential in any case that the parts he so made that they can be formed by stamping and that the wheel can be assembled with the base .either before or after thebase has been soldered in place and without the necessity of slotting the parts after they have been assembled.

What is claimed is:

1. A safety catch for jewelry and the like including a base consisting of integral opposed recessed members cooperating to provide a transverse slot, a substantially double frusto-conical recess intersected by the slot, and side slots in the respective members opening into opposite sides respectively of'the'first named slot, and a wheel having bearing portions engaged within the recesses in the opposed members, said wheel having a longitudinal slot movable into and out of register-with the first named slot, and a finger piece extending from the wheel and movable within the side slots. I

2. A safety catch including a base comprising integral opposed members each having a slot extending thereinto from its free end, said members cooperating to provide a shank-receiving slot therebetween, there being recesses in the members cooperating to provide hearings in the members, and a longitudinally slotted wheel seated within the bearings and gripped by the opposed members, the slot in said wheel being movable into and out of register with the shankreceiving slot, and a finger piece extending from the wheel and beyond one of the side slots and constituting means for rotating the wheel to move its slot into and out of register with the shank-receiving slot in the base, said wheel being eccentrically'mounted within the base and the inner ends of the shank-receiving slots in the wheel and base cooperating to grip an inserted shank when the wheel is turned from one position to another;

HENRY W. PETERS.

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