US337833A

US337833A - William s

Info

Publication number: US337833A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1886-03-16
Anticipated expiration: 1903-03-16

Description

(No Model.)

W. S. HICKS.

BUTTON HOOK. I

N0. 337,833; Patented Mar. 16, 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM S. HICKS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BUTTON-HOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 337,833, dated March 16, 1886. Application filed January 12, 1886. Serial No. 188,327. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. HIoKs, of New York, in the county of New York and State of N ew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Button-Hooks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of buttonhooks usually worn by ladies and gentlemen as charms or attachments to watch-chains, and used for buttoning gloves, the invention consisting in providing the case at its open end with a broadened and flattened mouth for the reception of the hook, as hereinafter set forth.

Figure 1 is a side elevation with the hook extended. Fig. 2 is a similar view with the hook retracted, and Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the case turned at a right angle to the position shown in Fig. 2.

Many forms and styles of button-hooks for buttoning gloves and shoes have been devised, some of which have been made with ornamental cases designed to be worn as charms or ornaments attached to watchchains, or otherwise carried about the person. As heretofore constructed the hooks have either had to be very small, and consequently too light and weak for practical service or durability, or if the hook was made large the case was necessarily enlarged to correspond, thereby increasing their cost and giving them a clumsy andinelegant appearance. Various plans have been devised to obviate these objections, such as cutting slots in the open end of the case for the hook to rest in, and making the case oval in cross-section, 810.

To construct a button hook on my plan, I first make the case A in the form or style of a small pencilcase, of gold or silver or any similar ornamental material, round or polygonal in cross-section, as may be preferred. Then, by means of suitable tools, I flatten or compress the sides of the case at its open end or month, as shown in Fig. 3, thereby correspondingly widening it in the direction at right angles to that in which it is compressed, as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2. By this method of construction I form at the open end a mouth or pocket, 72, for the hook, which is considerably wider than the diameter of the case, thus enabling me to use a larger and stronger hook than can be used in the ordinary tubular case.

The hook G maybe made to slide in and out of the case A by any of the usual methods or means; but I prefer to use a screw for that purpose, and to construct the casein two parts,

the part above the bead 0 being free to be turned by the thumb and finger of one hand, while the part below the bead is held by the other hand.

As this method of making cases in two parts with a screw for extending and retracting a pencil-point, tooth-pick, or other small implement is Well known to those skilled in the art, it is unnecessary to give any further description of the same.

lVhen the hook O is retracted it will occuny the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2, where it is hidden from view, although wider than the body of the case.

By proper care in its construction the case A is rendered more ornamental; also, by means of this compressed and widened mouth I) the flattened sides thereof form spaces for the application of any desired ornament or figure.

I am aware that a tube has had its end flattened and slotted to form jaws, between which to pivot the shank of the hook in a manner similar to that of a knife-blade, and therefore I do not claim such a device, nor do I slot my case at the sides of its mouth; but

hat I claim as my invention is- 1. A case for button-hooks, consisting of a tubular body, A, provided with an enlarged oval or flattened mouth, substantially as de scribed, whereby a button -hook can be inclosed which is wider than the diameter of the body of the case.

2. In combination with the case A, provided with a mouth which is wider than the body thereof, a sliding hook, G, of greater width than the body of the case, substantially as shown and described.

VILLIAM S. HICKS.

IVitnesses:

GEO. W. WHITE, DOUGLASS TOMKINS.