US580518A

US580518A - Garment-supporting clasp

Info

Publication number: US580518A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1897-04-13
Anticipated expiration: 1914-04-13

Description

(No Model.)

J. P. ATWOOD. GARMENT SUPPORTING CLASP. No. 580,518. PatentedApr. 13, 1897 \IWTNEEEEE INVENTU I JAMES F. ATYVOOD, OF MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS.

GARMENT-SUPPORTING CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of .Letters Patent No. 580,518, dated April 13, 1897. Application filed March 6, 1897. Serial No. 626,176. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES F. ATWOOD, a citizen of the United States, residing in Malden, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Garment Supporting Clasps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of garment-supporting clasps in which the device is made of metal and in which two jaws are employed, one being a stationary and one a movable jaw, the movable jaw comprising a jointed lever or toggle.

The invention consists in certain novel constructions and arrangements of parts whereby a firm and unyielding grip is produced upon either thin or thick fabric without danger of tearing or injuring the material, and whereby the movable jaw is, when the device is not closed upon the fabric, normally open and in a raised position, so that the fabric may be inserted in the clasp without any preliminary opening or preparation of said clasp for the fabric.

The nature of the invention is fully described below and illustrated in the acconr panying drawings, in which- Figure l is a side view of my improved clasp supported by a suitable piece of webbing, the clasp being open and in its normal position when it is not engaged in supporting a garment. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same in a closed position. Fig. 3 is a central vertical section of the same in a closed position, showing a portion of a garment engaged by the clasp. Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the clasp in an open position. Fig. 5 is a rear elevation in a closed position. Fig. 6 represents the blank from which the upper portion of the movable jaw is constructed.

Fig. 7 represents the said portion completed, but not applied in position.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

a represents a portion of the webbing from which the clasp is usually suspended.

The device comprises a stationary and a movable jaw. The stationary jaw consists of a wire bent into the shape shown-that is to say, into the nearly parallel sides A, whose k lower ends are spread outward at A and thence inward that is, toward the movable jaw-at a substantially right angle into the foot A, such portion including the central portion of the wire. From the side portions A the wire is bent slightly inward-that is, towardthe other jaw at B-and is spread slightly at the same portions, and at B .is bent outward at substantially right angles with the portion A and thence at B curved back inward, so that the two ends of the wire are substantially on a line and face each other, as shown in Fig. at. Loosely disposed around the upper portions or ends of the wire constituting the stationary jaw is the sleeve or tube G, and around the sleeve the supporting-webbing is arranged. The portions of the wire constituting the jaw above the bends B produce, therefore, the loop, the upper portion of which is engaged, as above mentioned, by the supporting-webbin g. The horizontal portion of the foot A has loosely disposed upon it a sleeve or tube D, formed or provided with the cam D, projecting from said sleeve or tube and extending lengthwise with it.

The movable jaw consists of two portions which constitute a jointed lever or toggle. The portion E is a wire tongue closed at its lower end and spreading at its upper end into the two outwardly-projectin g ends E. These ends extend loosely into loops or folds F, which are formed from the lower edge of the plate H, near its opposite end, such loops or folds projecting outward from said plate. Formed on the upper edge of the plate H and near the opposite ends thereof are the inwardly-projecting folds or loops F, such folds F extending loosely around the lower section of the loop at the upper end of the stationary jaw.

It will be noticed that the inner edges F of the folds F extend or curve inwardly, as shown in Figs. 1, 5, and 7, such curvatures being produced by the recesses F. (Indicated in the blank illustrated in Fig. 6.) The sides A of the wire constituting the stationary jaw spring normally outward and, when the device is not in use, bybearing outwardly against the said edges F, throw the plate H up into the position indicated in Figs. 1 and 4., thus lifting the tongue E so that the clasp is wide open, ready for the application of the edge of the garment which it is intended to support. Thus the bother of separating the jaws in order to apply the clasp to the garment is done away with.

To apply the clasp to a garment, lay the edge of the garment upon the foot A, place the lower end of the tongue E upon that portion of the garment which is on the foot behind the sleeve or tube D, and then force the tongue down upon said garment behind said sleeve or tube by pressing on the joint connecting the portions E and H until the device is in the position indicated in Fig. 3, in which S indicates a portion of the garment. The cam D by this operation and by the pull of the garment is forced back against the fabric S, the distance to which it is forced depending on the thickness of the fabric. Thus the space between the foot A and the lower end of the loop E is completely filled by the fabric and the cam, the latter swinging or rolling rearward or inward against the fabric whether it is thick or thin, the distance to which the cam swings rearward being greater, of course, if the fabric is thin. To release the fabric, press out the lower edge of the plate H by grasping its corners and it will fly up into the position indicated in Fig. 1, as above explained, leaving ample space for insertion of the edge of another fabric or garment. Thus a firm and unyielding grip is afforded upon fabrics of different thicknesses, and as the cam D is as long as the sleeve D the friction is distributed sufficiently to prevent the garment from becoming torn.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is.

1. In a garment-supporting clasp, the combination of the stationary jaw consisting of a wire formed with the horizontal foot A bent inward at substantially right angles with the main portion of the jaw, the substantially vertical parallel sides A, and a loop formed of the upper ends of said wires and adapted to engage the supporting-webbing; the sleeve or tube placed loosely around said horizontal foot and formed with the longitudinal cam D projecting therefrom; and a movable jaw consisting of a jointed lever or toggle pivotally secured at its upper end to the stationary jaw and with its lower end adapted to be pressed down into and to the rear of said foot and between the tube and cam and the lower ends of the portions A, substantially as described.

2. In a garment-supporting clasp, the combination of the stationary jaw comprising a wire formed with the horizontal foot A, the spring vertical sides A, and a loop extending outward from the upper ends of said sides and thence bent inward with the ends of the wire extending toward each other and forming the upper portion of said loop; and the movable jaw consisting of the plate H provided with the rearward folds F at its upper end extending loosely around the lower section of said loop formed at the upper end of said stationary jaw, said folds having their inner edges F curved inwardly and thus bearing against the spring sides of the stationary jaw, and the loop E pivotally secured at its upper end to the lower edge of said plate and adapted to be forced into said foot, substantially as set forth.

3. In a garmentsupporting clasp, a pair of jaws hinged together at their upper ends, and a cam disposed on the lower end of one of said pair of jaws and arranged to swing freely on its support, said cam being adapted to engage with the other jaw, whereby a portion of the fabric making a part of the garment interposed between said cam and opposite jaw will be crowded between them and be firmly held thereby, substantially as described.

JAMES F. ATWOOD.

Witnesses:

HENRY W. WILLIAMS, A. N. BONNEY.