US964968A - Garment-clasp. - Google Patents

Description

Patented July19, 1910.

W. P. HANNAFORD. GARMENT CLASP. APPLICATION FILED rmzv. 1908. 964,968.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

WILLIAM IE. I-IANNAFORD, OLE NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNO-R TO THE CLARK MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF BOSTO NEW JERSEY.

N, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF GARMENT-CLASP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 19, 1910.

Application filed February 27, 1908. Serial No. 418,015.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM P. HANNA- FORD, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Newton, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Garment-Clasps, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like letters on the drawing representing like )arts. 1 This invention relates to clasps for hose or other garments adapted to be attached to an elastic strap or web, and the invention has for its object the production of improved and eflicient means for attaching the clasp to the webbing.

My invention is particularly adapted for use in connection with a garment clasp of the general character shown and described in United States Patent No. 630034 granted to B. G. Clark, August 1, 1899 wherein two relatively movable clamping members are connected at their inner ends, the opening and closing of the outer ends of such members being governed by suitable manually operated means. In that patent the elastic strap or web is attached to one member at its inner end and extended along its outer face or back and around its free end, forming at the latter point a yielding surface or grip, and the back of the clasp is also covered or protected so that the metal will not contact with the flesh of the wearer or with adjacent garments. This construction is objectionable in that wide and heavy webbing must be carried through slots or openings in the clasp, resulting in crinkling or warping the webbing for a considerable distance from the clasp; necessitating various adjustments of the latter, and producing a somewhat unsightly and undesirable bunching of the webbing at the points where it is drawn through the clasp.

In my present invention I make the covering strip of fabric separate from the webbing, and of such a width that it will properly cover the back of the member of the clasp to which it is applied, and of a predetermined thickness, irrespective of the width or thick ness of the elastic web or strap which is attached to the clasp. By so doing the clasps are uniformly adjusted to close on a covering fabric always of the same width and thickness, whereas heretofore the covering material has varied from a light weight, five-eighths inch webbing to an inch and three-eighths wide heavy webbing, so that the adjustment of the clasp had to be made accordingly. If the jaws or clamping portions of the clasp were adjusted to close tightly with a firm grip, using the light, narrower webbing there would be a tendency to spring the jaws if the heavier webbing were used. On the other hand if the clasp was adjusted for the heavier webbing there was the grave danger that there would be no holding power or grip if the lighter webbing was used. In my present invention this objectionable feature is wholly eliminated, for as the covering strip is separate from the elastic web it is immaterial whether the latter be wide or narrow, thick or thin, so far as the adjustment of the clasp is concerned, the adjustment being made for a covering fabric of uniform thickness, and it is of such width that it covers the back of the clasp properly without any bunch-ing or improper fullness. This covering strip is preferably made of inelastic fabric,'thereby reducing the expense, and the inner end of such fabric is attached to the web by the same fastening means as connects the web with the clasp, facilitating assembling and again reducing the cost of manufacture.

I-Ieretofore, in applying the broad webbing to clasps of the general type herein illustrated it was necessary to pull it through slots in the back plate of the clasp in order to attain the covering feature, and this caused the webbing to crinkle or warp for some distance away from the clasp, imparting a crumpled appearance instead of lying flat and smooth, but this is overcome in my present invention so that the elastic web lies flat and smooth.

These and other novel features of my invention will be fully described in the subjoined specification and particularly pointed out in the following claim.

Figure l is a side elevation of a clasp embodying one form of my present invention, the clamping members or jaws being open; Fig. 2 is an underside view of the clasp, showing the wide elastic webbing and the narrow covering strip of fabric; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the clasp, closed, with the attached webbing and covered strip; Fig. 4L is a longitudinal section taken through the center of the back plate and its loop, showing the manner in which the webbing is attached to the loop and the narrow covering strip to the webbing; Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the back plate of the clasp with the loop integral therewith.

Referring to 'Fig. l the clasp is shown as comprising a back plate or clamping member at having opposite ears a, the cooperating clamping member 6 pivotally connected at b to the plate a at its inner end, the member 6 having at its free end a transverse holding lip 6 and a longitudinally curved bearing portion 7), all as in the Clark patent referred to.

The member a is provided at its outer end with an upturned lip a the outer op posed ends of members a and b forming clamping jaws to engage between them the garment or other object to be held, a lock ing lever cl being pivotally mounted on the cars a and having a rearwardly bent lug (Z which cooperates with the concave face of the part b of the clamping member b, as in said patent, movement of the lever d to the left Fig. 1, into the position shown in Fig. 3 closing the jaws. At such time the spring tongue a of the member a is flexed and the lug 6Z3 is then so positioned that the lever (55 is held in closed position, as will be understood. The plate a is provided with transverse slots 1 and 2 near its outer and inner ends respectively, and at the inner end the plate a is provided with a loop.

In Figs. 1 to 4 the loop 3 is shown as made of wire, and of a length considerably longer than the width of the clasp, said loop being pivotally held in an eye #1 formed by turning over upon itself the inner end of the plate a, the loop being made of a length corresponding to the width of the elastic web or strap which is to be attached to it. I now take a strip of covering fabric 5, preferably inelastic, and of substantially the width of the plate a, and insert one end through the slot 1 and beneath the plate, carrying the strip around the lip a and along the back or under face of the plate a, and up through the slot 2, as shown, thereby holding the strip securely on the plate and retaining in place the loose end passed through the slot 1, and with the use of a minimum length of the strip or covering fabric. I thereby form a cushion or soft covering for the lip 12 to cooperate with the fabric of the stocking or other garment when the clamping members are closed, and also to cover the back of the plate a, but as the strip 5 is narrow it will not bunch or pucker, and forms a neat and attractive part of the clasp. This covering strip will be uniform in thickness so that the adjustment for the clasp will be made correspondingly, and entirely independent of the width or thickness of the elastic web, as the latter will have no action upon the clamping action or adjustment of the clasp. The inner end of the strip 5 is carried over the eye 4 and down through the loop 3, as at 6, where it is attached to the elastic web 7, the latter being bent to form a bight 8 embracing the loop, and the free end 6 of the strip 5 is tucked into the bight, and held in place by stitching 9 which also closes the bight and connects the webbing with the loo 3.

rlny desired width of webbing used, as will be manifest, and it can be heavy or light, the webbing being permanently attached to the lighter covering strip 5 strung through the back plate of the clasp. This arrangement obviates the use of a double loop with independent fastenings for the webbing and the covering strip, and I find in practice that by connecting the web bing and covering strip through the single loop, and stitching them together, distributes the strain better and makes the device much stronger.

It will be seen that I completely obviate the necessity of pulling a heavy, wide piece of webbing through the necessarily narrow slots of the clasp, lessening labor in construction and avoiding crumpling and unequal stretching of the webbing, which cannot be avoided when the webbing has to be pulled through narrower slots.

By using a light and relatively narrow fabric for the covering strip I leave a greater space between the jaws of the clasp for receiving the stocking, corset binding, or other garment to which the clasp is to be attached, whereas the heavy webbing heretofore used has made a thick bunch around the jaw of the lower clamping member, lessening the jaw opening and decreasing the effective space for receiving the material of the garment.

Instead of using a separate loop I may make the same integral with the plate a of the clasp, as shown in Fig. 5, by increasing its width at its inner end, at 10, and providing an elongated and wider slot 11, thereby constituting a loop integral with the plate and back of the narrow slot 2.

The bight of the webbing is carried through the loop, as before described, and the end of the covering strip, after passing up through the slot 2 is passed down through the loop opening 11 and attached to the webbing as has been described.

When the loop is made integral with the back plate of the clasp it must be made substantially for a given width of webbing, but

can be when a separate loop is used, as in Figs. 1

to 4:, the length of the loop can be adapted to the width of the webbing, so that for any given size of back plate various widths of webbing can be readily used.

Various changes or modifications may be made in details without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as set forth in the annexed claim.

Having fully described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is A garment clasp comprising two relatively movable clamping members connected at their inner ends, manually-operated means to govern the opening and closing of their outer ends, one member having a transverse opening near each end and an elongated loop connected therewith at its inner end, a wide elastic web attached to the loop, and a narrow covering strip fabric attached to the back of said web adjacent the loop and passed frontward through the loop over the front of the clamping member and down through the adjacent transverse opening thereof and thence extended along the back of said clampin member and around the outer end thereo the outer end of the strip passing through the transverse opening at the outer end of said member to the back of the latter between it and the overlying part of the strip.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM P. HANNAFORD.

Witnesses:

JOHN C. EDWARDS, THOMAS J. DRUMMOND.

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