US418688A - Prank b - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.")' r F. B. CONVERSE. GORSET GLASP.

No'. 418,688. Patented Jan. 7, 1890.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR -azl% ATTORNEY N. PETERS. Phnluiilho n her. Washinglon. D. c.

v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. 7

FRANK B. CONVERSE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

cons ET-CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 418,688, dated January 7, 1890.

' Application filed March 12, 1889. Serial No. 302,968. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, FRANK B. CONVERSE, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and .Improved Corset-Clasp, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to clasps for corsets and has forits object to provide a simple, in-

improved clasps applied and fastened as viewtaken on the line 00 w in Fig. 1.

when the corset is closed: Fig. 2 is a sectional Fig. 3 is an outside edge View of one of the busks and its stud or catch. Fig. 4 is a view taken at right angles to Fig. 3, and with the bush in section on the line yythereon; and Fig. 5 is a detail sectional elevation illustrating a slightly-modified form of the clasp.

The clasp consists of a catch-plate A and a stud B, fixed, respectively, to opposite busks or steels C D of a corset. I show only so much of the pair of busks as is necessary to fully illustrate the construction and operation of the clasp, it being understood that the length of the busks and the number of clasps used on them will vary with the size and style of the corset.

The catch-plate A, which is preferably fastened to the busk C by a couple of rivets c, is

. provided with a slot E, made wid er at its inner through a hole in the busk and is then riveted fast, as most clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The collarb prevents abrasion by the catch-plate A of any material or fabric with which the buskD may be covered. Be-

yond the collar 1) the stud B has a shank b beyond which it has a head F, which extends for the most part around the stud and forms a shoulder f, which overhangs the stud-shank and overlies or overlooks the margin of the narrow portion of the catch-plate slot- E when the clasp is fastened.

The outer face of the stud-head F is preferably, rounded over from the center every way to the margin of the stud-shoulder f, and where this shoulder is lacking at the outer edge of the stud the head is rounded over at f about to the side of the stud-shank. The

lower face of the stud-shoulderf is prefer- 1 ably rounded upward every way and the catch-plate flange or depressed margin a of the slot E has a concaved upper face, into which the rounded lower face of the studshoulder f fits. With this preferred construotion, (shown in Figsil, 2, 3, and 4 of the drawings,) the rounded stud-head shoulder f is free to rock in any direction on or at the.

5 of the drawings the shoulder f of the stud-' head F is beveled straight upward and outward from the stud-shank, and this shoulder is formed practically in horizontal plane, or is not rounded upward around the stud-shank like the shoulder f of the preferred form of stud aboved described. Otherwise this stud is precisely like the other. The depressed margin a of a catch-plate A',with which the stud F is adapted to interlock, is beveled straight downward and inward to receive and be overlocked by the shoulder f 'of the stud. This modified form of clasp does not allow the free rocking motion or play of the stud and catch-plate on each other which the other style affords; hence the latter is preferred in practice, and is herein specifically claimed as of my invention.

lVhen the clasp-studs B are fastened to rounded-over portions f of their heads to the outside, or toward the catch-plates A on the otherbusk with which they are-to interlock. Thus arranged it is manifest that when the corset is to be fastened it is only necessary to pass the stud-heads through the larger portions e of the catch-plate slots E and al- I 5 slightly or until the studs 13 slip into the wide parts e of the catch-plate slots, through which the stud-heads may freely'pass. The peculiar advantages of the rounded-over or headless portions f of the clasp-studs B'will be ap- 2o parent'when it is understood that if during the unfastening of the corsetone or more of the studs should strike the end of the catchplate slot E,-a s indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1- of the drawings,the studs will not 2 5 overlock the catch-plate at'these points, but will always slip freely=through-the plates; hence these clasps may beeasily and certainly fastened or unfastened in the dark by a child or any person of ordinary intelligence. 0 It will be noticed that the depressed flange a at the margin of the: catch-plate slot E not only strengthensthe-entire clasp, but its upper depressed face receives so much of the stud-heads that they project very little above the face of the main body of the plates and are not liable to catch the clothing or hair of the wearer of the corset. The catch-plate may be bent or curved flatwise in direction of its length, if desired.

It is obvious that I am not limited to using a cateh-platehaving a slot made narrower at one end and provided with a depressed flange bordering the slot, in combination with a locking-stud having a head rounded underneath and cut away or rounded over at f, where the stud faces the catch-plate, as I may use with a locking-stud so formed a flat catchplate having a slot made narrow at one end and not bordered by a depressed flange. It

is manifest, whether the catch-plate have the depressed flange around its slot or not, that the head of the locking-stud by being rounded underneath will allow easy mutual rocking of the stud and catch-plate while the stud is being slipped toward the larger part of the slot, and when this is reached the roundedover part f of the stud-head assures easy slip of the stud from the catch-plate to complete the uncoupling of the clasp, which is thus effected easier than would be possible if the under side of the locking stud-head were flat, and therefore liable to bind more or less on the face of the catch-plate; hence there is a legitimate co-operation of the locking-stud having a head rounded underneath and cut away at one side at f, with a catch-plate having a slot made narrow at one end, whether the plate be flat or be provided with the (lepressed flange around its-slot.

The herein-described clasp-fastening is not limited in its application to-corsets, as it may be used to fasten gloves, shoes, or other artieles as will readily be understood.

' Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in a corset-clasp, of a catch-plate having a slot made narrow at one end and provided around said slot with an inwardly-projecting or depressed flange, and a locking-stud having a head rounded underneath and adapted to enter and engage the catch-plate, substantially as herein set forth.

2. The combination, in a corset-clasp, of a catch-plate having a slot made narrow at one end and a locking-stud adapted thereto and having a head rounded underneath and cut away or rounded over at f, where the stud faces the catch-plate, substantially as herein set forth.

3. The combination, in a corset-clasp, of a catch-plate having a slot made narrow at one end and provided around said slot with an imvardly-extending or depressed flange, and a locking-stud provided with a head rounded underneath and cut away or rounded overat f, where the stud faces the catch-plate, substantially as herein set forth.

FRANK B. CONVERSE.

Witnesses:

HENRY L. GooDvvIN, C. SEDGWICK.

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