US176698A - Improvement in clasps for pocket-books - Google Patents

Description

B. M. J. BLANKK T. SCI-IIMPER.

,CL-ASPS FOR POCKET-BOOKS. V No 176,698; v Patented April as, 1876.

N-FEFERS, FHOl'O-LITNOGRAPMER WASNINGTON, D. C.

UNITED STATES PAT T FFIG 1;;

BARTHOLOMEUS M. J. BLANK, 0F IIERsEiI CITY, NEW JERsEY, AND THEO- DoRE SGHIMPER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.; SAID BLANK ASSIGNOR TO WM. soHIMPER, OF NEw YoRK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN CLASPS FOR POCKET-BOOKS.

Specification forming partof Letters Patent No. 176,698, dated April 25, 1876; application filed March 16, 1876.

T 0 allwhom it may concern Be it known that we, BARTHOLOMEUS M. J. BLANK, of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, and THEODORE SCHIMPER, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Pocket-Book Clasps; and we .do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms part of this specification.

Our invention relates principally to clasps for pocket-books; but it is applicable to clasps for ieticules, hand-bags, and valises.

It consists in a novel and simple construction of the spring-catch and the mode of applying the same to the bows of the pocketbook or bag, whereby the catch is almost wholly concealed within the bows, and an extremely neat appearance is presented, while the cost is less than that of the spring-catches in common use.

Figure l, in the accompanying drawing, is a representation of the spring-catch as it is first punched from the sheet metal, and after a portion has been rounded off to form a support and guide for the spring. Fig. 2 shows its form when completed and applied to one of the bows of the clasp. Fig.3 is a crosssectionof the bows, and an end View of the spring catch. Fig. 4 is a representation, in perspective, of the completed clasp attached to a bow of a pocket-book or bag.

The spring-catch, as first punched from the metal, consists of a cruciform piece of metal, as shown in Fig. 1. On one side thereof is formed the hooked arm 0. Upon the catch is a support and guide, 8, for the spring m,

formed by rounding off the corners of the metal as first punched from the sheet. The bows B B of the clasp, are made of a U shaped cross-section, as shown in Fig. 3. ()n the inner sides of the bows which meet each other when the clasp is shut, and preferably, in the middle thereof, are cut rectangular slots 1) p and in the arched part of the bow in which the catch is designed to work is formed another slot, 10 for the reception of the arm a, and in which the said arm a plays, as hereinafter more fully set forth. Moreover, a cut,

r, is made through the part t, lying between the slot 12 and the inner margin of the bow B, as shown in Fig. 4. Within the cavity of the bow B is soldered or otherwise fastened the spring-bearing and guide d, through a hole in the center of which the support 8 of the catch plays loosely, and against which the spring m abuts when the parts are put together, which is done as follows The hooked armc is bent so as to be perpendicular or'at right angles with both the spring-support s and the arm 0.. Then the part it of the bow B is bent outward and away from the cut 1 in the said bow B to allow the hooked arm 0 to pass into the slot 10 in said bow. The

spring m is then placed upon the spring-support 8, the spring being compressed against the shoulder e of the catch. The end of the shank s is then passed through the hole in the spring-bearing d, and the arm 01. passed through the slot 1) in the bow B, which brings the catch down into the concavity of the said bow, and passes the hooked arm 0 into the slot 10. The part t is then bent hack to its original position, as shown in Fig. 4, and the arm a is bent att' into a position parallel with the hooked arm 0. A plain or ornamental finger-piece, a, is then soldered upon the arm a, which completes the work. The slots 10 and p in the bows B and B are opposite each other, and the hooked arm 0 abuts against the end of the slot p, in such a position that the inclined plane 1: on the end of. V

the said arm presses against the end of the slot p in the bow B, when the bows are pressed together, and slips over the same, forcing the catch back till the hook on the arm 0 passes into the slot p The spring then forces the slide forward till the hook engages the inner side of the bow B, and thus automatically fastens the bows together. The

catch 0 is released from its engagement with

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