IMPROVEMENTS IN the Manufacture OF BUTTONS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1872

page_text: "
LETTERS PATENT to Thomas James Smith, of the Firm of Robertson,
Brooman, and Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agents, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
the Manufacture OF BUTTONS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH.”
-A communication from abroad by Richard Hess, of Berlin, in the
Empire of Germany.
ealed the 17th October 1872, and dated the 22nd April 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas James Smith
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd April 1872.
I, THOMAS JAMES SMITH, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman, and
Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE ManufactURE OF BUTTONS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH,” to .
be as follows :—
This Invention relates to the manufacture of buttons by means of.
stamping or moulding them in a special apparatus, and consists, 1stly.,
in the apparatus wherein such buttons are formed, and 2ndly., in a
composition or material preferably to be used with such apparatus.

page_text: The apparatus is constructed as follows:-Cast-iron moulds are formed
with a vertical hole in the middle, of the size of the button to be manu-
factured. In this hole slides a piston, at the top of which is fitted a
brass disc on whose upper side the design or shape of the button is
engraved. A round immoveable steel rod is fastened with plates to the
lower part of the work table; the piston slides over this rod, to the top
part of which are fixed two steel pins which form the button holes. A
steel tube slides over the rod connected to the top with the piston, while
its lower end is in connection with the lifting apparatus. Counterstamps
are fixed in the disc, which latter is connected with the press cylinder.
These counterstamps are turned out concave on their lower ends, forming
the reverse side of the button, and each of them has two vertical holes
to receive the steel pins.
The composition or material preferably used for the manufacture of
buttons is called zoolis by the Inventor, and consists of animal blood, :
sawdust, and chromate of potash, but he does not confine himself to this
material, as other compositions or simple bodies may also be used.
The way of making buttons is as follows:-The moulds are first
heated by horizontal gas burner to about 400° Fahrenheit, at which tem-
perature they are to be kept during working. After the moulds are hot,
the material or composition which is in the shape of coarse dry powder,
is filled in by means of a measure shaped like a thimble, with a handle
attached to it corresponding to the size of button to be made into the
moulds. The counterstamps are then brought down either by a lever or
screw press on the material, whereby the pins slide into corresponding
holes in the counterstamps. The composition is then by the pressure of
the counterstamps against the piston formed into a button, and remains
under pressure during the space of one minute, which is required to bake
the material & give it the necessary hardness and lustre. The counter-
stamps are then withdrawn by means of the press, and the piston lifted
up by means of a lever, whereby the finished button gets free of the pins
and may easily be removed. After this the piston is pushed back into
its original position, the moulds are filled again, the counterstamps
brought down, and so on. The piston has on one side a groove, into
which fits the screw to prevent it turning aside.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas James Smith in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd October 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
JAMES SMITH, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman, and Company, of
166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas James Smith, Her
special licence that I, the said Thomas James Smith, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas James
Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there.
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BUTTONS, AND IN APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH,' a communication from abroad by Richard Hess,
of Berlin, in the Empire of Germany, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Thomas James Smith, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the naturo
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas James Smith, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner tho
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to the manufacture of buttons by means of
stamping or moulding them in a special manner, and consists, firstly, in

page_text: a composition or material to be compressed or moulded into buttons, and
secondly, in an apparatus wherein such buttons are formed.
The composition which is termed by the Inventor "zoolis," is com-
posed of animal blood, sawdust, and chromate of potash or equivalent
materials capable of being formed by compression into buttons with
holes in or through them to permit of their attachment to garments.
The apparatus by which the moulding and compression are effected
consists of a press such as is represented in the accompanying Drawings.
A, Fig. 1, is a foundation or support for the base plate B, above which
is an arm or bracket C with a threaded head D in which a rod or shaft E
is free to rise and fall upon the handle or lever F being rotated to the
right or to the left. The lower end of the rod carries a plunger socket G
in which, say three, plungers or formers H are held by pins. The faces
of the formers correspond to the shape of the proposed button on one
side, and their diameters are such that they are free to enter recesses in
the die or pattern plate I on the base plate.
When the composition is properly prepared, a small quantity of it is
placed in each of the dies, and it rests upon steel central plugs T or upon
engraved or impressed washers for imparting a design or device to one
side of each of the buttons, all of which may correspond or not, as
desired. The central plugs also act as pistons, and are free to be lifted
by a hand lever J after the pressure has been put upon the composition,
and the plungers raised. The lift of the pistons carries the moulded
buttons above the level of the pins K, K, to enable them to be removed
by hand; the pins K, K, are attached to and stand up above a steel
rod L enclosed in a tube M, the lower end of which forms the attachment
of the piston to the hand lever J, the rod remaining stationary during
the operation.
Figure 2 shows the arrangement of the three dies and the parts con-
nected with them looking from the under side of the base plate, and
Figure 3 is a plan view looking from above.
It will be seen that the pins K, K, project above the level of the
buttons while being formed, and their thickness determine the diameter
and shape of the holes therein, the pins being so arranged that they

page_text: allow of any composition that may be lifted by the pins to be removed
from time to time.
To assist the solidifying or the "set" of the composition, a flame of
gas or other heating medium is employed for maintaining the heat of the
5 moulds at or from 200 to 400 degrees: The pressure of the plunger in
combination with the heat, solidifies the material in a short time, and
gives to the buttons the necessary hardness and lustre.
In the Drawings, Figures 1, 2, and 3, the press is shown with three
dies and moulds only, but any number of them can be arranged in
O triangular or other fashion; for instance, in Figure 4 a portion of a press
is shewn with six moulds arranged in a line and at equal distances apart,
the whole of the moulds being emptied at one operation by a lift of the
hand lever J. and saddle P, the ends of which are forked for actuating
the frame. In this case the side walls of the moulds are movable with
the pins in a downward direction, the plug being stationary.
The pins and cylindrical portions of the mould are connected by cross
bars Q which ride in slots in the plugs, and these serve to guide the
frame R and also the cylinders vertically, as shewn in Figures 5, 6,
and 7.
S is a set screw to limit the descent of the lever handle, and con-
sequently the height at which the cylinders should be placed for
receiving the proper quantity of material for forming the buttons, as will
be understood by referring to Figure 8.
The manufacture of buttons direct from a powdered body into a state
ready for use is believed to be entirely new, but no claim is herein made
to it, because of the broad sense or construction that may be put upon
such, but claim is made in the first herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent,―
Firstly. To the manufacture of buttons (with two faces and with holes
through the body) from a composition formed of the substances herein-
before described or their equivalents.
Secondly. Claim is made to the apparatus herein-before described and
shown for compressing the material (composition), and shaping buttons
thesofrom ina atata St

page_text: Thirdly. Claim is made to the formation of buttons by pressure and
heat in combination, and in which the various elements (appliances) are
employed substantially in the manner described and shown in the accom
panying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas James Smith, have hercunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of October, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
panying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Janies Smith, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of October, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.