IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTONS AND IN THE MEANS FOR SECURING THEM TO GARMENTS OR OTHER ARTICLES OF WEAR OB USE
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTONS AND IN
THE MEANS FOR SECURING THEM TO GARMENTS OR OTHER ARTICLES OF WEAR
OB USE." A communication from abroad by Daniel McLean
Somers, and Walter Scott Atwood, both of Brooklyn, in the State
of New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 14th July 1868, and dated the 5th February 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 5th February 1868.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTONS AND IN
THE MEANS FOR SECURING THEM TO GARMENTS OR OTHER ARTICLES OF WEAR OR
USE," to be as follows :-
The object of this Invention is the production of a button and method
of attaching the same to the garment or other article to which it is

page_text: designed to be applied, including boots and shoes, whereby instead of
it being necessary to secure the button to its place by sewing mere
compression brought to bear upon or around the neck or shank of
the button and its fastening, so as to produce a lock of the two, serves
to securely hold or secure the button in a more permanent or stronger
and expeditious manner than can be done by sewing on the button.
The Invention consists in providing a button with a hollow neck
or shank, preferably of cylindrical shape and terminating in or with a
flange. A central stem with a disc or head at one end is passed
through the material to which it is designed to fasten the button and
is inserted into the hollow neck of the latter, and thus clamps the
material between the disc or head of the central stem of the fastening
and flange or outer end of the button neck or shank. The central
stem is grooved or made smaller or of diminishing diameter where or
as it projects into the hollow neck or shank of the button so that on
compression or indentation of the neck by a suitable instrument on or
around the central stem the button is firmly attached to the material.
If desired the neck or shank of the button may be solid or hollow and
the central stem of the fastening tubular or hollow, so that when
entered through the material it receives the button shank within it
which should be so shaped or formed that on compressing or indenting
the tubular stem of the fastening on or around the button shank the
two portions or sections are made to lock, and thereby the button as in
the former case is firmly attached to the material. In buttons of a
hollow character or where the central stem of the fastening is arranged
to project into the shank or stem of the button, the central stem may
if desired be made of needle shape or pointed to facilitate the projection
of the central stem through the material. The compression of the
button shank on or around the central stem or vice versa to establish
the junction of the button with the fastening is effected by an
instrument of a pincers form. The gripping ends of the pincers or
tool are provided with plate dies, a portion of their surfaces being
reduced so as to lap the one within or over the other, but admitting
in closing of a level bearing of them on the material between it and
the button or button head, whereby the cloth or other material is
restrained from puckering or getting out of place.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th August 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME. I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in tho
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special
licence, that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time, and at all times
thereafter 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 BUTTONS AND IN THE MEANS FOR SECURING THEM TO
GARMENTS OR OTHER ARTICLES OF WEAR OR USE," being a communication to
me from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the dato of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton,, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):
:-
The objects of this Invention are the production of a button and
a novel method of attaching the same to the garment or other article
to which it is designed to be applied, including boots and shoes, whereby

page_text: instead of it being necessary to secure the button to its place by sewing
mere compression brought to bear upon or around the neck or shank
of the button and its fastening, so as to produce a lock of the two,
serves to hold or secure the button in a permanent or stronger and
more expeditious manner than can be done by sewing.
The Invention consists in providing a button with a hollow neck or
shank, preferably of cylindrical shape, and terminating in or with a
flange. A central stem with a disc or head at one end is passed
through the material to which it is designed to fasten the button, and
is inserted into the hollow neck of the latter, and thus clamps the
material between the disc or head of the central stem of the fastener
and the flange or outer end of the button neck or shank. The central
stem is grooved or made smaller or of diminishing diameter where or
as it projects into the hollow neck or shank of the button, so that on
compression or indentation of the neck by a suitable instrument on
or around the central stem the button will be firmly attached to the
material. If desired the neck or shank of the button may be solid or
hollow, and the central stem of the fastening tubular or hollow so that
when entered through the material it receives the button shank within
it, which should be so shaped or formed that on compressing or
indenting the tubular stem of the fastening on or around the button
shank, the two portions or sections are made to lock, and thereby the
button as in the former case is firmly attached to the material. It is
necessary in either of these cases that the outside portion which forms
the junction of the button with the fastening (and through which the
lock of the two is established) should be made of some flexible metal
or other suitable material, that while admitting of compression to make
good the union of the button and its fastening will be sufficiently stiff
or rigid to retain the figure given to it by such compression. In
buttons of a hollow character, or where the central stem of the fastening
is arranged to project into the shank or stem of the button, the central
stem may if desired be made of needle shape or pointed to facilitate
the projection of the central stem through the material.
Furthermore, the Invention consists in making the neck or shank of
the button or central stem of the fastening, according to which is
arranged to fit the one within the other, of a tapering character where
the lock of the button and its fastening is required to be established
in such manner as that on compressing the outer portion of these two

page_text: 1
sections or parts at their junction, or fit one within the other, the button
will by such act be drawn towards the fastening so as to give it a close
fit on or against the material.
The Invention also consists in a peculiar construction of instrument
of pincers form or action for effecting the compression of the button
shank on or around the central stem, or vice versa, to establish the
junction of the button with the fastening by providing the gripping
ends of the pincers or tool with plate dics, a portion of their surfaces
being reduced so as to lap the one within or over the other, but
admitting in closing of a level bearing of them on the material between
it and the button or button head, whereby the cloth or other material
is restrained from puckering or getting out of place to interfere with
the action of said instrument, and the necessary play is afforded for the
gripping end of the instrument to effect the desired compression in
production of the lock of the button with its fastening.
In the accompanying Drawing, Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, represent
transverse sections of different kinds of buttons with their fastenings as
arranged under or opposite them detached, in illustration of different
modes of constructing and uniting them to make good the fastening of
the parts or sections and of holding the button to the article to which it
is designed to be applied.
Fig. 5 represents a transverse section of a button as secured to a picce
or pieces of leather or cloth by a fastening as indicated in Fig. 1; and
Fig. 6 is a transverse section of a button with the fastening in lock
with it according to the construction of these parts shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 7 represents a longitudinal section of a needle with button
fastening in its back end, which needle may be used for projecting the
forward end of the stem of the fastening through the material. Fig. 8
is a longitudinal or side view of the tool that may be used for
establishing the lock of the button with its fastening, and Fig. 9 is
a transverse section through the gripping end of the instrument as
applied to a button in establishment of its junction with the fastening
and attachment to a piece of cloth or other material.
In Figures 1 and 5 the button A (which may either be made solid
or hollow, and if desired filled with any suitable material) has its neck
or shank a made tubular and of cylindrical form, with a flange b on its
outer end.
This shank is either made of a separate piece properly

page_text: secured to the collet or head of the button or in one piece therewith,
and formed of flexible metal or other suitable material which will admit
of flexion, but sufficiently rigid to retain the shape given it under
ordinary or the severest strains to which buttons are usually exposed.
The button itself, or button head (and this remark applies to certain
or all of the other modes of construction and securing shown in the
Drawing) may be made either whole or in pieces of the same or different
materials or substances, which may be varied and plain or covered as
desired. The fastening B may be of metal or other suitable material,
and consists of a stem c and head or disc d, the stem being sufficiently
rigid and of such shape as that after its passage through the cloth or
leather C it will freely enter or admit of the neck a over it, and so that
in compressing or indenting the neck on or around the neck or stem c
or forward portion thereof a tight lock will be established of the
button A to or with the fastening B, with the head d of the latter lying
against the one side or face of the material C, and the flange of the
button on or against the other surface thereof. A convenient and
desirable form for the stem c to thus effect the junction of it with the
neck a is that of a taper increasing in diameter from the head d so
that the compression of the neck a will have a tendency to draw together
the button and fastening, and thus secure a close and steady hold of
the button to the material. This stem may however be otherwise
constructed or shaped to establish the lock, as, for instance, it may be
grooved or otherwise formed so that compression or indentation of the
neck on or around it will establish the junction.
In Figures 2 and 6 the neck or shank a of the buttom A is mado
solid or so as to enter or receive within it the stem c of the fastening B,
which is made hollow or tubular for that purpose, and formed with a
flange d corresponding to the head of the fastening shown in Figures 1
and 5, the neck or shank a (Figures 2 and 6) being made taper or of a
suitable form to establish the lock of the button with the fastening by
compression or indentation of the hollow stem c on or around it after
the stem has been entered through the material and shank a fitted into
the stem.
Figure 3 represents the same arrangement as that shewn in Figures 1
and 5, only that the button A is made hollow as well as its neek or
shauka, which has a flange b. The stem c of the head d of the
fastening B is formed with a point e to facilitate the passage of tho

page_text: stem c through the material, but the mode of establishing the junction
is the same as in the other Figures.
.
Figure 4 also shews a like arrangement or construction to that
exhibited in Figures 1 and 5, and for like union of the button with the
fastening similar letters of reference indicating like parts, but with the
button formed as suitable to boots and shoes.
The needle D represented in Fig. 7 is or may be used for passing
the stem c of the fastening B through the cloth or other material, and
is made with a cavity or recess fin its back end for the stem c or
forward portion thereof to fit or enter the head d of the fastening
answering as a back shield to facilitate the projection of the needle
(with the stem c in it) through the material, after which the needle
may be lifted off the stem, which will be left in proper position for.
attachment of the button. The back end of this needle should be of
less arca or size than the head d, so that it will be left on the inside
face of the cloth or material as the needle is projected through the.
latter.
Figures 8 and 9 show an instrument that may be used for compressing
the hollow shank a of the button or hollow stem c of the fastening in
order to establish the lock of the button with the fastening, as described.
in reference to Figures 1 and 5 or 2 and 6 of the Drawing. This
instrument is of pincers form, being made with handles E, E, pivotted
as at h with jaws -F, F, which latter are provided on their one side or
face with steel or other suitable plate dies G, G, preferably made
removable to facilitate renewal or repair, and in addition to being
notched or hollowed on their inner edges as at g, g, to effect compression
or clamping of the button neck or hollow stem, the one on or around
the other as described. The dies are, thinned or reduced as at 8, 8, on
opposite sides or faces (that is, the one die relatively to the other) for a
portion of their width projecting beyond the inner edges of the jaws
so that as the jaws close the reduced portions of the dies will enter.
between the button A and material C, and will lap the one over the
other till the notches 9, 9, meet or thereabouts, thus bracing each other
and preventing the cloth from puckering or getting out of place between
the jaws or their dies and around the shank of the button or hollow.
stem as it would be apt to do in rapidly or carelessly closing the jaws
where they are not specially constructed to avoid it. In Fig. 8 the
jaws F, F, with their dies G, G, are shown in black lines as closed and

page_text: in red lines as open, and in Fig. 9 as closed in black lines around a
hollow shank to the button A having the stem of a fastening B within
it for securing the button to the material C, the button fastening and
material being shown in red lines.
Among the advantages incidental to a button constructed and fastened
as described with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 9 of the
Drawing may be mentioned the general adaptability of the improvement
or improvements to many buttons in use, the great rapidity with which
the button may be attached, and its permanent and erect position upon
the goods or material when attached.
Having now described the Invention which has been communicated
to me as aforesaid, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters
Patent,-
First. Providing buttons with a hollow neck a for compression around
and use in connection or combination with a suitable locking shaped
stem c of a fastening B as described.
Second. Constructing the stem c of the fastening B or shank a of the
button A of a tapering form for attachment by compression of the button
to the fastening on the entry of the stem within the shank or latter
within the stem, as herein described.
Third. The button A with its fastening B sharpened or pointed as
at e, both being constructed for attachment, as described.
Fourth. The button fastening tool or instrument having a pincers
action and provided with overlapping plate dies G, G, for use in the
manner and for the purpose or purposes herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, the Fifth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)