A NEW AND USEFUL OR IMPROVED MECHANISM OR CON- TRIVANCE FOR CUTTING BUTTON HOLES OR SLITS IN CLOTH OR OTHER MATERIAL
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Halsey Draper Walcott, of Boston, of the
State of Massachusetts and United States of America, for the
Invention of "A NEW AND USEFUL OR IMPROVED MECHANISM OR CON-
TRIVANCE FOR CUTTING BUTTON HOLES OR SLITS IN CLOTH OR OTHER
MATERIAL."
Sealed the 21st January 1858, and dated the 26th October 1852.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Halsey Draper Walcott
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 26th October 1852, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
HALSEY DRAPER WALCOTT, of Boston, of the State of Massachusetts
and United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I have petitioned Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain,
by Her Letters Patent, to give and grant unto me, the said Halsey Draper
Walcott, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her special license
that I, they, or such others as I or they should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the

page_text: term of fourteen years from the date of such Letters Patent, should
lawfully make, use, exercise, and vend within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, and all
the Colonies of Her Majesty in which such or the like Letters Patent
would not be invalid by the law or laws in force in any of the same for
the time being, an Invention of "A NEW AND USEFUL OR IMPROVED
MECHANISM OR CONTRIVANCE FOR CUTTING BUTTON HOLES OR SLITS IN CLOTH
OR OTHER MATERIAL;" and whereas by law it is provided that the same
shall depend on condition (amongst others) that I, the said Halsey
Draper Walcott, by an instrument of writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner of performance of the same, and should cause the
said instrument of writing to be filed in the High Court of Chancery,
or left at the Office of Her Majesty's Commissioners of Patents for
Inventions, to be transferred to and kept in such Office of the Court of
Chancery as the Lord Chancellor shall appoint.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Halsey Draper Walcott, do
hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the
accompanying Drawings, is a Complete Specification of my said
Invention, setting forth the nature thercof, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed:
Of the said Drawings Figure 1, represents a side view of one form
or mode of constructing my said Invention; Figure 2, is a top view
thereof; Figure 8, is a transverse section taken on the line a, a, of
Figure 1; Figure 4, represents a side elevation of my Invention in a
somewhat different or modified form; Figure 5, is a top view of this
latter; Figure 6, is a transverse section of this latter, taken on a line
y, y, of Figure 4; Figure 7, is a longitudinal section of it; Figure 8,
exhibits a side elevation of my Invention under another change of form;
Figure 9, is a longitudinal vertical section of this latter.
In the above-mentioned Drawings my Invention is represented as
involved in what may be termed a button hole cutter, which is arranged
or constructed so as to be used in the hand in the manner in which a
pair of shears or scissors are generally employed, two levers A, and B,
being jointed together and made to move upon a common fulcrum or

page_text: joint pin a. To the lever A, the cutter or blade C, is attached, it being
applied thereto and constructed with a straight cutting edge, which is
set nearly radial to the middle of the centre pin a.. This blade or cutter
is to be made of sufficient length so as to be capable of.making an
incision of the maximum length required. There is applied to the lever
B, a moveable bed or piece of metal D, whose office is to sustain the
cloth or article to be cut during the action of the cutter C, and in con-
junction with such cutter to effect the cutting of a slit, whose length
shall be equal to the distance which the cutter may rest on it.
That part of the upper surface of the bed with which the cutter comes
in contact may be provided with a slip of ivory b, or other suitable
material of a softer nature than the cutter, the same being for the
purpose of preventing the cutter from becoming dulled by pressure
against or contact with it. The bed D, is to be so applied to the lever
B, as to be capable of being moved under the cutting edge of the cutter
in the direction of the plane or cutting edge the cutter, and confined
in any desirable position under the cutter by a screw E, which lies in a
recess in the lever B, and works through a nut projected from the bed.
On the said screw is a milled head e, by which a person, by the appli-
cation of his hand thereto, is enabled to put the screw in rotation for
the purpose of adjusting the position of the bed. Upon one side of the
bed D, there may be engraved or otherwise made or applied a graduated
scale, by which the bed may be set so as when used to enable the knife
to make an incision of any desirable length, the length of such incision
under such.circumstances being equal to the distance which the knife
edge rests upon the top surface of the bed when in contact with it,
which distance may be changed, or increased or diminished, by varying
the position of the bed or its distance from the joint pin a. In Figures
4, 5, 6, 7, my Invention in a somewhat modified form, or with an
addition, is seen. In these Figures A, and B, represent the two levers
to which the cutting knife C, and the moveable bed D, are respectively
applied, the bed being fastened in position by means of a clamp screw
o, which extends up through a long slot p, made longitudinally through
the lever B, as seen in the Drawings. In connection with the knife C,
a tubular cutter I, is used, which is placed at one end of the knife,

page_text: and extends through the lever A, and is fastened in place by a set screw
r, as seen in the Drawings, the object of this tubular cutter being to
cut a round or circular hole in connection with the incision made by
the knife C, and at the same time that such an incision is made. This
round hole is very useful in the manufacture of a button hole in a piece
of cloth, it being for the purpose of receiving the eye or fastening thread
of a button.
In Figure 8, the cutting knife is seen at C, and the bed at D. In
this case the bed D, is supported upon the lever B, in such manner as
to render it capable of being rotated transversely under the cutting
knife. It, or the said bed D, may be said to be composed of a series
of beds of different lengths around a common axis, said beds being
capable of being brought or turned around in succession in contact
with the cutting edge of the cutting knife. Three of these beds or
faces, viz., s, t, u, are shewn in the Drawings.
Another form of rotary bed is represented in Figures 10, 11, 12, and
13, in which Figure 10, represents a side view; Figure 11, a side view
taken on the opposite side; Figure 12, a side view taken at ninety
degrees of a circle distant from the plane of Figures 10, and 11; and
Figure 13, an end view.
In the said Drawings A, represents a cylinder or shaft, having two
triangular surfaces or plates B, C, wrapt or formed around it, as seen
in the Drawings.
When a bed made in this form is placed under the cutting knife a
slit may be cut of any distance above a point up to the entire length of
the triangular surface or cylinder, and to extend from either end of the
cylinders towards the other, as occasion may require. Only one of the
triangular plates may be employed, if preferred.
Although I have represented certain forms in which my Invention
may be put, as also a certain mode of operating the same by means of
levers or handles jointed together, as in shears or scissors, I do not
intend to confine it to the saine, but intend to vary the same, while I
do not change the principle or character of such Invention. And I
would also remark that although I have represented the bed as made
adjustable with respect to the knife, it will readily be seen that while

page_text: the position of the bed is suffered to be stationary the knife may be
made adjustable thereto, and this without changing the character or
principle of my Invention.
What I claim as my Invention is, the combination of a cutter, a bed,
and mechanism or contrivances so constructed and applied to either
or both as to enable the one, or portion of it, to be adjusted in relation
to the other, substantially as above described, so as to vary the length
of the cut made by their joint action, and enable them to produce a cut
in manner as herein specified.
I do not claim the combination of a tubular punch with a cutter or
knife alone, nor do I claim the combination of a tubular punch with a
bed alone; but what I do claim is, the combination of a tubular punch
with a cutter, a bed, and mechanism or contrivances so constructed
and applied to the bed, or to the punch and cutter, or knife, as to enable
the bed, or portions thereof, to be adjusted in relation to the knife and
punch, so as to vary the length of the cut made by their joint action.
and enable them to produce a cut in manner as herein specified; such
improvement being for the purpose of enabling a person to not only cut
a button hole composed of a hole and a slit, but to regulate the length
thereof, as circumstances may require.
In witness whereof, I, the said Halsey Draper Walcott, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of October.
HALSEY D. WALCOTT. (L.S.)