IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BUTTONS
Year: 1863

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 THE MANUFACTURE OF BUTTONS."A com-
munication from abroad by Pierre Labat, of Rue St. Sebastien, Paris,
in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 30th June 1863, and dated the 17th January 1863,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th January 1863.
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 THE MANUFACTURE OF BUTTONS," to be
as follows:
This Invention of improvements in the manufacture of buttons relates to the
manufacture of metallic buttons, and more particularly to those which are of a
spherical form. The object of the Invention is to produce a complete button
with its shank from one single piece of metal without soldering the shank
thereon. All the operations requisite to produce the desired result are
effected by pressure of the metal in suitable dies.
'
In carrying out the Invention the flat blank of sheet metal of suitable
thickness and form, and with tails or elongated ends, is placed upon a die,
through which a central hole is made. A plunger with a rounded or hemis-
pherical end is brought down on to the flat blank, which is forced down
through the hole in the die or matrix, and in so doing its edges are turned up
ready for the next operation. The blank which will thus be brought into a

page_text: hemispherical form with two projecting tails is then placed in another die or
matrix with the tails downwards, and a plunger with a concave end to fit the
blank is brought down, on it, and causes the two tails to come together and
form an incipient shank. The blank is thus brought into a pear shape, and
the button is further perfected in a third matrix, also provided with a plunger
with a concave end, whereby the article is made more spherical, and the
shank completed all but trimming and piercing to receive the thread. These
finishing operations are carried on in a fourth apparatus consisting of a press
and die, and the buttons will then be finished without having been heated or
any of the parts soldered.
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 17th July 1863.
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 Seventeenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special license 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF BUTTONS," being a
communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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 date 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

page_text: 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):-
Metallic shank buttons have been hitherto made in two parts, viz., the body
of the button, properly so called, and the shank attached thereto by soldering.
The special object of the present Invention is to manufacture such buttons in
one piece without soldering, by which means great strength is obtained, and
the buttons are produced at a much lower cost and with greater expedition
than by the ordinary means where the shank is soldered on. These results
are obtained by the employment of special tools or apparatus which constitute
the principle and essence of this Invention, and which may be operated either
by hand or by any suitable mechanical means, the different requisite operations
being effected in succession and in a determined order for the complete manu-
facture of buttons in a single piece, having a nearly spherical form. By
means of the operations herein-after described the buttons, of whatever metal
they may be formed, are entirely finished without it being necessary to heat
them, the metal being fashioned by successive operations in dies in a cold
state, so that there is no risk of spoiling the material under operation as is the
case when it is heated by the soldering process. The various tools employed
and the method of carrying out the Invention will be perfectly understood by
the following description of the annexed Drawings.
The metal is first cut or stamped by any of the ordinary and well known
means into the form represented at Fig. 1, this form being the requisite one.
for enabling the subsequent operations to be performed in their required order.
Figs. 2 and 3 represent in vertical section and plan view the matrix A, in-
which the first shaping operation is performed. This matrix is mounted in an
iron bed, which is fixed by any suitable means under a stamper or monkey.
The matrix is provided with a recess a for the reception of the blank p, as
shewn by the red lines in Fig. 3. On causing the punch P to descend the
plate p will be caused to assume the shape shewn at Figs. 4. Figs..5 and 6
shew in sectional elevation and plan the matrix or die in which the button is
caused to assume the form shewn at Figs. 7; for this purpose the partially
formed button (Figs. 4) is introduced into this die, so as to slide in the groove
a¹ of the matrix A, and present itself to the action of the punch P' in the
position shewn by red lines. The punch P¹ by forcing the partially formed
blank into the die A¹ will force the two extremities p¹ together, and close the
button into the form shewn at Figs. 7. The extremities p' which enter the
slot bare intended to form the shank of the button; the slot serves at the
same time as a guide for a small rod which pushes out the button when

page_text: formed. This arrangement is shewn at Figs. 8 and 9, which represent in
vertical section and plan view the mould which completes the button. The
button closed up, as shewn at Fig. 7, is placed in the die A2 (which is
mounted in a block C), the shank of the button being caused to enter the
slot b, in which the rod f is also caused to enter at the proper time. This
rod f is jointed at e to a small ball set in the lever B, and retained in position
by means of a plate d screwed to the lever B, thus forming a universal joint,
and allowing of the vertical movement of the rod f. On the counter die p³
descending it will close up the parts and cause them to assume the form
shewn at Fig. 10.
In order to deliver the button from the mould it is only necessary to
press upon the lever B, by which means the rod f will be caused to force
up the shank in the slot b, and consequently to deliver the finished button out
of the mould A³. It is only now necessary to cut the shank to any desired
form, and to form the hole for sewing it on, which operations may be per-
formed by any suitable means.
Having now described this Invention of improvements in the manufacture
of buttons, and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I would observe in
conclusion that I do not confine myself to the dimensions of the parts above
shewn and described, as they may be varied according to the size of the
buttons to be produced, but that which I desire to claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before recited Letters Patent is,―
Firstly, the manufacture of metal buttons in one piece without soldering, as
herein set forth.
And, secondly, the apparatus above shewn and described for carrying the
same into effect.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)