AN IMPROVEMENT IN METALLIC FASTENERS FOR BUTTONS, AND IN THE MEANS FOR AND THE MODE OF ATTACHING THE SAME TO WEARING APPAREL
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Sutton, in the
County of Surrey, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN METALLIC
FASTENERS FOR BUTTONS, AND IN THE MEANS FOR AND THE MODE OF
ATTACHING THE SAME TO WEARING APPAREL."-A communication from
abroad by David Heaton, of Providence, Rhode Island, in the
United States of America.
Sealed the 26th February 1875, and dated the 1st January 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson
Bousfield at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 1st January 1875.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Sutton, in the County of
Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN METALLIC FASTENERS FOR BUTTONS, AND IN THE MEANS FOR
AND THE MODE OF ATTACHING THE SAME TO WEARING APPAREL," to be as
follows:-
The said Invention relates to attaching buttons to wearing apparel by
a metallic connection instead of sewing on the same with thread in the

page_text: usual way, the object being to attach the buttons more quickly, firmly,
and surely than by the old method.
The first part of the said Invention relates to the improvement of the
said metallic fastener, and consists of a construction from a metallic
blank of three connected parallel prongs, one of which is in line with
the space between the other two, and is bent near its junction into a
staple or loop for the reception of the wire eye or shank of the button,
said prongs being driven through the material and clinched on the back
side thereof.
The second part of the said Invention relates to the improvement in 1
attaching the united' button and metallic fastener to the apparel, and
consists of an instrument with handles and jaws like a pair of pinchers,
one of the jaws of which is furnished with an arched, slot and a spring
platform to hold the said button and fastener in the proper position, and
the other jaw of which is provided with a die composed of three parallel 1
concave grooves with each a countersunk or circular cavity for the
entrance of the said fastener prongs to aid the same in penetrating the
material, and afterward by the concavity of said grooves to bend
the protruding ends of said prongs inward towards each other and clinch
them flatly against the back side of the material by simply shutting the 2
two jaws together once only in the usual way by the hand.
The third part of the said Invention relates to an improvement in the
mode of clinching said fastening prongs in the back side of the material
of the apparel, and consists in so curving the points of the prongs, which
are thinned for the purpose, that the points are retroverted after 2
penetrating the material, and by the after clinching action are driven
into and embedded in the back side of the same with a firmer and more
secure hold than by the usual mode of merely bending this portion of
the prongs sharply and flatly against the back side of the material.
In the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the 3
said improved setting instrument; Figure 2 is a like view and cross
section (in part) of the same; Figure 3 is.a similar view of the same
showing the button fastener" properly set.
Figure 4 is an elevation and section (in part) of the reverse side of the
"setting instrument."
3

page_text: Figure 5 is a plan of the face of the upper jaw ("A") of the setting
instrument.
Figure 6 is a plan of the face of the lower jaw (B) of the setting
instrument.
Figure 7 is a perspective view of the said "united button and
fastener."
Figure 8 is a plan of the "platform spring" (m) detached from the
upper jaw (A).
Figure 9 is a perspective view of the metallic blank, from which said
" button fastener" is produced; Figure-10 is a like view of the same
with the prong points thinned to facilitate penetration and clinching the
same.
•
"
Figure 11 is a side elevation; and Figure 12 is a front elevation
double size of the said "button fastener; Figure 13 is a side elevation
of the same shewing the fastening prongs clinched in the improved mode
described.
Similar letters mark like parts in all the said Figures.
The two jaws A and B of the setting instrument have handles C and
D, by which they are operated by the human hand in a manner well
known. The upper jaw A is formed with a recess E opening from one
side for the reception of the button head L; also with a lateral opening I
completely through said jaw in extension of a recess J on the opposite
side, containing a spring m, shewn in Figures 4 and 8, the free end P of
which is slotted, and passes through the opening I and forms a slotted
platform (P), upon which the button "head rests, as shewn in Figures 2.
and 3, with the buttons wire eye or shank extending downward through
the said slot in the platform. The face of the jaw A is formed with a
slot R, Figures 1 and 5, for the reception of the connecting part or
staple i of the metallic fastener G, said slot being concaved or arched in.
the face of said jaw to correspond with the shape of the staple i, as
shewn in Figures 2 and 3. By this arrangement of the spring platform P
and the arched slot R it will be seen that the curved staple i is confined
snugly in the slot in the jaw A with the horizontal bend of the fastener
resting flatly against the face of the jaw (A) by the direct pressure,
which is exerted against the under side of the button's head by the
spring m, the effect being that the united button and fastener are held

page_text: surely and firmly and always in the correct position to present the
fastener prongs for insertion in the material.
This
It will also be seen that by the close fitting of the top of the fastener
to the curvature of the slot R and the face of the jaw, as described and
shewn, there is no liability of bending or displacing any part of the
fastner by the force applied to act the same, and that in conscquence
the said force is entirely directed to driving the prongs into the material
and clinching them on the rear side. The form of the said button
fastner Gis shewn clearly in Figure 7, by which it will be seen that
there are two fastening prongs e, e, at the front and ones at the rear,
the latter being in line with the space between the other two.
being the arrangement of- the prongs the lower jaw B of the said instru-
ment is provided with a die H in its face, Figure 6, which is composed
of three simple curved or concave grooves, t, t, t³, and each of said
grooves is formed with an entering cavity or countersink d', d², d³, at
which the point of each one of the said prongs e and s is driven, and
by means of the same are aided to penetrate the material, and afterwards
the prong points are deflected sharply at right angles from the point of
entering, and are firmly clinched in the material on the back side by the
single movement of shutting the two jaws together in the usual way.
.
The said button fastener is made from the blank, Figure 9, which is
cut in that form from sheet metal of the requisite thickness, there being
simply three parallel prongs e, e, and s connected at G. The longer and
single pronge s being cut from the space between the two prongs e, e, of
the next blank in a strip of metal it will be perceived that but very little
of the metal is wasted, and from the simplicity of its form the blank is
very easily, rapidly, and cheaply produced. These blanks are afterwards,
besides being bevilled at the point of the prongs, as shewn, have their
points thinned flatways, as shewn in Figures 10 and 11, to resemble
somewhat the point of a surgeon's lacet, by means of which the prongs
are better prepared to cut and pierce leather and other tough and thick
material without crippling and bending. By this mode of thinning the
metal at the point of the prongs a better method of clinching is pro-
duced, as shewn in Figures 3 and 13. This is accomplished by thinning
the points of the prongs from the outside, as shewn in Figure 11, which
is usually done by stamping the points in the blank before bending,
which on being subjected to the action of the setting instrument first
bend inward or towards each other at the point, and by the form of the

page_text: -
curved or concave grooves t¹, t³, t³, the points of the prongs are turned
back into the back of the material in the form shewn in Figure 3, and
more clearly in Figure 13. The curvature which is thus given to said
prongs resembling that of an eagle's claw, and the hold in the material
being far more firm and tenacious than the mere bending and flattening
of the prongs against the back side of the fabric, as heretofore
practiced.
The construction of the said fastener and its prongs being as shewn
and described the buttons may be easily and firmly attached to boots,
shoes, or other apparel by the setting instrument shewn and described
by first connecting the wire eye of the button with the loop i of the
fastener, as shewn in Figure 7, then depress the end of the platform P,
and press the shank or button eye and the fastener loop i into the slot of
the platform and the arched groove of the upper jaw A, as shewn in
Figures 2 and 4, bringing the three pronged points to shut into the three
cavities d', d³, ds, of the die H in the lower jaw B. The parts being now
in proper position the material or fabric is inserted between the jaws, the
prongs are placed on the spot where the button is to be set with the two
prongs e at the front and the single one at the rear, when by a single
impulsive shutting movement of the two jaws together the prongs are at
the same time driven through the material and clinched firmly in the
back side of the same in a more simple and effective manner than by
instruments heretofore in use, which required two and even three distinct.
movements of the jaws to accomplish the same object.
Besides the use in connection with pincer jaws, as herein set fourth,
the said holding and clinching mechanism is applicable to organised
to be onerated by a treadle or power
SPECIFICATION in
pursuance of the. conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 30th June 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Sutton, in the County of Surrey, send
greeting.

page_text: Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-eighth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special licenso
that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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, usc, exercisc,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN METALLIC FASTENERS FOR BUTTONS, AND IN THE MEANS FOR AND THE
MODE OF ATTACHING THE SAME TO WEARING APPAREL," a communication to me
from abroad by David Heaton, of Providence, Rhode Island, in the
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to attaching buttons to wearing apparel by
a metallic connection instead of sewing on the same with thread in the
usual way, the object being to attach the buttons more quickly, firmly,
and securely than by the old method.
The first part of the said Invention relates to the improvement of the
said metallic fastener, and consists of a construction from a metallic
blank of a metallic fastener composed of connected parallel prongs and
of a platform or plate to bear against the face of the material to which
the button is to be secured, and also of a loop formed by a bend in one
of the prongs for the reception of the wire eye or shank of the button,
said prongs being driven through the material and clinched on the back
side thereof,

page_text: The second part of the said Invention relates to the improvement in
attaching the united button and metallic fastener to the apparel, and-
consists of an instrument with handles and jaws like a pair of pinchers,
one of the jaws of which is furnished with an arched slot and a spring
platform to hold the said button and fastener in the proper position, and
the other jaw of which is provided with a die composed of parallel
concave grooves, with each a countersink or circular cavity for the
entrance of the said fastener prongs to aid the same in penetrating the
material, and afterwards by the concavity of said grooves to bend the
protruding ends of said prongs inward towards each other and clinch
them flatly against the back side of the material by simply shutting the
two jaws together once only in the usual way by the hand.
The third part of the said Invention relates to an improvement in the
mode of clinching said fastening prongs in the back side of the material
of the apparel, and consists in so curving the points of the prongs which
are thinned for the purpose that the points are retroverted after pene-
trating the material, and by the after clinching action are driven into
and embedded in the back side of the same with a firmer and more
secure hold than by the usual mode of merely bending this portion of
the prongs sharply and flatly against the back side of the material.
In the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the
said improved setting instrument. Figure 2 is a like view and cross
section (in part) of the same. Figure 3 is a similar view of the same,
showing the "button fastener" properly set.
Figure 4 is an elevation and section (in part) of the reverse side of the
setting instrument.”
Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the fasteners with its loop
passing through the wire eye of a button.
Figure 6 is a plan of the face of the upper jaw (A) of the setting
instrument.
Figure 7 is a plan of the face of the lower jaw B (adapted for setting
fasteners such as shewn at Figure 5) of the setting instrument.
Figure 8 is a plan of the "platform spring" M detached from the
upper jaw A.
Figure 9 is a perspective view of the metallic blank from which the
"button fastener" shewn at Figure 5 is produced. Figure 10 is a liko

page_text: view of the same, with the prong points thinned to facilitate penetration
and clinching the same.
Figure 11 is a side elevation, and Figure 12 is a front elevation, double-
size, of the said "button fastener." Figure 13 is a side elevation of
the same, shewing the fastening prongs clinched in the improved mode
described.
Modified forms of button fasteners are shewn at Figures 14 to 24.
Similar letters mark like parts in all the said Figures.
The two jaws A and B of the setting instrument have handles C and
D by which they are operated by the human hand in a manner well
known. The upper jaw A is formed with a recess E opening from one
side for the reception of the button head L, also with a lateral opening I
completely through said jaw in extension of a recess J on the opposite
side containing a spring m shewn in Figures 4 and 8, the free end P of
which is slotted and passes through the opening I and forms a slotted
platform (P) upon which the button head rests, as shewn in Figures 2
and 3, with the buttons, wire cye, or shank extending.downward through
the said slot in the platform. The face of the jaw A is formed with a
slot R, Figures 1 and 6, for the reception of the connecting part or
staple i of the metallic fastener G, said slot being concaved or arched in
the face of said jaw to correspond with the shape of the staple i, as
shewn in Figures 2 and 3. By this arrangement of the spring platform
P and the arched slot R it will be seen that the curved staple i is
confined snugly in the slot in the jaw A, with the horizontal bend h
forming the platform or plate of the fastener resting flatly against the.
face of the jaw A by the direct pressure which is exerted against the
under side of the button's head by the spring m, the effect being that
the united button and fastener are held surely and firmly and always in
the correct position to present the fastener prongs for insertion in the
material.
It will also be seen that by the close fitting of the top of the fastener to
the curvature of the slot R and the face of the jaw, as described and shewn,
there is no liability of bending or displacing any part of the fastener by
the force applied to set the same, and that in consequence the said force
is entirely directed to driving the prongs into the material, and clinching
them on the rear side. In the form of button fastener G, shewn at

page_text: Figures 11 and 12, there are two fastening prongs e, e, at the front and
one 8 at the rear, the latter being in line with the space between the
other two. When this arrangement of the prongs is adopted the lower
jaw B of the said instrument is provided with a die H in its face, Figure 7,
which is composed of three simple curved or concave grooves t', t³, t³,
and each of said grooves is formed with an entering cavity or counter-
sink d¹³, d³, d³, at which the point of each one of the said prongs e and a
is driven, and by means of the same are aided to penetrate the material,
and afterwards the prong points are deflected sharply at right angles
from the point of entering, and are firmly clinched in the material on
the back side by the single movement of shutting the two jaws together
in the usual way.
The said button fastener is made from the blank, Figure 9, which is
cut in that form from sheet metal of the requisite thickness, there being
simply three parallel prongs e, e, and 8 connected at G, the longer and
single prong & being cut from the space between the two prongs e, e, of the
next blank in a strip of metal; it will be perceived that but very little of
the metal is wasted, and from the simplicity of its form this blank is
very easily, rapidly, and cheaply produced. These blanks are after-
wards, besides being bevelled at the point of the prongs, as shewn, have
their points thinned flatways, as shewn in Figures 10 and 11, to resemble
somewhat the point of a surgeon's lancet, by means of which the prongs
are better prepared to cut and pierce leather and other tough and thick
material without crippling and bending. By this mode of thinning the
metal at the point of the prongs a better method of clinching is produced,
as shewn in Figures 3 and 13. This is accomplished by thinning the
points of the prongs from the outside, as shewn in Figure 11, which is
usually done by stamping the points in the blank before bending, which
on being subjected to the action of the setting instrument first bend
inward or towards each other at the point, and by the form of the curved
or concave grooves 1, 12, 13, the points of the prongs are turned back
into the back of the material in the form shewn in Figure 3, and more
clearly in Figure 13. The curvature which is thus given to said prongs
resembling that of an eagle's claw, and the hold on the material being
far more firm and tenacious than the mere bending and flattening of the
prongs against the back side of the fabric, as heretofore practiced.
•
The construction of the said fastener and its prongs being as shewn
and described the buttons may be easily and firmly attached to boots,

page_text: -
shoes, or other apparel by the setting instrument shown and described
by first connecting the wire cye of the button with the loop i of the
fastener, as shown in Figure 5, then depress the end of the platform P,
and press the shank or button eye and the fastener loop i into the slot
of the platform and the arched groove of the upper jaw A, as shewn in
Figures 2 and 4, bringing the three prong points to shut into the three
cavities d³, d³, d³, of the die H in the lower jaw B. The parts being
now in proper position the material or fabric is inserted between the
jaws, the prongs are placed on the spot where the button is to be set,
with the two prongs e at the front and the single one at the rear, when
by a single impulsive shutting movement of the two jaws together the
prongs are at the same time driven through the material and clinched
firmly in the back side of the same in a more simple and effective manner
than by instruments heretofore in use, which required two and even
three distinct movements of the jaws to accomplish the same object.
Besides the use in connection with pincher jaws, as herein set forth,
the holding and clinching mechanism herein-before described is appli-
cable to organized machines to be operated by a treadle or power, and
such application is herein contemplated and included in the matter
claimed.
In the Figures 14 to 24, representing modified forms of the fastener,
Figure 14 represents the unbent blank of a two-pronged fastener;
Figure 15, the prongs of the same clinched parallel to each other;
Figures 16 and 17 shew like views of another shape of blank; Figure 18
shews another construction of blank, the two prongs of which are in a
line with one another; and Figure 19 shews the said prongs clinched
obliquely on the back of the fabric; Figure 20 shews a blank with
parallel prongs and an oblique platform or plate between them;
Figure 21 shews the said two prongs clinched parallel to each other;
Figure 22 shews a side elevation of the said two-pronged fastener and
button united. Another way of making the button fastener is to form it
with two prongs at the front and three at the rear, with the loop or
staple, or vice versa, as shewn at Figure 23; or the fastener may be
made with three prongs at. the front and one in the rear, as shewn at
Figure 24, the middle one of the front prongs forming the loop or staple
to receive the eye of the button.
Having described my said Invention I claim,—

page_text: platform or plate to bear against the face of the material to which the
button is to be secured, and of a loop or staple to connect it with the
button's eye or shank, and also of parallel prongs, substantially as set
forth.
Second. The various constructions of button fastener, substantially as
set forth and shewn in the Drawings hercunto annexed.
Third. I claim the improved thinned or lancet points upon the ends of
the fastening prongs produced by reducing the metal from the original
thickness to a sharp cutting point, substantially as and with the effect
specified.
Fourth. I claim the combination of the spring platform P and the
arched slot R, the same constituting the holding mechanism in con-
nection with the jaw A. or its equivalent of said setting instrument.
Fifth. I claim the die H constructed with grooves t¹, t³, t³; and entering
cavities d¹³, d³, d³, in the face of the jaw B or its equivalent, the same
constituting the clinching mechanism, substantially as specified of said
setting instrument.
Sixth. I claim the mode substantially as specified of clinching the
fastening prongs described, by which the prong becomes so much curved
at its thinned end at the first part of the clinching operation as to make
it enter and become embedded in the back side of the material by the
after part of said operation, substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.