CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MANU- FACTURING BUTTONS FROM CERTAIN MATERIALS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING ARE APPLICABLE IN WHOLE OR IN PART TO THE PRODUCTION OF KNOBS, RINGS, AND OTHER ARTICLES FROM THE SAME MATERIALS
Year: 1840

page_text: ALL
WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME. I.
RICHARD PROSSER. of Birmingham. in the County of Warwick, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS I did, by petition, humbly represent unto Her present
most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, that, after considerable appli-
cation and expense, I had invented CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MANU-
FACTURING BUTTONS FROM CERTAIN MATERIALS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IN
MANUFACTURING ARE APPLICABLE IN WHOLE OR IN PART TO THE PRODUCTION
OF KNOBS, RINGS, AND OTHER ARTICLES FROM THE SAME MATERIALS:" and
Her said Majesty. being willing to give encouragement to all arts and
inventions which may be for the public good, was graciously pleased. by
Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster the Seven-
teenth day of June One thousand eight hundred and forty, in the third
year of Her reign, for Herself. Her heirs and successors, to give and
grant unto me, the said Richard Prosser, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I or they, by myself or themselves, or by my or their deputies,
servants, or agents, or such others as I. or they, should agree with (and
no others), during the term of fourteen years from the date of the said
Letters Patent. should and lawfully might make. use. exercise. and vend

page_text: my said Invention within that part of Her said Majesty's dominions
called England. Her dominion of Wales, and town of Berwick upon
Tweed, and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad.
in such manner as to me, my executors, administrators, and assigns.
shall seem meet, and as that I, or they, shall enjoy the whole profit and
advantage arising by reason of the said Invention during the said term
of fourteen years; and for that end Ier said Majesty requires and
strictly commands all Her subjects whatsoever within England. Wales.
and Berwick upon Tweed, and also in the Colonies and Plantations
aforesaid, that they shall not, neither directly or indirectly, make, use, or
put in practice my said Invention or any part thereof, nor in anywise
counterfeit, imitate, or resemble the same, nor make any addition thereto
or subtraction therefrom, whereby to pretend himself or themselves to be
the Inventor or Inventors thereof: And whereas the said Letters
Patent also contains a proviso obliging me. the said Richard Prosser,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention.
and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and scal, and to cause the same to be inrolled in
Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same (reference being thereunto had) will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso. 1. the
said Richard Prosser, do hereby declare that my said Invention is
described and ascertained in manner following, and by the aid of the
sheet of drawings hereunto annexed (that is to say):
Whereas potters have been in use to manufacture certain clays and
clayey earths with and without an admixture of other ingredients, and als
occasionally some of the said other ingredients (as flint and feld-spar) wit
and without any admixture of clay or clayey earths. into articles of variou
forms, and adapted to various purposes, and have, in order to combine th
said materials thoroughly and to reduce them to a state sufficientl
plastic to be fashioned by the hand of the potter or otherwise, bee
hitherto in the practice of first niixing or tempering the same wit
large quantities of water, and so converting them into an aqueous mas

page_text: which mass is afterwards, by partial evaporation or drying, brought into
the kneadable state technically called "slip" And whereas it is found
necessary, in order to expel the larger portion of water still remaining
in the said "slip," to subject the articles into which the same may
be formed to certain other drying processes of a tedious description, in
the course of which process the articles so manufactured are subject to
great shrinkage and change of form: And whereas such shrinkage and
change of form are of especial prejudice in the case of all small
articles, such as buttons, knobs, rings, and the like, and has been or
may have been the reason that hitherto articles of that description have
been seldom manufactured of the same materials as earthenware and
porcelain, except as appendages thereto: Now the nature of my said
invented improvements consist, firstly, in manufacturing from the same
materials as are made use of by the potter in the various branches of
his manufacture all or most of the articles which have been or may be
manufactured therefrom, but more especially articles of small dimensions,
such as buttons, knobs, rings, and the like, without the addition of any
water to the said materials as found in their original state, whereby
the whole of the before-mentioned processes of watering or tempering,
and evaporating or drying (except in so far as water may be requisite
in the grinding process), are dispensed with, and all the trouble, delay,
and other drawbacks attendant thereon; and, secondly, in manufac-
turing from the said materials and others, a button of the improved
form herein-after described. And I declare that the following is a full
description of the manner in which the said improvements are to be
performed, reference being had to the illustrative drawings hereunto
annexed (that is to say):
I begin by taking clays or clayey earths in their natural state, and
pound or grind the same into powder. If, in their natural state, they
contain too much moisture to admit of their being so pounded or ground
into powder, I expose them to evaporation till they are desiccated to
the degree required. If an article of a better quality is wanted than
can be manufactured from clay or any clayey earth alone, I add as much
of any of the other substances (as flint or feld-spar) which potters are
in the practice of adding to clay or clayey earths for the purpose of

page_text: making earthenware and porcelain, as may produce the quality required,
following, in respect of the proportional quantities of each ingredient,
the same rules as potters are in use to observe, and adding the said
other substances (as flint or feld-spar) in the state of powder.) Or,
instead of pounding or grinding the said clay or clayey earths and the
said flint or other substances separately, I pound or grind them
together, when both are equally in a state of dryness fit for the
purpose.
I next cast the powder so obtained, whether consisting of clay or a
clayey earth alone, or partly of clay or a clayey earth and partly flint or
feld-spar, or some other of the substances aforesaid, into or upon a
sieve or riddle having about two thousand apertures or meshes to each
square inch; and as much thereof as passes through such sieve or riddle
I consider to be in a state of comminution sufficient for being manu-
factured into most articles requiring a fine smooth surface; when such
a fine smooth surface is not essential, powder of a coarser description
may be used, taking care only that the powder in cach case is of an
uniform degree of granulation, and not made up of very fine and very
coarse particles mixed together.
And to manufacture the powder so obtained into buttons and other
similar articles, I employ a machine and tools, such as are represented
in Figures 1, to 9, inclusive.
Figure 1, is an elevation of a fly press and treadle, with certain parts
thereof in section: A, is the handle of the press; B, the bolt; C, a table
or bed to which the press is firmly secured; 1, is a cylindrical tool,
which is secured into the bolt B, and is, on its under face, of the form in
reverse (that is, in hollow instead of relief,) proposed to be given to the top
of the button; 2, is another tool, of a sort of a T shape, which at top is of
the form in reverse (that is, in relief instead of hollow.) proposed to be
given to the bottom or back of the button, and fits into a vertical recess
of the same sort of T shape, in the centre of the bolster 3. but fits
loosely therein, so that it may be worked easily from below by means of
a rod X, which connects it with the treadle at bottom, D, W, Z, Y.
The top or widest part of the recess in the centre of the bolster 3, is of
such depth, that when the tool 2, falls to the bottom of it, there is space

page_text: enough above to hold the quantity of powder necessary for the forma-
tion of the button; so that this part, which may be called the mould,
serves the double purpose of a measure for the powder and a ring or
collar to prevent the spread of the powder laterally when the tool 1, is
brought down upon it. The distance between the top of the tool 2,
and the top of the mould, may be increased or diminished, according to
the thickness required to be given to the button, either by lessening the
depth of the mould, or by increasing the thickness of the head of the
tool 2, but most conveniently by the latter means.
Figures 5, and 6, are plans of the press, showing the manner in
which it is secured by screws to the table or bed C; and Figure 9, is
a plan of the treadle. The mode of operation is as follows:
The vacant space in the mould is filled with powder, and the powder
struck off to an exact level with the top of the mould, as indicated by
the line a..... a; such power is then applied to the handle A, of the
press, as will bring down the tool 1, with a force of about 200 pounds
to the square inch, upon the powder lying in the mould on the face of
the under tool 2, whereby a solid button is at once formed, which will
be found of great hardness, and susceptible of little, if any, alteration of
form from subsequent exposure to heat or moisture, and may be after-
wards glazed and fired, or fired only, in the ordinary way in which
In
earthenware and porcelain are fired, then glazed and fired again.
order to remove the button thus formed from the mould, the workman
gives a contrary turn to the handle A, of the press, which raises the tool
1, and he then presses down with his foot the end Y, of the treadle,
whose fulcrum is at Z, which causes the opposite end W, to rise, and
along with it the rod X, attached to the bottom of the tool 2, till the
top of that tool reaches near enough to the top of the mould, to enable
him to remove the button by hand. A. reverse motion given the treadle
by pressing the foot on the end W, restores the tool 2, to its original
position, and the entire apparatus to a condition ready for a repetition
of the process just described.
The tools represented as in use in the press, Figure 1, are intended
to make a button to which a metallic or other shank is afterwards to be
attached, in the following manner:

page_text: A recess for receiving the shank is formed in the back of the button,
by a corresponding projection on the face of the tool 2, as shown on a
small scale in Figure 1, and on a larger scale in Figure 7c, except-
ing only so much of the said recess as is represented to be undercut,
which must be done by hand after the button comes from the press.
The shank to be added is first fixed to a small metal cup, which is
dished or cupped so as nearly to fill the recess in the back of the
button. A little of any strong cement in a fluid or semi-fluid state,
as shell-lac, is then introduced into the recess, and while it is in such
fluid or semi-fluid state, the cup of the shank is inserted; when the
shell-lac becomes hard, the shank will be found to adhere, and be suffi-
ciently firm for all purposes to which buttons are usually applied. If
a button with holes through it instead of a shank attached is required
to be produced, then the tools 1, and 2, must be so cut in their under
and upper surfaces as to produce the holes required. In Figure 8, I
have shown a button of a new construction, of my Invention, which
possesses several advantages over the said common four-hole button.
It has only two holes instead of four, with a groove or channel in the
upper surface between the two holes, so that when sewn to any garment
the thread rests in the groove or channel, and is thereby protected from
abrasion, and if sewn on in such manner that the two holes shall be
in a straight line with the length of the button-hole, the button will
be always inserted with less widening and wearing of the button-hole
than is usual with the four-hole button. The variations necessary to
be made in the tools 1, and 2, for the purpose of manufacturing rings,
are shown in Figure 2, and those necessary for making knobs in
Figure 3, and from these the manufacturer will readily understand
how any other variety of configuration which may be required in the
manufacture of other articles is to be obtained. All that is necessary
in each case is to vary the fares of the tools 1, and 2, according to the
configuration desired by any of the well-known processes of cutting or
engraving in hollow and relief. A great advantage attending this
facility of giving any sort of figured surface to the manufactured article
is, that the commonest articles, such as bricks and tiles, when manufac-
tured by means of my improved process, may, at a very small additional

page_text: them.
cost, have almost any degree of excellence in point of design given to
A brick produced by means of such tools as are represented
in Figure 4, of the drawings hereunto annexed, and with the aid of a
fly press and treadle of suitable strength, would have no advantage over
a brick made in the ordinary way, except in the greater quickness
and economy of the process of manufacturing; but the faces of the
tools 1, and 2, which, in the said Figure 4, are supposed and repre-
sented to be perfectly plain, may be graven of any form whatever,
either in hollow or relief, so as to represent coats of arms, archi-
tectural ornaments, &c.; and the brick will be produced as readily, and
in a state of as great perfection, from the graven as from the plain
tools, a result which I believe to be wholly unattainable by any of the
When the buttons,
modes of manufacturing bricks heretofore in usc.
knobs, rings, or other articles manufactured in manner aforesaid have
been removed from the press, they are ready to be immediately glazed
and burned, or burned only, in the same way as articles of earthen-
ware and porcelain are commonly glazed and burned; and, in order
that they may be, when burned, of any particular colour desired, as
white, black, or blue, the same metallic oxides must be added to the
powdered clay as potters are in use to employ for the production of
such colours; and the articles may also receive any degree of decoration
which may be desired, either by printing, gilding, enamelling, or other-
wise, according to the various modes in which earthenware and porce-
lain are ordinarily decorated. I prefer making the tools I use for the
purpose of determining the configuration of the articles, such as those
tools represented in 1, 2, and 3, of Figure 1, and in Figures 2, and
3, of the drawings hereunto annexed, in steel, when they do not exceed
about two inches in diameter; but when they must be of larger dimen-
sions, as in the case of bricks and tiles, I find cast-iron answers the
In working the press, I find it necessary
purpose sufficiently well.
to do so at a moderate velocity, for, if worked rapidly, like a stamp or
pile engine, then the powdered clay is liable to be blown out of the
mould, and the article intended to be produced is spoiled.
And having now described the nature of my said Invented Improve-
ments, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I

page_text: declare, that what I claim as of my Invention is,-Firstly, the manufac-
turing of buttons, knobs, rings, and generally all or most of the other
articles which have been or can be made from any of the materials
used in the manufacturing of earthenware and porcelain, by means
of the improvements in manufacturing herein-before described, of
which improvements the distinguishing features are, that the said
materials are used in a state of powder, and manufactured by pressure
between hard surfaces, either plain or figured, into solid articles,
without any water being used in the course of the said process (except
in so far as water may be requisite in grinding them into powder),
and which improvements in manufacturing I call the dry process of
pottery and brick-making, in contradistinction to the ordinary process,
in which great quantities of water are used; and, Secondly, the
manufacturing of buttons of the improved form with two holes
instead of four, herein-before described, and represented in Figure 8, of
the drawings hereunto annexed, and whether the said button is
manufactured from the materials commonly used in the manufacture
of earthenware and porcelain, and by my said improvements in
manufacturing, or from any other materials and by any other process:
And such my said Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and
belief, entirely new and never before used within that part of Her
said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, Her dominion of Wales, town of Berwick upon Tweed, or
in any of Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, I do
hereby declare this to be my specification of the same, and that I
do verily believe this my said specification doth comply in all respects
fully and without reserve or disguise with the proviso in the said
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained, wherefore I
hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to my said
Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Prosser, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of December Onc
thousand eight hundred and forty.
RICHARD PROSSER. (L.S.)

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the Seventeenth day of
December in the year of our Lord 1840, the aforesaid Richard
Prosser came before our said Lady the Queen in IIer Chancery,
and acknowledged the specification aforesaid, and all and everything
therein contained and specified in form above written; and also the
specification aforesaid was stamped, according to the tenor of the Statute
made for that purpose.
In the Matter of a Patent granted to Richard Prosser, of Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Civil Engineer, for his Invention of
CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING BUTTONS FROM CERTAIN
MATERIALS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING ARE APPLICABLE
IN WHOLE OR IN PART TO THE PRODUCTION OF KNOBS, RINGS, AND OTHER
ARTICLES FROM THE SAME MATERIALS," bearing date at Westminster,
the Seventeenth day of June One thousand eight hundred and
forty.
Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alteration proposed to be entered
by Richard Prosser with the Clerk of the Patents of England,
pursuant to an Act passed in the fifth and sixth years of the
reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, entitled
"An Act to amend the Law touching Letters Patent for
Inventions."
I, the said Richard Prosser, do hereby alter the description given in
the said specification of the manner in which the said Invention is per-
formed, as follows, that is to say: In describing the second head of the
said Invention, I speak of "Manufacturing from the said materials and
others a button of the improved form herein-after described:" Now,
therefore, I disclaim the said words "and others;" so that the said para-
graph will read thus, "manufacturing from the said materials a button

page_text: of the improved form herein-before described." And further, in the
claim of the second part of the said specification, I state, "And, secondly,
the manufacturing of buttons of the improved form with two holes of
the form herein-before described and represented in Figure 8, of the
drawings hereunto annexed, and whether the said button is manu-
factured from the materials commonly used in the manufacture of
earthenware and porcelain, and by my said improvements in manu-
facturing, or from any other materials and by any other process:" Now I
therefore disclaim the words "and whether the said button is manu-
factured," and also the words "or from any other materials and by
any other process;" so that the paragraph will read thus, "And, secondly,
the manufacturing of buttons of the improved form, with two holes
instead of four, herein-before described and represented in Figure 8, of
the drawings hereunto annexed, from the materials commonly used in
the manufacture of earthenware and porcelain, and by my said improve-
ments in manufacturing."
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Prosser, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of December in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
forty-five.
RICHARD PROSSER. (L.S.)
RICHARD
(L.B.)
To the CLERK of the PATENTS of ENGLAND.
This is to certify, That the above-named Richard Prosser, of
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Civil Engineer, has
applied to me for leave to enter with you the above-written
disclaimer of part of the specification of a certain Invention for
which Letters Patent were granted to him under the Great Seal
of Great Britain, dated at Westminster the Seventeen day of June
1840, and to which a specification was duly enrolled: And having
considered of the said application, and no objection having been made
to the same, I hereby grant leave to the said Richard Prosser to
file his said disclaimer, pursuant to the Statute passed in the fifth
and sixth years of the reign of His late Majesty King William the

page_text: Fourth, entituled "An Act to amend the Law touching Letters
Potent for Inventions
"
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the Eighteenth day of
December in the year of our Lord 1845, the aforesaid Richard
Prosser came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery,
and acknowledged the disclaimer aforesaid, and all and everything
therein contained and specified in form above written; and also the
disclaimer aforesaid was stamped, according to the tenor of the Statute
made for that purpose
the Matter of a Patent granted to Richard Prosser, of Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Civil Engineer, for his Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING BUTTONS FROM CERTAIN
MATERIALS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING ARE APPLICABLE
IN WHOLE OR IN PART TO THE PRODUCTION OF KNOBS, RINGS, AND OTHER
ARTICLES FROM THE SAME MATERIALS."
Memorandum of Alteration proposed to be entered by Richard
Prosser with the Clerk of the Patents of England, pursuant
to an Act passed in the fifth and sixth years of the reign of
His late Majesty King William the Fourth, entitled "An
Act to amend the Law touching Letters Patent for In-
ventions."
Whereas since the enrolment of the specification of the said Inven-
n, I have found that any materials other than clays and clay earths,
ch as used by potters, and in the said specification mentioned, cannot
so beneficially employed in performing my Invention as such clays
clay earths, and that no other process than that described in the said

page_text: specification can be used with so much advantage: I, the said Richard
Prosser, am therefore desirous of disclaiming so much of the said spe-
cification as relates to such other materials, and of altering the
said specification, in manner following, that is to say:
In describing the second head of the said Invention in the said spe-
cification, I speak of "manufacturing from the said materials and others
a button of the improved form herein-after described:" Now, therefore,
for the reason aforesaid, I disclaim the said words and others;" so
that the said paragraph, as hereby altered, will read thus, "manufac
turing from the said materials a button of the improved form herein-
after described." And further, in the claim of the second part of the said
Invention mentioned in the said specification, I state, "And, secondly,
the manufacturing of buttons of the improved form, with two holes
instead of four, herein-before described, and represented in Figure 8,
of the drawings hereunto annexed, and whether the said button is manu-
factured from the materials commonly used in the manufacture of
earthenware and porcelain, and by my said improvements in manufac-
turing, or from any other materials and by any other process:" Now,
therefore, for the reason aforesaid, I disclaim the words "and whether
the said button is manufactured," and also the words "or from any other
materials and by any other process;" so that the paragraph will read
thus, "And, secondly, the manufacturing of buttons of the improved form
with two holes instead of four, herein-before described, and represented
in Figure 8, of the drawings hereunto annexed, from the materials
commonly used in the manufacture of carthenware and porcelain, and
by my said improvements in manufacturing."
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Prosser, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of May in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
To the CLERK of the PATENTS of ENGLAND.
This is to certify, That the above-named Richard Prosser has applied
to me for leave to enter with you the above-written disclaimer and
This is to certify, That the above-named Richard Prosser has applied
to me for leave to enter with you the above-written disclaimer and

page_text: memorandum of alteration of part of the specification of a certain
Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to him under the
Great Seal of Great Britain, dated at Westminster the Seventeenth day
of June One thousand eight hundred and forty, and to which a specifi-
cation was duly enrolled: And having considered of the above appli-
cation, and no objection having been made to the same, I hereby grant
leave to the said Richard Prosser to file his said disclaimer and memo-
randum of alteration, pursuant to the Statute passed in the fifth and
sixth years of the reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth,
entitled An Act to amend the Law touching Letters Patent for
Inventions.
FRED. THESIGER.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the Fifth day of May in
the year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid Richard Prosser canic before
our said Lady the Queen in Ier Chancery, and acknowledged the
memorandum of alteration aforesaid, and all and everything therein
contained and specified in form above written; and also the memorandum
of alteration aforesaid was stamped, according to the tenor of the Statute
made for that purpose.