TRENENTS IN RUMMANG POR GENERAL USE
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Green and Joel Cadbury, Button Manu-
facturers, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, for the Invention
TRENENTS IN RUMMANG POR GENERAL USE"
Sealed the 23rd November 1861, and dated the 27th May 1861.
1
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Green and Joel
Cadbury at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 27th May 1861.
We, EDWIN GREEN and JOEL CADBURY, Button Manufacturers, of Bir-
mingham, in the County of Warwick, do hereby declare the nature of our
said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTONS FOR GENERAL USE," to be
as follows (that is to say):-
Our improvements consist, first, in the manufacture of the description of
buttons known as "linen buttons," which we purpose making in two ways,
first, to cover the front and back of the button with a suitable woven fabric,
and both parts being finished with a ring or eyeletted centre liole, between-
which a bär or perforated plate is placed, which forms the shank and means.
by which such buttons are intended to be attached to garments by sewing.
through from the front, the needle passing in and out through the eyeletted
hole, and the thread riding on the bar before named; and, secondly, the

page_text: making of linen or other covered buttons with a metallic back, the said back
being raised in its centre and pierced with two or more small ringed holes, so as
to form a bar for the thread to rest on in attaching such buttons to garments,
the front of such buttons being formed (as before described) with a small
cyeletted holo in its centre, so that such buttons may be attached by sewing
through from the front. And in some cases we purpose avoiding the use of
woven fabric in the manufacture of the last described button, by covering the
front with a raised metallic shell clipping the back or shanked disc, such
buttons being attached by passing the needle through the perforations in the
raised shank, or through an eyeletted centre hole placed concentrically in the
front shell. This description of button may be used for vests, coats, trousers,
or other purposes with advantage, but as a general trouser button we purpose
constructing then either by raising them from thin metal or by casting or
otherwise producing them, such buttons being so constructed as to be made
with a transverse bar crossing the centre opening, such bar being so treated as
to have projecting ridges or a sunken groove or grooves around it on the front
side, to prevent the button having a loose, lateral, or shaking action when
applied to garments for use; or the bar may be made with a slight projection
on each side at right angles with its centre, so as to permit the thread being
crossed alternately over the centre of the bar, and by which means the same
result will be obtained, namely, the preventing the button riding loose from
the thread by which it is attached.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edwin Green and Joel Cadbury in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 27th November 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDWIN
GREEN and JOEL CADBURY, Button Manufacturers, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Edwin Green and Joel Cadbury, Her special license that we, the
said Edwin Green and Joel Cadbury, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Edwin Green and Joel Cadbury, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and

page_text: 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTONS FOR
GENERAL USE," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Edwin
Green and Joel Cadbury, by an instrument in writing under our hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 we, the said Edwin Green and Joel Cadbury,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement (that is to say) :-
:-
Our improvements in the various buttons necessary for buttoning or securing
articles of dress consist, first, in the construction and manufacture of the
description of buttons known as linen buttons, which we purpose making in
two ways, first, the covering of the front and back of such buttons with a
suitable woven fabric, one or both sides being finished with a concentric ring
or eyeletted hole formed through the front shell and covering, or both front
and back, if preferred, by the metal of the front shell or shells being raised
and thrown over for that purpose, between which the bar (which may be
variously shaped) is placed, and forms the shank by which such buttons are
intended to be attached to garments by the needle and thread being passed in
and out through the concentric eyeletted hole, the thread riding on the bar
above mentioned; secondly, the making of linen or other covered buttons with
a metallic back, so raised and pierced as to form two or more small ringed or
eyeletted holes, the junction of which forms a bar for the thread to ride on;
and this portion of our Invention may be greatly diversified, as the as the metal
so treated may form the front or back as desired, the opposite shell being ring-
holed or pierced for the needle to pass through in securing such buttons; or
the visible metal portion forming the eyelet holes and bar may be reduced to
the mere extent of small double or triple cyclet-holes, the intermediate space
dividing them forming the bar or bars for the thread to ride on, for securing
such buttons, the front or one side of such buttons being formed, as before
described, with a small concentric eyeletted hole, covered or otherwise by the
fabric, for the needle to be passed through from the front or reversed side in
the process of securing or sewing on. A modification of this description of
button may be made for trousers, vests, coats, and other purposes without

page_text: observe that the bar may be made, as here shown, of round wire, or it may bo
planished or flattened down wholly, or the part of the bar exhibited within the
concentric hole of the shell E may be left round, and the other portion
planished down. H, Fig. 3, represents the same description of button as at
A and B, Figure 1, with the exception that the back is represented as being
wholly covered with the fabric, the concentric ringed hole not appearing; and
this we effect by making the back shell flat, as exhibited in an edge view at L,
the disc being perforated in its centre for the passage of the needle in fixing
such buttons; but buttons so constructed may be used with the entire covered
surface in the front, and the ringed concentric hole at the back or the reverse,
as preferred; nor do we purpose confining ourselves to the use of the metal
disc L, as the same may be superseded by the use of a wire ring, whether the
ringed concentric hole be placed in the front or back of the button.
N, Fig. 4, represents another form of wire bar bent into shape, and represented
detached, as at F, Figure 1, and which bar is also represented as placed within
the front metal shell at M, and which shell is represented in section at O,
being identical with C, in Figure 2. This construction of button when
finished is intended to be in every way like A, B, or H, with the exception of
the part of the wire bar marked d, d, which forms, as here shown, a smooth
bar or loop shank for the thread to rest on when attached to garments: This
form of bar in its outer extremity may also be planished, so as to permit of its
lying flatter and occupying little space in the shell M, that the buttons thus
constructed may be made thin and compact, or the entire bar, as exhibited at
N, may, as before stated, be used in the place of the back shell marked D, in
Figure 2, and K, in Figure 3, the bar on the front of the button being entirely
obscured, as at H, Figure 3, while at the back the loop or bar will be seen
within the ringed hole, as at A, Figure 1, or of course an additional back shell
may be used, or the back shell may be so pierced, pressed, or otherwise ope-
rated on, as to form a bar or loop shank that will appear in the finished button
similar to M and N, and a back shell thus formed we have exhibited at P,
or, instead of forming the bar of round wire, as exhibited detached at N, and
within the shell at M, we purpose, in some instances, forming the bar as at Q,
which may be cut out and pierced from sheet metal, and stamped or pressed,
that the centre part may present a round or wiry appearance in its transverse
section, which will destroy all tendency of all such formed bars or loop shanks.
cutting the thread used for attaching such buttons, the parts marked e, e, being
planished down, so as to lie close between the shells of the finished button,
which buttons may be constructed also identically as at A, B, and H, Figures 1
and 3, or the bar may be formed of simple wire, as exhibited in the finished

page_text: button R, Fig. 5; f representing an edge detached view of the bar f, and g
a flat view of the same, showing that the ends are planished down for the
purpose of compactness. And Fig. 6 is merely introduced to show that we do
not purpose confining ourselves to the use of round wire for this description of
bar, as it may be of a flat oval shape in its transverse section, and planished
down at each end as at h, and sometimes where great strength is required we
construct buttons as at S, Fig. 7, which represents the front of a button with
the front shell perforated in such a way that a narrow bar shall be formed
between two semicircular holes, as exhibited at T, which represents the back
side of the front shell lying upon the disc of woven fabric marked i, i, which
is large enough to be brought over the edge, and gathered in for covering tho
front and edge of the finished button, while the back shell is intended to bo
formed as at b, Figure 2, the flange for forming the concentric metal ring being
turned outward over the fabric that covers the back for the purpose of pro-
tecting its raw edge, the back of the button so formed and finished being
exhibited at V; the outer or portable bar represented in the front view at S,
is also represented detached at U; the projections k, k, and k, k, are intended
to be bent at right angles, and in applying it to the front of a button the pro-
jections-puncture the front fabric and are then bent inward, clipping the bar
formed in the front shell, as exhibited at T.
W and X, Fig. 8, represents the front and back of a button, admitting of
considerable diversity in its general construction, as, for instance, a disc may bo
formed as at C and D, Figure 2, for receiving the front fabric; if we adopt D
and apply the front fabric, and throw over the front flange b, so as to form the
centre eyelet or ringed hole of the button, we next form a back, as at A³, and in
section at B; the inner concentric projection, marked I, 1, may be used for two
purposes, either to protect (by being spread outward) the inner edge of a ring
of cloth as at C', the outer edge of the same being secured by the flange m, m,
or this outer flange m, m, may be formed on the front shell, as at C, Figure 2..
A button thus constructed would exhibit the double-holed bar on the back of the
button, as exhibited at A¹ and D', and the front as at W, or the ring C¹ may
be of metal, and used for holding down a back covering as well as confining
within the flange or outer rim the front covering that extends around also for
covering the edge, thus producing a button both front and back, as exhibited
at W and X.
Fig. 9 represents a front and back view of a covered button, that not only
admits of being made, but also being used in two ways, as, for instance, the
front of the button E may be made either with or without the concentric metal
ringed hole for the thread and needle to pass through in the process of sewing,

page_text: as here shown, or the fabric may extend over the whole front of the button,
allowing the hole in the front shell for the sewing on to be effected, while the
bar for the thread to ride on for securing such buttons, is formed of two or
more eyeletted holes raised from the back shell, and thrown over on the back
fabric, as exhibited at F; this button admits of being used either way, namely,
what we designate the front may be the back, and what we term the back may
be the front, nor do we purpose in all cases covering the shell in which the
eyelet holes are formed with woven fabric.
A modification of the button last described we have exhibited at Fig. 10,
G¹ representing one side of a finished button, and H' the reverse. This button
we construct in the following way:-Wo raise a shell, say, as exhibited at E,
Figure 1, and place it on a disc of cloth, as here shown at 1'; the concentric
oval metal centre, having two eyeletted or ringed holes formed in it, as
exhibited at G¹, is first formed with two projections as at J', marked n, n;
these shanks are bent at right angles, so that they will pass within the pierced
hole in the front shell, and be bent outward, as exhibited in the front shell I',
marked o, o; the superfluous cloth is now gathered in, and the back shell and
woven fabric applied, and the button may be finished by tools and pressure in
the ordinary way, when it will assume the form of the finished button, as
exhibited at '; K' simply represents in section as taken through the dotted
line P. P, , of the part marked J', representing the part n turned up at right
angles with the oval. plate.
Fig. 11 exhibits in detail a button formed with a ring or eyeletted hole and
bar combined in the same shell, as exhibited in a front, back, and sectional
view at L, M, and N¹, the metal forming the concentric ring being first raised
and then concentrically sunk and pierced out, so as to form the ring and bar.
In completing this button, we cut out a suitable disc of cloth for covering the
front and edge of the button, also piercing a hole in its centre, the diameter of
which must be of the same size as the raised ring shown N', marked r, r, as
also at L' marked with the same letter, when the ringed hole is spread over
outwardly on the fabric, so as to protect the otherwise raw edge at this part;
and this treatment of the front disc and front covering is exhibited at O',
which represents one side of the finished button, in the completion of which
the back disc P! has been used, first covered over with the woven fabric. to com-
plete the covered back button, as exhibited at Q1; not that we are compelled
to use a back disc or shell, as this description of button, with a slight modifi-
cation, may be made from one disc of metal, the form of which we have shown
in a back, front, and sectional view at R', S', and T', Fig. 12; the concentric
eyeletted hole is raised on the back side of the shell or disc at t, t, the front

page_text: fabric being stretched over the shell, so as to cover its entire front when it is
brought over the edge and gathered in in. the usual way; and next we apply
a disc of cloth a little smaller than the internal diameter or capacity of the
shell, such disc of cloth having a concentric hole pierced out of it, of the size
of the outside of the raised ring marked t, t, so that in securing the front and
back fabric or covering to the shell, the outer rim or flange of shell has to
be gathered in and pressed, which holds and secures the extremity of both the
front and back covering, and the spreading outward of the metal forming the con-
centric ring over on the back fabric will secure it at that part; thus producing
a button very similar to O' and Q', of the last figure, with the exception that
the concentric circle representing the edge of the button in Q, will not appear
on that side, but on the same size as the concentric ringed hole, as exhibited
at O...
Fig. 13 represents a front, back, and edge view of a covered button, marked
U, V, and W', with an exposed metal back, the back being raised and
pressed, as here shown, with two ringed eycletted. holes, but which of itself is
not-new, but as applied to linen buttons, and to be used by being sewn through
and through from the front, by passing the needle and thread through a con-
centric ringed hole, forms a novel, useful, and strong button; but when using
this shank or back shell for trouser or other buttons, we cover the front with
an entire metal shell, flat, concave, convex, or other desirable shape, and
ornamented as required'; a button with a flat metal front we have exhibited
in a front and back view at Fig. 14.
Fig. 15 represents a front and edge view of a button, which may be cast,
stamped, or otherwise made, and of any appropriate design; its novelty consists
in forming projections on the bar, as at u, u, to confine the thread by which
the button is secured to the garment between the projections; these projections
may be variously formed, as exhibited in the modification at Fig. 16; the front
of the bar at X' has two projections, dots, or tits, which answer the same object
and purpose as continuous projections; Y¹ represents a similar button in form
to the one last described, but stamped up and raised from sheet metal, and
after clipping and piercing, the same may be closed in to give a finish to the
back of the button, or this description of bar button may be made of two shells;
as exhibited in the front view A", and in section at B", Fig. 17.
Having now given a general description of our Invention, and the manner
in which the same may be carried into effect generally, we will observe that we
have not thought it necessary to exhibit and technically describe the press and
press tools or other appliances by which such buttons are made and formed, as
the same are well understood by operatives working at the various branches

page_text: comprehended in the manufacture of buttons; but what we claim and wishi
protected by these our in part recited Letters Patent, is,--
First, the general construction of linen or covered buttons, herein described
and exhibited in the various Figures from 1 to 13 inclusive.
Secondly, the button described at Figure 14.
Thirdly, the trouser button exhibited and described at Figures 15 and 16,
without any regard to the general form of such buttons, provided the bars are
formed as herein described.
And, lastly, we claim the description of shell button, as exhibited and
described at Figure 17, the bar possessing and presenting the same advantages
and appearance, whether the projections continue around the bar or formed on
the front shell only, as set forth in the last claim.
In witness whereof, we, the said Edwin Green and Joel Cadbury, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-sixth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
JAMES S. COCKINGS,
Patent Agent,
Birmingham.
(LS.)
JOEL CADBURY. (L.S.)