AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MAKING BUTTON HOLES.
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Walker, of Gresham Street, in 'the City
-
of London, and of Alcester, in the County of Warwick, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MAKING BUTTON HOLES.".
A communication from abroad by John G. Powell, of Philadelphia,
in the United States of America.
Sealed the 26th March 1872, and dated the 5th October 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Walker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th October 1871.
I, HENRY WALKER, of Gresham Street, in the City of London, and
of Alcester, in the County of Warwick, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MAKING BUTTON
HOLES," to be as follows:-
11
I take a piece of rolled steel of suitable substance and I cut out a piece
thereof about three and a quarter inches long and about one inch broad;

page_text: one end of the said piece of steel or blade is shaped to a point in the
form of an acute angle; one edge I leave smooth and the other I make a
cutting edge; the other end of this blade is rounded to a convenient
form for thrusting it forward by hand pressure. I corrugate this blade
lengthways to give it increased stiffness. The length of hole to be cut 5
is governed by a guage which slides on the corrugations of the blade, and
which forms a stop, preventing further penetration and leaving a holo of
the desired length in the material operated on.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Walker in the Great Seal Patent Office on 1
the 30th March 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
WALKER, of Gresham Street, in the City of London, and of Alcester, in
the County of Warwick, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 1
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and soventy-one, in the thirty-.
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Walker, Her special
licence that I, the said Henry Walker, my executors, adminis- 2
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Walker,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great 2
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MAKING BUTTON HOLES," a com-
munication to me from abroad by John G. Powell, of Philadelphia,
in the United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Henry Walker, my exccutors or adminis- 3
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain

page_text: 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 Henry Walker, 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 :-
My Invention consists of the apparatus herein-after described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing for making button holes.
I take a piece of rolled steel of suitable substance and I cut out a
piece thereof about three and a quarter inches long and about one inch
broad at the widest part; one end of the said piece of steel or blade is
shaped to a point in the form of an acute triangle; the opposite end is
rounded to a convenient form so as to receive hand pressure for thrusting
it forward; one side I leave smooth and the other I grind to a cutting
edge. I corrugate this blade lengthways to give it increased stiffness.
The length of the hole cut by this apparatus when thrust into any cloth
or fabric is governed by a gauge which slides on the corrugations of the
blade, and which forms a stop to prevent further penetration, and thereby
leaves a hole cut of the desired length in the material or fabric operated
on. The gauge can be made to work in a slot in the blade instead of
sliding on the corrugations thereof, and the marks for gauging the length
of cut could be placed on the blade instead of being on the gauge as
shewn in the accompanying Drawing.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
A, the point for penetration; B, the cutting edge; C, the smooth
back; D, the rounded end for thrusting forward by pressure of the hand;
E, the corrugations; F, the sliding gauge.
Having now described the nature of this Invention and the manner of
carrying it into effect, I claim no particular method or methods of
manufacturing this apparatus other than those already well known; but
I wish it to be understood I do not confine myself to the precise details
herein described and represented, as the same may be varied without

page_text: departing from the nature of this Invention; but I claim what is herein
substantially described and explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Walker, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
A. MEYER,
:47, Gresham Street,
London, .E.C.
H. WALKER. (L.§.)