IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE AND CONSTRUCTION OP BUTTONS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Nicholls, of East Street, Old Kent Road,
County Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE AND CONSTRUCTION OP BUTTONS."
Scaled the 9th November 1855, and dated the 21st May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Nicholls at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st May 1855.
I, BENJAMIN NICHOLLS, of East Street, Old Kent Road, County Surrey, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE AND CONSTRUCTION OF BUTTONS" to be as follows:--
My object has been to procure a substance for a button that shall obviate
the following bad effect which I have observed in the generality of buttons
now made; that fault is, that the button as usually made not being all formed
in one piece of material, but having the head and neck, or shank or eye, in
different pieces and attached to each other, so that when in use a small force
serves to detach the head from the different parts, and thus render the button
useless; and although buttons have been formed all in one piece, such as
mettal buttons and leather buttons, yet the expense of the former and general
defects of both render them unavailing for the wants of the public. To overcome
these defects, and meet much more cheaply these wants, I propose to use a
material for making the buttons of such, that the button, when formed by
suitable means, so as to be all in one piece of material, and generally similar
to Figure 1 in the accompanying Drawing, having a head and shank made all
in one piece, shall possess such plasticity, that when a small amount of increased
temperature is imparted to it, a slight pressure shall cause it to alter the

page_text: figure & form of the shank, and when allowed to recover its former tem-
perature to retain the new figure and form thus impressed. The material
that I purpose to use is gutta percha, or such other suitable combination of it
with other ingredients as are now used.
Figure 1 in the accompanying Drawings is a form of the button, shewing
the head and neck, or shank, all in one piece, and such as it will be before
being used; but I do not mean that they shall be made of this exact form
invariably; the size and form may be varied, but the head and shank must
always be of one piece. The button shank is then inserted into a hole of the
same dimension as itself in the material to which it is to be attached, as shewn
in Figure 2; slightly increased temperature and gentle pressure is then applied
to the shank or neck, and a shoulder or stud is formed in the neck or shank
end, which, when the material is allowed to retain its former temperature, will
resist any force to detach it from the article less than that required to produce
fracture or rending in the material of the article to which the button is affixed,
or in the button itself. Figure 3 shews the form of the button when the
shoulder or stud has been formed; Figure 4 is another form of the shank,
which may be affixed by sewing in the usual manner, and obviating the
chance of the shank being seperated from the head of the button.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed 20
by the said Benjamin Nicholls in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th November 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
NICHOLLS, of East Street, Old Kent Road, County of Surrey, sond greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 25
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord One

page_text: thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign;
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Benjamin Nicholls, Her special licence that I, the said Benjamin Nicholls, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Benjamin
Nicholls, 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 MANU-
FACTURE AND CONSTRUCTION OF BUTTONS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Benjamin Nicholls, 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 Benjamin Nicholls, lo hereby declaré
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
The object of my Invention is to make a button in such a way and of such
materials that the head and the neck or shank shall be formed and consist of
one and the same piece of material; that is to say, the button shall not be
made in separate pieces, and then joined, fixed, or bound to each other to form
the finished button, but shall be cut out of the solid material all in one piece,
so as to be a complete whole and fit for use without further operations; and
moreover that the material of which it shall be made shall be of such a kind
as to possess the property of sufficient plasticity for forming and moulding
when under the action of moderato heat, and the requisite hardness and
pliability when under the ordinary temperature to which buttons are submitted
when in use. The material which I think possesses these qualities and is best
suited for my purpose, and which I take for making my buttons, is that known
by the name of gutta percha, or such known combination of it with other
substances as possess in the greatest degree the properties above mentioned.
The principle which I claim in my Invention is that of making buttons from
gutta percha. The forms of my buttons and the modes of attaching them to
the material on which they are to be used are various; but these I in no way
claim as part of my Invention. The ways in which I form my buttons are also
various, but generally performed by the action of a powerful press, the gutta
percha being compressed into a number of cups or moulds, which, pressing it

page_text: against another surface, cut out the buttons completely formed. The following
is a description of the machine which I propose to use:-I have a press with a
quick motion screw, similar in action to a printing printing press. On the under
side of the screw is fixed an iron plate, having a number of plungers projecting
from its surface, and of a diameter equal to that of the shanks of the buttons.
Attached to this plate, but with a proper interval between, is another plate,
having perforations in it, made so that their axes and diameters shall coincide
and be the same as those of the plungers on the plate above. These perfora-
tions are intended to form the shanks of the buttons. The two plates are so
arranged, that by suitable means the plungers on the top one shall, as required,
fall into or be withdrawn from the corresponding holes in the plate beneath.
Under these, and supported by the frame of the press, but moveable, so as to
be withdrawn from under it, is another plate, having holes drilled in it, their
axes being in a line with those of the holes and plungers in the two upper
plates. Into these holes are fitted conical or cylindrical steel cups or moulds
with cutting edges, the inside of each being hollowed out so as to mould the
form of the button heads, the external form being similar to that of a pear,
with the shank attached. The gutta percha in a soft state and in sheets of
proper thickness is now placed over the plate with the cups, the press is forced
down, the upper plates are pressed upon the gutta percha, and force it into the
hollow of the cups, and also up the perforations of the plate above it. The
cups now pressing against the upper surface cut out the part enclosed within
them, and in the corresponding hole in the plate above from the sheet of gutta
percha. This part is the button formed complete. The press is now relieved,
the two upper plates are brought together, and the plungers entering the holes
beneath them force out the shanks. The buttons are now ready to be attached
to the article upon which they are to be used. This may be done either in the
usual manner by sewing, or thus: a hole is made in the article of a size to fit
the shank, which is then inserted; gentle heat and pressure are then applied
to the end of it, and a shoulder or rivet made, which prevents it being
withdrawn.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Nicholls, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
BENJAMIN NICHOLLS. (L.S.)