IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BUTTONS to be as follows:-
Year: 1885

page_text: I, ROBERT ELSDON, of Brockley, in the County of Kent, Civil Engineer do
hereby declare the nature of my said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF BUTTONS to be as follows:-
"
This invention relates more especially to improvements in the manufacture of
that class of buttons commonly known as "solid" buttons, which buttons are
usually constructed from blanks stamped from the plate or sheet, the thread-loop
or shank being afterwards attached thereto by soldering or otherwise; but it is
also applicable to that class of buttons known as "set" buttons.
In manufacturing buttons in accordance with this present invention I take wire
of any desired metal and of round, oval, or other suitable section, and I bend it at
any required portion of its length into a loop which will ultimately form the
thread-loop or shank of the finished button. I then bend or coil one or both ends
of the wire into a volute which forms a kind of disc standing at right angles with
the said thread-loop or shank. Radial pressure is preferably brought to bear upon
the circumference of the said volute during its formation so as to ensure a more or
less circular form when finished and also the close contact of the convolutions of
the wire. During the formation of the volute the face thereof may be operated
upon by a grinding, scraping, or cutting tool so as to level or smoothe the same
more or less; or this operation may be separately performed. I then permanently
attach the convolutions of the wire to one another by soldering, brazing, or
otherwise, and the whole will then be sufficiently solid for further operation; the
face may then be gilded, plated, or otherwise covered, and burnished when
necessary, after which the rough button thus prepared may be subjected to
pressure between dies for the purpose of shaping and further solidifying the button
and of imparting any desired design or finish thereto. In some
cases these
buttons may be enclosed within a border ring of the same or different metal, and
they may be ornamented in a great variety of ways.
:
When it is desired to apply this invention to the manufacture of buttons with
backs such as are known as "set" buttons, I form the back of the button manu-
factured as above described with a disc cut or perforated so as to pass over the
TD 97

page_text: shank into a groove or recess formed in the back part of the button above
described, being retained in such groove by the usual process of "setting."
Buttons manufactured in accordance with my present invention cost less than
those constructed in the ordinary way and possess the further advantages of
having the thread-loop or shank formed solid with the button, and the waste of t
material in the manufacture is reduced to a minimum.
I, ROBERT ELSDON, of Brockley, in the County of Kent, Civil Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying sheet of Drawings and to the
letters and Figures marked thereon :-
This invention relates more especially to improvements in the manufacture of
that class of button commonly known as solid buttons, which buttons are usually
constructed from blanks stamped from the plate or sheet, the thread-loop or shank
being afterwards attached thereto by soldering or otherwise, but it is also applicable
to that class of button known as set buttons.
In manufacturing buttons in accordance with this present invention, I take wire
of any desired metal, and of round, square, oval, or other suitable section, and
I bend it at any required portion of its length into a loop which will ultimately
form the thread-loop or shank of the finished button, but when employing wire of
square section, I previously round that portion which is intended to form the
thread-loop or shank; I then bend or coil one or both ends of the wire into a
volute which forms a kind of disc standing at right angles with the said thread-
loop or shank. Radial pressure is brought to bear upon the circumference of the
said volute during its formation, so as to ensure a more or less circular form when
finished and also the close contact of the convolutions of the wire. During the
formation of the volute, the face thereof may be operated upon by a grinding,
scraping, or cutting tool, so as to level or smooth the same more or less, or this
operation may, in some cases, be dispensed with, or be separately performed.
I then permanently attach the convolutions of the wire to one another by soldering,

page_text: brazing or otherwise, and the whole will then be sufficiently solid for further
operation. The soldering may be done in a variety of ways, for example, a disc of
solder, baving a hole in its centre, may be threaded on to the thread-loop or shank,
and then be subjected to heat, or a disc of solder, or powdered solder, may be
employed on the front or face of the button, and then be subjected to heat.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents a length of wire A having
a thread-loop B formed therein. Figure 2 represents the volute formed by coiling
the two ends a and a¹ of the wire A in the manner hereinbefore described, the
extreme ends of the wire being, by preference, tapered as shown. Figure 3 repre-
sents in section the completed rough button. Figure 4 illustrates a method of
forming the volute by coiling one end only of the wire A round the central thread-.
loop or shank, which latter would, in this case, be formed at one end of the
wire A, instead of in the middle as in Figure 1. After the process of soldering,
the rough button, prepared as above described, may be subjected to pressure
between dies for the purpose of shaping and further solidifying it, and of imparting
a smooth surface to the front and back thereof. In order to secure uniformity of
color to the button, I sometimes subject the same to the action of an electro-
depositing bath, and the button thus prepared may be gilded, plated, or otherwise
covered by any known process, and burnished, after which it is again subjected to
pressure between dies, and any desired design or finish imparted thereto. In
some cases, these buttons may be enclosed within a border ring of the same or
different metal, and they may be ornamented in a great variety of ways.
When it is desired to apply this invention to the manufacture of buttons with
backs such as those known as set buttons, I form. the front of the button in
the manner above described, and the back of a disc cut or perforated so as to pass
over the shank into a groove or recess formed in the back part of the button
front, the disc being retained in such groove by the usual known process.
Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings illustrates the application of my invention
to the manufacture of bottoms or backs of buttons. For this purpose the wire
may be of a finer gauge than that employed for solid buttons, and in order to make
the thread-loop or shank of sufficient strength, I form it of double or treble coils
or thicknesses of wire as shown at B in Figure 5, the bottom or back itself being
formed of a volute in the manner hereinbefore described. The front part of the
button may either be made in the usual way, or of a volute of wire made as above
described, but without a thread-loop or shank.
When it is required to construct a heavy solid button and for this purpose to
employ wire of a coarse gauge, I sometimes reduce, by pressing, rolling, or other-
wise, that portion of the length of wire which is intended to form the thread-
loop or shank of the finished button, in the manner illustrated in Figure 6.
When the disc part of the button is subjected to the pressure of dies for tho
purpose of shaping, solidifying, and finishing the same, a recess or hole is formed
in the lower die as usual to receive the thread-loop or shank, and in order to
increase the support for the centre of the button when the blow is given by the
upper die, I sometimes form the said thread-loop or shank of a somewhat elongated
loop shape as shewn at B' in Figure 7, thus permitting the recess or hole in the
lower die to be narrower, and the loop or shank is made to assume the circular
shape as at B by means of pressure subsequently applied.
Figure 8 represents the application of my invention to the manufacture of
button-studs, or solitaires, in which the face or front thereof is composed of a wire
volute, and the loop shaped shank B is made of double coils of wire as in Figure 5
but of sufficient length to enable the ends thereof to be afterwards bent up so as
to form the shank end or back of the button-stud, or solitaire.
Buttons manufactured in accordance with my present invention cost less than
those constructed in the ordinary way, and possess the further advantage of having
the thread-loop or shank formed solid with the button, and the waste of material
in the manufacture is reduced to a minimum.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
The manufacture of solid buttons, and the front and back parts of set buttons,
from wire, by first bending the wire to form the thread-loop or shank, and then
coiling the end, or ends, of the wire into a volute which forms a disc at right
angles to the shank; soldering or brazing the convolutions of wire to each other,
and then subjecting the rough button, thus prepared, to pressure between dies for
the purpose of shaping and solidifying the button, and then imparting, by sub-
sequent pressure, a design or finish thereto, as hereinbefore described, and illustrated
in the drawings hereto annexed.