IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND APPLIANCES FOR FIXING BUTTONS, STUDS, HOOKS AND EYES, AND OTHER FASTENINGS IN OR UPON GARMENTS, FURNITURE AND OTHED A DTICLE
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Marshall Arthur Wier, of Number 9, Great
Winchester Street, in the City of London, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND APPLIANCES FOR FIXING BUTTONS,
STUDS, HOOKS AND EYES, AND OTHER FASTENINGS IN OR UPON GARMENTS,
FURNITURE AND OTHED
A DTICLE
"
Sealed the 24th May 1872, and dated the 28th November 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Marshall Arthur Wier
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 28th November 1871.
I, MARSHALL ARTHUR WIER, of Number 9, Great Winchester Street,
in the City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF AND APPLIANCES FOR FIXING
BUTTONS, STUDS, HOOKS AND EYES, AND OTHER FASTENINGS IN OR UPON GARMENTS,
FURNITURE, AND OTHER ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for object the fixing of buttons, studs, hooks,
eyes, and other fastenings in or upon garments, furniture, or other

page_text: articles, without the aid of thread, in such manner that altho' they
cannot become easily detached by accident they can readily be removed
when required, and consists in forming the button or other fastening with
a shank projecting from the back thereof, which is to be passed through
a hole in the garment or other fabric to which the fastening is to be i
attached.
On the end of the said shank is formed a head, flange, or shoulder
(hereinafter called for convenience the shank head); between the shank
head and the fabric is placed a moveable retaining plate of suitable
material in such manner as to encircle the shank immediately beneath -
the shank head, preventing the withdrawal of the shank from the fabric,
the said retaining plate being in some cases kept against the shank head
by the elasticity of the fabric or of a spring or pad of a suitable
material.
The shank, shank head, and retaining plate are so constructed in
relation to each other that the retaining plate may be placed upon or
removed from the shank when required, and while retained there in the
manner above mentioned is not liable to become detached therefrom by
accident in the ordinary course of wear & use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Marshall Arthur Wier in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 27th May 1872.
•
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARSHALL
ARTHUR WIER, of No. 9, Great Winchester Street, in the City of
London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in
the thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Marshall Arthur Wier,
Her special licence that I, the said Marshall Arthur Wier, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Marshall Arthur Wier, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at

page_text: 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 MEANS OF AND APPLI-
ANCES FOR FIXING BUTTONS, STUDS, HOOKS AND EYES, AND OTHER FASTENINGS IN
OR UPON GARMENTS, FURNITURE, AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Marshall Arthur Wier, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, 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 Marshall Arthur Wier, do hereby
declare the nature of my said 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, that is to say :—
My Invention has for object the fixing of buttons, studs, hooks and
eyes, and other fastenings in or upon garments, furniture, or other
articles, without the aid of thread, in such manner that although they
cannot become easily detached by accident they can readily be removed
when required, and consists in forming the button or other fastening with
a shank projecting from the back thereof, which is to be passed through
a hole in the garment or other fabric to which the fastening is to be
attached.
On the end of the said shank is formed a head, flange, or shoulder
(hereinafter called for convenience the shank head); between the shank
head and the fabric is placed a moveable retaining plate of suitable
material in such manner as to encircle the shank immediately beneath
the shank head, preventing the withdrawal of the shank from the fabric,
the said retaining plate being in some cases kept against the shank
head by the elasticity of the fabric or of a pad or spring of suitable
material.
The shank, shank head and retaining plate are so constructed in rela-
tion to each other that the retaining plate may be placed upon or removed
from the shank when required, and while retained there in the manner

page_text: above mentioned is not liable to become detached therefrom by accident
in the ordinary course of wear and use.
Figures 1, 2, 3, & 4 of the Drawing show one method I adopt for
carrying my Invention into effect. Fig. 1, a side view of a button or
stud complete; Fig. 2, a view of the same looking on the shank head,
with retaining plate in place; Fig. 3, the retaining plate; and Fig. 4 the
same view as Fig. 2, but with the retaining plate removed. A is the
body of the button or stud; B, the shank projecting from the back
thereof. The shank is cylindrical next to the body of the button as
at C, and square next the shank head as at D; E, the shank head, which
in this case is made oblong in plan; F, the retaining plate, having an
oblong hole G in its centre corresponding in size and shape to the shank
head. The shank E having been passed through a hole in the garment
or other article to which the button is to be applied, the retaining
plate F is passed by its oblong hole over the shank head, and pressed
down the shank B as far as the cylindrical part C, on which it is free to
turn, and being so turned à quarter of a revolution it is then drawn back
on to the square part D of the shank B, on which it cannot turn in con-
sequence of the shape preventing it. When the fabric or article into
which the button is inserted is sufficiently elastic the retaining plate is
held by that elasticity against the under side of the shank head, and
while so held cannot come off, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, but when the
fabric or article is not sufficiently elastic it may be found necessary to
employ a spiral or other suitably shaped spring H (shown in dotted lines)
to keep the retaining plate against the shank head.
In
Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8, represent a modification of the last-described
arrangement, and the same letters refer to like parts therein.
this arrangement the stem is made by preference cylindrical, but of two
different sizes, as at C and D, and the retaining plate F is made with a
hole in the centre large enough to encircle the larger part D of the
shank, while the side slot G is of a width suitable to pass over the
smaller part C thereof. The shank having as before been passed through
the fabric, the retaining plate is passed on by the slot G over the narrow
part C of the shank until the hole in the centre coincides with the
larger part D, when the retaining plate is slipped back against the shank
head as shewn in Fig. 5, and held there as before described.
Figs. 9, 10, 11, and 12 represent a similar arrangement, but in which
the shank is of one size throughout, except where an oblique groove C

page_text: is cut on each side, by which the retaining plate is passed on by the
slot G similarly to the arrangement last described.
Figs. 13, 14, 15, and 16 represent another arrangement, in which the
retaining plate F is provided with a hole G large enough to encircle the
shank B, but less than the shank head, and having a slot I cut in one
side. Out of the shank head E is cut a small notch as shown, the edge K.
of which is bevilled above as shown, and the edge L bevilled below.
By placing the retaining plate with the slot I (the edges of which may
also be bevilled with advantage) obliquely over the corner L of the
shank head, and twisting it round in the direction of the arrow, it will
pass over the shank head and on to the shank B as shewn in Fig. 13.
Figs. 17, 18, 19, and 20 represent another arrangement in which the
retaining plate has a hole cut in it which is sufficiently wide one way to
allow the shank head to pass, but is too narrow the other way; slits are
made as shown which allow the tongues M, M, to be bent upwards so as
to allow the retaining plate to be pressed on to the shank over the shank
head; these tongues are then bent downwards, and the plate cannot
come off. The shank is formed with grooves round it as shewn, into
which the tongues catch, and the retaining plate may thus be held at
any part of the shank. This arrangement is specially applicable to
buttoning furniture.
Figs. 21, 22, 23, and 24 show the application of the arrangement
described in reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 to hollow or military
buttons, in which the shank may remain loose as shown, so that in
packing it may be free to recede more or less out of the way into the
hollow of the button. The shank head E is passed through the slot N
in the base O of the button before the latter is attached to the shell P,
after which it is prevented from coming out by the head Q. The
retaining plate F is placed in position as described in reference to
Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4. The arrangements of retaining plate and shank
illustrated in Figs. 5 to 12 may also be applied to hollow buttons
in a similar manner.
In order to remove any of the buttons above described from the fabric
or other article containing them it is merely necessary to proceed in the
reverse manner to that described for securing them thereon, and it will
be seen that as the operation of securing consists in a succession of
operations there is very little chance that the reverse of those operations

page_text: will be effected by accident, and that they cannot be so effected so long
as the fabric is of sufficient thickness and elasticity, or the spring (when
it is employed) of sufficient strength to keep the retaining plate against
the shank head. It will be obvious that the arrangements described are
applicable in some cases to the attachment of hooks and
1. eyes and other
fastenings, as well as for buttons and studs, and also that fastenings con-
structed in accordance with my Invention may be applied to other
articles besides garments.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to or may be performed, I wish it to be
understood that I do not claim the precise forms of the parts shown, as
they may be varied without departing from my Invention; but what I
do claim is, the adaptation and use of retaining plates in connection with
the shanks and shank heads of buttons or other fastenings, the said
retaining plates, shanks, and shank heads being constructed, arranged,
and adapted in relation to each other, substantially in the several
manners and for the purposes herein described and shewn.
In witness whereof, I, the said Marshall Arthur Wier, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of
May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-two.