AN IMPROVED BUTTON FASTENING
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Mayhew, of Museum Street, Bloomsbury,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED BUTTON FASTENING."
Sealed the 20th April 1869, and dated the 24th October 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Mayhew at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th October 1868.
I, HENRY MAYHEW, of Museum Street, Bloomsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED BUTTON FASTENING," to be as follows:-
I propose to take a small strip. of metal or other pliable material, to
point it at each end, and then to pass it through and bend it into a loop.
over the bar of any button having, or which I may provide with, a
bar or shank, bringing the two ends of the strip close together. A.
button thus provided will be securely fixed with the greatest ease and
rapidity, it will only be necessary to pass the pointed ends of the strip
of metal through the material to which the button is to be attached,

page_text: then to bend each arm of the loop back on to the under surface of the
material and there compress them. The button can then only be
removed by bringing the two arms of the loop again together, and
thus drawing them back through the material.
As my improved fastening will play loosely on the bar or shank the
button will have no more rigidity than sufficient to keep it from hanging,
and the buttoning be effected with ease. When it is desired to give as
little play as possible to the button, I may elect to solder or otherwise
attach the bend of my fastening to the under side of a button unprovided
with bar or shank.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Mayhew in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st April 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
MAYHEW, of Museum Street, Bloomsbury, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Henry Mayhew, Her special licence that I,
the said Henry Mayhew, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Henry Mayhew, 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 "AN IMPROVED BUTTON FASTENING," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Mayhew, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Mayhew, do hereby declaro
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:-
The object of my Invention is to provide a convenient, rapid, and
secure means of fastening buttons upon articles of every description to
which buttons are applied, so as to allow the button a play which will
admit of casy buttoning, even when first put on, this being an important
advantage over the ordinary method of fastening by sewing, since the
sewing, which is at first too rigid to allow of an easy buttoning, becomes
eventually as much too loose, and so renders a close buttoning of the
article impossible.
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawings forming part of this my
Specification, Fig. 1 shows one of my improved button fastenings in
its most primitive form (drawn to a scale one-third larger than ordinary
size, the better to show its formation); Fig. 2, its application to a button.
with an ordinary shank; and Fig. 3, the same secured upon a fabric..
The shank of the button is passed between the prongs a, b, of the slide,.
Fig. 1, up to the arch c of the slide, as at Fig. 2, the prongs are then
pressed close together, passed through the fabric and bent back upon it,
as shown at Fig. 3; Fig. 4 shows the application of this fastening to
an ordinary bar button; Fig. 5 to a button with two perforations, and
Fig. 6 to a button with several holes, and it need scarcely be observed
that this fastening is applicable to every kind of button provided with a.
shank, a bar, or its equivalent.
My improved fastening applied as illustrated in the preceding Figures:
leaves nothing to desire on the score of the flexibility left to the button,
but as some fabrics would be liable to be cut or worn by the friction of
the prongs a, b, on their reverse side, I provide my fastening, in order to
obviate this with a washer d, Fig. 7 which I slip over the prongs a, b,
after they are passed through the fabric, and upon which I bend back
these prongs, as shown at Fig. 8. I sometimes provide this washer
with grooves e, c, to receive the prongs a, b.. By thus countersinking.
the prongs I preserve a plane surface on that side of the washer, and.
by cutting off the points a, b, with a pair of scissors. no projection is,
left to catch in the fabric.
My fastener, whether applied in its primitive state, as at Figs. 3 to 6,,
or with a washer, as at Fig. 8, is secure against lateral strains, such as,

page_text: it would be subject to in buttoning or experience when buttoned, but a
strong pull in a straight direction might when fitted without the washer
bring the prongs a, b, back through the fabric, partly by the ends of the
prongs being again drawn together, and partly by their tearing through
the fabric; and when the washer is applied as at Fig. 8, this direct
strain might also draw the prongs straight and bring them out through
the hole in the washer, but without injury to the fabric. To obviate this
objection, and render the fastening absolutely secure, it is only requisite
to turn the extreme ends of the prongs a, b, over the edge of the washer,
as shown at Fig. 9, which may be done by slightly depressing the
washer on one side and bending the end of the prong over its edge
with the finger nail, or otherwise. Fig. 10 shows different stages of
fastening; Fig. 11 shows this application to a bar button, and Fig. 12
to a linen button, the ends a, b, not being turned over the washer.
Small strips of flat metal, of metallic wire, or of any material which
will lend itself to the requisite bendings without danger of breakage
and with pointed ends might be furnished to the consumer together
with the washers, and the strip be bent over the shank or bar of the
button at the moment of fastening it to the fabric, but this would
entail a certain amount of trouble and some care in order to have the
prongs of a somewhat equal length, and I therefore prefer supplying
the slide with a well-formed arch, as shown at Fig. 2, and which may
be made with a pair of ordinary bellhanger's pliers, or by any suitable
machine. The washer may be made of metal, the central hole and the
grooves being made by stamping or otherwise, or it may be of bone,
ivory, gutta percha, cbonite, wood, or any material which may in practice
be found suitable.
I am aware that slides analogous to that shown at Fig. 1 have been
used as fastenings, more particularly for binding sheets of paper or
parchement together, also that buttons have been made with two prongs
to pass through a fabric and fix the button by being bent away from
each other, as in the case of my slide, but in these instances the head
or button and the prongs have either been of one piece or rigidly joined
together, and have therefore wholly differed in principle from my system,
which is based upon the flexibility of the button upon its fastening,
which flexibility is secured by the formation of the arch c, and is given
chiefly in the direction required, namely, towards the button hole;
further, my fastening is not intended to and does not of itself form a

page_text: button, or a means of binding articles together, but is essentially a
fastening for buttons.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same may be carried into practical effect, I would
have it distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the
use of any particular metal or material in the manufacture of my.
improved fastening, nor to any particular relative dimensions of slide
and washer, nor to any precise form of washer, and that I claim, the use
of the slide, Fig. 1, alone or in combination with the washer das a
fastening for buttons, substantially as herein described and illustrated on
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Mayhew, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Twenty-first day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.