IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTON-HOLE CASINGS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London,
for the Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTON-HOLE CASINGS.”—A com-
munication from abroad by Virginia Viard Balmforth, of Oakland,
California, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 15th May 1875.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTON-HOLE CASINGS,"
a communication, to be as follows :—
This Invention relates to an attachable and removable button-hole
casing or lining, consisting of an outer ornamental piece in combination
with an inner strengthening piece, as herein-after set forth.

page_text: 1
The following is the mode of carrying the said Invention into
practice: The outer face is constructed of suitable ornamental
appearance, and attached to the inner face by working the button-
holes through both, thus forming the shank or connection. It is
necessary to have one of the surfaces of the button-hole casing
separately constructed, or both may be so constructed. The separate
face is drawn through the hole cut to receive the same in the garment,
the outside face being arranged to present an ornamental appearance;
they are then stitched around by ordinary stitching so as to attach
the same firmly to the garment, shoe, or other article where the
button-hole is attached. The button-hole may however be constructed
of any suitable pliable material, either india-rubber or other material
composing the outer and inner face, and having the connection so
as to form a border to the button-hole upon both sides of the garment
material to which it is attached. It might be attached by rivets where
the material is sufficiently heavy and stiff.
The advantages of this Invention are,―
First. The said button-hole casings are purchasable and may be
applied to any garment.
Secondly. The wear does not come upon the garment but upon the a
applied button-hole; therefore when worn or soiled it can be removed
and replaced at pleasure.
Thirdly. They may be applied to fabrics in which from lack of
strength or tendency to ravel, or from heaviness of material, it is
difficult or impossible to make the ordinary button-hole.
Fourthly. They are ornamental in appearance, admitting of such
diversity of styles and application as to give the purchaser an almost
boundless field for the exercise of taste.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said 80
William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th
November 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
3

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-.
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
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 BUTTON-HOLE CASINGS," a communication to me from abroad by Virginia
Viard Balmforth, of Oakland, California, United States of America, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 on or before the Thirtieth day of November One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification:--
This Invention relates to an attachable and removable button-hole
casing or lining, consisting of an outer ornamental piece in combination
with an inner strengthening piece, as herein-after set forth.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.

page_text: D represents a section of a garment or other article where a button-
hole is required.
.
In Figure 2, a, b, and c represent button-holes combined by the
strip E which is attached to the strip or section F at a and b, while
the button-hole c has the lower or inner face O withdrawn to show its
construction; i represents the hole or perforation cut in the cloth to
receive the button-holo and allow the attachment of the same.
In Figure 5, H represents the under faces combined in a single strip,
and the outer faces separate for insertion; d represents an outer surfaco
for shirt studs, and e and 9 represent the faces or borders suitable for
the ordinary shirt buttons.
In practising this Invention the outer face is constructed of suitably
ornamental appearance, and attached to the inner face C by working
the button-holes through both, thus forming the shank or connection B.
It will be seen that it is necessary to have one of the surfaces of the
button-hole casing A or C separately constructed, or both may be so
constructed. The separate face is drawn through the hole cut to receive
the same in the garment, the outside face being arranged to present an
ornamental appearance; they are then stitched around by ordinary
stitching to attach the same firmly to the garment, shoe, or other article
where the button-hole is attached. The button-hole may however be
constructed of any suitable pliable material, either india-rubber or other
substance composing the outer and inner face, and having the con-
nection B to form a border to the button-hole upon both sides of the
garment material to which it is attached. It might be attached by
rivets where the material is sufficiently heavy and stiff, the main feature
of this Invention being the construction of a ready and complete button-
hole which is composed of an outer face and an inner face connected
at the edge of the hole, so that the faces or borders may be attached
the one upon the outside and the other on the inside of the garment.
The advantages of these button-holes are,—
First. They are purchasable and may be applied to any garment.
Secondly. The wear does not come upon the garment but upon the
material of the applied button-hole; therefore when worn or soiled it can
be removed and replaced at pleasure.
Thirdly. They may be applied to fabrics in which from lack of

page_text: strength or tendency to ravel, or from heaviness of material, it is
difficult or impossible to make the ordinary button-hole.
Fourthly. They are ornamental in appearance, admitting of such
diversity of styles and application as to give the purchaser an almost
boundless field for the exercise of taste.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim, the attachable and removable
button-hole casing or lining, consisting of the outer ornamental piece A
in combination with the inner strengthening piece G, the same being
stitched or worked as above set forth.
"
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here.
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
Seventy-five
:
W“. ROB™. LAKE. (L.S.)
Witness,
JA³. EDWARDS,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.