AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING BUTTONS MADE OF VEGETABLE IVORY BONE HORN AND WOOD AND BUTTONS OF THE KIND CALLED LINEN BUTTONS
Year: 1884

page_text: I WILLIAM NEWMAN of N°8 65 and 66 Mott Street Birmingham in the County
of Warwick Ivory Button Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING BUTTONS
MADE OF VEGETABLE IVORY BONE HORN AND WOOD AND BUTTONS OF THE KIND
CALLED LINEN BUTTONS" to be as follows: -
My invention consists in ornamenting buttons made of vegetable ivory, bone,
horn and wood and buttons of the kind called linen buttons by printing upon or
staining their faces with the desired pattern or design in the manner and by the
use of the printing composition herein after described.
The design or pattern produced by my invention is indelible and is unaffected
by wet and the wear to which in use the buttons are exposed.
My said invention consists in the use of the printing composition herein after
described and applying the said composition to the buttons to be ornamented by
means of stamps the impressing surfaces of which are made of india rubber. The
printing composition which I use consists preferably of black aniline dye but an
aniline dye of other colour may be employed. To this dye I add a small quantity
of hydrochloric acid or other mineral acid. The mixture or composition is taken
up by the india rubber impressing stamp from a charged pad in the usual way and
the design or pattern upon the said stamp is printed or impressed upon the face of
the button. By the use of the printing composition described the printed pattern
or design is indelibly impressed on and penetrates beneath the surface of the
button and hence the design is not obliterated by the wear to which the button
is exposed.
The button on which the pattern or design has been printed is dried and the
pattern or design is tinted of the desired colour by means of a dye or staining
material applied by the process commonly called "mottling."
The buttons ornamented according to my invention are finished in the ordinary
way.
When the buttons to be ornamented are made of vegetable ivory, bone, horn or
wood they are softened by steeping them in boiling water before the pattern or
design is printed on their faces.
Dated thin sixtoauth dow of Fahmy 1984
W. T. WHITEMAN, .
Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: I WILLIAM NEWMAN of No 65 and 66 Mott Street Birmingham in the County
of Warwick, Ivory Button Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of my
invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING BUTTONS
MADE OF VEGETABLE IVORY, BONE, HORN AND WOOD AND BUTTONS OF THE KIND
CALLED LINEN BUTTONS" and in what manner the same is to be performed to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention consists in ornamenting buttons made of vegetable ivory, bone,
horn and wood and buttons of the kind called linen buttons, by printing upon or
staining their faces with the desired pattern-or design in the manner herein after
described.
The design or pattern produced by my invention is indelible and is unaffected
by wet and the wear to which in use the buttons are exposed.
My said invention consists in the use of the printing composition herein after
described and applying the said composition to the buttons to be ornamented by
means of stamps, the impressing surfaces of which are made of india rubber.
The printing composition which I use consists preferably of black aniline dye
but an aniline dye of other colour may be employed. To this dye, I add a small
quantity of hydrochloric acid or other mineral acid which acid causes the dye to
penetrate the material of which the button is made to a greater depth than it
would without the addition of acid. Although I prefer to use mineral acids yet
I do not limit myself thereto as some organic acids, such for example as acetic
acid, bave the same or nearly the same effect. The mixture or composition is
taken up by the india rubber impressing stamp from a charged pad in the way
commonly practised in printing names, addresses and the like by hand india rubber
stamps, and the design or pattern upon the stamp charged with the mixture or
composition is printed or impressed upon the face of the button.
The buttons to be ornamented when made of vegetable ivory, horn or wood are
first softened by steeping them for, say, ten minutes in boiling water, before
printing and on removal from the water are placed face upwards upon a table or
flat surface, the flat central part of the back of the button causing the face of the
button to preserve a horizontal position. The said buttons soon become surface
dry and are then ready for the printing process.
By the use of the printing composition described the printed pattern or design
is indelibly impressed on and penetrates beneath the surface of the button and
hence the design is not obliterated by the wear to which the button is exposed.
After the buttons have been printed in the manner described they are dried.
The drying is effected by placing the printed buttons face upwards in trays of wood
or zinc having in them holes of about half the size of the buttons. The buttons
are placed on the holes in the trays by hand. These trays charged with buttons are
introduced into a drying stove or oven heated preferably by steam passing through
a coil of tubes in the said oven. The trays may be conveniently supported on the
coils of the steam pipes. An exposure of from five to ten minutes in the stove or
oven is sufficient for the drying of the buttons after printing. After the printed
buttons are withdrawn from the drying stove they are thrown into a vessel con-
taining a dyeing solution of the colour which it is intended the ground or base of
the design shall have.
Where it is desired that the ground colour of the design shall be that of the
material of which the button is made the dyeing just referred to is dispensed with
and where it is desired that the ground colour shall be dark I prefer to dye the

page_text: buttons twice, that is, once before they are printed and again after they have been
printed. After the dyeing material has been poured off from the printed and dyed
buttons they are well washed with water and are dried in the stove or oven herein
before described. The printed and dyed buttons are finished by polishing in the
ordinary way. When it is desired that the ornamented buttons should have the
appearance commonly known as mottled," I apply the mottling process after
the printing process that is before the final dyeing.
"
The mottling is effected on the printed buttons after they have been withdrawn
from the drying stove and while still on the trays on which they were dried.
When a dark mottling is required the buttons must be soaked in warm water in
order to soften the material of the button and make it absorb the mottling material
more readily. The temperature of the warm water need not exceed 120 degrees
of Fahrenheit's thermometer and the buttons may be soaked therein from five to
ten minutes. On removal from the warm water the buttons are partially dried so
as to remove all the surface moisture and thereby prevent the undue spreading
of the mottling material.
In applying my invention to linen buttons I ordinarily only print designs upon
the face of the button in the manner herein before described but without the
soakings in water, stainings and washings herein before referred to. Where
however it is desired that the linen buttons should be dyed with a ground colour
or mottled the dyeing and mottling are effected in the manner herein before
described with respect to buttons other than linen buttons.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is The improvement or improvements in ornamenting buttons made of
vegetable ivory, bone, horn and wood and buttons of the kind called linen buttons
herein before described; that is to say, printing designs patterns or ornaments
upon the faces of the said buttons by means of india rubber faced stamps charged
with aniline dyes, mixed with an acid, whether the printing be used in connection
with dyeing and mottling or be used without dyeing and mottling.
Dated this Fourth day of November 1884.