Improvements in Buttons and Fasteners therefor.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Communicated from abroad by THE WATERBURY BUTTON COMPANY, of Waterbury,
New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.]
Improvements in Buttons and Fasteners therefor.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
escribed and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had to
e accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification and in which:-
1.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by THE WATERBURY BUTTON COMPANY, of Waterbury,
New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.]
Improvements in Buttons and Fasteners therefor.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 drawings, forming part of this specification and in which:-
Figure 1, represents a vertical central section of the button complete.
Figure 2, a face view of the button complete.
Figure 3, front or outside view of the disk E detached.
Figure 4, side view of the fastener detached.
Figure 5, vertical central section showing the fastener and button engaged.
Figure 6, modification in the button.
Figure 7, a side view of the bodkin complete.
Figure 8, base end view.
Figure 9, transverse section on line -.
Figure 10, the blank from which the bodkin is formed.
Figures 11 and 12, vertical sections to illustrate the use of the bodkin with different
kinds of fasteners.
Figure 13, modification of the bodkin.
The first part of this invention relates to an improvement in that class of buttons
which are adapted to be secured to garments by a metallic connection, and the second
part of the invention relates to an instrument for the convenient applying of the
button to the garment, the object of the invention being the construction of a device
which, being introduced through a hole pierced in the garment for the purpose, may
enter the button and automatically engage therewith so as to secure the button to the
garment without the employment of other implements than that required to pierce
the hole, and the invention consists in the construction as hereinafter described and
particularly recited in the claim.
A, represents the front of the button, and B the back of the button; the back is
provided with a tubular shank C, which is constructed with a flange D, to take a
bearing upon the face of the garment where the button is to be attached. This shank, as
here represented, is made separate from the back, its inner end set through a central
opening in the back, and the edge turned down therein to interlock the back and shank,
so that the shank becomes a permanent part of the button. Between the back and front
of the button a disk E, is introduced, before the parts of the button are set together; this
disk is constructed with an opening F through its center, corresponding substantially
to the internal diameter of the shank C, and preferably the edge a around the opening
is turned upward, to form an upwardly projecting flange, as seen in Fig. 1. The back
and front of the button are closed together, so as to securely hold the disk E, in its
proper central position with relation to the opening through the sbank; the shape of
the front over the opening is made so as to leave a space between the edge a around
the opening in the disk, and the interior of the button, that the fastener may interlock
with the said edge a.
The fastener is composed of a tubular body G, Fig. 4, provided with a head H, at
one end adapted to bear upon the reverse side of the garment, and the diameter of the
tubular body G, is substantially that of the internal diameter of the shank C. At its
open end the tubular body G, is turned outward to form a slight annular flange 1, and
the body is slit in the plane of its axis, as at b, b Fig. 4, thus forming several elastic
tongues d d, it being understood that the metal of which the body is composed is of an

page_text: elastic character. These slits, forming as they do, independent springs d, permit the
contraction of the slit portion of-the body, the flange i, being of larger diameter
than the internal diameter of the shank C, hence if the fastener be introduced so as to
force the annular flange I into the shank, such force will cause the springs to be
thrown inward and contract the diameter, so as to permit the flange 1, to freely pass
up through the shank and through the opening F in the disk E, until the flange 1,
arrives at a point above the upper edge or surface around said opening F; then the
reaction of the springs will cause them to fly outward and so as to bring the flange 1
over the edge a, around the opening in the disk, and as seen in Fig. 6.
This flange I, presents substantially a right angle shoulder upon its under side, and
that shoulder resting upon a corresponding flat surface a upon the lisk, positively
interlocks the fastener with the button, so that the withdrawal of the fastener is
impossible without destruction of the button.
In applying the button and fastener, a hole is first pierced through the garment at
the point where the button is to be attached, then the fastener set through the hole,
thus pierced in the garment, and then the button placed over the protruding end of
the shank of the fastener, the two pressed together so as to bring the head of the
fastener and the base of the button firmly upon their respective sides of the garment,
and until the shoulder of the fastener is interlocked with the button.
It is desirable that the button shall be provided with the front A, as it covers the
opening through the button, and also the ends of the springs of the fastener, thereby
giving a neater and more finished appearance than the button would present were the
front omitted, but the front may be omitted, the disk E, and back being united, as
seen in Fig. 6.
As usually the buttons and fasteners are sold in packages and intended and adapted
to be applied by the wearers of the garments themselves, it is desirable that some
device shall accompany the buttons by which the hole for the introduction of the
fastener may be readily made. The object of the second part of my invention is a
simple construction of bodkin which is adapted for readily applying the button.
The blank from which the bodkin is formed is made from sheet-metal, substantially
the shape as seen in Fig. 10, the body e tapering from the base end to substantially
the point, and of a width corresponding to the circumference of the bodkin. At the
base end, projections fare formed, the combined width of which corresponds to the
circumference of the shank required for the bodkin. This blank is then struck or
folded into angular shape, as seen in Fig. 9, to bring the two edges together into a
sharp angle, as at g, and form several other angles, as h; these angles are sharp, and
run from the base to the point, as seen in Fig. 7, broken lines Fig. 10 indicating the
lines on which the folds or bends are made. The projections ff from the base end,
are struck into cylindrical shape, to form the shank i of the bodkin, the diameter of
this shank corresponds to the diameter of the shank of the fastener. The fastener in
this case having a tubular shank, the external diameter of the shank i corresponds to
the internal diameter of the shank of the fastener, as seen in Fig. 11, and so that the
fastener set into the shank of the bodkin, as seen in Fig. 11, the bodkin is easily
forced through the garment, the fastener following through the hole produced by the
bodkin, and then the bodkin withdrawn from the reverse side, leaves the fastener
ready to receive the button, the bodkin, however, is applicable to solid shank fasteners,
such as seen in Fig. 12, in that case the interior diameter of the shank of the bodkin
will correspond to the external diameter of the shank of the button.
The sides of the bodkin are preferably made concave in transverse section, as seen
in Figs. 8 and 9, which facilitates the producing of the sharp angles. This angular
shape of the bodkin gives to it a cutting effect to pass through the fabric of the
garment, and requires less force than would be required for a round bodkin, as the
cutting or wedging action of this angular bodkin more readily forces the material than
does the round bodkin.
The shank of the bodkin is best made with two projections ff, as first described,
each forming one half the cylindrical shank, as seen in Fig. 8, but it may be made

page_text: from a single projection, as seen in Fig. 13, that single projection being struck into the
required cylindrical shape.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents I declare that what I claim is :-
First. A button composed of a back B, with a tubular shank projecting therefrom,
and adapted to bear upon the garment, with a disk E, secured upon said back, the
said disk having a central opening through it of a diameter corresponding substantially
to the internal diameter of the shank, and so as to form a rigid bearing edge a around
said opening for the fastener, substantially as described.
Second. A button composed of a front A, and back B, the back B, constructed with
a tubular shank adapted to rest upon the surface of the garment, a disk E inclosed
between said back and front, and constructed with a central opening through it
corresponding substantially to the internal diameter of the tubular shank, the front of
the button covering the said opening and constructed with a concentric recess upon
its inner surface larger than the said opening in the disk, and so as to leave a space
around said opening between the front and the said disk, the edge of the said
disk around said opening being adapted to engage the button fastener, substantially
as described.
Third. A button composed of the back B, constructed with a tubular shank, a disk E,
secured upon said back, and having a central opening through it corresponding
substantially to the internal diameter of the tubular shank, and so as to form an edgo a
around said opening, combined with a fastener having a tubular body G, with a head H
at one end, the other end constructed with an annular flange I so as to form
substantially a right angular shoulder upon its under side and the body longi-
tudinally slit from its open end to form several springs d, substantially as described,
the said flange I being adapted to automatically engage the said bearing surface a on
the said disk.
Fourth. The herein described bodkin for attaching buttons, made from sheet metal
folded to form several sides running from the base to the point and producing sharp
angles between the said sides, and having a cylindrical shank at its base end formed
as an integral part of the sheet-metal body, substantially as described.
Dated this 17th day of June 1890
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.