IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTONS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BUTTONS."-A communication from abroad by Henry Dollier, of Paris.
Sealed the 27th September 1860, and dated the 2nd April 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 2nd April 1860.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTONS," (a communication from abroad by Henry
Dollier, of Paris,) to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in forming buttons of two parts, as hereafter ex-
plained, in such manner, that they can be attached to cloth, leather, and other
material without sewing.
According to the first arrangement, that part of the button which, when
attached, is intended to be visible, or the button proper, consists of a disc or
plate of metal, or other suitable material, the central part of which is concave
or cup-shaped, and is open at bottom. The other part consists of a hollow
conical -tube of metal, with a projecting flange at bottom. To secure the
button, place the apex of the conical piece through a hole formed in the

page_text: material to which the button is to be attached, and insert it in the concave
part of the first named plate, press open and burr down the top edges of the
conical tube, upon the inside of the cup-shaped or concave part of the button
proper.
According to the second arrangement the button proper is formed with a
hollow tapering tube, which is continued down from the concave part of the
disc or plate. The second part consists of a flat disc, with a hole through the
To secure the button pass the tube through the material, place
the flat disc over the tube, press the tube open, and burr down the edges
thereof on the disc, and the material will be held between the cup part of the
button proper and the flat disc.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 2nd October 1860.
..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 BUTTONS," (a communication from abroad by Henry Dollier,
of Paris,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their bands 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 Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
This Invention consists, in forming buttons of two parts, as hereafter ex-
plained, in such manner that they can be attached to cloth, leather, and other
material without sewing.
According to the first arrangement that part of the button which when
attached is intended to be visible, or the button proper, consists of a disc or
plate of metal, or other suitable material, the central part of which is concave,
or cup-shaped, and is open at bottom. The other part consists of a hollow
conical or cylindrical tube of metal, with a projecting flange at bottom. To
secure the button, place the end of the conical or cylindrical piece through a
hole formed in the material to which the button is to be attached, and insert
it in the concave part of the first named plate, the press open and burr down
the top edges of the conical or cylindrical tube upon the inside of the cup-
shaped or concave part of the button proper.
According to the second arrangement the button proper is formed with a
hollow tapering or parallel tube, which is continued down from the concave
part of the disc or plate. The second part consists of a flat disc with a hole.
through the centre. To secure the button, pass the tube through the material,
place the flat disc over the tube, press the tube open, and burr down the edges
thereof on the disc, and the material will be held between the cup part of the
button proper and the flat disc.
In the accompanying Drawings I have shown the manner in which this
Invention is carried into effect. Figure 1 is a section, and Figure 2, a .plan
of the button proper a; its hollow shape is produced by moulding, or stamp-
ing, or otherwise. The tube b, Figures 3 and 4, is conical or cylindrical,
terminating in a plate or disc; this is also made by moulding, or stamping, or
otherwise. The two parts a and b, are connected together in the following
manner-Pass the tube 6 through the material c (shown in Figure 5) to
which the button is to be fastened, pass the button a over the tube b, and by
means of an oeilet machine or other instrument open and burr down the tube
in the recess formed in the concave part of the button, as shown at Figure 5.
According to the foregoing arrangement the tube 6 of the button is open at
that part which is visible, and is independent of the body of the button, but-in
the second arrangement before described, which is shown at Figures 6 and 7,
the tube 6 forms part of the button. The cupped or concave part is formed

page_text: with the tube b attached to it. This tube is passed through the material; a
disc or metal plate d (shown in Figures 8 and 9) is placed on the tube bat
the under side of the fabric c, and the tube is opened and burred down under
the plate d, as shown at Figure 10. The concave part of the button is in this
case closed.
In order to afford a seat for the fabric c (which is placed between the body a
of the button and the lower rim of the tube b) a washer or disc g is sometimes
placed between the cupped part and the fabric, as shown, to prevent the fabric
being torn. The button a, represented at Figures 11 and 12, is formed with a
flange fat the bottom of the cup, in such manner that that part of the tube
which is bent over may rest in it, by which means greater strength is given to
the fastening. A flanged tube 6 is shown at Figures 13 and 14, a disc g, at
Figures 15 and 16. Figure 17 is a section showing how the tube 6 passés
through the fabric c and is connected to the disc g. This disc is placed over
the tube, and on it the button a; the tube is then opened and burred down,
and the fastening is complete, as shown in Figure 18.
The body of the button a may be fitted, as shown at Figure 19, with a shell,
stone, or any other ornamental top, as shown at h; the insertion of the button
in the fabric takes place in this case, by passing the fabric cover the tube b,
the end of which is burred down on the disc d. Figure 20 shows that the
tube 6 of the body a may be contracted at the under part of the cup in order
to afford a good bed for the fabric.
The Invention is susceptible of numerous modifications without departing
from its essential features. The button with the tubular tail or tube can be
opened or closed, whether the fastening take place at top or bottom. The tubes
b, Figures 22 and 23, is shown closed at its end. The tube is stamped unless
it is pierced at its end; The tube 6 is then introduced through the fabric c
Figure 21, and through the disc g, the body a of the button is placed above it
and the closed end of the tube b is driven back into the interior of the cup.
In Figures 24 and 25 is shown a tube closed at the top, and at the bottom by
means of a plate i set in the button, by this means dirt is prevented from
entering at the top or bottom of the button, as the tube 6 is closed at each
end. The button can also be closed at each end in the manner shown at
Figures 26, 27, and 28. The body a of the button is formed with a shell h; the
same body carries the tube b closed at its base, and the button is fastened to
the material by forcing back the end of the tube b against the disc d.
According to another modification, the concave button and the tail piece, or
tube may be connected together by means of a screw. For this purpose the
body a of the button (Figures 29 and 30) is made concave, but the tube b

page_text: has a screw thread formed on it, which, after passing through the fabric c, enters
the hole in the concave part of the button; a nut 7 is then screwed on to the
tube and rests in the concave part, as shown at Figures 29 and 30; the fabric
is thus screwed between the disc of the tube b, and the concave part of the body
a. The end of the tube b, as well as the nut l, lies flush with the surface
of the button. The nut 7 may be bored throughout, as shown at Figures
31 and 32, or it may be only partially bored, as shown at Figures 33 and 34.
The outer surface of the nut 7 may be flat, convex, or concave; after the nut is
screwed up, the end of the tube 6 may be forced back as shown in Figure 35.
The nut is screwed up by means of small holes e pierced on the surface of it as
shown at Figures 29 and 30.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the construction
of buttons, in the manner and for the purpose herein-before described and
illustrated in the several Figures of the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Second day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty.
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)