AN IMPROVED BUTTON-FASTENER
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake
"
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"AN IMPROVED BUTTON-FASTENER communicated to him from abroad by
Eleazer Kempshall, of New Britain, Connecticut, United States of America
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th August 1883.
"
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "AN IMPROVED BUTTON-FASTENER com-
municated to me from abroad by Eleazer Kempshall, of New Britain, Connecticut,
United States of America
My improved button-fastener belongs to that class of metallic devices by which
buttons can be firmly secured to boots or shoes without the use of a setting tool
specially devised for that purpose.
The objects of my invention are to present at the inner surface of a boot or shoe
a minimum bulk of metal to have such metal as is necessarily presented in such a
form as will enable it when in use to be practically embedded in the lining of the
shoe, so as to afford no abrasive points for contact with stocking or foot, and to
provide for a strong reliable connection for the eye of the button, which can be
wholly housed within an ordinary punctured hole, such as is usually necessary in
button-fasteners of the class above referred to.
According to the said invention a sheet-metal button-fastener embodying an
integral head-bar and a hook, arranged to engage with the eye of a button, is so
formed that the said hook involves only one bend in the metal. Many prior sheet-
metal fasteners having disc-shaped heads have had integral tongues, first bent at
right angles to the disc and then again bent upon themselves to form the hook,
thus requiring either very thin or tender metal or a weakened place at the base of the
hook incident to the short bend, and with such disc-heads at least two bends are
requisite in forming the hook. The fastener herein described in its blank form, is
cut from comparatively heavy sheet metal, and has a substantially straight

page_text: head-bar and a hook-tongue normally at right angles thereto, so that a single bend
in the latter locates the point of the hook near to, and opposite, one side of the
head-bar, thus affording a rigid hook for engaging with the eye of a button, and
this hook, being left sufficiently open to receive the button-eye, can, when applied
to use, be readily closed, if desired, or it will serve a good purpose if left open.
To more particularly describe the said invention I will refer to the accompanying
drawing in which.
Figures 1 and 2 represent opposite views of one of the improved fasteners and a
button as applied for use.
Figure 3 is a top and edge view of the blank from which the said fastener is
formed.
Figure 4 is a side and edge view of the said fastener drawn to an enlarged
scale.
The head-bar a and hook-tongue 6 are integral, and the blanks Figure 4, are cut,
by means of suitable dies, from sheet metal of such thickness and character as will
afford a bar and hook of the requisite strength.
The head-bar a is practically straight on its two sides, but is rounded or convex
from end to end on its outer or cut edge, and on its inner edge it is provided at
each end with a projecting point a', between which and the tongue the bar on its
under side is slightly concave. I am aware that. similar points have heretofore
been employed on head-discs in connection with puncturing-pins passing through
the said discs for subsequent clinching with the eye of a button. When the
tongue is bent into hook form, as shown, with its point or tip adjacent to, and
opposite, one side of the head-bar, it is left sufficiently open to receive the wire eye
of a button, and whether the said opening be closed or not it will be seen that the
draft or pull on the button, as when using a button-hook, will be in a line at right
angles to the head-bar, causing it to be practically embedded edgewiso in the lining
of the shoe, and especially at its ends, thus affording a smooth, even surface for
contact with a stocking. The tongue has sufficient rigidity to prevent the opening
outward of the hook under any strains incident.to use, and it will be seen that the
metal at the junction of the hook-tongue with the bar, as at b¹, remains unchanged,
and it is therefore not weakened, as in such prior fasteners as have a hook developed
from a tongue cut from a disc and bent at right angles to the disc before forming
the hook.
It will be seen that the hook of the fastener is wholly housed within the hole in
the leather or other material, and that the eye of the button can be located closely
adjacent to the outer surface of a shoe. The points a' on the head-bar servo to
consolidate and to draw inward toward the hole that portion of the leather or cloth
which lies between the said points and the hook, thus rendering it practically
impossible for the comparatively slender bar to be torn through the shoe.
'
It is obvious that economy in metal is of consequence, in view of the fact that
only a superior article thereof should be used, and that it must be first rolled out
at considerable cost; and it will be seen that the improved fasteners involve in the
die work for cutting out blanks a comparatively small amount of waste, and that
although I an obliged to use heavier metal than usual, I am enabled to use stock
BO economically, having reference to its superficial area, that the said fasteners can
be manufactured at very low cost.
It is obvious that the blank, Figure 4, may be worked in heading-dies, if desired,
for varying the lateral contour of the head-bar without weakening the metal at the
junction of the hook and bar.
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,
First A sheet-metal button-fastener having an integral head-bar and hook, the
latter projecting from the edge of the said bar, and having the metal at the
junction of the shank with the bar in its normal or unbent condition, and having

page_text: its point located adjacent to, and opposite, one side of the said head-bar, substan-
tially as described, whereby, when in use, the said head-bar is embedded edgewise
in the lining of a boot or shoe and the full strength of the metal is afforded at the
said junction, as set forth.
Second. The metallic button-fastener consisting of the head-bar having at its
ends the points a¹ and an open hook integral with the said bar and projecting from
its edge, and having its opening to receive the eye of a button closely adjacent to
and opposite one side of the said bar, substantially as described.
In witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my hand
and seal this fifteenth day of August in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty three.
W ROBT LAKE (L.S.)