IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO BUTTON HOLES:
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO BUTTON HOLES:"-A communication
from abroad by George Miles Wells, of Boston, in the United
States of America.
Sealed the 6th June 1871, and dated the 11th April 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 11th April 1871.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO BUTTON HOLES," a communication
to me from abroad by George Miles Wells, of Boston, in the United
States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the providing a means whereby the
button holes of boots and shoes in particular, and of apparel generally,

page_text: may be made much stronger than when formed in the usual manner
without materially impairing that flexibility which is required in order
to permit their manipulation in buttoning or unbuttoning as the case
may be.
The improvement consists of a shield piece of metal or other suitable
material applied to that portion only of the button hole which is the
most exposed to strain or tension when in use so as to distribute such
strain upon a greater extent of the sides of the button hole, thus
securing a proportionally greater resistance thereto than would otherwise
be the case, a sufficient portion of the button hole being left free or
unprotected to insure the flexibility required in manipulating or adjusting
the same.
The shield piece, which is in the form of a metal clip, is fitted into
its place in the end of the button hole to be protected, and is secured
therein by nipping or compressing the flat sides of the shield piece on
cach side of the material, which may be done either by a hammer or in
a press.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th October 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said, John Henry Johnson, Her special
license that I,, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, admi-,
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my exccutors, administrators, or 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
r

page_text: and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO BUTTON HOLES," a communication to me
from abroad by George Miles Wells, of Boston, in the United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, 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
Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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
Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :—
The said Invention has for its object the providing a means whereby
the button holes of boots and shoes, leggings, braces, and of apparel or
other articles having button holes subject to wear and tear may be made
much stronger than when formed in the usual manner without materially
impairing the flexibility which is required in order to permit their
manipulation in buttoning or unbuttoning as the case may be.
The improvement consists of a shield piece or pieces of metal or other
suitable material applied to that portion only of the button hole which
is the most exposed to strain or tension when in use so as to distribute
such strain upon a greater extent of the sides of the button hole, thus
securing a proportionally greater resistance thereto than would otherwise
be the case, a sufficient portion of the button hole being left free
or unprotected to ensure the flexibility required in manipulating or
adjusting the same.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I
shall now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
purpose shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts
in all the corresponding Figures.
Figure 1 represents a button hole of the natural size provided with
a shield piece of the form I prefer to adopt; Figure 2 is an enlarged

page_text: perspective view of the shield piece or protector detached; Figure 3
is a vertical section through the centre thereof; and Figures 4 and 5
represent two of various forms of blanks from which the shield piece or
protector may be made drawn to the natural size.
The shield piece a, which I prefer to be in the form of a metal clip,
is fitted into its place in the end of the button hole to be protected
(see Figure 1), and is secured therein by nipping or compressing the
sides of the shield piece on each side of the material in which the
button hole is made, which may be done either by a hammer or in a
press, or by a pair of suitably shaped nippers as herein-after described,
thus firmly attaching it to the material and covering the portion of
the button bole most exposed to the action which the button receives
not only in the wear and abrasion exerted therein by the said button
when in use, but extending around a considerable portion of the button
hole, distributing thereby the strain or tension of the button on a larger
portion of the fabric than would otherwise be the case, and thus
effectually prevents the hole from "tearing out" or being ruptured
from such stain, at the same time that the flexibility required in mani-
pulating the button hole is permitted by the flexibility of that portion
thereof not covered or protected by the shield piece. This shield piece
may be formed either from a circular blank c, Figure 4, or from an
oval blank c of the form shewn in Figure 5, in which latter case rather
more spread or overlay of metal will be obtained at the opposite corners
of the protector than is shown in Figures 1 and 2 (which represent a
shield made from a circular blank), so as to hold more firmly on to the
material of the button holc. Various arrangements of apparatus may
be employed for shaping these shield pieces, but the essential feature of
such apparatus consists of a steel die A and steel matrix B (Figure 6, 7,
and 8) of the exact form of the bend required to be given to the blank,
the die A being worked either by a blow or by pressure, or by a com-
bination of both, as for example by means of a fly press. The die A
consists of a forked piece of steel so rounded and shaped on its inner
edge a, a, as to impart the exact curve to the inner portion of the shield,
whilst the shape of the external portion is derived from the matrix B,
which should be a counterpart of the dic, the rounded portion fitting.
into the fork of the die, at which point and between the two surfaces
of the die and matrix the shield is subjected to the requisite pressure
to impart a crescent shape thereto. The flat blank c from which the

page_text: shield is to be formed may be cut or punched out of sheet metal in
any well-known manner or may be made of horn, hard rubber, or other
suitable material. It is first laid upon the mouth of the matrix B,
the forked die A. then descends, and by forcing the said blank into the
mouth of the matrix simply doubles or folds the same, but by continuing
the descent of the die A. till it is well home the blank with one
portion doubled over each side of the die (see Figure 7) will be brought
into forcible contact with the rounded portion 6 of the matrix, the result
being the imparting of the crescent shape to the previously doubled
blank, as shown clearly in Figure 6, where a shield is represented as
completed and in readiness to be removed from the die and matrix.
As the die A rises again it may be made to lift with it the completed
shield, or if the matrix be formed so as to rotate or reverse itself after
each withdrawal of the die the completed shield will simply drop out
by its own gravity. The shields a may be secured into button holes by
means of the nippers shewn in Figure 9, but I do not confine or restrict
myself to this particular instrument and only describe the same as
one example of apparatus which I have found to answer the purpose
intended. The upper pressing surface a of the nippers has a slight
rounded protuberance a' formed on one side in order to dish or sink
slightly that portion of the shield which comes immediately under or
in contact with the button, whereby the neatness of the shield or pro-
tector when adjusted is greatly enhanced. On the under jaw b or on
the upper jaw (if preferred) of the nippers a central stud or projection 6'
may be formed, which enters the rounded end of the button hole and
by also fitting the rounded recess of the shield serves as a guide to
keep the same in position whilst the edges of its two lips are being
pinched together and forced into the material in which the button hole
is made by means of the raised portion 6" opposed to the rounded part a¹.
This raised portion 6" is situate on one side only of the central guide
pin and serves to ensure an extra nip being given to the lips of the
shield piece. In some cases where greater security is required the
nipping surface or surfaces may be formed with one or more small
projecting points, which will partially puncture and indent the metal of
the shield into the material to which it is being applied and thereby
cause it to hold more securely therein.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or

page_text: :
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that this mode of
protecting button holes is applicable to apparel or other articles having
button holes, whether made of textile or other material, and that I do
not confine or restrict myself to any particular shape either of the
button hole or of the shield or protector fitted therein; but what I 5
consider as novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the hercin-before in part recited Letters Patent
is,―
First. The manufacture of a shield piece or protector made from
metal or other suitable material so shaped as when applied to a button 1
hole to protect the wearing portion thereof whilst the other part of
the said hole is left flexible, substantially as herein-before described.
Secondly. The application of a shield piece or protector to a button
hole for the purpose herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this 1
my Specification set my hand and scal, the Eleventh day of
October One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.