AN IMPROVED BUTTON FASTENER, AND APPARATUS FOR INSERTING AND SECURING THE LEATHER OR OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Henry Cramp, of Brixton, in the County
of Surrey, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED BUTTON
FASTENER, AND APPARATUS FOR INSERTING AND SECURING THE
LEATHER OR OTHER MATERIALS,'
"
SAME IN
Sealed the 10th November 1874, and dated the 14th September 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Henry Cramp at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th September 1874.
I, ALFRED HENRY CRAMP, of Brixton, in the County of Surrey,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED BUTTON FASTENER AND APPARATUS FOR INSERTING AND SECURING
THE SAME IN LEATHER OR OTHER MATERIALS," to be as follows:—
"
My Invention relates to a fastener for attaching buttons to boots and
shoes, and other articles of dress, and to a simple and efficient apparatus

page_text: or implement whoreby the said fasteners are inserted and tightly secured
in the leather or other material.
My improved button fastener is a three pronged piece of iron or other
suitable metal; the prongs are sharp or pointed so that they will
readily enter and pass through the leather or other substance. And at
the head of the fastener one of the prongs is curved to fit within and
hold conveniently the shank or ring of the button, while the sides of the
other two prongs are curved laterally to leave sufficient space for the
said shank or ring to lie between the prongs.
The aforesaid apparatus or implement for inserting and securing the
said button fastener in place is constructed as follows:-It has three
jaws, each of which has a separate handle or lever. One of the said jaws
is formed with a slotted recess provided with a spring for holding the
button in the apparatus. The slot is made through one side of the
recessed part of the jaw so that the button can be placed thereon with
its shank or ring protruding through the said slot. This jaw is pivoted
to the second or intermediate jaw, which has a hole arranged to come
exactly under the aforesaid slot when the jaws are closed, and the said
hole has three notches extending from it to receive the points of the
above-described button fastener, which points in the act of attaching
a button project through the leather or other material into the said
notches. And the said hole is fitted with a sliding clincher which
extends down through the said intermediate jaw, and is actuated by the
third jaw. When the jaws are open the said clincher is kept back by a
small spring, and one of the jaws is provided with a stop to limit the
movement of the said punch. The said third jaw is pivoted to the
intermediate jaw, but the position of its pivot or fulcrum does not
coincide with that of the pivot of the first jaw. The handles of the
said jaws are made of suitable length and form to allow the said
implement to be conveniently held and manipulated by one hand, while
the button and fastener are arranged upon the leather or cloth and
inserted in the said implement by the other hand.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Henry Cramp in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th March 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
HENRY CRAMP, of Brixton, in the County of Surrey, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Henry Cramp, Her
special licence that I, the said Alfred Henry Cramp, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Henry
Cramp, 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 Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED BUTTON FASTENER AND APPARATUS FOR INSERTING
AND SECURING THE SAME IN LEATHER OR OTHER MATERIALS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Henry Cramp, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Henry Cramp, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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
Drawing forming a part of this Specification :-
My Invention relates to a fastener for attaching buttons to boots and
shoes and other articles of dress, and to a simple and efficient apparatus
or implement whereby the said fasteners are inserted and tightly secured
in the leather or other material.

page_text: Figure 1 is a perspective view of my button fastener; Figure 2
shews the same holding a button upon a piece of leather or cloth.
Figure 3 is a side view of the said apparatus or implement; Figures
4 and 5 shew portions of the same detached.
Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, shew modifications of the said implement
herein-after described.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the Drawing.
My improved button fastener, as shewn in Figure 1, is a three-
pronged piece of brass or other suitable metal. The prongs a, b, c, are 1
sharp or pointed so that they will readily enter and pass through the
leather or other substance. And at the head d of the fastener one of
the prongs 6 is curved to fit within and hold conveniently the shank
or ring e of the button f, as in Figure 2, while the sides of the other
two prongs a, c, are curved laterally to leave sufficient space for the
said shank or ring to lie between the prongs.
This fastener may be slightly modified in form to adapt it for buttons
without shanks or rings.
The construction of the aforesaid apparatus or implement for inserting
and securing the said button fastener in place may be somewhat varied:
without exceeding the limits of my Invention; but the said implement
consists essentially of the following parts or devices, namely, in one
jaw a receptacle for receiving the fastener and button, and provided
with a spring which holds the fastener with its prongs in the proper
position to be forced through the leather or other material, in com-
bination with means in the other jaw or jaws for insuring the proper.
bending of the prongs after they pass through the said material, and
the clinching or closing down of the said prongs upon the same.
The implement shewn in Figures 3, 4, and 5 has three jaws g, h, i, each
of which is formed on or attached to a separate handle or lever g', h¹, i.
The jaw i is formed with a slotted recess j provided with a spring k for
holding the button in the apparatus. The slot ₁ extends through one

page_text: side of the recessed part of the jaw, as shown in Figure 4 (which is a
plan of this jaw) so that the button can be placed in the slot with its
shank or ring e protruding through the said slot. This jaw i is pivoted
at to the jaw h, which has a hole 7. arranged to come exactly under
the aforesaid slot when the jaws are closed, and the said hole / has
three notches (as shewn in Figure 5, which is a plan of this jaw)
extending from it to receive the points a, b, c, of the above-described
button fastener, which points in the act of attaching a button project
through the leather or other material into the said notches. And the
said hole is provided with a sliding clincher m which extends through
and below the said jaw, and is actuated by the jaw g. When the jaws
are open, as shewn in Figure 3, the said clincher is kept back by a small
spring n, and one of the jaws is provided with a stop o to limit the
movement of the said punch; another stop o³ prevents the too wide
opening of the jaws. The said jaw g is pivoted at p to the jaw i. The
handles g, h, , of the said jaws are made of suitable length and form
to allow the said implement to be conveniently held by one hand while
the button and fastener are inserted in the said implement by the other
hand, and to permit the said implement to be conveniently manipulated
in attaching the buttons.
In the modification of this implement illustrated in Figures 6 and 7,
I dispense with the aforesaid sliding clincher and third jaw, and make
the jaw serve as the clincher. For this purpose the said jaw is formed
with three shallow recesses or notches P, P, P, to receive the points of
the three prongs of the fastener, and the said recesses are so inclined or
sloped or curved, as shown in dotted lines, Figure 6, that when the said
points enter therein and the two jaws aro pressed together the prongs
will converge or meet each other in closing upon the leather or other
fabric, and by continued pressure on the said jaws will be riveted or
clinched down as herein-above described. In this implement I have
shown the spring % for holding the button with an extension ³, whereby
it is secured to the back of the jaw i.
In Figure 8 I have shown a contrivance for more effectually closing
or riveting down the prongs of the fastener. The recesses Fª, 1³, P, in
the implement shewn in Figures 6 and 7, and which receive the prong
or points a, b, c, rivet the said prongs down outside the leather or other

page_text: material, leaving a slight projection which in some instances might be
objectionable; I therefore provide the said implement with the plate t,
which is pivoted to the jaw h at t¹, and which is turned outward or away
from the said jaw when the button and fastener are first put in the
implement, and is then adjusted over the said recesses to finish the
clinching or riveting of the prongs.
Instead of making the plate t to adjust or swing on a pivot, as
above described, I may have a plate fitted to slide in grooves in the
said. jaw.
In Figures 9 and 10 I have shown a modification of the said imple-
ment whereby it is adapted for attaching shankless buttons, such as are
ordinarily used for trousers and other articles of clothing; Figure 9 is
a side view of the jaws of the said implement so modified; Figure 10
is an end view of the upper jaw. The buttons which this implement
is designed to attach are formed of metal, bone, or other suitable
material, with a central recess or cavity perforated with two or more
holes. I therefore provide the upper jaw i with a boss or projection s
to enter the said recess in the buttons, and with a forked spring 8¹ to
hold the button up to the said boss or projection. The prongs of the
fastener are passed through the holes in the button and project down
between the forks of the spring. The lower jaw is provided with the
small grooves or recesses for receiving and bending these points or prongs,
as above described.
It will be observed that in all of the various forms of my improved
implement herein described and shown, I retain the aforesaid peculiar
features of my Invention, namely, the receptacle for the button and
fastener, with the spring holder in one jaw, in combination with the
means for insuring the bending inward of the points or prongs of the
fastener, and with means for closing or riveting the same in the other
jaw or jaws, the said implement being operated in all cases by means of
the handles, as herein specified.
And having thus fully described my said Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I wish it understood that I claim,—
First. The fastener for attaching buttons to boots and shoes and
other articles of clothing, or the like constructed as herein set forth.

page_text: Second. An apparatus or implement for inserting and securing the
said fasteners constructed with a receptacle and spring holder in one
jaw, and with means for bending and clinching the fastener in the other
jaw or jaws, and operating as herein set forth.
Third. The combination of a sliding clincher with the jaws and other
parts of the said implement, as herein set forth and for the purpose
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Henry Cramp, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
Witness,
HY. JA. NoONE.
A. H. CRAMP. (L.S.)