IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWN-THROUGH BUTTONS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Plant and John Richard Green, both of
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Button Manufacturers,
19
Scaled the 17th February 1874, and dated the 30th October 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Plant and John.
Richard Green at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 30th October 1873.
WC, JOSEPH PLANT and JOHN RICHARD GREEN, both of Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Button Manufacturers, do hereby declarc
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWN-THROUGH
BUTTONS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
sewn-through buttons, which said improvements are applicable both to
sewn-through buttons composed in part of linen or other fabric, and to
sewn-through buttons made wholly of metal.
We will describe our Invention in connection with a sewn-through
button of the kind commonly called a linen button,

page_text: The metallic portion of the button consists of three parts, namely, a
front shell, a back shell or ring, and an eyeletted centre piece. The eye-
letted centre piece consists of a double eyelet (or where required of three
or more eyelets), the holes in which are of a size and shape proper to fit
in the holes in the front shell, which said holes in the front shell are
made in a depressed part in the centre of the shell. The linen or fabric
is placed on the front of the shell, and the smaller end of the eyeletted
centre piece is passed from the front through the holes in the shell.
The smaller end of the said eyeletted centre piece is then rivetted or
turned over the back of the shell. The linen or fabric is thus grasped
firmly between the front part of the cyeletted centre piece and the front
of the shell, the rivetting of the eycletted piece at the back of the shell
preserving the said eyeletted piece in its place.
In buttons mado according to our Invention the thread by which the
button is attached to a garment rides on the depressed part of the metal
situated between the eyelet holes, and being below the level of the face
of the button is not liable to injury, while from its bearing being on
rounded metallic surfaces it is secure from the risk of being cut, which
is common in sewn-through buttons of the ordinary kind. The back
shell or ring is fixed in its place, and the edge of the fabric gathered and
fixed between 'the said back 'shell and the front shell in the ordinary
way.
1. When an eyeletted centre piece is applied to metal sewn-through
buttons (such for example as trouser buttons) the said piece provides a
surface for the thread to bear upon smoother than can be obtained in 2
buttons of the ordinary kind, and the risk of injury to the thread by
which the button is sewn to the garment is reduced to a minimum.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Plant and John Richard Green in the
'Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd April 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPH
PLANT and JOHN RICHARD GREEN, both of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Button Manufacturers, send greeting.
3
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of October, in the year of 13

page_text: our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-.
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Joseph Plant and John Richard Green,
Her special license that we, the said Joseph Plant and John Richard
Green, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
we, the said Joseph Plant and John Richard Green, our 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 SEWN-
THROUGH BUTTONS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Joseph Plant and John Richard Green, our executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under
the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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 we, the said Joseph Plant and John Richard
Green, 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, that is to
Bay :-
Our Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
sewn-through buttons, which said improvements are applicable to sewn-
through buttons composed in part of linen or other fabric, and to sewn-
through buttons made wholly of metal.
We will describe our Invention in connection with a sewn-through
button of the kind commonly called a linen button.
The metallic portion of the button consists of three parts, namely, a
front shell, a back shell or ring, and an eyeletted centre piece. The
eyeletted centre piece consists of a double eyelet (or where required
three or more eyelets), the holes in which are of a size and shape proper
to fit in the holes in the front shell, which said holes in the front shell
are made in a depressed part in the centre of the shell. The linen or
fabric is placed on the front of the shell, and the smaller end of the
:

page_text: cyeletted centre piece is passed from the front through the holes in the
shell. The smaller end of the said eyelotted centre piece is then rivetted
or turned over the back of the shell. The linen or fabric is thus grasped
firmly between the front part of the eyeletted centre picce and the front
of the shell, the rivetting of the cyeletted piece at the back of the shell
preserving the said eyeletted piece in its place.
In buttons made according to our Invention the thread by which the
button is attached to a garment rides on the depressed part of the metal
situated between the eyelet holes, and being below the level of the face
of the button is not liable to injury, while from its bearing being on
rounded metallic surfaces it is secure from the risk of being cut, which
is common in sewn-through buttons of the ordinary kind. The back
shell or ring is fixed in its place, and the edge of the fabric gathered
and fixed between the said back shell and the front shell in the ordinary
way.
When an eyeletted centre piece is applied to metal sewn-through
buttons (such for example as trouser buttons) the said centre piecę
furnishes a surface for the thread to bear upon smoother than can bo
obtained in buttons of the ordinary kind, and the risk of injury to the
thread by which the button is sewn to the garment is reduced to a
minimum.
Having explained the nature of our Invention we will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan of upper side; Figure 2, in cross section;
and Figure 3, in plan of under side, a sewn-through button of the
kind called a linen button, the said linen button being constructed
according to our Invention. The said button is drawn on a largo
scale.
Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 represent the parts of which the sewn-
through button is composed. The same letters of reference indicate the
same parts. a is the front metal shell of the button (shown separately
in plan of upper side in Figure 4, and section in Figure 5); is the
back shell or ring (shown separately in plan and section in Figure 8);
and c is the eyeletted centre piece. The said eyeletted centre piece c
has the shape represented in clevation, plan, and section in Figure 6,
before it is fixed to the front shell a of the button; d is the double dise

page_text: of linen or fabric (shewn separately in Figure 7), by which the front and
edges of the button are covered. In the centre of the shell a forming
the body of the button we form a double cup-like depression e, at the
bottom of which are holes f,f, through which the button is sewn to the
garment, the parts of the said double cup-like depressione being
connected together by the centre bar at h. In the said double cup-like
depression e in the centre of the shell a we place and fix the eyeletted
centre piece c, having the shape best seen in Figure 6, that is to say, the
said centre piece consists of a double eyelet, the eyelets being joined
together by a rounded middle piece c², which middle piece constitutes in
the finished button a rounded bar or bridge, over which the attaching
thread is passed, the said bar or bridge being situated below the level.of
the face of the button.
с
In making a linen button according to our Invention the perforated
disc of linen or fabric d, Figure 7, is placed on the front of the metal
shell or body a of the button, and the smaller end of the eyeletted centre
piece c is passed from the front through the holes f, f, in the depressed
part e of the said shell or body a, the central portion of the fabric d to
be attached to the button being situated between the inner sides of the
oyeletted piece c and the sides of the double cup-like depression e in the
shell a..
Figure 9 represents in section the separate parts a, d, and c before
they are fixed together. By means of tools worked in a press in tho
ordinary way the cyeletted picce c is expanded or eyeletted in the double
depression e in the shell a, and its ends rivetted over the edges of the holes
ff, in the said double depression e, as best seen in the section Figure 2.
The turned over or rivetted parts of the eyeletted piece c are marked c³.
By the insertion and expanding or eyeletting of the eyeletted piece c. in
the shell, a the edges of the holes in the disc of fabric d are gathered
into the double cup-like depression e of the shell a, and the said edges of
the fabric gripped very firmly between the sides of the said eycletted
piece c and those of the depressione in the body or shell a of the button,
and by the rivetting described of the said eyeletted piece it is fixed very
firmly in the depressed part e of the said body or shell a..
By an examination of the Drawing it will be seen that not only is a
large area of fabric gripped, but the gripping takes place in a plane
much inclined to the ungripped part of the fabric, and the fabric is
consequently held much firmer than when the grip is in the plane of the

page_text: fabric, as in ordinary linen buttons. After the central part of the disc
of fabric d has thus been secured to the shell or body a of the button the
back shell or ring 6 is fixed in its place, and the outer edge of the fabric
gathered and fixed between the said back shell or ring band the outer
edge of the front shell or body a in the manner shown in the Drawing.
The button is then complete.
As the process of fixing and gathering in the outer edge of the disc of
fabric constitutes no part of our Invention we do not consider it necessary
to further describe the said process.
It will be seen by reference to Figure 2 that the thread by which the
button is sewn to the garment is protected from injury by the bar or
bridge c² between the holes in the eyeletted piece c, over which the
thread passes, being situated below the level of the face of the button;
and in consequence of the said bar or bridge c² being rounded the thread
is not liable to be cut..
In addition to the advantages already referred to buttons constructed
according to our Invention possess the following advantages, namely:-
The strain of the thread passing over and riding on the sunken bar c³ is
borne by the front or body of the button, and not by the back shell, as
is usual in sunken bar sewn-through buttons, and there is thereby no
tendency to the separation of the parts of the button in consequence of
the said strain; and, further, the centre of the button is strengthened by
the eyeletted centre piece c, which centre piece being rivetted to the
metal shell a forming the body of the button virtually doubles the
thickness of the metal at that part, and prevents the liability of the
button to double or collapse under pressure.
Our Invention is applicable to linen buttons having covered backs as
well as to linen buttons having uncovered backs.
Figure 10 represents in section and Figure 11 in plan a metal trouser
button having an eyeletted centre piece according to our Invention. The
eyeletted centre piece is marked h, the front shell i, and the back shell k.
The said eyeletted centre piece h may be secured in its place either by
rivetting the bottom edges of the said centre piece around the edges of
the holes in the bottom shell k, or by rivetting both the top and bottom
edges of the said centre piece to the two shells i, k.
Although we have represented in the Drawing an eyeletted centre
piece consisting of a double eyelet, yet where required the said eyeletted

page_text: centre piece may consist of three or more combined eyelets. In this
case three or more cup-like depressions are made in the front shells of
sewn-through buttons, and the required number of holes in the front and
back shells of trouser buttons to receive the said treble or other combined
eycletted centre piece.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we
do not limit ourselves to the precise details herein described and illus-
trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
our Invention; but we claim as our Invention,―
Firstly. The improvements in sewn-through buttons of the kind
called linen buttons, herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 1
to 9, both inclusive, of the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, the
construction and combination of an eyeletted centre piece, with cup-like
depressions in the centre of the front shell or body of the button, between
which said eyeletted centre piece and the cup-like depressions in the
front shell or body the central part of the disc of fabric or covering is
gripped and firmly held when the said centre piece is expanded or eye-
letted in and its ends rivetted to the said front shell or body; the said
centre piece and depressions also strengthening the centre of the button
and forming a sunken or depressed bar or bridge on which the sewing
thread rides, substantially as described and illustrated.
Secondly. The application or adaptation to metal sewn-through buttons
of an eyeletted centre piece, substantially as and for the purpose herein-
before described and illustrated in Figures 10 and 11 of the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, we, the said Joseph Plant and John Richard
Green, have hereunto set our hands and scals, this Twentieth
day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and no
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOSEPH PLANT.
(L.S.)
JOHN RICHARD GREEN. (L.S.).