AN IMPROVEMENT IN METALLIC SHANKS FOR BUTTONS
Year: 1833

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HOLMES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourth day of May, in the third year of His reign, did, før
Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Holmes, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said John Holmes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Holmes, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN METALLIC SHANKS
FOR BUTTONS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,
the said John Holmes, shall cause a particular description of the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Holmes, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly explained
in and by the following description thereof (reference being had to the Draw-
ings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon), that is
to say:-
"
My Invention of "An Improvement in Metallic Shanks for Buttons" con-
sists in raising or forming peculiarly-shaped elevations or loops for shanks in
discs or pieces of thin sheet metal which are intended to constitute the under
sides or backs of buttons; or such shanks or loops may be raised and formed
out of discs or pieces of metal, such discs being intended to constitute the
whole substance of some description of buttons not requiring a plain face; or
these improved shanks may be formed out of thin pieces of sheet metal distinct
from the pieces which constitute the backs of the buttons, and may be soldered
or cemented to the said backs or otherwise attached and combined in various
ways with the other parts of the button, whether the faces of such buttons be
intended to be or are covered with florentine or other fabric or metal, or are
made from pearl, shell, horn, ivory, wood, or other substance. As the shape
or form of my improved shanks may be slightly varied, I shall first describe
the shank or loop I most prefer, that is, as raised or formed upon the disc of
metal which is to constitute the back of the button; and,
Secondly, such variations in the shape or form of these shanks as might be
found to answer the purpose.
Thirdly, such constructions of my improved shanks, when made separate
from the discs or backs, as are intended to be used, for soldering, cementing,
or otherwise attaching to or combining with the other parts of the button.
Fourthly, the tools or punches and dies used to form the said shanks; and,
Lastly, the machinery or apparatus by which I intend to carry my Invention
into effect, although I do not mean to confine myself to the precise construc-
tion of machinery herein-after described, as the same shaped shanks or loops
may be formed out of thin sheet metal by working the tools or dies and
punches in a common fly or lever stamping press, or in any other manner.
Figure 1 in Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents the outside
appearance of one of my improved shanks as raised or formed out of the disc
of metal which is to constitute the back of the button; Figure 2 is an inside
view of the same; Figure 3, an edge view looking straight through the shank
or loop; Figure 4 is another edge view looking at the raised shank or loop
endways; Figure 5 is a section taken through the shank and disc in the direc-
tion of the dotted line A, B, in Figure 1; and Figure 6, another section taken
in the direction of the dotted line C, D, in Figure 1. All these Figures of
my improved shanks, as well as those herein after described, together with the

page_text: tools used to form the same, are drawn twice the real size to shew the parts
more distinctly. It will be seen that the shanks or loops a, a, are formed by
partially cutting and raising or forcing up a portion of the metal disc or back
6, and are compressed and formed by the action of the tools or punches and
dies, so as to have a rounded figure on the inside of the top part of the shank,
as at c, the edges of the metal being turned so as to prevent their cutting the
threads by which the button is fastened to the cloth or garment. It will be
observed that, there being but one passage or way d through which the threads
can be passed to sew on the button, and that opening being rounded on all
edges, will cause the threads to keep in the centre of the shank, as shewn at
Figures 7 and 8, which are "different views of a shank sewn on to a piece of
cloth, the form of the shank allowing a much neater attachment to the gar-
ment, and keeping the threads from the edges of the metal. The ends of the
shank or portions e, e, which rise up from the disc or back b, are made nearly
circular, in order to avoid presenting any edges of the metal to the sides of
the buttonhole, and when the shank is sewed on the cloth, it forms in con-
junction with the threads a round attachment, thereby preventing the shank
from cutting or wearing the buttonhole, the threads, when the shank is
properly sewed to the garment, nearly filling up the opening d through the
shank, and completing that portion of the circle which has been taken out of
the shank by the dies in forming the crescented parts of the loop. It will be
therefore understood that my intention is, that the inside edges of the shank
should be turned as much as possible away from the threads by which the
button is sewed on the cloth, and that the outside of the shank should be
formed so as to present rounded surfaces to the buttonhole, and that the
thread should fill up the opening through the shank so as to produce a round
attachment to the garment. I should here observe, that the backs of the
buttons shewn in these Figures are of the shape generally used for buttons
covered with florentine or other fabric, or faced with plates of thin metal, and
are intended to have the edges of a disc, or what is termed a shell, forming
the face to be closed in upon the inclined or bevelled edges of the backs.
Having now described the peculiar form of the improved shanks which I
most prefer for buttons to be covered with florentine or other fabric or shells
of thin metal plate, I shall proceed to describe some of the different variations
from the same.
a
Figures 9 and 10 are representations of a shank, the cut through the disc
or back being effected by parallel rib on the die and corresponding groove
n the shaping punch, instead of the semicircular or crescented cut shewn in
Figures 1 and 2.

page_text: Figures 11 and 12 are views of another shank, the separation of the sides of
the loop being performed by straight edges in both punch and die. I prefer
finishing this shaped shank (that is, giving it the rounded form, to prevent its
cutting the threads by detached punches and dies or pincers, as will be
herein-after described).
Figure 13 is a representation of one of the improved shanks which has only
portions ff. of the back of the button connected to its ends. This shank may
be used for buttons which have a metal shell; to be closed in upon the bevelled
edges of the ends, or the shank piece may be otherwise connected to the face
part of the button.
Figure 14 is a representation of a shank raised out of a small disc of metal
g, g, intended to be soldered to the disc of metal forming the button, or it may
be otherwise fixed to the back.
Figure 15 is a representation of another shank for the same purpose, having
only portions of metal h, h, for soldering or otherwise attaching it to the back
of the button, as by placing a ring or annular piece over it, forming the back,
which shall be confined to the face, as before described.
Figure 16 is a representation of a shank raised upon a dish or bevelled piece
of metal i, and is intended to be used for buttons made from pearl, shell,
horn, wood, paper, or other substances. The back of the button. has a
dovetailed recess k formed in it to receive the dish-shaped back i, which is
pressed into the recess, the edges of the dish i being expanded in the dove-
tailed parts of the recess by the ordinary means, and thereby firmly fixing it
to the button, as shewn at Figure 17.
Having now explained the peculiar form of my improved shanks, I shall
proceed to describe the tools or punches and dies by which I cut the disc or
back from out of a sheet of metal, and at the same operation produce and
form the shank complete.
Figure 18 is an external representation, and Figure 19 is a longitudinal
section taken through a pair of dies and punches when separated. Figure 20
is a similar section taken when they are put together, and in the act of forming
a shank, after cutting out the disc or back of the button from a sheet of metal.
Figure 21 is a view of the punch a; and Figure 22 is a similar representa
tion of the counter die b, with the tools complete. a is the punch or cutter,
and 6, the counter bed, by the circular edges of which the disc of metal is cut
out of the sheet. c is the die fixed in the cutter a (upon which the name of
the button maker may be engraved).
Figure 23 is a face view of this die when removed out of the punch; and
Figure 24 is a section taken through the same in the direction of the dotted

page_text: line A, B, in Figure 23. d is the counter die to the die c.
It will be per-
ceived that these dies c and d, together with the punch and bed, compress the
disc of metal into the forin required for the back of the button. That shewn
in the Figures, as before stated, is of the shape used for buttons to be covered
with florentine or thin plate metal in a round shell closed in upon the inclined
or bevelled edge of the back. e is the cutting and shaping punch of the
shank which is fixed within the counter die. This punch cuts through the
metal of the disc, and forms the shank as the dies approach nearer together,
by raising or forcing it up into the recess or opening in the die c, where it is
met by the end of another shaping puncb f fixed in the punch a, which coin-
presses the upper part of the shank into the recess 9, in the end of the punch
e, thereby giving the shank its rounded figure, and at the same time forming
the other part of the shank into the required shape, as described at Figs. 1
to 6. The ends of these shaping punches fit into and over each other, as will
be seen by the detached figures of the punches designed for forming the shank
first described. ..
Fig. 25 is a representation of the punches when apart and removed out of
the dies; Fig. 26 is a longitudinal section of the same.
Fig. 27 is another view of the punches, as seen on the top.
Fig. 28 is an end view of the punch e, and Fig. 29 a similar view of the
punch f. The sharp edges of the recess h, in the punch e, come in contact
with the cutting edge of the projecting ribi of the die c, and thereby cuts
through so much of the metal as is required. The edge k of this die keeps
the outside ends of the shank of a spherical figure, as before explained, while
the punches force up the metal, and form the elevated loop or shank. u, u,
are holes made through the counter died for the passage of clearing pins,
which force out the shank or back piece from the counter die when finished,
the operation of which will be shewn when describing the machinery hereafter.
There are adjusting screws at the back of the punches and dies by which
they can be regulated and brought to their proper position one to the other.
Although I have shewn the punches which form my improved shanks fixed
into and working in conjunction with the punch and dies which cut out and
shape the discs of metal for the back of the button, yet I do not intend to
confine myself to that mode of using then, as flat blanks or discs for the backs
of buttons may be cut out in a separate stamping press, and afterwards, shaped
in the same press or in another, and then brought under the operation of the
punches which form my improved shank fixed in any suitable press.. This
last-mentioned mode of producing button shanks and backs I prefer, when
such metals are employed as require annealing between the operations of
shaping the backs and forming the shanks.

page_text: Fig. 30 is
a section taken through a pair of dies in which the opera-
tion only of forming the shank is to be performed. The backs being'
previously shaped in another press. In this instance the punches e and
fare mounted in guide pieces m and n, which keep them in the proper
position towards each other, the die c being mounted on the piece u and
acting against the face of the guide m. The blanks or backs of the button'
may be fed into these dies by hand, or any other means; and after the
shank is formed the finished back can be pushed out of the lower die by
clearing rods passed through the holes u, u, and removed by hand, or in any
convenient manner.
When my improved shanks are formed out of iron, or other metal which is
too brittle to allow of the shank being forced up and finished at one operation'
in the dies and punches, I prefer cutting out and shaping the blank or back of
the button first, and, after annealing it, to raise or force up the portion of metal
to form the shank into the shape shewn in Figure 31, that is, without the
edges of the metal being turned to prevent their cutting the threads; and, after
again annealing it, to bend or turn the edges into the shape shewn in Figure
32 by means of suitable punches in another press, or by a pair pincers and
punch, as shewn in Fig. 33, which is a side view of a small apparatus to be
used for turning the edges of the shank by hand with a partly-formed shank
seen under operation. a is the upper jaw of a pair of pincers, this jaw being
on to the head of the standard 6; the under jaw c is formed by the end of the
lever or handle d, which has its fulcrum in the standard 6; e is a small punch
passed through a guide hole in the head of the standard, one end projecting
into the jaws of the pincers, the other against a piece f attached by a joint to
the lever d and working through a slot in the head of the standard. This
piece has an inclined plane on the side next the end of the punch, which in
its descent projects the punch forward against the top of the loop of the shank
(placed at g) as the pincers are closed by forcing down the lever d; and in
conjunction with the jaws of the pincers compresses the shank into the
required form, as shewn at h.; and in the enlarged Figure 32 a spring i acts
against a pin fixed into the punch e for the purpose of bringing it back as the
jaws open after forming a shank. Figs. 34, 35, represent the face and section
of the dies mentioned before for cutting the slits in the discs, Figures 9
and 10. Figs. 36, 37, represent the dies for cutting the slits of the discs
Figures 11 and 12 and Figures 31 and 32.
Having explained the peculiar forms of my improved metallic shanks for
buttons, and the tools employed in making the same, I shall proceed to
describe the machinery or apparatus by which I intend to carry my Invention
into effect, shewn in Sheets 2 and 3 of the accompanying Drawings:-I

page_text: propose to take a sheet of metal, say about 30 to 40 feet long, and of the
proper width and thickness, which thin sheet is to be wound upon a roller and
placed above the machine so that it can be easily drawn down into the machine,
as required for feeding the punches and dies.
Figure 1, Sheet 2, is a plan view of a machine intended to work any con-
venient number of sets of punches and dies placed in rows. Eleven sets of
punches and dies are represented, each set being constructed as described
under Figures 18 to 27 in Sheet 1. Figure 2 is a side view, and Figure 3 a
longitudinal section taken through the machine; Figures 4 and 5, Sheet 3,
are transverse sections taken through the machine between the punches and
counter dies, Figure 4 representing its appearance at the face of the punches,
and Figure 5 the opposite view of the counter dies. a, a, are the punches;
b, b, the counter dies, each being mounted in rows of the steel plates c, c, fixed
upon two strong bars d and e by countersunk screws and nuts, the punches
and dies being retained in their proper position by the plates f, f, which are
screwed on to the front of the steel plates and press against the collars of the
punches and dies. The bars d and e are both mounted on the guide pins g, g;
fixed in the heads h, h, of the frame, which guide pins pass through the bosses
on the ends of the bars. The bar d is stationary upon the guide pins being "
fixed to the heads h, h. by nuts and screws passed through ears cast on
the bosses. The bar e slides freely upon the guide pins 9, 9, as it is moved
backwards and forwards by the crank i, i, and connecting rods j, j, as the
crank shaft revolves. The sheet of thin metal to be operated upon is placed
as before stated above the machine, its end being brought down as at a, a,
and passed between the guide rod and clearing plate k, and between the pair
of feeding rollers 1, 1, which by revolving draw down a further portion of the.
sheet of metal between the punches and dies after each operation of the
punches. As the counter dies advance towards the punches they first come
in contact with the sheet of metal to be operated upon, and, after having pro-
duced the pressure which cuts out the discs, the perforations of the sheet are
pushed on to the ends of the punches by the counter dies; and, in order that
the sheet may be allowed so to advance, the carriage which supports the axles
of the feeding rollers with the guide rod and clearing plate are made to slide
by means of the pin m, which works in a slot in the sliding piece n, bearing
the axles of the feeding rollers 1, 1, the slide n being kept in its place on the
framework by dovetailed guides shewn in Figure 4. When the counter dies
have advanced near to the sheet of metal the pin m comes in contact with
that end of the slot in the piece n which is next to the punches, and forces the
carriage with the feed rollers and clearing plate, and also the sheet of metal,

page_text: onwards as the dies are advanced by the rotation of the cranks; and after they
have cut out the discs and raised the shanks, the sheet of metal will remain
upon the punches; and when the bar e returns the finished backs and shanks
are forced out of the counter dies by the clearing pins and rods o, o, which
project through the bar e and through the holes before mentioned in the
counter dies; these clearing pins being stationary between the bars p, p,
mounted upon the standards q, q, on the cross bar of the frame, as shewn in
Figure 5. Immediately after this is done the pins m come in contact with
the other ends of the slots in the pieces n, and draw back the feeding rollers
1, 1, together with the clearing plate k and the sheet of metal, away from the
punches into the position represented in the Figures. At this time the feeding
of the metal into the machine is effected by a crank pin r on the end of the
crank shaft coming in contact with the bent end of the sliding bars supported
in standards t, t, and as the crank shaft revolves this pin r forces the bar s
forward, and causes the tooth or pall u on its reverse end to drive the ratchet
wheel one or more teeth. And as the ratchet wheel v is fixed on to the end
of the axle of one of the rollers l, it will cause 'that roller to revolve, and by
means of the pair of spur pinions on the other ends of the axles of the feeding
rollers they will both revolve simultaneously, and thereby draw down the sheet
of metal into the machine. It will be perceived that the standards which
support the clearing plate and guide bar are carried by the axes of the feeding
rollers, and partake of their sliding motion. Also that the clearing pins o are
made adjustable between the bars p to correspond with the counter dies.
There is an adjustable sliding stop x upon the bar s, which comes in contact
with the back standard t, and prevents the bar s sliding back too far, and
consequently regulates the quantity of sheet metal to be fed into the machine
by the pall and ratchet wheel, in order to suit different sizes of punches and
dies. In case the weight of the bar e carrying the counter dies should wear
upon its bearings the guide pins g, g, I have shewn small friction rollers y, y,
under the bosses of this bar, which friction rollers run upon adjustable beds.
or planes z, z, by which means the guide pins may be partially relieved from
the weight of the bar e, and the friction consequently diminished.
In witness whereof, 1, the said John Holmes, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of July, One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-three.
700
sont bo
JOHN (L.S.) HOLMES.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourth day of July, in the
fourth year of the reign of His present Majesty King William the Fourth, the
said John Holmes came before our said Lord the King in His Chancery,
and acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-
fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Fourth day of July, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-three.