IMPRove- MENTS IN PRESSES AND APPLIANCES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF COMPOSITION BUTTONS IN IMITATION OF HORN AND VEGETABLE IVORY
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Michael Hess, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPRove-
MENTS IN PRESSES AND APPLIANCES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF COMPOSITION
BUTTONS IN IMITATION OF HORN AND VEGETABLE IVORY."-A commu-
nication from abroad by Richard Hess, of Pionier Strasse, Berlin,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Michael Hess
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 18th October 1875.
I, CHARLES MICHAEL HESS, of 166, Flect Street, in the City of
London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES AND APPLIANCES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF COM-
POSITION BUTTONS IN IMITATION OF HORN AND VEGETABLE IVORY," commu-
nicated to me from abroad by Richard Hess, of Pionier Strasse, Berlin,
in the Kingdom of Prussia and Empire of Germany, to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is improvements in presses and appliances
for the manufacture of composition buttons in imitation of horn and

page_text: vegetable ivory, and the Invention consists in providing the bed plate of
an ordinary screw or lever press with a set of half dies capable of being
raised and lowered by a hand lever and sliding wedge plates or bars,
which move in slots formed in a plate, the upper part of which plate
has chamfered or rounded edged holes, in which the half dies move.
The force or head of the press has upon its under side a corresponding
number of half dies, these being formed by long pins or studs that they
may pass through holes in a perforated plate, by which the compo-
sition from which the buttons are to be made is fed to the lower half
dies.
The plate last referred to is capable of easy removal for each feed;
it has a groove on each side edge for a plain plate to be slid in, and
serve as a bottom upon which the pieces of prepared composition rest
when put into the holes in the perforated plate. The two plates act
like a box, and when charged it is put over the lower half dies, and the
plain plate is then drawn out and the pieces of composition fall down.
into the dies, the force or head is then lowered and the pieces of
composition transformed into buttons of a shape and thickness corre-
sponding to the distance between the half dies when the pressure is on.
The half dies may have any device or design upon them, and one of
them may have a couple or more of pins projecting to form the holes
for sewing purposes; or a short pin may be upon, say, the upper half
die, by which the back of the button is formed, the pin then making a
hole of sufficient depth for the reception of a metal eyelet shank or
loop, which can be inserted after the button is removed from the 1
press.
In fitting metal shanks to such composition buttons I arrange the
shank pins in holes formed in a plate, and with the loop exposed that
may readily be taken hold of by a pair of plyers. This plate has a recess
under it, in which a gas or other burner is fitted for heating the plate a
and for imparting sufficient heat to the shanks that their pins may enter
the holes in the button backs when applied, the heat softening the com-
position and forming the attachment of one to the other.
The material from which the buttons are made in the press is placed
in a cauldron used with the press, enclosed in an outer vessel, the space a
between the two vessels being filled with sand to maintain a uniform

page_text: heat. The material is removed to the perforated plate, which is heated
so as to preserve a constant temperature.
The pressure is maintained upon each series or group of buttons for a
few seconds, and when the "force" is lifted the first-named perforated
plate is removed and made ready for the reception of fresh pieces of the
composition. The lower half dies are then lifted by the sliding wedge
bars to lift the made buttons above the level of the holed plate on the bed.
A many-tined pronged fork is then put in between the raised half
dies, and the buttons are lifted off the dies by the tines, the superfluous
composition is removed and thrown back into the cauldron to be rabbled
along with the other. The rough edge of each button is then dressed by
a plunger tool.
Instead of making holes in the buttons by the pressure operation a
conc-shaped lump can be left upon the back of each, through which a
hole can be made parallel with the back by a heated piercer needle, the
socket of which rides in a kind of box. The socket can be pushed in a
given distance to force the heated needle through the lump on a button
put into a receiver or pocket, the socket then recoils under the action of
a spring, and the pierced button can then be removed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Michael Hess in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
MICHAEL HESS, of 166, Flect Street, in the City of London, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Charles Michael Hess, Her special license,
that I, the said Charles Michael Hess, my exccutors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Michael Hess, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,

page_text: 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 PRESSES AND APPLIANCES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF COMPOSITION BUTTONS IN
IMITATION OF HORN AND VEGETABLE IVORY," (communicated to me from
abroad by Richard Hess, of Pionier Strasse, Berlin, in the Kingdom of
Prussia and Empire of Germany,) upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Charles Michael Hess, 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 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 Charles Michael Hess, 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, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say:
The object of this Invention is improvements in presses and appliances
for the manufacture of composition buttons in imitation of horn and
vegetable ivory, and the Invention consists in providing the bed plate A,
Figures 1 and 2, of an ordinary screw or lever press B with a set of half
dies C, C, capable of being raised and lowered by a hand lever D, and
sliding wedge plates formed of Z or zig-zag bars E, E, Figures 3 and 4,
which move in slots formed in a plate F, the upper part of which plate
has chamfered or rounded edged holes in which the half diesmove.
The "force" or head G of the press has upon its under side a corre-
sponding number of half dies H, H, Figures 1, 2, and 3, these being
formed by long pins or studs I, I, that they may pass through holes
in a perforated plate J, Figures 5 and 6, by which the composition
from which the buttons are to be made is fed to the lower half dies.
The plate, Figures 5 and 6, is capable of easy removal for each feed;
it has a groove on each side edge for a plain plate K, Figure 7, to be
slid in, as in Figure 7ª, and serve as a bottom upon which the pieces of
prepared composition rest when put into the holes in the perforated

page_text: The pressure is maintained upon each series or group of buttons for a
few seconds, and when the "force" is lifted the first-named perforated
plate is removed and made ready for the reception of fresh pieces of the
composition. The lower half dies are then lifted by the sliding wedge
bars to lift the made buttons above the level of the holed plate on the bed.
A many-tined or pronged fork S, Figure 12, is then put in between the
raised half dies, and the buttons are lifted off the dies by the tines, the
superfluous composition being romoved and thrown back into the
cauldron to be rabbled along with the other. The rough edge of each
button is then dressed by a plunger tool.
Instead of making holes in the buttons by the pressure operation a
cone-shaped lump can be left upon the back of each, through which a
hole can be made parallel with the back by a heated piercer needle, the
socket of which rides in a kind of box. The socket can be pushed in a
given distance to force the heated needle through the lump on a button
put into a receiver or pocket, the socket then recoils under the action of
a spring, and the pierced button can then be removed.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
The improvements in presses and appliances, as described and shown,
for the manufacture of composition buttons in imitation of horn and
vegetable ivory.
Secondly. I claim the described appliances as additions or applicable
to ordinary presses, as and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Michael Hess, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of April,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
CHARLES MICHAEL HESS. (L.s.)