IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF SPRING SOLITAIRES OR SLEEVE BUTTONS AND SHIRT STUDS
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Appleby and Arthur Lionel Stamps, both of
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF SPRING
SOLITAIRES OR SLEEVE BUTTONS AND SHIRT STUDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Appleby and Arthur
Lionel Stamps at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th
September 1880.
JAMES APPLEBY and ARTHUR LIONEL STAMPS, both of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturers. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
CERTAIN KINDS OF SPRING SOLITAIRES OR SLEEVE BUTTONS AND SHIRT STUDS."
Our Invention consists of the improvements herein after described in manu-
facturing the front parts of certain kinds of spring solitaires or sleeve buttons and
shirt studs, by which improvements the manufacture of the said solitaires or sleeve
buttons and shirt studs is much simplified, and the spring solitaires or sleeve buttons
and shirt studs produced are less liable to derangement than those manufactured in
the ordinary way.
The said front part of a solitaire or shirt stud of the kind to which our Invention
refers consists essentially of a central hollow peg having near its base and at
opposite sides spring teeth working in slots in the peg, which teeth in their normal
position project from the hollow peg. In connection with these teeth are pushers,
by operating on which the spring teeth are forced inwards to disengage them from
the back part of the fastening, and thereby to permit of the separation of the two
parts of the fastening.
The parts described are carried by a disc, to which a hoop like rim is affixed.
Our improvements consist in making, as herein after described, the said central
hollow peg, spring teeth, pushers, and disc from one piece of sheet metal. We cut
out from sheet metal, by means of dies worked in a press, blanks of a cruciform

page_text: shape. Two of the opposed arms of the blank are of a size and shape suitable
when bent to form the spring teeth and pushers, and the other two opposed arms are of
a size and shape suitable to form the hollow peg and disc. By properly shaped dies
and pressure we operate on the blank in the following manner:-
-We first operate
upon the small angular parts from which the spring teeth are formed by doubling
the said parts so as to bring the two halves parallel and close to one another, at
the same time shaping the teeth. We next bend the blank so as to give to each
pair of arms a figure somewhat resembling the letter W, at the same time forming
a raised portion on each of the half discs, the said raised portion being for the
pushers to slide in. By a subsequent operation the middle parts of one pair of
arms are closed so as to form the hollow central peg, and the middle parts of the
other pair are brought parallel to form the springs, the teeth being carried by the
said springs. The two halves of the disc and the pushers are at the same time
brought into nearly the same plane, the pushers occupying the raised portions of
the disc. During the last described operation a set edge is made on the edge of the
disc to receive the loop like rim.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said James Appleby and Arthur Lionel Stamps in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st March 1881.
JAMES APPLEBY and ARTHUR LIONEL STAMPS, both of Birmingliam, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturers. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
CERTAIN KINDS OF SPRING SOLITAIRES OR SLEEVE BUTTONS AND SHIRT STUDS."
Our Invention consists of the improvements herein after described in manu-
facturing the front parts of certain kinds of spring solitaires or sleeve buttons and
shirt studs, by which improvements the manufacture of the said solitaires or sleeve
button and shirt studs is much simplified, and the spring solitaires or sleeve buttons
and shirt studs produced are less liable to derangement than thoso manufactured in
the ordinary way.
The said front part of a solitaire or shirt stud of the kind to which our Invention
rofors consists essentially of a central hollow pog having near its base and at
opposite sides spring teeth working in slots in the peg, which teeth in their normal
position project from the hollow peg. In connection with these teeth are pushers,
by operating on which the spring teeth are forced inwards to disengage them from
the back part of the fastening, and thereby to permit of the separation of the two
parts of the fastening.
The parts described are carried by a disc, to which a hoop like rim is affixed.
Our improvements consist in making, as hereinafter described, the said central
hollow peg, spring teeth, pushers, and disc from one piece of sheet motal.
Wo cut out from sheet metal, by means of dies worked in a press, blanks of a
cruciform shape. Two of the opposed arms of the blanks are of a size and shape
suitable, when bent, to form the spring teeth and pushers, and the other two
opposed arms are of a size and shape suitable to form the hollow peg and disc.
By properly shaped dies and pressure wo operate on the blank in the following
manner-We first operate upon the small angular parts from which the spring
teeth are formed by doubling the said parts so as to bring the two halves parallel
and close to one another. We next bend the blank so as to give to each pair of
arms a figure somewhat resembling the letter W. By a subsequent operation the
middle parts of one pair of arms are closed so as to form the hollow central peg,
and the middle parts of the other pair are brought parallel to form the springs, the
teeth being carried by the said springs. The two halves of the disc and the
pushers are at the same time brought into nearly the same plane.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing
the manner in which our Invention may be performed.
In making the front part of a spring solitaire according to our Invention we
take the blank of sheet metal represented in plan and edge view in Figure 1. The
said blank has the cruciform shape represented in the said Figuro 1, that is, it
consists of two pairs of arms ab, ab and cd, cd. From the opposed pair of
arms ab, ab, the spring arms, and their teeth, and the pushers of the said arms are
made, and from the other opposed pair of arms cd, cd, the hollow peg and disc
of the front part of the solitaire are made. The blank, Figure 1, is first operated
upon so as to bend the angular pieces e, e, on the arms b, b, at right angles to the
said arms, and nearly close the said pieces upon one another, as represented in
Figure 2. The said bent parts e, e, form the engaging teeth of the finished front
part of the solitaire. By a further operation each pair of arms is bent into a form
resembling the letter W, the parts d, d, of the arms cd, cd, which are to form the
hollow peg being troughed. The blank in this stage is represented in plan and
section in Figure 3. By a further operation the partly made front part of the
solitaire, Figure 3, is bent into the form represented in section and inside plan in

page_text: Figure 4 and outside plan in Figure 5. By the last described operation the parts d, d,
of the pair of arms cd, cd, are closed upon one another so as to form the hollow
central peg, and the parts b, b, of the other pair of arms a b, a b, are closed_parallel
The two
to one another so as to form the spring arms carrying the teeth e, e.
halves c, c, of the disc and the pushers a, a, of the spring arms are at the same time
brought into the same plane, the pushers lying upon the half discs c, c, near their
junction. The marginal parts c, c, of the blank, Figure 3, are also raised so as to
form a rim f. Figure 4, in recesses in which the pushers a, a, work. The said rim ƒ
serves for fixing the stone or setting to the metallic part of the solitaire.
•
The central hollow peg d, together with the discs c, c, and the spring arms b, b,
carrying the teeth e, e, together with their pushers a, a, are thus formed from one
piece of sheet metal. In order to conceal the junction of the halves c, c, forming
the disc a cap or shell, represented in Figure 6, may be closed upon the underside
of the said disc and upon its raised rim f, but the front part of the solitaire is
complete without the said cap or shell, Figure 6.
Figure 7 represents in section a complete solitaire, the two parts being
represented connected together, the front part of the said solitaire being made
according to our Invention. In the said Figure 7 g is the ordinary back part
of the solitaire having 'an internal shoulder h, with which the spring teeth e, e,
of the front part of the solitaire engage to connect the two parts of the solitaire
together. By pressure upon the pushers a, a, the said teeth e, e, are withdrawn
from the shoulder h, and the two parts of the solitaire may be disconnected as is
'well understood.
In order to increase the clasticity of the arms b, b, carrying tho-teeth e, e, a
separate spring i-(shown.detached in Figure 8) may be placed between the said
arins b, b, as represented in Figure 7. The spring i need not however be used, but
its use increases the efficiency of the fastening.
The front parts of spring shirt studs are made in the manner described and
illustrated with respect to the front part of a spring solitaire or sleeve button.
The tools and appliances which we use for bending and shaping the sheet metal
blank so as to form from it the front part of the solitaire, or sleeve link, or stud
are of the kind commonly used for like operations, and we therefore do not consider
it necessary to describe or represent the said tools and appliances.
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 claim as our
Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture of certain kinds of Spring
Solitaires or Sleeve Buttons and Shirt Studs,--"
Making the front parts of spring solitaires or sleeve buttons and shirt studs
consisting of a central hollow peg having a disc at its end, spring teeth projecting
from the said ceutral peg on opposite sides, and pushers connected with the said
spring teeth, from one piece of sheet metal, substantially in the manner herein
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Lionel Stamps, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty fifth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eiglity one,
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
ARTHUR LIONEL STAMPS. (L.S.)