Improvements in Buttons.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Oct., 1893-Accepted, 4th Nov., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by PATENT BUTTON COMPANY, of Waterbury,
County of New Haven, State of Connecticut, United States of America,
Manufacturers.]
Improvements in Buttons.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
.
This invention relates to an improvement in buttons, and particularly to those.
buttons made of metal, and commonly known to the trade as rivet buttons, that is.
those buttons which are intended to be secured to cloth or fabric by means of a
tack, rivet, or other metal fastener, the button in the present instance being
particularly designed or adapted for use on men's pants or the like, the object of
the same being to devise a button which shall be simple in construction, and
consequently cheap to manufacture and at the same time neat in appearance, the:
several parts being so arranged that although a soft or cheap metal may be used in
making the front and back-plates thereof, yet the finished article will be sufficiently
strong to withstand any strain to which it might be subjected when applied to the
garment referred to, and further that by its peculiar construction and arrangement.
of parts, the two plates of which the button is composed will not become separated
from each other when the garment to which it is secured is put through a washing
or wringing machine as is now the case with the common form of pant or the like
buttons.
With these objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of
construction as will be hereinafter fully described.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figure 1 is a sectional view of the improved button showing the latter attached!
to the cloth or fabric, and taken on the line - of Figure 5.
.
Figure 2, is a similar view of a button comprising the said invention, the front-
or face plate of which is covered with cloth.
Figures 3 and 4, are sectional views of modifications of the improved.
button, and
Figure 5 is a plan view of the button shown in Figure 1..
Referring to the drawing,
A represents the front or face plate of the button, and B the back plate thereof,
each of the said plates being provided with a central hole or opening which register
with each other.
The metal generally used in the manufacture of pant or the like buttons is zinc,.
by reason of the fact that it does not stain or discolor the clothing, but the serious
difficulty heretofore met with in the use of this metal is the liability of the parts.
becoming separated, as it is well known that this metal is very soft and incapable of
withstanding any great amount of strain. But by reason of the peculiar construction of
the said improved button, the strain thereon is exerted through the fastener upon the
end of a tubular eyelet a, which passes through the central registering openings in the
front and back plates, and has its extreme ends 6 bent or turned over upon the same,..
the upper bent end, or flange thus formed, being of sufficient width to allow the swaged
or upset end of the metal fastener to bear thereon. This metal eyelet a is made
of metal having sufficient strength to withstand the greater part of the strain
mposed upon the button, a further function of the same being to assist in locking
the two plates A and B together, a further locking of such plates being effected by

page_text: turning or bending the outer edge of the top plate A over the corresponding edge
of the back or lower plate B.
The simplest form of this button is shown in Figure 1 of the drawing, the two
plates A and B being slightly dished in order to accommodate the clinched or
overturned end of the fastener or rivet c, which is preferably pointed at its piercing
end. In Figure 2, however, I have shown the button in its preferred construction,
that is, a button formed as above described and substantially similar in all respects
to that shown in Figure 1, with the addition of a cloth covering d on the outer
surface of the face plate A, the outer edge of this cover being secured between the
outer locked edges of the plates A and B, and the edge surrounding a central
opening formed therein, secured between the plate A and the upper overturned
flange bin the eyelet a, this form of button being preferred on account of the
application for which it is particularly designed, the additional cloth cover
being nominal in cost, yet adding materially to the appearance of the finished
article.
.
While the plates A and B have been described as being slightly dished, it is
not desired to confine the claim thereto, as the shapes or contours thereof may be
varied to suit the tastes of the manufacturer or consumer; for instance, in Figure 3,
the top plate A is shown formed of an approximately flat surface and with a
central depression e for the reception of the overturned end of the metal fastener c,
and in Figure 4, the upper end of the eyelet a is shown slightly enlarged for the
same purpose, the object being to prevent, where possible, the protrusion of the
swaged end of the rivet c above the surface of the face plate A.
The operation is as follows.
To secure the button to the fabric, the metal fastener c is first driven through
the material f, and passing through the tubular eyelet a is clinched, upset or
swaged at its piercing end, by means of a suitable tool (not shown) applied directly
thereto, the said upset end of the rivet bearing on the flange b of said eyelet a,
which being of hard metal will not yield to any ordinary strain exerted on the
fastener, and as the flanged ends of said eyelet, cover or overlie, so large a
portion of the plates A and B, the liability of the latter becoming disengaged is
effectually prevented.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is
1. A button adapted to be secured to cloth or fabric, by a metallic fastener,
consisting of a front and back plate, interlocked at their outer edges and having
registering openings therein, and a tubular eyelet fitting in and extending through
said openings, the ends thereof being flanged or overturned to bear on the outer
sides of said plates, substantially as described.
2. A button consisting of a front and back plate, having central registering
openings therein, said front plate being bent or shaped, substantially as described,
to accommodate the upset or swaged end of a metallic fastener, and a tubular
eyelet fitted in said central openings, and having its ends turned over upon the
outer sides of said plates, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
3. A button consisting of two plates interlocked at their outer edges and provided
with central openings registering with each other, a tubular evelet fitted in said
registering openings and having its ends flanged over the outer sides of said plates,
as described, and a covering of cloth or fabric overlying said upper plate, and
secured at its outer edge between the interlocking edges of said plates, and at
the centre between said upper plate and flanged end of said tubular eyelet,
substantially as described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.