Improvements in Buttons.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 17th May, 1892-Accepted 18th June, 1892
ח זArn
annaCATION
RI RE
Improvements in Buttons.
I, CHARLES RADCLIFFE, of No. 389 Mulberry Street, in the City of Newark,
County of Essex and State of New Jersey, United States of America, Manufac-
turer, do hereby declare the nature of my 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 improvements in that class of buttons adapted to be
attached or secured to the material without sewing the button thereto by means of
thread and a needle, and the invention consists in the peculiar arrangement and
construction of the parts comprising the button proper with reference to a cheaper
production of the same and a better means of securing the several parts together,
being designed to provide a button simple in construction and of great utility and
strength, possessing great advantages over buttons of the same class as heretofore
made.
The object of the invention is to provide a button consisting of an upper shell
or face-plate, a back-plate or shell provided with an inwardly curved and slotted
hub, and a shoe having a post thereon, adapted to be inserted or forced through the
material, and through said slotted hub in the back-plate, and by means of a suitable
tool operated either by hand or by machinery, the upper end of the post is turned
on opposite sides at right angles, or approximately so, across the inner part of said
slotted hub, thereby causing a holding or locked engagement of these parts and
firmly securing the button in wearing position on the material of a garment.
In the drawings herewith accompanying, in which similar letters of reference are
employed to indicate corresponding parts in each of the several views,
Figure 1 is a side view of my improved button secured to the material,
Figure 2 is a top view of the same, and
Figure 3 is a vertical section of the several parts of the button, showing the upper
part of the post on the shoe in its locked or holding engagement with the inner
portion of the slotted hub.
Figure 4 is a top view of the back-plate with the face-plate or shell removed,
and showing the post inserted through the slotted hub before its upper portion is
bent across the slot.
Figure 5 is a similar view of the same parts, illustrated in Figure 4, but showing
in opposite
the upper end of the post turned at right angles, or approximately so,
directions across the inner portions of the slotted hub.
Figure 6 is a vertical section of said back-plate and hub.
Figure 7 is a top view of the shoe and post and a shell, and
Figure 8 is a vertical section of said shoe and post, taken on line x in
Figure 7.
Figure 9 is a side view of the shoe and post and a shell secured to said shoe,
which is represented in section, a socketed needle being indicated in dotted lines
placed over the post for forcing the same through the cloth or material.
Figures 10 and 11 are two side views of said shoe and post, with the upper
portion of the post turned at right angles, to more clearly illustrate the arrange-
ment of the same after said portions have been thus turned, when inserted through
the slotted hub.
Figure 12 is a blank from which said shoe and post have been formed.
Figure 13 is a vertical section of a modified form of button, embodying my
invention, in which the upper portion of the post is pointed, or spear-shaped for
readily inserting the same through the material.

page_text: Figure 14 is a top view of the back-plate used in connection with this form of
button, showing the spear-shaped end of the post turned at right angles in opposite
directions across the slotted hub.
Figure 15 is a front view of the shoe and spear-headed post, with the shell
secured to the shoe represented in section.
Figure 16 is a similar view of the post and shoe after the spear-shaped head has
been turned at an angle to the body-portion of the post.
Figures 17 and 18.are two forms of blanks from which said shoe and post are
formed.
b
As indicated in the above described views, A represents the button, which is
composed of a face-plate or upper shell a provided with a central perforation or
hole a', secured to the back-plate by means of the over-lapping edges a². Said
back plate, is preferably formed as illustrated in Figures 1 and 3, and 6,
being provided with a hub which is inwardly bent as at and has a slot b³
therein.
Integral with the shoe c or separate therefrom, if desirable, is formed or struck
up thereon, a post e' provided with a flat upper portion formed by the oppositely
projecting arms e, as clearly shown in Figures 9 and 12.
A shell can be secured to the lower surface of the shoe e by means of the over-
lapping edges c, but said shell can be dispensed with and the shoe and post can be
used without such shell.
In order to secure the above described button to the fabric, a socketed and cone-
shaped needle d is placed over the upwardly projecting post c¹, as indicated in dotted
outline in Figure 9, which is forced through the material and whereby, when said
needle has been removed, said post c¹ has been forced through the material, its shoe
being arranged on one side, and the post provided with the projections c³ projecting
from the opposite side of the material. Said post and its projecting ends are then
inserted through the slotted hub ', the parts thereby assuming the positions shown
in Figure 4, and said oppositely projecting portions projecting above the inner
part of the inwardly curved portion in the hub b¹.
A suitable tool, shaped like a wrench and provided in the end with a slot, is then
inserted through the opening a¹ in the face-plate a and said slotted portion of the
tool is placed over the arms c³. A quarter turn of said tool either by hand or
machinery, then causes said oppositely projecting portions or arms c³ to be turned
at right angles, or approximately so, in opposite directions across the slot in the
hub b¹.
By means of this operation of turning or bending the arms or portions c³, as just
described, the body-portion of the post c' is slightly drawn inward into the curved
portion 63 of the back-plate b, and by thereby practically shortening said post, the
shoe thereof and the arms are brought toward one another, whereby the material
is firmly depressed into the outer part of the inwardly curved portion 62 of the
back-plate and the several parts of the button are firmly held in their locked
positions, and the wobbling of the button on the material, which is very objection-
able, is thereby successfully overcome.
By providing the post with the upper flat portion c², I am enabled to make a
hub of very small depth, which has this great advantage, that the several parts
of the button can be made of sheet-iron or tin, it being a well-known fact, that a
deep hub can not be formed in a back-plate made from either of these metals.
By my improved form of construction, I have successfully overcome these
difficulties and I can make a button which is of simple and cheap construction, and
great utility, but still possessing the requisite strength.
In the modified forms of construction, illustrated in Figures 13 and 14, etc.,
instead of providing the post c¹ with a flat portion c, the oppositely projecting
arms are extended upwardly thereby forming a point or spear-head c. This
form of construction has this advantage, that the shoe can be forced through the
material without the use of a socketed needle d, but owing to the greater length of
the post, it necessitates a back-plate provided with a deep hub, as will be seen from

page_text: Figure 13, which necessitates the making of said back-plate and hub of sheet
copper, and thereby adds to the cost of manufacture.
The construction of the several parts of this form of button and the manner of
turning the oppositely projecting portions on the spear-head across the inner edges
of the slot in the hub, is in all respects similar to that described in connection with
the construction illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, etc.
Of course I am aware that slight modifications may be made without departing
from the scope of my invention, as for instance, the shape and form of the post and
the oppositely projecting arms may be varied, or in some cases, the inwardly
projecting portion in the hub b', instead of being curved inwardly, may be formed
straight across the bottom of the hub, and I therefore do not wish to be understood
as limiting myself to the exact forms herein shown.
The form of button illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3, however, is the preferred
construction.
Another great advantage obtained in this construction, is the dispensing with the
use of a spring, which adds to the expense of manufacture, and where such springs
are used there is always a possibility of the same becoming displaced, before the
post is inserted into the back-plate.
Owing to the flat post and the manner of turning the arms c³ across the slot, the
several parts of the button can not possibly be pulled apart, no matter how great
the strain thereon.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a button, the combination, of a shoe and a flat and spirally twisted post,
the twisted portion of said post being within the hub, and provided with oppositely
projecting arms above said twisted portion arranged across the slot in the hub,
substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
-
2. As an improved article of manufacture, the herein described metallic button,
consisting of a face-plate a, and a back-plate b, provided with a hub having an
inwardly curved portion & and a slot 63 therein, and a shoe provided with a flat post
formed integral therewith having oppositely projecting arms c³ and a flat portion c³,
adapted to be inserted through said slot and said arms c³ being turned at right
angles, or approximately so, across said slot and engaging with the inner edges
thereof, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Dated this 25th day of April 1809
CHARLES RADCLIFFE,
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.