IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COVERED BUTTONS
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ELLIOTT, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Button Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fourth day of Junc, in the seventh year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Elliott, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said William Elliott, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Elliott, my exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COVERED
BUTTONS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said
William Elliott, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be perfermed, to be inrolled in
Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six 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
William Elliott, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say,
My Invention has for its object the so constructing and working the dies or
tools used for that part of the process of making covered buttons which
consists in covering the front shell, and bringing the parts of a button
together, that in addition to covering and bringing the parts together, the
button is pressed into form, in place of taking the button from such covering
dies or tools, and conveying it to another, as heretofore practised. By which
means not only will labour be saved as well as tools, but it will be found that
the fabric required for covering a given sized button may be reduced, which is
important where the covering is of a costly character. And in order that
iny Invention may be fully understood and readily carried into-effect; I will'
proceed to describe the means pursued by me.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents a section of the tools used for carrying out my Inven-
tion; a being the lower die; and 6, the upper die or punch; c is the tube by
which the outer edge or circumference of the covering material is gathered
over the front shell of the button; these parts are, as it will be seen, for the
most part similar to ordinary covering tools, but it will be found by examining
the Drawing, aided by the description here given, that the punch or upper die
b and the tube c are so constructed and worked that the two together act the
part of the proper die or punch for causing the button to be pressed into shape,
without requiring that the parts of the button after being brought together in
the die a should be taken from that die, and be placed in another, to be acted
on by another punch, as heretofore practised.
Figure 2 shows the section of the dies or tools a, b, c, pressed together,
with a button between them; and it will be seen by this Figure that the
punch b, in descending, after having forced the back shell (with the shank
therein) into the front shell, carries down the tube c, by which the edge
of the front shell is pressed down, and in this condition the parts of the
button are pressed together and into shape, in the same manner as if they
had been removed from the covering dies into the next dies heretofore used. I
would here remark that some manufacturers have heretofore, and do now, use
two sets of dies for finishing a button after it comes from the covering dies or
tools, the first set of dies simply folding down the edge of the front shell, and
the second set of dies fiuishing the forming of the button. I have found that

page_text: by the means of the arrangement of the punch b and the tube c, I can
complete the button without removing it from the covering tools; at the same
time, where manufacturers prefer it, in place of finishing the buttons in the
covering dies, the parts thereof may be only so far pressed together as has
ordinarily been performed by the dies used next after the covering tools or
dies, and then to finish the buttons by a set of dies such as have been hereto-
fore used as the second set after the covering dies or tools. The workman in
making a button with the tools or dies, Figures 1 and 2, proceeds by
placing the covering fabric e face downwards on to the die a; he then places
a front shell d on the punch 6, which forces it with the covering material
into the die a; the punch 6 is then raised, and the workman introduces the
tube c into the die a, and, as formerly, by such means gathers the edge of
the covering material over the edge of the shell; the back shell f containing the
shank is then introduced through the tube c, as formerly, and the punch 6 is
again caused to descend, by which it forces the shank and back shell into the
front shell, pressing the edge of the front covering material into the front
shell; the punch or upper die 6 then acts with the tube c as one die, they both
descending together, by which the parts of the button are pressed together and
pressed into shape.
Figure 3 shows a disc of covering material, such as is proper for making
this sized button; and Figure 4 shows a disc of covering material such as
would be used if the saine sized button were made in the ordinary manner by
taking each button out of the covering dies, and placing it between another
set of dies to receive the necessary pressure for pressing the parts together,
and for shaping the button. The dies shown are for making convex buttons,
but flat or any other shaped buttons may be made in like manner, using a
proper flat or other die a in place of the one shown.
I will now describe the means pursued by me, according to my Invention,
when making what are called sewn-through covered buttons, such as are
described in a Patent granted to Humphry Jefferies, bearing date at West-
minster the Twenty-second day of April, One thousand eight hundred and
forty-one. Figure 5 shews a section of the dies or tools used for this
purpose; a being the lower die; and 6, the punch; and c, the finishing punch.
In this case I have not found it necessary to use a tube for gathering the edge
of the covering material. In using these tools or dies, the covering material is
placed over the die a (such covering material generally, by preference, con-
sisting of a strong fabric, and a finer one for the front surface), and the ring
g is then placed thereon, and forced into the die a by means of the punch b;
the punch is then raised, and the punch c is then introduced, and the punch 6

page_text: is again caused to descend, by which the edge of the covering material is
gathered evor. the edge of the hollow ring g, and in its descent the punch c
causes the edges of the ring g to be pressed down into shape, shutting in the
edge of the covering material. Fig. 6 shows a section of the dies, Fig. 5,
pressed together. I have not thought it necessary to show more than one size
of each description of button, as a workman from the description here given,
aided by the Drawing, will readily be able to make other sizes of buttons.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means I
am acquainted with for performing the same, I would have it understood that
I do not claim the use of the parts a, b, and c separately, nor combined, when
they are not arranged to work as herein described. But what I claim is, the
causing the parts b and c to be so arranged and worked that in addition to
covering the front shell, and bringing the parts of a button together, they shall
press the buttons into shape, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Elliott, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.