IMPROVEMENTS IN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PERFORATED METAL BUTTONS
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHARLES
ROWLEY and JAMES TURNER, of Birmingham, Button Manufacturers, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal, of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifteenth day of November, in the sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Charles Rowley and James Turner, Her especial license, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that we, the said Charles Rowley and James Turner,
our exors, adiñors, and. assigns, or such others as we, the said Charles Rowley
and James Turner, our exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PERFORATED METAL
BUTTONS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that we, the said
Charles Rowley and James Turner, or one of us, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Charles Rowley and James Turner, do hereby declare that the nature of our
said Invention, and 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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon (that is to say):-
Our Invention relates to that description of perforated metal buttons which
are each composed of one thickness of metal, and have each three or four
holes for the passage of the needle and thread when fastening such buttons on
to garments; and the improvements consist in causing the edges around the
holes to be compressed by means of dies, in such manner that each hole will
appear as if a ring were let into the button, and by which means the thread
will not be so liable to be cut when the buttons are in use, as the thread will
be supported by the rounded surfaces so raised, and the buttons will have a
more finished appearance. And in order that the Invention may be fully
understood, we will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed, in the
various figures of which the same letters and figures indicate the same parts
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Charles Rowley and James Turner, do hereby declare that the nature of our
said Invention, and 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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon (that is to say):-
Our Invention relates to that description of perforated metal buttons which
are each composed of one thickness of metal, and have each three or four
holes for the passage of the needle and thread when fastening such buttons on
to garments; and the improvements consist in causing the edges around the
holes to be compressed by means of dies, in such manner that each hole will
appear as if a ring were let into the button, and by which means the thread
I will not be so liable to be cut when the buttons are in use, as the thread will
be supported by the rounded surfaces so raised, and the buttons will have a
more finished appearance. And in order that the Invention may be fully
understood, we will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed, in the
various figures of which the same letters and figures indicate the same parts
wherever they occur.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
The various Figures of the Drawing are on a magnified scale, in order that
the nature of each part may be better shown and more readily seen than could
have been the case had the parts been shewn so small as the real size.
Figure 1 shews a disc of metal perforated with four holes, or it might be
three holes, as heretofore practised when making such description of solid
perforated buttons; Figure 2 shews the same disc of metal after it has had the
edges of the holes submitted to dies and pressure according to our Invention;
and Figure 3 shews a section of the same discs as that shewn at Figure 2.
And it will be seen that the edges of the holes have been compressed so as to
produce a rounding on the upper and under surfaces, offering a ring-like
appearance, the metal around the holes being pressed towards the centre of
each of the holes, but the metal is prevented going in that direction by means
of the punch used being so formed as to prevent the metal passing inwards,
by which the interior of each hole is rendered smooth in a superior manner to
that heretofore practised, when the tools were so formed as to simply counter-
sink the interior edge of each hole, such process of countersinking as hereto-
fore practised being very liable to leave a sharp edge at a point interior of the
hole where the countersinking tools met; but, according to our Invention, the
tools or dies should be so formed that there is a plug through the hole at

page_text: the time that the metal around a hole is being compressed between the upper
and under dies, which plugs, when the dies are compressing the metal, for
some distance around the holes, prevents the metal passing towards the centres
of the holes, and the plugs so used offer a smooth surface within the holes
against which the interior edge of the metal of each hole may be pressed,
which is of considerable importance, in addition to the upper and under surface
around each hole being formed into a rounding or ring-like form; but such
plugs may be dispensed with and a beneficial effect may be produced by the
simple compression.
Figure 4 shows a plan and Figure 5 a section of the button after it has been
shaped in proper shaping dies, as heretofore practised, such dies being so
formed as not to injure the centre portion of the button where the holes are
situated. The button blank or disc, Figure 1, having been perforated, as
shown, and being formed of one thickness of metal, is next to be submitted
to the operation of the dies, Figure 6, which are shown partly in section in
order that their construction may readily be understood. This pair of dies is to
be used in a fly or other suitable press, as is well understood by button makers,
and the holes in the blank, Figure 1, are successively to be operated on so as
to compress the edges and produce the projecting ring-like form around each
hole, as is shown in Figure 2, 3, 4, and 5.
In Figure 6, A is the upper die, and B is the lower die. (1) is what we call
the plug, which passes through the hole and fills up the interior thereof, such
plug entering into the recess (2) formed in the lower die B. The compressing.
of the metal around the holes into the ring-like form is caused by the sunk
parts of the dies (3), (3), in the upper and lower die, as is shown.
.
Figure 7 shows an under side view of the upper die A, and Figure 8 shows
a plan er upper view of the lower die B. We would remark, that the whole
of the holes in a button blank or disc may be completed at one operation
by a suitable formation of dies, such as shown in Figures 9 and 10;
Figure 9 showing plans of the upper and lower dies A, B; and Figure 10
showing side views of those dies partly in section. In the dies Figures 9
and 10 there are four such dies as those shown at Figures 6, 7, and 8, com-
bined, so that one operation of the fly or other press in which they are fixed
may finish the four holes. We would remark, that in place of cutting the
metal out to the size of the holes required, the same may be punched through,
so as to form a short projection in one side, as shown at Figures 11 and 12,
and the edges of the holes so forced through may be condensed into a ring form
by the tools or dies above described.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention and the best means we

page_text: are acquainted with for performing the same, we would remark that we do not
confine ourselves to the precise details, provided the peculiar character of our
Invention be retained; but what we claim is the mode of manufacturing that
description of perforated metal buttons which are each composed of one thick-
ness of metal, and have each three or four holes therethrough, whereby the
metal around the holes is compressed into a rounding and ring-like form as
above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Rowley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eight day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-three.