IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTONS
Year: 1853

page_text: I, THOMAS FREEMAN FINCH, of the City of Worcester, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTONS"
to be as follows:-
This Invention consists, firstly, in making the shanks of buttons of
an elastic substance or material, such as leather; and, secondly, in a
new mode of connecting or attaching the shank to the head of the
button, whereby the button is more durable than the buttons as
hitherto constructed. And it should be observed, that this Invention
applies more particularly to buttons made of leather, and such as are
used as fastenings for boots.
And in order to ascertain more fully the nature of this Invention,
I will proceed to describe the modus operandi thereof as follows.
To manufacture buttons according to this Invention, the operator
proceeds as follows: he takes a piece of leather of convenient size,
and of the proper thickness for the head of the button, and he

page_text: prefers for this purpose using leather known and distinguished as
sole leather, such as is used by bootmakers for soleing boots and
shoes; and having placed the leather on a suitable table or bench, the
operator proceeds to cut out pieces of the required size to form the
head of the button; the tool employed for this purpose being somewhat
similar to a tool used by carpenters, and denominated a "centre bit,"
the cutting edge whereof is formed of the desired shape for the top of
the button, and with this, tool, the operator cuts nearly but not quite
through the thickness of the leather; and in this manner he cuts or
scores out a succession of picces in close contact, or nearly so, with
each other; and having cut to the end of the skin in like manner, he
cuts or scores out another row, as close as may be to the last row, and
he proceeds in this manner until the whole of the available part of the
skin has been operated upon; he then turns the leather over on the
opposite side, and placing the pin of the centre bit in the hole pre-
viously formed thereby, he cuts the piece of leather entirely out, and
in this manner each piece is cut out in succession. And having cut
as many picces as will suffice to cominence operations, and according
to the number of workpeople employed, he next proceeds to perform
the operation of shanking the button, which he effects in the following
manner: He takes a piece of leather of convenient size and thickness,
and of the quality known in the trade as upper leather, and such as is
used in making the uppers of boots, and this he cuts into strips in any
convenient manner; he then takes several of these strips, and placing.
them one upon the other, holds them in that position between two
pieces of wood suited to the purpose; he then introduces the leather
between a pair of dies, of the required shape, to form the shank, and
with a screw-press punches the several pieces of leather through, and
he proceeds in this manner throughout the whole length of the strips.
The shanks are now ready to be attached to the heads before men-
tioned; but the pieces of leather to form the heads of the buttons have
yet to be subjected to other operations to fit them for the reception of
the shanks, as follows. The pieces or heads are steeped in water for
a sufficient length of time to make them slightly supple, after which

page_text: each one is taken separately and placed in a suitable tool for the pur-
pose of making a hole therein, into which the shank is to be inserted;
and having effected this, the operator next places the saturated button-
head upon a pin in the above-mentioned tool, and afterwards forces
down a die connected to or formed upon said tool, by which the button.
head will be forced over the pin thereof; and as the said die is raised,
the elastic force of a spring affixed to said tool will force the piece of
leather off the said pin. The. head in this state next passes to another
operator to receive the shank, which is attached thereto in the fol-
lowing manner, and by the use of a tool formed with jaws :-One of
these jaws has a recess formed therein to receive the head of the button,
and the other jaw is fitted with a steel pin, and the operator having
deposited the head of the button in the said recess, places the middle
part of the shank upon the head of the button, and then presses the
said pin upon the middle pathe shank until it is forced sufficiently
far through the head of the button to be caught hold of on the other
side by another tool, which he inserts after he has withdrawn the pin;
he now forces this last-mentioned tool through the shank, until the
shoulder of said tool comes into contact therewith; he then withdraws
this tool, and afterwards cuts off the greater portion, but not all of that
part of the shank which projects above the surface of the head of the
button; the button in this state is now removed to another press, and
placed between suitable dies, the pressure whereof causes the upper
part of the shank to partake of the required form for the head of the
button, which may be afterwards varnished to give it a finish.
It should be observed, that an important feature in this Invention
consists in attaching the shank of the button in a dry state to the head
of the button whilst in a humid state, the effect of which, as the head
becomes dry, is to cause the head to shrink upon the shank; and this,
in conjunction with the shouldered hole formed in the head, and a
metal pin passed through the same, precludes the possibility of the
shank becoming accidentally detached from the head of the button.
It will appear obvious that where metal is required for buttons, the
shank may be attached thereto in the manner before stated,. this

page_text: Invention consisting more particularly in forming buttons with elastic
shanks, whereby such part is not only more durable than the shanks of
buttons as hitherto constructed, but is less destructive to to the button
holes of such garments as are fastened with buttons, and thereby
constitutes "Improvements in the Manufacture of Buttons."