CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BUTTONS
Year: 1850

page_text: HENRY WILLIAMS, of Birmingham, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain and Ireland,
bearing date at Westminster, the Seventeenth day of October, in the four-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said James Henry Williams, my exors, adûiors, and assigns,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege, and authority, that T, the
said James Henry Williams, my exors, admiors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said James Williams, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
continuance of the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF BUTTONS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said James Henry Williams, to cause a particular description of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing, to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six months from the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as therein is more particularly stated.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I do hereby
declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same.

page_text: is to be carried into effect, are.fully described and ascertained in and by the
following description thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereto
annexed, that is to say:―
My said Invention of improvements in the manufacture of buttons relates to
the forming, making, or ornamenting various descriptions of buttons or their
appurtenances, as follows:-
My first improvement consists in à mode of connecting or attaching metallic
shanks to buttons made of horn, wood, bone, or other like material. In the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, Figure 1 represents a view of the face of a
button made according to this improvement, and Figure 2, a section through
the red line, Figure 1; the body of the button A is formed of any of the above
named materials by the process of pressing or stamping in manner as is well
known, which process at the same time forms the hole B, for the reception of
the shank C, by means of a punch introduced into the face of one of the dies
employed, the other die having a corresponding hole into which the punch is
received. This hole is provided with a shoulder near the back of the button,
against which the shank C bears, and by which it is prevented from being
drawn from the body of the button when fastened to the garment or other
article; the shank C is previously formed from, wire or sheet metal or other
suitable material, by any well-known method, and then placed in the hole B,
where it is secured by pressure, it bearing against the sides of the hole and
against the shoulder, by which it will be retained therein.
My second improvement consists of a mode of making buttons of a modified
description to the above. Figure 3 is a view of the face, and Figure 4 a section
upon the red line, Figure 3, of the button; the metal shank is in this modifi-
cation dispensed with, and its place supplied with a disc or piece C, of woven
fabric or elastic webbing or other suitable flexible material previously made,
with a rim similar to an ordinary plain sewn through button. This is placed
and pressed into the hole B in the button A, bearing against the shoulder
before named; this button is secured to the garment or other article by sewing
through the flexible disc C.
My next improvement is shewn in Figure 5 and 6, which represent a view
of the face and a section upon the red line of a cast metal sewn through
button in which the shank C, previously formed of metal or wire, is laid upon
the sand mould and united by the process of casting to the body. A of the
button.
My next improvement consists in the mode of making buttons composed of
horn or composition, and having metallic shanks secured to them by means of
pressing or stamping; the horn from which the button is to be made is first

page_text: prepared in the form of a ring, as A, Figures 7 and 8; it is then placed in a
suitable die or stamp, and the metallic shank C is then also placed in the die
in its proper position in the interior of the ring A. Pressure being applied, the
material of the ring is flattened and spread upon the ends of the shank, as
shewn in Figures 9 and 10, which is a plan and section of the finished
button..
My next improvement consists in the application of a material for covering
buttons, which is a woven worsted fabric, prepared as silk and woven in a silk
loom, having the twilled face and appearance of the fabric commonly known
as lasting.
Figure 11 is a sewn through linen button, the improvement in which
consists in using a thin wire ring in combination with a metal shell; by this
means less metal will be seen at the back, a desirable object in buttons for
garments that require <washing.
Figure 12 is another modification of the above, having a transverse diametrical
bar formed in one piece with the ring by bending the wire in the form shewn
in Figure. This wire may be either spun round with cotton or covered with
linen. The front shell (which I sometimes use of a bevil shape as well as the
flat shape) is then covered with linen in the ordinary way.
am
Figure 13 shews a covered back button, having a flexible shank.
aware that a button having this sort of shank, and also having a similar
interior shell in combination with a metal back and florentine edge, has been
registered in February, One thousand eight hundred and forty-one, but the
improvement in mine consists in using a flexible shank in combination with a
narrow detached eyclet or collet through which it is passed, by which com-
bination a covered back flexible shank button is produced. My object in
using a detached collet or eyelet is for the purpose of avoiding the cracking of
the japan, (which could not be done if the eylet was formed out of the interior
shell,) and affording additional strength round the shank.
My next improvement consists in a mode of attaching metal wire centres to
metal dises for sewn through buttons, without the aid or application of solder;
this is shewn in Figures 14 and 15, which represent plan views of two
modifications of metal centres; slots are formed or cut in the metal discs A,
through which the ends of the wire or wires B forming the centre are passed;
it is then placed in a press and submitted to pressure, by which the centre will
be firmly secured.
My next improvement consists in making metal disc centres for sewn
through buttons, as shown in Figures 16 and 17, which represent a front or
face and a back view of the centre. The disc A has portions of its inner

page_text: edge turned over in such manner as to embrace and hold fast the looped
ends of the wire centre B.
My next improvement is shown in Figures 18 and 19, which represent also
a face and back view of a metal disc contre for sewn through buttons; the
centre B consists of a perforated disc or plate secured to the disc A in a similar
manner to the last-described mode of fastening.
My next improvement consists in forming and making metal disc buttons as
represented in Figures 20 and 21, which is a plan and section through the red
line; the disc A has the edges of the cross bar or piece B turned down, as
shewn in the section, Figure 21, so as to be round or smooth and free from
angles upon that part with which the sewing thread comes in contact when
the button is attached to the garment, and the bar B is of such a form as to
confine the sewing thread to the centre of the button.
My next improvement consists in a mode of making self-attaching buttons, as
shewn in Figures 22 and 28, which represent an edge and plan of the back of
the button attached to a fabric; the button A has a single wire or metal shank
B secured to it by rivetting or soldering; around which is a small ring of india-
rubber to keep the button in its place; the shank is then passed through the
fabric C, the end of it being headed; a disc of thin metal D, slightly bent,
having a hole in the centre, and slit from the hole to the circumference, is
then passed around the shank, and under the head of it, the slit closed, and the
disc flattened, and the button securely attached.
My next improvement is represented in Figure 24, which shows an edge
view of a removeable button attached to a fabric or garment. Figure 25, an
edge view, removed from the garment; and Figure 26, another edge view.
The shank B of the button A is composed of two pieces of metal, having a
small piece or bar C jointed to them, and moving upon the joint pin as a
centre, so that it can be turned in a direction at a right angle to that of the
shank, or in the same direction as the shank, and when turned in the same
direction it allows the button to be attached to or removed from the garment,
but when turned so as to be at a right angle to the shank, the button cannot
then be removed.
Another mode of making self-attaching buttons is by using a piece of bent
wire or metal, having a hole in each end to receive the tag. This is passed
through two slots in the back shell of the button, & then secured to it by
pressure, as shown at Fig. 26*.
My next improvement consists in making removable buttons with elastic
shanks. Figure 27 and 28 represent two modifications of this improvement;
they are as shewn with the elastic shanks in a slack state, and also in a state

page_text: of tension. The buttons A have attached to them pieces of elastic cord B, to
form the shanks, and to these are attached the looped bent wire C. The
_buttons are attached to or removed from the garment or fabric by passing the
looped bent wire C lengthwise through the hole in the garment, and then
turning it.
My next improvement consists of a mode of ornamenting the surfaces of
metallic buttons, and consists in printing the design or pattern upon the me-
tallic surface, as shewn in Figure 29. A wood block or a cylinder is prepared
and engraved with any desired pattern or design; the metallic surface of the
button is then thoroughly cleansed and burnished: solutions of sulphate of
copper and tin are then prepared and mixed together, the proportions of these
materials varying according to the color desired to be obtained (the proportion..
which I prefer and usually employ, being three parts of copper to one part of
tin); these solutions are applied to the design or pattern surface of the block,
and then by means of pressure an impression is taken upon the metallic
surface to be ornamented, and when the impression has been obtained a coat
of light varnish should be applied: solution of verdigris may be employed when
a variation of color is desired to be obtained.
My last improvement consists in a mode of making white zinc buttons; the
metal employed for this purpose should be recently rolled, and before the
surface of it has become oxidized; the surface, however, should be thoroughly
scraped and cleansed, and then dipped into a very weak solution of muriate of
tin, and subsequently well washed in clean water; it is then passed between
bright flatting rollers to improve the surface; the blanks or pieces to form the
buttons are then cut by any convenient means from the sheet, and these are
again dipped into the above solution, and are then in a state for brunishing and
polishing in the ordinary manner. I sometimes adopt another method of
producing the same effect, by dipping the zinc into bright dripping aquafortis
and water, in the proportion generally of one part aquafortis to three parts of
water, and subsequently into a solution of corrosive sublimate, and then into a
strong ammonia; this last is for the purpose of modifying the action of the
corrosive sublimate upon the metal.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the modes of
carrying the same into practical effect, I wish to be understood not strictly to
confine myself to the exact particulars and details herein-before expressed; but
what I claim substantially as my Invention is,-
First, the several modes and modifications herein-before shewn and described
of making and manufacturing buttons or their appendages.

page_text: Secondly, the mode described of ornamenting the metallic surfaces of buttons
by imprinting by means of wood blocks or cylinders.
Thirdly, the modes described of treating zinc to be manufactured into white
buttons.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Henry Williams, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this
eight hundred and fifty-one.
****
day of
One thousand