US2662259A - Covered button with insert - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 15, 1953 H. J. KOEHL COVERED BUTTON WITH INSERT Filed April 1, 1950 F/G. Z

INVHVTOR. b ermdn Josef Aoebl BY CM 0.. A if.

Patented Dec. 15, 1953 COVERED BUTTON WITH INSERT Herman Josef Koehl, Danielson, Conm, assignor to C. E. M. Company, Killingly, Conn., a partnership.

Application April 1, 1950, Serial No. 153,323

3 Claims. 1.

My invention relates to parts for assembling covered. buttons with inserts therein. More particularly, it concerns means whereby such parts can readily be assembled and covered with covering material without the use of tools and without requiring special skill.

Parts that may be assembled to form covered buttons are well known in the art. Usually the covering of such parts with fabric, leather and like covering materials, and the assembly thereof to form the final covered buttons requires special tools and special skill, so that these operations cannot be performed in the home. Recently simple assemblies have been developed, that are suitable for home use. They include a hollow form piece having a large opening at the back, that is lined with inwardly pointed teeth. These teeth are so located and directed as to enable the housewife or seamstress to stretch a covering material over the form piece and. to affix it thereto securely, even prior to insertion of a closure member in the opening at the back.

The present invention represents another development of such simple button assemblies and is particularly concerned with the provision of an insert in the front of the form piece of the button, which insert may either be left bare or covered with a material. Such an insert makes possible a far greater variety of effects resulting in partially or wholly covered buttons of unusually attractive appearance.

The principal object of this invention is to provide special means whereby the abovementioned buttons with inserts may readily be covered' and assembled without tools and without any special skill in the home. Another object is to permit a much greater variation in shapes and designs of home assembled buttons, than has been possible heretofore. Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as the detailed description thereof proceeds.

To accomplish the foregoing, I give the form piece of the button a special shape that cooperates with the shape of the insert. An opening isprovided in the front of the form piece to receive and to hold the insert. The latter may, if desired, be provided, as is the form piece, with special means for holding a covering material thereover.

Several embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings. In these drawings each of the figures is a view in cross section through the center of the button parts and the partly or completely assembled covered buttons according to my invention.

Fig. 1 shows a form piece with the front opening to receive the insert,

Fig. 2 shows a hollow insert with special means for holding a covering material thereover,

Fig. 3 shows an alternative form of hollow insert having a flanged edge, that is not intended to be covered,

Figs. 4 and 5 show variously shaped solid inserts that are likewise to be left bare,

Fig. 6 shows a closure member for the back of the form piece provided with a folded rim and a sew-on loop,

Fig. 7 shows the insert of a material,

Fig. 8 shows such a covered insert held within the front opening of the form piece of Fig. 1 by a material that is to cover the latter,

Fig. 9 shows the same arrangement, after the covering material of the form piece has been drawn thereover and affixed thereto,

Fig. 10 shows the complete assembly, after inserting the closure member of Fig. 6 into the back opening of the covered form piece,

Fig. 2 covered with Fig. 11 shows another complete assembly 7 differing from that of Fig; 10 by the use of the bare solid insert shown in Fig. 4, and

Fig. 12 shows still another complete assembly in which both the form piece and the covered insert possess different shapes from those of Fig. 10.

Referring now in more detail to these drawings, the ring shaped form piece 1 shown in Fig. 1 and used in the assemblies of Figs. 8 to 11, inclusive, possesses a front opening 2, to receive an insert. The larger back opening is lined with inwardly pointed teeth 3 that are placed immediately adjacent the back outer edge or rim of the form piece In Fig. 2 there is shown a half-round, cap-shaped form of hollow insert 4- whose back opening is lined with inwardly pointed teeth 5 based immediately ad jacent the lower outer rim. These inwardly pointed teeth, as in the case of the form piece I serve to hold the covering material over the insert, as may be seen in Figs. 7' to 10.

The inserts: shown in Figs. 3, l and 5 are intended to remain bare. The hollow insert of Fig. 3 is preferably made of a metal having a goldlike or silvery appearance, while the solid inser of Figs. 4 and 5 may be made of glass or plastic and colored in various shades. The insert 6 of Fig. 4 is shown in the assembly of Fig. ll and may simulate a pearl. Obviously, other materials may be employed to produce an infinite variety of effects. All that is required is that a section of the lower portion of the insert have a shape and size. corresponding to the front opening of the form. piece into which it is to be. inserted. Preferably, but. not necessarily, the insert possesses a tapered form whose base portion corresponds, in shape and size to the front opening. The base portion, particularly of a bare insert, may be slightly larger than the opening to prevent the insert from falling out.

The closure member 1 shown in Fig. 6 is designed. to snap into the rear. opening of the form piece, as shown in Figs. 10 to 12. This preferred closure member is provided with a folded rim 8,

producing trough 9 which is engaged by the inwardly pointed teeth 3 of the form piece. The closure member is provided. at its center with a wire sew-on loop it that may be affixed thereto by suitable means such as riveting or soldering.

The various stages of covering and assembling a fully covered button employing the form piece I, insert 13 and closure member I are shown in Figs. 7 to 10, inclusive. Fig. 7 shows the hollow insert l with a covering material i stretched thereover and held thereon by means of the inwardly pointed teeth 5. The covering of such an insert is greatly facilitated by the fact that the inwardly pointed teeth are based immediately adjacent the lower outer rim, thus providing a maximum sized opening into which the excess material is pushed and simplifying the even stretching of the material. It is also more effective thus to hold the material closely adjacent to the lower mm.

Fig. 8 shows the first step in the assembly of the covered form piece and the covered insert. For proper completion of this assembly, the covered insert of Fig. '7 is placed in the center of a square piece of material 52 of proper size, the four corners and edges of said material are gathered together over the insert and guided through the opening 2 from the back to the front of the orm piece 1. The material It is then pulled causing the covered insert 4 to become firmly pressed against the edges of the opening 2 at which point it is held securely in said opening. The covered insert cannot pass through the opening, this oeing prevented by the covering material on insert :2, as well as the material it that has been pulled through the opening 2. In the use of the bare insert 8 (see Fig. 11) the covering material l?! of the form piece I suffices to prevent the insert from slipping through opening 2. For safetys sake a flange may be provided, as in the bare insert of Fig. 3.

After a smoothening operation, the square piece of material 2 which overlaps the rim of the form piece I is now out circularly, allowing enough margin to heal: the material to the inwardly pointed teeth 3, while simultaneously stretching the material over the outer rim of the form piece. By this operation th material is securely affixed to the form piece, as shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. shows the finished button with the closure member I snapped into the back opening. This illustration indicates the resilient qualities of the points of the teeth 3 in that they allow the pressure exerted by the folded rim 8 of the closure member I to bend them to a certain degree. After the passage of the inner rim, the teeth snap back into the trough 9 and regain their original position. Obviously the closure member can be detached from the assembly of Fig. 10 with the aid of a sharply pointed instrument. This enables a user to employ the described assembly for frequent usage giving him a wide range of applications by replacing material with new material on both the form piece and the insert in a manner conforming to the individual taste. fhus the newly finished covered button may look entirely different from its original version.

Fig. 11 shows the same button, with the eXcep-' tion that the insert is a half-round, simulated pearl 9 of glass or plastic. The covering operation of this button follows the exact procedure outlined in the foregoing, beginning with placing the insert in the center of a square piece of covering material of proper size. 1

Fig. 12 is included to illustrate a differently shaped form piece and another type of covered insert. The form piece 13 possesses a larger front opening than form piece I and a rounded front edge. The insert is shown therewith is ringshaped, and the covering material is simply stretched over the outer edge and caught by the inwardly pointed teeth at the back, as in the case of the hollow, cap-shaped insert 4. The resultant covered insert is assembled with the form piece I 3 in the same manner as described above in connection with Figs. 8 to 10, inclusive.

It will be obvious that a variety of shapes may be designed both for the form piece and for the insert, without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. Similarly, the shape of the closure member can be greatly varied from the specific example illustrated in the drawings. For example, a disc of resilient material having a grooved outer edge may be employed. Generally speaking, I prefer to utilize sheet metal for forming the various parts of my assembly, although other materials may be preferred for making solid, bare inserts, as shown in the drawings (Figs. 4, 5 and 11).

The assembly of my covered buttons with inserts therein as described in the foregoing is so simple that no special tools or skill is required. My invention, therefore, enables the housewife and the seamstress to prepare their own covered buttons in the home. No longer is it necessary to delegate this task to a specialty shop, and it is now possible to achieve almost any desired professional effect by suitable variation of the covering materials, inserts and form pieces.

I claim:

1. A button assembly, comprising a hollow ringshaped, sheet metal form piece having an openmg at the front and a larger opening at the back, the latter opening being lined with inwardly pointed teeth, an insert fitting closely within said front opening, and a covering material passing over the outer surface of the form piece, between the edges of its front opening and the insert, and underneath the insert, thus holding the latter within said front opening, said covering material being held in place by the inwardly pointed teeth.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the larger back opening is closed by a closure member having a. trough at its rim into which the points of the inwardly pointed teeth fit resiliently.

3. A button assembly comprising a hollow form piece having an opening at the front and a larger opening at the back, the latter opening being lined with inwardly pointed teeth for holding a covering material over the form piece, and a tapered insert whose base portion fits closely within said front opening, so that said insert may be held from underneath and wedged within said front opening by means of the covering material for the form piece.

HERMAN JOSEF KOEI-IL.

References Cited in the file of thlspatent. UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 10,340 Farmer June 12, 1883 1,169,912 Barbour Feb. 1, 1916 2,513,182 Koehl et al June 27, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 460,696 France Oct. 11, 1913 837,712 France Nov. 18, 1938 202,027 Switzerland Apr. 1, 1939 512,528 Great Britain Sept. 19, 1939

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