Apparatus for attaching pairs of fastener elements onto garment fabrics

An apparatus for attaching a pair of fastener elements onto a garment fabric comprising a cooperating pair of an upper die unit and a lower die unit, a stationary anvil mounted in the lower unit, a plunger reciprocably mounted in the upper unit, a punch movable relative to the plunger along a path of movement toward and away from the lower unit, and a pair of clamping jaws operatively associated with the upper die unit for releasably clamping one of the fastener elements. A means is provided for holding one fastener element in proper position against displacement for aligned engagement with the other mating element. The apparatus further includes means for manually releasing the fastener element which has been trapped in the event of failure of the apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates generally to an apparatus for attaching pairs of 
fastener elements such as snap fasteners, buttons, rivets or the like onto 
a garment fabric, and more particularly to improvements in and relating to 
fastener clamping means forming part of such attaching apparatus. 
2. Prior Art 
The term fastener elements as used herein generally designates a pair of 
mating elements that are attached onto a garmet or sheet-like material 
from opposite sides thereof. Setting of these elements properly on the 
garment requires that the two elements to be held accurately in alignment 
with each other with their respective postures unchanged until they 
contact and grip the garment. 
There have been proposed a number of fastener attaching machines. A common 
problem associated with those conventional machines is however that such 
fastener elements which are relatively small in size and light in weight 
tend to be displaced during attachment and become misplaced on the garment 
fabric. Another problem of the prior art is that it is difficult or 
otherwise tedious to release the fastener elements for removal from the 
clamping jaws holding the elements therebetween when testing the flow of a 
supply of fastener elements or when shutting down for machine failures. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A first pair of clamping jaws associated with the die unit hold one of the 
elements resiliently therebetween. A pusher means is provided for 
spreading the first pair of jaws apart to release the element which has 
been trapped. A second pair of clamping jaws associated with the lower die 
unit hold the other mating element therebetween against the anvil until 
they release the element upon coupling engagement with said one element 
across the garment. 
It is an object of the invention to provide a fastener attaching apparatus 
incorporating means for ensuring proper positioning of a fastener element 
against displacement until it is applied to a garment. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a fastener attaching 
apparatus incorporating means for facilitating removal of the fastener 
element from the apparatus when desired for testing the flow of a supply 
of elements, or for inspection of the parts during shut-down of the 
apparatus. 
The above and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will 
become apparent from the following description of a certain preferred 
embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which 
like numerals refer to like or corresponding parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Referring now to the drawings and FIG. 1 in particular, there is shown a 
fastener attaching apparatus generally designated at 10 which comprises a 
cooperative pair of upper and lower die units 11 and 12 mounted in a 
housing (not shown) in vertically opposite relation to each other. As 
shown in FIG. 9a, the upper die unit 11 includes a support block 13 having 
a cylindrical bore 14 and a ram 15 reciprocable therein. The ram 15 has a 
reduced diameter portion 16 defining with the inner peripheral wall 17 of 
the support block 13 an annular clearance 18 for receiving a plunger 19 
later described. A punch 20 is secured by a pin 21 to and extends 
coaxially from the reduced portion 16 of the ram 15. 
The plunger 19 has a cylindrical member 22 coaxially mounted in the block 
13 between the inner periphery 17 and the reduced portion 16 and having a 
bore 23 for accommodating therein the punch 20 as better shown in FIG. 9. 
The plunger 19 also includes a pair of upper and lower square blocks or 
holders 24 and 25 for holding therein one of mating fastener elements, 
e.g. a tack T as in the illustrated embodiment, the upper block 24 being 
integral with the cylindrical member 22. 
FIG. 2 shows the various parts of the plunger 19; the upper block 24 has a 
first recess 26 formed throughout in its bottom and extending 
diametrically across the cylinder bore 14 (FIG. 9a) for receiving a pair 
of clamping jaws 27, 28, later described, from opposite sides of the block 
24. There is formed a second recess 29 in the upper block 24, which recess 
29 extends at a right angle to and in communication with the first recess 
26 for receiving a pusher 30 later described. The second recess 29 
provides bifurcated end portions 31, 32 having a pair of aligned 
transverse grooves 31a, 32a, for receiving a wire spring 33. 
The pair of clamping jaws 27, 28 is inserted in the first recess 26 of the 
upper block 24 from opposite sides thereof and normally urged inwardly 
toward each other by the wire spring 33 having both of its ends 33a, 33b 
U-turned to be anchored in blind holes 27a, 28a of the respective clamping 
jaws 27, 28. Conveniently, the wire spring 33 may be detached to release 
and remove the clamping jaws 27, 28 so as to permit servicing of the 
interior of the upper die unit 11. 
The lower block 25 has a central bore 34 communicating coaxially in 
alignment with the bore 23 of the cylindrical member 22 for accommodating 
the tack T until the latter is brought by the punch 20 into engagement 
with its mating grommet G (FIG. 9). 
The lower block 25 has alternate grooves 35, 36, 37 and ridges 38, 39, of 
which grooves 35, 36 and ridge 38 are each bifurcated by but aligned 
across the bore 34. The outermost groove 37 in the lower block 25 is 
adapted to engage with projections 31b and 32b extending downwardly from 
the upper block 24 for positioning one block relative to the other when 
coupling the two blocks 24, 25 together by set screws 40 at the positions 
schematically shown in FIG. 2. 
The pusher 30, which is generally inverted-L shaped, consists of a vertical 
plate member 30a and a horizontal plate member 30b. The vertical member 
30a has an aperture 30c for receiving one end of a support pin 41, the 
other end of which is received in a blind hole 42 formed in an end wall of 
the lower block 25 adjacent to the outermost groove 37. The support pin 41 
is inserted through a compression coil spring 43 and retained at the other 
end in the aperture 30c by means of an C-spring 44. The horizontal member 
30b has a tapered end 30d engageable with the oppositely disposed clamping 
jaws 27, 28 for purposes to be hereafter described. 
FIG. 3 shows the lower side of the clamping jaw 27, (28), inverted. Each 
clamping jaw has an arcuate inner end 27b with a peripheral guide groove 
27c for guidedly receiving the peripheral flange portion of the tack T, 
and a longitudinal recess 27d for sliding engagement with the ridge 38 of 
the lower block 25. On opposite sides of the longitudinal recess 27d and 
at an end opposite to the arcuate end 27b are identical downward 
projections 27e which serve to limit movement of the clamping jaw 27 
toward the bore 34 of the lower block 25. 
For mounting the tack T in place in the upper die unit 11, there are 
provided a through opening 45 (FIGS. 4 and 6) in the upper block 24 
opposite to the second recess 29, which opening 45 guidedly receives the 
flange part of the tack T therethrough into the path of the punch 20 along 
the bore 23 of the plunger 19, and an opening 46 in the lower block 25 
communicating with the opening 45 and merging with the bore 34 for freely 
receiving the pin part of the tack T. To permit entry of the tack T, the 
clamping jaw 27, (28) has a tapered corner 27f. 
FIGS. 9a-9c, show a lower die unit 12 which may be of any conventional form 
and construction for cooperating with the upper die unit 11 in clamping 
and attaching the fastener elements onto a garment fabric C. The lower die 
unit 12 includes a base 47 and a cylinder-type stationary anvil 48 fixedly 
mounted therein. A pair of support blocks 49, 50 movable relative to the 
anvil 48 are movably supported on a compression coil spring 51 secured to 
the base 47 and disposed in surrounding relation to the anvil 48. A sleeve 
52 is slidably mounted on the anvil 48 and supports the support blocks 49, 
50. 
A pair of clamping jaws 53 is pivotally connected by pins 54 via torsion 
springs 55 to the sleeve 52. The clamping jaws 53 are normally biased by 
the spring 55 toward each other to hold the grommet part G of the fastener 
against the top surface of the anvil 48 as shown in FIG. 9a. As the lower 
die unit 12 does not form any novel part of the invention, no further 
description of the details of this unit construction is requred. FIG. 9b 
illustrates the first sequence of operation of the apparatus 10 in which 
the plunger 19 of the upper die unit 11 descends with the lower block 25 
held in abutting engagement with the top surfaces of the support blocks 
49, 50 of the lower die unit across the garment fabric C. FIG. 9c 
illustrates the second sequence of operation in which the punch 20 strikes 
and urges the tack T through the fabric C into clamping engagement with 
the grommet G, when the plunger 19 is also allowed to descend by a 
distance required to move the clamping jaws 53 pivotally apart thereby 
releasing the grommet G. 
As to the construction of the upper die unit 11 as shown in FIGS. 2-8, it 
is to be noted that when the tack T is mounted in position with its flange 
seated snugly in the peripheral guide grooves 27c of the clamping jaws 27, 
28, the ridge 38 of the lower block 25 has an inner end wall 38' normally 
extending into the region of the guide groove 27c. This ensures that as 
the clamping jaws 27, 28 move apart in response to the force applied by 
the punch 20, the flange of the tack T is peripherally captured by the 
ridge 38, more precisely, by its end wall 38' so as to eliminate the 
possibility of the tack T becoming displaced as a result of departure of 
the clamping jaws 27, 28. The tack T is thus precisely targetted toward 
the mating grommet G. 
While on reference to the same views of the drawings, there is another 
feature of the invention which resides in the provision of the pusher 30 
which is adapted to engage and spread the opposed clamping jaws 27, 28 
apart to release the tack T that has been trapped in the upper die unit 11 
in the event of failure of the apparatus. 
Although various minor modifications may be suggested by those versed in 
the art, it should be understood that we wish to embody within the scope 
of the patent warranted hereon, all such embodiments as reasonably and 
properly come within the scope of our contribution to the art.