AUTOMATIC FASTENER ASSEMBLING MACHINE

Abstract: In an automatic fastener assembling machine, an automatic lower-fastener-element supply apparatus includes a guide member (36) horizontally reciprocable in timed relation to vertical movement of a punch (18), and a die (32) supported by the guide member (36) and movable, in response to reciprocating movement of the guide member (36), between a fastener transfer position in which the die (32) is contiguous to the lower end of a chute (4) to receive a lower fastener element (P2) therefrom, and a fastener joining position in which the die (32) is vertically aligned with the punch (18).

Description: The present invention relates to an automatic fastener assembling machine, and more particularly to an automatic lower-fastener-element supply apparatus for the machine. Conventionally, in attaching a garment fastener such as a hook-and-eye fastener to a tubular portion of a garment such as trousers by a fastener assembling machine, it was necessary to thread the tubular portion of the garment onto a die and, for this reason, a lower mating element of the fastener had to be manually placed on the die, which was laborious and time-consuming, see e.g. DE-A-3 046 939. Further, this manual placement would cause only inaccurate positioning of the fastener element on the die. The present invention seeks to provide an automatic fastener assembling machine in which successive lower fastener elements can be automatically supplied, thus causing accurate and efficient positioning of the fastener elements. The present invention further seeks to provide an automatic fastener assembling machine which facilitates attaching of a fastener to a tubular portion of a garment such as trousers. According to the present invention, a machine for automatically assembling a pair of upper and lower fastener elements of a garment fastener with a garment fabric sandwiched between the upper and lower fastener elements, comprises: a frame; a pair of first and second chutes for feeding therealong successive upper fastener elements and successive lower fastener elements, respectively; an upper unit supported by said frame for receiving the successive upper fastener elements one at a time from said first chute, said upper unit including a ram reciprocably supported by said frame and a punch mounted on said ram for vertical movement in response to reciprocating movement of said ram; a first drive means operatively connected with said ram for reciprocating the latter vertically; a fastener holding member disposed contiguous to a lower open end of said second chute for temporarily holding the successive lower fastener elements one at a time from said second chute; and a lower unit including 1) a support block fixed to said frame, 2) a horizontal guide member slidably supported on said support block, 3) a second drive means operatively connected with said guide member for reciprocating the latter linearly and horizontally in timed relation to the vertical movement of said punch, and 4) a die supported by said guide member and movable, in response to the reciprocating movement of said guide member, between a fastener transfer position in which said die is vertically aligned with said fastener holding member to receive the lower fastener element therefrom, and a fastener joining position in which said die is vertically aligned with said punch and is spaced from said support block. Many other advantages, features and additional objects of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principle of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example. Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of an automatic fastener assembling machine embodying the present invention; Figure 2 is a side elevational view, partially in cross section, of Figure 1, showing a safety cover in lowered position; Figure 3 is a front elevational view of a portion of Figure 1, showing the safety cover in lowered position; Figure 4 is a plan view of a lower unit; Figure 5 is a front elevational view, partially in cross section, of Figure 4; Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5, showing a die moved to a fastener transfer position; and Figure 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a fastener holding member contiguous to a lower end of a chute. Figures 1 through 3 show an automatic fastener assembling machine for joining a pair of first and second fastener elements P1, P2 together in clenched condition with a garment fabric C sandwiched therebetween. In the illustrated embodiment, the first and second fastener elements P1, P2 comprise a hook and a hasp, respectively. The hasp has at least two apertures, and the hook has at least two spikes projecting from a hook body for piercing through the garment fabric C and also for being inserted through the apertures in the hasp and clenched at the underside of the hasp. The machine compries an upper or punch unit, a lower or die unit 30, a first chute 2 for feeding successive first fastener elements P1 from a first feeder 1 toward the upper unit, and a second chute 4 for feeding successive second fastener elements P2 from a second feeder 3 toward the lower unit 30. The machine also has a pusher 21 for supplying the first fastener element P1 from an outlet (lower end) of the first chute 2 to the upper unit. The pusher 21 is connected to a distal end of a piston rod 23 of a horizontal air cylinder 22 fixedly supported on a frame 6. An extension spring 24 is mounted between the frame 6 and the piston rod 23 to normally urge the the latter rightwardly to such a position that a front end of the pusher 21 is normally disposed below the upper unit as the air cylinder 22 is de-energized. When the air cylinder 22 is energized upon actuation of a microswitch 13 (described below) located at a fixed position, the piston rod 23 is made retract leftwardly from the position of Figure 1 against the bias of the spring 24 so as not to obstruct the downward movement of the upper unit. The upper unit includes a guide 19 fixed to the frame 6, a ram 17 vertically reciprocable on the guide 19, and a punch 18 supported on a lower end of the ram 17. The ram 17 is connected at an upper end thereof to a piston rod 16 of an air cylinder 15 fixed to the frame 6. When the air cylinder 15 is energized upon actuation of the microswitch 13 (described below), the piston rod 16 is extended to lower the ram 17 and hence the punch 18. The machine also has a mechanism for actuating the switch 13. The mechanism includes an actuating lever 8 pivotally mounted on the frame 6 by a pivot 7, and a pull rod 5 connected at its lower end to a foot pedal (not shown) and at its upper end to the actuating lever 8. The connection of the pull rod 5 with the actuating lever 8 is such that when the foot pedal is stepped, the actuating lever 8 is pivotally moved clockwise (Figure 1) about the pivot 7 against the bias of an extension spring 9. The spring 9 is mounted between the frame 6 and a front or right end portion of the actuating lever 8 to normally urge the front end portion of the actuator lever 8 upwardly. The upward movement of the front end portion of the actuating lever 8 is restricted by a stop 20 mounted on an upper portion of the guide 19. At its rear or left end portion, the actuating lever 8 has a substantially upwardly directed projection 14 that is engageable with an actuator or plunger of the microswitch 13 to actuate the microswitch 13 when the actuating lever 8 is pivotally moved clockwise (Figure 1) by the action of the foot pedal (not shown) and hence the pull rod 5. The front end portion of the actuating lever 8 is tapered and has at its lower side a sloping edge 12. A leaf spring 10 is fixed at its rear or left end to a lower level edge 12a of the actuating lever 8 and extends in a free form as an extension of the level edge 12a, thus defining with the sloping edge 12 a triangular space S. The leaf spring 10 has a yield strength higher than that of the extension spring 9. A safety cover 11 is mounted on a front or right end of the leaf spring 10 perpendicularly thereto. The lower unit 30 includes a support block 31 fixed to the frame 6, a die 32 slidably supported on the support block 31, a horizontal air cylinder 33 fixed to the support block 31, a guide member 36 fixed to a piston rod 34 of the air cylinder 33 through the medium of a generally L-shaped connector 35, and a die holder 37 fixed to the guide member 36 by a pair of threaded bolts 38, 38 (Figure 4). The die 32 is pivotally connected to the die holder 37 by a pin 39. A compression spring 40 acts between the die holder 37 and a pin 41 and hence the die 32 so as to normally urge the latter to an inclined position (phantom lines in Figure 5) in which its distal end is raised to create a gap between the die 32 and the support block 31 so that a tubular portion of the garment C can be threaded onto the die 32 easily. When the piston rod 34 of the air cylinder 33 is extended upon energization of the air cylinder 33, the guide member 36 with the die 32 slides linearly and horizontally on the support block 31 until a fastener supporting seat 43 in the die 32 arrives at a fastener holding member 42, as shown in Figure 6. As better shown in Figure 7, the fastener holding member 42 has a generally C-shaped configuration defining a port 44 opening to the lower open end of the second chute 4 for receiving the successive second fastener elements P2 one at a time. As the die 32 arrives at the fastener holding member 42, the die 32 slidingly contacts the undersurface of the fastener holding member 42 and assumes the horizontal position to receive the second fastener element P2 reliably. After the second fastener element P2 is transferred from the fastener holding member 42 to the fastener supporting seat 43, the die 32 is returned to a fastener joining position where the fastener supporting seat 42 with the second fastener element P2 is vertically aligned with the punch 18. Thus the second fastener elements P2 are automatically supplied to the die 32. The operation of the apparatus will now be described with reference to Figures 1 through 6. In Figure 1, as the non-illustrated foot pedal is depressed, the pull rod 5 is pulled downwardly to cause the actuating lever 8 to pivot clockwise about the pivot 7 against the spring 9 so that the inclined die 32 is depressed by the lower end of the safety cover 11 as shown in Figures 2 and 3, at which time the actuating lever 8 assumes a substantially horizontal posture with the projection 14 spaced from the plunger of the microswitch 13 and also with the triangular space S between the sloping edge 12 and the leaf spring 10. Then a garment fabric C is registered with a register mark M attached to the safety cover 11. With the garment fabric C thus placed in correct position, as the foot pedal is further depressed to pull the pull rod 5 downwardly from the position of Figures 2 and 3, the actuating lever 8 is pivotally moved clockwise from the horizontal position against both the bias of the extension spring 9 and the bias of the leaf spring 10 to reduce the width of the space S as the leaf spring 10 yields upwardly. As a result, the projection 14 at the left end of the actuating lever 8 is raised to depress the plunger of the microswitch 13 to actuate the microswitch 13, energizing the air cylinder 15. As the ram 17 is lowered upon energization of the air cylinder 15, the punch 18 is moved toward the die 32 to join the first and second fastener elements P1, P2 together in clenched condition with the garment fabric C sandwiched between the two fastener elements. Upon completion of the assembling of the two fastener elements P1, P2, the punch 18 is returned to raised position, causing (by means not shown) the air cylinder 33 to be energized for a while to extend the piston rod 34 to move the guide member 36 with the die 32 from the fastener joining position or Figures 4 and 5 to the fastener transfer position of Figure 6 for a sufficient time for a succeeding second fastener element P2 received in the port 44 of the fastener holding member 42 to be transferred to the fastener supporting seat 43 in the die 32. Then the die 32 with the succeeding second fastener element P2 received in the fastener supporting seat 43 is returned to the original fastener joining position, upon de-energisation of cylinder 33. Thus the successive second fastener elements P2 from the second chute 4 are automatically supplied one at a time to the fastener joining position. According to the present invention, since the die 32 is reciprocable, in timed relation to the vertical movements of the punch 18, between the fastener joining position and the fastener transfer position, the setting of the individual second fastener element P2 can be performed precisely with maximum efficiency. The die 32 is movable only linearly so that a relatively large space for the operator can be provided. Further, since there is a gap between the support block 31 and the die 32 as the latter is in the fastener joining position, a tubular portion of the garment C such as trousers can be threaded onto the die 32 with ease.

Claims: A machine for automatically assembling a pair of upper and lower fastener elements (P1), (P2) of a garment fastener with a garment fabric (C) sandwiched between the upper and lower fastener elements (P1), (P2), comprising: a frame (6); a pair of first and second chutes (2), (4) for feeding therealong successive upper fastener elements (P1) and successive lower fastener elements (P2), respectively; an upper unit supported by said frame (6) for receiving the successive upper fastener elements (P1) one at a time from said first chute (2), said upper unit including a ram (17) reciprocably supported by said frame (6) and a punch (18) mounted on said ram (17) for vertical movement in response to reciprocating movement of said ram (17); a first drive means (15) operatively connected with said ram (17) for reciprocating the latter vertically; a fastener holding member (42) disposed contiguous to a lower open end of said second chute (4) for temporarily holding the successive lower fastener elements (P2) one at a time from said second chute (4); and a lower unit (30) including 1) a support block (31) fixed to said frame (6), 2) a horizontal guide member (36) slidably supported on said support block (31), 3) a second drive means (33) operatively connected with said guide member (36) for reciprocating the latter linearly and horizontally in timed relation to the vertical movement of said punch (18), and 4) a die (32) supported by said guide member (36) and movable, in response to the reciprocating movement of said guide member (36), between a fastener transfer position in which said die (32) is vertically aligned with said fastener holding member (42) to receive the lower fastener element (P2) therefrom, and a fastener joining position in which said die (32) is vertically aligned with said punch (18) and is spaced from said support block (31). A machine according to claim 1, wherein said lower unit (30) further includes a die holder (37) fixed to said guide member (36), said die (32) being pivotally mounted on said die holder (37) and movable between an inclined position and a horizontal position. A machine according to claim 2, wherein said die (32) is normally urged to said inclined position by a spring (40) acting between said die (32) and said die holder (37). A machine according to claim 2 or 3, wherein when said die (32) is moved to said fastener transfer position, said die (32) is slidingly contactable with a surface of said fastener holding member (42) to assume said horizontal position. A machine according to any preceding claim, wherein said fastener holding member (42) has a generally C-shaped configuration defining a port (44) opening to the lower open end of said second chute (4). A machine according to claim 5, wherein said die (32) has in its upper surface a fastener supporting seat (43) in the form of a recess which is receptive of the second fastener element (P2) and which is vertically aligned with said port (44) of said fastener holding member (42) as said die (32) is disposed in the fastener transfer position. A machine according to any preceding claim, wherein said second drive means includes an air cylinder (33) having a piston rod (34) operatively connected to said guide member (36).

Inventors: TOYOTA, SUMIO
Applicants: YOSHIDA KOGYO K.K.
Application year: 1987
Main classification: A41H37
IPC codes: A44B19, A41H37