Patent GB-701586-A (GB)
Title: Art of feeding and orienting sewing hole buttons and machine therefor
Inventor: TROLL WILLIAM ALBERT
IPC: D05B3/14
Filed: 1950-10-30
Abstract: 701,586. Article delivery. EMSIG, M., EMSIG, S., EMSIG, J., and SUCHER, J. R., [trading as EMSIG MANUFACTURING CO.]. Oct. 30, 1950, No. 26463/50. Class 78 (1) [Also in Group VII] Flat buttons with sewing holes being fed from a bulk supply down a shoot to a machine for attaching them to work, e.g. by sewing or stapling, are orientated in relation to the shoot by a feeling and feeding member which engages a face of each button at an off-centre position. and drags it to the required position, the button being free to rotate relatively to the member. In the apparatus described the buttons are automatically fed forward one step each time the work-clamp is lifted, and a second buttonengaging member is provided for moving each button from the position in which it is orientated to the attaching position. The means for actuating the work-clamp are arranged to prevent or reduce the possibility of faulty operation due to a short stroke of the control means. In the form shown applied to a sewing- machine with a vertically-reciprocating needle 5, Fig. 5 ; and a work-support (not shown) which is jogged laterally to position the work F and the button being attached thereto so that the needle descends alternately through two holes of the button, the lower end of the shoot 17 is secured to an arm 7 which moves laterally with the work-support and is pressed down by a spring to hold the work, a member 9 on the shoot being arranged to engage over a pin 11 projecting from a lifting bar 12 controlled by a treadle. The pin 11 also engages a slotted tail 101 of a lever 100 mounted on a fixed pivot 102, the other end of the lever also being slotted to engage a finger 105 fixed to a carriage 55 which slides on the shoot, having rollers 59 running on the sides of the latter, so that as the shoot is lifted the carriage is moved downwards thereon and vice versa. The shoot is formed of sections articulated together, with stiffening springs at the joints, and has a button channel 32 partly covered by plates 34a, 34b, Fig. 14 ; the lowest section is curved and ends in a work-engaging and button-holding fork 37, this part being covered by resilient buttongripping plates 40, 41. The carriage 55 carries a cross-pin 61, Fig. 5 ; on which are mounted a lever 62 biased by a spring 69 attached to its tail 68, a lever 63 slotted at 97 for endwise movement against the action of a spring 75 which also urges the lever angularly, and a lever 95 which is provided with pins 98 engaging slots in the lever 63 and is biased by a spring surrounding the pin 61 ; the lever 62 has limited freedom to swing laterally against a spring. In the position shown in Fig. 5 ; in which a button B1; Fig. 14, is being sewn to the work F, a pair of fingers 77 on the lower end of the lever 63 are in engagement with two holes of a button in the position B2 and a single finger 66 on the end of the lever 62 rests on the face, .and near the upper edge, of a button which has gravitated down the shoot to a position somewhat below B3, where it is stopped by a resilient finger 54 on a plate 53 overlying the button channel; the fingers are pressed towards the buttons by the springs acting on the levers. When the treadle is depressed at the end of a sewing operation the lower end of the shoot is lifted and the carriage 55 correspondingly moves downwards so that the lever 63 moves the button in position B2 to the sewing position B1, pushing out the button which has just been sewn; while the lever 62 likewise moves downwards, the finger 66 slides over the face of the button beneath it, guided between plates 34a, 53, until it enters one of the holes of the button, which is then moved under the detent 54 and rotated with the aid of the resistance of this detent and the curved form of the edge of the guiding plate 34a, so that it is placed in the position B2 with its holes aligned along the axis of the shoot. During this movement of the carriage 55 along the shoot, which is limited by engagement of a pin 63a on the lever 63 with a stop 65a on a cam member 64 fixed to the shoot, the levers 62, 63 and the lever- 95 therewith are tilted by reason of the curved lower end of the shoot and by the cam member 64 on which the pin 63a rides, the lever 62 having a lug 70 overlying the lever 95 so as to be tilted therewith ; the laterally-extending end 78 of the lever 95 is thus moved to lie beneath a flange 80a of a resilient member 80 fixed on the shoot, so that when the carriage 55 returns up the shoot on release of the treadle the end 78 rides under the flange 80a and the lower ends of the levers 62, 63 are thus raised from the buttons during their return. If buttons with four sewing-holes are to be used, the extra holes, shown dotted in button B1 in Fig. 14, lie on either side of the axis of the shoot; which must be arranged at 45 degrees to the line of workjogging so that sewing can take place through parallel pairs of holes. In order to reduce or avoid the possibility of faulty action due to insufficient stroke, of the treadle, the latter may be in the form of a swinging lever, which is difficult to check during its stroke ; the lever may actuate, through a cable, belt-shifting gear controlling the running of the machine. Alternatively, the clamp-lifting lever may be actuated by a solenoid controlled bv a manual switch and arranged to close a holding circuit which is broken when a treadle is depressed to start the machine. Buttons.-The buttons used are preferably reversible, with recessed faces and with chamfered edges to the sewing holes.