Patent GB-117289-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to Buttoning Machines.
IPC: A43D100/08
Filed: 1917-07-06
Abstract: 117,289. British United Shoe Machinery Co., (United Shoe Machinery Co.). July 6, 1917. Buttoning.-A machine for securing together the button and buttonhole flies of shoe uppers prior to lasting, is equipped with seven sets of buttoning-devices, each set comprising means to receive and position a button attached to a fly, means for guiding the button to buttoning position, a buttoning-member for engaging and moving the button, and a member for engaging and positioning the buttonhole relatively to the button. Each set is carried by a slidable rod 24, Figs. 2 and 6, that of the central set, which is stationary, being mounted in bearings in a main frame 8, while the rods of the other sets, which are adjustable relatively to the central set, are mounted in the front forked ends of inclined bars 10, the rear ends of which are also forked and have sliding engagement with blocks 14 on rods 16 rotatably mounted in the frame 8. Each rod 24 has sJeeved on it a member 26, which is formed with an upwardly-projecting plate 28 slotted at 30 for engagement under the button head at opposite sides of the shank, and is also provided with a buttonhole-engaging finger 4.2. The rod 24, moreover, is formed with a head 32, which is locked directly beneath the head of a button held in the plate 28. To guide the buttons to the slotted plates 28, each member 26 has pivoted to it a member 54 formed with projections 56 having widely flaring inner edges. The members 54 carry lugs 58 engaging a curved slot 60, Fig. 1, in a member 62 secured to a carrier 64, which is pivoted on a rod 66 and operable by a treadle connexion 68; after the buttons have been positioned in the plates 28, the treadle is depressed to swing the members 54, Fig. 16, rearwards to permit the buttonhole fly to be positioned over the plates 28. The slot 60 is of the same curvature as a slot 46 in a guide-plate 48, Fig. 1, which is engaged by ears 44 on the members 26. The slot 46 provides means for adjusting the buttoning-devices relatively to each other, while a pivoted controller-plate 50, slotted to receive loosely rollers 52 on the bars 10, provides means for maintaining the devices substantially equidistant from each other after each adjustment. After the buttonhole fly has been positioned on the fingers 42, it is engaged adjacent to the fingers by a presser 72, Fig. 16, and close to the plates 28 by a second presser 74, these pressers being curved similarly to the slot 46. The pressers are operated through connexions with a rocker 80, Fig. 2, secured to a rock shaft 82 pivoted on the frame 8, and are guided by cam slots so that they swing downwards from the positicns shown in Fig. 2 to those indicated in Fig. 16. The rocker 80 is provided with a rearward projection 158 adapted to co-operate with a stop 156 secured to the lever 64, so that the rocker can only be operated after this lever has been swung by its treadle to move the members 54 to their idle positions. The rocker 80 is operated by connexions with a treadle lever 120, Fig. 1, the arrangement being such that the first part of the movement of the treadle causes the frame to swing the pressers 72, 74 downwards into contact with the buttonhole fly, and the continued movement of the treadle then trips a latch to close a one-revolution clutch which controls a main shaft 104. This shaft carries a cam 134, Fig. 2, which acts on a roll 136 carried by the rocker 80 to support the rocker firmly in the position to which it has been moved by the treadle, and a second cam 172 which is engaged by rolls 168, 178 carried respectively by levers 164, 176. The front ends of these levers carry bars 162, 174, curved similarly to the slot 46, the bar 162 being positioned under the second, fourth, and sixth of the series of rods 24, and the bar 172 under the remaining rods, the arrangement being such that the rods are operated in two successive groups to facilitate the passage of the buttons through the buttonholes. A brake shoe 184 on a spring-pressed brake arm 182 is provided to bring the shaft 104 quickly to rest when the clutch is broken. In operation, a button piece A, Fig. 16, is positioned so that the buttons are guided by the members 54 to the members 28, the pressure of the buttons on one side or the other of the forked.projections 56 serving automatically to adjust the spacing of the devices, and the treadle is then depressed to swing the members 54 rearwards. A buttonhole fly C is then placed over the fingers 42, Fig. 16, and the second treadle is depressed, first causing the pressers 72, 74 to be moved downwards to their operative positions, and then tripping the clutch on the main shaft 104, to raise the two groups of rods 24. As each rod 24 rises, its head 32 forces the button along the.plate 28, which serves as a guideway, until the leading edge of the head of the button enters the buttonhole, Fig. 17. The resistance of the buttonhole-fly then causes the button to tilt about the end of the plate 28 as a centre, so that the continued movement of the rod 24 forces the button completely through the buttonhole and into a substantially upright position with reference to the buttonhole fly, the head 32 passing somewhat through the buttonhole to ensure that the head of the button shall clear the fly at the edges of the buttonhole. Specifications 24890/12, 6108/14, and 7441/15 are referred to.