Patent GB-130467-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to Buttoning Machines.
IPC: A43D100/08
Filed: 1918-07-31
Abstract: 130,467. British United Shoe Machinery Co., (United Shoe Machinery Corporation). July 31, 1918. Buttoning. - A buttoning-machine is provided with means for positioning the button in such a manner as to permit movement of the button in response to the action of the buttoning means during the buttoning operation; this enables the machine to operate with certainty upon buttons having comparatively wide and flat heads. The machine described is substantially the same in its details of construction as that described in Specification 24890/12, and in many respects as that described in Specification 7441/15, and comprises three sets of buttoning instrumentalities, each set consisting of a button-receiving fork 2, Figs. 2 and 11, a buttonhole fly support 4, buttonhole spreader blades 6, a button-holding anvil 8, a plunger 10 to engage the button head, and buttoning members 12 arranged to tuck the material about the buttonhole under the head of the button. The forks 2 are carried by slide bars 14 jointly operated through connexions 16, 22, 24 from a cam 18 on a main shaft 20, while the supports 4 are carried by slide bars 30 and similarly operated through connexions 32, 34, 36 from a cam 40. Each fork is provided with a raised portion 2<a> to support the button above the plane of the side portions of the fork, leaving sufficient space between the lower ends of the buttoning members 12 and the fork for the thickness of the buttonhole fly. The buttonhole spreaders each comprise a pair of blades 6 carried by spring-pressed arms 42 pivoted on a shell 44, which is itself pivoted at 46 to the bar 30. As the bars 30 are moved backwards the arms 42 are forced apart to open the buttonholes by engagement with pins on the bars 14, while subsequently the shells 44 are swung downwards by their engagement with cam surfaces 52 on the bars 14 to withdraw the spreader blades 6 from the buttonholes. The anvils 8 are adjustably mounted on bars 96 detachably pivoted on a transverse bar 98, and are lifted by the engagement with the bars 96 of a bar 106 adjustably mounted in a cross-bar 104 carried by a yoke 100, which is operated through a toggle 108, 110 and link connexions from a cam 122 on the shaft 20. Each plunger 10 for engaging a button head is slidably mounted in a sleeve 54, Fig. 15, secured by a nut 58 in a holder 56, which is mounted to move with a reciprocating-head 60, Fig. 2, operated through connexions 64, 66 from a cam 70. The plungers are carried and pressed downwards into engagement with the button heads by an overlying spring-controlled strap 72, which is secured to the forward ends of arms 74 forming part of a bell-crank lever pivoted on a shaft 76; the rear arm 78 of the bell-crank lever has a pin- and-slot connexion with an arm 80 of a second bell-crank lever, the other arm 82 of which carries a roll 84 adapted to be engaged by a cam 86. To compensate for any variation in the heights of the button heads, the pressure of the strap 72 is transmitted through spring-pressed pins 88, Fig. 15, housed in caps 90 secured to the upper end of the plungers 10. To ensure that the buttons in the forks 2 shall be alined with the plungers 10 when they are clamped between the plungers and the anvils 8, the button-piece is engaged by a spring- controlled gripper 124, 128, Figs. 2 and 11, carried by a bar 126, which is connected by a rod 138 to the operating-lever 36 of the bars 30. As the buttonhole fly positioning-means are moved backwards, the gripper is first closed by the engagement of a projection 140 on an arm 132 carrying the lower gripper jaw 128 with a cam block 142 on the centre anvil-bar 96, and thereafter the gripper draws the button-piece backwards to position the buttons at the inner ends of the forks 2. The buttoning members or tuckers 12 are carried in pairs by each of the holders 56, the members of a pair being pivoted on either side of, and yieldingly held against, a plunger 10. Each member is formed with an inturned portion 150, Fig. 14, terminating in a spur 152 adapted to engage the edge-binding stitches of the buttonhole, and with a projection 154 for engagement with slots 156, 158, Fig. 15, in the adjacent side of the plunger, these slots being separated by a cam portion 160. The projections 154 normally engage the.slots 156, but in the buttoning operation the members 12 are moved downwards relatively to the plunger so that the projections engage the cam portion 160 i and the members are forced apart to spread the buttonhole. During the continued movement of the members the material is carried over the button head, and finally the projections 154 snap into the slots 158, causing the members to close and tuck the material into buttoned position. To adjust the several buttoning sets, the bars 14, 30, 96 of each set, except the centre one, are mounted for lateral movement as described in Specification 24890/12. To facilitate these adjustments, and to relieve the operator of unnecessary fatigue, the movement of the rod 180, Fig. 2, controlling the adjustments, is effected by power. For this purpose, the lower end of the rod is connected to a crank-disk mounted on a shaft which carries a fixed clutch member located between oppositelydriven clutch disks mounted loosely on the shaft; lengthwise movement of the shaft through a bellcrank and connexions to a treadle causes one or other disk to rotate the shaft to raise or lower'the rod 180. To prevent the buttons from slipping out of the forks 2 when the work is presented to the machine, and particularly as the buttonhole fly is positioned on the supports 4, each end fork is provided with a spring-pressed latch 202, Fig. 3, shaped to engage the eye of the button; during the movement of the buttonhole-fly to position it on the supports 4 the reaction of the spring controlling the latch is increased by the engagement of a pin 214 on a latch-controlling member 208 with a cam surface on one of the shells 44. In operation, the button-piece is inserted between the gripper-jaws 124, 128 with the buttons resting on the projections 2a of the forks 2, while the buttonhole fly is positioned on the supports 4 with the spreader blades 6 projecting through the buttonholes. When the machine is started, the buttonhole fly is drawn into position beneath the plungers 10, the buttonholes are spread open, and the gripper is closed, after which the strap 72 is lowered to force the plungers 10 and buttoning members 12 downwards. After the plungers engage the buttonholes, the blades 6 are lowered and the supports 4 are withdrawn, while at the same time the grippers draw the buttons into the inner ends of the forks 2. The plungers 10 are then carried into engagement with the button heads and the anvils 8 are raised to clamp the buttons, following which relative movement occurs between the buttoning members 12 and the plungers 10 to cause the members 12 to separate and to carry the material at the edges of the buttonholes towards the sides of the button heads. The forks 2 are then withdrawn, and the strap 72 is raised so that the plungers 10 rest upon the button heads without pressure. The buttons are then free to be centralized by the buttoning members 12, which are afterwards moved further downwards so that they close inwards and tuck the material under the button heads, the buttons being sufficiently free at this time to accomodate themselves to the buttoning operation, and, if necessary, to be lifted to ensure that the button heads shall clear the buttonholes. During the return movements of the various parts the plungers 10 serve to discharge the work from the machine.