IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE FORMATION OF BUTTONS AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Simon, of 7, St. Peter's Square, Manchester, in the
I
County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE FORMATION OF BUTTONS AND OTHER
SIMILAR ARTICLES." A communication from abroad by the Deutsche
Werkzeng Maschinen Fabrik, of Chemnitz, in the Empire of Germany.
Sealed the 9th April 1880, and dated the 27th October 1879.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Simon at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th October 1879.
HENRY SIMON, of 7, St. Peter's Square, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster.
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE FORMATION OF
BUTTONS AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES." A communication from abroad by the
Deutsche Werkzeng Maschinen Fabrik, of Chemnitz, in the Empire of Germany.
The Invention consists of improvements in the method of and in apparatus for
use in the formation of buttons and other similar articles from coroza-nuts, horn,
bone, ivory, mother of pearl, and other like substances or materials employed in the
manufacture of buttons and like articles, and has for its object in the first place to
produce the said articles more expeditiously than heretofore. The blanks or plates
are first cut into a square or round form, as desired, and are then placed in a
suitable channel or tube, each upon the other. The said channel or tube is hinged
to admit of its being raised and lowered, and is fixed perpendicularly in a suitable
support. A turntable in which is formed four locking and releasing boxes, herein-
after described, is revolved by means of a worm and wheel, and which transmits the
required motion to the turntable by means of a cam fixed on a vertical spindle of
the worm wheel and a connecting rod. The turntable is caused to make a quarter
of a revolution at each movement thereof, and is provided with four slots or
recesses on its rim, into which the arm of a bell-crank lever drops at suitable
intervals. When the turntable has made its quarter revolution, it is held in
position by means of the said arm of the bell-crank lever actuated by means of a
suitable cam on the spindles or shaft of the worin wheel. A locking and releasing
box is by the movement of the turntable brought under the gutter or tube
containing the blanks, and receives a blank therefrom, and is then carried forward
CD 677

page_text: and under a cutting tool which shapes the article, as for example, a button, on one
side thereof. The boxes take up from the gutter or tube blanks in succession.
The said cutter is revolved by means of a pulley fixed on the spindle thereof, and
is raised and lowered at suitable times by means of a lever and cam. The said
lever is carried by a bracket fixed to the machine, and has its fulcrum at a point
immediately below the said bracket. One end of the said lever is formed with a
projection which is in contact with the face of the cam, the other end thereof is
provided with a weight which will cause the cutter to be raised after being lowered
by the incline on the said cam. The boxes which hold and release the buttons are
formed with bearings which carry anti-friction rollers, and are caused by the
revolution of the turntable to roll upon a bed or plate formed with suitable inclines
thereon, and which effect the required opening and closing of the boxes. When
the button has passed the cutter the turnable by its revolution traverses the
anti-friction roller over a second incline on the said plate or bed. The said incline
is formed sufficiently high as will cause the worked button to be thrown out of the
box on to the table. When all the blanks contained in the gutter or tube have
been acted upon, a ready prepared or filled tube is put in its place in the said
support. The article, as for example, a button, is acted upon by the cutter a second
time in order to form the reverse side, in which case the cut side is placed down-
wards in the gutter or tube, and the holding box is formed of a round shape.
When working blanks of a square form, self-acting apparatus may be employed, for
leading the blanks on to a falling board. The arm of a bent lever, traverses on a
pierced ring and holds the blank until the box is in the required position. The
arm is then lowered by a counter weight, and the blank is brought under the.
cutter.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Henry Simon in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th April
1880.
HENRY SIMON, of No. 7, St. Peter's Square, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE
FORMATION OF BUTTONS AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES." A communication from
abroad by the Deutsche Werkzeng Maschinen Fabrik, of Chemnitz, in the Empire
of Germany.
The object of the Invention is to enable buttons and other like articles to be
manufactured more expeditiously than heretofore, and consists in the employment
of apparatus designed for use in the formation of buttons and other similar articles.
The blanks formed from horn, bone, ivory, mother of pearl, coroza-nuts, or
vegetable-ivory, or from like substances are first cut into a square or other form
by any ordinary and suitable means. The blanks are then placed in a suitable
tube or channel, each blank upon the other, as in the putting together of type in
composing sticks. The said channel or tube is placed in and carried by an arm or
support of the machine and over a revolving table, and is hinged at its lower end
in order to be lowered to a horizontal position to be readily filled with blanks, and
to be raised into a vertical or upright position in order that the blanks may the
more readily be released therefrom into locking dies or pockets. A revolving table
suitably formed with four locking and releasing dies or pockets and is revolved at
suitable times by means of a connecting rod and disc, actuated by means of a worm
and worm wheel. The said table is so actuated by the indicated means as to make
a quarter revolution at each movement thereof, and is formed with four recesses on
its periphery, into one of which recesses an arm of a bell crank lever engages after
such quarter movement thereof. The said lever is caused to engage and disengage
with the said recess by means of a cam on a worm wheel shaft. The said locking
and releasing dies are led in succession under the said tube or channel containing
the blanks from which the article is to be formed, and receives a blank therefrom.
The said blank is then carried by the revolution of the table and die to and under
a revolving cutting and shaping tool, where it is cut and shaped on one side
thereof. The said cutting and shaping tool is lowered onto the blank which is
held in the die in order to cut and shape the contained blank, after which it is
raised therefrom by means of a connected lever, which lever is lowered and raised
at required times by means of cam on the worm wheel shaft. The locking and
releasing of the blanks in the dies or pockets is effected by means of anti-friction
rollers, which traverse a suitably formed plate or bed, on which bed two raised
inclines are formed. The said anti-friction rollers are connected with spindles and
double-bent-levers, which latter separate or bring together two steel plates,
according as the rollers and connected spindles rise or fall by means of the inclines,
whereby the locking of the blanks and releasing of the partly formed button or
other article is effected. When one roller is traversing one of the inclines formed
on the said bed, it is pressed upwards thereby and moves the steel plates apart by
means of the said spindle and bent levers, and when it has passed over the said
incline, it falls to a lower level by its own gravity assisted by a spring, and locks
the die again. When all the blanks contained in the said channel or tube have
been released therefrom and operated on one side thereof, a ready prepared and
filled tube is put in its place. The partly formed or finished article, as for example,
a button, is acted upon a second time in the same manner as described, but on the
reverse side thereof, the cut side being placed downwards in the tube or channel.
When working square blanks, self acting mechanism is employed for leading the
plates on to a hinged falling board. The arm of a bent lever is made to actuate
mechanism by means of which each blank is held consecutively in position to be

page_text: taken up by the lock, and carried to and under the cutter by the movement of the
revolving table hereinbefore described.
And in order that the Invention may be better understood, I have caused to be.
attached hereunto a Sheet of Drawings drawn to a scale of about two and a half
inches to the foot.
Figures 3 to 6 are detail views of the apparatus; Figure 6 represents more
clearly the arrangement for revolving the table c; Figure 7 represents self acting
apparatus which may be employed when operating on square blanks. The
horizontal axle P₁ is rotated by the pulley P, which transmits motion to the
vertical shaft H by means of the worm and worm-wheel O¹ and O, and also
transmits motion to the cutter spindle. A by means of the pulleys N, M, K, L.
The table C is so revoled that after each quarter revolution it is caused to pause
or dwell in order to allow of the formation of the article by the cutter, after
which it is caused to make a quarter revolution at each movement thereof by the
excentric rod E¹ and connecting rods E, a, and pawl E 2. When the table C has
thus moved a quarter revolution it is held firmly, and during a short pause
thereof, by the arm of a bent lever H', which is formed with a handle which may
be controlled by the operator, or raised by the self-acting arrangement now to be
described. During the time the table is revolving the arm H is raised by the
excentric H² acting on the projection formed on the arın h. When any one of the
four recesses, as H³, formed round the table C comes in line with the part H', the lever
H' drops therein, and holds back the table for an interval of time sufficient to
allow of the formation of the article by the cutter B. The blank is first carried
from the channel Y to and under the cutter B, at which time the cutter is pressed
on to the blank by means of the inclined disc G acting on the lever G'. The other
end of this lever is connected with a counterweight G2, which brings down the
cutter B with sufficient weight on to the blank. It will be seen that the second
arm of the lever G' is only required to be connected with the cutter spindle A to
effect a quick lowering of the cutter B when shaping one side of the blank. The
dies T, T¹, take up a blank from the channel Y successively, and carry it to and
under the cutter B at each quarter revolution of the table C; after the cutter B has
operated on one side of the blank, it is raised therefrom by means of the inclined.
disc G acting on the lever arm G', which is depressed by the internal disc, in
consequence of which the lever on the right of the fulcrum is raised, and thereby
the cutter B. It is required that the dies or pockets shall take up the blanks in
succession from the channel Y, and afterwards carry them under the cutter B to be
operated upon, as described, after which operation they are thrown out of the die
on to the table C in succession after the table has rotated another quarter revolution.
To effect this throwing out of the partly formed article from the die, anti-friction
rollers R attached to pin Q hang or lower themselves when the die is shut and run
over the raised portions or inclines formed on the bed p. When the roller has
passed the incline D, the pin Q is pressed downwards by its own weight assisted
by the spiral spring, and the bent levers S, S, swing around their fulcrums o, o,
whereby the blank is locked by the two flat steel-plates T, T, which said plates are
brought together as is required to embrace and after throw out the worked or
partly worked article. When the blank has been formed on one side by the
cutter B, as described, the next quarter revolution of the table C traverses the anti-
friction roller R over the incline D, which causes the pin Q to rise, and the part t
which holds the article, as for example, a button, to be raised a little higher than
the surface of the table C, after which they are removed by a doctor or scraper u
and fall on to the table or bed, from whence they are collected and removed by the
operator while the herein indicated movements of the table C continue. The pin Q
is depressed at the time when the connected lock is under the tube y and the steel-
plates remain apart. The steel-plates also prevent the blanks from falling through
and obstructing the action of the die or pocket, and also support the said blanks
while they are being formed on one side thereof. When all the blanks in the

page_text: tube y have been operated on, a ready prepared and filled tube is placed in the
support, and the same operations are repeated a second time. When acting on
the partly formed blanks a second time, they are placed in the tube with their
previously shaped side downwards, in which case the holding die is formed of a
round form. The same tube can be employed for the two hereinbefore mentioned
operations of cutting and forming the article, as for example, a button, a first and
second time. When square blanks only have to be worked, the following self-
acting arrangement may be employed for leading the blanks on to a falling board.
The arrangement for leading the blanks to be worked on a hinged falling board y³ is
represented by Figure 7. In this arrangement the arm of a bent-lever moves
along the nicked ring Z, and holds back the plate (marked 1 in the Drawing) by the
pin V, which keeps the plates against the falling board y³ until the lock comes under
the said blank, when the arm W is lowered by the counterweight x, causing it to
fall in the incision Q, and the pin vis moved back, and the blank is embraced by
the lock T and conducted under the cutter B by the quarter revolution of the table.
The next blank takes the position of the preceding one, and is held by the
pin until the next die or pocket shall have arrived under it. When required to
work buttons or similar articles that have been previously finished in order to give
them a better profile, or if they have been dyed and it may be required to polish
them, a round tube is employed corresponding in diameter to the diameter of the
articles to be operated on by the herein before described means.
Having now described and indicated the nature and object of the said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or
carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understod that I claim the employment
of the herein indicated mechanisin, and arrangements for actuating the same, and to be
employed in the manufacture or formation of buttons and like articles, substantially
as described and as illustrated by the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof I, the said Henry Simon, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and eighty.
HENRY SIMON. (L.S.)