Improvements in Machinery for the Manufacture of Covered Buttons.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 17th May, 1887.
Specification Accepted, 17th June, 1887.
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM PATRICK DEVINE, of 104, Union Street,
Newark, New Jersey, United States of America, Tool Maker.]
Improvements in Machinery for the Manufacture of Covered Buttons.
1, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The object of this invention is to provide a machine for making covered buttons of
different sizes, to arrange the dies and punches so that they will perform their work
to a certain extent automatically, and to produce at a low cost of manufacture, a
durable, substantial and efficient button making machine.
The invention consists in a machine for making covered buttons, and in the
arrangement and combination of parts thereof, substantially as will be hereinafter
set forth and finally be embodied in the clauses of the claim.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters indicate corre-
sponding parts in each of the several figures of the three sheets thereof, Figure 1 is
a front view of a button machine embodying my improvements, Figures 2, 3, and 4
are detail views of certain intermediate punches or riviting punches used in connection
with the machine, Figures 5, 6 and 7, are details of certain cutters for cutting the
cloth or covering for the buttons, Figure 8, Sheet 2, is a side elevation of the machine,
partly in transverse central sections, illustrating a automatic gravity catch, and other
parts used in connection with the lower dies &c. Figure 9, Sheet 2, is a side elevation
of the machine, Figure 10 is a detail of said gravity catch, used in connection with the
lower dies, Figure 11, is a modification of the lower gang of dies, and Figure 12, is a
transverse vertical section of the intermediate punch, taken through line, &, Figure 2.
In said drawing A, indicates the body portion or standard of my machine, which
may be of any convenient form for holding the punch, B, and die plate, E, and lever, D,
for operating said punches, but preferably of the angular form, as shown in Figures &
and 9, to provide a seat for a die carrier, E, and bearings for the punch B and
lever b.

page_text: The dies are carried preferably by a sliding plate or bed, E, and are brought
alternately under the punch as required, one upper punch serving for all the dies without
reference to size, and is adapted to hold automatically a shell of any size, within certain
limits, and to force said shell together with its covering of cloth or any other fabric
into the lower die, by pressure on said lever, as will be understood.
When the said dies are brought into proper position under the punch, they are
locked automatically, by means of a spring actuated locking bolt, F, which enters
into engagement with a perforation, G, in the bed, E or in lieu of the sliding bed, E, a
circular bed, E¹, as illustrated in Figure 11, may be used, being pivoted to the lower
arm of the standard, A, and employing a locking bolt, similar to the one used in
connection with the sliding device.
The lower die is made in two parts, a central portion and a sleeve there around, said
sleeve is supported by a spring, as H, and is held in position by means of a gravity
catch, I, so that it will not be pressed down when the punch descends and the core is
being drawn down, but when the intermediate punch or button closing punch J, is
placed in position on top of the lower die, the top portion of said catch, I, has nothing
to bear against, and therefore when pressure is brought to bear on the punch, B, said
catch is automatically released, thus allowing the bottom portion of the lower die to be
brought into play which acts to close the button, as will be manifest.
Said machine is adapted to be secured to an ordinary table or bench, as Q, by
means of a clamp, as K, or any other suitable device, or it may be held thereon by
being screwed, bolted, or otherwise secured thereto." The punch B, is reduced in
diameter at its lower end to provide a bearing for the spring, L, and still further
reduced to provide a bearing for the sleeve, M, and a shoulder, N, to limit the
upward movement of said sleeve. Said spring, L, being made to hug the upper
portion of the punch and the sleeve, M, closely, so as to hold the parts in place and
keep them from dropping down.
The under die may be slightly concave on its upper surface, or of any other form so
as to give the shape desired to the finished button, the sleeve, R., of the lower die is
provided with an annular recess, O, adapted to receive the piece of cloth or other
fabric to cover the button, thus when the piece of fabric is placed in the recess, and
a button blank is placed over the shoulder S, or in the recess, T, according to its size,
and the punch is caused to descend, the catch, I, holds the bottom die in place, and
the top punch forces the blank downward pressing the covering around it.
Said catch is automatically held into holding engagement with the bottom die, by a
sleeve, M, the periphery of which, as the punch B, descends, comes into contact with
the upper end of said catch, and pressing it outward forces the lower or holding end
of said catch into engagement with said die, and releases it when it ascends, as will be
readily understood upon referring to Figures 8 and 9.
When the bottom portion of the button is inserted into the intermediate punch, J,
and the latter, which is of smaller diameter than the sleeve, M, is placed upon the top
of the bottom die, it projects above the upper end of the catch, without engaging with
it, because of the lesser diameter of the said intermediate punch, J, and consequently
when the punch B, is pressed downward, bringing the sleeve, M, into engagement
with the said intermediate, J, the catch is not operated, and the bottom die is free to
descend to its bearings, as will be understood by referring to Figures 8, 9 and 12, the
latter being an enlarged sectional view of said intermediate punch, J.
The operation, in connection with said punch is as follows:-The parts referred to
being placed in position, and pressure brought to bear against the punch, B, Figure 8,
the inner portion, P, Figure 12, presses the under part of the shank of the button
home in the button blank, in the lower die, C, Figure 8 and 9, when the sleeve, M, on
the upper punch meets the shoulder, N, and pressure is brought on the outer
portion, U, of said intermediate punch, and the convex recess, V, therein acts to close
and rivet the outer portion of the button blank around the bottom portion, as will be
understood.
When the button coverings are to be cut, the gang of lower dies are removed and a
block of wood is inserted instead thereof, and a cutter as W, is fastened to the upper

page_text: punch, B, and the operation gone through in the usual manner; while making
this change, the upper punch may be held up out of the way, by means of a set screw,
as Y, as will be manifest.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is :-
1st. An improved machine for making covered buttons, consisting of a suitable
standard or frame, a punch as B, working therein, as sleeve, as M, mounted on said
punch, a spring engaging with said sleeve, and punch as described, a lower die or dies,
a sleeve or sleeves, an automatically operating catch, and springs arranged in connection
therewith, as described, and means for operating said punch, and holding said dies in
place, arranged and adapted to operate, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
2nd. In a machine for making covered buttons, the combination of a punch, as B, a
gang of lower adjustable dies, and an automatically working catch, as I, for holding
said dies in place, said parts being arranged and adapted to operate, substantially as
and for the purposes set forth.
3rd. In a machine for making covered buttons, the combination of a punch, as B,
an intermediate punch, as J, a gang of lower adjustable dies and an automatically
working catch, as I, arranged with relation to each other, and adapted to operate,
substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
4th. In a machine for making covered buttons, the combination with a punch, as B,
an intermediate punch, as J, a gang of lower adjustable dies, arranged as described
with relation to said punches, and a spring fastening bolt, for locking said dies in place,
substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
5th. In a machine for making covered buttons, the combination of a punch, as B,
an intermediate punch, as J, a gang of lower dies, mounted on a sliding plate, and
held in place by means of a spring actuated locking device, arranged and adapted to
operate, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
6th. In a machine for making covered buttons, the combination of a punch, as B,
having a shoulder, N, a sleeve, M, mounted upon said punch, and adapted to engage
said shoulder, a spring to hold said sleeve in place, and an intermediate punch, as J,
and a gang
of lower dies, all arranged and adapted to operate, substantially as herein
described for the purposes set forth.