IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BUTTONS AND IN MACHINERY THEREFOR."
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Phillips Thompson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th December 1880. A com-
munication from abroad by Monsieur Louis Gillon, ainé, of Les Lilas, near
Paris, in the Republic of France.
.
WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, of the Firm of Wm. P. Thompson and Co., Agents
for procuring Patents, of 323, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, 6, Lord
Street, Liverpool in the County of Lancaster, and Berridge Street, Leicester, in the
County of Leicester, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
BUTTONS AND IN MACHINERY THEREFOR." A communication from abroad by
Monsieur Louis Gillon, ainé, of Les Lilas, near Paris, in the Republic of France.
The following is a literal translation of the Specification communicated to me.
"This new system of machine has for object the fabrication of all parts of buttons
(with shanks as well as with holes) whatever be the material by the aid of which
this fabrication is made, or the form that it is desired to give the product fabricated.
In a word, this system of machine enables one to obtain simultaneously the
shank of the button, the attachment of this shank to the button itself, in the case
of shanked buttons, and lastly, the moulding of the head or button proper.
One easily conceives the economy of workmanship caused by this system in the
making of buttons, and the increased turn-out caused by its employ.
The simplicity of working and of construction of this machine will show itself
more clearly from the following description, reference being had to the annexed
Drawings, in which this machine is represented (but as an illustration only.)
Figure 1 shows an elevation of the machine, part in section, to show the
disposition of the tool or die for moulding.
Figure 2 is a corresponding plan showing the general arrangement and disposition
of the various working parts of the system.
All the mechanism is actuated by the driving shaft a, which receives its motion
through the intermediation of a transmission pulley, a crank, or other appropriate
inechanism. This shaft is cranked at a¹ to receive the bead of a connecting rod b,
the length of which is regulated by the aid of a screw c.
The connecting rod b is pivotted or pinned to the ears e of a slide or carriage d
carrying the tool and sliding in a piece g fixed by the aid of screws upon the frame
of the machine.

page_text: The tool is disposed or fixed in a socket f solid with the carriage d. It is
composed of a die i, of which the extremity takes precisely the form required to be
given to the upper part of the button. The opposite extremity carries a base i¹
against which presses a coiled spring, which always assures a sufficient pressure of
the die against the matrix.
The die slides in close but easy contact in a tube j (screwed into the socket f)
when one wishes to regulate the tool.
A fixed piece h carrying a rigid spindle k serves for the unmoulding, that is to
say, serves to push the button out of the mould, when by the pressure it remains
fixed to the dies.
The shanks are made out of iron wire, and by the ordinary mechanism
which I may adapt to my machine are threaded or ranged in a tube l, of which the
lower part communicates with the centre of the matrix disposed in the centre of
the die.
They are pressed one by one into the central hole of the matrix by a
reciprocating movement, which effects at the same time the movement of the die.
This movement is obtained in the following manner :-
Upon the shaft a, and to its two extremities, are fixed two cams o acting upon a
roller p belonging to the shafts q, at the extremity of which I adapt the transverse
piece m. The shafts q slide in their supports fixed upon the frame, and the
coiled springs q¹ maintain a constant contact between the rollers p and the cams o.
The earth or other material serving to constitute the button is placed in the
endless concave chain 8, after having been rolled into the cylindrical form. This
chain, guided and driven by the pullies a¹, is brought against the matrix at the same
moment that the die cuts and moulds the button.
The movement of the pulley f¹ (Fig. 2) actuating the chains is obtained by the
axis t, upon the which is fixed that pulley. The rotation of this axis t is effected
by the intermediation of a disc u, at the circumference of which are disposed
pegs v.
A second disc y keyed on the shaft a carries a single tooth or peg x which
acts upon the end of each of the pegs in disc u, producing thus at each turn of the
driving shaft the advancement of chain 8, and consequently of the matter to be
moulded in quantity sufficient for the fabrication of one button.
It is evident that for buttons with holes it suffices to replace the die above
described by points, which pierce the holes at the same time that the moulding of
the button is effected, and to suppress the mechanism for manipulating the
shanks."