Improved Machinery for Making Buttons and the like.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL DITUIFICATION.
Improved Machinery for Making Buttons and the like.
I, ANDREW WILSON BELL, of 266, Nithsdale Road, Dumbreck, in the City of
Glasgow, Button Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to machinery for making buttons, studs, counters and
the like from bone, wood, ivory and similar material; and it has for its object
to lessen the cost of production of such articles by rendering the employment of
skilled labour unnecessary.
The improved machine is constructed and arranged to operate simultaneously
on a number of button blanks or flats which are carried in an intermittently
rotating disc under or between a series of cutting and drilling tools carried by
vertical or horizontal spindles, the blanks being fed in and operated on by each
tool in succession and being delivered from the machine properly cut and
drilled.
The improved machine comprises a cast iron or other frame or standard on
which are mounted in bearings a number of rotating spindles, preferably arranged
vertically, a lower spindle being provided to actuate a cutter acting on the
under side of the blanks, two or more spindles actuating cutters placed above to
cut the upper face of each blank and four or other number of spindles carrying
drilling tools for boring a corresponding number of holes in the button. The
blanks are fed into and held in openings in a disc which is carried on a central
shaft and intermittently rotated so that a blank is brought under each tool and
at each movement the blanks are each advanced a step under the tools whilst a
finished button drops out and a fresh blank is fed in. The blanks or flats are
held in the openings in the disc by means of steel holders and fingers closed
by a spiral or other spring to secure them whilst being operated on by the
tools, a roller or like device being provided for lifting the fingers. The disc
shaft has secured on it a ratchet wheel engaged by a pawl operated by a lever
through gearing from a cam which imparts the desired intermittent movement to
the ratchet and disc. All the spindles are brought into contact with and lifted
clear of the work by a frame carrying adjusting screws by means of which the
spindles may be adjusted to compensate for wear of the tools, the up and down
motion of the frame being imparted to it by means of a cam mounted on a
shaft on which is also fitted the cam which intermittently actuates the disc.
The spindles are driven by belts and pulleys or other gear.
In the operation of the machine a flat or blank is placed in the holder in the
disc opening in proximity to the operator, and is gripped by the steel finger
and carried round by the motion of the disc due to the action of the ratchet
until the blank comes under the cutter or tool for partly forming the upper side
of the button where it is also immediately over the tool for forming the under
side. All the upper spindles are brought down simultaneously and that on the
under side brought up, and each blank as it comes under a fresh tool undergoes
a further operation. The last of the series of spindles carries a cutting out tool

page_text: holders or fingers consisting each of a horizontal ring F on the upper end of a
rod F¹ passing downwards through the disc D and normally closed thereon by
a spiral or other spring F2 to secure them whilst being operated on by the tools,
a roller F3 being provided at the lower end of the rod to run upon a stationary
cam piece H or like device for lifting the fingers, to enable the blank to be
removed after the button has been formed from it, and a new blank substituted.
For the purpose of intermittently rotating the disc 1), the shaft E has secured
on it a ratchet wheel E engaged by a pawl Es operated by a lever in a fork in
which said pawl is secured, the lever E³ being actuated by a link E connected to
the pawl lever E3 and to a lever E³ on an upright shaft E, another lever E7 on
which latter is operated from a cam G¹ on a horizontal shaft G, which cam G¹
imparts the desired intermittent movement to the ratchet E¹ and disc D. All
the spindles B, C, are brought into contact with and lifted clear of the work by
a frame A¹ carrying adjusting screws A by means of which the spindles B, C, may
be adjusted to compensate for wear of the tools, the up and down motion being
imparted to the frame A¹ by means of a lever I centred at I, one end of which
lever is attached to said frame and the other end actuated by a double cam J
mounted on the shaft G. The spindles B are driven by belts and pulleys K, or
other gear on said spindles, the pulleys K or other gear being situated between
bearings L, M, and being keyed to the spindles B by feathers and slots or other
means whereby vertical movement of the spindles is permitted.
In the operation of the machine a flat or blank is placed beneath the spring
clips or holders in the disc opening D in proximity to the operator, and is
immediately thereafter gripped by the steel finger as the roller F on the
rod F carrying the finger leaves the stationary cam piece H, the blank being
carried round by the motion of the disc D due to the action of the ratchet E¹
until the blank comes under the cutter or tool B₁ for partly forming the upper
side of the button where it is also immediately over the tool C₁ for forming the
under side. All the upper spindles B are brought down simultaneously and
the spindle C on the under side brought up, and each blank as it comes under a
fresh tool undergoes a further operation. The last of the series of spindles
carries a cutting out tool B2 which may either be in the form of a point or of a
tube saw of the exact diameter of the button. When acted on by the last of
the tools the button drops out of the opening in the disc, and the roller F³ coming
immediately thereafter in engagement with the stationary cam piece H, the
clamping finger F rises and allows of the used blank being withdrawn from the
clips or holders.
In order that the disc D may be held stationary while the tools are acting
on the blank a plug rod N attached to the movable frame A¹ is fitted to descend
in advance of the tools and enters a corresponding hole in a locking disc 0, or
in the blank carrying disc D, the latter being preferably also provided with
notches Is in its periphery, into which a spring locking piece, not shewn on the
drawings, enters to act as a safety lock, the locking piece being released from the
notches at the proper times by any moving part of the machine to leave the
disc free to be rotated.
In order to admit of drilling holes in buttons of different diameters, the bear-
ings L, M, of the drill spindles are, as shewn in detail at Fig. 4, in each case,
formed on a frame P guided at its upper end in a bearing R jointed by means of
links Q to one of the adjusting screws A, this frame being pivoted at P¹ to one
of a series of lugs A on a stationary platform A³, in which the fixed bearings M
for the forming and cutting tools are secured. The frame P has also a slot P
near its upper end so that it may be moved along a stationary guide pin 13
secured in a lug A5 to admit of the frame P being turned about P1 to give the
necessary amount of spread to the drill to suit various sizes of buttons.
In the making of counters composed of flat circular discs, the same tools are
employed as in the manufacture of buttons, but the drill spindles have the drills
removed therefrom and these spindles merely run idle or in the case of studs the