Year: 1886

page_text: I JOHN RICHARD GREEN of the firm of Plant and Green of Warstone Button
Works Warstone Lane Birmingham in the County of Warwick Button Manu-
facturers do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
My invention consists of the construction and combination hereinafter described
of the parts of hand or foot worked presses or machines for the manufacture
of covered buttons. Portions of my invention as hereinafter pointed out may
also be applied to presses or machines for cutting out shaping and fashioning
metals and non metalic materials for various purposes.
In constructing according to my invention a hand or foot worked press or
machine for making eyeletted linen buttons I arrange on the bed plate of the press
four equi-distant lower tools each lower tool being of a different construction from
the others and effecting in conjunction with the upper tool the requisite operations
for making the button. I mount on the sliding bolt of the press a horizontal
disc or carrier having an intermittent rotary motion through a quadrant and
supporting four upper tools equi-distantly arranged each tool being of the same
construction. By means of fixed projections of different depths the upper tools
have varying vertical strokes given to them according to the operation to be
performed. The intermittent motion through a quadrant of the upper tool carrier
is effected by fixed inclines against which antifriction rollers on the periphery
of the carrier bear when the bolt of the press rises and falls. The pegs or inner
parts of the lower tools are not rigidly connected to the bed plate but are loosely
connected thereto so that the said tools are capable of a slight rocking or lateral
motion upon the bed plate. This is effected by making a collar or enlargement on
the lower part of the peg fit loosely in a hole in the bed plate. In using the press
or machine the shell or frame having the top covering of the button eyeletted
thereto together with the ring to form with the shell a trough are placed on the
pegs of the first lower die and the bolt of the press is made to descend. One
of the lower tools is thereby made to countersink the ring that is press its side

page_text: towards the shell. On the rising of the bolt the upper tool takes with it the blank
and by the movement of the tool carrier the said upper tool is brought over the
second lower tool in which the back covering of the button has been placed. By
the next descent of the upper tool the edges of the back covering are pressed into
the trough of the shell the rising of the upper tool carrying the partly made
button with it. The further movement of the tool carrier brings the upper tool
over the third lower tool the operation of which tools closes the front linen
covering over the edge of the shell and pushes the edge of the said edge of the
said covering into the trough of the said shell. The upper tool again rising with
the partly inade button in it is by the further movement of the tool carrier
brought over the fourth lower tool and on the descent of the said upper tool the
button is flattened so as to cause the trough to firmly grip the edges of the
linen coverings and the button is completed. On the rising of the upper tool thie
finished button is left in the last lower tool from which it is ejected by a jet or
small blast of air into a conducting tube opposite the end of the blast pipe.. Or
the finished button may be removed from the lower tool by a pusher out.
Although for convenience of description, I have only described one of the upper
tools descending in succession upon the several lower tools yet it must be
understood that the several upper tools and their respective lower tools for the
time being are operating simultaneously upon several blanks or partly made
buttons a button being made at each descent of the bolt of the press.
In making linen buttons without eyelets and covered buttons generally the
tools are somewhat modified from those herein before described. For example
when buttons of the kind called single shell buttons are to be made or when the
countersinking of the back ring is effected before the partially made button is
introduced into the press then only three of the four pairs of tools are employed.
The screw of the press or machine (when a screw press or machine is used) may
be worked in the ordinary way namely by a fly handle or band wheel but I prefer
to work it by the following construction and combination of parts operated by the
foot of the attendant. Jointed to the top of the frame of the press is a horizontal
lever having motion in a vertical plane. The short arm of this lever is forked
the branches of the fork carrying anti friction rollers which work between collars or
flanges on the top of the screw of the press. A vertical connecting rod on the
long arm of the lever is jointed to a treadle lever which is operated upon by the
foot of the attendant. By the motion of the treadle lever and a strong spring
for giving the return motion the horizontal lever is raised and lowered and its
short arm and rollers operating upon the collars at the top of the screw raises and
lowers the said screw.
The blast or jet of air for removing the finished button from the last tool of the
series on the bed plate is produced by a pair of bellows operated upon by a
vertical arm on the horizontal lever described the said vertical arm being lifted
from the bellows when the bolt of the press is descending but on the rising of the
said bolt the said vertical arm depresses the bellows and produces the blast or jet
of air for ejecting the button from the last lower tool.
The construction and arrangement of parts described for working the screw of
the press and for ejecting the finished article may be applied to screw and other
presses in general for operating upon metals and non-metallic materials for various
purposes.

page_text: I JOHN RICHARD GREEN of the firm of Plant and Green of Warstone Button
Works, Warstone Lane, Birmingham in the County of Warwick, Button Manu-
facturers, do hereby declare the nature of my invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
My invention consists of the construction and combination hereinafter described
of the parts of hand or foot worked presses or machines for the manufacture of
covered buttons. Portions of my invention as hereinafter pointed out may also be
applied to presses or machines for cutting out shaping and fashioning metals and
non-metallic materials for various purposes.
In constructing according to my invention a hand or foot worked press or
machine for making eyeletted linen buttons I arrange on the bed plate of the press,
four equidistant lower tools, each lower tool being of a different construction from
the others and,effecting in conjunction with the upper tool the requisite operations
for making the button I mount on the sliding bolt of the press a horizontal disc
or carrier having an intermittent rotary motion through a quadrant and supporting
four upper tools equi-distantly arranged, all the upper tools being of the same
construction. By means of fixed projections of different depths the upper tools
have varying vertical strokes given to them according to the operation to be
performed. The intermittent motion through a quadrant of the upper tool carrier
is effected by fixed inclines against which anti-friction rollers on the periphery of
the carrier bear when the bolt of the press rises and falls. The pegs or inner parts
of the lower tools are not rigidly connected to the bed plate but are loosely
connected thereto so that the said tools are capable of a slight lateral motion upon
the bed plate. This is effected by making a collar or enlargement on the lower
part.of the peg fit loosely in a hole in the bed plate.
The screw of the press or machine (when a screw press or machine is used) may
be worked in the ordinary way, namely by a fly handle or hand wheel, but I prefer
to work it by the following construction and combination of parts operated by the
foot of the attendant. Jointed to the top of the frame of the press is a lever
having motion in a vertical plane. The short arm of this lever is forked the
branches of the fork carrying anti friction rollers which work between collars or
flanges on the top of the screw of the press. A vertical connecting rod on the
long arm of the lever is jointed to a treadle lever which is operated upon by the
foot of the attendant: By the motion of the treadle lever and a strong spring for
giving the return motion the horizontal lever is raised and lowered and its short
arm and rollers operating upon the collars at the top of the screw raise and lower
the said screw.

page_text: The finished button is removed from the last tool of the series on the bed plate
by a blast or jet of air produced by a pair of bellows operated upon by a vertical
arm on the horizontal lever described, the said vertical arm being lifted from the
bellows when the bolt of the press is descending but on the rising of the said bolt
the said vertical arm depresses the bellows and produces the blast or jet of air for
ejecting the button from the last lower tool.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the
manner in which my invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation; Figure 2 in end elevation and Figure 3 in
plan a foot worked screw press or machine constructed according to my invention
for the manufacture of covered buttons; Figure 4 represents in end elevation a
portion of the press or machine exhibiting the inclines by which the intermittent
rotary motion through a quadrant is given to the upper tool carrier; Figure 5
represents in plan one of the said inclines together with the upper tool carrier;
Figure 6 represents in elevation, Figure 7 partly in elevation and partly in section
and Figure 8 in plan of underside, the tool carrier and upper tools; Figure 9
represents in elevation partly in section and Figure 10 in plan of upper side, the
lower tools of the press or machine.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures
of the drawings. On the bed of the press or machine four equi-distant lower
tools a, b, c and d are supported, each lower tool being of a different construction
from the others; e is the sliding bolt of the press connected to the screw f which
is worked by the mechanism herein after described. Screwed into the lower part
of the bolt e is a disc e² and fitted on the stem of the said disc c is a collar i
carrying the projections or stops i, & for the purpose herein after explained. The
bottom of the stem of the disc e' is screwed and upon it a screw nut e³ is screwed
for holding the collar at the required distance from the disc e³ as best seen
in Figure 7. Working freely between the disc e and top of the collar is
a horizontal carrier g carrying the four upper tools h, h², h³ and h equidistantly
arranged, all the upper tools being of the same construction. The horizontal
carrier g. carrying the upper tools h, h³, h³ and has an intermittent rotary
motion given to it through a quadrant in the manner herein after described. Each
of the upper tools consists of a central peg upon which an outer collar is capable
of sliding the said upper tools being of the ordinary kind used in the manufacture of
covered buttons. The projections or stops i, k on the fixed collar are of different
depths (see Figures 7 and 8). By means of these projections the outer collars of
the two upper tools h³, h* (and the collars of the other upper tools as they are
brought under them) are prevented from rising on their pegs to the same height as
the collars of the tools which are for the. time being not under them, for causing
the said.tools h³, h* to effect the required operations on the button being made as is
well understood in the manufacture of covered buttons. The lower tools a, b, c, d
are constructed in the same way as tools operated singly excepting that the pegs or
inner parts are not connected rigidly to the bed plate a² but are loosely connected
thereto so that the said tools are capable of a slight lateral motion upon the bed,a².
This construction is shown in one of the tools marked b in Figure 9 where it will
be seen that the peg b' fits loosely in the hole a³ in the bed plate a? so that the tool
may on the descent of the upper tool take a slight lateral motion upon the bed to
allow for any want of absolute truth in the construction of the tools.
The intermittent rotary motion through a quadrant of the upper tool carrier g is
effected in the following manner. On the periphery of the said tool carrier g are
four. equi distant auti friction rollers l, and on the standard of the press, or
machine are two fixed inclines m, n (see Figures 4 and 5) against which the auti
friction rollers bear when the bolt e of the press rises and falls. At the bottom of
the incline m is a vertical slot p in which the anti friction roller of the series on
the carrier g. brought over it falls and rises as herein after explained. In Figures 1
and 2 the carrier g carrying the upper tools is represented in its highest position and

page_text: the bolt e is about to descend and in Figure 5 one of the rollers on the said
carrier g is represented in the act of descending the incline m.
When the upper
tools have descended one of the anti friction rollers on the tool carrier g is
situated at the bottom of the vertical slot pas indicated in dotted lines in
Figures 2 and 4.
As the bolt of the press is raised the anti friction roller rises
in the said slot p and bears against the incline n as indicated in Figure 4, by
which a partial rotation is given to the tool carrier g. On the bolt e reaching its
highest position the roller which bore against the incline n has passed from the.
seat m and the next roller has been brought to the summit of the incline m
down which incline the said roller travels on the next descent of the bolt of the
press and passes into the vertical slot p. By the action of the two rollers on the
inclines and m as the bolt rises and falls a quarter rotation in the direction
indicated by the arrow in Figure 5 is given to the tool carrier g.
The screw of the press is worked by the following combination of parts but it
may be worked by a fly handle or hand wheel.
9, q is a lever turning on the centre q°; q' being the short arm and q the long
arm of the lever. The short arm q' is forked and carries the anti friction rollers q
which work between collars or flanges r, r on the top of of the screw f. To the
long arm q of the lever q, q' the upper end of a.connecting rod 8 is jointed, the
lower end of the said rod 8 being jointed to the treadle lever t which is operated
upon by the foot of the workman. By depressing the foot end of the treadle
levert the long arm g of the actuating lever is raised and the short forked arm q
made to descend and with it the screw f and bolt e the anti friction rollers q*, q' as
the screw descends travelling between the two flanges r, r. By the action of the
strong spring u the return motion is given to the lever q, q' and through the said
lever to the screw f and bolt e.
Instead of the forked end of the actuating lever carrying anti friction rollers a
collar may be situated around the head of the screw and between the flanges r, r
the said collar having a peg at opposite sides carrying an anti friction roller.
These anti friction rollers work in slots in opposite sides of the forked end of the
actuating lever.
w is the pair of bellows by the blast or jet of air from which the finished button
is removed from the lower tool d. The bellows w are closed by the descent of the
cranked end of the vertical arm x on the connecting rod 8 of the lever q, q² the said
arm depressing the upper flap of the bellows. The said vertical arm is lifted
from the upper flap of the bellows when the bolt e is descending but on the rising
of the said bolt e the vertical arm x dépresses the said upper flap of the bellows
and produces the blast or jet of air described. On the lifting of the arm z from the
bellows they are opened by the coiled spring 2 lifting the upper flap.
In using the press or machine the shell or frame having the top linen disc or
covering of the button eyeletted thereto, together with the ring to form with the
shell a trough as represented in Figure 11, are placed in the lower tool a, the linen
disc to form the face of the button being at the top, and the bolt e of the press is
made to descend in the manner herein before described and the upper tool h made
to enter the said lower tool a. By the action of the lower tool the ring is countersunk,
that is, its side is pressed towards the shell. On the rising of the bolt e the upper
tool h takes with it the blank and by the movement of the tool carrier g through a
quadrant, effected as herein before described, the said upper tool is brought over the
second lower tool b in which the back covering of the button has been placed. By
the next descent of the upper tool h the edges of the back covering are pressed into
the trough of the shell by the tool b as represented in Figure 12, the rising of the
upper tool carrying the partly made button with it. The further movement of
the tool carrier g brings the upper tool over the third lower tool c the operation
of which tool closes the front linen covering over the edge of the shell and pushes
the edge of the said covering into the trough of the said shell as represented in
Figure 13. The upper tool h again rising with the partly made button in it, is by
'the further movement of the tool carrier g brought over the fourth lower tool d

page_text: and on the descent of the said upper tool the button is flattened so as to cause the
trough to firmly grip the edges of the linen coverings and the button is completed
as represented in Figure 14. On the rising of the upper tool the finished button
is left in the last lower tool d from which it is ejected by a jet or small blast of air
from the bellows w into a conducting tube y opposite the end of the blast pipe w².
Or the finished button, may be removed from the lower tool d by a pusher out.
Although for convenience of description I have only described one of the
upper tools, namely the tool h, descending in succession upon the several lower
tools a, b, c, d yet it must be understood that the several upper tools h, h³, h³, h*|
and their respective lower tools for the time being are operating simultaneously
upon several blanks or partly made buttons, a button being made at each descent
of the bolt of the press.
•
In making linen buttons without eyelets and covered buttons generally the tools
are somewhat modified from those herein before described. For example, when
buttons of the kind called single shell buttons are to be made or when the counter-
sinking of the back ring-is effected before the partially made button is put into
the press, then only three of the four pairs of tools are employed, the upper tool
carrier having motion through the required angle instead of through a quadrant as
when four pairs of tools are used.
Or if three processes only are required as in making a single shell button one of
the lower tools may be removed and the intermittent upper tool carrier have motion
through. a quadrant given to it.
When more than four processes are required to make a button a corresponding
number of pairs of tools are used the upper tool carrier having motion through the
required angle given to it.
The construction and arrangement of parts described and represented for working
the screw of the press or machine and for ejecting the finished article may be applied
to screw and other presses in general for operating upon metals and non metallic
materials for various purposes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention
and the manner in which the same is to be performed I declare that I claim as, my
invention of "Improvements in presses or machines for the manufacture of covered
buttons and for cutting out shaping and fashioning metals and non metallic materials
for various purposes
First The improvements in the tools of presses or machines for the manufacture
of covered buttons herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say, mounting on the bolt of the press or machine an upper
tool carrier or disc carrying a series of upper tools, the said carrier having an
intermittent rotary motion through a quadrant or other angle and mounting on
the bed of the press or machine a series of lower fixed tools corresponding in
number and position with, or in some cases of a less number than, those on the
intermittent upper tool carrier for the purpose and substantially as described and
illustrated whether the said tools be used in combination with a screw press or
machine or a press or machine the bolt of which is otherwise worked.
Secondly-Making the pegs or inner parts of the lower tools used in the
manufacture of covered buttons capable of a slight lateral motion upon the bed
plate substantially as herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.
Thirdly Giving the required intermittent rotary motion to the upper tool
carrier as the bolt of the press or machine rises and falls by fixed inclines against
which anti friction rollers on the periphery of the tool carrier bear substantially as
herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Fourthly The construction and combination of parts herein before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for working the screws of presses
or machines by the foot of the operator.

page_text: Lastly The arrangement or combination of parts hereinbefore described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for ejecting the button or article
from the lower tool of the press or machine by a blast or jet of air from a
pair of bellows which bellows are operated substantially as before described and
illustrated.
3000