Stitching together Sheets of Cardboard or other Material at an Angle to each other.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 28th May, 1887
Complete Left, 30th Dec., 1887
Complete Accepted, 10th Feb., 1888
Stitching together Sheets of Cardboard or other Material at
an Angle to each other.
1, CARL LOUIS LASCH, Mechanical Engineer, of Leipzig-Reudnitz, in the Kingdom
of Saxony, do hereby declare the nature of said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN
WIRE-STITCHING MACHINES, OR MACHINERY FOR STITCHING TOGETHER SHEETS OF
CARDBOARD OR OTHER MATERIAL AT AN ANGLE TO EACH OTHER, to be as follows:-
Wire-stitching machines as hitherto made have the drawback, that the staple must
be pushed downward and guided in a specially constructed canal, before it can be
driven into the cardboard.
My improved machine, on the contrary, is adapted to cut off the wire, from the
staple (by bending the shanks) and drive the shanks of the staple into the cardboard,
immediately after the wire has been introduced into the staple-forming head, and
without requiring a downward motion of the entire staple.
This operation may be performed in various ways, but I prefer to employ two pairs
of sliding bars placed symmetrically right and left of the vertical centre line of the
staple-forming head, each pair consisting of two parallel bars placed at an angle to
the said centre line, the outer bar serving to cut off the wire and form the shanks,
while the inner bar serves to drive the staple through the cardboard.
The mechanism acts as follows :
The sheets to be stitched together are placed on a platform or saddle situated under-
neath the staple-forming head, as in other wire stitching machines, and an up and
down motion is imparted to the entire staple-forming head and attachment by a
double-armed oscillating lever. During the down motion, which is shared by the
wire-feeding apparatus, the wire is introduced into the staple-forming head, and cut
off by the inclined sliding bars, which also bend down the ends, so as to form a
staple having its shanks slightly turned inward. As soon as the oblique cutting and
bending bars have reached their lowest position, they serve as guides for the staple-
shanks, the extremities of which now touch the cardboard, because the staple-forming
head has meanwhile reached its lowest position. The driving-bars (that is to say, the

page_text: inner one of each pair of oblique sliding bars) now descend and drive the staple into
the cardboard. After the wire has been cut off, and before being driven into
the cardboard, the staple is supported by an anvil which corresponds in shape to the
staple, and is automatically withdrawn before the driving bars commence to act. The
staple-forming head chiefly comprises two parallel plates, and a vertically movable
slide or driving plate situated between the said plates. The lower or bed plate carries
on one side a wire-feeding apparatus similar to that described in my application
No. 1040 of 1887, and has oblique grooves, to receive and guide the symmetrically
placed oblique sliding bars mentioned above. The upper or cover plate is attached
to the bed-plate, so as to share the vertical motion of the same.
The slide or driving plate imparts to the sliding bars their longitudinal intermittent
motion necessary for forming and applying the staples. To produce this effect, each
of the said bars has at the upper end a horizontal stud or bend which projects into a
corresponding slot formed in the driving plate or slide. Each of these grooves or
slots is composed of two straight parts which form an obtuse angle to each other, the
longer part being vertical, while the other is slightly inclined upward or downward.
As long as the stud of a sliding bar is in the vertical part of the slots, the down
motion of the driving slide will have no effect on the sliding bar, but when the stud
gets into the oblique part of the slot, or at the end of the vertical part, the motion of
the driving slide will be transmitted to the sliding bar.
The base or bed-plate and the driving plate or the slide are temporarily coupled
together until a sufficient length of wire has been fed, preferably by means of a specially
formed angle lever mounted on the driving plate or slide. The two arms of the small
angle lever are situated in different but parallel planes and turn on a horizontal axis.
At the beginning of the down motion of the driving plate, caused by the oscillating
lever mentioned above, the horizontal arın of the small angle lever rests upon the upper
edge of the base-plate, while the vertical arm rests against a stationary vertical
surface formed on the machine frame and is allowed to slide along the same.
horizontal arm of the angle-lever will therefore impart its down motion to the bed or
base plate, until the vertical arm arrives at a lateral recess which allows the lever to
turn far enough to release the horizontal arm from the upper edge of the base-plate,
after which the driving plate continues to move without the base-plate.
The
The clenching apparatus may consist of a vertically movable plate forming at the
top a right angle. The bending anvil may be formed on or attached to the lower
extremity of a vertical lever pivoted at its upper end to the driving plate and having
an inward projection adapted to come in contact at the required moment with the
lower edge of the driving plate or slide. The said lever is bent inward at both ends
and projects at the upper end through a slot of the cover plate. As soon as this
contact takes place, the lever with the bending anvil recedes outward, and is
subsequently replaced into its previous position by a spring pressing on the back of
the lever.
To adapt the machine for stitching thin or thick layers of cardboard or paper, the
axle-bearings of the two armed lever which sets in motion the oscillating lever is
rendered horizontally adjustable; one arm of the said two-armed lever has a curved
slot for the reception of a friction roller secured to the lower end of the oscillating
lever, and the other arm of the said two-armed lever is operated by the treadle.
Dated this 98th day of Ma 1987
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
433, Strand, London,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in Wire-stitching Machines
or
Machinery for
Stitching together Sheets of Cardboard or other Material at
an Angle to each other.
SHEETS OF
I, CARL LOUIS LASCH, Mechanical Engineer, of Leipzig-Reudnitz, in the Kingdom
of Saxony, do hereby declare the nature of said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN
WIRE-STITCHING MACHINES, OR MACHINERY FOR STITCHING TOGETHER
CARDBOARD OR OTHER MATERIAL AT AN ANGLE TO EACH OTHER and in what
manner the same may be performed to be particularly described by the following
statement:-
Machines for stitching together sheets of cardboard or other material, at an angle
to each other, by means of steel-wire, have generally the drawback, that the wire-
staple, formed in the machine, must be pushed downward and guided in a specially
constructed canal, to arrive at the place, where it can be driven into the cardboard.
My invention has for its object to simplify the process by constructing a machine
which will cut off the wire, form the staple, (by bending the shanks) and drive it
into the card-board, at the same place where the staple has been formed, thus avoiding
a downward motion of the entire staple.
In the following description reference will be made to the annexed drawing, of
which Fig. 1, is a front elevation and Fig. 2 a side view of a complete machine,
while Figs. 3 to 9 represent details on a larger scale. Fig. 3 is a front view of the
staple forming head, Fig. 4 is a vertical section through the centre of Fig. 3. Fig. 5,
is a horizontal section along line I-I of Fig. 3, Fig. 6, a horizontal section along
line II-II of Fig. 3. Figs. 7 and 8 are front elevations showing the principal parts
of the staple forming head in two different positions. Fig. 9 is a section along
line III-III of Fig. 3.
The mechanism for forming and applying the staple chiefly comprises two pairs of
sliding plates a, b, c, d situated obliquely right and left of the vertical centre line of
the machine. Each pair consists of two parallel plates, the outer plate serving to cut
off the wire and form the shanks, while the inner one serves to bend the staple in the
centre and drive it through the cardboard. Each plate is guided longitudinally by
screwing it to one of four sliding bars a¹, b, c, d situated and adapted to slide in
oblique grooves e, e¹ formed in the base plate E. The latter is adapted to slide up
and down on a stationary guiding plate or post G forming part of the machine frame,
and carries the pivotal bearings e, of the oscilating lever L which serves to feed the
wire to the staple forming mechanism. This plate E carries also the retaining pawl h,
and the wire guides 1, 2, and 3, the latter having the shape of a disc provided with
a cutting edge adapted to operate in conjunction with the cutting plate a for cutting
off the wire. The construction and operation of the wire feeding mechanism (lever L,
guides,,, and pawl h) are similar to those described in an earlier application for
a patent.
Upon the base plate E is placed a slide F provided with a head f adapted to
receive the extremity of the operating lever which imparts to the slide F an up and
down motion. This slide serves to set in motion the cutting and bending plates a, b,
and driving plates c, d, as well as the base plate E.

page_text: For guiding the slide F vertically, the base plate E has in the centre a projection
in the shape of a rectangular plate e riveted to the face of the plate E (see Figs. 3,
4, 7 and 8), and the slide F is cut out rectangularly to fit over the said projection.
For imparting to the bars a, b, c, d, (and thereby to the plates a, b, c, d,) the
required intermittent motion independent of the base plate E, the upper end of each
bar is bent forward (as shown in Fig. 9 for the bar 6'), and the slide F has two pairs
of angular slots a³, 13, c³, d³, adapted to receive the heads or projections a², b, c, d³,
of the sliding bars. Each of these slots is composed of two parts which form an
obtuse angle to each other, namely a vertical part and a slightly inclined part, the
latter forming a right angle to the sliding bar. If the head is at the bottom of the
vertical part, the down motion of the slide F while the base-plate E remains stationary,
will have no effect on the sliding bar, the head of latter being allowed to slide along
the upright part of the slot, but if the slide F descends, while the head of the
sliding bar is at the top of the slot, the motion of the slide will be imparted to the
sliding bar.
The bending saddle is formed at the lower end of an upright lever J pivoted at
the upper end (j) to the projecting part 3 of the base plate E, for which purpose the
face of the said plate is hollowed out, as shown by Fig. 4.
The lower end of the lever J is bent inward and provided in the middle with an
angular recess, to fit over the edge of the cardboard box which is placed under-
neath the staple forming head; 2 is a groove for the wire placed on the bending
saddle.
At a convenient distance below the lower edge of the slide F, the lever J has an
inward projection j³, which is provided at the top with an oblique face adapted to
come in contact with the lower edge of the slide F during the descent of the
latter, thereby causing the lever J and the bending saddle to recede. A plate K is
screwed to the projecting part e³ of the face of the base plate E and serves to cover
and guide the slide F. A spring M secured at the top to the cover K and pressing
at the bottom on the back of the lever J, serves to hold the bending anvil in place
during the formation of the staple.
At the lower end the face of the base plate E is covered by a plate N which has in
the centre an angular recess n adapted to receive the bending saddle and the upper
edge of the cardboard box.
For temporarily coupling together the slide F and the base plate E during the
down motion of the slide, I employ the following contrivance. In the lower part of
the head is secured a horizontal pin or axle m, which carries a pair of cams m¹
and m² placed in different planes and at an angle to each other. The vertical cam m¹
is adapted to slide along one side of the recess 9 (Fig. 4.) formed in the upper part
of the stationary plate G, while the horizontal cam m³ rests in a notch formed at the
top of the base-plate E. (Fig. 3). The recess 9 is wider at the lower part than at
the top, as indicated in dotted lines on the right side of Fig. 3. As long as the
cam m² slides along the narrow part of the recess g, the axle m and cam m² are
prevented from turning; consequently the cam m² imparts its down motion to the
base plate E, but as soon as the cam m' arrives at the wide part of the recess g, it is
allowed to turn, and therefore also the axle m and cam m². Consequently the cam m³
will get clear of the base plate E, and the further down motion of the slide F is not
shared by the base plate E, the latter remaining stationary.
The plate E has a recess e² to allow room for the motion of the head f.
The descent of the base plate E causes the feed lever L to turn on its pivot, by
means of the friction roller which is secured to the stationary machine frame and fits
into curved slot l' of the lever L.
The clenching mechanism may be constructed as in my earlier machines. It is set
in motion by an angle lever n¹ and pushing rod n³ situated in the interior of the
clenching saddle B, see Fig. 2.
The operating lever A and pushing rod n² are actuated by a treadle mechanism
constructed as follows, see Figs. 1 and 2.
To the hollow stand C is secured. on one side a plate or block P by means of

page_text: screws p, passing through horizontal slots pl. To the inside of this block is pivoted
at g the treadle lever Q, and at o³, the sector lever O, which is also connected with.
the treadle lever Q by a rod R. The sector lever has a curved slot o, o¹, the part o¹
being concentric to the pivot o², while the part o is excentric. The lower end of the
operating lever A carries a friction roller s which runs in the slot o, o¹.
In
If pressure is applied to the treadle, the lever Q pivots on its fulcrum q and causes
the segment lever O to turn on its pivot o by means of the connecting rod R.
turning upward (from the position shown by Fig. 2) the lever O drives the lower end
of the two-armed lever A outward, and its upper end downward, thereby setting in
operation the staple forming head. As soon as the roller s gets into the concentric
part o¹ of the slot, the further up-motion of the lever O has no effect on the operating
lever, but the segment pushes against the rod n² and thereby sets in motion the
clenching mechanism.
The block P is adapted for horizontal adjustment by means of the slots p² and the
set screw p². By shifting the fulcrum of the lever O to and fro, the motion of
the operating lever A may be regulated so as to suit varying thicknesses of card-board
placed on the clenching saddle.
The operation of the machine may be described as follows:-
The two sheets of card-board X and Y which are to be stitched together, having
been placed on the saddle B, as represented in Fig. 1 and a wire from a reel
introduced into the wire feeding apparatus, as in my previous machines, the operator
presses on the treadle, thereby setting in motion the segment lever O, operating
lever A and vertical slide F. When the latter begins its down motion, the heads of
the oblique sliding bars a¹ and 61, c¹ and d' are situated at the bottom of their
respective slots a and c³, and d³, the heads a² and 62 being in the inclined part,
while the heads c and d are in the vertical part of their slot. The base-plate E, (and
therefore the feed lever L) shares the down motion of the slide F, whereby the
lever L is caused to turn on its fulcrum and push the wire into the staple forming
head, through the disc and above the bending anvil, until the extremity of the wire
abuts against the outer wall of the oblique groove e¹. The base-plate E now stops
(because the cam m¹ has arrived at the wide part of the recess g), while the slide F
continues its down motion. The cutting and bending plates a and b now come in
contact with the wire, the plate a cuts off the wire in passing the cutting edge of the
disc ³, and both plates bend down the ends of the wire over the bending anvil, after
which they occupy the position represented by Fig. 7. During the motion just
described (being the second part of the down motion of the slide F) the heads a³
and 62 have slided into the vertical part of their respective slots a³ and 63, and the
heads have arrived at the top of the vertical part of their slots c³ and d³ as
shown by Fig. 7. Consequently, the further down motion of the slide F has no effect
on the plates a and b, but is shared by the driving plates c and d, which now bend the
staple over the edge of the cardboard and drive in the shank, after which the
mechanism occupies the position represented by Fig. 8. The lever J carrying
the bending anvil, has been previously driven outward by the contact of the pro-
jection with the slide F. The slide F now stops, because the friction rollers has
meanwhile passed from the part O into the concentric part o¹ of the slot in the
segment lever O. But the lever O continues to move and thereby acts on the rod n²
which sets in motion the clenching mechanism.
After the clenching, the treadle is allowed to ascend, the cardboard is shifted on
the clenching saddle, and a new cycle of operations may commence.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1, Mechanism adapted to cut off the wire, form the shanks, and drive them into
the cardboard or other material, in the manner substantially as described and
illustrated.
2, Mechanism for forming and applying metallic staples, comprising in its

page_text: construction a pair of hending plates situated obliquely right and left of the centre
line and adapted to receive a longitudinal motion, a pair of driving plates situated
obliquely right and left of the centre line between the bending plates and adapted to
receive a longitudinal motion in unison with the bending plates, and a bending anvil
adapted to support the staple during the operation of the bending plates and to recele
before the driving plates begin to act, substantially as described.
3, The combination of a base plate having a pair of oblique grooves placed
symmetrically right and left of the centre line, with a pair of longitudinally movable
bending plates, and a pair of longitudinally movable driving plates, the said plates
being guided by the oblique grooves of the base plate, a slide adapted to impart to the
bending and driving plates an intermittent longitudinal motion in unison with each
other, and a bending anvil adapted to support the staple during the operation of the
bending plates and to recede before the driving plates begin to act, substantially as
described.
4, The combination of base plate E having oblique grooves e e¹ and a guide
piece, with bending plates and bars a, a, b, b¹, driving plates and bars c, c, d, d²,
slide F having angular slots a³, b³, c³ d³ adapted to receive and guide the heads of
the bending and driving bars, and anvil lever J with spring M, substantially as
described.
5, The combination of stationary plate G having a recess g, with a movable base
plate E having a recess e, and a slide F having an axle m and cams m³, m³, sub-
stantially as described.
6, The combination of adjustable block P, treadle lever Q pivoted to the said
block, segment. lever O pivoted to the block P, connecting rod R between the levers Q
and and operating lever A, substantially as described, and for the purpose
specified.
7, The combination of block P, treadle lever Q. segment lever O, connecting
rod R, operating lever A, and rod n², substantially as described and for the purpose
specified.
8, The combination of separate mechanisms and their supports or accessories,
constituting the machine for forming and applying metallic staples, and adapted to
co-operate substantially as described and illustrated.
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
433, Strand, London,
Agents for the Applicant.