Year: 1885

page_text: I JOHN MARK CARLYLE of Portland Street Aston Birmingham in the County
of Warwick Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of the said invention,
to be as follows:-
My invention has for its object improvements in machinery for making buttons
by which greater economy of material is effected and it has reference in particular
to the buttons made from Ivory or Corosso nuts which from their natural shape
and variation in size tend to cause great waste in material or labour in working
them into buttons for if very great care is taken in dividing up the material in one
nut by delicate tools much time is wasted. The usual method therefore has been to
cut a nut into several parts which leaves variously shaped pieces from which the
buttons have to be formed. These pieces generally have one flat face from the saw
and the other the naturally curved face being a portion of the outside of the kernel
of the nut. These pieces have previously been placed in a machine having jaws or
grips which hold them on their outside faces whilst a revolving tool or tools is or
are brought up inside the said jaws thus cutting a button out of the centre when
the outside piece still held by the jaws is thrown away. Now it has been
necessary to have the piece sufficiently large not only to make the button but also
to leave a substance still in the jaws after the tools have cut a groove all around
the button which is the cause of very great waste of material-Now my machine is
as follows:-
I have two centre holding bars or spindles both of which may move or only one
of them. In case of only one the stationary one would generally be made with a
flat roughed face against which the sawn or flat face of the piece would rest while
the other centre would be composed of a similarly roughed face but by preference
smaller and with longer spikes which when brought against the piece holds it most
securely upon its flat base against and between the two centre faces. Upon one or
both of these centres I place a sleeve or sleeves which is or are truly hung thereon
and upon which it or they revolve or revolves (but I will explain it as one sleeve).
The outside is formed to receive a driving band and the front has a provision for
holding a cutting tool of tools and this sleeve as it revolves is brought up to the
material so held by a graduated or other variable eccentric or equivalent motion
thus cutting the outside completely away and leaving the largest possible disc that

page_text: I may place the
tool a tubular or
These pieces so
can by any means be cut from any given piece of this material.
machine either vertically or horrizontally and I may use as the
other saw er instrument for shaving off or cutting out the disc.
cut out are then faced in Facing machines so as to impart to them the desired shape
*required.
GEORGE BARKER,
Agent for the Applicant,
77, Colmore Row, Birmingham.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery for Making Buttons.
I, JOHN MARK CARLYLE of Portland Street Aston Birmingham in the County
of Warwick Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of the said 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 has for its object improvements in machinery for making buttons
by which greater economy of material is effected and it has reference in particular
to the buttons made from Ivory or Corosso nuts which from their material shape
and variation in size tend to cause great waste in material or labour in working
them into buttons for if very great care is taken in dividing up the material in one
nut by delicate tools much time is wasted. The usual method therefore has been
to cut a nut into several parts which leaves variously shaped pieces from which the
buttons have to be formed. These pieces generally have one flat face from the saw
and the other the naturally curved face being a portion of the outside of the kernel
of the nut. These pieces have previously been placed in a machine having jaws or
grips which hold them on their outside faces whilst a revolving tool or tools is or
are brought up inside the said jaws thus cutting a button out of the centre when
the outside piece still held by the jaws is thrown away. Now it has been necessary
to have the piece sufficiently large not only to make the button but also to leave a
substance still in the jaws after the tools have cut a groove all around the button
which is the cause of very great waste of material-Now my machine is as follows.
I have two centre holding bars or spindles both of which may move or only one
of them. In case of only one the stationary one would generally be made with a
flat roughed face against which the sawn or flat face of the piece would rest while
the other centre would be composed of a similarly roughed face but by preference
smaller and with longer spikes which when brought against the piece holds it most
securely upon its flat base against and between the two centre faces. Upon one or
both of these centres I place a sleeve or sleeves which is or are truly hung thereon

page_text: and upon which it or they revolve or revolves (but I will explain it as one sleeve).
The outside is formed to receive a driving band and the front has a provision for
holding a cutting tool or tools and this sleeve as it revolves is brought up to the
material and held by a graduated or other variable eccentric or equivalent motion
thus cutting the outside completely away and leaving the largest possible disc that
can by any means be cut from any given piece of this material I may place the
machine either vertically or horizontally and I may use as the tool a tubular or
other saw or instrument for shaving off or cutting out the disc. These pieces s0
cut out are then faced in facing machines such for instance as the one set forth in
my Specification of Patent Number 14997 A.D 1885 so as to impart to them the
desired shape required.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood and more easily carried
into practice I have appended hereunto a sheet of drawings showing one of the
machines placed to work horizontally but it will be evident that they may also be
worked with either end upwards and with a horizontal band or bands to drive or
at any inclination.
.
Figure 1 is a side elevations of the machine Figure 2 is a plan of the same
machine. Figure 3 is a vertical section of the right hand or driving portion
thereof. Figure 4 is a modification of the means for operating the back holding
bar A and Figure 5 is a another means of operating the said bar.
It will be noticed that the body of the machine B is in the case shown one
casting and it would be fixed on any convenient bed to which it may be fastened.
In the example of the machine shown only the one holding bar A. moves C being
stationary and securely fastened by the nut D to the part B¹ of the casting B. The
piece of ivory or Corosso nut E is placed with its flat or sawn face against the fixed
bar C Figure 6 which is a perfectly true base and the bar A is brought against
the uneven back of the piece E with such force as to make the teeth or other pro-
jections upon A to enter the piece E sufficiently to hold it very tightly and this
pressure is sustained while the disc is formed in various ways for instance the
bar A may be held by either the lever H pressing against the back end a¹ of the
bar A or by the foot in a stirrup attached to the cord G¹ and G which has the same
effect but without the left hand being used. In both these cases the bar A is
brought away from the piece E by the action of the spring J. A still simplier
mode of operating the bar A is shown by Figure 4 where the spring J' is placed
between a collar a² on the bar A the other end of the spring bearing against the
part of the casting B. A cord or chain L is then fastened to the stud a³ and
passed over the pulley b¹ ending in a convenient foot or other stirrup In this case
the spring brings the bar A against the piece E and the stirrup withdraws the pres-
aure and bar. In each of the foregoing examples either spring hand or foot sustains
the pressure while the disc is made but in the modification Figure 5 the bar A is
operated in both directions by the wheel M on the eccentric spindle N which
operates the bar A through the connecting rod o. This may be done by either a
lever or hand wheel or by passing a cord m³, in one direction around the wheel and
the cord m² in the other direction the one cord carrying a weight or spring and the
other a foot or other stirrup. By this means any tendency to open the bars A
and C when cutting the nut E would not come directly on the foot or spring but
through the eccentric. In a similar way a screw may be applied to answer the
same purpose. Upon the bar C which is enlarged at C¹ to give a larger bearing is
nicely fitted the sleeve P which is rapidly driven by a band upon the recessed
pulley part P¹ and upon the front end of this sleeve P I place a suitable cutting
tool which is fastened in a recess P* or other position by the set screws p² A
suitable clutch or other arrangement is connected at P³ to which the rod R is
pivoted the other end being connected to a projection s¹ on the hand lever & the
position of the hand lever 8 and projection s¹ being such that the sleeve is brought
up to nearly touch the work (by preference to its level or face side) very quickly
the latter part of the motion being accomplished very slowly whilst the centre rl
is passing to the front so that the tool comes against the nut E very quietly and

page_text: thus severs the outer inequalities with a minimum amount of power or jerking as
seen at Figure 7, while the very largest disc is retained all the waste caused by the
tool being in the outer or waste portion of the nut or piece E. It will be obvious
that a similar result may be attained by revolving both the bars A and C thus
carrying the nut E round while a motionless tool is brought up to the revolving
parts. The travel of the sleeve may be limited by either a stop thereon or by a
stop against the lever or levers and the mode of bringing up the sleeve may be
varied as will be evident to any practical man without departing from the essence
of the invention.
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
The improvements in machinery for making buttons or discs of the two stops A
and C for holding the portion of nut whilst a tool cuts the superfluous material
away substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.