Improvements in Apparatus for Use in the Manufacture of Covered Eyelets.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Dec., 1896-Accepted, 16th Jan., 1897
[Communicated from abroad by THE FLORENCE MANUFACTURING COMPANY,
a Corporation organized under the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, of
200 Pine Street, City of Northampton, County of Hampshire, and State of
Massachusetts, United States of America, Manufacturers.]
Improvements in Apparatus for Use in the Manufacture of Covered
Eyelets.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
In the manufacture of what are termed covered eyelets which are used on boots
and shoes, and the like, and which are provided at the flanged ends thereof with
heads or coverings of plastic material or the like, it is usual to employ a perforated
mould plate, which is constructed to receive a series of eyelets, the latter being
placed therein with the flanged ends thereof, which are to be covered, exposed in
position to receive the covering. Each perforation in the said plate is adapted to
receive one eyelet at a time, and the whole series of eyelets is covered at one
operation.
My present invention has for its object to provide improved means whereby a
series of eyelets which has been assembled in proper position may be transferred
to the perforated mould. plate, or to the like device. The invention consists..in
devices of novel character and construction for performing this work, all as will
first be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and afterward will
be more particularly pointed out and clearly defined in the claims at the close of
this specification.
Referring to the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 thereof is a plan view of an assembling plate, the plate shown having only
three eyelet-receiving holes or recesses, although, as will be obvious, a much larger
number may be employed.
Fig. 2 is a view in central lengthwise section of the plate shown in Fig. 1 with
eyelets in the holes or recesses therein.
Fig. 3 is a plan view of the transferring plate.
Fig. 4 is a view in central lengthwise section showing the transferring plate
applied to the assembling plate, in readiness to have the said plates inverted and
the eyelets which are in the holes or recesses of the assembling plate dropped into.
the holes or recesses in the transferring plate.
Fig. 5 is a similar view of the transferring plate detached, showing the eyelets
resting in the holes or recesses therein.
Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the transferring plate and the perforated mould
plate brought together for the purpose of inserting the eyelets which are resting in
the recesses in the transferring plate into the holes in the said mould-plate, and
showing also a split ring retaining device in each of the holes in the said mould
plate whereby the eyelets are retained in place therein.
Fig. 7 is a view in section showing the two mould-plates in juxta-position, but
separated somewhat, the perforated mould having an eyelet in each of the holes
thereiu.

page_text: to be
At 1, Figs. 1 and 2, is shown what I have termed the "assembling-plate." It
is formed with a series of eyelet-receiving holes 2 therein, which preferably are
placed at regular distances apart, and it is also provided at each end with a hole 3
to receive a guide pin, so that the said assembling, plate, when the holes therein
have been filled with eyelets, may have applied thereto transferring plate, to
recesses or cavities in which the eyelets in said assembling plate are
transferred. Eyelets, shown at 4, Fig. 2, are placed in each of the holes or
perforations 2 in the assembling-plate, as shown in said figure, the said holes or
-perforations being shaped to correspond with the shape of the eyelets; that is, the
upper end of each hole is counter-sunk or provided with a flaring mouth for the
reception of the flanged end of the eyelet. The eyelets may be placed in the holes 2
in said assembling plate in any well known manner. I have found that these holes
may be each filled with an eyelet easily and conveniently by placing a mass of
eyelets on the top of the plate and either shaking the plate, or agitating the eyelets,
so as to cause the eyelets to drop into the holes. As an eyelet cannot enter one of
the holes 2 with the flanged end downward, it is not possible to fill the holes 2 in
the said plate 1 other than with eyelets which are in proper position. The surplus
of eyelets on the plate may be brushed or poured off. For the purpose of trans
ferring the eyelets from the assembling-plate 1 to the perforated mould plate,
I provide a transferring plate 5. The latter is provided with holes or perforations 6,
which are enlarged or counter-bored at, one end, as shown at 7, sufficiently to
receive the enlarged or flanged end of an eyelet. The perforation or hole 6 is not
essential to the operation of the device, but is desirable inasmuch as it lessens the
weight of the plate, and the amount of metal used. It will be clear, that the plate
may be provided simply with the cavities 7 without in any way interfering with its
operation. The recesses or cavities 7 are arranged in the plate 5 in such manner
as to register or coincide exactly with the holes 2 in the assembling plate 1, and
the said plate 5 is provided with guide pins 8 which are arranged to register with
the holes 3 in the said plate 1. By means of these guide pins the plates 1 and 5
may be brought together in such manner that the holes and cavities in each will
coincide as shown in Fig. 4. When the said plates are brought together, the
transferring plate 5 is uppermost, but upon inverting the two plates the eyelets in
the holes 2 in said plate I will drop into the cavities or recesses 7 in the said plate 5,
the enlarged or flanged ends of said eyelets being received in said cavities or
recesses 7. As the enlarged or flanged end of each eyelet fits accurately within a
recess or cavity 7, the said recesses or cavities serve to hold the eyelets positively
and firmly enough to prevent displacement in handling the plate.
After removing the assembling plate 1 from the transferring plate 5, the said
plates having been first inverted, the eyelets which were in the holes in the said
assembling plate will be found in the corresponding cavities in the transferring
plate, the flanged end of each lying within its cavity or recess, and the tubular
body portion projecting upwardly above the surface of the said plate 5, as shown
in Fig. 5. The eyelets are then in position to be transferred to the perforated
mould plate 9. The mould-plate is also provided with a series of holes 10, one to
receive each eyelet in the transferring plate, the said holes being so located as to
register with the cavities or recesses in the transferring plate when the said mould
plate is applied to the transferring plate as in Fig. 6. To enable the mould
plate 9 to be properly applied to the transferring plate 5, the plate 9 is provided
with holes which register with the pins 8 on the transferring plate 5. The holes 10
in the mould plate 9 are each made of a diameter sufficient to receive the shank
or body portion of an eyelet. To the end that repeated eyelets shall be. held
firmly in the holes 10, but in such manner that they may be withdrawn readily
from said holes after the moulding operation is completed, I enlarge the diameter
of each hole throughout the greater portion of the thickness of the plate, as in
Figs. 6 and 7, and place therein a split ring 11, which latter is located near to the
surface of the plate 9 from which the flanged ends of the eyelets project. The
hole 10 above the ring, see Fig. 6, has introduced into it a sleeve or lining 12

page_text: which latter fits the hole 10 snugly and is forced into the same and serves to hold
the split ring 11 securely in place. The said ring 11 will engage the body or
shank of the eyelet when the eyelet is forced into the hole 10 by the transferring
plate 5. After the mould plate 9 and transferring plate 5 are brought together,
thereby forcing the eyelets into position in the holes in the said mould plate, the
mould-plate may be raised or detached from the transferring plate and each of
the holes in said mould plate will be filled with an eyelet firmly held therein by
the split ring 11, as shown in Fig. 7. The eyelets in the said mould plate are
then in readiness to be applied to the other mould plate, which I have shown at 13,
or to any similar device by means of which they are covered or have their flanged
or enlarged ends finished by a covering or jacket of plastic material, or the like,
which is moulded thereon.
The depth of the cavities or recesses 7, 7, is equal to or slightly greater than
that of the flanges of the eyelets. After the transfer of the eyelets from the
assembling plate 1 to the said cavities or recesses, the said flanges are entirely
contained in the latter. See Figs. 5 and 6. When the plate 9 is applied to the
plate 5, as in Fig. 6, and is pressed down into place, so as to receive the barrels of
the eyelets into its holes 10, 10, the flanges of the eyelets cannot by any possibility
become crushed, inasmuch as the two plates come into contact with each other as
in Fig. 6, before the taper of the flanges enters the holes 10, 10. This guards
against any tendency to flatten down the flanges by compression between the
plates 5 and 9.
At 14, Fig. 7, are shown washers of plastic material surrounding the centre
pins 15 of the dies 16 which are applied to the mould plate 13. These washers
when the mould plates are brought together are moulded upon the flanged ends of
the eyelets to form the heads or coverings as will be understood by those skilled in
the art.
I do not limit myself to the use of the particular form of retaining device in the
holes of the mould-plate which I have herein shown and described, inasmuch
as the holding of the eyelets in the said holes may be provided for in any suitable
manner.
Having now particularly ascertained and described the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is;
1. The combination with an assembling plate having a series of holes for the
reception of eyelets, of the transferring plate having a series of recesses or
cavities to receive and contain the flanged portions of the eyelets in such holes,
said recesses or cavities registering with the holes in the assembling plate, and
means whereby the said plates may be brought together so that the holes in one
will register with the recesses or cavities in the other.
2. The combination with a mould-plate constructed to receive the bodies of
a series of eyelets and hold them with the flanged ends thereof exposed, of a
transferring plate for applying the eyelets to the said mould-plate, the said
transferring plate having a series of recesses or cavities, each of a diameter and
depth to receive and retain the flanged end of an eyelet with its body or shank
portion projecting above the surface of the plate, whereby to protect the flange
from injury when the said plates are brought together, the sides of the cavity
holding the eyelet against lateral displacement or over-turning, substantially as
described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.