Improvements in Machinery for the Manufacture of Buttons.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Feb., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 28th Nov., 1890-Accepted, 14th Feb., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery for the Manufacture of Buttons.
I, KARL WAGNER, Gentleman, of 128, Neuwiederstrasse, Heddesdorf, in the
German Empire, do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be as follows:---
My invention has for its object the rapid and economical production of circular
buttons, provided with perforations for the sewing thread, and possesses the following
principal features of novelty:
:
Firstly. A device for maintaining the relative position of the two milling cutters or
rotary cutting tools, which act simultaneously on the two faces of the plate, from
which the button is to be cut. 1 drive the two cutter spindles from a common
driving shaft, by means of two pairs of spur-wheels, those which are mounted on
the cutter spindles being wide enough to allow for the necessary axial motion.
The teeth of the two milling cutters are thus always out of line with each other.
Secondly. A special arrangement of the spindle carriers or brackets which hold
the cutter spindles. These holders are mounted on a pair of slides which are
guided between the sides or cheeks of the machine, each of said slides containing
screw nut through which passes a screw spindle, provided with right and left hand
thread, so that the two slides can be drawn nearer together or driven further apart,
by turning the said screw spindle, which is effected by means of a hand lever situated
in front of the machine.
a
Thirdly. An adjustable contrivance for holding the plate of raw material, while
the cutters are at work. This appliance chiefly comprises a pair of annular clamps
with serrated edges surrounding the rotary cutters concentrically; each clamp is
conically widened from the contact face towards the back, so as to allow sufficient
room for the débris. One of the two clamps is fixed, but adjustable in a suitable
head, while the other is movable, being fixed to a U shaped horizontal guide
bar which surrounds the spindle holder and is constantly pressed forward
against the fixed clamp by springs acting on a pair of adjustable collars which limit
the motion of the said guide bar.
Fourthly. Mechanism which receives the buttons, after they have been cut
and shaped by the milling cutters, which holds the button during the forward
notion of the slides, and releases it when the slides recede, that is when the
holes have been drilled into the button, and throws the button off, so as to give
room for a fresh one.
From the milling cutters the buttons drop into a perforated funnel, and thence
into an inclined shoot, which delivers them one by one in front of an adjustable
holding plate where the button rests upright on a pair of pins and is secured by a
combination of levers, so that it can be perforated by four revolving drills which
have their bearings underneath the slide and are grouped at a slide inclination
round a horizontal axis, so as to converge slightly towards their points.
The boring apparatus is attached to one of the two slides supporting the spindle
carriers and is connected with the other mechanism in such a manner, that all
operations are effected in unison by merely turning the hand-lever mentioned
above.
By the combined action of the mechanisms described above, a button may be cut,
shaped, bored and delivered at every to-and-fro-motion of the said hand lever.
Dated this 28th day of February 1890.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
improvements in Machinery for the Manufacture of Buttons.
I, KARL WAGNER, Gentleman, of 128, Neuwiederstrasse, Heddesdorf, in the
German Empire, 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 has for its object the rapid and economical production of circular 5
buttons, provided with perforations for the sewing thread, and it possesses the
following principal features of novelty:
―
(1). The employment of toothed-wheel gearing by means of which the motion of
the driving shaft is communicated to the cutting or milling spindles, and the
cutters always retain the same position to each other.
(2). A special arrangement of slides which carry both the milling cutters or
heads, and the boring or perforating mechanism, the said slides being guided in such
a manner, that the turning of a handle enables the milling heads, and consequently
the cutters, to be approached towards or separated from one another, and at the
same time the drilling mechanism shoved forwards for the purpose of drilling the
button, or drawn backwards for the purpose of releasing it.
1
(3). A special mechanism for grasping the buttons, which receives the completely
milled button, when it is to be drilled, and which holds it tight while the slides
are being moved forwards, but liberates it when they are drawn back after the
drilling has been completed, and then ejects the finished button, so that a fresh one 2
may be inserted.
(4). A special kind of clips which suit every thickness of the plate or material
from which the buttons are made.
In the accompanying drawings:
Fig. 1 is a side view,
Fig. 2 a front view,
Fig. 3 a top view,
:-
Fig. 4 a longitudinal section along -,
Fig. 5 a cross section along line of Fig. 3.
Figs. 6 and 7 show the milling cutter or spindle head in view and longitudinal 3
section.
Figs. 8 and 9 show the drilling mechanism in front and bottom view.
Figs. 10 and 11 show the button grasping mechanism in front and side view.
Two slides S and S¹ which carry the cutter heads F and F are guided between
the cheeks w, w¹, and mounted upon a stand G which supports above the shaft a
carrying a loose and a fixed pulley. In the slides S S₁ are fixed a pair of screw
nuts m m¹ through which passes the left and right hand screw spindle s.
The spindle s is caused to revolve by turning the lever h, which is so situated
that the workman can get at it with ease; this lever is mounted upon an
axle carrying a pinion h² which engages with the wheel s¹, fixed to the spindle s,
by which means every motion of the lever to the right or to the left is com-
municated to the spindle. This spindle is provided with two collars S², situated
right and left of the ring fixed between the cheeks w, w¹, and enclosing the
spindle, so as to prevent a longitudinal motion of the same. The object of this
arrangement is, to effect a movement of the nuts m m and consequently of the
slides S S', together with the cutter heads F F attached to them, in one direction
or the other, so that the cutters f³, ƒ³, approach each other or recede from one
another.
The moveable spindles f, f', which have their bearings in the cutter heads, carry
on their front extremities the well-known milling cutters f², f³, by means of which
the desired form is imparted to the plates of raw material. For driving the
'spindles ff, toothed wheels ", r are provided, which engage with the wheels 12, 13
keyed on to the driving shaft a. Since longitudinal motion has to be imparted to

page_text: the cutter heads F, F, it is essential, that the wheels situated upon the spindles ff',
should be correspondingly wider than the upper wheels 72, 73. By the use of tooth
wheels, which transmit motion in a given and exactly equal ratio of velocities, the
spindles, and consequently the cutters, maintain constantly the same position
relatively to one another, and as opposite teeth of the two cutters are always out
of line with each other, that is to say, in different planes, this circumstance
renders it impossible for the cutters to come in contact with or rub upon one
another.
The clip which serves to keep in position the plates of raw material consists of
two grippers g gl, which are provided at their front extremities with sharp teeth, to
enable them to keep the material securely in position. As the cutters are required
to pass through the grippers, the latter are made of annular section, and conically
enlarged towards the back, to enable the dust or chips arising from the cutting
process to fall through. The grippers go¹ are mounted on U-shaped moveable
rods b, c, which have their bearings in the spindle heads F F', and are capable of axial
motion on the same. They are constantly pressed against each other by means of
the springs, 2, and c², c² mounted upon the said rods. The gripper g may be
fixed in position or rendered stationary by means of a second adjustment ring c³,
mounted on the rod c to keep the plate of raw material securely in position while
being milled.
The buttons, after having been milled, fall into a perforated funnel t, as soon as
the spindle heads are separated from one another; this funnel leads the button into
an inclined tube t', of flat section corresponding to the size of the buttons which it
conducts to the button grasping apparatus. The latter has its bearings in a frame d,
which is attached to the base of the cheeks. The frame contains a plate e which is
secured in the required position by means of screws, and which can be exchanged
with facility. The prolongation e¹ attached to or formed on this plate carries an
axle on which are mounted two levers. The upper arm of the knee lever i,
carries in front a fork 2, which serves to hold fast the button, after it has fallen out
of the funnel t, and been delivered upon the pins k. The downward projecting arm ³
of the lever i is connected with the frame of the drilling mechanism by means of a
bent rod. By this connection the knee lever is compelled to perform all the
motions executed by the drilling machine or the spindle head F; the lower arm ³
is therefore shifted towards the right, when the cutter head 2 makes a forward
motion, i.e., when it is brought into working position; consequently the upper arm i¹
of is lowered to secure the button. When the motion takes place in the opposite
direction, the button is liberated. The second lever mounted upon the axle 12
engages with its short claw shaped arm across the projections n¹ of a bent rod n,
which in front carries the pins k¹k. This rod n is provided on its under side with
a second projection n² and may be shifted in the prolongation e¹. The second pro-
jection n lies in a recess of a piece o¹ which is pivoted at o; the portion o² of the
piece o which is directed downwards, strikes against the projection p¹ of a rod p
which is likewise connected with the frame of the drilling machine. Consequently,
if the drilling machine be moved to the right, the projection p leaves o², which
latter thus becomes free, and the pins k, emerge from the plate e, to receive a
button, owing to the action of the spring g which presses upon the rod n.
the movement of the spindle head S takes place in the opposite direction, the
projection pl of the rod p carries the piece o² with it; by this means o¹ is turned
about its fulcrum o to the right, and the piece n together with the pins K, is moved
to the right by means of the projection 2 acting on o¹; consequently, the pins pass
into the piece e. The movement of the piece n to the right is accompanied by a
turning of the lever effected by the projection n'; at the same time the upward
pointed arm of l is lowered, and the bent front portion of it strikes against the
finished button, which owing to the circumstance that its supports-the pins K-
are withdrawn, must of necessity fall downwards. As soon as the button, after
being milled, falls out of the funnel t, and arrives at the button grasping apparatus,
where it is held in proper position by means of the pins K, and the lever i, the
When

page_text: drilling mechanism is brought into action. This mechanism is attached to the under
side of the slide S, and is therefore obliged to take part in all its motions. Four
spindles u, u', u², u³, two above and two below, have their bearings in the drilling
machine frame B. These said spindles are inclined towards one another, in such a
way, that the drills at their front ends which are almost parallel, are separated from
one another by the distance between the holes to be made in the button. The
spindles are provided with driving pulleys v, v', v2, v3, which are driven in pairs by
belts from the pulley V mounted on the driving shaft a. The mechanism works as
follows The plates of raw material are inserted by hand between two of the
grippers, then by turning the lever h the cutters which constantly revolve together
with their spindles, are pressed against the plate of raw material, and thereby a
button cut out of the same. By turning to the left, the grippers release the
button, which then passes through the funnel t to the button grasping mechanism,
where it is secured and drilled, because meanwhile another plate of raw material
has been inserted, the various parts of the machine have been placed into working
position, and when another movement of the lever h in the opposite direction takes
place, the button falls downwards. One button is thus completely finished after
every two movements of the lever h.
Instead of having the pins K, K moveable, they may be fixed, in which case the
lever suffices to eject the finished buttons. The perforations in the funnel
facilitate the removal of the dust or chips produced by the cutting process.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
A machine for the manufacture of buttons having the following characteristic
features:-
1. A special method of driving the cutter spindles ƒ ƒ¹, which consists in
imparting motion from the driving shaft by means of tooth wheels, in order to keep
opposite teeth of the two milling cutters out of line with each other and thereby to
prevent their mutual contact, substantially as and for the purpose herein
described.
2. A pair of cutter heads carrying an adjustable cutter spindle, and mounted on
slides which are guided between the cheeks of the machine frame, in combination
with means for placing the said heads closer together or further apart, in order to
perform the motions necessary for the formation of the buttons, substantially as and
for the purpose herein described.
3. A clipping device consisting of a pair of grippers, one of which may be rendered
stationary, the said grippers being actuated by springs, of annular shape and
conically enlarged towards the rear, substantially as and for the purpose herein
described.
4. A button grasping mechanism adapted to receive and hold the button released
from the cutters, and to eject the same after having been drilled, which mechanism
may be so connected with a drilling mechanism secured to the slide S, that the two
mechanisms are obliged to act in unison with the motion of the hand-lever, substan-
tially as and for the purpose described.
Dated this 27th day of November 1890.
KARL
WAGNER.
By Fairfax & Wetter,
433, Strand, London, Agents.