Improvements in and relating to Machines for Cutting' or 'Punching Disks or Washers or like Articles from Sheets of Celluloid or other Material.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application; 6th Oct., 1896-Accepted, 6th Mar., 1997
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[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 and relating to Machines for Cutting' or 'Punching
Disks or Washers or like Articles from Sheets of Celluloid or
other Material.
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 :-
This invention relates to machines for cutting and punching disks washers or like
articles from sheets of celluloid or other material. The machine is designed more
particularly for punching disks or washers from thin sheets of celluloid the said disks
being applied to the crowns of lacing hooks for boots and shoes, and the said washers
to the upper or flanged ends of metallic eyelets. These washers or disks are then by
the aid of heat and pressure moulded over the crowns of the hooks or the flanges of
the eyelets in the process of forming what is known as covered hooks or covered
eyelefs. That is to say, from the sheet of celluloid or other material enough material
to cover one hook or one eyelet is punched in the form of a disk or washer
respectively; the said disk or washer is then applied to a lacing hook or eyelet
and by means of heat and pressure is moulded in dies on to the crown of the said
hook or the flanged end of the said eyelet.
Fig. 1 of the drawings shows in front elevation a punching press having certain
features of my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a view showing the same in
horizontal section on the dotted line 2-2 of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a view in vertical section of the parts which are more immediately
concerned in performing the punching.
Fig. 4 is a view in plan of the plate which is described hereinafter.
Fig. 5 is a view in plan of a sheet or strip of plastic material from which portions
are to be punched by the devices of Figs. 1, 2 and 3 with the aid of the plate in
Fig. 4.
Fig. 6 is a view of a strip of plastic material on an enlarged scale, showing the
arrangement of the holes that are punched therein.
Figs. 7, 8, and 9 show modifications.
1, Figs. 1 and 2, is the framing of a punching press.
2 is the slide which is mounted to reciprocate in guides on the said framing. It is
operated as usual by a crank on the shaft 3 as indicated in Fig. 1.
4 is the actuating wheel that is mounted loosely on said shaft 3. The said shaft 3,
is operatively connected with the actuating wheel 4 whenever it is required to produce
a reciprocating movement of the slide 2. This connection of the shaft and actuating
wheel is effected in practice by the aid of clutching devices of the character usually
employed in presses of the kind here shown. Such clutching devices are not described
or illustrated herein, inasmuch as they are of well-known character and are in
common use.

page_text: At 5 19 a rod serving for the actuation in customary manner of the clutching devices,
and at 6 is a treadle with which the said rod is connected.
At 7 is a punching head which is secured to the lower end of the slide 2. It carries
a gang of punches 8 which are arranged in parallel rows.
At 9 and 10 are plates which are connected together, spacing-pieces 11 being place.l
between the ends thereof to produce a space or opening 12 between the said plates 9
and 10 for the admission of the sheet or strip of material from which portions are to
be punched. These plates 9 and 10 are perforated as at 13 for the passage there-
through of the punches 8. The upper plate 9 serves as o guide for the lower
portions of the punches, while the ends of the said punches co-act with the plate 10
in punching the desired portions from the sheet or strip of material, as will be
obvious.
14, Fig. I is a plate on which the connected plates 9 and 10 rest in the press, this
plate being placed upon the bed-plate 20. 15, 15 are screw-stops having inturned
upper ends to limit the upward movement of the plates 9 and 10 as the punches
withdraw therefrom in the upward movement of the slide 2.
The foregoing parts, as well as other necessary features of a punching press which
may not have been described, are, or may be as heretofore. The features which have
been so far described have been presented merely in order to render clear the
connections and application of the features of my invention, which latter 1 now will
proceed to describe.
This
The punches 8 customarily are arranged in a number of parallel rows.
arrangement is indicated by the illustration in Fig. 2 of the corresponding
arrangement of the holes 13 that are made in the plate 9. The punches are placed
as closely together as possible in each row in the punching head, and the rows are
placed as close together in the said head as possible. It is, however, impossible to
apply the punches to the punching head without leaving spaces of certain extent
between the punches in each row, and between the successive rows. This is due to
the fact that a gang of punches must have metal enough to give them strength and
rigidity enough to do the work and this separates the punches to a relatively
considerable extent. It therefore follows that after a sheet of plastic material has
been introduced beneath the punches, and the latter have passed through the same,
the holes which are produced in the said sheet or, strip will be separated by
intervening solid portions of material which have been left by the punches. Heretofore,
the portion of the sheet which remains after the performance of the punching operation
has been relatively large in quantity. It has been regarded as scrap, and has been
sold as such to be re-worked with the addition of new material and formed into new
sheets. The scrap sells for a very small fraction of the cost of the original sheets;
hence the manufacturer who has to purchase the material in sheet form finds
that the expense of making the articles which he produces is very much increased
by the great proportion of scrap which he makes and the relatively low value of
the latter.
My invention has for its aim to enable the manufacturer to utilize a much greater
proportion of the original sheet than heretofore, thereby lessening the proportion which
Has to be sold as scrap, correspondingly increasing the number of articles which can
be produced from a given quantity of sheet material, and reducing the cost of
production. It will be seen from inspection of Fig. 2 that between the parallel lines
of holes in the plate 9 there are spaces which respectively are slightly more than equal
in arca to the respective holes themselves. The sheet or strip of plastic material
after being punched contains solid portions corresponding with the spaces aforesaid
on the plate 9.
I provide as follows for enabling the said sheet or strip to be acted upon a second
time by the punches so as to utilize the said solid portions. Fig. 5 of the drawings
shows a sheet 16 of plastic material as it appears before it has been punched. Fig. 4
shows a plate 17 serving as a holder for the said sheet 16, whereby to facilitate the
placing of the said sheet or strip properly in position beneath the punches and the
subsequent withdrawal of the said sheet or strip.

page_text: The said plate 17 is formed with an opening 18 therethrough corresponding in
outline and proportions with the sheet 16. The sheet or strip 16 is placed within
this opening, and the plate 17 then is slipped into the opening or space 12 so as
to carry the sheet 16 with it into proper position beneath the punches. In
connection with the said plate I employ means whereby to determine the position
which it shall assume after having been slipped into the space 12, and whereby, after
the punches have been passed once through the sheet or strip 16, removing from
the latter certain portions of its substance. the plate, and with it the sheet or strip
of plastic material, may be given a new position under the punches, thereby presenting
the previously untouched portion of the sheet or strip of plastic material in position
beneath the lower ends of the punches to be acted upon thereby in the second descent.
thereof. Various means of determining the two positions of the plate 17 at and
previous to the two punching operations aforesaid may be adopted. The means
which I prefer is as follows: At 19 is a stop secured to the bed plate 20 of the press,
and projecting up therefrom sufficiently to be struck by the rear edge of the plate 17
when it has reached the proper position in the space 12. This stop determines
the rearward movement of the plate 17. The latter is made of such width that
when it is slipped into the space 12 its side edges are guided by the filling
pieces 11, 11, at the opposite ends of the said space. Thereby the position of the
plate 17 and of the sheet or strip of plastic material applied thereto may be
definitely and accurately fixed at each insertion of the said plate. The plate 17
is notched as at 21 in its rear edge, the notch being of sufficient size to receive
the stop 19 under the conditions which presently will be specified, and the depth
of the notch being equal to the shift which is necessary to be made from front to
back in the press in order to present in proper position beneath the punches the
solid portions which remain in the sheet or strip 16 of plastic material after the
first punching operation. In addition, the opening 18 is displaced somewhat to one
side of the middle of the plate 17, as indicated in Fig. 4. The notch 21, also,
is a little to one side of midwidth of the said plate. The stop 19 is the same
distance to one side of the middle of the series of punching devices, as indicated clearly
in Fig. 2.
If a sheet or strip 16 of plastic material be introduced into the opening 18 of the
plate 17, it being assumed that the said plate is held with the side uppermost which is
visible in Fig. 4, and the said plate 17 is thrust into the space 12, the plate will be
arrested, when it has reached the proper position for the performance of the first
punching operation, by contact of the rear edge thereof with the stop 19. After the
punches have descended and been lifted again, the plate 17 and sheet or strip 16 are
withdrawn. The sheet or strip 16 being temporarily removed from the opening 18,
the plate 17 now is turned over so as to present the other side thereof on top. The
sheet or strip 16 is reintroduced into the opening 18, and the plate 17 ani sheet or
strip 16 are again slid into the space 12. This time, in consequence of the reversal of
the plate 17 as just mentioned, the sheet 16 will be shifted endwise relatively to the
punches, owing to the one-sided position of the opening 18 in the plate 17; also, inas-
much as in the reversed position of the plate 17 the notch 21 is presented in a position
coinciding with that of the stop 19, said notch will receive the said stop as the plate is
pushed rearwardly in the space 12, and hence the plate will enter farther than it did
before by an extent equal to the depth of the notch 21. The effect of these combined
changes will be to present beneath the punches, as the latter descend, the solid portions
which remained after the first punching operation. The sheet or strip of plastic material
is in effect previous to the second punching operation, suifted in position beneath the
punches to a slight extent laterally of the press and also to a slight extent rearwardly. I
have indicated the results in Fig. 6 of the drawing, which is on a somewhat larger
scale than the remaining. figures, and in which the full-line circles at 22 indicate the
portions which are removed by the first punching operation, and the dotted line
circles at 23 indicate the portions which are removed by the second punching
operation.
It will be obvious that care inust be exercised to push the plate or holder 17

page_text: rearwardly in the space 12 to exactly the right position prior to each descent of the
punches. To this end I combine with the said plate 17 devices whereby to control the
action of the machine, and prevent the punches from being operated except after the
plate 17 has been carried into full contact with the stop 19 which determines its
position. I have shown in the drawings a slide 24 secured upon the bed-plate 20 by
screws 25, 25, passing through a slot 26 in the said slide and entering the bed-plate,
the said slide being free to move in the direction of its length upon the surface of the
said bed-plate. The outer end of the said slide is connected in suitable minner with
the upper arm of a lever 27, which latter is pivoted at 28 upon the frame 1 and joined
at its lower end to a sliding block 29. A spring 30 connected with the said lever 27
and with fixed portion as at 31 on the framing, serves to draw the slide 24 inwardly
so that its inner end extends across a part of the space 12 at the rear of the punching
devices, and also to draw the block 29 into the position in which it is shown in full
lines in Fig. 1. In this position of the block it acts to prevent the descent of the
treadle, so that it is impossible to depress the said treadle and cause the clutching
devices to act so as to occasion a downward movement of the punches. Before the
treadle can be depressed and the punches operated, it is necessary to withdraw the
block or at least the enlarged portion thereof which engages with the treadle out from
beneath the treadle. To effect this withdrawal of the block I utilize the rear corners,
of the slide 17 the said corners being bevelled off as at 32, 321, in order that when
either of them contacts with the inner end of the slide 24 it will operate as a cam to
force the said slide outwardly, thereby turning the lever 27 on its fulcrum and carrying
the block 29 into the position which is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The with-
drawal of the block is not completed until after the plate 17 has been brought home
into contact with the stop 19. Since in one of its positions the notch 21 in the plate 17
is presented to the stop 19 and permits the said plate to go farther back than in the
other position of the plate, the inclined corner portion 321 which acts to move the
slide 24 at this time is made longer than the inclined corner portion 32 which acts in
the other position of the plate 17.
It will be obvious that my invention can be utilized in connection with punching
sheets of material of other character than those hereinabove specified.
It will be apparent that my invention in its broader phase is not restricted to
the particular means which had been described of giving to the blank which is
to be punched a shift in a diagonal direction at successive punching operations.
With the same object in view, namely that of enabling the material of the said
blank to be more completely utilized than heretofore I may employ modified
arrangements such as I now shall describe with reference to Figs. 7, 8 and 9.
Fig. 7 shows a plate or holder therein designated 171 that differs from the plate or
holder 17 which already has been described herein in this that the opening 181
(which corresponds with the opening 18 of Fig. 4) is not displaced laterally in the
said plate or holder 171, as in Fig. 4. For the purpose of effecting the lateral shift
between successive punching operations, of the plate or holder 171 and the strip or
blank of plastic material that is to be punched, I provide a strip or so-called key 172
which, in practice, is inserted at one end of the plate or holder 171 prior to one
punching operation, and then is shifted to the other end thereof prior to the next
punching operation. The notch 211 provides for the additional rearward movement
of the plate or holder, such notch co-operating with stop 19 of Fig. 2.
Fig. 8 shows a plate or holder 173 which has the opening 182 symmetrically
disposed as in the case of the opening 181 of Fig. 7. The notch 21 of Fig. 4
and 211 of Fig. 7 is omitted. To secure the diagonal shift of the plate or holder
I form the plate or holder 173 with two pairs of holes 174, 174 and 175, 175 to
co-operate with a pair of locking pins. The said pins, in one position of the plate
or holder enter the holes 174, 174. In the other position of the plate or holder
the pins enter the holes 175, 175.
Fig. 9 illustrates an arrangement in which can-shaped stops 191, 191, are
employed to engage with the rear edge of the sheet or blank 161 of plastic
material. These cam-shaped stops are capable of being turned from the position

page_text: in which they appear in Fig. 9 into positions diametrically opposite, as indicated.
by dotted lines. Thereby is secured the front and rear adjustment of the blank
or strip 161. To adjust the said blank or strip laterally in the punching press, I
provide an L-shaped piece 176, which is placed at one end of the blank or strip
prior to one punching operation and then at the other end thereof prior to the
second punching operation.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to.
me by my foreign correspondents, 1 declare that what I claim is :-
1. The combination with punching devices having a gang of punches arranged
in parallel rows, of gauging or positioning devices to give to the blank which is to.
be punched a shift in a diagonal direction at successive punching operations to
thereby enable the material of said blank to be utilized more completely, substantially
as described.
2. The combination with punching devices having a gang of punches arranged:
in parallel rows, of a reversible plate or bolder 17 made with an opening therein
to receive a sheet or strip of material from which portions are to be punched, said
opening having lateral displacement as stated, a stop for limiting the extent to
which the plate may be inserted, said plate having also a notch 21 to one side of
the middle thereof and adapted in one position of the plate or holder to receive the
said stop, substantially as described.
3. The combination with punching devices and operating mechanism therefor,.
including means whereby to render such devices active at the desired times, and
controlling devices operated by the insertion of the blank to be punched serving
to prevent the punching devices from being made operative until the blank which
is to be punched has been given the correct position between the punching devices,.
substantially as described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.