US1964840A - Power driven button press - Google Patents

Description

July 3, 1934. E. w. ZEH

POWER DRIVEN BUTTON PRESS Filed July 27, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Edmund [eh ATTORNEY.

July 3, 1934. E. w. ZEH- POWER DRIVEN BUTTON PRESS 'Filed July 27, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 5 I ONE CYCLE- 55 5' 3 Edmund Wis/ 1.

ATTORNEY.

Patented July 3, 1934 i UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE POWER DRIVEN BUTTON PRESS Edmund W. Zeh, Newark, N. J. Application July 27, 1932, Serial No. 625,155 Claims. (01. 79-4) This invention concerns a power driven press sembling the old die, the other die taking the for making buttons. place of the old die with the ring assembled on top In the prior art, a certain type of manually or thereof. foot operated press was used to manufacture but- Another object of this invention provides for 5 tons covered with celluloid, cloth or the like, butautomatic ejection of the finished button part 69 tons for instance, which are commonly called after the second actuation of the punch,at the tablet or campaign buttons; that press is also end of one cycle of operations. suited for inserting fillers intobutton shanks, Still another important object of this invention cloth covered fillers for instance. has been to co-relate the movement of the punch,

The underlying object of this invention is to of the dies and the ejecting into an efiicient op- 6 provide a power driven press which is adapted crating cycle, providing intermediary periods for to perform the work of such a press. the insertion of the shell and print and of the Other objects of these improvements relate to collet into the dies, respectively. an increase in production in connection with a Another object of this invention relatesto the practical and rugged press, and to a relief of arrangement of the stack of shells and prints the strain on the operator, the motor power and of the stack of collets in relation to the dies performing that part of the work of making butin such a manner, that they can most readily be tons, which heretofore subjected the operator to inserted by the operator. an actual, physical exertion. Additional objects provide means for the ready Although there have been many efforts to faciladjustment of the dies in exact alignment with Z5 itate the button making work, the old type foot the punch, and for steady movement of the dies press has been in general use until the present dewhile they are shifted in a safe manner by which velopments were made. That oldtype press comthe operator is not disturbed. prised a foot actuated punch and a stationary These and other objects of this invention will die. The punch was actuated, i. e., brought down be more readily understood from the following and raised-twice during the operation of makdescription and the accompanying drawings in ing one button. During the first actuation the which: print, celluloid tablet for instance, was extended Fig. 1 shows a plan View of the press without over the top and sides of the shell, (for instance, the tools. a meta d sc fla d down a o its pe p y.) Fig. 2 shows'a corresponding view of the press the shell with the print extending over its top and in which the swinging die block is in the altersides being pushed into the punch and retained nate position.

therein during the upward stroke. Figs. 3, 4 and5 show a detail of the bed of the A suitable feeding ring was then placed on top press, illustrating the action of the ejecting of the die,said ring and said die being frequently mechanism.

referred to as thimble and nest,the third part Figs. 6 and 7 show cross-sections of the punch of the button, a collet, was placed on top of the and first die in operative relationship, at the bedie and during the second actuation of the punch ginning and at the end of the downward stroke the flare of the shell and the rim of the print exrespectively,

to tended thereover were gathered in, the collet Figs. 8 and 9 show, in corresponding views, the

being pressed over said gathered-in fiare and expunch and the second die. tending thereover as a seam. The ring, together Fig. 10 again shows the tools of Figs. 8 and 9 with the assembled shell, print and collet of the and illustrates the ejection of the finished butbutton contained therein, was removed from the ton part. die, after the second actuation of the punch, and Fig. 11 shows a side elevation of the press, at the finished button part was removed from the the point of operation illustrated by Fig. 2; the rin A ua n f a pre of thi kind by power tools are aligned in accordance with Fig. 6. was not practical because the height of the die Fig. 12,shows, diagrammatically, the strokes was h n by placin the rin n top thereof of the punch at A, in relation to the shifting of 0 during alternate actuations of the punch. the die block at B.

In this invention two dies are used with one Similar numerals refer to similar parts punch, said dies being alternately and autothroughout the various views. matically shifted into alignment with the punch, The frame 15 of the press follows the condu i the pp eXteIlt 0f the upw d and dOWIlventional design, suitable brackets extending ward strokes of the punch, one of said dies re- J from the upright 16 and base 17 thereof, in or- 2 der to support the gearing which will be described in the following:-

A motor 18 is mounted upon the side of the upright 16 and it drives the worm wheel 21 by means of a worm 19 mounted upon its shaft 20. Said worm wheel corresponds to the fly wheel of the ordinary power press. Therefore it idles upon the main shaft 22 as long as the press is not in actionand it engages upon said shaft in accordance with the actuation of clutch 23 by means of a treadle (not shown) which is operatively connected thereto by rod 24. The details of this clutch mechanism do not have to be described; it serves, as known to those acquainted with this art, to drive the main shaft 22 of the press for one or more successive cycles comprising one downward and one upward stroke, as long as it is actuated. An eccentric 25 at the front end of main shaft 22 is connected by a connecting rod 26 to the reciprocating ram 27, which slides in bearing 28 and upon which is mounted, at the lower end, the punch III. Near the rear end of main shaft 22 is mounted the helical gear 29 which, in the exemplified arrangement of these drawings, is connected by means of helical gear 30 at a gear ratio of 1:2 to the vertical shaft 31.

The shaft 31 carries at its lower end a cam 32, which is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in two positions displaced from each other at a straight angle. In accordance with the design of this particular press, the positions of Figs. 1 and 2 correspond to oneangular position of the main shaft 22, said shaft passing through one revolution in order to bring the cam from the position of Fig. l to that of the position of Fig. 2 and vice versa. The cam 32 may be analyzed as comprising four sectors 33, 34, 35 and 36, each extending over about 90, the roller face of the first two sectors being substantially circular but of different diameters, whereas the faces of sectors 35 and 36 provide a rise and a drop connecting said circular faces. The cam is laid out in substantially such a manner that the rollers 37 and 38, which rollingly contact with opposite sides of the cam, are operatively engaged thereupon at all times. The rollers 37 and. 38 are mounted on a slide 39 which is slidably supported by the base 17 of the pressand to which reciprocating movement is imparted by cam 32.

A rack 40 is similarly slidably arranged upon the base 17 of the press near the front thereof it meshes with the segment 41, which forms part of die block 42.

The die block 42 is fulcrumed upon a vertical arbor 43. The die block 42 is provided with two vertical bearings 44 and .45, which respectively receive the dies I and II. From the die block 42 extends a lug 46, which is slidably engaged underneath a lug 47 extending from a block 48, while the die block passes from the position of Fig. 1 to the position of Fig. 2 and vice versa. The ledge 47 serves more particularly to prevent vertical movement of the block 42 during ejection of the product of the press, which will be explained below. Adjustable stops 49 and 50 extend ,up from the bed 17 of the press. The dies I and II are in registering alignment with the ram 27 and the punch III mounted therein, when lug 46 abuts upon stops 49 and 50 respectively.

The shifting motion ofthe die blockis transmitted from the slide 39 to the rack and segment 40, 41, by means of a rod 51 which is attached at 52 to rack 40 and which is slidably disposed in a lug 53 laterally extending from slide 39. Pairs of nuts 54 and 55 are lockably adjustably arranged upon threaded parts of rod 51 and the lug 53 is longitudinally iioatably engaged upon rod 51 between compression springs 56 and 57, the outer ends of which are retained by the sets of lock nuts 54 and 55 respectively.

The stroke imparted to slide 39 by cam 32 exceeds the length of the stroke to which rack 40 is limited by stops 49 and 56, so that spring 57 is compressed at the end of the frontward stroke of slide 39 which brings die I into an operative position, whereas spring 56 is compressed upon the rearward stroke of slide 39 which brings die II into alignment with punch III. In other words the lug 46 is brought into abutment upon stop 49 or 50 before the slide 39 reaches its extreme positions, so that the tensions of the springs firmly hold the dies in their respective positions of alignment, and so that play is provided for adjusting stops 49 and 50 in order to take care of any wear and tear in the intermediary gearing. It thus becomes evidentthat the cam roller slide connection between the shaft 31 and the lug 53-may be replaced by a crank motion and, of course, the rack gearing at the die block may be replaced by a pitman.

The punch III comprises a punch proper 61 upon which, in accordance with the prior art, a punch sleeve 62 is slidably arranged. A latch 63 is hinged upon the punch in accordance with the old art; the latch 63 engages in a groove 64 in the punch sleeve 62 during the first part of the punch operation as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, whereas the latch 63 is thrown out of engagement with groove 64 during the second part of the operation by a lip 66 protruding from the die sleeve 67. The first die I also has a sleeve 68 which, in the same manner as sleeve 67, is normally pushed up by compression spring 69. A pin 70 extends in both instances from the sleeves 67 and 68 into feather key ways 71 inthe respective die stems 72 and 73.

The front part of the die block, as well as the rack and gear segment are covered by a stationary table board 74, whichis mounted upon the press (bracket 88). Upon the right side of said board are stacked up the shells and prints 75 and 76 as indicated by the super imposed dot-dash lines in Fig. 2.

The operator places the print and shell onto the die I as indicated in Fig. 6. The die stem 73 is rounded off on the top'corresponding to the ultimate convexityof the button top, and a registering concavity 77 is provided at the bottom of the punch 61. During the downward stroke of the punch, the shell and print are pushed into the punch sleeve 62, as indicated in Fig. '7, so that said shell and print remain in the punch sleeve 62 during the upward stroke of the punch. When the punch III has performed half of said upward stroke, and clears the die I, the rollers 37 and 38 rise or drop from face 34 to face 33 and from face 33 to face 34 of the cam, respectively, during the balance of said upward stroke and during the first half of the next downward stroke. The punch III has now been brought into alignment with die II, onto which the operator had in the meantime fed a collet 78 from a stack of such collets on the left side of the tableboard 74. The collet'78 rests on the flat top 79 of plunger 80, the stem 81 of which extends through the die stem 72 and protrudes from the bottom of the die block 42. During the downward stroke of the punch the flared rims of the shell and print are gatheredin by a taper 82 at the entrance of the sleeve 67 in the manner indicated in Fig. 9 and, as the punch further descends, the collet 78 is sealed around the rims of the print and shell.

It is seen from the drawings that, as compared with the old art, the sealing of the collet may be performed in a better manner since the face of top '79 may be suitably shaped for such operation or may simply remain fiat as indicated in the drawings, whereas the die stem 73 of die I is convex to fit the shell and print.

A thread 83 is provided upon the die stem 72 upon which is engaged an adjusting nut 84. While die I is retained at a fixed height above the die block, the height of die II may be adjusted in relation to the height of die I, as circumstances may require, by a rotation of nut 84 in abutment with the hub of the vertical bearing 45.

After the punch has again moved through half of the following upward stroke,the punch III now being clear of die I1',the die block 42 is swung to the left, similar to the manner in which it was swung to the right before.

While the die II now swings to the left, the stem 81 protruding from the bottom thereof engages upon the inclined face, at the end of switch lever 85, riding up thereon as indicated in Fig. 3. This upward movement of plunger ejects the finished button from die II, while the ledge 4''! is slidably engaged upon lug 46 suitably holding the die block down. During further movement of the die block 42 to the left, the stem 81 drops off switch lever 85 into groove 86 in bed 17, and remains in said groove while the punch III and die I perform the first operation on the next button. When the die block moves from its position of Fig. 2 during that part of the operation, into that of Fig. 1, the stem 81 again moves to the right in groove 86. But in this instance it does not ride over the top of switch lever 85 but pushes it aside in the manner shown in Fig. 5, a suitable spring pressed means 87 pushing the switch lever back into the positions of Figs. 3 and 4 after stem 81 has passed all the way to the right of groove 86, in which position punch III again registers with die II.

The shifting of the die block during the second half of the upward and the first half of the downward strokes of the punch provides particular safety for the feeding operation by the operator and at the same time allows this shifting to be brought about slowly.

In Fig. 12 I illustrate the relationship between the strokes of the punch, at A, and the movements of the die blocks, at B, during one cycle of operation. In Diagram A, the letter D indicates the lowest level of the stroke of the punch and U the top level thereof. The lower Diagram B, shows the movement of the die block from the left L (bottom level of the diagram) to the right R (top level of the diagram). The shifting is demarked S. The diagram shows the shifting to extend substantially through the half stroke proceeding and succeeding the top center position of the punch.

Although I have shown and described one form of embodiment of my invention in detail, yet I do not wish to be limited thereby, except as the state of the art and the appended claims may require, for it is obvious that various modifications and changes may be made in the form of embodiment of my invention, without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

What I claim is:-

1. In a button press, a reciprocating punch, a pair of dies, a block upon which said dies are mounted, a pivot by means of which said block is fulcrumed upon said press said pivot being located to the front of said punch and dies, gearing reciprocating said block between positions of respective alignment of said dies with said punch, and a board mounted on said press and extending over said pivot and said block substantially up to said dies so that the button may be delivered from said stationary board to said dies in their various positions and vice versa.

2. In a button press, a reciprocating punch, a pair of dies, a block upon which said dies are mounted and fulcrumed upon said press, means reciprocating said block between positions of respective alignment of said dies with said punch, an ejector plunger in one of said dies, a stem comprised in said plunger and downwardly extending from said die and through said'block, a mechanism on said press engaging upon the said stem during the reciprocating strokes of said block, and means on said mechanism temporarily lifting said plunger on alternate strokes, only, of said block.

3. In a button press, a reciprocating punch, a pair of dies, a block upon which said dies are mounted and fulcrumed upon said press, means reciprocating said block between positions of respective alignment of said dies with said punch, an ejector plunger in one of said dies, a stem comprised in said plunger and downwardly extending from said die and through said block, and a lever swingably mounted on said press, the free end of said lever engaging upon the protruding end of said stem and temporarily lifting said plunger when said block is reciprocated in one direction, but swung by said stem out of the path thereof, when said block is reciprocated in the other direction.

4. A button press, comprising a punch, a reciprocating die block, a pair of dies mounted on said block, means limiting the reciprocations of said die block between positions of alternate alignment of said dies with said punch, a mechanism reciprocating said punch, means reciprocated by said mechanism, and elastic means operatively connecting said reciprocated means and said block and tending to reciprocate said block beyond the range of said limiting means.

5. In a button press, a reciprocating punch, a pair of stops mounted on said press, a pair of dies, a block upon which said dies are mounted, and elastic means operatively connected with said punch and alternately pressing said block against one or the other of said stops, said dies being respectively aligned with said punch at alternate positions of said block.

EDMUND W. ZEH.

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