GB539525A - Improvements in manufacture of slide fasteners - Google Patents

Abstract

539,525. Sliding clasp fasteners. WINTRITZ, G. April 16, 1940. No. 6857. [Class 44] [Also in Group XXII] A machine for making slide fasteners having interlockable elements secured to a tape. comprises means for pressing and deforming, without cutting, a continuous wire into a series of embryo elements connected head 70, Fig. 7, to jaw 72, and a reel c; Fig. 1, on which the formed wire 14 is wound for storage until required. The formed wire is then delivered to a second machine comprising means to feed the wire to a tool 98. Fig. 7, which severs it by cutting round the head 70 of one element and the jaw 72 of the next, and tools 96 which operate, before or after the tool 98, to close the jaw on the tape 92. The first machine may comprise two dierolls 60, 62, Fig. 13, detachably mounted in spindles 144, rotatably mounted in oil-bath housings 150, 170, and driven in opposite directions at the same speed. The roll 60 can be adjusted angularly by bolts 204, which engage slots in a flange 198 keyed to its spindle, and axially by a micrometer screw 220, which slides the housing 150 on a guide 206 of the frame 182 to which the housing is normally bolted. The housing may also be turned about a bearing 272, Fig. 11, by a handle 268 to allow the rollers 60, 62 to be withdrawn from their shafts. The roll 62 can be adjusted vertically, during the operation of the machine, by a nut 246, screw 240, lever 238, and screw 232, Fig. 13, screwed into an extension 234 of the housing 170, which is pivoted at 230, and engaging a hard metal plate 236 in the frame 182. The form and adjustment of the rolls 60, 62 is such that the wire is not rigidly confined so that the external form is rounded and fins are avoided. The rolls may be 1 inch to 2 inch in diameter when using wire of zinc-copper-nickel, zinc-copper-alloys &c. but for metals such as aluminium or white metal, which do not harden quickly when deformed, larger rolls may be used. Ordinary roundsection wire is drawn by the rolls from a reel or from an adjustable coil holder A, Fig. 1, through a lubricator 28 and straightening rolls 30, 32, and the formed wire 14 is laid evenly on the reel C by a guide 48, reciprocated by a two-way screw 46 which is rotated by the motor 44 which drives this reel. The formed wire is delivered to the second machine in the form of a loop 14, Fig. 9, which is kept within limits by engaging an arm 124 connected to a switch 128 which controls the unwinding motor 118. The wire feed comprises a spring-pressed pawl 344, Fig. 21, pivoted at 346 to a slide 350 which is reciprocated by set screws 374 of a cranked lever 354, 356 Fig. 18, operated by the cam shaft 320. The advanced position of the pawl 344 is limited by an adjustable screw 376, Fig. 21. Reverse movement of the wire 14 is normally prevented by a spring-pressed pawl 390 but this can be raised periodically, to prevent feed of the wire 14 and leave a length of tape without fasteners, by means of a wire 406. Fig. 18, cranked lever 408, 412, and a solenoid 416 energised by a switch closed, during any desired number of revolutions of the shaft 320, by a revolution counter 138 operated by the shaft. The tape 92 is drawn up past spring-pressed tensioning blocks 430, Fig. 19, a guide, and the tools 96, 98 and turned through an angle of 90 degrees, by a knurled roller 130, Fig. 18, rotated step-by-step by a ratchet 136, pawl 464, cranked lever 468, 470, link 472, and an eccentric on the driving shaft 320. This also carries cams 340, Fig. 21, for operating the levers 334 which carry the tools 96 and cams 318 for operating a bifurcated lever 314 adapted to press down a slide 290 carrying the tool 98. This is returned by a spring 292. The grip of the roller 130 on the tape may be increased by a spring- pressed shoe 440, Fig. 19, and the finished article is directed by a shoot 132 into a container 134, Fig. 9. The cutter 98 is shaped to remove some metal from the inside of the jaws 72 thus producing projections 100, Fig. 7, to engage the tape.