US1271042A - Button-cutting machine. - Google Patents

Description

F. E. RRASNY.

BUTTON CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 001. 16. 1911.

Patented. 31113 2, 1918.

llli

all)

BUTTON-CUTTING MACHINE.

LWIIMIE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK I]. KRAsNY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Irvington, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain'new and useful Improvements in Button Cutting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to button cutting machines. The object of the invention is the provision of means for cutting a plurality of button blanks from hard material suchas shell at a single operation.

In cutting pearl button blanks from shell it is the present practice to make use of lathes cutting a single button blank at each operation, and the work requires skilled operators, it being necessary to re-locate the shell after each blank is cut and before the cutting of a new one is begun in order that the material will be utilized to the fullest extent and a maximum number of buttons be secured from each piece of shell. Such work is extremely diflicult, the output per operator and per machine is limited and the necessary skilled labor commands high wages.

With a device constructed in accordance with the present invention it'becomes possible to produce a plurality of button blanks at each operation, and each time the shell is re-located for subsequent operations, instead of a single button blank being produced .a plurality of blanks are produced according to the capacity of the device used and the number of cutters contained therein, and by the use of devices embodying my invention a very greatly increased output can be obtained and additionaleconomy is secured in that the relative position of the cutter with which the machine is equipped is such as to secure the correct spacing of the various blanks cut at a time and there need be no relocation of the shell between the cutting of individual buttons, as is necessary in accordance with present practice.

A. device in accordance with the present invention is especially adapted for cutting small pearl buttons, as from sixteenline buttons to eighteen line buttons. With such small buttons it is especially desirable that means for cutting a plurality of button blanksat one time be obtained, as with a lathe cutting but a single button'blank at a n time, the production at the button blanks Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2, JWJW.

Appficationliled Uctober 16, 1917. Serial No. 196,840.

with such minute buttons is excessively expensive. lhe invention, however, can be utilized for larger sizes of buttons and for cutting blanks from other material than shell, but it is especially adapted for the severe work of cutting the hard shell material, and being adapted for cutting such material it is, of course, available for cutting softer materials and for cutting blanks of larger size.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown an embodiment of my invention for the purpose of making it clearly understood and not for the purpose of limitation in any way, and in such drawing, forming a part of this specification and wherein the same reference numerals are uniformly applied to designate the same parts throughout, Figure 1 is a face view, with parts broken away, of a fixture for cutting five button blanks at once. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 2-2, Fig. 1', and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a cutter.

he manner of mounting may be varied in a number of ways, but in the form shown two metallic blocks 10, 10, preferably of steel, are secured together as by cap screws 11, Ill, and bearing holes 12, 12 are formed centrally therein, half of each hole in one of the blocks 10 and the other half in the other block, to provide for convenient assembly of the parts. Spindles 13 preferably having longitudinal bores 13 extending therethrough are provided, and the same are given long substantial bearing surfaces in the members 10, 10, the lower bearings 14, in the form shown, being longer than the upper bearings 15, as the work of cutting is borne by the ends of the spindles 13 mov ing beyond the bearings 14:. The spindles have gear teeth 16 out directly in the material thereof, and in the form shown the blocks 10 are cut or gouged out, as shown at 17, to provide room for the toothed portions 16 of the spindles 13 'to run in. If desired, the material of the blocks 10 may be cut away just sufficiently to accommodate the toothed portions 16 and additionalbearing surface may be hood for supporting the spindles in the properrunnin relatiomalthough this is not essential and there may be clearance between the toothed portions 16 and'the cut away part 1? a the bla ts 1 Wtrfilwti .16 WW obtained in this neighborbe run on the spindles 13 on each side of the geair toothed parts 16, but this is not essentia In the form shown there are five of the spindles 13 and the central spindle 13 is elongated in order to afford opportunity for the application of driving power. Power may be applied in any desired way, as, for example, to a pinion secured to the driving shaft 13 care being taken to see that the pinion is not so large as to cover the openings 13 in adjacent spindles, or the spindle 13 may be rmadethe same length as the others and power applied to the gear teeth 16 cut thereon, or power may be applied to any other or others of the gear teeth in the series, but the preference is that it be applied to the central spindle to secure proper balance in the running of the device.

The ends 18 of the spindles projecting beyond the bearings 14 are preferably formed with a collar 19 to afiord a thrust bearing and are provided with means for securing hollow cutters thereon. In the form shown they are provided with pins 20 and the hollow cutters 21 are formed with bayonet slots 22 so that the cutters 21 may be secured in place by being inserted over the projecting spindle ends 18 and turned so as to bring the sidewise notches 22, 22" of the bayonet slots 22 into holding relations with the pins 20.

With the construction shown it will be apparent that alternate cutters, being directly meshed together by the gear teeth 16 on the spindles 13, rotate in opposite directions, and therefore the notches in the bayonet slots 22 for alternate cutters are turned in opposite directions, as shown at 22 and 22", Fig. 1. The teeth of the cutters are, of course, formed to correspond with the direc tion of rotation thereof, those which rotate in one direction having pointed cutting teeth 23, and the cutters rotating in the opposite direction having oppositely di rected cutting teeth 23.

The pinion gear teeth 16 are made of great .length in order to stand up under the heavy work required in cuttingv the glass hard shell from which the button blanks are formed, and the spindles 13 and the teeth 16' thereon are preferably formed of very high wear-resisting material, such as tool steel, and carefully hardened in order that they may be able to withstand the excessive wear encountered in the cutting of the button :blanks from the hard material of the shell, and the cutters 21 are, of course, of material such as is adapted for the purpose of cutting the blanks. These cutters, however, are such as are customarily in use with the exception of the special provision, including the bayonet slots 22 and pins 20, for holding them in place, which is designed to prevent interference between adjacent cut.-

ters, the usual means for holding such cutters in place on a single spindle lathe not being capable of use with the present invention because of the undue lateral extension thereof which would interfere with adjacent cutters and spindles.

By providing very large bearing surfaces 14 and 15, and preferably by also providing a bearing surface for the teeth 16 in the recess 17, the spindles may be maintained in proper relation notwithstanding the excessively great thrust and wear which is produced thereon in the operation and in the transmission of power sufficient to cut a plurality of button blanks at one time from the hard shell.

It will be understood, of course, that while five spindles are illustrated in the drawing, I am not limited to this precise number, as a greater or lesser number of spindles may be contained in a cutting head, as three. five. seven, nine and so forth, the number in all cases preferably being odd in order to secure even balance in running.

After the blanks are cut from the shell they may be ejected as by means of rods or wires (not shown) which may be inserted through the hollow bores 13 of the spindles 13.

It will be understood that while the invention is embodied in a fixture as shown in the present drawing, it may be secured in and operated by the working elements in any desired piece of machinery, as lathes, drill presses, or especially designed frame or machine structure, and in order that it may be accurately positioned therein the positioning means such as the dowel pins 24, 24, or other equivalent positioning means may be provided.

The operation of a device in accordance with the invention will be readily understood from the foregoing. The fixture shown is connected up to a source of power in any desired way, as by power applied through the central spindle 13, and the spindle ends 18 are provided with alternate right and left cutters 20 which are secured in place thereon by means which are adapted to se cure adequate holding effect without undue lateral projection, as, for example, by means of the bayonet slots 22 coacting with the pins 20, and the fixture so equipped with cutters is brought into cutting relation with the shell, as by movement of the cutting device toward the shell or vice versa, and a plurality of closely spaced circular blanks are out from the shell corresponding in number to the number of spindles and cutters with which the device is equipped, and in the form shown five blanks are cut at one time. In the simplest form of the device the cutters are preferably arranged in a straight line, as will be apparent from Fig. 2, but they may have other relations to one another so long as there is no interference with the coaction between the gear teeth 16 on adjacent spindles 13. The cutters 21, when worn or broken, may readily be removed by backing them up a little distance and then pulling them off and can be as readily replaced after sharpening or by the substitution of new cutters for broken ones.

It will be seen that apparatus in accordance with the present invention results in a very great decrease of the manual labor in volved in the cutting of button blanks from shell, that the output per operator and per machine is vastly greater than with the single cutter lathe now in use, and that an economy is effected in the shell material, as all the cutters in a single cutter device have permanent relation to one another andthe spacing between the cutters is not left to human judgment except when there is relative movement between the cutting device and the shell, which occurs only after a plurality of blanks have been out at a single operation.

It is to be understood that the embodiment illustrated is for the purpose of afiording a clear understanding of my invention only and that I am not to be limited thereto ex cept as is required by my claims, by which the scope of my invention is defined, and that modifications and changes may be re- Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the sorted to Within the scope of my claims Without departing from or sacrificing the advantages of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a button cutting machine, a series of parallel spindles located close together and having gear teeth formed thereon and meshing with one another, and hollow cutters on said spindles, said cutters being located side by side and substantially in contact with one another, whereby the annular cut out portions between adjacent button blanks merge together and a maximum production is obtained.

2. In a button cutting machine, a plurality of parallel spindles provided with integral spur gear teeth, the gear teeth on adjacent spindles meshing together, and closely adja cent hollow cutters of substantially. sleeve form and fitting over said spindles.

3. In a button cutting machine, a plurality of hollow cutters arranged in a line and spaced closely adjacent to one another, and means for rotating the adjacent cutters in the series in opposite directions, the adjacent cutters having oppositely directioned cuttinlg teeth.

in testimony that I claim the foregoing, ll my hand, this 15th day of FRANK E. KRASNY.

have hereto set October, 1917.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

Images