US1532672A

US1532672A - Artificial-flower machine

Info

Publication number: US1532672A
Application number: US738750A
Authority: US
Inventors: Bertona Salvatore
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1924-09-20
Filing date: 1924-09-20
Publication date: 1925-04-07
Anticipated expiration: 1942-04-07

Description

April 7, 1925.

- S. BERTONA ARTIFICIAL FLOWER mourns Filed Sept. 2 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Salvafore B E I fiEQ ATTORNEY S. BERTONA ARTIFI CIAL FLOWER MACHINE April 7, 1925.

Filed Sept. 20 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 An M E "/70. $2

ZNVENTOR Salvatore Berlom 7 ATTORNEY UNITED STATES "and SALVATORE BEE-TUNA. or New Yoan, n. Y.

ARTZFICIAL-FLOVJER MACHINE.

Application filed September 20, 1924-. Serial No. 738,750.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SALvArcnn Biin'roNA', a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Artificial- Flower Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for making artificial flowers and leaves and particularly to mechanism for impressing veinlike markings upon artificial leaves and petals, and for curling the leaves and flower members. In carrying out my invention .1 provide mechanism whereby the blank, preferably of suitable fabric and cut to the proper outline, after insertion in a. suitable die, is carried to the station at which the blank is curled and the veins, if any are desired, are impressed in the blank. which is thereafter removed from the die. The empty die is then carried to the stations at which a blank may be inserted therein, the cycle of operations being completed by carrying said die back to the impression station, whereupon said cycle of operations may be repeated. I i

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my improved machine.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the same.

Fig. 3

the machine bed, and indicating the underlying mechanism in dotted lines.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the die table and the surrounding parts taken on the line H of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a similar viewof the same showing the position of the parts just after a leaf blank has been impressed or veined, and

Fig.6 is .a top plan view similar to Fig. 3 showing in dotted lines the grooved wheel which operates the die wheel, in the act of turning from one of the stations to the next.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the female die into which the leaf blank is inserted.

In the practical embodiment of my invention a suitable frame 10 supports a table or bed as 11, which carries the various die operating and the delivery mechanism. A rotatable die table as 12 is fixed on, and is rotatable with the preferably vertical shaft 13, which is supported in the bearing 14 of the table 11. The table 12 has mounted on is a top plan view and horizontal section on the line 33 of Fig. 3, showing surface of the band 20.

and then leaves the grooves 1'? during said the upper face thereon a series of dies 15,

suitably shaped for curling, or veining the blank, or both, as will be described more fully hereinafter.

The means for advancing the dies to the various stations will now be described. At the lower extremityof the shaft 13 is fixed the wheel 16 adapted to rotate said shaft and the table: mounted thereon intermittently, and preferably having as many grooves 1'7 therein as there are dies 15 on the table 12. In that embodiment of my invention illustrated, four dies 15 and four corresponding grooves 17 are shown, though it will be understood that any other reasonable number may be used instead. Said wheel 16 is given a step by step motion, that is, with intervals of rest between movements, by

vmeans of the pin 18, projecting downwardly from the disc 19, when said pin enters one of the grooves 17 during the rotation of said disc. A cylindrical bend preferably of less diameter than thatof said disc, and having an opening 21 therein is secured to and projects downwardly from the disc 19,

and is further adapted to engage and contact with the curved rim portion 22 of the wheel 16 at those times when said wheel 16 is stationary, said portion 22 being of substantially the same curvature as the band 20. (Fig. pin 18 is continuously rotated with the disc 19, and that during said rotation said pin 18 enters the groove 17 between a pair of the projections 23 at the extremities of'the curved portions 22 of said wheel 16, and

causes said projections to move substantially in the direction of' rotation of said pin, whereby said projections enter the opening 21 in the band 20 at the beginning of the movement thereof, and leave said opening 21 at the end of said movement, at which time the curved edges 22 of said wheel have been advanced into contact with the outer movement, whereby the wheel 16 is given a partial turn and is then brought to rest until the pin 18 comes around again to engage the next one of the grooves 7' between the succeeding pair of projections 23. Said pin 18 is preferably arranged substantially midway between the ends of the band 20 formed by said opening 21, to allow space for the ro'ections 23 to enter said onenin when the wheel 16 begins its rotation.

It will be understood that the The pin 18 enters lli) the reverse of the die 15.

thereof to the shaft 30 and terminates at Each of the dies 15 has a depression therein, a horizontal section of which is sulr stantially of the size and shape of the periphery of the blank 25. lhe bottom 26 of said depression forms the bottom of said die, and is. engraved and shaped in any suitable manner, as for instance, with vein-like markings so as to produce similar markings in a. leaf blank when said blank is brought to theimpression station and forced under pressure into intimate eontac with sai i die, as by means of a suitable die as 34, which is I F or preventing injury of the dies and the blank therebetween, I prefer to attach a piece of comparatively soft material such as felt to the under side of the die 34 in a manner well known in the art.

Suitable flanges as 27 may be provided on said die 15 y means of which the die may be fastened to upper surface of the die table 12 as by means of the bolts 28. A frame as 29 in the form of an arch, projects upwardly from the table 11 and supports the means for driving the various instruin-entalities of my ii'nproved macl'iine. Sait means comprises the cone pulley 3L, driven by the belt 32 from a suitable source of power, not shown, and the gear 71 fixed to said pulley, said pulley and said gear being loosely mounted on the main shaft supported in the frame 29. For reducing the speed of rotation of said shaft with respect to said pulley, the gear 72 on the countershaft 7 5 meshes with the gear 71 and imparts its rotation through said countershaft to the gear 73. The gear M on the main shaft is driven by said gear 73 and in turn rotates said main shaft at the desired speed, the various gears mentioned being proportioned to effect that end. For operating the reciprocating die 34:, a connecting red as "T6 is eccentrically secured at one end :3 other end in a hall 77 operating in a suitable socket in the reciprocatory die holder 78. A guide 83 on the frame 29 and engaging said holder serves to insure the proper reciprocation of said holder.

At the lower end of said holder 78 is mounted the die 34, which serves to indent the leaf or flower petal blank firmly into the bottom 26 of the die 15, whereby said leaf blank is veined and curved in siinuia tion of the veining and curvature of a ural leaf or the flower petal is suitably inipressed and shaped.

The means for rotating the disc 19 comprises the bevel gear 35 at the end of the shaft 80, meshing with the bevel gear 363 on the upright shaft 37, which shaft is supported by suitable brackets extending from the

frames

10 and 29. Said disc 19 being mounted near the lower end of the shaft 37 is rotated at the same angular speed as the shaft 30, and, therefore, makes one complete turn on each reciprocation of the pressing die 84, whereupon the grooved wheel 16 is actuated by the pin 18 to make a quarter turn on each complete turn of said disc. It will, therefore, be seen that on each reciprocation of the die 34:, a new sis is positioned under the reciprocating die, at the point I will term the impression station.

All of the other dies 15 may have blanks manually or otherwise inserted therein during the operation of impressing that blank which is at the impression station, without danger to the operator (Fig. 3), the filled dies 15 being advanced to the impression station in succession, and being halted at said station during the reciprocation of the die 34 and the operations of impressing the blank and removing it from the die.

The means provided removing the finished blank 25 comprises the gripper 3i having an upper jaw 39 and a lower jaw -10 pivoted together a 4.1 and normally maintained with the end in the closed position thereof by means of the compression spring 43. Said gripper 38 is mounted on and carried by the arm 44, which is fixed on the shaft passing through the table.

bed 11. To the lower end of saidshaft i5 is fixed the long lever 4'6, a spring as t? being connected to the .end 48 of said lever and being suitably secured'at its other end to the frame of the machine. Said spring serves to maintain said gripper in the in operative position thereof illustrated in Fig. i, whereby the position into which said lever may be drawn by said spring f? is limited by the stop 4C9 secured to the under side of the table bed 1i and arrangedin the path of said lever.

During the operation of the machine the pin 50 on the disc 19 strikes the end 51 of the lever tfiand rotates said lever together with the shaft a5, and the arm carried thereby, into a position in which the gripper 44 advances toward the blank 25 which is at the impression station. During said movement, the end 52 of the gripper jaw 39 engages theroller supported by the arm 54 on the die holder T8, whereby r gripper members are spread apart about t projecting portion of the blank such as stem 55 of the finished leaf. On the up'wz= movement of the die 3% the roller 53 is removed from the gripper member 39, whereby the end 52 of the jaw 39 is releasec and the spring 43 operates to close the end of said gripper about the projecting portion 55 of the blank. After the pin 50 hrs passed the end 51 of the lever 46, the spri..g 4:7 is free to move the gripper. 38 and the flower part or leaf carried thereby into the extreme delivery position at the outside of themachine at which point the roller supported by the bracket 57 on the table 1].

engages the projection 52 of the gripper member 3E) and by depressing said projection opens the gripper and allows the finished article to fall therefrom into a suitable receptacle, not shown.

The pin 18 on the disc 19 at about this time enters one of the grooves 17 of the grooved wheel 16 and rotates said Wheel and the die table 12 carried thereby a partial turn, in this case a quarter, whereby the die 50, from which the finished article has just been removed, is carried away from the impression station, and the next succeeding die into which a blank 25 has been inserted, is carried into said station. lhe operator in the meantime is engaged in filling those of the dies which do not contain blanks. It will be understood that by the peculiar arrangement ot the die table, the operator is readily enabled to insert blanks into tle dies from the side of the machine without danger of injury from the reciprocating die 34, and that the machine needs no attention, but is entirely automatic in its operation, on cepting that the invention as here illustrated requires the blanks to be fed to the dies manually, though it will be obvious that a suitable automatic feed for said blanks may be operatively connected to my improved machine and other changes made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim: 7

1. In a machine of the characterdescribed, a die table, a series of dies on said table, a reciprocatory die cooperating with said dies for impressing a blank, means for intermittently rotating said table for bringing each of the dies on said table successively in alignment with said reciprocatory die, and means oscillatory in a substantially horizontal plane adapted to close about an impressed blank for removing the impressed blank from the die in which it is impressed. 2. in machine of the character described, a rotatable die table, a series of equally spaced dies on said table, a reciprocatory die cooperating with said spaced dies for impressing a blank, means for intermittently rotating said table for bringing each of said dies successively in ali nment with said reciprocatory die, a pair of gripping jaws operatively; connected to the table rotating means and adapted to grip a blank therebetween for removing the impressed blank from the die in which it is held, and for forwarding said blank to a delivery station, and stationary means for opening said jaws for causing said jaws to release said blank at said. delivery station.

3. In a machine of the character described, meansfor intermittently forwarding a series of blanks into the impression station, reciprocatory means for impressing said blanks, a gripper, comprising an upper and lower aw normally in contact, means for arranging said jaws above and below a blank at the impression station respectively, and means for causing said gripper to remove the impressed blanks from the impression station into the delivery station.

4:. In a machine of the character described, means for intermittently forwarding blanks into the impression station, means for impressing said blanks,'a gripper comprising a lower aw and a spring pressed upper pivoted to said lower jaw, means for causing said gripper to grip an impressed blank at the impression station, means for removing said gripper with the impressed blank tlierebetween into the delivery station, and means for causing said gripper to release said leaf at the delivery station.

5. In a machine of the character described, means for impressing a blank, and means for removing the impressed blank from the impression to the delivery station comprising a gripper, an oscillatory arm carrying said gripper, means for oscillating said arm, means for causing said gripper to close on an impressed blank at the impression station, and means for causing said gripper to release said blank at the delivery station.

6. In a machine of the character described, means for intermittently forwarding blanks into the impression station comprising a rotatable die table, a'seriesjof spaced dies on saidtable each adapted to havea blank inserted therein at stations other than the impression station, means for impressing a blank, and means for removing the impressed blank from the impression to the delivery station comprising a gripper, an oscillatory arm carrying said gripper, means for oscillating said arm, means for causing said gripper to close on an impressed blank at the impression station, and means for causing said gripper to release said blank at the delivery station.

7. In a machine of the character described, a rotatable die table, aseries of equally spaced dies onsaid table, a reciprocatory die cooperating withsaid spaced dies for impressing a blank, means for intermittently rotating said table for bringing each of said dies successively in alignment with said reciprocatory die, and oscillatory means for removing the impressed blank from the die in which it is held comprising a gripper, a pair of jaws in said gripper adapted to grip and hold a blank therein, an arm pivoted at one end thereof carrying said gripper, and means operated by said table rotating meansfor oscillating said arm in a substantially horizontal plane.

8. In a machine of the character described, a rotatable die table, means for and engage the sides oi each of said grooves in succession on the rotation or said disc, and means on said disc cooperating with said Wheel for preventing rotation of said Wheel when said pin out of engagement With the sides of a groove, a series of spaced dies on said table, means cooperating ii" h each'oi said spaced dies socce wely for impressing a blank, and means for retrieving the impressed blank from the impression to the delivery station comprising a gripper, an oscillatory arin carrying d gripper, a spring pulled lever open 3 connected to said arin, and second pin on said disc adapted to engage the end oi said lever for oscillating said lever.

9. In a machine of the scribed, a rotatable die table, 3 intermittently rotating said table comprising a disc, a pin on said disc, and means operatively connected to said table rotated for a part of a turn on each revolution oi said disc, a series of spaced dies on said table, niea-ns cooperating with each of said spaced dies successively for impressing a blank and means for removing the impressed blank from its die comprising a gripper, an oscillatory .arni carrying sai c gripper, a spring-pulled lever operatively connected to said arm, and a second pin on said disc adapted to engage the end of said lever "for oscillating said lever.

10. In a machine of the character described, means for impressing a blank, and means aoapted to close about the impressed blank for removing said blank from the impression to the delivery station comprising a p 1 oi? normally closed jaws, means for opening said jaws about a blank at the impression station, means for carrying said jaws to the delivery station and means for separating said aws at the delivery station.

SALVATORE BERTONi-i.