US2333121A - Button making - Google Patents

Description

Nov. '2, 1943. G. E. I FEIFFER BUTTON MAKING Filed Aug. 18,- 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

Georye f: Pfei/fer:

A T TORNEY Nov. 2, 1943. G. E. PFEIFTFER 2,333,121

BUTTON MAKING Filed Aug. 18, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

I l v a a l I E l v Q i H INVENTOR:

. GEORGE E. P/Z/Fff/f BY my Mfz/ Patented Nov. 2, 1943 NT OFFICE nur'ron MAKING George E. P fei-i fer, North Arlington,

N. J 'assignor to KrehbielEngineering Corporation, New York, NtY. i a

Application August18,193'8, Serial Ne. 225,622

' 3 Claims, (Cl. 79l1) This invention refers to an improved method of and means-for makingbuttons. More partidilarly it refers to the operation of perforating buttons; and to the performanceof other opera tions in connection therewith. i l

"Buttons 'are known which the. perforations are connected by a kerf upon the surface of the buttons, such kerfs serving to receive and accommodate one or more one perforation to the other. i i it times kerfs are renderedelaborate, in whichcase they are commonly termed fis heyes. Such "fisheyes do not only serve the purpose of the kerfs-but they may also be decorative, flaring beyond the perforations to be interconnected thereby.

Fl'sheyes were heretofore superimposed upon buttons by separate milling or furrowing operations, which followed the drilling of the perforations. in the buttons. The button was chucked for such a furrowing operation, the previously provided perforations assisting in the alignment of the button in the position in which it was to be furrowed. Then a revolving grinding wheel or milling cutter was lowered onto the chucked button and cut the fisheye, the shape ofwhich corresponded'therefore in cross-section toa segment of the grinding wheel or milling cutter.

Such operations .arev cumbersome, and it has been-anobj'e'ctof this invention to provide a fisheye upon a. button while it is. mounted for other operations thereon; or to combine the drilling of holes'or perforations in a button with the cutting of a fisheye, or with similar operations.

It has been another object of this'invention to overlap the cutting of the fisheye with other operations performed upon the buttonso that this operation doesnot require any extra time.

,It is a further object'of this invention to convertthe operation of cutting a fisheye in a button in such fashion; that! the operation of perforating the button may be expedited and simplified. I i

.Buttons are ordinarily made of condensation products or brittle material,v which are not particularly adapted for mechanical operation;

When that isth'e case or when it is desirable to perform operations quickly, edges and corners frequentlychi-p off the buttons .duringmanufacturel-This occurs with the drilling of' the perforations of a button, for instance ,as a; drill breaks' through "when emerging on the opposite side of a1 button. For that reason it even ,has been found tobe expedient, togo through thecumbersome procedure threads slung from particularly in connection r of drilling a perforation in a button from oppo site sides, i. e. about half-way from one side and half-way from the opposite side, so that a'hole does not break through the surface of a, button and a chipping "of thesurface is avoided.

It has been a particular object of this inven; tion toprevent a drill which bores perforations in a buttoiixfrom breaking through," without having'recourse to cumbersome operations servin'gto prevent. chipping, like the double-drilling operation just referred to. c

These andother objectsof this invention will be more clearly understood from the following description thereof. For thepurpose of illustratingthe invention, a particular button-making machine is described herein in detail. It will however be understood by those versed in this art, that the method and means of this invention may readily be incorporated and embodied in other button-makingmachinery.

'In the drawings: Fig. 1 shows a button drilling machine, partly in elevation, partly in cross-section.

Fig. 2 shows a composite of cams which are schematically superimposed upon each other in order to illustrate how the method of this. invention can be performed automatically.

Fig. 3 shows the top view of a button, which is perforated and provided with a-fisheye.

Fig. 4 shows a'modification of a button in a similartop View, a pair of fisheyes being here applied in cross-formation. I

Fig. 5 shows a cross-sectioned side View correspending to' the button of Fig. l

Fig. 6 shows a cross-section of the same button, this cross-section being taken in a direc- 'tion normal to the cross-section of Fig. 5.

Figs.'7 andBare'the end and side views, respectively of a drill. i

Fig. 9 is -th'e side View ofa drill serving as a milL; i 1

Figs. 10 and 11 are schematic cross sections which illustrate, respectively,- consecutive stages of a combined fisheye cutting and drilling opera.- tiOn. j i

Similar numerals referto throughout the various views-r A stock; H- arises substantially centrally from the bed ll of the machine shown in Fig. -l. The

. similar parts button blank I3 is fed from above-and circumierentially' engaged by a suitable chuck in stock Hp The faces of the chucked button blank l3 are substantially fully exposed, so that they are faced by the drill head M to the right and; the drill head l5to the lef,t, respectively.

To the rear of the machine is arranged a worm shaft I6, which carries on its end a step pulley IT. The drill spindles I8 are preferably supported with end thrust in the drill heads l4 and i5, and they respectively carry pulleys l9. These pulleys, like the step pulley I1, may be connected by suitable belt drives to a counter shaft (not shown). Worm shaft It drives the cam shafts 2| and 22 by worm wheels 20, one of said shafts being 'arranged to the left, and the other one to the right of the machine. Superimposed upon the machine is a magazine 23 for button blanks. It contains a hopper 24, which is driven from cam shaft 2| by way of a worm drive 25 and a chain drive 26 with take-up idler 21. The button blanks are guided from the hopper by way of chute 28, the feed mechanism 29 being controlled from a cam on cam shaft 2| by way of a lever I 30, whereas the chucking is controlled by a cam (not shown) on the other cam shaft 22; The

feeding and chucking proceed in the manner known in this art; and these operations are not explained in detail because no claim is laid thereto.

In the embodiment shown in" the drawings, a button blank It remains stationaryin the stock H, while the operations now to be discussed are performed thereon. .The mills or drills 3i or 32' are removably mounted at the end of the drill heads M and i5. While actuated by the belt drives they rotate continuously around an'angula'rly substantially fixed axis; but they are each controlled'for movement in all directions. The two drill heads M and I5 are substantially symmetrical toeach other in respect to arrangement forsuch control. But for the method of this invention, drill head M with 'drill3l is equipped for movement of milling a fisheye, whereas drill head l5 with drill 32 is moved to drill perforations in the button blanks.

In the case of drills 3i and 32, a control of movement in all directions is obtained by synthesizing it from an endwise. a transverse and a vertical component, each of these components involving, in the case of each of the drill heads l4 and IS, a separate cam control. Strictly speaking the endwise components involve reciprocatory movement in an endwise direction; whereas the transverse and vertical components involve oscillatory movement. But in connection with the last two components, the far ends of the drill heads serve as fulcra; and since the arcs of movement of the tools 3! and 32 in a transverse and a vertical direction are very short, they'both virtually reciprocate in moving in atransverse or vertical direction.

Manufacture of a button like that shown in Fig.

3 involves the use of the endwise component and either the vertical or the transverse component, the former alternative being here shown and described in detail. on the drill head M to the right, which is shown to be equipped for cutting fisheyes, we use oncam shaft 22 the cam RE (right endwise) and cam RV (right vertical). On the left drill head l5 an endwise and vertical component of the operation of drilling the perforations of the button blank are obtained by the cam LE (left endwise) and cam LV (left vertical), respectively. v

' I On the cam shaft 2 l on which are mounted the last mentioned cams, thedrawings also show a cam LT (left transverse), to which would correspond'a cam RT (right transverse) in a symmetrical arrangement on cam shaft 22 which latter cam RT is not-shown. "The cams RT and LT may replace the cams RV and LV in making a button like that shown in Fig. 3. Or they may come into play in adding the horizontal fisheye 33 shown in connection with the perforations 34 and 35 on button 36 of Fig. 4 to the vertical fisheye 37 and perforations 3B and 38 of the button 4%) of Fig. 3.

Except for the cams andtools used the arrangement of the drill heads is substantially the same to the left and to the right, as follows:

Since all cams are shown as face cams, it is presumed that the respective rollers are tensioned thereonto, e. g. by springs. Plates M are endwise slidably mounted in the bed l2 of the button making machine, each one of these plates, to the right and to the left of the machine, carrying a roller 42, which engage upon the cams RE and LE, respectively. From the corners of bed l2 arise posts 53, a pair at the left end and a pair at the right end. Between a pair of these posts a swing plate &5 is fulcrumed upon a pivot 44 connecting the tops of said posts 43. The swing plate 45 depends, at its lower end 46, into engagement with the plate 4i, so that the swing plate 45 is swung back and forth, as the plate M is ,reciprocated by cam RE or LE. Each swing plate 35 is provided with a vertical row of tapped holes ii. In any one of these holes 41 may be mounted the set screw 4%8, the free end of the set screw protruding from the plate to a distance set by way of .a nut locking the set screw 48 upon the plate 45. The assemblies of drill heads l4 or. 15, are pushed, e. g. by springs 39, into abutting engagement'upon the free ends of the set screws .8. According to whether the set screw 18 is mounted higher or lower in one or the other of the tapped holes l! of swing plate 45, the rise or drop of cams RE and LE, respectively, is transmitted to the drill head assembly by way of the respective screw .48 at a more or less reduced fraction.

Each drill assembly is arranged as follows: Each assemblyhas a Ib'ase 5i,.j which is siidably superimposed upon the plate 4!, and which may be slid endwise as well as transverselyupon the bed, l2, being retained thereon by flat top rails 52. By tension means (not shown) similar to spring "is base 5! is tensioned towardsthe observer of Fig. 1; e. g. it is aligned along the front ex.- tent of bed If, except where the drill'end ofsaid bas 5! is pushed away from the front of bed if by the free end of a'set screw 53 abutting thereupon. Set screw 53 is mounted in the free end of the lever 54, which is'fulcrumed by way of 'a bracket 55 upon the bed l2 of the machine, and which is engaged by way of a roller 56 at its other end upon a cam 'RT (not shown) or LT, respectively; Thus the end of a base 5i extending towards the stock I i, will be pushed in an oscillatory movement by the set screw 53, when the lever 54 is rocked by the respective transverse c-am on the respective cam shaft 2| "or 22.

From opposite ends of each base 5! arise the forked brackets 56 and 51. By way of screw pivots 58 the far'ends of one'of the drill heads (54 or IE) are fulcrumedin the forkedbrackets 56, and the free drill ends of said drill heads are 'ver tically slidably guided by the parallel inner faces of thelegs of the other-forked brackets 5'5. Set screws 38 engage upon the backs of forked brackets 56, so that the drill heads Hi and "iii are endwise moved bythe cams RE and LE! By way of cam RT (not shown), and LT'a transverse movement of the tools 3| and 32 at the front end of drill heads 14 and l5may be govi a roller 63.

emed- Tools 3!, and 32 are raised and lowered by the cams LV and RV; Thetransmission gearing for this last control movement comprises a lever 59- fulcrumed upon bed I'i and carrying, at one end'a roller 60 engaged upon the respective vertical cam RV or LV, and engagingat its other end 6i underneath the adjustable, vertically movable table 62, the :far end of the drill head i l or I resting upon table 62' for instance .byway of Springs 64 serveto strap ,thefldrill heads Hand i-5down. 1 1 Flat drills with round shafts, as they maybe used for operatingon buttons made. of condensation products, for instance,,gare shown in: Figs.

'7, 8 and 9. The width of drill 32fibetWeen the substantially parallel cutting edges, 68; determines the diameter of the perforations. producedin the button blank, and the length of said parallel cutting edges depends upon the d-eptht which the perforationsor holes must be bored until they merge with the fisheye as explained herein-Y after.

From the said parallel cutting edges 68 the drill converges ,to a point 66; and it widens out at chamier edges 61 for the purpose of producing a countersink at the entranceof a perforation, if sodesired. The angle betweenthe cutting edges GB-of the Wider drill or cutting-tool 31: of Fig. '9 substantiallycorresponds to the desired angle between the converging sides of a, fisheye 33 or 31. e

In order to producea fisheye upon the faceof a button, a rotary tool like that of Fig. 9.; is fed, as a rotating. stylus, normally to its axis of rotation, past the top face of a button. While thus fed past. the button, the tool is first "axially ad-- vanced and then axially withdrawn from cutting engagement with the button, thus producing a furrow in the button. I i

Let us assume that the operation, just described is being performed on. the button of, Fig. 3, the milling or furrrowing tool moving vertically .up. Simultaneously with the operation of advancing, the furrowing or milling tool,.while it moves up uniformly, hole 38- is drilled in the button from the back, this drilling operation being substantially finished and the drilling tool being withdrawn, when; the furrowingor milling tool has arrived, in its upward movement, substantially at the center of button 40 (Position A) Now the, perforation 3,9 is drilled. from the backlof the button, while the milling orfurrowing tool continuesifrom the center of the buttonfin its up-. ward movement, the milling or;;furrowing tool being at the, same timeslowly withdrawn, e. g. 5 F

conversely tothe way it hadqbeenpreviously advanced. The milling or furrowingitcol will emergefrom the' topor front: surface of the but ton substantially when perforation or hole 39 has been drilled and that: drill has been withdrawn from the back of the button (Position B) The drill does not have to bore from the back through the button 40, when providing the perforations 38. Even if the drill has extended only partly into the button from the back, in boring said perforation, the perforation will be laid bare, as shown in Fig. 3, when the milling or boring tool passes thereover in its upward progress.

If a drill like that shown in Fig. 8 is used, the distance from the corners between the parallel edges 65 and chamfering edges 6'! to the tip of the drill should therefore be less than the thickness of the button to be perforated. The drill will then be inserted for producing perforation '38, until the cutting edges 68 begin to provide a chamfer in the back of perforation .38. Then the drill 32 is withdrawnj-although it has not yet emerged from the front of the button; The drill should, also, be extended from the back of the button for substantiallythe distance just described, when aperforation 39 is drilled. In that case the drillwill break through into the lower portion of fisheye 31,- which then hasalready withdrawn and the end mill furrowing the fishbeen produced; But there is.no= danger of a chippingof the button material, when the, drill; thus breaks through, becauseloi the slanted position of the fisheye walls.

.That operation is illustrated by FigsclO and 11. -Fig. 1 0"=illustrates a stage of operation just before the aforementionedposition A has been reached. 'As compared with said position 'A' Fig. ld shows that the drill has not: yet been with, drawn and that the fisheye milling tool has not yet reached-the center of the button.

Similarly, Fig. 11 shows av'stage. just preceding DOSltiOIIwB, The drill again has not yet been eye has not yet emerged from the surface of the button.

. has been fixedly mounted in position, the rotating (muse! and 32. move along1a path respectively indicatedby a solid arrow; until they 'reach,

I ll

From the start,-i. e. aftera button blank 4!) serving respectively as an end mill and as a drill and countersink tool, the position of Fig. 10. Similar arrows inconnection with Fig. 11 show the movement of the 'drillfrom the position of Fig. 10 to that of Fig. 1.1. i From the position of Fig. 11 the drills return to a position of rest, or a starting position, by following the dash-lines leading up to the be ginning oi the solid arrows of Fig. 10'; then button 40 is replaced by another blank.

In order to carry out the method just de scribed automatically, a button making machine, for instance that of Fig. 1, is fed and chucked cyclically with button blanks in the position [3 shown.' Drills'like those of Figs. 9 and 8 are mounted in the drill heads l4 and is, respectively, and thefollowing order and arrangement of cams is usedfor producing a button like that of Fig. 3. No transverse movement is used, e. g. cam LT is not required; therefore the two drill heads will remain aligned in a vertical plane, which extends substantially through the center or the button and through the axes of the drill heads. v g

The. cams LE, LV, RE and RV, have been angularly coordinated in the systematic View of Fig. 2, .so that they represent a chronological order of operations, when they revolve in clock- Wise direction and all cam rollers apply upon one and the same line through the center. a At the] upper left corner of Fig.2 we have the. discharging, feeding and chucking interval, during -(right endwise) which is indicated in a solid outline in Fig. 2, will therefore impart between chucking operations, first a slow movement to the left, and then a corresponding slow movement to the right, to the milling tool 3| of drill head l4, these movements corresponding to the the the remaining section of advance and withdrawal motion of the description of the method given above.

The dot-dash surface of cam RV (right verticalldescribes a true spiral curve between chucking intervals,so that table 62 and therefore also milling tool 3| rise at a uniform speed past the front of button blank 13, this movement corresponding to the vertical upward movement past the front of the button in the method described above. During this uniform upward motion of tool 31, it cuts the fisheye 31 into the button blank. Said fisheye gapes in cross-section corresponding to the angle between the cutting edges'of. toolSl, and the shape being determined 'as'to .depth and length by the horizontal level at which the set screw 48is mounted in one or the other of the tapped holes M, and by the extent to which said set screw 48 extends beyond the respective swing plate 45. During the chuckinginterval, when? tool 3| is withdrawn from the button blank position l3 by virtue of the concave'portion of cam RE, the milling tool 3i returns to its lowest starting position, by way of the quick drop 12 of cam RV.

.The two cams just described are mounted on cam shaft 22.. "Cam LV,:which is mounted upon cam shaft 2|, is indicated'in a dash line merging with the outer circumference of the cam hub 13 for a low dwell. To said'low dwell corresponds on the opposite side a high dwell 14, said dwells corresponding in reference to the drill 32 in drill head l to the levels of the perforations 38 and 39 to bebored in the button blank it. Thus the drill 32 is in the raised position of dwell '14 after the chucking operation, at which level it maydrill a hole 38. For a similar period of the next cutting operation, the low dwell of .cam LV holds the drill 32 in a position for boring the perforation 38. To thesetwo dwells of cam LV correspond two uniform, truly spiral rises, 15 and T6, of the cam LV (left endwise) which is shown in the drawing in a solid double line. In other words, during chucking intervals theperforations 3B and 39 are successively bored. The perforation 38 is bored whilethe milling tool 3| furrows the bottom half of the button. When the latter. has reached the center of the button,

the boring perforation 38 has substantially been finished. [Then the tool 3! continues past the center over hole 3-8, laying it bare toward the surface of the buttons as a perforation. During this latter period the perforation 39 is drilled,

tool 32 now being in a bottom position, corresponding to the bottom dwell. of cam LV.

A similar button, in which the fisheye and the perforations are horizontally aligned, will be obtained when the drill heads are moved transversely instead of being moved vertically, such action being brought about by the cams LT and RT (not shown), which then are provided with faces corresponding to those of the cams LV and RV, respectively. Therefore a party ac quainted with cam gearing will readily understand that a drilling and furrowing like that shown in Fig. 3 may also be followed in the same cycle by a'drilling and milling in the horizontal direction, so that a button of Fig. 4 is produced.

Having thus described 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. Making a'button, comprising a first step 0 milling a fisheye through the surface of one side of a button blank by moving the cutting point provided at the end of a rotary cutting tool across the surface of said side of th button blank, the axis of rotation of said cutting remaining substantially normal to said surface, and advancing and then withdrawing said tool into the body of the button blank while it is thus moved across, pierces said surface at a slant, furrows through said body and finally emerges at a slant from said surfacaand a second step of providing a hole in said blank by drilling from the opposite side of the blank through the blank into the fisheye being milled into said one side after the milling of the fisheye has been started and before 7 such milling has been finished.

2. Making a button, comprising drilling a hole into one side of a button blank, withdrawing the drilling tool, milling a fisheye into the other side of the blank starting from a point removed from the axis of said hole but moving towards said axis, said fisheye merging with and being milled across said hole after withdrawal of the drilling tool therefrom, moving the drilling tool counter to the direction of the cutting of the fisheye, and then again drilling with the drilling tool into said one side of the blank until the hole produced merges with said fisheye. I

3. Making a button, comprising drilling a hole into one side of a button blank, withdrawing the drilling tool, milling a fisheye into the other side of the blank starting from a point removed from the axis of said hole but moving towards said axis, said fisheye merging with and being milled across said hole after withdrawal of the drilling tool therefrom, moving the drilling tool counter to the direction of the cutting of the fisheye, and then again drilling with the drilling tool into said one side of the blank until the hole produced merges with said fisheye, said milling operation being continuous and chronologically substantially coextensive with said drilling operations.

GEORGE E. PFEIFFER.

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