US2520351A - Hand tool for making cloth-covered buttons - Google Patents

Description

Aug. E9, 193W G. WOLFE 2,529,351

HAND TOOL FOR MAKING CLOTH-COVERED BUTTONS Filed July 26, 1947 ;a' FIG. 5.

FIG. 1.

ATTQ RNEY.

Patented Aug. 29, 1950 HAND TOOL FOR MAKING CLOTH-COVERED BUTTONS George Wolff, New York, N. Y.,.assig nor to John. Dritz & Sons, New York, N. Y., a. copartnership Application July 26, 1947, Serial No. 763,965

. 2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a hand tool for makingcloth-covered button assemblies.

One object of the invention is to furnish improvements in the art whereby cloth covered buttons can be manufactured manually, with the assistance of a simple tool, as distinguished from manufacture by automatic machinery and the like.

More particularly, it is an object of the invention to permit a dressmalter or housewife to produce such buttons b using the same cloth as that of the garment upon which she is working, and to do this without requiring a large cumbersome expensive-machine or press;

Differently stated, the object of the invention is to provide improvements whereby the assembling of cloth-covered buttons is completed by simple manual impact of any ordinary hammer or'thelike.

Another object of the invention is to furnish improved means for themanipulation of the parts of such buttons to facilitate their assembling in aparticularly easy and expeditious manner, and without liability of accident or mistake.

Gther objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the specification proceeds.

With the aforesaid objects in View, the invention comprises the novel features, combinations and arr-a *ETQEIYGS of parts hereinafter described in their preferred embodiments, pointed. out in the subjcined claims, and illustrated. in the annexed drawing, wherein like partsiaredesignated by the same reference characters. throughout the several views.

In the drawing:

Figure l. is a view of a device embodying the invention, one-half thereof being shown: in elevation and the other half in. section.

- Fig. 2 is an edge view of. a button. of the cloth covered type produced in. accordance with the invention.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the cloth. disc used in making the button.

Fig- 4 is an edge view of the cup-like metallic shelli about which the cloth is stretched to form the head of the button.

Fig. 5 is an edge View of the base oflthe button furnished with the conventional cloth projection.

Fig. 6. is a view of the device with parts in section and parts removed, illustratin the initial step according to the invention, with the. cloth disc and the superposed metallic shell1operatively positioned therein.

Fig. 7 is a similar view showing theplunger die into an opening whereby the cloth is upwardly marginally folded according to the next step of the. process.

Fig. BL is: a similar view illustrating certain sue-1 seeding. steps of the process with the metallic shellr upwardly moved. to cause the cloth to be inwardly horizontally folded over the shell, whereupon the button base is freely inserted to rest upon the. infolded' clothportion and the plunger inserted 'in. operative position in readiness to completetheassembling.

Eig: 9 is a. similar View illustrating the final step of. the process with the assembling completed: upon impact: of a hammer uponthe plunger.

Theadvantages of the invention as here outlined are; best realized when all of its features and instrumentalities are combined, but useful embodimentsm'ay belproduced involvingless than the: whole.

It will be obvious to: those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, that the same maybe: incorporated: in. several different constructions. The accompanying drawing, therefore, is submitted merely as showing a preferred exemplification of. the. invention.

Referring in detail to the drawing, l0 denotes a device embodying the invention and illustrating one possible. meanszfor thepractisesof the process; The device 10 comprises a die having a first or lower die means H and a second or upper die means #2. The different means include freely movable parts: so coordinated as to be adapted for; the manual production of a cloth-covered button !3 of any well-known type; The button $31 is assembled by utilizing the three parts l4, l5: and Hi illustrated. in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 respectively- The part It consists of a simple disc of cloth, but the; material; thereof may be varied to suit and may also. consist of leather, plastic compositions, and the like. The part I5 consists of a metallic cup-like. shallow shell preferably made of metal but also adapted to be formed of anyother suitable materialhaving the requisite strength. The part I16 consists preferably of a prefabricated portion having a relatively stiff ii'ange: and; a: central projection iii of cloth or any other suitable material which is adapted to be sewn to. a garment. The. flange portion i'! may consist. of very thin metal in which the marginal portions. of the cloth [8 are strongly secured by; a: stiff? disc at cardboard or the like, but this, structure being conventional has not been shownz. The flange i'l' isadapted tolbe press- 3 fitted into the shell IS with the marginal portion of the cloth disc l4 clamped between the edge of the flange and the cylindrical wall I9 of the shell, whereby the cloth is stretched taut and assumes the concise configuration of the curved dome of the shell.

Buttons such as l3 have been manufactured by automatic machinery employing dies having parts interconnnected for only limited relative movement and with interposed powerful springs so that such constructions were not at all adapted for the manual manufacture of the buttons. According to the present invention, the moving parts are so freely interrelated as to be easily manually operable and to be adapted for a special manipulation to facilitate the handling of the parts |4, I5 and Hi so that any dressmaker or housewife can easily produce the buttons without requiring special instruction. A particular feature of the invention is that an ordinary ham mer or the like can be used to complete the assembling of the button in a perfectly durable and reliable manner.

The lower die means includes a plurality of parts adapted for relative axial movement, comprising a die element 2| having an opening 22 or being otherwise of tubular form. This element 2| is open at its opposite end and adjacent to its upper end it is formed with a plane horizontal circular seat 23 above which extends an annular circular flange 24. Accordingly the element 2| may be regarded as of step formation. The other part of the die means 2| may consist of a member 25 snugly slidably fitted in the opening 22 and having an undercut portion or neck 26 extending therearound and into which projects a motion limiting or stop pin 21. At its lower end, the element 25 may be formed with circular flange 28 adapted to form a seat for the bottom of the element 2|. 25 may have a central concavity 29 which may approximate the form of the dome 28. The element 25 actually constitutes an anvil with the concavity 29 lying approximately in the plane of the seat 23.

The upper die means i2 comprises a guide member 33 adapted to be releasably received or engaged by the flange 24 and adapted to snugly seat on the surface 23. Within the member 38 is a central circular passage 3| coaxial with the anvil 25 and adjacent to the lower end of the passage there is an outwardly flared bevel 32 whose maximum diameter is approximately equal to that of the concave seat 29. snugly slidably guided in the member is the head 33 of a plunger 34 having a shank 35. The member 33 may be hollow to form a compartment 35, the member 33 being thus at least partially of tubular form with its lower end beveled at 3'! to form At its upper end, the element a continuation of the bevel 32. At its upper end,

the member 33 may have a flange 38 adapted to seat on the upper end of the member 30. The shank 35 may have an undercut portion 39 removably or permanently press-fitted into a central hole of the member 33, or the latter may be produced as a one-piece structure with the shank 35. The term plunger may be used to generally designate a die member comprising the head 33 and the shank 35. In this structure, all the parts are coaxial except as otherwise stated. The structure is very small, compact, light in weight, and may be inexpensively produced by screw machine operation, or in any other feasible manner, or the various parts may be cast or molded as desired. Any suitable material may be employed that is sufficiently strong to take the impact of a hammer at the upper end of the shank 35 as hereinafter more particularly described.

According to the first step of the process, the cloth disc [4 and the superposed shell 20 are placed in the die member II. The flange 24 centers the disc which snugly fits therein, and the disc of course rests on the plane seat 23. Then the member 38 of the upper die means I2 is engaged within the flange 24 and is permitted to rest upon the cloth M. The bevel 32 of the member 36 marginally engages the shell to accurately center the same and to slightly press the shell downwardly until the cloth snugly fits into the concavity 29 of the anvil 25. In this condition the member 2| may rest upon the flange 28, while the member 3!! is relatively projected only according to the thickness of the cloth.

In the assembly of Fig. 6 it is noted that the plunger 311 has been removed. This plunger is now inverted and the shank 35 thereof is inserted through the guide member 30. The reason for this is that the shank 35 is of sufiiciently reduced diameter so as to be adapted to enter the shell 2%] and to afford ample clearance with respect to the cloth l4. While the element 2| is held in one hand, the plunger 34 is pushed downwardly to force the shell into the opening 22, the anvil 25 being correspondingly projected as far as permitted by the stop pin 21, so that the fabric It becomes upwardly cylindri-cally folded to project well upon the shell 20. Now the plunger 34 is removed, Then the operator hods the elements 2! and 3e tightly together to prevent any separation thereof, while downwardly pressing the anvil 25 against a table or other support. This causes relative upward movement of the anvil with corresponding movement of the shell 20 and cloth it to the position shown in Fig. 8. During such movement of the anvil 25, the cloth is inwardly deflected by the annular bevel 32 so that the cloth now assumes an annular, horizontal, inward extending fold. If it were attempted to produce this fold by utilizing ones fingers, the effect would be irregular, the cloth might slip out of position, and considerably more time would be consumed. With the cloth folded over the edge of the shell 20, the anvil cannot return to its initial position, and is only partially returned as shown in Fig. 8, further movement being resisted by the member 30.

According to the next step of the process, the base portion N5 of the button is inserted in the member 30 to rest upon the folded portions of the cloth, then the plunger 34 is inverted and the head 33 inserted into the member 38 with its bevel 3'! engaging and. centering the flange ll of the base. The assembly is now in readiness for the final operation which involves causing a hammer 4| to exert a powerful impact upon the shank 35. Due to this impact, the anvil 25 is caused to move relatively upward or the element 2| is caused to move downwardly and at the same time downward movement of the base I6 is caused, with the flange curling the material at 40 inwardly into the shell 29, and with this flange entering the shell, causing the cloth to be stretched taut and be clamped between the side wall i9 of the shell and the edge of the flange This completes the assembling operation, the different die means II and E2 may now be separated and the completed button l3 removed, ready for use.

It will be noted that because the members 34 and 30 of the upper die means |2 are free of each other, they can be separated and the member 34 inverted to the positions of Figures 7 and 9 to accomplish operations which greatly facilitate the handling of the parts of the button. Because in addition, the die means i! and i2 are completely separable from each other, it is possible to use the member 30 to facilitate the infoldin of the material in the manner indicated at 4!] in Fig. 8, in which case the base it may be directly utilized to push the cloth into the shell 20, and without danger that the cloth might shift so that an imperfect button would result in which the cloth might not be continuously clamped within the shell. Other advantages in the easy and expeditious assembling of the buttons by a housewife without requiring special instruction are apparent.

It is further noted that the invention provides improved apparatus and methods whereby the assembling of a cloth-covered button is completed by a simple manual hammer impact, thus avoiding the need for a machine or press. The parts of the device In so movably cooperate as to facilitate the final assembling by the hammer impact.

I claim:

1. A hand tool for making cloth-covered button assemblies comprising a lower die means and an upper die means, the lower die means comprising an outer die part having an axial opening and an inner anvil part coaxially fitted in said opening, said parts having relative axial movement between contracted and extended positions, the outer die part and the inner anvil part having top faces which mate when these parts are in their relatively contracted position for seating a cloth disc and a superposed centered button shell, the said upper die means comprising an outer guide member having an axial passage and a plunger having a head coaxially fitted in said passage and a shank extending upwardly from said head, the plunger and guide member being separable, the guide member being separably receivable by the outer die part of the lower die means with the passage of the former ooaxially alined with the opening of the latter,

the said plunger being movable against the centered button shell and into the axial opening of said outer die part to force the shell into the said axial opening while causing the anvil to be moved to its extended position, thus causing the cloth disc to be upwardly folded about the shell by the wall of said opening, the guide member when received by the outer die part acting upon relative contracting movement of the anvil for infolding over the shell the previously upwardly folded portion of the cloth disc, the said guide member passage when the plunger is separated therefrom being adapted to receive and center a button base over the thus infolded portion of the cloth disc, the head of said plunger when fitted into the passage of said guide member being then adapted, upon striking the shank of the plunger with a hammer blow, to force the button base and the infolded portion of the cloth into said shell to complete the button assembly.

2. The hand tool of claim 1 in which the shank of the plunger has a reduced diameter relative to the axial opening of the outer die part, the plunger when removed from the guide member being invertible and the shank thereof insertible into said axial opening of the outer die member in the operation of forcing the centered shell into said axial opening.

GEORGE WOLFF.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany May 5, 1886

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