US2786203A - Apparatus for setting snap fasteners upon envelopes - Google Patents

Description

March 26, 1957 J. P. TREcloKAs 2,786,203

APPARATUS FOR SETTING SNAP FASTENERS UPON ENVELOPES ATTORNEY March 26, 1957 J..P. TREcloKAs 2,786,203 APPARATUSFOR SETTING SNAP FASTENERS UPON ENvELoPEs Filed Nov. 25, 195:5 l s sheets-sheet 2' Env/772| Y 771e: a9- 6' 47 722; i ik v 4,9 INVENTOR '4 Jacao P. Treclokas la svga-Ng? o ,4Q

7.8 ATTORNEY March 26,v 1957 P; 'rREcloKAs 2,786,203

APPARATUS Foa SETTING SNAP FAs'rENEns UPON ENvELoPEs 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 25, 1953 lNvEN-roR /-llf JacohB Truinkas Y B W" ATTORNEY nited States Patent APPARATUS FOR SETTHG SNAP FASTENERS UPN ENVELOPES Jacob P. Treciokas, Oakville, Conn., assigner to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a specially chartered corporation of Connecticut Application November 25, 1953, Serial No. 394,392

11 Claims. (Cl. 1-120) This invention relates to apparatus 'for attaching complemental snap fastener elements to envelopes of the type adapted for repeated use.

Heretofore when snap fasteners were attached to envelopes the socket and stud elements were customarily set on their respective parts of the envelope separately and by diiferent machines, or if set simultaneously the flap to which one of the elements was attached was in an extended position so that when the flap was folded against the back for closing the envelope it was very diiiicult to assure that the complemental fastener elements would line up with each other.

ln the disclosed apparatus the complemental snap fastener elements are set simultaneously upon their respective parts of the envelope in aligned position so that when the ap is folded over to close the envelope the complemental fastener elements will always properly align with each other.

This apparatus involves the use of complemental stud and socket elements which are formed with prongs prou jecting out of their ybase by means of which the elements are attached to their respective parts of the envelope.

The particular stud and socket elements adapted for use Ion an envelope for repeated use are designed with integral prongs that project from the base of the elements in the same direction as the fastener-engaging Iparts of said elements. By the use of this type of snap -fastener construction the elements can be attached directly to an envelope without the use of rivets, posts or similar attaching devices.

The envelopes to which the fasteners are to be attached are furnished with their iiaps in an extended position and the mode of operation of the apparatus involves the operation of first folding the flap back toward the front of the envelope and then inserting the envelope into a jig for holding the envelope in a definite position relative to the setting station of an attaching machine, said jig having means to hold the flap in an inclined or spaced position relative to the envelope front and also holding the pocket of the envelope in an open position. Next, the fastener elements are positioned relative to the envelope so that one of the elements will be disposed between the ap and the envelope front with its fastener-engaging part directed toward the flap, and the other element will `be disposed within the envelope pocket with its fastenerengaging part directed toward the envelope back and both elements in aligned position with each other after which they may be clinched to their respective parts of the envelope.

Another object of this invention is to pierce out an opening in the envelope ap and back by means of the conjoint action of the fastener elements and setting tools coincident with the setting operation, thus eliminating the need of pre-piercing the envelope to accommodate the fastener-engaging parts of the stud and socket elements.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed 4out in the detailed description thereof which follows or will be apparent from such description.

'ice

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a fastener setting machine embodying the invention and showing the machine in its normal inactive position.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a plan View of the lower anvil plates and associated jaw elements of the machine.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view through the anvil part of the lower anvil plates taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a similar sectional View taken along the line 5--5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the setting tools as they appear at the end of the setting stroke.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional View of the machine taken along the line '7 7 of Fig. 1 looking downwardly.

Fig. 8 is a plan and sectional view of the upper anvil and jaw unit.

Fig. 9 is a back view of the same.

Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional view through the lower setting punch and anvil showing the stud and prongs ments which are applied to the ap and back of thel envelope.

Fig. 18 is a plan view of the open end of the envelopev in open position showing the fastener elements attached thereto.

Fig. 19 is a `similar view showing the envelope in closed position, and

Fig. 2() is a cross-sectional view of the fastener elements as applied to the envelope taken along line 20-20 of Fig. 19.

The particular type of snap fastener element that this invention is adapted to set upon a clasp type or reusable envelope is best shown in Fig. 17 and consists of a socket element itl and a stud element 11. The socket 10 has a flat base 12 preferably of square shape having an annular series of spring fingers 13 formed upwardly out of the center of the base and also attaching prongs 14 sheared out of the hase and bent upwardly in the same direction as the spring fingers 13. The stud 11 likewise is provided with a square base 15 having a central stud head 16 and attaching prongs 17 projecting upwardly from the base in the same direction as the stud head.

A conventional reusable envelope 1S is shown in Figs. 18 and 19 having a front section 18a, a back section 18b, and a llap 13C, that is foldable along a fold line 18d.

As shown in Fig. 2O the socket 10 and stud 11 are attached respectively to the envelope ilap 18C and back section lb. Specifically the socket 1t) is attached to ilap 18C with the base 12 disposed on the outside of the flap and the fingers 13 projecting through a hole' 74a in the ilap that is self-pierced therethrough by the ngers 13 coincident with the setting operation. At the same time the prongs 14 are pierced through the flap stock and bent over against the flap 1Stfrom the underside thereof. The stud 11 is attached to the envelope back 18h with its base 15 disposed against the inside of said envelope back with its stud head 16 projecting through an opening 18f also selfpierced by said head and held in position yby having the prongs 17 pierced therethrough and clinched againstI the outside of said envelope back.

One form of machine for assembling the socket and stud elements to a reusable envelope in the manner as above described is disclosed in JFigs. l to l2 inclusive. This invention is embodied in a power-driven fastener setting machine consisting essentially of a base 2li, a standard or upright frame 2l, supporting a head 22 in which is reciprocally mounted an upper setting plunger 23 operated by a bell crank lever 2f; pivoted on the standard 2l as at 25. The bell crank lever 2d may be operated from the power shaft of the machine in the u l manner.

Attached to the front end of the base i is a bearing block 26 and through the block 26 and base is a common hole 27 within which is slidably fitted the lower die unit or setting tool 2S. Attached to the upper surface of the bearing block 26 is a guide plate 29 that facilitates the feeding of the envelope into the machine.

Lower anvil and jaw imi! The lower anvil member for upsetting the prongs of one of the fastener elements in attaching the same to the envelope back is best seen in Figs. 3, 4, 5, 7 and l2 and in this particular' machine the lower anvil serves to set the stud element ll. This anvil member hereinafter referred to as the stationary anvil consists of a bifnrcated plate 30, each part of which has its inner end secured on the terminal end of a feed track i7 by screws 3h51, and the feed track 47 in turn is mounted between a pair of support brackets 31 and secured thereto as by screws 37. The brackets 31 are mounted on base Ztl as by screws 38. rThe anvil plates 3? are mounted so that they can pivot in a horizontal plane about the screws and extend forwardly to overle the lower die unit Z3 and terminate in converging extensions 3% which in turn support rearward extensions Sile in side-by-side relationship. The extensions Eile are in fact the anvil proper of the anvil plates 3i? against the underside of which the stud base is supported during the setting operation. The anvil portions Stic of the plates 3u are separated by a dividing line 32 so as to permit the forwarl ends of said anvil plate to separate slightly for reasons as will be described later. The anvil portions 355C are normally held in closed position along the dividing line 32 by a tension coil spring 33 secured to the upper surface the plates 30 by stud pins 34%. in order to assure that the anvil portions 30e of the plates 3o cannot swing inwardly beyond the division line 32 each support bracket 3i is provided with a pair of upwardly extending lugs 35 in which adjusting screws 36 are threaded and engage the outer. sides of the plates 3u slightly to the rear of the pivot screws Sila. By this arrangement the screws 36 can be adjusted to limit the inward swing of the anvil portions 30e of said anvil plates 39.

A pair of elongated guide lingers or jaws are pivotally attached to the inside edges of the anvil plates 3@ as by screws 41 and said screws are mounted so that said fingers can swing in a slight diverging relationship of substantially 12 from the vertical for reasons as will appear later that is, the axes of said screws incline slightly upwardly from the horizontal toward the vertical central plane of the machine. ri`he inside adjacent edges of the 'lingers are provided with tapered grooves d2 through which the edges of the stud elements ll are guided on their way to the setting station.

In order to provide a slight binding action upon the fastener elements as they arev fed 'to the setting station through the linger grooves e2, the tingers itl are mounted to have a small amount of lateral play by the relatively loose manner in which the linger-attaching screws lil are mounted within their respective sockets in the plates 3d. The front ends of the fingers it? are loosely conned within slots 43 in the plates Fil that limit the lateral movement of said lingers. it will be noted from Figs. 4 5 that the bearing surfaces of the plates 3o, the slots and the lingers 40 are biased upwardly in an outward direction to conform to the diverging swinging motion Y the upper surfaces of the lingers ofthe lingers for the purpose of spreading the outwardly to release the fastener element from the finger ends when the latter are swung upwardly during the fastener setting operation. The forward ends of the fingers di? are normally biased inwardly by leaf springs 44 disposed between the adjacent surfaces of the plates 30 and Jiaws 4G, the springs being held in place by pins 45 mounted in said plates 3i?. In swinging the ends of the fingers upwardly to release the fastener elements they are pivoted against the inuence of spring fingers secured `2o the top of the plates Strand' tensioned against The feed lingers as seen in Fig. 7 are lined. up with a feed track d? supported on brackets 31 and through which the fastener elements can be fed tol the fingers into the setting station by a pusher slide d8.

Envelope jig fixture rl`he mechanism for holding the envelope in centralized position relative to the setting station and also to hold the envelope flap bent backwardly toward the envelope front during the fastener setting operation best seen in Figs. l and 7 and consists of a pair of support rods preferably square in cross section extending horizontally outwardly from the opposite sides of the frame 2l.. Siid ably mounted on the rods 5? are brackets 5l held in adjusted position by thumb screws Sla. Formed as an integral part of the brackets 5l are forwardly ding support arms 52 having straight sections 52u t ating in converging sections SEI; that are disposed slightly f rwardly of the anvil plates 36. The brackets 5t are adapted to be adjusted laterally along the rods 5t) that the straight arm sections may be positioned to suhstan` tially the width of the envelope pocket to permit the envelope to be slipped over said sections 52a (shown in dot-and-dash outline in Fig. 7) and centralise the envelope relatively to the setting station of the machine. it should beV understood that the brackets 5i' can also be adjusted laterally so as to accommodate different sizes of envelopes.

A pair of flap-positioning arms 53 are adiustabiy mounted upon the brackets 5l. above the arms 52 extend forwardly and terminate in upwardly extending lugs 53a to which are secured adjustable fingers 5' as by screws 55. The lingers 54 may be pivotally adiusted about the screws 55 to the desired position that the envelope iiap should be set when the envelope is inserted into the machine. The arms 53 are secured to the upper surfaces of the brackets Si by a thumb screw 56 threaded into brackets 51, and the arms 53 are provided with elongated slots 5.3.5 so that said arms 53' and the lingers 54 may be adjusted parallel to the horizontal axis of the machine and at the desired distance rearwardly or forwardly of the setting station of the machine.

Lower setting tool unit The lower setting tool unit 28 (see Figs. 2 and l0) consists of a cup-shaped plunger housing 60 operatingr within the hole 27. A gear rack 61 is formed on the outer surface of the housing 60 and engaged by a sector gear 62 on the end of lever 63 pivoted at 64 in brackets 31. The lever 63 may be operated by a suitable cam on the main drive shaft of the machine. A setting die 65 is rigidly secured within the housing 60 and a spring cushioned sleeveA 66 isl slidably fitted within said die 65. The upper face of the die 6.5 is formed with an annular groove 65a for bending and clinching the prong-s 17 of the stud 11 and is normally disposed a slight distance below the upper end of the cushioned sleeve 66. The travel of the sleeve 66, within the die 65, is controlled by an elongated recess 66a in the exterior wall of said sleeve and within which recess across pin 67 is engaged= the latterbeing driven into a suitable opening in die 65. The sleeve 66 operates against the influence of a coiled spring 68` confined withinr the hollow of said die 65.

The upper end of the sleeve 66 is provided with an opening 66h of a size to snugly t about the head of the stud element 11 and serves with said stud head 16 to shear out a round blank 18e and provide a. hole lSf in the envelope back 13b to accommodate the stud head when the latter is forced against the envelope stock co incident with the setting operation. The blank 18e sheared out of the envelope stock may be ejected through a tube 69 attached to the interior of the sleeve 66 and extending through a clearance opening 69a in the lower end of the setting die 65 and plunger housing at?.

Upper setting tool unit The upper setting tool unit (Fig. ll) consists of a setting die 70 having an upper reduced shank 70a which is tted into a socket 23a in the plunger 23 and held in place by a set screw 7l. The die 76 is formed with a lower bore '7011 and an upper bore 70e of reduced diameter that provides a shoulder 76d therebetween. The lower end or the die 76 is formed with an annular recess 70e that serves to bend and clinch the prongs 14 of the socket element l@ against the envelope flap during the setting operation. Within the lower larger bore 7Gb is slidably fitted a plunger sleeve 72 having its outer end normally extended a slight distance beyond the lower end of the die 70. r[he normal position of sleeve 72 within the die bore 7Gb is determined by a slot 72a in the side wall thereof and cross pin 73 secured in die 70 and traversing said slot 72a. rl`he plunger sleeve 72 serves to press the envelope stock downwardly upon the socket and force the prongs 14 thereof through the envelope material and at the same time cooperate with the socket fingers 13 to pierce out a blank 74 in the envelope stock and provide an opening 74a therein through which the socket fingers may project. rhe sleeve 72 is moved inwardly against the the influence of a relatively strong coil spring 75 having its inner end seated against a washer 76 which in turn is seated against the shoulder 70d at the inner end of the larger bore 79h. An ejector sleeve '77 is slidably iitted within the plunger sleeve 72 and has an enlarged head 77a at its inner end, which is normally seated against the upper surface of the washer 76, the latter extending inwardly of the smaller die bore 70C. Inwardly of the ejector sleeve 77 is a socket sizing tool 78 that travels with the die 7d and is provided with an enlarged head 75a eated against the base of the smaller die bore 70C and held in place by a cross pin 7819 fixed to said die 70. A relatively light coil spring 79 is compressed between the sizing tool head ien and the ejector sleeve head 77a to normally hold said sleeve in its projected state. The details of the operation of this upper die unit will be given later in describing the machine operations.

Upper movabie anvil and jaws for socket The mechanism for picking up the socket element l@ from the feed track and conveying it underneath the envelope ilap at the setting station of the machine is best seen in Figs. l, 2, 6, 8 and 9. This mechanism consists of--an L-shaped anvil member Si) having its upright leg 80a pivotally mounted between a pair of projecting lugs 81a formed as an integral part of support bracket 81 as by a pin 62. The bracket 8l. in turn is secured to the lower ends of a pair of cam plates 83 slidably mounted on the outer surface of a pair of extension bars 84 which in turn are secured to the opposite sides of the machine head 22. The lower horizontal leg 86h is the upper anvil plate for setting the socket to the envelope flap and normally extends underneath the upper setting plunger 23 in line with a socket feed track 5 through which the socket elements itl may be fed singly by a pusher slide 86. in order to hold the socket l@ upon the anvil plate 8012 while conveying the socket from the feed track to the setting station, a pair of jaws 37 are pivotally connected in slots 80e provided in the anvil member 80. As noted 6 in Fig. 9 the slots 80e are slanted downwardlyand outwardly relative to the vertical axis of the anvil member so as to cause the jaws 87 to swing downwardly and out-- wardly for the purpose of releasing the socket element l@ during the setting operation. The jaws 87 are so mounted in the slots 89e as to permit some amount of lateral play to accommodate the tolerances allowed in the construction of the socket and are normally urged inwardly against the inclined opposite walls d of the anvil plate Stil: by leaf springs 88 (see Fig. 8). In order to hold the socket gripping ends of the jaws 87 upwardly relative to the anvil plate 80b the outer ends of said jaws are formed with upwardly extending ngers 87a that are normaliy urged outwardly by coil springs 89 seated in suitable recesses in the adjacent face of the anvil member 80.

ie anvil member d() is mounted on pin 82 so as to pivot outwardly relative to the bracket 81 and is normally held against the outer face of said bracket 81 by a thumb screw gil. From Fig. l it will be noted that the thumb screw 9i) is normally positioned crosswise of a slot 8de provided in the upper leg of the anvil member Sti. By turning the screw 90 so that its head aligns with slot Sti@ the anvil member may be hinged outwardly about the pin 32 in order to provide better access to the setting station of the machine.

ln order to laterally adjust the anvil member 80 so that the anvil plate Zibb can be properly adjusted to line up with the feed track 8S, a pair of opposite set screws 9i are threaded in the bracket lugs 81a and are adapted to engage the opposite edges of said anvil member 80.

As pointed out previously the anvil member 80 and associated jaws $7 are adapted to pick up the socket 10 from the feed track S5 and convey it to the setting station underneath the envelope flap. This control of the anvil member is derived from the cam plates 83. Asshown in Figs. 2 and 6 the cam plates are formed with the slots 53a that cooperate with guide bolts 92 mounted on the extension bars dit. To hold the cam plates 83 against the sides of the extension bars 84 and also to provide some amo-unt of friction to the cam plates a fibre washer 93 surrounds each bolt 92 and is compressed against said plates by compression springs 94.

rIhe cam plates 33 are operated by a slip connection with the upper plunger- 23. This slip connection is obtained by a split block 9S and integral sleeve 95a frictionally embracing the plunger 23. The cam plates 83 are provided with extensions S312 having trunnion connections 83C with the split block 95. The frictional grip between the split block 95 and sleeve 95a with the plunger 23 may be controlled by an adjusting screw 96 transversely threaded in the split portieri of said block.

ln order to control the amount of travel of the upper anvil member 80 and associated mechanism a cross bar 97 is rigidly secured to the upper ends of the extension bars 34. An adjustable set screw 9S is threaded in the cross bar 97 preferably in a plane common with the vertical axis of the setting station and may be held in ad'- justed position by a lock nut 98a. The set screw 98 is adapted to be abutted by the head of another set screw 99 adjustably mounted in the split block 95 and held in adjusted position by lock nut 99a and serves to limit the upward travel of the anvil member 80. rThe second set screw 99 is adapted to contact the upper face of the machine head 22 as at 22a (see Fig. 1) to control the amount of downward travel of the upper anvil member 80.

Operation ln the operation of the machine involved in setting snap fasteners upon a reusable envelope, the envelope to be fed into the machine will usually be taken from the stack of envelopes in which the flaps of the envelopes will normally be in an extended position such as shown in Fig. 13. The tirst step isl to manually fold the ap 181.` of the envelope out of the plane of the envelope back toward the envelope front 18a so as to initiate. a fold along the scoredv line 18d. By slightly compressing the sidesl of the: envelope, inwardly the envelope pocket will be opened up suiciently so that the envelope can be slipped over the converging ends 52]) of the jig support arms 52 andl assembled over the lower anvil plates 3i? to a positive stop which is determined by the folded edge of the envelope abutting the end lugs 53a of the flappositioning arms 53 as shown in Fig. 14 and in dot-anddash outline in Fig. 7.

Because of the timing element involved in this machine it is necessary to feed a single socket element Ml and stud element 11 from a magazine chute (not shown) in the upper and lower feed tracks S and 47 respectively and advance said elements in their respective tracks by the pusher slides 36 and 4S to a position adjacent the upper and lower die units during the end stroke of a prior cycle of operations. The relative position of the elements at the endV of a previous stroke is shown in dotted outline in Fig. 2.

When the envelope is assembled into the machine as described above the machine may be set into motion. During the first portion of an operation cycle the socket and stud elements and 11 will be further advanced in the feed tracks and pushed respectively into the jaws S7 and of the upper anvil member Sil and lower anvil plates 3i) in alignment with the setting station of the machine. During the first period of the operation cycle the plunger 23 will move upwardly a slight amount so as to permit the upper pusher slide 86 to advance its complete distance without interference.

During the next portion of the operation cycle the upper anvil member by reason of the cam plates 83 and their connection with the plunger 23 will convey the ,4

socket downwardly and outwardly to clear the free edge of the envelope. flap 18C and thence under said hap to the position as shown in Figs. 6 and l5. ln this position the upper anvil member 80 will contact the envelope front 18a and compress it against the lower anvil plates 30, and both the upper anvil member @il and the lower anvil plates 30 serve to back up each other during the fastener setting operation. The upper anvil member S0 will remain ina stationary position as the upper plunger 23 descends to set the socket upon the envelope ap due to contact of set screw 99 with machine head 22, the slip connection of block on plunger 23 permitting this effect.

During the period of the setting operation, the plunger sleeve 72 of the upper die unit will contact the envelope I ap as held in biased position by the lingers 5- and press the same downwardly against the upper edge of the socket fingers 13. Continued downward motion of the sleeve 72 in conjunction with the socket fingers i3 will shear out the blank 74, thus self-piercing an opening in the envelope ap to accommodate the socket fingers. At the same time the flap will be forced against the socket prongs causing the latter to pierce through the flap as seen in Fig. 1l and leave the blank 7d resting on top of the socket lingers. When the envelope iiap is pressed firmly against the socket base 12 with the latter resting on the anvil plate 80h the plunger sleeve 72, will come to rest while the setting die 70 continues its downward stroke causing the pointed ends of the socket prongs id to engage'ingthe, die recessy 70e and bend them outwardly and downwardly against the upper face of the envelope flap to permanently secure the socket thereto. lt will be understood that this upper face of the envelope iap will become the inner face of the flap when the latter is folded back in normally envelope closing position. During this period during which die "iii turns over the prongs 1 4 `the vsizing tool 78 will continue to descend with the die and pierce out a smaller blank 74k and force it down into the socket fingers 13 and leave only an annular ring Lit) 8 74c the remains of the original blank 74 resting on top of the socketV fingers 13 (see Fig. 16).

During the same period as described for the setting operation of the upper die the lower die unit 28 will be moved upwardly by the lever 63. This upward motion of the lower die unit will rst cause the cushioned sleeve 66 to contact the envelope back 18h forcing the same against the stud head 16 and in conjunction with said head pierce out a blank 18e and provide a suitable hole f in the envelope back to permit the stud head to be inserted therethrough. At the same time the envelope back will be forced against the stud prongs 17 causing the latter to pierce through the envelope material as the sleeve 66 rises to seat the envelope stock against the stud oase i5 (see Fig. l0) after which the upwrad motion of the sleeve 66 will rest while the setting die continues to rise causing the stud prongs 17 to be rolled outwardly and downwardly against the outside of the envelope back.

During this period it will be understood that the inside surface of the envelope back and the stud base 15 will rest against the lower anvil plates 30. The blanks 18e which are pierced out of the envelope material are ejected through the tube 6%.

During the end period of the operation cycle the lower die unit 28 will be withdrawn downwardly and the upper die unit will be withdrawn upwardiy. During this iinal operation of the upper die unit the ejector sleeve 77 will function to force the socket finger 13 off of the sizing tool FS and eject the socket it) and ring 74C of envelope stock out of the plunger sleeve 72. At the same time the anvil member titl will be retracted from underneath the envelope flap ic and drawn upwardly and moved inwardly to the position as shown in Fig. 2 where the jaws 87 carried by said member Si) will line up with the socket feed track 35. Upward motion of the anvil member 80 will be stopped by the head of the set screw 99 abutting the screw 9S. The plunger 23 will continue to rise until it is clear of the jaws 37. The nal period of the cycle of the operation will move the upper pusher slide 86 and lower pusher slide 43 to advance respectively the socket it) and stud 1li from the dotted line position as seen in Fig. 2 into fingers 87 and 4t) in line with the setting station.

After the machine has completed its full cycle of operations the envelope to which the fastener elements have just been set may be manually removed from the jig support arms and another envelope inserted ready for the next cycle of operations.

The small blank 74h and ring 74C sheared out of the envelope flap will for the most part be discarded from the machine in the act of removing the envelope just operated upon.

ince various equivalent forms of construction will be apparent to those persons skilled in the art, it is his intention that the present invention should be interpreted as covering all modiiications and equivalents within the scope and spirit of the attached claims.

What l claim is:

l. in a machine for attaching complementary snap fastener elements to an envelope wherein the fastener elements carry their own attaching prongs and the envelope flap is folded back toward the envelope front for the setting operation, an anvil and setting punch for each of said fastener elements arranged in axial alignment with each other, means for feeding one of said elements into the envelope pocket with the fastener prongs directed outwardly toward the envelope back, means for feeding the other element between the envelope front and flap with the prongs directed toward the envelope flap, and means for moving each of said punches toward their respective anvils for attaching the complementary elements to the envelope flap and back respectively.

2. ln a machine for attaching complementary snap fastener elements to an envelope the combination as dened in claim 1 wherein means are provided in the punches cooperating with the detachable engaging parts of the fastener elements for self-piercing the envelope stock coincident with the fastener setting operation.

3. In a machine for attaching complementary snap fastener elements to an envelope wherein the fastener elements carry their own attaching prongs and the envelope ap is folded back toward the envelope front for the setting operation, a stationary anvil adapted to have the open end of the envelope telescoped thereover, means for feeding one of said elements along the underside of said anvil to the setting station of the machine, a lower setting tool operated upwardly from the underside of said anvil, a feed track for conveying a complemental element, a movable upper anvil normally positioned in line with such feed track, holding jaws associated with said movable anvil, means for feeding said complemental fastener element into said jaws, means for moving said movable anvil downwardly to convey said complemental element to a position underneath the envelope ap in line with the setting station, an upper setting tool and means for simultaneously moving the upper and lower setting tools axially toward each other and in conjunction with said movable and stationary anvils serving to set said complementary fastener elements on said envelope ap and back respectively.

4. In a snap fastener attaching machine the combination as defined in claim 3 wherein jig means is provided for locating the envelope in denite relationship to the stationary anvil.

5. In a snap fastener attaching machine, the combination as dened in claim 3 wherein means are provided for imparting an outward and inward movement to said upper anvil during its downward movement, whereby said upper anvil may carry its fastener element under the folded flap of the envelope.

6. In a machine for attaching complementary snap fastener elements to an envelope wherein the fastener elements carry their own attaching prongs and the envelope flap is foldd back toward the envelope front for the setting operation, a lower stationary anvil adapted to have the envelope telescoped thereover, an upper movable anvil, means associated with each of said anvils for holding the complemental fastener elements in line with the setting station of the machine, means for feeding said fastener elements into the anvil holding means, means for moving said upper movable anvil to a position to deposit one fastener element underneath the envelope ap adjacent the lower stationary anvil, and upper and lower setting 10 tools cooperating with the upper and lower anvils to simultaneously set the complementary fastener elements on the envelope flap and back respectively in line with each other.

7. In a machine for attaching complementary snap fastener elements to an envelope, the combination as defined in claim 6 wherein the fastener holding means associated with the anvil are a pair of jaws for each anvil, which jaws operate to move away from the setting station axis during the setting operation for the purpose of releasing the jaw hold on the fastener elements.

8. In a machine for attaching complementary snap fastener elements to an envelope, the combination as defined in claim 6 wherein the upper setting tool is carried on the end of a vertically reciprocating plunger and the means for operating the upper movable anvil comprises a cam element operated by a friction connection with said plunger.

9. In a machine for attaching complementary snap fastener elements to an envelope as defined in claim 8 wherein means is provided to limit the distance of travel of the movable anvil as compared to the full length of travel of said plunger.

l0. A fastener setting tool for setting snap fastener elements having integral prongs extending in the same direction from the fastener base as the fastener-engaging part of said element, which tool comprises a die sleeve having means for attachment to a reciprocating plunger, said sleeve having an annular end formed to upset the fastener prongs, and a cushion sleeve slidably fitted within said die sleeve for limited slidable movement therein, spring means urging said cushion sleeve outwardly to a stop position wherein one end projects beyond the upsetting end of the die sleeve and functions to force the prongs of the fastener through the material to which the fastener is attached.

11. A fastener setting tool as defined by claim 10 wherein the cushion sleeve coacts with the fastener-engaging part of the element to pierce out an opening in the material to which the fastener is attached to accommodate the fastener-engaging part.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,904,306 Gookin Apr. 18, 1933 1,957,463 Lawson May 18, 1934 2,371,813 Fenton Mar. 20, 1945 2,630,935 Gookin Mar. l0, 1953

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