US40684A - Machine for making tags - Google Patents

Description

L'NTTED STATES PATENT Ormea.

THOMAS B. DE FOREST, OF BIRMINGHAM, CONNECTICUT.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TAGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,684, dated November 24, 1863.

T 0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, T. B. DE FOREST, of Birmingham, of the county of New Haven, in the State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manlifacture of Tags or Labels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a. full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part ot' this application.

My invention relates to an improved method of making what are known as tags (or price labels) by an organized machine for that purpose, which performs the several operations necessary to produce from the material supplied to the machine a complete tag; and my invention may be said to consist, first, in the employment of a strip of material having proper or suitable eyes formed in it, as hereinafter explained, in connection with a device or. mechanism for receiving and cutting or stamping out pieces of a given design from v,said strip of material, as hereinafter set forth and my invention also consists in the employment a feeding machainsm, in connection with a stamping-out or cutting-oft' device; when the two mechanismsare made to operate in such manner as to take a strip of material in which the eyes are formed and divide it into pieces of equal size and similar design, with an eye in each piece, as hereinafter fully set forth.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe it, referring to the accompaning drawings, torming part of this application, in whichy Figure l is a front elevation of an organized machine for making tags, in accordance with my improved method of manufacture. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section at the line z .e ofFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section at the line y y, Fig. 1. Fig. et is a vertical section at the line :t x, Fig. l; and Fig. 5 is a plan view ofa portion of the strip of material out of which the tags are formed, and which will be presentl y explained more particularly.

In Fig. l the blue lines represent the strip cf material passing through the machine. In Fig. 2 the red lines represent the paper or material. The black arrows indicate the directions of viewing the machine in the sectional views. The arrows in red lines indicate the direction of motion of the material as itis fed through the machine.

Wherever the same letters occur in the sev, eral iigures they indicate the same part ot' the machine.

A is the body or main frame ofthe machine, which may be supported by a pedestal or set of legs,`or upon a bench, as taste or circumstances m'ay suggest. From the top of the 'body A extend upward two smaller box-like portions, A A. These boxes- A Al arelocated near either end ot' the main body A. They are equidistan t., longitudinally, from the center of the body A, and areabout equal in length to the width of said body A, and from their upper surfaces extend upward the stands E E', in which work the two sliding carriages F and F', in a manner which will be presently described.

B is a table which is formed ofa plain plate arranged so as t0 extend from one of the boxes A to the otheron the'same level with their top surfaces-that is, so as to form a continuation of the planes of the top surfaces of boxes -A A. This table B may be nearlyr equal in width to the distance (on boxes A A) from the fronts ot' stands E E to the fronts of boxes A A. Im mediately in the rear of table B, and arranged in a plane at right angles to the plane of B, is a plate, D, which extends from stand Fi to stand E?, and the front side of which is flush with the front sides ot' stands E E. This plate l) is formed with a dovetailing projection on its back side. (see Fig. 3,)

on which works the carriage b b', which carries the feeder, as will be presently explained. The plate D extends a short distance down below the plane of table B, and on such ex tended portion D (see Figs. l and 3) are formed or arranged the grooves t' j and the way h, the operation of which will be presently explained.

O is the main driving-shaft of themachine, which passes longitudinally through the main body A, as shown, and has suitable bearings in the ends thereof. At one end of said shaft O the power may be applied by means of any ordinary drivin g-pulley, or, as illustrated, by a crank-handle, if hand-powerbe used. I contemplate, however, always using some other motive power.

On the shaft O are secured three cams, T, V,

and W. Themiddle one, T,is a face-cam, (the shape of which is 'clearly illustrated,) and works against a friction-wheel, Z, hung in the lower end ofthe arm U, (see Figs. 1 and 3,) which arm is kept up toward the cam T by a spring, t, and is fastened at its upper end to the rockshaft B2 and works said shaft in its bearings as boxes Y Y. To the front end of said shaft B2 is keyed thelower end of a bifurcated bar, O', which, by the rocking of the shaft B2, is caused to vibrate at its upper end,

carrying with itthe pin or stud C2 of the sliding carriage b b', which stud projects into the bil'ureated or slotted portion of said arm O'. In the rear of arm U there is secured to` the shaft B2 another vibrating arm, L', (see Figs. l and 3,) which serves as a stop and cornes against a lug or pin, a4, which projects up from the top of body A. (See Figs. 2 and 8.)

Thearnis U and L' may be secured to the shaft B2 by set-screws a2 b2, or in any other desirable manner. The cams V W operate upon and move two reciprocating carriages, which in turn move the carriages F and F' by being fast thereto. Only one of these carriages is shown inl the drawings-the one which is worked by the cam V-but since the two are dupli.

cates a description of it and its operationwill answer for both. It is seen at G2, Figs. 3' and 4, (in Fig. 4 the pla-ne ofsection passes through the carriage G2, in Fig. 3 it passes in front of' E2 E2, (see Fig. 3,) and, the carriage or plate F being secured to the plate G2, it follows that F is caused to move or reciprocate vertically in its bearings in the stand E. The cam W operates in a similar manner on another carriage like G2, which in like manner drives the carriage F' vertically up and down in its bearings in the stand E. i

The carriages F and F' are provided, respectively, wit-h arms or standsH and H', which move with them, oneof which, H, carries the `eyeleting-punch or upper die, 7c l, the

other. H', carries the cutting or stamping out die P'. From the arm or stand H there projects a slotted bar, J, `in which is arranged (in such manner as that it can be set nearer to or .farther from said stand) a head, I, which cari ries on its lower end an embossing or printing die, K, on which is formed the punching-out male die a. (See Fig.,1

As already mentioned, the carriageb b' is caused to slide on the dovetail-bearingv or plate I) (see Fig. 3) by means of thevibration of arm O'. Now, through upper andlower portions of said carriage b b' there is arranged f in front of plate D, and so as to be capable of a vertical reciprocating motion, a bar, l', (see` Figs. l, 2, 3,) at the lower end of which is a stud, a, on which is hung, so as to turn freely, a wheel, K'. This wheel K' rests on an adjustable plate, M', (see Figs. 1 and 3,) which is provided with a stop and lifter, N. Above the wheel K' there is arrangedin the bar I' a spring bolt or latch, g, (see Figs.'3 and 1,) the back end of which works in the groovesj, (see Figs. l and 3,) and above the table B there projects from said bar 1 an arm or stand, d, which carries the feeder-point f, and between the upper side of which arin and the upper end of carriage b is arranged a spring, c, in such a manner as to exert a constant tendency to slide the bar l' downward in its bearings in the carriage b b' and keepthe wheel K hard down into the plate M'. As the carriage b b' is moved along on the plate D, as before mentioned, the wheel K' travels along on theplate M' until it comes against the stop and lifter N. When wheel K' strikes N, it ascends the stop N, (carrying up, of course, with it the bar l' and all its attachments against the presence of spring 0,) and rides on top of it until the motion of carriage b b'is reversed. When the lifter N lifts thc wheel K', the spring catch or bolt g o5 (see Fig. 3) is forced in and iiies out again over or on top of the rib or bar h, on which it rides (holding up the bar 1') during the reverse or return motion of carriage b b'. As soon as the bolt o5 arrives at the other end ot' rib or bar 11;' and passes by it, the spring c forces the bar I' down until the wheel K' comes against the plate M'. (The grooves 'i andj extend a short distance beyond the end of rib h and communicate so as to allow the bolt o5 to pass down without being forced inward.) lt will be understood' that as the carriage b b' reciprocates the feeder-pointf moves alongin contact with table B until the wheel K' strikes N, then the feeder-point f is lifted some distance above the table B and returns in this elevated position t0 the point from whence it started, then drops down ready to make another forward or feeding stroke, and it will also be understood that the point continues feeding until lifted by the action of lifter N on wheel K', and hence by shifting the position of N (by moving the plate M', to which it is fast) the length of feed may be varied at pleasure, the object of which will -be presently explained.

c is a cam-lever pivoted to bar 4l' above the carriage b, and which, when turned, lifts and holds up the bar I so as to keep the feeder f away from the table, very much after the fashion of the lifter on the presser-foot bar of a sewing-machine.

' G is a plate arranged immediately over the table B and of about the same size. This plate C rests on the table B, but has a longitudinal `recess or rabbet runnin g entirely across it centrally on its under side (see Fig. 3 and dotted lines, Fig. 2) in such manner as that when the plate G is placed on the table B, as shown, a channel will be formed where the two come together. This channel is about v therein inserted.

rectangular holes cut through it-one largerl vthan the otherone for the feeder-point j' to equal in width 'to the width of the strip ot' paper or other material to be worked or run through it, and sufficiently high to admit of the thickness of the material and the eyelets The plate C has also two travel along in, the other, and wider one, to see the material passing through and to facilitate the operator in stopping and drawing back the strip of material should the eyeleting mechanism miss or fail to insert an eyelet.

G is a small table extending out from A, level with it and the table B, and on which v are formed or arranOed the female rintinO e, l p e or embossing die D5 and the female punching out dieI a5. ln the top plate of the opposite box, A,.is cut out the female stamping or cutting-out vdie D4, (see Fig. 2,) into which works the die P. (See Fig. 1.) lhe tags or pieces cut out by these last-mentioned dies fall through into an inclined plate, L3, and pass out in it through an opening in the front side of A. See Figi.) On one end of the shaft O is fastened a ratchet-wheel, N', which in its rotation operates upon a projection on the handle M ot' a hammer, L, in such manner as lo periodically move the hammer L backward or away from the chute Q, (see Fig. 1,) while a spring, S, attached at one end to the handle M and at the other end tothe stud S5, (in which said lhan dle turns,) exerts a continual pressure, tending to force the hammer M toward and against the chute Q. The result ot' this combination of devices is a constant knocking or hammering against the chute Q by the hammer M, which insures the passage of the eyelets down through said chute. (lf the column ofeyelets supplied to the chute Q were allowed to feed down only by their gravity, without any shaking, they would sometimes stick, and the eyeleting mechanism would not be punctually supplied.)

w is a removable slide or plate covering the slot and bar which carry the eyelets from the chute to the eyelet-insertingmechanism, which is most clearly seen at Fig. et. A single eyelet at the time is fed or carried forward (from the supply column or chute tbl) by the reciprocating' bar o3 and placed on top of the hollow die fil, as shown in red, Fig. 4, the material to be eyeleted lying on top ofthe plate w, and upper surface of A, which is iiush wit-h w. lhe punch [descends through the material through the hole P4 in plate fw, through the eyelet, and down into the hollow die i', being actuated by the carriage F, attached to plate G2. At the same time a pin, s4, in the moving carriage F, and working in a slot in the lever J 2, vibrates the said lever J 2 on its pivot m4, and this lever J 2, having a cam-like portion, m, which comes against the lower end of hollow die t", moves said die upward in its bearings in the hub c3, and the shoulder of upper die, 7c, coming down at the same time, the eyelet is pressed between it and top of die t, and is upset or clenched inthe material. rlhe cam-surface mis so made that it does not begin to lift the die i until after the punch l has descended into i', and the motion of these two dies are so timed as that they shall meet and upset the eyeletjust in the plane in which the material lies. Thel die i is forced down again into its normal position (as the cam m6 releases it) by means of a spring, w. While the operation just described of the two dies is going' on, the descent of carriage G2 also causestthrough the medium ot'a strap, m2, passing over pulley l2 and fastened at one end to said carriage and at the other to the bar o3) the bar o3 to move back from the eyeleting-dies until its forward end passes the mouth of the chute Q. When another eyelet passes down into the groove in which slide o3 travels, as carriage G2 ascends the spiral spring s3 pulls. the bar 03 forward again and causes another eyelet to be fed onto the top of die i. rlhis eyelet-inserting mechanism is the same in construction and operation as that in the eyeleting-machiue patented to Linson De Forest on the 13th day of January, 1863, and I would refer to that patent ior a more full description of it, since no part of my present invention lies in any peculiar-ity of the eyeleting mechanism of my machine,

except a little improvement, which =I will own explain: ltconsists in the arrangement around the punch l of a bar or plate, q, which is connected by vertical bars n a (see Fig. l) to a top cross-piece,p, and springs r and a stop, m, the whole so arranged as that when the head l-l with the. punch land die 7a descends the bar or presser-foot q will come down onto the material and remain, pressing on the material while the punch and die continue to descend and insert (in connection with lower die, i) an eyelet and return far enough to have released the punch l from the eyelet inserted in the material. It will be seen that by this device the lifting of the material by the eyelet clinging .to the punch l (which would derange the materia-l or sometimes tear it) is effectually prevented', which is a great desideration in an eyeleting mechanism for inserting eyelets in any fragile material. The stopscrew m may be turned or set to regulate the relative position of the plate q with punch l, and consequently the time at which, during the ascent ofthe upper die, the material will be relieved from pressure by the i'oot 1. The chute t.) is supplied .with eyelets from a hopper 'and shaking-table, such as fully shown and described in Letters latent granted to me on the 13th day ofv January, 1863. Since I propose to use this kind, and it forms no palt of my present invention, I have not shown it in the drawings, and refer for a description ot' it to my said Letters Patent just above nientioned. 0n the upper surface of the table G isv arranged a bar or plate, R, in the under side of which is cut a recess, so that a channel is formed between the lower side of It and the top of G,in which the slip or strip of paper travels, as illustrated by the red lines in Fig. 2 and the blue lines in Fig. 1.

After having described the several parts and their operations, a. brief explanation `of the general and connected operations of the whole machine will be sufficientto render my invention perfectly clear to those skilled in the arts.

In the machine which I have built and put into successful operation, (and which is like the one herein described in every essential feature,) I employ for the manufacture ofthe tags paper cut into a narrow strip of a width equal to the width of the tag, and wound in a coil (or a reel.) The coil or reel of paper is placed at a convenient distance from the machine to supply it, in a suitable position, and the end of the strip is passed through Vthe channel o1' passage formed between the bar It and table G, thence along on top of the plate fw, and along through the channel or passage 'formed (as already explained) between table B and plate O. When the machine is started, (the chute Q being kept supplied with eyelets,) the stands or arms H, Hf, and I all reciprocate vertically and simultaneously. As they descend, the embossing die Kcomes down into the paper and embosscs it, the perforatingpunch a at the same time piercing it and forming an eye for the tag, the feeder-point j' feeding the paper along at each stroke a distance equal to the length of -the tag to be made. The eyes punched out by c come successively underthe die lc and punch Z, and have an eyelet inserted in each one of them, and, as the strip is fed along, thus embossed, eyed, and eyeleted. The cutting-off die P at each descent cuts oft' from the end of this strip a tag or piece of a given design, eyeleted and ornamented. This mode of operation on the strip of paper is more clearly illustrated at Fig. 5, which represents a plan of the strip as it passes through the machine and has these different operations performed on it. In this figure P4 is the paper strip, l the eye punched out by punch a, 3 the ornamentation, 2 the eyelets. At T4 the dotted lines show the tag -completed by cutting oit' by the die P.

In starting the machine, after punching the .'flrst eye, the strip may be slid along by hand until this iirst eye isbrought under the feederpoint f, when the machine may have power turned on and will continue automaticallythe pressure of thev feeding-point on and its impression into the paper being sufficient to insure its operationlout should the material from which the tags are being made be so thin or of such nature that the Afeed-point would be apt to injure it,instead of pulling thest-rip along, then the strip may be set by' a hand a few times, until the eyeleted holes or eyes reach up to the location of the feeder, so it will drop into an eyeletcd eye, and there the m achinery may be set in motion by power.

VThe object of having the parts performing the different operations located as shown, is to admit of varying the feed and dividing the distance between the eyeletin g mechanism and the cuttin goff dies into a greater or less number of equal parts, to make tags ot' different lengths.

It will be seen that when themachine is intended to make a different-sized tag, the die K, with its stand I, must be adiusted nearer to or farther from the eyeleting-punch l, and, to corr( spond with this adjustment, I propose to make the table G (in which is formed the female for die K) removable, so that another and different one may be substituted for it. The dies P and itsfernale should also be made removable, for the substitution of.different sized dies. Y

It will be seen by reference to Fig. 5, where P4 is the strip of paper, l the eyes, 2 the eyelets, 3 the ornamentation, that the eyes are formed along the center of the strip in a straight line and equidistant from each other. By the employment of a strip thus prepared, (whether the eyes be eyeletcd or not,) I am enabled to produce tags by simply dividing up the said strip, by any suitable cutting-out device or mechanism, into pieces of equal size and similar design, and it will be seen that I can adopt any design desired in the production of tags from the strip prepared as shown.

By the employment of an automatic or other mechanicalfeed mechanism, it will be seen I can divide the strip by the cutting mechanism very rapidly and very perfectly, so as to produce the tags with any given design with their eyes centrally located, and at a much less cost than they can be made now by any known process of manufacture.

What Iclaim in this application as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Forming the tags from a strip of material having eyes formed in a line through its center equidistant.

2. Feeding such strip of material through the cutting or stamping-out mechanism by means of a mechanical feed.

`In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 24th day of August, 1863.

' 'rHoMAs B. DE FOREST. [n s] In presence of- J. W. NARAMORE, WM. E. Downs.

Images