US831393A

US831393A - Art of making buttons.

Info

Publication number: US831393A
Application number: US25055905A
Authority: US
Inventors: Winfield Scott Watson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1905-03-17
Filing date: 1905-03-17
Publication date: 1906-09-18
Anticipated expiration: 1923-09-18

Description

PATENTED SEPT. 18, 1905.

W. s. WATSON. I ART OF MAKING BUTTONS.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVENTOR )Wiaflkldfl flhlm ATTORNEYS AIPLIOATION FILED MAE.17, 1905.

v WITNESSES:

110,331,393. PAT'ENTBD SEPT. 18, 1906. w. s. WATSON. ART OF MAKING BUTTONS.

APELIOATION FILED MAE-17, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

cm, WASHINGTON, D. c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WINFIELD SCOTT WATSON, OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

ART OF MAKING BUTTONS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 18, 1906.

T0 on whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WINFIELD Soo'rT WAT- soN, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Memphis, in the county of Shelby and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and Improved Art of Making Buttons, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to reduce the number of operations necessary in the manufacture of buttons, particularly those pro duced from fresh-water mussel or other shells. In attaining this end I form a circular or other kerf in the shell and simul taneously dress the part of the shell bounded by the kerf to form the face of the button. The kerf is formed in the inner surface or face of the shell and is of a depth equal to or greater than the thickness of the button. After the operations above described I grind away or otherwise remove a portion of the outer side or back of the shell, forming a cut or cavity therein extending along a plane surface and said out extending through to the kerf first made. In this way I simultaneously separate the button from the shell and dress the back of the button, which is thereby completely formed excepting for the thread-holes, which may be drilled at any time and in any desired manner.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate as an example one manner in which my new process may be practiced, together with the machinery for performing the various steps involved, in which drawings like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a side view of a lathe commonly employed in making button-blanks and showing face-cutting tool completed. Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section of the cutting-tool. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an end view of the tool shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is afront elevation showing the apparatus for grinding away the back of the shell. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the same, partly in section, on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the chuck or holder employed with the apparatus shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Fig. 8 is a view showing the face of a fresh-water mussel-shell with two circular kerfs therein, each bounding a partly-formed button, the face of which has been dressed simultaneously with the formation of the kerf. Fig.

- dressed. plane,

9 is a sectional view of the shell on the line 9 9 of Fig. 8, and Fig. 10 is a view illustrating the part, of the shell as shown in Fig. 9 as the same would appear after the grinding of the back of the shell by which simultaneously to remove the finished button from the shell and to dress or finish the back surface of the button.

.In forming buttons according to my improvement in the art I produce in the face of a shell a endless or annular kerfs or grooves I), thus forming a buttonblank inside of each kerf, these blanks being indicated at c in Figs. 8, 9, and 10. Kerfs b are formed with a depth equal to or greater than the thickness of the button for the purpose which will hereinafter fully appear. Simultaneously with the formation of the kerfs b I completely dress or form the face of the blank, as indicated by the cavity 0 in said figures. Of course the precise profile of the blank depends upon the form of the button being made.

The drawings illustrate a simple form of button in which the face is formed merely with a central cavity or indentation. The shell will now appear as illustrated best in Fig. 9. The next operation is to grind away or otherwise remove the back or outer part of the shell, working inward from the outer surface or back until the kerf b is reached. This second operation serves to sever the button from the shell, as indicated at d in Fig. 10, and to simultaneously dress or finish the back or rear surface of the button. The cut or cavity thus formed extends along a plane surface, so' that the back of the button is as contradistinguished from rounding or curved. (See Fig. 10.) Of course if a button with a round back is desired the cut may be made rounding to give the button the form desired. These two operations produce the finished button excepting for the thread-holes, which may be formed at any time. This manner of producing the button dispenses entirely with the difficult and tedious operations of finishing the blanks. Under the old method commonly employed with fresh-water shells a circular roove or kerf is formed clear through the s liell, producing a disk-like blank which is finished by special machinery designed for this purpose.

It will be observed that with my process the formation of the blank and the finishing of the button are merged into two simple and concurrent operationsto wit, first,

forming the kerf with a depth equal to the thickness of the button and dressing the face 0, and, second, grinding away the back of the shell to release the button and to dress the rear side thereof. The art or process therefore effects material saving in time, machinery, and labor. It also involves a saving in the material of which the buttons are constructed.

By forming the kerf b of a depth equal to or greater than the thickness of the button I am enabled to use on the back of the shell a tool with a plane working surface, and I avoid the necessity of employing on the back of the shell a cutting-tool with projecting portions at its sides, which must enter the shell beyond the back'of the button to form a second kerf meeting the first kerf. In my invention only one cutting operation is essential namely, the operation of cutting the kerf b to a depth equal to the thickness of the button. This having been done, I am enabled to come in from the back of the shell and working along a plane surfaceas, for instance, by the grinding device, to be hereinafter describedremove a ortion of the shell, leaving a plane surface which not only forms the back of the button, but reaches the kerf, thus completely separating the button from the shell.

Figs. 1 to 4 illustrate the devices which may well be em loyed for producing the kerf and facing the Futton. Fig. 1 shows an ordinary button-lathe having my improved cutting and facing tool in position. Obviously this tool may be operated by lathe or machinery of any form suitable to this purpose, and in my copending application, Serial No. 250,560, filed March 17, 1905, I have illustrated a special machine for operating the tool shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. Said tool comprises a body 15, having an extension 16, with a longitudinal groove 17 therein. This groove is quadrant-shaped in cross-section and is intended to receive the facing-tool 18. Said groove 17 extends also through the body 15 of the tool, so that the shank of the facing-tool may project into the body, where it is held by a screw 19 or other fastening means. The outer side of the facing-tool 18 is arc-shaped, so as to correspond with the curvature of the outer surface of the extension 16, the two parts 16 and 18 forming approximately a round structure. Received in this round structure composed of the extension 16 and tool 18 is a split tubular saw 20. This saw is in the form of a split tube one end of which has teeth produced thereon. The saw is of resilient material, so that it may be sprung around the parts 16 and 18, and the saw is clamped firmly in place by means of a shoe 21, hearing against the side of the saw and held by a screw 22 said shoe being located in a cavity 23, formed in a clamping-sleeve 24. This sleeve slips over the cutting-tool 20 and carries the screw 22, before described. By

means of the arrangement shown the tools 18 and 20 may be relatively adjusted to give the button any desired form, and the tool 18 may be changed 'at will to change the rofile of the button. The body 15 of the too may be fastened in the lathe by a suitable chuck or any other desired manner. It will be observed that when the tool is in operation the tubular saw 20 in rotating against the shell will form the circular kerf 1), before described, and the facing-tool 18 in turning around the face of the disk formed by the kerf will dress down the face and finish the button at this point.

I will next describe the devices which may well be employed for grinding away the back of the shell. These devices are illustrated in Figs. 5, 6, and 7. They comprise a suitable frame or support 25, having bearings 26.

for a drive-shaft 27, on which a suitable grinding-wheel 28 is carried. Above the grinding-wheel 28 a bracket 29 is fastened to the support. (See Fig. 6.) This bracket has two

boxes

30 and 31, and received loosely, in the said boxes is a vertically-extending shaft 32, having a collar 33, attached to which collar are pivoted links 34. The links are oined at their upper ends to a crank or cranks on a shaft 35, and this shaft is mounted to rock in bearings 36, formed on the bracket 29. 37 indicates an operating-handle carried by the shaft 35. 38 indicates a spring which engages between the box 30 and the collar 33 and tends to hold the shaft 32 in the raised position shown. The shaft 32 carries at its lower end a tubular holder 39, formed with a cavity 40 in its lower end, (see Fig. 7,) which is of a size equaling that of the buttons 0, (see Fig. 9,) so that one of the buttons may be received snugly in the cavity, as will hereinafter appear. The shaft 32 is tubular to register with the tubular holder 39, and extending through these tubular parts is an ejector-rod 41. This rod projects beyond the top of the shaft 32 and is su ported by a bracket 42, which is attached to the shaft and to the box 31 of the bracket 29.

Figs. 5 and 6 show the grinding devices in inactive position. In order to grind away the back of the shell, the arm 37 should be raised, so as to throw down the shaft 32, causing the lower end of the holder 39 to project below the lower end of the ejector-rod 41. The shell should now be placed back downward between the grinding-wheel 28 and the holder 39 and the downward movement of the holder continued until the cavity 40 of the holder receives one of the buttons (see c in Fig. 9) and the back of the button is engaged with the grinding-wheel. The shell may be held in the hand of the operator, and upon the movement of the grinding-wheel the back of the shell will be cut or ground away, as indicated in Fig. 10, thus simultaneously removing the button from the tool (see (Z in Fig. 10) and dressing or finishing the back of the button. After this has been done the arm 39 should be lowered, whereupon the parts will assume the position shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and the ejector-rod 41. will dislodge the finished button from the cavity 40 of the holder 39.

Having thus described the preferred form of my invention, what I claim as new, and

desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

than the thickness of the button to be formed, dressing the face of the material bounded by the groove to finish the face of the button, and then removing the material at the back of the shell in rear of the groove.

3. The method herein described of forming buttons from shells, consisting in forming in the shell an annular groove of a depth greater than the thickness of the button to be formed,

dressing the face of the material bounded by 0 the groove, and then grinding away the back of the shell opposite the groove to sever the button and to dress the back of the same.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of 35 two subscribing witnesses.

WINFIELD SCOTT WATSON. Witnesses:

N. W. SMITH, K. BLANTON.