Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1()388Z6
BACKGROUND ~F THE INVENTION .
Field of the Invention
This invention rel'ates to apparatus for attaching
two component elements, such'as buttonsl snaps and the like,
to articles. One of the elements has one or more deformable
prongs for securing the one'el'emant through the article to the
other element,
Description of the Prior Art
The prior art, as exemplified in U. S. Patents
No. 3,420,427, No. 3,554,426, No. 3,612,381, No. 3,632,033,'
No. 3,750,925, No. 3,803,698 and No. 3,815,805, contains a
number of apparatus or attaching two component elements to
artiales such as garments. However, in such prior art
apparatus it is difficult to determine the exact location
where the element will be fastened to an article positioned
in the apparatus. Further, prior art apparatus was
constructed with a relatively short horizontal throat or
opening for receiving the article; such short opening
preventing the attachment of the elements to a position
20 , spaced a relatively long' distance from the edge of an
article. Still further, where one of the elements to'be
attached to an article was dome-shaped, rams in the prior
art apparatus for dri~ing the dome-shaped element allowed
misalignment as well as the disorientation of the dome-
shaped element xelative to the other element during
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movement of the rams to d.isengage the dome-shaped elements
from resilient gripping members.
The prior art also contains diverse indicator
devices, for example. as disclosed in U. S. Patents No.
3,448,280 and No. 3,728,027; such indicator devices being
either unadaptable for employment in two component element
attaching appara-tus or being~deficient in pointing out the
precise location of attachment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is summarized in that an apparatus
for attaching first and second mating elements.to articles
wherein one of the first and second elements has a deformable
prony extending therefrom for securing the one element
through the article to the other of the first and second
elements, the apparatus including a lower station for sup-
porting a first element, an upper station vertically a-
ligned with the lower station and spaced above the lower
station for supporting a second element, ram means for for-
cing the first and second elements at the lower and upper
stations toward each other, a irst hopper and feeding means
for containing a plurali-ty of the first elements and for
feeding first elements sequentially to the lower station,
means forming a slide path extending horizontally to the
upper station, a second hopper and feeding means for con-
taining a plurality of second elements and for feeding se-
cond elements sequentially to a point in the slide path
spaced from the upper station, a slide bar mounted for
sliding movement in the slide path, means for operating the
ram means and the slide bar to assemble first and second ele-
ments on an article between the lower and upper stations and
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to advance the slide bar after operation of the ram means to
push a second element down tlle slide path to the upper sta-
tion, an indicator including means mounted on the slide bar
~or movement therewith, and said indicator means being in
vertical alignment with the upper and lower stations when
the slide bar is advanced.
An object of the invention is to construct a fas-
tener attaching apparatus which has an indicator for precisely
locating the position of attachment of the fastener.
Another object of the invention is to provide a
fastener attaching apparatus which can attach fastener ele-
ments to an article at positions spaced by a relatively
longer distance from an edge thereof than has heretofore
been possible.
It is also an object of the invention to provide
an improved ram for fastener attaching appartus wherein
fastener elements are maintained in alignment and
orientation.
An advantage of the present invention is that an
; 20 indicator means is mounted on a slide bar in alignment
between upper and lower stations when the slide bar is
advanced such that the indicator means is removed automatically
from between ram facilities at the first and second stations
when the slide bar is retracted during the initiation of an
attaching cycle of the apparatus.
Other objects and advantages of the lnvention will
be apparent from the following description of the preferred
embodiment taken in conjection with the accompanying drawings.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a side elevation view of an apparatus
for attaching elements to an article in accordance with the
invention.
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one type of
pronged and mating fastening elements which can be attached
to an article by the apparatus of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with a portion
broken away therefrom illustrating a second operative posi-
tion of the apparatus.
Fig. 4 is a bottom view taken along a slide path to
a lower station of a portion of the apparatus of Fig. 1.
Fig. 5 is a front cross sectional view of an upper
station and ram of the apparatus of Fig. 1.
Fig. 6 is a boktom view of the upper station and ram
of Fig. 5.
Fig. 7 is a side elevational view, partially in cross
section, of a modified indicator suitable for substitution for
the indicator of the apparatus in Fig. 1.
Fi~. 8 is a side view, partially in cross section, of
another modified indicator suitable for substitution in the
apparatus of Fig. 1.
Fig. 9 is a perspective view of another type of
pronged and mating fastening elements which can be attached to
an article by the apparatus of Fig. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
As illustrated in Fig. 1 the invention is embodied in
an apparatus for attaching mating elements, such as fastening
or decorative elements 10 and 12, to an article 14 positioned
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between a lower station indicated generally at 16 and an
upper station indicated generally at 18. As shown in Fig.
2, the elements 10 and 12 may be the type having ~lat
faces; the element 12 having a dome-shaped head, and the
element 10 having a pair of prongs 19 extending therefrom
perpendicular to its flat face. Or the elements 10 and
12 may be of various other types such as that shown in Fig.
9 wherein a single deformable prong 19 extends from a slightly
conical face of the element 10, and the element 12 is shaped
like an inverted hat with a crown portion for being deformed
inwardly over the prong 19 and with a brim portion for engaging
the article. The prongs 19 of these types of elements are
designed to be deformed during insertion into the element 12
to secure the elements 10 and 12 together.
The apparatus of Fiy. 1 has a plate-like support 20
vertically mounted upon a table top 22~ Hoppers 24 and 26
are mounted on the upper end of the support 20 for containing
respective pluralities of the elements 10 and 12. A chute
28 extends between an outlet of the hopper 24 and a rear end
point 30, Fig. 4, of a slide path indicated generally at 32
extending horizontally forward to the lower station 16 in a
lower assembly indicated generally at 33 mounted on the sup-
port 20. A chute 34 extends from an outlet of the hopper 26
to a rear end point 36, Fig. 3, of a slide path 38 formed in
an upper assembly indicated generally at 40 mounted on the
support 20. The slide path 38 extends from its rear end point
36 to the upper station 18. Suitable means, indicated gener-
ally at 44, are mounted on the support 20 for lifting elements
10 and 12 having predetermined orientations within the hoppers
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24 and 26 and discharging the elements 10 and 12 into the
respective chutes 28 and 34 for being fed by gravity to the
respective rear end points 30 and 36 of the slide paths 32
and ~.
A slide bar 48 is slidably mounted within the
lower assembly 33 and is connected by a lever arrangement
indicated generally at 50 to a lever 52 pivoted at 54 for
reciprocating the slide bar 48 when the lever 52 is pivoted.
An air cylinder 56 is mounted on the support 20 and has
piston rod means 58 ~or engaging the lever 52 to pivot the
lever 52. The slide bar 48 has projections or pushers 60 and 62
extending into the slide path 32 for advancing the elements
10 along the slide path 32.
A slide bar 66 is slidably mounted within the
slide path 38 and is connected to a spring biased lever
mechanism indicated generally at 68 which is adapted for
being engaged and moved by a member 70 mounted on an
air cylinder 72 which is slidably supported on a block
74 pivotally secured to the support 20. A spring 76
biases the cylinder 72 against the block 74 such that
during a portion of the movement of the piston rod 78
from the air cylinder adjacent the fully retracted.position
of the piston rod 78, the member 70 operates the lever
mechanism 68 to advance and retract the slide bar 66. The
forward end 79 of the slide bar 66 is adapted to push an
element 12 from the rear point 36 to the station 18 when
the slide bar 66 is advanced.
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A lower ram 80 extends between the lever 52 and
the station 16 for vertically li~ting an article 10 from
the station 16. An upper ram assembly 82 is attached to a
lever mechanism indicated generally at 84 which is secured
to the piston rod 78 for raising and lowering the ram
assembly 82 during the motion of the piston rod 78 adjacent
the most advanced position of the pis~on rod 78 to raise
and lower the ram assembly 82.
Inasmuch as suitable discharging and orienting
means 44, lever arrangements 50, 68 and 84, hoppers 24 and
26, rams 80, air cylinders 56 and 72 are well known in the
art by being either described in the prior art or having
been utilized on commercially-available fastener attaching
machines, they are not described in further detail herein.
~dditionally, suitable control means, such as a treadle
air valve or the like, for operating the air cylinders
56 and 72 and the discharging means 44 are also well known
in the prior art.
As shown in Fig. 3 the slide bar 66 has an
extension 90 on the forward end thereof which extends
beneath the element 12 in the slide path 38. A pointer or
indicator, such as cone-shaped pointer or indicator 94
or the like, is mounted on the underside of the extension 90
such that the apex of the pointer 94 is aligned directly
along a central axis of the elements 10 and 12 at the lower
and upper stations 16 and 18 when the slide bar 66 is
advanced as indicated in Fig. 1.
The lower assembly 33 has a pair of upper members
100 and 102 shown in Fig~ 4, the member 100 being pivoted
at point 104 while the member 102 is stationarily mounted
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in the assembly 33. ~ latch 103 pivotally mounted on the
side of the assen~ly normall~ secures the member 100 in
the closed position but can be pivoted to allow the member,
100 to be pivoted open. A cavity 105 is formed at the rear
end point 30 of the lower assembly 33 for receiving the heads;
of the fastener elements 10 from the chute 28 with the
, prongs 12 extending upward, i.e., away from the view in
Fig. 4. A member 106 is pivotally mounted at 108 in the
assembly 34 and has a spring 110 normally urging a side
'10 camming surface 112 of the member 106 into the path of the
projection 60 such that the projection 60 cams the membe,r
106 out of its path during its forward movemenk. The member
106 has a front cam surface 114 or engaging a rear camming
sur~ace 116, Fig. 3, of the projection 60 to pivot the slide
15 bar 48 downward against an upward spring bias to allow the
projections 60 and 62 to pass beneath the heads of elements
10 at the rear end position 30 and at an intermediate
position indicated generally at 120. A pair of guide blocks
122 and 124 are resiliently mounted in the members 100 and
20 102 and have mating sinuous edges 126 and 128 forming
a tortuous curved and tapered opèning extending from the
rear of the guide blocks 122 and 12~ to the intermediate
position 120. The sinuous edges 126 and 128 are formed
in such a manner to orient the prongs 19 of elements 10
25 having dual prongs in alignment with a narrow slot 130
extending from the intermediate point 120 to the lower
station 16. Suitable grooves 132 and 134 are formed
throughout the length of the members 100 and 102 and the
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guide bars 122 and 124 to pass the heads of the elements
10 .
At the intermediate point 120 of the slide path
32, a pair of detent members 136 and 138 are mounted on the
underside of the respective ~uide bars 122 and 124 for
extending partially into the respective grooves 132 and 134
forming the slide path for the heads of the elements 10.
Each of the detent members 136 and 138 has a rear camming
surface 140 for being engaged by the head of element 10 to
push the resilient mounted guide bars 122 and 124 apart.
Opposing reliefs 142 in the detent members 136 and 138 are
formed such as to grip and retain the element 10 in the in-
termediate position when the projection 6~ is withdrawn
and the projection 62 is retracted back of the intermediate
pOSition.
As shown in Fig. 5 a pair of gripping members 146
and 148 are slidably secured to the lower portion 156 of
the ram 82 such as by a pin and slot arrangement indicated
generally at 150. Spring means 158 normally urges the
members 146 and 148 downward. Springs 160 normally urge
the members 146 and 148 toward each other against the lower
portion 156 of the ram. Horizontally extending ribs 164
and 166 of the members 146 and 148 extend inwardly along
the inside surfaces of the members 146 and 148 at the lower
end thereof to define grooves or channels 168 and 170 for
receiving and supporting outer edges of $he element 12 as
it is pushed therein by the forward abutment surface 79
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of the pusher 66. The lower surfaces of the grooves 168
and 170 are formed such as to allow the element 12 to be
pushed downward and to cam the members 146 and 148 further
apart as illustrated in phanto~.
The lower end of the ram portion 156 is cylindrical
and has a domed cavity 174 formed therein for matin,g with the
domed upper surface of elements 12 having such domed
upper surfaces; the cavities for other types of elements
having suitable forms conventional for such other types of
elements. Reliefs 178 are formed around the lower end of the
portion 156 such as to form quadrilaterally arranged extensions
180 which extend downward over the outside surface of the
cavity 174 for extending on four sides of the element 12; of
course the extensionsl80 may vary in number (two, three,etc)
in accordance with the particular requirements of specific
fastener elements.
As shown in Fig. 6, the ribs 164 and 166 on the
members 146 and 148 have respective slots 190 and 192 formed
therein for acco~modating two'opposite extensions 180 of the
lower ram portion 156 when the ram 82 is lowered.
In operation of the fastener attaching apparatus of
Fig. 1, the actuation of the apparatus will force the ele-
ments 10 and 12 at the respective lower and upper stations
16 and 18 together causing the prongs 10 to penetrate through
an article 14 positioned between the lower station 16 and the
upper station 18 and into the element 12 where the prongs 19
are deformed to secure the elements 10 and 12 on the opposite
sides of the article 14.
More particularly, the pointer 94 is utilized to
align the article between the stations 16 and 18 to the
precise position where the elements 10 and 12 are to be
secured. When the article has been suitable positioned, the
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apparatus is suitably actuated which causes the air
cylinders 56 and 72 to advance their respective piston
rods 58 and 78 to first retract the slide rod bars 48 and
66, and then to lower the ram 82 and raise the ram 80.
The piston rod 58 pivots the lever 52 which operates the
lever mechanism 50 to retract the slidLe rod 48 and which
raises the ram 80. During a first portion of the advancement
of the piston rod 78 relative to the air cylinder 72, the
spring 76 retracts the air cylinder 72 moving the projection
70 rearward to release the spring biased lever mechanism
68 which retracts the push rod 66. During the second
portion of the advancement of the piston rod 78 the lever
mechanism 84 is operated to lower the upper ram assembly 8~.
Thus, the elements 10 and 12 are attached to the article 14.
After the attaching cycle, the air cylinders 56 and 72
are deactuated returning the rams 80 and 82 to their respect
ive lowered and raised positions as well as advancing the
slide bars 48 and 66 to push successive elements 10 and 12
to the respective lower and upper stations 16 and 18.
During the retraction of the push rod 48, the rear
camming surface 116 of the projection 60 engages the forward
camming edge 114 of the member 106 which pivots the slide
bar 48 downward from the slide patb 32 to pass the projections
60 and 62 beneath the elements 10 at the rear point 30 and
the intermediate point 120. After passing beneath the
elements 10 the slide bar 48 and projections are allowed to
return under their spring bias into the slide path 32.
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.
The subsequent advancement of the slide bar 66 pushes
the elements 10 at the rear point 30 and the intermediate
point 120 to the intermediate point 120 and the station 16,
respectively. At the intermediate point 120, the element
10 being pushed from the rear point 30 engages the camming
- surfaces 140 of the detent members 136 and 138 to spread
the spring biased guide bars 122 and 124 thus allowing the
element 10 to be gripped in the recesses 142 of the detent
members 136 and 138 during the retraction of the slide
bar 48.
As the ram 82 is lowered, the cavity 174 on
the bottom edge of the lower portion 156 of the ram 82
engages the upper sur~ace of the element 12. The
extensions 180 surrounding the sides of the element 12 hold
the element 12 in alignment with the element 10 and prevent
the element 12 from shifting to any side. Also the
cavity 174 and the extensions 180 tend to prevent any
rotation of the elements 12 about any horizontal axis. As
the ram 82 continues its downward movement, the lower ends
of the members 146 and 148 engage the article 14 causing
the ram 82 to move downward relative to the members 146
and 148. The ram 82 forces the element 12 downward to cam
the ribs 164 and 166 and the members 146 and 148 apart to thus
strip the elemen.t 12 from the members as it is engaged by
the prongs 19 extending upward from the element 10.
It is particularly advantageous that the pointer
94, is vertically disposed over the article 14. Pointers
which are disposed at an angle to avoid the movement of the
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ram 82 and the element 12, do not give a true center of
location in articles of varying thicknesses; disposing the
pointer 94 directly vertically over the article 14 avoids
such problems.
It is further advantageous that the pointer
94 be directly mounted upon the slide bar 66 which advances
the element 12 in position beneath the ram 82, and in the
; provision of suitable means for holding the slide bar 66
in the advanced position during the aligning of an article
between the stations 16 and 18. Since the slide bar is
automatically withdrawn during the cycling o~ the attachment
of the elements 10 and 12, the pointer 94 is also withdrawn
thus not interfering with operation of the ram 82.
A modi~ication of the pointer or indicator on
the extension 90 of the slide bar 66 is shown in Fig. 7.
The modi~ied pointer or indicator includes a light beam
source 200 suitably mounted on the support 20 for projecting
a horizontal light beam 202. A horizontal passageway 204
formed within the slide bar 66 is aligned with the light
beam projecting from the source 200. A vertical passageway
206, formed in a pointer element 208 mounted on the
extension 90, extends in alignment with the elements 10 and
12 at the stations 16 and 18 when the slide bar 66 is
advanced. A mirror or similar reflective device 210 is
mounted at the intersection of the passageways 204 and 208
to reflect the light beam 202 downward at a 90 angle. The
modification of Fig. 7 produces a light spot on the article
14 at the exact position where the elements 10 and 12-are
to be attached.
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Referring to Fig. 8, there is shown a still
further modi~ied indicator or pointer 300. A horizontal
passageway 302 is formed within the rear of the pointer
300 to intersect with the passageway 206 and allow light
to be reflected downward by the re~lector 210 at the
intersection of the passages 302 and ~06.
Since many modifications, changes in detail, and
variations may be made to the presently described embodiments,
it is intended that all matter in the foregoing description
and the accompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative
and not in a limiting sense.
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