806

BUTTON MANUFACTURE.

quircd for the back of the button; that shown in the figures, as before stated', is of theshape used for buttons to be covered with Florentine or thin plate metal, in a roundshell closed in upon the inclined or bevelled edge of the back! e is the cutting andshaping punch of the shank, which is fixed within the counter die; this punch cutsthrough the metal of the disc, and forms the shank as the dies approach nearer together,by raising or forcing it up into the recess or opening in the die c, where it is met by theend of another shaping punch f, fixed in the punch a, which compresses the upper partof the shank into the recess g, in the end of the punch e, thereby giving the shank itsrounded figure, and at the same time forming the other part of the shank into the requiredshape, as described at figs. 185 to 189. The ends of these shaping punches fit into andover each other, as will be seen by the detached figures of the punches designed for form-ing the shank first described. Fig. 202 is a representation of the punches when apart andremoved out of the dies; fig. 203 is a longitudinal section of the same; fig. 204 is anotherview of the punches as seen on the top. The sharp edge of the recess h, in the punch e,comes in contact with the cutting edges of the projecting rib i of the die c, and therebycuts through so much of the metal as is required. The edge k of this die keeps the out-side ends of the shank of a spherical figure, as before explained, while the punches forceup the metal, and form the elevated loop or shank: u u are holes made through the coun-ter die d, for the passage of clearing pins, which force out the shank or back piece fromthe counter die when finished; the operation of which will be shown when describing themachinery hereafter. There are adjusting screws at the back of the punches and dies,by which they can be regulated and brought to their proper position one to the other.

Although he has shown the punches which form his improved shanks, fixed into andworking in conjunction with the punch and dies which cut out and shape the discs ofmetal for the back of the button, yet he does not intend to confine himself to that modeof using them, as flat blanks or discs for the backs of buttons may be cut out in aseparate stamping press, and afterwards shaped in the same press or in another, and thenbrought under the operation of the punches which form his improved shanks, fixed inany suitable press. This last mentioned mode of producing button shanks and backshe prefers when such metals are employed as require annealing between the operationsof shaping, the backs and forming the shank. Fig. 205 is a section taken through apair of dies, in which the operation only of forming the shank is to be performed, thebacks being previously shaped in another press. In this instance the punches e and /are mounted in guide-pieces m and n, which keep them in the proper position towardseach other, the die c being mounted in the piece n, and acting against the face of theguide m. The blanks or backs of the buttons may be fed into these dies by hand or anyother means; and after the shank is formed, the finished back can be pushed out of thelower die by clearing rods passed through the holes u u and removed by hand, or in anyconvenient manner.

When his improved shanks are formed out of iron or other metal which is too brittle toallow of the shank being forced up and finished at one operation in the dies and punches,he prefers cutting .out and shaping the blank or back of the button first, and after an-nealing it, to raise or force up the portion of metal to form the shank into the shapeshown in fig. 206, that is, without the edges of the metal being turned to prevent theircutting the threads, and after again annealing it, to bend or turn the edges into theshape shown in fig. 191 by means of suitable punches in another press, or by a pair olpincers and punch as shown in fig. 207, which is a side view of a small apparatus to beused for turning the edges of the shank by hand, with a partly formed shank seen underoperation, a , is the upper jaw of a pair of pincers, this jaw being fixed on to the hcaof the standard6; the under jaw c, is formed by the end of the lever or handle d, whichas its fulcrum in the standard b. e is a small punch, passed through a guide hole Mthe head of the standard, one end projecting into the jaws of the pincers, theagainst a piece /, attached by a joint to the lever d, and working through a slot in tnhead of the standard; this piece /, has an inclined plane on the side next the end of tnpunch, which, in its descent, projects the punch forward against the top of the loop 0the shank, (placed at g,) as the pincers are closed by forcing down the lever d, and,conjunction with the jaws of the pincers, compresses the shank into the required f° rm ’, heshown at ft, and in the enlarged fig. 191. A spring, i, acts against a pin fixed intopunch e, for the purpose of bringing it back as the jaws open after forming a sna •Figs. 208 and 209 represent the face and section of the dies mentioned before, for cut =>the slits in the discs, as at fig. 190. ' nS

Having explained the peculiar forms of his improved metallic shanks for bu ^and the tools employed in making the same, he proceeds to describe the machineryapparatus by which he intends to carry his invention into effect. He proposess t :oa sheet of metal, say about 30 or 40 feet long, and of the proper width and thicKi t ; twhich thin sheet is to be wound upon a roller, and placed above the machine, so t ^can be easily drawn down into the machine as required for feeding the punches