GB2108367A - Fastener attaching apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A fastener-attaching apparatus has a track (58) delivering fasteners to a groove (62) in which a pusher bar (64) is slidable to move the fasteners to a die at a fastener attaching point. A manual feed track (84) is provided to deliver fastening members of different sizes into the groove (62) at a location behind which the pusher bar (64) recedes, when the track (58) is closed. Therefore there is no need for different hopper bodies for the different sizes of members or to replace the hopper contents when each size is required. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in fastener attaching apparatus This invention relates to an apparatus for attaching snap or other similar fasteners to garments.

Various apparatuses for securing those fasteners to garments have hitherto been introduced. Automatic ones using rotary hoppers forfeeding snap fasteners or the like are already in use. One example is illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4. Referring to FIG. 1, a multiplicity of snap fasteners or backing members are accommodated in a compartment defined between a rotary case or hopper body 1 and vertical sides of a housing 2. The fasteners are fed out, through a number of directional control grooves 3 formed radially and equidistantly on the periphery of the rotary hopper body 1 that faces the housing, toward a guide plate 4, track connector 5, fastener feed track 6, and finally to a point 7 where each fastener is attached to a garment (i.e., where a crimper is located).The rotary hopper is intermittently driven in the direction of the arrow, and the fasteners or backing members that have fallen by gravity into the individual directional control grooves 3 in their lowermost positions are scooped upward in mill wheel fashion and are released from the grooves, in succession, near the guide plate 4 into a guide groove 8. A screw 9 is used to secure the track 6 in place.

The snap fastener, shown for example in FIG. 2, consists of a female piece 10, a male piece 11, and their attaching or backing members 12, 13 of the same shape.

FIG. 3 is a front view of an automatic fastener backing - member feeding mechanism that forms essential parts of the snap-attaching apparatus.

Although the present invention is applicable to three-hopper type fastener-attaching apparatuses (e.g., the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No.49163/1980), it is herein described, for convenience of illustration, as applied to atwo-hoppertype. Means for holding a garmentto be furnished with the snap fasteners, (upper and lower) dies for crimping the fastener pieces and backing members together, and drives for opening and closing the die assembly are not shown but are all of conventional designs. (Refer to FIG. 4.) Support frames 20,21 are integrally secured to the base (not shown) of the snap fastener-attaching apparatus.

Between these frames are disposed (upper and lower) crimping dies shown in FIG. 4 and their driving mechanisms. The frames 20, 21 support L-shaped brackets 23,24, respectively. The vertically extended portions 25 of the L-shaped bracket 23 is formed with a circular recess 28 defining one end wall of a hollow of the hopper body 27 accommodating fastener pieces. Similarly, the vertically extended portions 26 of the L-shaped bracket 24 for backing members is formed with a circular recess 32 defining one end wall of the hollow of the hopper body 30 for the backing members. Because the two hoppers are analogous in many details of the circular recess and vertical portion, the common parts will be described below only in connection with the hopper body 30 and its associated parts.The vertical wall portion 26 of the L-shaped bracket has a center opening through which a shaft 33 extends horizontally and is supported for rotation by a bearing 34. In the hopper body 27 too, a shaft 35 is rotatably supported by the vertical wall portion 25. The hopper body 30 is fitted on the shaft 33 and is secured in place by setscrews (not shown). The other hopper body 27 is likewise mounted. On the inner end portions of the shafts 33, 35 are fixedly mounted one-way clutches 42,43, respectively, which in turn are connected to prime movers (not shown) through crank means 44,45,so as to drive the rotary hopper bodies intermittently in the same direction as indicated in FIG. 1. Each rotary hopper body is in the form of a truncated cone and is formed with directional control grooves 46 on the flat periphery facing the circular recess 32.The geometry of the directional control grooves depends on the types of female, male, and backing pieces of the snap fasteners to be handled. For such hopper construction reference is to be had to FIG. 1 that shows a typical hopper and corresponding grooves 3.

To the vertical portions 25,26 of the L-shaped brackets 23, 24 are fixed guide plates 47,49 and track connectors 50, 52 similar to those shown in FIG. 1.

The brackets 23,24 are formed with grooves connected with the lower ends of the track connectors 50, 52, and tracks 56,58 are fitted into these grooves.

The tracks, in turn, are fixed to the vertical portions of the L-shaped brackets by setscrews 53, 55 similar to the one designated 9 in FIG. 1. Each track is T-shaped in cross section similarly to the T-groove of the corresponding connector 50 or 52. The design of the T-groove of each track is dictated by the sizes and shapes of the female, male, and backing pieces of the snap fasteners to be used. The tracks 56,58 are both bent midway, extending toward the point K where the fastener components are assembled by crimper means (not shown), and terminating at prescribed points.

In order to deliver the snap fasteners from the discharge outlets of the tracks 56, 58 to the fastener-attaching point K, or into the space between the upper and lower dies of the crimper, a pusher unit is employed. FIG. 4 diagrammatically illustrates such a unit. The discharge outlets of the chutes or tracks 56, 58 are open, respectively, in guide grooves 61,62 of fastener guides 59,60 attached to the housing 69. In the guide grooves 61,62 are slidably fitted pusher bars 63,64, both secured to a block 65.

The block 65 itself has openings through which guide rods 66,67, supported at one ends by a bracket 68 secured to the housing 69 (and likewise supported at the other ends), extend so that the block can slide over the rods. The front ends of the guide rods 61, 62 are open at the fastener-attaching point K and, as the slide block 65 is driven in the direction of the arrow by a prime mover (not shown), the male or female piece 10 or 11, and the backing member 12 from the track 56,58 are fed to the attaching point K.

The housing 69 is provided with an upper die, consisting of the working end of a plunger 71 and a holder 7C which can elastically hold each male or female piece 10 or 11 of a snap fastener on both sides and is slideable with respect to the plunger 71.

The housing also securely supports a lower die which consists of a holder 72 likewise capable of elastically holding fastener pieces and being buckled with a spring 73, and the working end of a stefionary rod 74. In operation, the pusher bars 63,64 move forward, while the plunger 71 is in the lifted position, to force the male, female, and backing pieces emerging from the discharge outlets of the tracks 56, 58, respectively, into the holders 70,72 of the upper and lower dies. As the plunger 71 is driven downward, the pusher bars retract behind the outlets of the tracks 56,58.

In the construction described, the backing members of the fasteners are accommodated in the hopper body 30. Generally, the flange of such a backing member is diversely designed, and sometimes backing members of varied shapes or designs are needed in small lots. The rotary hopper 30 works efficiently when attaching a large number of standardized backing members. The efficiency is impaired, however, when varied backing members in limited quantities are to be handled, because hoppers in number corresponding to the types of backing members must be provided for selective use or the hopper must be emptied after each fastener-attaching run to receive pieces of a different type, or even the track 58 must be replaced by a more suitable one for the next run.The present invention, therefore, aims at providing a manually operable arrangement which can be retrofitted to the existing apparatus of the aforedescribed construction so as to feed a limited quantity of attaching or backing members (or female or male pieces) of snap fasteners or the like, thus rendering it possible to attach varied types of fastener components in small quantities to garments without the necessity of exchanging the hopper body 30 or replacing the hopper contents for each different variety of the fasteners.

FIG. is a front view of a prior art rotary hopper; FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic sectional view of ordinary fastener components; FIG. 3 is a front view of a fastener feeder of a conventional, automatic fastener-attaching apparatus of the rotary hopper type; FIG. 4 is a partly sectional side view of pusher means and upper and lower dies for feeding fastener components from the feeder to the fastener-attaching point; FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the essential parts of an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 6 is a plan view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 5; FIG. 7 is a front view of the same arrangement; FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line A-A of FIG. 6; FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken on the line B-B of FIG. 6; and FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. While the invention is described as embodied in relation to the pusher means (including a fastener guide 60, guide groove 62, and pusher bar 64) for delivering backing members to the lower die shown in FIG. 4, it is to be understood that the invention is equally applicable to the pusher means for the upper die. The guide 60 comprises a base plate 75 extended along its entire length, and a side plate 76 fixed to the base plate surface so as to guide the pusher bar 64 slidingly. The base plate 75 has a narrowed portion extending toward the fastener attaching point and having side plates 78,79 biased toward both sides of the base plate portion by springs 80, thus forming a guide groove 62 of an inverted-T-shaped cross section.A track 58, equivalent to that of the automatic fastener-attaching apparatus shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, has a discharge end open to the guide groove 62. Opposite to the discharge end, a limiter slide 81 partially projects into the guide groove 62 underthe urging of a spring. The limiter slide 81, with the projection 82 and a recess 83 formed therebelow, receives one backing member at a time from the track 58 and has it delivered properly by the pusher bar 64 to the attaching point. This arrangement is per se known in the art. The track 58 is equipped with a manually operable stopper 91.

In accordance with this invention, a manual feed track 84 is secured to the upper surface of the side plate 79 at a point closer to the fastener-attaching point than the track 58. The track 84 is formed with a groove 85 inverted-T-shaped in cross section and which opens to the guide groove 62. The T-groove 85 may be made large enough to handle backing members of varied sizes, insofar as the guidance of the latter is not hampered. The track 84 has a suitable length for the convenience of manual supply of backing members, and its top may be cut off at right angles to the axis so as to provide an entrance 86 at which the fastener pieces can be easily fed. Onto the side plate 78 is fixed a guide plate 87, which has an opening 89 at least as broad as the groove 85 of the track 84, and the opening is set in register with the broadest portion of the guide groove 62.This ensures infallible supply of the backing members to the guide groove. The inner edges of the side plates 78,79 facing the groove are recessed correspondingly to the opening 89 so that the maximum-diameter portion of each fastener piece to be handled can fit in the broadest portion of the guide groove 62. The opening 89 not only serves as a guide for each backing member in its travel from the guide groove 85 to the groove 62 but permits the same member to be directly placed by hand into the opening. When the fastener member is fed in that way, the pusher bar 64 is in the advanced position (corresponding to an interval of the machine operation), and the member is temporarily held by the surrounding wall of the opening 89. As the pusher bar withdraws synchronously with the forward movement of the plunger 71 (FIG. 4), the fastener member properly falls into the guide groove 62.

Then, the member is forced toward the lower die holder 72 by the pusher bar 64, as the latter moves forward synchronously with the retraction of the plunger 71. Adjacent to the entrance 86 of the track, a receptable 90 for backing members may be provided to facilitate the operation, or a small hopper of a simplified structure may be installed instead.

In operation, where automatic fastener attaching is to be carried on, the apparatus is allowed to follow the same sequence as described already in connection with FIGS. 3 and 4. Each backing member will then fall from the track 58 into the groove 62 and will be forced by the pusher bar 64 onto the lower die 72.

On the other hand, where manual operation is preferred, the track 58 is closed by the stopper 91, and desired backing members from the receptacle are fed, one by one, through the entrance 86 into the inverted-T-shaped groove 85. Each member will slide down through the groove 85 and the opening 89 into the guide groove 62. As the prime mover for the pusher bar 64 is switched on, the pusher bar urges the member onto the lower die 72 at the attaching point. As stated above, the backing members may be fed directly through the opening, bypassing the track 84.

FIG. 10 illustrates a modified form of the feeder according to the invention. In a perspective view of the parts in the vicinity of the lower die, there is shown a guide groove 62' of an inverted-T-shaped cross section formed by movable side plates 78', 79' and a base plate 75' similar to those of the aforedescribed embodiment. The guide plate 87 and the track 84 of the preceding embodiment are omitted, but the side plates 78', 79' have lands 92, 93 of a prescribed height formed on the portions formerly covered by the guide plate 87. The inner edges of the lands are arcuately recessed to form a generally cylindrical opening 94 large enough to receive the flanged portion of each backing member. The diameter of the opening 94 is equal to the breadth at the bottom of the inverted-T-shaped guide groove. In operation, each backing member is dropped intotheopening, with its prongs or legs turned upside. Other details of the operation are the same as with the preceding embodiment.

As described hereinabove, it is possible in accordance with the present invention to furnish garments with backing (or snap or suchlike fastener) components of varied types in small quantities, by simply retrofitting an additional mechanism to an existing, automatic fastener-attaching apparatus. Moreover, the selectability of automatic or manual attaching of fasteners renders it possible to make good use of the apparatus. While a few preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (4)

1. In a fastener-attaching apparatus having mechanism for guiding backing members and mating pieces of snap or other similar fasteners, at least one of the guiding mechanisms comprising a block having a guide groove leading to a respective one of upper and lower crimping dies in alignment, a pusher bar slidably fitted in said guide groove and movable forwardly to the die, and a guide member mounted on the guiding mechanism so as to overlie said guide groove, said guide member having an opening for guiding the backing members or mating pieces of the fasteners into said guide groove, and said opening being formed at a location behind which said pusher bar recedes from the die.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said guide groove includes a branched guide groove for feeding the backing member or mating pieces of the fasteners, said branched groove being located behind said opening and ahead of said pusher bar in the receding position.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an auxiliary track has a secondary guide groove which is open at an upper end and which guides the backing members or mating pieces of the fasteners by gravity to said opening.

4. Afastener-attaching apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 5 to 10 of the accompanying drawings.