US 4,256,250 AGranted

Method and apparatus for setting fastener elements into a blank

AssigneeDRG Inc.

InventorConrad LeBlanc

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Abstract

This relates to the production of folders such as those commonly used for binding loose sheets of paper into booklet form. There is provided a method and an apparatus for setting fastener elements, such as tangs and eyelets, into selected portions of a blank made of heavy paper or cardboard. The apparatus employs rotary die holding elements defining a nip or nips therebetween for receiving one or more portions of a paper blank, particularly a blank folded to a T-shaped configuration. The apparatus includes means for applying setting forces to the fastener elements during the very brief interval of time that the fastener elements are disposed in the nip or nips between the die holders. Radially movable dies are mounted in certain of the rotary holders and cam means are employed to apply momentary fastener element setting forces to the fasteners. These momentary setting forces are applied in such a way that crushing of the leading edge or edges of the fastener elements coming into the nip or nips between the rotary elements is substantially avoided. The apparatus is capable of operation in a very rapid manner with the tangs and eyelets being positionally matched in accurate fashion and securely installed.

Claims18

Dependent claims

Apparatus for setting a fastener element, such as an eyelet or a tang, in a blank, comprising means defining a path of travel for the blank, a fastener element setting station in said path of travel including a plurality of rotary die holder means mounted for rotation about a pair of spaced generally parallel axes and defining a nip therebetween for receiving a portion of the blank, a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart fastener element setting dies carried by each of the die holder means for rotation therewith in such a way that, upon rotation of the die holder means about their respective spaced axes, successive pairs of said fastener element setting dies come into opposing relationship with one another in the nip, means for advancing the blank edgewise along the path of travel in timed relation to the rotation of the die holder means to bring said portion of the blank into the nip, means for feeding fastener elements to the setting dies in such a way that each fastener element is carried into a position in the nip between a respective opposing pair of said setting dies along with a portion of the blank, and means for momentarily applying fastener element setting forces during the rotation of the rotary die holder means which forces act through each said opposing pair of setting dies while they are in the nip to set the respective fastener elements positioned therebetween, whereby, upon application of the momentary fastener element setting forces individual fasteners are successively set into said portion of the blank.

Apparatus for setting eyelets and tangs in a blank which has been folded to a shape which includes a pair of oppositely directed arms:

comprising means defining a path of travel for the blank, a tang and eyelet setting station in said path of travel including a plurality of rotary die holder means mounted for rotation about a pair of spaced parallel axes and defining a pair of nips therebetween for receiving the opposing arms of the folded blank, means for rotating the die holder means at a preselected rotational speed, spaced apart tang setting dies and spaced apart eyelet setting dies carried by the die holder means in angularly spaced relation about the rotation axes of their respectively associated die holder means for rotation therewith so that upon rotation of the die holder means about their respective spaced axes, successive pairs of tang setting dies come into opposing relationship with one another in a first of the nips while successive pairs of eyelet setting dies come into opposing relationship with one another in the second one of the nips, means for advancing the blank edgewise along the path of travel in timed relation to the rotation of the die holder means to bring each of the opposing arms of the folded blank into a respective one of the first and second nips, means for feeding tangs and eyelets to the tang setting dies and eyelet setting dies in such a way that individual tangs are carried into the first nip and eyelets are carried into the second nip to positions between the respective opposing pairs of setting dies along with the opposing arms of the folded blank, means for momentarily applying tang and eyelet setting forces during the rotation of the rotary die holder means which act through each opposing pair of setting dies while they are in the first and second nips, whereby, upon application of said momentary forces to said setting dies, individual tangs are successively set into one of the arms of the shaped blank while individual eyelets are successively set into the other arm of the blank.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.