US2265111A - Fabrication of lamp shades and the like - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 2; 1941. J BROWN 2,265,111

FABRICATION OF LAMP SHADES AND THE LIKE Filed July 6, 1940 i isri 11a 49' 14a 29 B E 5 1a 511 I 2% o H I I I r l 1r 10 UL 3' 75a L 1 5 5 15b 16 a 16 1 a INVENTOR. .fo s'e afi 17. Brown Patented Dec. 2 1941 QFFICQ-E.

FABRICATION OF LAMP SHADES'AND THE LIKE ioseph H. Brown, New York, .N. Y.

Application July 6, 1940, Serial No. 344,203

Claims.

This invention relates to the fabrication of lamp-shades and the like, .and has been made particularly with the idea of providing a new and improved method of and apparatus for performing rapidly, economically .and perfectly an operation "which heretofore has been somewhat of a problem in the art of lamp-shade making and especially making lamp-shades of the socalled wall-bracket .or boudoir-lamp type;

Accordingly, the invention .will be explained in connection withlamp-shades of the kind just named, although there is :no reason why the invention would :not be of equal value in the making of shades for floor-lamps or other shades of fairly largesize.

Thus, in herein referring to a lamp-shade, there is meant either the lamp-shade proper of a flame-carrying lampshade, that is, the canopy-li ke covering spread :or supported by an interior skeletal frame generally of bent wire and familiar inthe art :of shades for floor-lamps, or

a lamp-shade which is made from a tubular blank, with the tube made from one or a plutallty of pieces suitably joined together, by forming or shaping the tube and at the same time giving a certain treatment whereby the shade will be wholly or partiallyself-sustaining or more or less set for retention of the contours to which it was for-med or shaped. As will be understood, such a permanently and more or less rigidly shaped tubular blank lamp-shade is adapted to reston rather than :be held to shape by a bent wire or other internal support; and, as will also be understood, this support can be of the kind which is so :simply and cheaply constructed that r it man rest .on the upper part of an upstanding electric light bulb.

The present invention is of prime utility where the lamp-shade is of the type last-described, and the invention will be explained as applied to performing certain operations in making the same.

'These operations are those whereby, with the tubular blank of Celluloid, cellulose acetate, or some other material which is a cellulosic derivative, or of some other material suitable for pleating and extensible after pleating, without loss of its "pleated form, and with this tubular blank pleated all around by pleats running lengthwise of the tube, the tube can be rapidly, economically and perfectly rufiled all around such end, to adapt the said end to be the bottom of a more or less bell-shaped lamp-shade.

By the present invention, this ruffling is done simultaneously at all points of ruflle-curvature all around the lamp-shade bottom, and without destroying the pleated formations except that, naturally, the latter are made shallower at the points, of maximum undulation of the milling and are less and less thus shallowed from the line of the points last-mentioned, that is, from the bottom edge of the lamp-shade, up along the latter to the points of merging of the upper ends of the ruflies with the unrufiled periphery of the pleated tubular blank.

An important feature of the invention, as "the same is preferably carried out, is that during the milling operation as above, the lower end of the tubular blank, all around the same, is held tu- 1 bular' and to :a generally downward outward flare. By this feature, there is no chance of forming undesired crease-lines, of disturbing the pleatings .in a way unintended, or of having different portions spaced .circumferentially around the tube subjected to the heat and. pressure step of the-invention while said portions are in face to face contact.

The heat and pressure step just mentioned is a step which is used in carrying out the method of the invention in the now approved way.

The :method, when carried out with heat and pressure, .or otherwise, and the entire invention, will beclearly understood from .the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying .drawing.

= The annexed drawing illustrates a formof apparatus .as now preferred and as successfully operated over a number of months, for facilitating the practice of the method .of the invention. In this drawing:

.Fig. 1 :is :a view mainly in side elevation, .but partially in:section, of said apparatus or machine, showing :a tubular blank in place, but with the machine only preliminarily adjusted for a ruffiing operation on said blank;

Fig. 2 is asimilar view, showing certain of the partsin Fig. 41, with the machine in a later adjustment;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view, looking down on the .parts as shown in Fig. l, and in the direction of the arrow 3 of that view, but with the'blankrremoved;

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the pleated tubular blank before subjection to the machine; and

Elg. 5 is a similar view showing the milled product.

Referring first to the details of construction of the. machine illustrated, the same includes a tabla-top ID, supported on legs H. Carried by of a circumferential series of radially extended.

presser-fingers l5, the bottom portions of which are convexly rounded so as to conform to the concave roundings of the portions Nb of the block, or, rather, sufllciently to conform to the roundings of the portions |4b to coaot with the latter in milling the lower end of a blank B, as indicated at B, when said blank is arranged as in Fig. 1, and the fingers I5 are forced down tight against the fiared lower portion of the blank, as indicated at B".

The fingers I5 are pivotally mounted as indicated at It, and they have radial horizontal extensions |5a beyond their pivots terminally bossed at l5b. All the fingers are urged toward the position shown in Fig. 1 by expansible coil springs Overlying all the bosses |5b of the fingers I5 is a ring |8 connected at a plurality of points around its periphery, and by draw rods l9, to a floating horizontal frame 20. Rods l9, below the ring |8, pass through suitable openings in table-top IE; below which openings the rods have stop-collars 2| fixed thereon, and above which openings the rods are sleeved by expansible coil springs 22.

From the floating frame depends a link 23 connected at its lower end to a lever 24 pivoted to the table at 25 and carrying a treadle 26.

Rigidly upstanding from the top of the table is a framing 2'! of gibbet type, the top beam 28 of which carries, in vertical alinement with the longitudinal center line of a metal tube 29 mounted as shown on block l4, a bearing 30 for a vertical slide-rod 3|. The top of this rod is provided with a'knob 32, and between the beam 28 and said knobrod 3| is sleeved by an expansible spring 33. This spring is desirably of considerable length,and is under comparatively weak tension. As to the length of the spring, it is pointed out that with the parts as arranged in Fig. 1, that is, with the cone-device 34 on the lower end of the rod where the latter projects below the beam 28, the knob 32 must be high enough above the beam 28 so that said beam will not be interferent with full or considerable compression of the spring 33, when the rod 3| is lowered to the extent required not only to cause descent of the cone-device 34 to the position shown in Fig. 2 (where it first engages the top of the blank), but to a point still lower, that is, low enough to force the lower part of the-tube B to the spread shown at B in Fig. 1.

As, as has already been stated, it is preferred to use heat as well as pressure (thus to avoid the use of a solvent or an added adhesive; in other words to work according to the invention on a pleated tube B which is made of a thermoplastic material) and a means for heating the block I4 by radiation, and for also heating the fingers l5 by conduction from the block before the first 'rufiling operation, and for maintaining the fingers properly heated by heat conducted from the block it during the times between successive rufiling operations, is shown at 35. In the present case this means is illustrated as a resistance element raised to the proper temperature by electricity; the leads for maintaining the same in circuit being indicated at 3B.

The cone-device 34 comprises an upper circular horizontal plate 34a, a cone 34b, and a bottom disk 34c.

Operation:

With the parts arranged as in Fig. 1, a, blank, such as the blank B of Fig. 4, is distended to rotundity, and in the present case, in view of the fact that the tube or mandrel 29 is cylindrical,

to circular distension, and then one end, or a particularly decorated end, of this blank, is endwisely advanced toward the top of the mandrel sufiiciently to mount the blank on the upper end of the mandrel with suflicient overlap at the upper end of the mandrel to hold the upper end of the blank to a substantially circular distension.

Then, by means of the knob 32, the cone-device 34 is'lowered until the cone-device 34b enters the upper end of the blank and the under-surface of the plate or disk 34a engages the upper circum-- ferential edge of the blank. Hand pressure on the knob 32 is continued until the blank has been forced down first to the position shown in Fig. 2 and then to the fully fiared position shown in Fig. 1, meanwhile the fingers I5 having been thrown to the positions shown in Fig. 2, by foot pressure applied to the treadle 26.

Now, upon manual release of the knob 32, the spring 33 returns the rod 3| and the parts carried thereby to the positions shown in Fig. 1.

Foot pressure on the treadle 26 is released, and the fingers l5 return to the positions illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3; the pressure now being applied to the lower flared portion B" by conjoint action of the fingers I5 and the complementary former portions |4b of the block l4, being, as has been found preferable, rather high. In other words, the springs I! are fairly powerful ones.

A feature of the invention, as the same is preferably carried out, is that both the sets of former units Mo and |5 are heated during the operation of rufiling an end of the blank. Another feature of the invention, in this connection, is that the heating means employed, for instance, the electric resistance element 35, need be only a single such element, with the latter so adjacent one of the sets of said units, as to heat said set. The most practical set to select for receiving heat from the heat source employed, is the set of units Mb of the block l4, since all these parts are com-: ponents of a unitary structure. It has been found that in such case, since the fingers I5, even when the apparatus is idle, normally contact the block I4, but a very short period of time is requiredto have the fingers l5 heated to an ideal temperature, in preparation for working on the first blank of a days run of operation of the machine. As will be understood, the fingers [5 are heated by conduction from the block l4.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art, after understanding my invention as embodied in the illustrative structure shown in the accompanying drawing, that various changes and modifications may be made therein, without departing from the spirit and true scope of my invention. Parts of the improvements may be used without others. The. scope of protection contemplated is to be taken from the appended claims, interpreted as broadly as is consistent with the prior art.

What I claim as new, and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. The method of rufliing and belling an end of a longitudinally pleated tube of elastic and thermoplastic material, said method consisting of moving an end of the pleated tube over an element of gradually increasing diameter from one end thereof toward the other provided with spaced longitudinally extending depressions in the periphery thereof, the small end of said element having a diameter substantially equal to the internal diameter of said tube, and said element being heated sufficiently to render the material of said end plastic whereby said end is expanded, maintaining the remainder of the tube at its original diameter and applying inwardly acting pressures to the exterior of said end of the tube at points around said tube end corresponding with the depressions in said element.

2. The method of ruffling and belling an end of a longitudinally pleated tube of elastic and thermoplastic material, said method consisting of first belling one end of the tube by moving the tube to present one end thereof to a rufiling and belling station having spaced longitudinally extending depressions, applying heat at the station sufiiciently to render the material of said end plastic whereby said end is belled during movement into position at the ruffling and belling station, retaining the remainder of the tube at its original diameter, and then ruffling said belled end of the tube by applying inwardly acting pressures to the exterior of said belled end of the tube at points around said belled end corresponding with the depressions in said station.

3. In apparatus for ruflling and belling an end of a longitudinally pleated tube, the combination with a die block of substantially conical shape having spaced longitudinally extending depressions in the periphery thereof, of presser fingers each complementary to and individually pivoted for swinging movement into and out of a particular one of said depressions, each of said fingers being pivoted on an axis at an angle to the axis of pivoting of the adjacent finger whereby all the fingers move in radial paths with respect to the axis of the die block, a mandrel of substantially the same diameter as the smaller end of the conical block fixed to the smaller end of said block for supporting the tube during endwise advance thereof to bring the tube end to the block end of lesser diameter, said block being shaped to bell said tube, and controlled heating means associated with the die block for rendering the end of the tube surrounding the block plastic.

4. In apparatus for ruifiing and belling an end of a longitudinally pleated tube, the combination with a die block of substantially conical shape having spaced longitudinally extending depressions in the periphery thereof, of presser fingers each complementary to and individually pivoted for swinging movement into and out of a particular one of said depressions, each of said fingers being pivoted on an axis at an angle to the axis of pivoting of the adjacent finger whereby all the fingers move in radial paths with respect to the axis of the die block, a mandrel of substantially the same diameter as the smaller end of the conical block fixed to the smaller end of said block for supporting the tube during endwise advance thereof to bring the tube end to the block end of lesser diameter, said block being shaped to bell said tube, controlled heating means associated with the die block for rendering the end of the tube surrounding the block plastic, a thrust member movable against the other end of the tube to advance the same over the mandrel, guiding means for the thrust member, independent means for forcing said thrust member sufficiently to overcome the elastic resistance of said pleats, and cooperating means carried by said member and mandrel for limiting the extent of thrust of said member.

5. In apparatus for rufiling and belling an end of a longitudinally pleated tube, the combination with a die block of substantially conical shape having spaced longitudinally extending depressions in the periphery thereof, of presser fingers each complementary to and individually pivoted for swinging movement into and out of a particular one of said depressions, each of said fingers being pivoted on an axis at an angle to the axis of pivoting of the adjacent finger whereby all the fingers move in radial paths with respect to the axis of the die block, a mandrel of substantially the same diameter as the smaller end of the conical block fixed to the smaller end of said block for supporting the tube during endwise advance thereof to bring the tube end to the block end of lesser diameter, said block being shaped to bell said tube, controlled heating means associated with the die block for rendering the end of the tube surrounding the block plastic, a thrust member movable against the other end of the tube to advance the same over the mandrel, guiding means for the thrust member, independent means for forcing said thrust member sufiiciently to overcome the elastic resistance of said pleats, and cooperating means carried by said member and mandrel for limiting the extent of thrust of said member, said mandrel bein hollow and said thrust member having a reduced portion shaped to telescope within the mandrel during advance of the tube along the mandrel.

JOSEPH H. BROWN.

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