Long-handled cutting apparatus for a cloth spreading machine

A cutter head mounted upon a cloth spreading machine for longitudinal movement widthwise of the cloth spreading machine for transversely cutting cloth laid upon a cutting table. An elongated handle member is swivelly connected to said cutter head for manual movement of the cutter head over the entire width of the cloth spreading machine by an operator standing on one side of the spreading machine. The cutter head may be removed from the spreading machine and the handle member may be rendered rigid with respect to the cutter head, so that the cutter head may be manipulated for cutting cloth independently of the cloth spreading machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a cutting apparatus, and more particularly to a 
long-handled cutting apparatus for cutting cloth upon a cutting table. 
Various types of cutting apparatus have been employed upon cloth spreading 
machines for transversely cutting layers of cloth upon a cutting table. 
Such cutting apparatus generally have been in the form of rotary knives, 
electrically powered, and with electrically powered motive means for 
moving the cutter head widthwise of the spreading machines. The motive 
means for the cutter heads have been powered by separate electrical motors 
from those driving the rotary knives, or they have incorporated rather 
expensive transmission means, such as chains and sprockets or gears for 
automatically moving the cutter head simultaneously with the rotary 
movement of the knife. 
Moreover, various types of manually-operated, portable cutting devices have 
been employed for cutting patterns in multiple layers of cloth upon a 
cutting table, for making apparel. Such cutting devices usually comprise 
rotary knives driven by electrical motors, but the knives are manually 
motivated to follow the contours of the patterns in the cloth. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a cutting apparatus 
for cutting cloth, primarily for movement widthwise of a cloth spreading 
machine, in which the rotary knife is electrically powered, but the cutter 
head is manually motivated or moved, and controlled from one side of the 
cloth spreading machine or cutting table by a long handle. 
The cutting apparatus made in accordance with this invention includes a 
cutter head comprising a rotary cloth cutting knife driven by an electric 
motor. A bracket fixed to the cutter head carries an elongated guide 
member, or guide bar, on each side of the cutter head for longitudinal 
slidable movement in an elongated channel in a track member disposed 
horizontally and mounted widthwise upon a cloth spreading machine. An 
elongated handle member has a remote end portion swivelly journaled to the 
cutter head for swinging the handle member generally toward and away from 
the track member. A sleeve may be slidably mounted upon the handle member 
between an operative position over the swivel journal member to render the 
handle member rigid relative to the cutter head and an inoperative 
position uncovering the swivel means to permit swinging movement of the 
handle member. The electrical cord or conduit on the electrical motor may 
be carried within the hollow portion of the handle member and extend 
beyond the handle member, terminating in an electrical connector for 
connection to any convenient outlet movable with the cloth spreading 
machine. 
When the cloth spreading machine has completed its motion for spreading one 
or more layers of cloth, and it is desired to transversely cut a cloth 
layer, the operator of the machine turns on the electric motor to drive 
the rotary knife, grasps the long handle member, and manually pushes the 
cutter head across the cloth, the guide member guiding the cutter head in 
a straight, transverse, horizontal path along the track member. 
By removing the one guide member from the channel in the track member, and 
reversing the cutting apparatus end-for-end, the opposite guide member may 
be inserted in the channel in order to push the cutter head in the 
opposite widthwise direction. 
Furthermore, by completely removing the cutting apparatus from the track 
member, and covering the swivel journal with the sleeve, the long handled 
cutting apparatus may be used in cutting patterns in the stacked cloth 
layers independently of the cloth spreading machine.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to the drawings in more detail, a cloth spreading machine 10 
is disclosed including a frame or machine frame 11 supported for 
longitudinal reciprocal movement over a table 15 by smooth-surfaced wheels 
12 on the remote side of the frame 11, running on the top surface of the 
cutting table 15, and grooved wheels 13 on the proximal side of the 
machine frame 11 running along a track or rail 14 supported alongside the 
cutting table 15. 
Mounted on top of the machine frame 11 is a cloth supply carriage 16 having 
a pair of end standards 17 supporting a cloth supply roll 18. 
From the cloth supply roll 18, a web of cloth or fabric 20 passes beneath a 
guide bar on roller 21, then over a positively driven feed roller 22 and 
past guide roller or bar 23 down between the spreader rollers 24. 
The spreader rollers 24 are mounted in a spreader bracket 25 which is 
supported for vertically adjustable movement upon the vertical rack 
standards 26. The bracket 25 is held in its adjustable position by means, 
such as the pawls 27. Thus, the spreader bracket 25 may be elevated to 
accommodate the rise in the layers of cloth 20 spread upon the table 15. 
Mounted upon the front of the cloth spreading machine 10 is the cutting 
apparatus 32 made in accordance with this invention. The cutting apparatus 
32 includes a cutter head 33 comprising an electrical motor 34, a gear 
reducer 35 and a rotary knife or cutting blade 36, drivingly coupled 
together. The rotary blade 36 cooperates with the fixed blade arm 37 in a 
scissors action for cutting the cloth 20. The fixed blade arm 37 also 
guides the cloth 20 between the fixed blade arm 37 and the rotary blade 36 
while the cloth is being cut. 
A yoke-shaped bracket 39 is fixed across the cutter head 33. One depending 
leg of the bracket 39 supports an elongated guide bearing member 40, while 
the opposite depending leg of the bracket 39 supports an identical 
elongated guide bearing member 40'. Each of the guide bearing members 40 
and 40' are preferably made of low frictional surface material, such as 
nylon. Each guide bearing member 40 and 40' may be attached to the 
corresponding leg of yoke bracket 39 by coaxial stub shafts 41 and 41', 
respectively, which may be fixed to the bracket 39, or journaled in the 
respective bracket legs about a common axis transverse to the longitudinal 
path of the cutter head 33. 
The guide bearing member 40 is slidably received within a cooperating, 
elongated channel 42 formed in an elongated track member 43 which spans 
the entire width of the cloth spreading machine 10. The top of the track 
member 43 may have its rear portion reinforced by an elongated, angular 
reinforcing bar 44. Furthermore, the remote end of the channel 42 may be 
closed by a closure plate 45 to prevent the cutter head 33 from running 
off the remote end of the track member 43. The proximate end of the 
channel 42 preferably remains open so that the cutter head 33 may be 
removed from the track member 43. By sliding the guide bearing member 40 
past the proximate open end of the cooperating channel 42, the cutter head 
33 is removed from the track member 43. 
The guide member 40' may be inserted into the open end of the channel 42 so 
that the cutter head 33 may be moved in the reverse longitudinal direction 
along the track member 43. Thus, the cutter head 33 could be operated from 
the opposite side of the machine. 
If there is a track member 43 across the rear, or the opposite end, of the 
spreading machine 10, instead of the front as shown in the drawings, then 
the bearing member 40' would be inserted into the corresponding slot 42, 
with the cutter head 33 still retaining its same attitude relative to the 
track member 43. 
In order to manually motivate or manipulate the cutter head 33, an 
elongated handle member 48 is connected or coupled by a swivel joint 49 
having a hinge pin 50 pivotally connected to a rod 51 fixed to the yoke 
bracket 39. A tubular sleeve 52 is telescopingly mounted longitudinally 
upon the handle member 48 for slidable movement. The sleeve 52 is adapted 
to be moved between an operative position, disclosed in FIG. 1, covering 
the swivel joint 49 and thereby rendering the handle member 48 
substantially rigid relative to the cutter head 33, and an inoperative 
position, disclosed in FIGS. 2 and 4, uncovering the swivel joint 49 to 
permit the handle member 48 to freely swing about the hinge pin 50, in the 
direction of the arrows disclosed in FIG. 2. 
The opposite or proximate end of the handle member 48 is provided with a 
handle grip 54. An electrical cable or cord 55 is electrically connected 
at its remote end to the electrical motor 34. The cord 55 extends through 
an opening in grommet 56 to pass substantially coaxially through the 
hollow, tubular handle member 48 and out through the end of the handle 
grip 54, where the cord 55 terminates in an electrical connector 57. The 
electrical connector 57, in the form of an electrical plug, is adapted to 
engage, or be inserted into, a cooperating electrical outlet 58 in the 
control panel 60 of the cloth spreading machine 10. 
A manual switch 62 is mounted upon the handle member 48 adjacent the handle 
grip 54 for closing and opening the circuit through the electrical cord 55 
to the motor 34 in order to start and stop the operation of the rotary 
knife 36. 
A transverse hanger bar 64 is fixed to the handle member 48 adjacent the 
switch 62, and is adapted to rest upon the track member 43 or reinforcing 
bar 44 to support the cutting apparatus 32 when it is not being used. 
The track member 43 may be detachably mounted upon the front of the 
spreader bracket 25 by threaded fastener members 66. 
In the operation of the cutting apparatus 32, the track member 43 is 
mounted upon the front, or the rear, or both the front and the rear, of 
the cloth spreading machine 10 by means of the fastener members 66. The 
track member 43 will then lie longitudinally horizontal, widthwise of the 
spreading machine 10 to span the width of the cloth layers 30 spread upon 
the cutting table 15 by the spreading machine 10. 
Either the guide bearing member 40 or 40' is inserted into the open end of 
the channel 42 of the track member 43, and the hanger bar 64 laid upon the 
top of the track member 43. 
The cloth spreading machine 10 is then operated to spread the desired 
number of cloth layers 30. After the machine 10 is stopped, the operator 
grasps the handle member 54 and pulls the cutter head 33 to the proximate 
side of the machine 10 clearing the proximate edges of the cloth layers 
30. Then the operator turns on switch 62 to energize the electrical motor 
34 to start the rotary motion of the knife 36. The sleeve 52 is removed 
from the swivel joint 49 to its inoperative position, disclosed in FIG. 2. 
The operator, grasping the handle 54 then pushes the apparatus 32 along 
the track member 43, while the rotary cutter blade 36 cuts the fabric 20. 
After the cloth is completely cut across its width, the operator turns off 
the switch 62. 
While the operator is pushing the cutter head 33 across the cloth layers 
30, the swivel joint 49 permits the guide bearing member 49 to ride 
smoothly in the channel 42, without binding, regardless of the lateral 
attitude of the handle member 48. The swivel joint 49 is an important 
feature of the cutting apparatus 32, since rigid handle members 48 have 
been tried, but without success, because of the binding of the guide 
member 40 within the channel 42. It is extremely difficult for the 
operator to push the handle member 48 without changing its attitude 
relative to the cutter head 33. 
It is possible to use the cutting apparatus 32 to cut patterns in the 
layers of cloth 30, after the spreading operation has been completed, and 
independently of the cloth spreading machine. In order to cut the 
patterns, the guide bearing member 40 is completely removed from the 
channel 42 so that the cutting apparatus 32 is separated from the track 
member 43, and therefore separated from the cloth spreading machine 10, 
except for the electrical connection through the connectors 57 and 58. The 
sleeve 52 is then moved into an operative position, disclosed in FIG. 1, 
to prevent swinging movement about the hinge pin 52, and to render the 
handle member 48 substantially rigid with respect to the cutter head 33. A 
rigid handle member 48 is preferred when the cutting apparatus 32 is used 
to cut patterns in the cloth, in order to enable the operator to have 
better control over the continuous changes in direction of the rotary 
knife 36 as it follows the patterns upon the cloth layers 30. 
The cutting machine 32 with the swivelly mounted elongated handle member 48 
has provided a capability of cutting the cloth 20 upon a spreading machine 
10 with better control of the speed and movement of the apparatus 32 
relative to the cloth 20. 
Furthermore, the apparatus 32 is considerably less expensive to manufacture 
than the conventional spreader cutters incorporating automatic and 
power-driven motive means for the rotary cutters. Moreover, the cutting 
apparatus 32 is much lighter in weight and therefore easier to manipulate 
than conventional cloth spreaders.