CLOTH CUTTING APPARATUS

Abstract: A cloth cutting apparatus comprising a first arm (13) rotatably attached to a pillar (2) arranged movably along a table (9), a second arm (14) rotatably connected to the top end of the first arm (13) and a cutter (15) attached to the top end of the second arm (14). The second arm (14) comprises two parallel arm members (16, 17), both the ends of which are rotatably supported by a supporting member (19). A cylinder (20) in which a high-pressure gas is sealed is arranged between a supporating member for the first arm (13) and one of said arm members. The position of attachment of a piston shaft (21) of the cylindear at the supporting member is transferable.

Description: The present invention relates to a cloth cutting apparatus comprising: a pillar arranged movably along a table; a first arm pivotably mounted to the pillar for rotation in a horizontal plane, a second arm supported by a first support member pivotally attached to said first arm for rotation in a horizontal plane; said second arm comprises two parallel arm members pivotably attached to said first support member and a second support member respectively, to form a parallelogram linkage system for movement of said second arm in a vertical plane; a cutter movably connected to said second support and movable within a vertical plane defined by said second arm; and supporting means for said second arm for defining the supporting force thereof and connected to one of said arm members with its first end. A cloth cutting apparatus of this type is disclosed in WO-A-8303219. In this known machine the supporting means comprise a coil spring anchored with one end to the end of one arm member. The other end of the spring is fixed to the other arm member. For this reason the spring force is dependent on the stretch lengths of the spring, so that the contact pressure of the base of the cutter to the table is not constant in different positions. It is an object of the present invention to improve a cloth cutting apparatus of the type as specified in the preamble of claim 1 so that the base of the cutter can be uniformly contacted with the table under a desired uniform contact pressure, so that cloth on the table can be smoothly cut with one cutter of a plurality of cutters of various sizes. According to the invention the technical problem is solved by the features of the characterizing portion of claim 1. The supporting force can be changed by changing the attachement angle of the cylinder by moving the connecting position of the end portion of the piston shaft whereby the contact pressure of the base onto the table can be optionally selected. Changing the attachement angle has no effect on the contact pressure. In accordance with this invention therefore a cloth cutting apparatus is provided which can change the angle of the second arm to the table without changing the contact pressure. In the above-mentioned structure, the supporting force for the second arm is changed by changing the attachment angle of the cylinder by moving the connecting positon of the end portion of the piston shaft, whereby the contact pressure of the base to the table can be optionally selected. That is, a worker can select a desirable contact pressure. Moreover, exchange of the cutter becomes possible, and by shifting the connecting position of the end portion of the piston shaft according to the weight of the cutter, the contact pressure of the base to the table can be appropriately determined in the same manner as described above. Fig. 1 is a side view showing the entire structure of one example of the present device. Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing a main part of the example shown in Fig. 1. An example of a cloth cutting apparatus according to the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig, 1 is a side view illustrating the entire structure and Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating a main part of the structure. In the drawings, reference numeral 9 represents a table, reference numerals 10 and 11 represent rails fixed in the side portion of the table 9, and reference numeral 12 represents a pillar which is arranged so that it can move along the side portion of the table 9 on the rails 10 and 11. Reference numeral 13 represents a first arm which is attached to the pillar 12 so that the first arm 13 can rotate in a horizontal plane, reference numeral 14 represents a second arm which is pivoted to the first arm 13 so that the second arm 14 can rotate about a vertical axis and the connection angle can be adjusted, as described hereinafter, and reference numeral 15 represents a cutter attached to the top end of the second arm 14. The second arm 14 comprises two arm members 16 and 17, both the ends of which are supported by supporting members 18 and 19 so that the arm members 16 and 17 are kept parallel to each other and can be moved as a parallelogram linkage system. Reference numeral 20 represents a cylinder in which a high-pressure gas is sealed, and a piston shaft 21 of the cylinder 20 has an end portion which is pivotably mounted to the supporting member 19, as explained hereinafter. The top end of the cylinder 20 is pivotably mounted to the end portion of the arm member 16. The supporting member 19 has a slider 22 vertically movably supported to the lower part thereof, and the end portion of the piston shaft 21 is connected to the slider 22. This slider 22 is connected to the lower end of the supporting member 19 through a vertically moving adjustment screw 23 and a connecting member 24, and by turning this adjustment screw 23, the slider 22 is moved to shift the pivotal point of the end portion of the piston shaft 21, whereby the attachment angle of the cylinder 20 is changed to change the supporting force for the arm 14. If the pivotal point is shifted downwardly the supporting force increases, and if the pivotal point is shifted upwardly the supporting force decreases. At least one of the supporting members 18 and 19 is connected to one or both of the arm members 16 and 17 through a long hole or a large-diameter hole so that the connecting position can be changed. By this change of the connecting position, the cutter 15 is slightly moved in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1 and the front-rear angle adjustment of the base 25 of the cutter 15 in the vertical direction can be performed. An angle-adjusting member 26 is arranged in the vicinity of the connecting point between the second arm 14 and the first arm 13, and the angle-ajusting member 26 comprises two disks 27 and 28, an adjustment screw 29 attached to the circumference of the disk 27 and an adjustment projection 30 formed on the disk 28 and screwed with the adjustment screw 29. The two disks 27 and 28 are secured by a bolt 31 and a nut 32, and the bolt hole is a long hole or a large-diameter hole. Accordingly, if the bolt 31 is loosened and the adjustment screw 29 is turned, the disk 28 is turned through the adjustment projection 30, whereby the second arm 14 is turned clockwise or counterclockwise. By this turning of the second arm 14, the cutter 15 is moved in the direction of the arrow and in the vertical direction, and the left-right angle adjustment of the base 25 of the cutter 15 in the vertical direction can be accomplished. Reference numeral 33 represents a shock absorber for damping vibrations of the cutter 15. In the above-mentioned structure, at first, the connecting point of the supporting member 18 (or 19) to the arm members 16 and 17, is fixed for the front-rear angle adjustment of the base 25 of the cutter 15 in the vertical direction. Then, the second arm 14 is turned clockwise or counterclockwise by turning the adjustment screw 15, and the left-right angle adjustment of the base 25 of the cutter 15 in the vertical direction is performed. According to the foregoing procedures, the angle of the base 25 of the cutter 15 can be adjusted in the front-rear direction and left-right direction with respect to the table 9, and the base 25 can be maintained horizontally to the table 9. Then, by turning the adjustment screw 23, the slider 22 is moved to shift the connecting position of the end portion of the piston shaft 21, whereby the attachment angle of the cylinder 20 is changed to change the supporting force for the second arm 14. Thus, the contact pressure of the base 25 to the table 9 can be selected, and therefore, a worker can select a desirable contact pressure. In general, a worker of higher skill selects a lower contact pressure. If the contact pressure is much reduced, the base 25 moves too lightly. Exchange of the cutter 15 is possible in the abovementioned structure. In this case, by turning the adjustment screw 23 according to the weight of a new cutter 15, the contact pressure of the base 25 to the table 9 can be appropriately set in the same manner as described above. When all of the adjustments are thus completed, a handle of the cutter 15 is gripped by the hand and the cutter 15 is moved on the table 9, whereby the pillar 12 is moved along the table 9, and the respective arms 13 and 14 are bent at desired angles and the cutter 15 is moved while keeping a desirable contact pressure. Thus, the cloth on the table 9 is freely cut. As is apparent from the foregoing description, according to the present device, the second arm is constructed by two parallel arm members, both the ends of which are pivotably supported by a supporting member. A cylinder in which a high-pressure gas is sealed is arranged between a supporting member for the first arm and one of these arm members, and the attachment position of this supporting member is made movable in the vertical direction. In this structure, by changing this attachment position, the contact pressure of the base of the cutter attached to the second arm to the table can be optionally set. In addition to this effect, even if the cutter is exchanged with a cutter of a desirable size, there can be attained an effect of optionally setting the contact pressure of the base to the table according to the newly attached cutter. Furthermore, since an angle-adjusting member rotating with the axis of the arm being the center is arranged in the vicinity of the connecting portion between the first and second arm, the second arm can be rotated with the axis being the center, and therefore, the left-right angle adjustment of the base of the cutter attached to the top end of the second arm can be performed. This is another effect. Moreover, since at least one of the two arm members is attached to at least one supporting member so that the arm member can move in the longitudinal direction, the front-rear angle adjustment of the base of the cutter attached to the top end of the second arm can be accomplished. This is still another effect. By dint of these effects, the base of the cutter can be uniformly contacted with the table under a desirable contact pressure, and cloth on the table can be smoothly cut.

Claims: A cloth cutting apparatus comprising : a pillar (12) arranged movably along a table (9); a first arm (13) pivotably mounted to the pillar (12) for rotation in a horizontal plane; a second arm (14) supported by a first support member (19) pivotally attached to said first arm (13) for rotation in a horizontal plane; said second arm (14) comprises two parallel arm members (16,17) pivotably attached to said first support member (19) and a second support member (18) respectively to form a parallelogram linkage system for movement of said second arm (14) in a vertical plane; a cutter (15) movably connected to said second support (18) and movable within a vertical plane defined by said second arm (14) ; and supporting means (20,21) for said second arm (14) for defining the supporting force thereof and connected to one (16) of said arm members with its first end; characterized in that said supporting means comprises a cylinder and piston assembly (20,21) movably connected between said second arm (14) and said first support member (19); in the cylinder of said assemly a high pressure gas is sealed; slide means (22,23,24) are slidable along said first support member (19); the cylinder and piston assembly (20,21) is pivoted with its second end to said slide means (22,23,24) for selectively adjusting the supporting force and the contact pressure of the cutter (15) respectively. The cloth cutting apparatus of claim 1 in which said first support member (19) includes an angle adjusting means (26) for rotating said second arm (14) about an axis extending along said second arm (14) so as to adjust the cutting angle of said cutter (15). The cloth cutting apparatus of claim 2 wherein said angle adjusting means (26) comprises a first disk (27) rotatable relative to a second disk (28), wherein locking means (31,32) are provided for locking the position of the first disk (27) relative to the second disk (28) and wherein rotating means (29,30) are provided for rotating said second disk (28) relative to said first disk (27). The cloth cutting apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least one of the supporting members (18,19) is connected to one or both of the arm members (16,17) through a long hole or a large diameter hole so that the cutting angle of said cutter can be altered in the vertical plane defined by said second arm (14).

Inventors: KATUMATA, YASUO
Applicants: KM CLOTH CUTTING MACHINE CO. LTD.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: A41H43
IPC codes: B26F1, B26D5, D06H7