UNIVERSAL POCKET-FOLDING ASSEMBLY

Abstract: The present invention refers to a universal device for the support and movement of the blades used to fold the edges and corners of patch pockets, which is specifically used in the industrial sewing machines that are currently used today to sew the back pockets on jeans pants. Such device comprises a box-type frame housing all the actuators for the movement of the support means of the interchangeable folding blades.

Description: - 1 - Description UNIVERSAL POCKET-FOLDING ASSEMBLY Universal device for the support and movement of the blades used to fold edges and corners of patch pockets. This patent application for industrial invention refers to a universal device for the support and movement of the blades used to fold the edges and corners of patch pockets, which is specifically used in the industrial sewing machines that are currently used today to sew the back pockets on jeans pants. It must be noted that next to the sewing station, the sewing machines feature a station for the automatic folding of the pocket edges and corners, provided with an equipment, known as "pocket-folding assembly" in the industry, able to fold inwards the edges and corners of the patch, so as to position and flatten them between the pocket itself and the pants quarter below. Once the folding operation has been completed, suitable transportation means transfer the pocket and the pants quarter - placed one on top of the other - to the next sewing station, where they are taken by a mobile arm, able to make horizontal movements according to two orthogonal axis. The movement of this special arm below the sewing needle is controlled by an electronic gearcase used to program the movements of the arm so as to allow the needle to make a double stitching on the patch perimeter. Before describing the structure of the "pocket-folding assembly", it must be noted that - although featuring a different shape and size according to the model - generally speaking, all back pockets of jeans pants are shaped like an upside down pentagon, that is a pentagon with the base upwards and the vertex downwards. The pentagon base coincides with the pocket opening, while the two opposite sides of the pentagon coincide with the pockets sides, and the two base sides of the pentagon (the ones forming a "V") coincide with the pocket bottom. The currently available "pocket-folding assemblies" comprise a large plate with a wide central opening with pentagonal shape located on its base, which is larger than the pocket to be sewn. The plate acts as a support for a central template with the same shape and size as the pocket to be sewn and for a perimetral series of folding blades, that can be moved closer and farther with respect to the edges of the central template by means of pneumatic actuators mounted on the plate. Today, it is necessary to use a specific "pocket-folding assembly" for each model of pocket, since the central template and the perimetral series of folding blades must have a different size and profile according to the shape and the size of the pockets that have to be folded and sewn. This means that for each model of pocket it is necessary to purchase a specific "pocket-folding assembly" complete with the central template and the perimetral series of folding blades, with each blade provided with its actuator. Moreover, every time a new model of pocket is produced, it is necessary to remove the previously used "pocket-folding assembly" with a considerable waste of time and labor, if you consider that this operation requires to disconnect all the actuators used to move the mobile parts of the "pocket- folding assembly" from the pneumatic system and then connect them again. The purpose of the invention is to create a universal device for the support and movement of the blades used to fold the edges and corners of patch pockets, which allows for the installation of different models of templates and folding blades by means of simple and fast assembling/disassembling operations. The universal device will allow to replace the central template and the perimetral series of folding blades, thus avoiding changing the whole folding assembly - as it currently occurs - every time a different type of pocket is produced. A further purpose of the invention is to create a device in which the opposed pair of special blades used to fold the pocket corners can self-adjust from time to time - as regards the distance existing between the two blades during the operative phase - according to the size of the template mounted on the device. For major clarity the description of the device according to the invention continues with reference to the enclosed drawings, which are intended for purposes of illustration and not in a limiting sense, whereby: - fig. 1 shows a generic model of patch pocket seen from inside before its edges and corners are folded; - fig. 2 shows the same model of pocket as in fig. 1 , seen from inside after its edges and corners have been folded; - fig. 3 is an exploded axonometric sketch of the device according to the invention showing the support and movement means of the folding blades, as well as the perimetral series of blades and the central template; For major graphic clarity, it must be noted that in fig. 3 the device is shown in upside down position with respect to its working position, since during the operative phase the template and the perimetral series of blades are located below the frame that houses all the means used for the support and movement of the folding blades, and not above it, as in fig. 3. With reference to fig. 3, the device comprises a box-type metal frame (1), having a parallelepipedal shape with rectangular plan, which features a longitudinally symmetrical axis X-X; on the outside of its bottom wall (1a) the frame (1) features five openings: a slot (2) in the center of the base of the wall (1a), an opposed pair of identical side slots (3 and 4) and an opposed pair of identical side notches (5 and 6). The slot (2) exactly houses a slide (2a) provided with a pair of through holes (2b); the slots (3 and 4) exactly house two slides (3a and 4a), each of them provided with a pair of through holes (3b and 4b); the notches (5 and 6) house two cylinders (5a and 6a), each of them supporting a special oscillating blade (7) able to fold the corners of the pocket - meaning with corners the corners (S) of the pocket opening (T) as shown in fig. 2. It must be said that the cylinders (5a and 6a) are supported on slides - 4 - (8) that are contained and slide inside the frame (1). The bottom wall (1a) features a pair of through holes (9) along the X-X symmetrical axis, as well. The box-type frame (1) houses all the pneumatic actuators and the corresponding system used to move the slides (2a, 3a,4a, 8) and rotate the blades (7), supported by the cylinders (5a and 6a); more exactly, the slides (3a and 4a), just like the pair of slides (8), can make alternated journeys along a perpendicular direction with respect to the symmetrical axis X-X, while the slide (2a) can make alternated journeys according to a parallel axis with respect to the symmetrical axis X-X. The device according to the invention also comprises three support plates for the three folding blades and a central template that, in combination with the blades, causes the folding of the edges of the pocket, which is temporarily fixed by means of clamps on a suitable board (not shown in the enclosed drawings, because of known type), which will be removed from the pocket (according to a procedure of known type) once the folding of the edges and corners of the pocket has been completed. More exactly, the device according to the invention comprises an interchangeable base plate (10) and an opposed pair of identical interchangeable side plates (11), on which the blade (10a) used to fold the "V"-shaped bottom edge (B1) of the pocket and the opposed pair of identical blades (11a) used to fold the two inclined side edges (B2) of the pocket (T) are screwed, respectively. The plate (10) is provided with a pair of pins (10b) ending with a mushroom head (10c), that can be exactly inserted into the pair of holes (2b) of the slide (2a). The side plates (11) are provided with pairs of pins (11b) ending with a mushroom head (11c), that can be exactly inserted into the pair of holes (3b and 4b) of the slides (3a and 4a). As already mentioned above, the device according to the invention also comprises an interchangeable template, consisting in a plate (12) with the same pentagonal shape as the pocket to be sewn, having a perimetral edge (12a) - that only ends on the base of the polygonal shape - which exactly houses the above board with the pocket fixed with the clamps. The template (12) is fixed to the center of the bottom wall (1a) of the frame (1); to this end the plate (12) is provided with a pair of pins (12b) ending with a mushroom head (12c), that can be exactly inserted into the pair of through holes (9) drilled on the bottom wall (1a) . The frame (1) houses pneumatic arms able to catch the mushroom heads (10c, 11 c and 12c) of the plates (10 , 11 and 12). It must be noted that two spurs (5b and 6b) project from the top of the cylinders (5a and 6a), that act as stop against the corners of the template (12) when the slides (8) get closer by means of opposed journeys. The base of the template (12) (indicated with a dotted line in fig. 3), invades the notches (5 and 6), in which the splining shafts (7a) of the oscillating blades (7) slide. This means that when the template (12) is replaced with another template having a different size, the cylinders (5a and 6a) and the blades (7) self-adjust their mutual distance in the closest position, which corresponds to the working position, in which the blades (7) carry out the folding of the corners (S) of the pocket (T). In view of the above and with reference to the enclosed figures, it is now easy to understand that when changing the model of pocket to be folded and sewn, in the device according to the invention it will only be necessary to: a) - replace the folding blades (10a and 11a), b) - replace the template (12) It is no longer necessary to replace - as it occurs with the current "pocket-folding assemblies": c) - the special folding blades used to fold the pocket corners; d) - all the actuators used to move the folding blades. The two replacing operations mentioned above in a) and b) can be carried out in a simple quick way, since it is only necessary to disassemble the template (12) from the wall (1a) and the plates (10 and 11) from their slides with support and movement purposes (2a , 3a and 4a).

Claims: Claims 1) Universal device for the support and movement of the blades used to fold the edges and corners of patch pockets, comprising: - a box-type metal frame (1), having a parallelepipedal shape with rectangular plan, which features a longitudinally symmetrical axis X-X and has on the outside of its bottom wall (1a) a slot (2) in the center of the base of the wall (1a), an opposed pair of identical side slots (3 and 4) and an opposed pair of identical side notches (5 and 6); it being provided that the slot (2) exactly houses a slide (2a), the slots (3 and 4) exactly houses two slides (3a and 4a), the notches (5 and 6) house two cylinders (5a and 6a), each of them supporting the splining shaft (7a) and an oscillating blade (7); - an interchangeable base plate (10), fixed on the slide (2), on which the blade (10a) used to fold the "V"-shaped bottom edge (B1) of the pocket is screwed; - two interchangeable opposed identical side plates (11), fixed to the slides (3a and 4a), respectively, on which two opposed identical blades (11a) used to fold the two inclined side edges (B2) of the pocket (T) are screwed; - an interchangeable template, consisting in a plate (12) with the same pentagonal shape as the pocket to be sewn, fixed on the bottom wall (1a) and having a perimetral edge (12a) that only ends on the base of the polygonal shape; it being provided that the box-type frame (1) houses all the pneumatic actuators and the corresponding system used to move the slides (2a, 3a,4a, 8) and the actuators used to rotate the blades (7). 2) Device according to claim 1 , characterized in that: - the plate (10) is provided with a pair of pins (10b) ending with a mushroom head (10c) that can be inserted into a suitable pair of through holes (2b) drilled on the slide (2a); - the side plates (11) are provided with a pair of pins (11b) ending with a mushroom head (11c) that can be inserted into suitable pairs of through holes (3b and 4b) drilled on the slides (3a and 4a); - the template (12) is provided with a pair of pins (12b) ending with a mushroom head (12c) that can be inserted into a suitable pair of through holes (9) drilled on the bottom wall (1a); it being provided that the frame (1) houses pneumatic arms used to seize the mushroom heads (10c, 11c and 12c ) of the plates (10 , 11 e 12). 3) Device according to claim 1 , characterized in that two spurs (5b and 6b) project from the cylinders ( 5b e 6b), that - when the slides (8) get closer by means of opposed journeys - act as stop against the corners of the template (12) whose base invades the notches (5 and 6).

Inventors: CAMPOLUCCI CARLO, CAMPOLUCCI, CARLO
Applicants: CAMPOLUCCI CARLO, CAMPOLUCCI S R L, CAMPOLUCCI - S.R.L., CAMPOLUCCI, CARLO
Application year: 1999
Main classification: A41H33
IPC codes: A41H33