Patent GB-1207185-A (GB)
Title: Hosiery folding and packaging machine
IPC: B65H45/101
Filed: 1967-12-04
Abstract: 1,207,185. Packaging textile articles; endless conveyers; feeding sheets. INTECH CORP. 4 Dec., 1967 [22 Dec., 1966], No. 55012/67. Headings B8A, B8C and B8R. Stockings, ties, or other hosiery articles, are wound on a plate by rotating the plate, and are then carried by the plate away from the input station. General operation; adjustments.-An operator positions stocking S (Fig. 1) with its welts against an adjustable stop G and folds the foot on a folding plate P. Clamping fingers F are then swung down to hold the stocking and the plate is then moved from station I to station II, rotating through 480 degrees about its horizontal axis Y to wind the stocking on the plate. A cardboard insert is applied under or over the stocking foot at station I before the winding. At a station II further fingers F are turned down to hold the stocking against the opposite side of the tilted plate P and rotation of the plate continues as it moves to station III where it is horizontal. At this station rollers R on opposite sides of the plate P grip the rolled stocking and deliver it either directly on to a conveyer CC or on to a folder resting on this conveyer. The stockings are then delivered into the top bag of a stack BS, the folder, if any, being folded about the stockings en route. The bag is then closed and sealed. Winding the stockings about the folding plate: gripper conveyers.-The gripper fingers F holding the stockings on the folding plate P are carried by a shaft turned by a rack operated by a fixed cam during the initial movement of the plates P from the station I. A further fixed cam (43) (Fig. 9, not shown) engaging spaced followers (40), (41) rotates the folding plate P during its movement. The plates are journalled in yokes extending between parallel vertically spaced chains (80), (81) and guided by rollers (38) from fixed guides (28), (29). The wound stocking is tightened on the plate P by an air jet before the second set of fingers F grip the wound stocking against the opposite face of the plate P. Feeding and positioning inserts.-The inserts about which the stockings are wound are pressed in a magazine 370 (Fig. 34) against a roller 371 with its axis vertical and are fed downwardly by rollers 377, 381, actuated in succession, into a V-gap formed between fingers 3, 4 by a blade 50 which flexes the fingers 3. The roller 381 co-operates with an idler roller 383 swung into and out of engagement with the roller 381 by an air cylinder 385. The fingers 3, 4 pivot about the same axis as the gripping fingers F (Fig. 1) holding the stockings on the folding plate P. They are normally held in the vertical position of Fig. 34 by a magnet (95) on the gripping fingers F (Fig. 13), but they can be pushed out of engagement with the magnet by a retractable wheel (52) (Fig. 39, not shown) as the folding plate P (Fig. 1) moves from station IV to station I so that the cardboard insert is disposed on the folding plate P before this receives the stockings. Alternatively, the wheel (52) may be retracted so that the insert is lowered by movement of the gripping fingers F and is thus positioned above, instead of below the stocking feet. Feeding and folding the wrapping cards.-The wrapping cards are held in a magazine 492 (Fig. 40) on a table 493 which is raised automatically by a solenoid operating a ratchet mechanism whenever a switch 560 detects that the level of the stack has fallen. The top sheet card from the stack is delivered by lowering a driven roller 490 into engagement with it. During delivery its leading edge is folded by a pawl 541 and the fold is creased as the card passes between feed rollers 473, 475. Spring pushers 550 (Fig. 18) engage the bent portion of the card to push it into position to receive the folded stockings. The bent portion is folded down by guides 553 before the folded stockings are delivered on to the card. Opening bags and inserting the folded stockings: pusher conveyers.-A stack of bags is held on a platform 192 (Fig. 18) which is raised by a solenoid and a ratchet mechanism under the control of a feeler 227 to keep the top bag at the proper height for filling. A weight 195 resting on the flaps of the bags holds the mouth of the top bag open and the opening is completed by a jet of air and by pivoting fingers (196) (Fig. 19, not shown) engaging within the bag mouth. The folded stockings are pushed into the bag by pushers 55, 56 on a conveyer which can be swung upwardly about its drive sprocket 132, for servicing, when a latch 162 has been released. The conveyer subsequently pushes the filled bag out of the stack and on to the closing and welding station. Closing and welding bag mouths: delivering filled bags.-When the bag is located against a stop 297 (Fig. 29) a vane 298 is rotated to close the flap which is then welded at spaced points by a welding head 303 coated on its bag-engaging face with polytetrafluoroethylene. The stop 297 is then retracted and the bag delivered on to spaced plates which are then retracted to drop the filled bag on to a stack. Automatic controls.-Operation of the machine cannot begin until a photo-cell has detected that the operator has positioned a batch of stockings. Delivery of stockings into a bag is prevented if the opening fingers have failed to open the mouth of the bag: this failure results in the fingers making electrical contact with contacts normally insulated by the bag walls.