Patent GB-1130390-A (GB)
Title: Blank-forming apparatus used in the production of handkerchiefs
Inventor: GREENBERG BERTRAM M
IPC: A41H42/00
Filed: 1967-04-15
Abstract: 1,130,390. Sewing machines. I. C. HERMAN & CO., Inc. 15 April, 1967. No. 17409/67. Heading D1G. Apparatus comprises a frame, means supported on said frame and having a material-positioning stroke for drawing off a length of fabric material from a supply, cutting means supported on said frame and having a materialsevering stroke to sever said length of material from the supply, means having a materialtransporting stroke to shift said severed length clear of the frame, and control means including switch means operatively arranged in the path of movement traversed during said material-positioning, material-severing and material-transporting strokes and adapted to be actuated by physical contact during said respective strokes so as to produce said strokes in a prescribed sequence. A carriage 56, slidable on fixed bars 57, 58, rigidly supports a shaft 68 rigid with four lower clamp jaws 72 co-operating with respective upper jaws 70 journalled on shaft 68 and biased against the jaws 72 by springs 76. Carriage 56 is connected by a lazy tongs structure 86 to the piston rod of an air jack 78, whereby carriage 56 is movable from the retracted position shown to an advanced position in which the jaws 70, 72 can grip the free edge of a fabric web M supported on a table 148. The lateral edges of web M are pre-hemmed. Jaws 70, 72 are opened in the advanced and retracted positions by respective air jacks 104, the piston rods of which are connected to crank arms 110 on shafts 112 carrying arms 116 co-operating with arms projecting rearwardly from the respective jaws 70. Rearward movement of the jaws 70, 72 lays a length of web M upon tables 120, 122 separated by a gap 128. A horizontal bar 132, normally disposed above the latter, is then lowered by an air jack 134 to complete the drawing off of a predetermined length of web M. The web is then clamped to table 148 by arms 150 rigid with a shaft 152, and to table 122 by a plate 160 rigid with a shaft 162, shafts 152 and 162 being turned by air jacks 154 and 164 respectively. A motor driven rotary knife 172, disposed in a gap between tables 122 and 148, and connected by lazy tongs to the piston rod of an air jack 194, is then traversed by the latter to sever the web M for providing a work blank. Horizontal bars 214 are then lowered by respective air jacks 208 to clamp the raw edges of the blank against rails 216 provided at the outer edges of the tables 120, 122. Clamps 70, 72 are then opened to release the blank. Lower conveyor belts 222 are supported by pulleys 242, 244 rigid with shafts 234, 236 journalled in bearings supported by the undersurface of tables 120, 122. The upper runs of the belts are supported by the respective rails 216, and the pulleys 242 are located beneath the right hand ends of the bars 214. Upper conveyor belts 220, co-operating with but shorter than the belts 222, are supported by pulleys 238, 240 rigid with shafts 230, 232 journalled in bars 226 connected by bars 228 to the tables 120,122. Shafts 232, 236 are interconnected by gears 264, 266. Shaft 232 carries a gear 248 coupled to shaft 232 by a unidirectional clutch 259 and meshing with a rack 250, which is slidably supported by a fixed bracket 256 and is connected to the piston rod of an air jack 252. Actuation of the latter to turn shaft 232 counterclockwise thereby serves to advance the blank towards sewing machines 34, 36 mounted on tables 54, 55 and to position the raw edges under the raised presser feet 294 and at the mouths of respective folding guides provided thereon. Photo cells provided on the sewing machines are also thereby affected to lower the presser feet, via air jacks 288, and to start the sewing machines for hemming the raw edges of the blank, the sewing machines stop automatically after the trailing edge of the blank has passed the photo cells. The sewing machine feed dogs draw the blank from the stationary conveyor belts against controlled resistance provided by angle members 296 which are adjustably mounted on the bars 226 to engage the upper surface of the blank. The various operations are automatically controlled by limit switches actuated by the movable parts of the machine.