Patent GB-190803396-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to Shoe-upper Lacing Machines
Inventor: BOULT ALFRED JULIUS
Filed: 1908-02-14
Granted: 1909-04-14
Abstract: 3396. Boult, A. J., [United Shoe Machinery Co.]. Feb. 14. Tying and knotting. - Relates to shoe - upper lacing-machines of the type described in Specification No. 16,520, A.D. 1904, and consists in an improved construction and arrangement of the knotting-mechanism which will ensure that the knot is tightened uniformly irrespective of the amount of slack in the lacing, and by means of which the knot may be tied close to, or at some distance from, the ends of the lacing, as desired. The invention is described as applied to a machine which has substantially the same construction and arrangement of parts as the machine described in Specification No. 7013, A.D. 1906. The cord-feeding needle is secured in a slide which is reciprocated by rack and segmental gearing from the cam shaft. The lacing-cord leads from the eye of the needle through guides on opposite sides of a lever which is normally pressed down on to the cord by a spring but is operated to release the cord when the needle is in its retracted position. The grippers 73, 74, Figs. 4 and 6, for gripping the ends of the lacing cord project forwards from the lower ends of the sliding bars 76, 77, which are actuated from the cam shaft. The gripper 73 grips the free end of the cord when the cord-feeding needle advances, so that, on the return stroke of the needle, the cord is fed into position to be engaged by the hooks of the looper needles. When the loops are formed, the cord lies in a notch 83, Fig. 6, in a guide bar 83 ; this bar also serves as a guard, behind which the work lies during the passage of the cord through the loops. The gripper 74 grips the cord after the cordfeeding needle has passed through the loops, and, when the needle has moved a sufficient distance on its return stroke, the cord is severed at the gripper 74 by a reciprocating cutter 84, Fig. 4. During the return stroke of the needle, a thread arm 96, Fig. 4, is moved rearwards to draw slack from the supply, but moves forwards to give up this slack when the loops are being formed. The two ends of the cord, which extend across the guide-bar 82, Fig. 6, are then in a position to be acted upon by the knotting- mechanism, which comprises sliding and rotatable members 98, 99 with gripping jaws 101, 102 forming a looping post, a sliding latch 113, 114, Fig. 7, and a half sleeve 116 adapted to strip the cord off the members 98, 99 as they move upwards. During the formation of the loops, the passing of the cord through the loops, and part of the return movement of the cord-feeding needle, the knotting- mechanism is at the highest point of its stroke, where it cannot act upon the lacing, and where it cannot interfere with the movements of the cord-feeding needle. After the cord has been severed, however, the members move downwards, and the latch 113 is closed by cam faces 120, 118 to bring the cord into an eye 115, Fig. 7. At this stage the upper falls away from the needles, and is supported by the ends of the cords which pass through the eye 115, and are held by the grippers 73, 74. The part of the lacing between the eye and the grippers is clamped against a lateral curved extension 121, Fig. 6, of the bar 82 by a plate formed on a sliding-bar 124, which is actuated from the cam shaft. This part of the cord is then engaged by a spring pincer device 128, 129, Fig. 4, carried by the thread arm 96 above referred to, which, immediately the grippers release the cord, carries the cord into a position to be engaged by the pincers 101, 102, Fig. 6, on the members 98, 99 after the latter have nearly completed a revolution. These pincers close on the cord, and then rise together to draw the cord through the loop on the looping post. During this upward movement, the plate on the bar 124 grips the cord between the knot and the upper so that the knot is tightened. By this method of placing the cord between the jaws 101, 102, the knot may be formed close to the ends of the lacing. Instead of this, however, the pincers 128, 129 may be arranged to draw the lacing through the latch 113 before the knotting operation, so that the knot will be formed at some distance from the end of the lacing. In this case the pincers 128, 129 hold the ends of the lacing during the upward movement of the jaws 101, 102, and move forwards during this upward movement, to give up cord to the knotting-mechanism. The adjustment of the parts, to vary the position in which the knot is tied, is effected by a change cam mechanism.