Patent Publication Number: US-11661690-B2

Title: Quilt binding press

Description:
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/047,732 filed on Jul. 2, 2020. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     The disclosure relates generally to the field of quilting. More particularly, the disclosure relates to the binding of the quilt which is the final step to finishing the quilt. Specifically, the disclosure relates to the use of a device comprising a platform for the positioning of a fabric or flat iron between two alignment guides and a component for pulling binding fabric through the said device for pressing a lengthwise crease in the strip of binding fabric prior to sewing it onto the outer edge of the quilt. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     Quilting is the process of stitching or sewing multiple layers of fabric together by hand or by machine. The stitching passes through all layers which usually includes a top fabric layer, a backing fabric layer and a batting or insulating material sandwiched between the top and backing layers. Finishing a quilt refers to the process of applying a strip of fabric called the binding around the edge of the quilt to bind the exposed layers together and produce a clean border. Prior to applying the binding to the quilt, the long strip of binding fabric is often folding in half lengthwise and pressed. Pressing a straight, lengthwise crease in a long strip of fabric by hand requires the fabric to be laid flat on an ironing board, folded in half, and held in place while pressing the crease. This press-as-you-fold process is repeated along the length of the binding in short sections that are limited by the ironing area and the reach of the person operating the iron. This process can be tedious, difficult to manage and often results in off-centered or double creases. 
     Another option to simplify the process of finishing and binding a quilt is to purchase pre-pressed bindings that are sold with a lengthwise crease. Several types of pre-pressed binding products are available from various retailers. 
     A commercial product called the Quilt Binding Express (catalog number JT-753, June Tailor, Inc.) attempts to simplify the process of finishing and binding a quilt. The Quilt Binding Express is an ironing cushion mounted to a plastic back with slits cut into one edge of the plastic plate. A folded strip of binding fabric is fed through one of the slits and onto the iron cushion and a crease is pressed using an iron. The Quilt Binding Express simply serves as a folding tool, but it does not permit continuous feeding of fabric across a stationary pressing surface of an iron. Other disadvantages of the Quilt Binding Express are that the fabric follows a non-linear pathway from the slit in the plastic across the ironing surface. 
     U.S. Patent D549,954 which discloses a design for a quilt binding tool having a flat rectangular piece of material with a plurality of transversely extending slots increasing size longitudinally over its surface for inserting and folding quilt binding. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A quilt binding press for imparting straight line folding creases in strips of binding fabric in a continuous pull through manner. The binding press has a platform with a pair of upstanding spaced parallel aligned guides providing a folding, binding fabric infeed, creased and pressed binding outfeed. The upstanding alignment guides define a positioning binding engagement area there between for a press iron to engage and press the crease into the now folding binding fabric as it is pulled there across. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of the quilt binding press of the invention. 
         FIG.  2    is a side elevational view thereof. 
         FIG.  3    is a top plan view thereof. 
         FIG.  4    is a bottom plan view thereof. 
         FIG.  5    is a perspective bottom view of the quilt binding press. 
         FIG.  6    is an end elevational view of the quilt binding press in use with a pressing iron shown in broken lines. 
         FIG.  7    is a side elevational view thereof. 
         FIG.  8    is a top plan graphic representation of the quilt binding press in use with a pressing iron shown in broken lines. 
         FIG.  9    is a front elevational view of an alternate form of the invention. 
         FIG.  10    is a front elevational view of a second alternate form of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIGS.  1 - 5    of the drawings, a quilt binding press  10  of the invention can be seen for folding and creasing strips of quilt binding fabric  11 , shown in broken lines, having an iron engagement support platform  12  with oppositely disposed parallel side edges  13  and  14  interconnected at right angles to a rear edge  15 . A contoured front-end edge  16  is defined by a pair of mirrored convex edge surfaces  16 A and  16 B extending to an intersection central point at  17 . The platform  12  has a generally flat upper surface US with a pair of upstanding binder fabric guides  17 A and  17 B which extend inwardly along the respective spaced parallel side edges  13  and  14  in spaced relation to the rear edge  15  and to the transition of the respective contoured front edge surfaces  16 A and  16 B as best seen in  FIGS.  1 ,  2  and  3    of the drawings. The platform  12  has a waffle shaped bottom surface BS with corresponding large recess  17 C for the fabric guides  17 A and  17 B as best seen in  FIG.  5    of the drawings. This aids in platform heat dissipation. 
     The elongated upstanding fabric guides  17 A and  17 B define a pair of translateral restrictive passageways  18 A and  18 B between the engagement platform  12  which will, by definition, fold flat strips of binding fabric  11 A over upon itself longitudinally as it passes therethrough illustrated best in  FIGS.  5  and  6    of the drawings. It will be apparent that the longitudinal dimension of the respective fabric guides  17 A and  17 B openings  18 A and  18 B will be equal to the folded binding strips  11 B transverse fold dimension and that the fabric guides  17 A and  17 B are therefore in spaced parallel alignment to provide a direct linear engagement path as required for quilting fabric binding strip  11  as they are folded and pressed there between. 
     The ironing platform  12  and the upstanding binding fabric guides  17 A and  17 B are made of heat resistant material such as synthetic polymers as silicone or other suitable formable material such as, but not limited to fabric, glass or metal as will be understood by those skilled in the art. The engagement support platform  12  and guides must be able to withstand an application temperature range of between 50- and 500-degrees Fahrenheit. 
     In use, the application requires the use of an iron  19  illustrated in broken lines in  FIGS.  6 - 8    of the drawings which is to be positioned on the upper surface US of the support platform  12  between the respective binder fabric guides  17 A and  17 B and directly on the folded binder fabric  11 B as it is passed between the guides  17 A and  17 B. An iron  19  engages and heats the folded binding fabric  11 B as it is pulled through the guides  17 A and  17 B indicated by directional arrow A thereby creasing C the fabric strip as required in a continuous manner. The fabric guides  17 A and  17 B therefore provide provisional placement for the iron  19  there between assuring ease of use. The folded fabric binding  11 B will therefore slide across the upper surface US of the platform  12 , as noted, in a linear pathway defined by the effective engagement through the fabric guides  17 A and  17 B. The above referred to process continues until the length of binding fabric  11  has been pulled through the device. The iron  19  remains stationary for the duration of this process with no user manipulation except to adjust its position as needed. Once the full length of the binding fabric  11  has passed through, the iron  19  is removed from the support platform  12 . 
     It will be apparent from the above referred to description that alternate pairs of fabric guides  20  may be added, shown in broken lines in  FIG.  3    of the drawings, and that the addition of such alternate fabric guides  20  may be of different longitudinal lengths thereby defining alignment passageways of varying dimensions to accommodate different sizes of quilt binding available in the marketplace. 
     Referring now to  FIG.  9    of the drawings, a first alternate binding press  21  can be seen having a contoured binding engagement platform  22 , a pair of spaced parallel upstanding binding guides  23 A and  23 B, each with an access translateral opening for receiving a strip of quilting binding fabric  24  thereby folding it longitudinally at  24 A for pressing engagement with an iron  25 . In this form of the invention a transport take up spool assembly  26  is positioned adjacent the effective outflow guide  23 A with a crank handle  26 A which will pull and collect the processed quilt binding  24 C and thereby provide transverse transport across the iron engagement platform  22  continuous engagement with the iron  25 . 
     This process continues until the length of binding fabric has been pulled through the binding press  21 . The iron  25  remains stationary for the duration of this process with no user manipulation except to adjust the position as needed. Once the full length of binding fabric  24  has passed through the binding press  21 , the binding fabric  24 C on a binding fabric spool  26 A is removed and the iron  25  is moved from the iron platform  22 . 
     Referring now to  FIG.  10    of the drawings, a second alternate binding press  26  of the invention can be seen wherein as an essentially duplicated binding press  21  except that the independent iron  25  is replaced with an integrated flat iron assembly  30  which is positioned between previously described upstanding binding guides  23 A and  23 B wherein the flat iron assembly  30  comprises a movable heated top plate  31  and heated or non-heated fixed bottom plate  32  of the engagement platform  22 . This augmented system of an integrated heating plate system provides for selective continuous engagement of the folded quilting band  24 A as it passes between the respective fabric guides  23 A and  23 B and is taken up by the hereinbefore described transport take up spool  26 A of the spool assembly  26 . 
     It will be evident to those skilled in the art that various crank adaptations of the spool configuration are available and well within the scope of the invention. 
     It will thus be seen that a new and novel ironing press for quilt binding has been illustrated and described and as noted it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modification may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore I claim: