Improved Machine for Folding Fabrics with Interposition of Sheets of Cardboard between the Folds.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 21at Deo., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 13th Sept., 1895-Accepted, 19th Oct., 1835
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Improved Machine for Folding Fabrics with Interposition of Sheets
of Cardboard between the Folds.
I, FERNAND DEHAITRE, of 16 Rue Drouot, Paris, France, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows
My invention has for its object an improved machine for mechanically folding
fabrics and at the same time introducing between the folds of the fabric glazed
cardboards which have the purpose of imparting lustre to the fabric when subjected
to the action of a press, the introduction of the cardboard sheets being effected by
pneumatic action.
The machine is characterised by the combination with an arrangement of
mechanical devices for folding the fabric, of a system of suction holding devices
which, simultaneously with the said folding, take up successively the separate
cardboard sheets and place then between the folds of the fabric, where they are
made to remain by the action of a device which at the proper moment throws the
suction apparatus out of action.
The said machine consists of an articulated parallelogram frame the vertical
members of which are pivotted at their lower ends to the framing of the machine,
so that the upper ende, together with the horizqutal connecting members, can
Oscillate alternately into opposite angular positions Centrally in the flaming 19 a
ising and falling platform on which is piled the folded fabric with the interposed
cardboards, while on each side of this is another rising and falling platform, which
platforms serve to carry the cardboards to be introduced between the folds of the
fabric The oscillating parallelogram frame carries firstly a pair of revolving feed
rollers between which the fabric to be folded passes, the fabric being led up to
them from a table by means of a curved guide su face and guide rollers
the feed rollers the fabric passes down to the middle platform, where it is laid in
folds by the oscillating motion of feed rollers moving with the frame Secondly
this frame carries two sets of suction holding devices one set of which is brought
successively over the piles of cardboard on each of the side platforms so as, on
being depressed by fingers acting on their upper ends, to lay hold by suction of the
uppermost cardboard, so that on the movement of the frame to the opposite side,
the suction devices carry the cardboard over to the middle platform and lay it
upon the last fold of the fabric.
From
When this has been done, detaching devices also carried by the oscillating
frame are brought into action by being brought against fixed stops, whereby the
cardboard is detached from the suction holders which then move away for repeating
the operation.
•
As each fold of the fabric is laid on the middle platform, fingers are brought
down upon the fold alternately at opposite sides, so as to prevent the fold from
being dragged up again as the next fold is being laid, the fingers being raised
agam when such fold is completed. This notion of the fingers is effected by an
arrangement of tappets receiving an up and down motion from the diving shaft of
the machine, which in one part of the upward motion act upon an elbow-shaped
weighted lever, pivotted to the lower end of a vertical rod the upper end of
which is connected to a shaft that carries the hngers, so that by such motion of the
tappet, the rod is raised and the fingers are pressed down, as described, while when

page_text: the tappet escapes' the elbow level, the rod is drawn down by the weight, and
thereby raises the fingers again. The thice platforms receive their up and down
motion by means of intchet and pawl gear actuated by the driving shaft and
imparting a step by step motion to a barrel that winds up or unwinds a cord or
chain one end of which is attached to the lower end of a rod supporting the
platform, the middle platform being made to descend as it receives the folds of
fabric and the cardboards, while the two side platforms are made to rise as the
cardboards are removed from the pile thereou, these opposite movements being so
proportioned that the top surfaces of the piles on each platform practically always
remain in one and the same plane so as to be always acted upon in the same manner
by the before described suction holding devices.
The oscillating parallelogram fiame ereives its motion from the driving shaft
by means of a crank and connecting rod.
When the entire piece of the fabric has been folded with the cardboards, on the
middle platform, this is run.out of the machine on rails.
Dated this 21st day of December 1894.
!
61
BEL & IMRA
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION,
Improved Machine for Folding Fabrics with Interposition of Sheets
of Cardboard between the Folds.
↑
I, FERNAND DEHAITRE of 16 Rue Dionot, Pans, France, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what mauner the same is to be performed
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
-
My invention has for its object an improved machine for mechanically folding
fabrics and at the same time introducing between the folds of the fabric glazed
cardboards which have the purpose of imparting lustre to the tabuic when subjected
to the action of a press, the introduction of the cardboard sheets being effected by
pneumatic action.
This machine is characterised by the combination with an arrangement of
mechanical devices for folding the fabric, of a system of suction devices which,
simultaneously with the said folding, take up successively the separate cardboard
sheets and place them between the folds of the fabic, where they are made to
remain by the action of a device which at the proper moment throws the suction
apparatus out of action.
For enabling the invention to be readily understond I will describe the same
with reference to the accompanying drawings which shew by way of example the
construction of a folding machine with my invention applied thereto.
Fig. 1 shews a front view of the machine,
Fig. 2 a cross section on line 1-2 of Fig. 1,
Figs. 3 and 4 two detail views of parts of the machine to a larger scale.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in each of the figures.
The machine consists of a framing A carrying the entire mechanism, and
includes three compartments. In two of which are two vertically moving platforms B
each receiving one half of the number of cardboard sheets to be contained in a
folded piece of fabric, while the third, situated in the middle, has a platform C on
which the fabric is folded and at the same time, during the folding receives
alternately from one or other of the platforms B one of the cardboard sheets
between the foids.
The machine also includes an arrangement of four vertical parallel beams P P
placed symmetrically on each side of the fiame of the machine, connected at their
apper ends by connecting bars Q and capable of oscillating on their lower ends,

page_text: and carrying with them the shafts 14 which cany them, the said motion being
imparted to the beams by means of connecting rods O receiving motion from the
shaft N by means of crank plates N'. To the beams P 1" and connecting bars Q
are attached all the operating mechanism of the machine
The motion is imparted to the platforms of the machine as follows
1. The platforms B B are each actuated by means of a small cord or chain G,
one end of which is fixed to each of the rods b, b, carrying the platform, while the
other is coiled upon a shaft 1 on which is mountel a atchet H actuated by a
series of pawls 1, 2, of which 1 serves to moves the ratchet wheel while 2 serves to
regulate the motion and prevent any backward motion when 1 is raised The
pawl 2 is simply mounted on a transverse bar of the machine by means of a pin on
which it can tuin, the pawl 1 forms part of an articulated frame 3, that can
oscillate on the one hand at 4 on a fixed ansverse bar of the machine and on the
other hand at 5 on one of the vertical beams P P which by their oscillating
motion impart to the pawls a to and fro motion which causes the step by step
rotation of the latchets H
2. The platform C is actuated in the same manner by a ratchet Frotated by a
pawl 6 mounted on the articulated frame 7 connected on the one hand to a trans-
verse part of the framing A on which it is pivotted at 8, on the other hand it is
pivotted to the beam P¹ which imparts to the pawl a to and fro motion similar to
that of the pawl 1, while the pawl 9 prevents the backward movement of the
1atchet F This is mounted on the shaft which carries on the one hand a
pinion D gearing with a toothed rack E forming part of the rod of the platform C,
and serves to communicate at will an upward or downward motion thereto, the
shaft furthermore carries a dium m of vauable diameter on which is coiled a
chain carrying at its end a counter weight k serving to balance the load placed on
the platform C, so as to reduce the power required to be imparted to the ratchet
during the descending motion of the platform
The variation of the diameter of the drum m allows of the action of the balance
weight being increased in proportion as the load on the platform me cases.
The above described movements are so regulated that the platforms B use and
the platform C descends at different speels, so that notwithstanding the removal
of the cardboards from the platforms B and the piling up thereof ou the platform C,
the top of each pile always remains at the saine level as the others or nearly so.
The shaft J transmits by the pulley K, the pinion L, wheel M, shaft N, the crank
plates N' and the rods Oa to and fro motion to the beams P, P', as already stated
To the connecting bars Q are fixed transverse bars R carrying a certain number of
suction holding devices S mounted on vertical rods Tround which are coiled small
helical springs U sciving to raise the holding devices At the upper part of the
beams Pare attached two levers V carrying at the ends the rollers X serving to
fold the fabic; these rollers are guided horizontally by the slides Y.
On the connecting bars Q are mounted by means of supports 10 the small angle
bars a serving to detach at the required moment the cardboards from the holding
devices, the small angle bars are actuated by a system of levers 11 mounted on a
shaft 12 turning with them, and carrying stops &', of which each series alternately
stike against corresponding fixed stops c.
The shaft 12 also carries fingers 13 that press upon the rods T of the suction
devices, for causing these to engage with the cardboards, and counter-weights d
that serve to bing back the shaft 12, stops b' and fingers 13 into their original
position.
For retaining the folds already formed, with then cardboards, and preventing
them from being drawn back by the stretched part of the fabric, I employ an
arrangement of fingers e, Figs. 1, 2 and 3, mounted on iods e¹ that can be put in
motion by means of arms and rods h sliding in guides having curved slots in
which works a stud fixed on the iods, whereby these a guided in their
movement.
The rods à receive their up and down motion by the cams or tappets ƒ, Figs. 1, 2

page_text: and 4, which are fixed on the shafts 14 on which the beams P P¹ are also fixed,
and which consequently turn therewith, Referring to Fig. 4 which shows to a
larger scale the action of these parts, it will be seen that in the extreme right hand
position of the beams l' or in tlie extreme left hand position of the beans P, the
tappet being at the end of its stroke, the counter weight g, pivotted at gll to the
1od h, will drop, forcing the angle at its extremity to be interposed between
the end of rod and the tappet, as shewn in the mean position at the left hand
side of Fig. 1, and at Fig. 4, so that during the rising of the cam caused by the
movement of the beam P, the rod is suddenly raised, causing the fingers e to he
pressed down on the folded fabric until the tappet arrives at the end of its upstroke,
when it escapes from the coiner g', so that on the return motion it presses this
outward as shown in the incan position at the night hand side of Fig. 1 and in
dotted lines in Fig 2, whereby the rod is allowed to sink by gravity and raise
the fingers e.
The machine has band wheels Z for regulating the positions of the platforms B,
B, C, n bracket o serving to receive the folded fabric before it passes into the
machine, and a curved table p and roller y and guider serving to lead the fabric to
the platform C which cau be drawn out of the machine when it has received its
load of folded fabric, by means of a system of 1ollers 15 1olling on tails 16 fixed
on the fixed part C" of the platform C
For effecting this motion it is necessary to first raise the folded fabric at the edges
for affording some play, this being readily effected by means of hand levers 17.
The action of the above described machine is as follows.-
The parallelograms P P Q are moved by means of the hand wheels on the
Shaft N to one of the starting points, that is to say, to n point where the beams P
are at the one end of then stroke, the extremity of the fabric on table is passed
over the table P roller y and guider and between the 1ollers X, and is placed upon
a sheet of the cardboard on the platform C The first fold is then made, adding
a second cardboard, and the one set of fingers e are closed down upon the fold so
as to hold it, in this position three suction holding devices S are applied to one
of the heaps of cardboard on the platforms B, and the machine being put in motion
the beams PP move from one end position over to the other, the rollers X carry
the fabric along, and the holders S, having seized one of the cardboards also carry
this along, following the motion of the beams; this cardboard when the beams have
completed then motion, is placed upon the fold of the fabric, and the fingers a
cause the holders to release the cardboard. At this moment the fingers e, which
had previously been turned down by hand are raised by the action of the counter-
weight g and tappet. The beams commence then return motion, leaving the
cardboard ou the fold, carry mng the fabric over it, and lifting another cardboard by
the other set of holders As soon as the beams commeuce this return motion, the
fingers e, opposite to those which had been turned down by hand, are lowered, and
hold the fold formed.
This cycle of movements is repeated until the ente length of fabric has been
folded on the table C, the machine is then stopped and the beams are brought to
the middle ou vertical position. The end of the cardboard 18 1aised by means of
the levers 17, the platform C is withdrawn, and the fabric with the cardboards
is removed.
The platforms B are lowered to the lowest position, the platform C is raised to
its highest position, and the platforms B being charged with fresh piles of cardboard,
the operation is repeated.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, declare that what
1 claim is
1. An improved machine for inserting cardboards between the folds of a fabric,
wherein pivotted beams arranged as an articulated oscillating parallelogram, ale
made by means of suitably arranged rollers to effect the folding of the fabric while

page_text: pneumatic holding devices carried by the said parallelogram alternately seize a
cardboard from platforms to the right and left of the middle platform on which the
fabric is folded, and bring the same on to the latter so as to place a cardboard
between each fold of the fabric, while sets of fingers serving to hold the folds of
the fabric, are actuated by an arrangement of levers and tappets or cams also
carried by the parallelogram so as at one time to be raised for receiving a fold
beneath them, and are then turned down on that fold, substantially as described.
2 In a machine such as is referred to in the preceding claim the combination of
three platforms made to rise and fall, by means of ratchet devices actuated by
pawls connected to the oscillating parallelogiam, two of the said platforms serving
to contain the cardboards while the third receives the folded fabric with the
interposed cardboards, the motion of the three platforms being so iegulated that
the tops of the piles thereon are always maintained practically at the same level,
substantially as described.
3. In a machine such as is referred to in the first claim, a series of pneumatic
holding devices connected to the oscillating parallelogram in such manner as to
move together therewith, the pneumatic holding devices being applied alternately
to cach pile of cardboards and put in action by fingers on a shaft carrying stops
which in coming in contact with fixed stops, throw the suction devices out of
action after the cardboard has been deposited thereby upon the fold of the fabric,
by means of levers and bars that raise and disengage the suction devices,
substantially as described.
4. In a machine such as 19 referred to in the first claim, a series of fingers serving
to retain the folded fabric, which fingers are actuated by an arrangement of rods,
weighted levers and tappets or cams carried by the oscillating parallelograin,
substantially as described.
5. In a machine such as is referred to in the first claim, the combination with
the moving platforms and oscillating parallelogram of a guide table and feed rollers
for conveying the fabric and guiding the samo on to the platform where it is folded
substantially as described.
6. A machine for folding fabrics with interposition of sheets of cardboard
between the folds, combined and operating as herein described with reference to
the drawings.
Dated this 13th der of September 1895.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for Applicant.