Improvements in Cloth-marking and Cutting Tables.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cloth-marking and Cutting Tables.
We ISRAEL REENS Foreman and ADOLPH L. SINGER, Manufacturer, both of 165
Market Street, Chicago, United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described in and by the following statement :--
This invention relates to a novel construction in a combined cloth marking and
cutting machine, and more particularly to that kind of table used for marking and
cutting a plurality of pieces of cloth at a time, said pieces of cloth being arranged
one upon the other and having the top piece suitably marked where it is intended
to be cut.
"
The invention is adapted for use more particularly in factories and the like where
numbers of garments are made which are known in the market as "ready-made
garments. Heretofore in making this class of garments, it has been customary to
employ two large tables, the cloth being marked upon one and cut upon the other,
said tables being commonly about twenty feet long and about five feet wide. A
plurality of pieces of cloth, usually not less than eight in number, depending upon
the weight of the goods, are arranged one upon the other and laid upon the marking
table. The top piece of cloth is then marked in a familiar manner. The pieces of
cloth are then clamped together along their edges by suitable U-shaped clamps and
thumb screws, are rolled up and carried to the cutting table by an attendant, where
they are unrolled, spread out and cut. There are many objections to this method,
one of which is the liability of disarranging the pieces of cloth when they are rolled
up and unrolled, as described. Moreover, when the cloth is unrolled, it becomes
necessary to rearrange and smooth the same, which occupies considerable time.
To overcome these objections, I provide a combined marking and cutting table
with a plurality of sides, or faces, and with devices for securing the cloth thereto;
the several sides of the table being adapted to be brought upward for the purpose
of marking and cutting the cloth thereon. The invention consists in the novel
features of construction and combination of parts herein described and more particularly
pointed out in the appended claims.
In the accompanying drawings:
Figure 1 is a plan view of a table constructed in accordance with my invention,
arranged adjacent to the cutting devices.
Figure 2 is a view in side elevation of the table, with certain parts in vertical
section.
Figure 3 is an end view of the same.
Figures 4 and 5 are detail sectional views showing different ways of securing the
cloth clamping plate to the table.
Figure 6 is a vertical, transverse view of a four sided table.
Figure 7 is a similar view of a two-sided table.
My improved table is herein shown in connection with a cloth cutting machine
such as has heretofore been commonly used for cutting cloth in the manufacture of
garments.
In said drawings A indicates a stationary, horizontal frame or table which is
provided with suitable guides or ways a for a cloth cutting machine of the usual con-
truction. Said frame embraces a side piece A¹ which is about the same length as
hat of the combined marking and cutting table hereinafter described, and an end
iece A' of about the same length as the end of said table. A³ is a travelling
arriage carrying the pivoted arm a¹ upon the end of which the cutting device
roper is mounted. A' A are fast and loose pulleys mounted upon a shaft a³, which
atter is suitably journaled in the standards a². A driving belt a passes over the fast

page_text: pulley and communicates motion to the cutting machine through the medium of an
endless belt which passes over suitable pulleys a on the frame or table A, pulleys a
on the carriage A³ and pulley a³ on the end of the shaft a². As is the usual
sliding bar having two arms a embracing the belt a*. Said bar A is pivotally
connected to one end of the lever A, which is supported pivotally at a in any
convenient manner.
I have shown several forms of supporting table but the construction which I prefer
is the three-sided table illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3. In said figures, B is the
combined marking and cutting table referred to, comprising a supporting frame B¹
and a revoluble table C having a plurality of sides. The said supporting frame B¹
consists of four uprights bbbb arranged one at each corner, connected at the ends
by cross-pieces 61, and along their sides by brace rods 22. The lower one of said
cross pieces b' at each end extends somewhat beyond the uprights and such extended
portions are each provided upon its ends with casters ³ ³ whereby the said supporting
frame is capable of being rolled from place to place. The upper cross-pieces b
are each provided preferably on their edges or faces with the hangers 6*. The upper
brace rod may be omitted, however.
C
The table is composed of three pieces c c and c², arranged and secured together so
that an end view of the same, as seen in Figure 3, will present an equilateral triangle.
In practice, said side pieces are secured together by means of brackets C¹ located at
each end thereof, and also at such suitable distances between the ends as will be found
most convenient or practicable. Each of the said brackets C' comprises three
arms arranged at equal angles to each other and provided at their outer ends
with suitable plates c", by means of which said arms are secured to the side pieces of
the table. C3 C3 indicate journal bearings formed in the brackets Cat the point of
junction of the arms thereof.
As
B2 indicates a horizontal shaft which extends the whole length of the supporting
frame B and is rigidly secured at its ends within the bangers + 6. The said shaft
passes through the journal bearings C³ of the brackets (, thereby making said table
revoluble. D D indicate flat clamping plates arranged upon the sides c¹ and e² of the
table. Said clamping plates are arranged to extend entirely across the said side and
to be secured in such position by means of set screws d d, in a familiar manner.
shown in Figures 3 and 4, said plates are provided with bended ends d' which engage
the rod d located at the apex of the angle formed by two of the sides e' c², a portion
of the adjacent edges of the sides being cut away, as shown in Figure 4, for the
insertion of said rod d. In some cases, I join the hooked or bended ends d¹ by an
ordinary hinge joint, as shown in Figure 5. In some cases, I may dispense with the
rod 2, in which event the adjacent edges of the sides c' c do not touch each other
and the bended ends d' are hooked directly over the edge of said sides c¹ c², as will be
obvious without illustration.
E are ordinary barrel bolts secured to the frame B and adapted to be moved so
that the end e of the bolt will enter a suitable hole or opening e' in the end of one of
the side pieces c, c¹ or c², as the case may be, and thus securely lock or fasten the
table C to the frame B and prevent rotation of the table. It will be understood of
course that any ordinary pin or plug passing through a hole or opening in the frame
and into a hole or opening in the end of the table which registers with the hole in
the frame, will answer the same purpose, to-wit, the locking of the revoluble table
and thus preventing its rotation on the shaft.
F is a cord or cable passed entirely around the table B, and supported upon suitable
pulleys, secured at convenient points on the frame B¹. The ends of the cable F are
secured to a plate F', which latter is provided with an upright pin or projection f
adapted to engage a suitable hole in the end of the pivoted lever A. It is obvious
that by a movement of the lever A one way or the other, the sliding bar A' will be
moved and thereby the belt a will be shifted from the fast to the loose pulley or the
When, therefore, the table B has been moved into position adjacent to the
cutting machine, as illustrated in Figure 1, the plate F will be secured to the end of
the lever A. The operator of the cutting implement will thus have complete control
reverse.

page_text: of the shifting device and may start or stop the cutting machine from any point at
which he may happen to be, by simply reaching down to the cable F, and pulling the
same in the desired direction. This feature of my invention I regard as very
important, inasmuch as the operator is obliged to stop and start the cutting machine
5 very frequently and heretofore he has been obliged to walk to the shifting device, and
move the lever A by hand, which consumed time. For example, suppose the operator
to be at that end of a twenty foot table farthest from the shifter. To stop the
machine for a moment or two only, he must walk twenty feet, move the shifter, walk
back twenty feet, adjust the cloth or perform such work as necessary, walk back
twenty feet to the shifter, start the machine and then return to the cutting machine
and resume work. He has walked eighty feet and he has left his cutting implement
in the cloth while he has walked the half of this distance. Should the cloth have
become folded or crumpled up and the operator desired
he could heretofore do so only by leaving the machine and walking to the shifter as
stop the machine suddenly,
above explained, permitting the cutter in the meantime to continue to destroy the
goods. In such cases it is very desirable that the operator be able to retain his hold
on the cutting implement or on the goods with one hand, while he stops the machine
with the other. This he is enabled to do by my shifting attachment, at the same time
saving valuable time.
I do not desire to limit my invention to a table having any particular number of
sides and I have therefore illustrated in Figure 6, a table having four sides, and in
Figure 7, one having two sides. While it will be understood that a greater number
of sides may be employed in some instances, yet I find a three sided table the most
convenient for narrow goods and a wide two-sided table the preferable form for wide
or six-quarter goods.
The parts of my invention being constructed and assembled as described, the
operation is as follows; In using the devices herein described, the workman or
attendant whose duty it is to mark the cloth, first turns the table C upon its axis
until either the side c¹ or c² is uppermost, for example, I assume that the side c¹ is
uppermost. After throwing back the clamp plates D D, the cloth is laid upon said
side, arranged and marked, and the clamping plates then placed across the same, and
secured by means of the set screws d d, thus securely fastening the cloth to the table,
as before explained. The table is then turned upon its axis until the side c² is
uppermost, whereupon other pieces of cloth are laid thereon, marked and clamped, in
the same manner. The table C is again turned on its axis until the side c is upper-
most. The said side c, as has been noted, is not provided with clamping plates, so
that after arranging and marking the cloth which is laid thereon, the table is not
turned again but is kept in this last position with the side chorizontal and uppermost.
The entire table is then moved on its casters 3 across the floor until it is in position
within the frame A. The plate F¹ is then secured to the end of the lever A.
The workman whose duty it is to cut the cloth performs that duty upon the cloth
which is on the side e and after cutting, the said cloth is removed, the bolts E E are
hen withdrawn from the holes e' in the side piece c and the table is turned on the
haft B and thus brings another of the sides of the table into position. When either
f said side pieces c¹ care brought into a horizontal plane, the bolts E are again
ngaged with the holes e' thereon and the clamping plates D D removed, the cloth
ut and removed, and the table again operated to bring the other of said sides into
osition. After the cloth thereon has been cut and removed, the entire table is
hereupon rolled away from the frame A to make place for another table.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
on and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
aim is :
1: A marking and cutting table comprising a movable supporting frame, a table
volubly supported thereon, provided with a plurality of sides or faces, a locking
vice for holding said table from turning on its axis, and clamps for securing cloth
the face or faces of said table, substantially as described,

page_text: 2: The combination with a movable supporting frame, of a marking and cutting
table revolubly supported thereon, provided with a plurality of sides or faces, clamps
for securing cloth to said side or sides, an endless cable secured to and passing around
said movable frame, in combination with a cutting machine adapted to operate upon
said table and a belt shifting device, said cable being adapted for connection
with said belt shifting device, whereby said shifter may be operated from any part of
the table.
TI
ISRAEL REENS.
ADOLPH L. SINGER.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicants.