Garment Production Apparatus With Automatic Sleeve Placement

Abstract

Apparatus for an automated garment production line for transferring to a moving web of material a pair of precut garment sleeves from stacks of sleeves on opposite sides of the web. A mechanism serving each stack employs a vacuum manifold, having a series of vacuum cups, located on a frame pivotally mounted to move between a sleeve pick-up position over the vertical stack of pre-cut sleeves to a deposit position over the moving web of garment material. As the frame swings, a drive mechanism causes the vacuum head to rotate, flipping the loose end of the sleeve across the web. The frame stops short of contact with the web holding the shoulder portion of the sleeve slightly off of the web until it registers with a line of adhesive carried by the web. The vacuum is then released and air pressure is introduced to blow the sleeve off the vacuum cups and onto the adhesive area on the moving web.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to automated garment manufacturing apparatus and, more particularly, to automated apparatus for use in a production line for manufacturing garments from continuous webs of material for placing pre-cut garment sleeves transversely on a moving web.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide automated sleeve placement apparatus which is capable of placing successive pairs of sleeves transversely at preselected intervals on a moving web.

It is another object of the present invention to provide automated sleeve placement apparatus of the foregoing type which is capable of picking-up the top sleeve from a verticle stack of pre-cut sleeves on either side of a moving web for placement on the web without disturbing the other sleeves in the stack.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide automated sleeve placement apparatus of the foregoing type which is capable of placing successive pairs of sleeves on a continuously moving web at high speeds, so that the web on which the sleeves are placed can also be advanced at correspondingly high speeds.

Still another object of the invention is to provide automated sleeve placement apparatus of the foregoing type which while requiring only a few moving parts and of simple construction is capable of separating the top sleeve from a stack without disturbing the other sleeves, holding the sleeve while it is transferred laterally, and depositing it in exact register on a high speed web.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an automated garment production line with garment sleeve placement apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one of the sleeve placement mechanisms shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view, partially in section, taken substantially in the plane of line 3--3 in FIG. 1 and schematically illustrating the mechanism movement and sleeve transferring operation;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially in the plane of line 4--4 in FIG. 2 and schematically illustrating the sleeve placement mechanism picking-up the top sleeve on a stack of precut sleeves .

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative forms, a preferred embodiment thereof has been shown in the drawings which will be described in detail herein.

It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed but, to the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

Turning now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 an automated garment production line including sleeve placement apparatus embodying the invention. It will be understood however, that while this invention is particularly useful in the illustrative application, it can be used in a wide variety of different applications for pick-up, transferring and delivering flexible sheets of material of other like members.

In the garment manufacturing apparatus, referring to FIGS. 1-3, pairs of pre-cut sleeves are transferred to a continuously moving web 12 of garment material unwound from a roll 11 in timed sequence with the high speed movement of the web and adhesively adhered to the web. This web 12 forms the back panel of the garments. After the sleeves are adhesively secured to the back panel web 12, webs which form the front panels of the garments are unwound from rolls 13, 14 adhesively secured to the back panel web 12 and the sleeves. The webs are subsequently cut to produce the finished garments.

After the web 12 is withdrawn from the roll 11, it is passed under a guide roll (not shown) and through an adhesive application stage. More particularly, longitudinal strips of adhesive 16 and 17 are applied to the two longitudinal edges of the web 12 by a pair of adhesive dispensers 16a and 17a; these discrete longitudinal adhesive strips are spaced at predetermined intervals along the length of the web 12 for the purpose of bonding a pair of sleeve members 18 and 19 to the top surface of the web 12. After the adhesive strips 16 and 17 are applied, the web 12 is passed through a slitting stage to form successive neck opening slits N at regular intervals along the length thereof. The sleeve members 18 and 19 are then positioned on the web 12. Following the positioning of the sleeves, the web 12 is then passed through a transverse adhesive application stage. The transverse adhesive applicator (not shown) deposits an adhesive strip A extending fully across the web 12 (except for a narrow center section which form a neck opening) for the purpose of forming shoulder seams between the back panel web 12 and the front panel webs unwound from the rolls 13, 14 and deposited on top of the web 12. A pair of stationary adhesive dispensers C and D deposit continuous strips of adhesive C' and D' on the longitudinal edges of the back panel web 12 and the overlying sleeves 18 and 19 so that the front panel webs are bonded to the sleeves and to the back panel web 12 along the longitudinal edges thereof as well as along the shoulder seams defined by the transverse strips A. The continuous webs are subsequently cut transversely at regular intervals to form garments which, in effect, are manufactured inside-out.

In accordance with the invention, means are provided for transferring pairs of sleeve members 18 and 19 laterally from respective sleeve pick-up positions adjacent to the web on opposite sides thereof and placing them transversely on the web in exact register with the adhesive strips 16, 17 which adhere the sleeves to the web. As herein shown, the means for transferring and placing the sleeves comprises a pair of sleeve placement mechanisms 20 and 21 located respectively on either side of the garment production line, and operable to lift the uppermost sleeve from a stack arranged adjacent the web and transfer it laterally to a placement position on the web. The sleeves in each stack are arranged, as shown in FIG. 1, with the wrist portion adjacent the web and the shoulder portion at the far end of the stack, and are transferred by the placement apparatus by a method that involves flipping the sleeve up and over through 360.degree. so that it is placed on the web with the shoulder portion along the longitudinal edge of the web and the wrist portion approximately at the center of the web, and thus in the proper position on the web to form a garment.

How this is achieved is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 which illustrate a sleeve placement mechanism 21 having sleeve supporting means in the form of vacuum cups 22 carried by a frame assembly 23 pivotally supported by stationary bearing blocks 24 fastened to the side of the garment machine. The frame assembly includes parallel arms 25 and 26 rigidly connected at one end to a pivot shaft 30 which is journaled in the stationary bearing blocks 24.

For picking-up individual sleeves from the top of the stack and holding them while the frame assembly of the sleeve placement mechanism 21 travels through its pivotal delivery movement, vacuum is supplied to the vacuum cups 22 of the supporting means by a manifold 27 which has a plurality of radial vacuum tubes 28 arranged in a parallel line along the length thereof, and which is rotatably mounted between the free ends of the pivot arms 25 and 26. The vacuum cups 22 are made of a resilient material and are carried at the ends of the vacuum tubes 28 vacuum is supplied from a suitable source to the manifold 27 via the pivot arm 25 and an air hose 29 connected thereto.

To pivot the frame assembly of the sleeve placement mechanism 21 between the sleeve pick-up and the sleeve placement position, a conventional reciprocating drive, either pneumatic or mechanical, (not shown) is linked via a drive chain 31 to a sprocket 32 which is secured to one end of the pivot shaft 30. Since it is important that each successive sleeve properly register with each successively corresponding adhesive strip 17 as it is placed on the moving web 12, it is necessary to adjust the speed of the reciprocating drive source in order to synchronize it with the speed of the moving web 12.

In accordance with the invention, the sleeve placement mechanism 21 is operative to flip the sleeve up and over through a path approximating a circle in order to throw the wrist portion of the sleeve outwardly over and onto the moving web 12, during the delivery cycle of the frame assembly. This is accomplished by rotating the sleeve about the axis of the manifold 27 as it is being carried through a delivery movement of the frame assembly.

In order to impart increased centrifugal force to the sleeve as it is rotated about the axis of the manifold 27, and to positively support and manipulate the sleeve so that it moves in the prescribed circular path as shown in FIG. 3, a support plate 36 is employed which is rigidly attached to the vacuum manifold 27 by means of a plurality of clamps 40. Thus, when the frame assembly is in its pick-up position, the sleeve plate 36 extends inwardly towards the web 12 and is positioned in a substantially horizontal plane. As the frame assembly pivots back and forth between a sleeve pick-up and a sleeve delivery position, the vacuum manifold 27 and attached sleeve plate 36 are rotated in the direction of the frame assembly movement to engage the sleeve and flip it over a full 360.degree. during the delivery stroke and to return to the pick-up position during the return stroke. To this end, a fixed stationary gear 41 is engaged with a driven gear 42 rigidly positioned on an intermediate, manifold drive shaft 43, extending between the parallel arms 25 and 26 of the frame assembly. As the frame assembly is driven between sleeve pick-up and a sleeve placement positions, the stationary gear 41 drives gear 42 causing the manifold drive shaft 43 to rotate. This rotational motion is transmitted to the vacuum manifold 27 and the sleeve plate 36 through a roller chain 44 connected between a pair of sprockets 45 and 46 secured respectively on the drive shaft 43 and the vacuum manifold 27.

The operation of the sleeve placement mechanisms constructed in accordance with the invention can more clearly be understood by referring to FIG. 3 which shows the frame assembly of one of the sleeve placement mechanisms at various stages in the delivery cycle. It will be appreciated that the pair of mechanisms serving the stacks of sleeves on opposite sides of the web 12 are constructed similarly and operate in cooperating timed sequence with each other and with the high speed movement of the web 12 to place pairs of sleeves in register with the previously applied strips of adhesive 16, 17 on the webs. The detailed description of the construction and operation of one of the placement mechanisms 21 is thus equally applicable to the other mechanism. Referring to FIG. 3, the pre-cut sleeves are supplied to the sleeve placement mechanism 21 in vertical stack with the wrist portion of each sleeve positioned near the longitudinal edge of the web 21 and the shoulder portion spaced outwardly therefrom. As the vacuum cups 22 contact the shoulder portion of the top sleeve on the vertical stack the top sleeve is picked-up by its shoulder portion for delivery to the moving web 12. As the frame assembly pivots about the pivotal shaft 30, the sleeve plate 36 and manifold 27 rotate about the manifold axis. This combined action imparts sufficient momentum to the wrist portion of the sleeve member 19 to cast it outwardly over the sleeve plate 36 and to maintain it fully extended transversely over the web so that it may be deposited onto the moving web 12. At the end of the delivery motion of the frame assembly, the flanged tips 22 of the vacuum manifold 27 are held slightly above the moving web 12 in order to prevent the shoulder portion of the sleeve from prematurely contacting the adhesive strips 17 carried by the moving web 12.

Further in keeping with the invention, the sleeve is delivered from the placement mechanism 21 to the web 12 when the shoulder portion of the sleeve held by the manifold 27 registers with an adhesive strip 17 on the moving web 12. A timing switch 50 actuated by the garment machine 10 via a cam 51 and a cam follower 52 operates a manifold control valve 53 which shuts off the vacuum and opens the manifold 27 to air chamber 54. The pressurized air in the chamber expands very rapidly through the manifold system breaking the vacuum and quickly discharging the sleeve dowardly off of the ends of the flanged vacuum cups 22 and onto the adhesive strip 17 carried by the web 12. A throttle valve 55 restricts further air flow to the manifold 33 so as not to further disturb the sleeve at it moves away tacked to the web 12.

After the individual sleeve is discharged onto the moving web 12, the delivery cycle of the sleeve placement mechanism 21 is reversed and the frame assembly begins swinging back to a sleeve pick-up position. This return motion actuates a limit switch (not shown) reversing the position of the manifold control valve 53. This re-establishes vacuum in the manifold system and closes the air chamber 54 allowing accumulation of another pressure charge for discharging the sleeve on the subsequent cycle. The pivot arms 25 and 26 continue to rotate, returning to the pick-up position for repeating the cycle.

In order to maintain the upper level of the stack at a proper pick-up level as successive sleeves are removed, position sensing means (not shown), in the form of a General Web Dynamics web guiding system coupled with a hydraulic, vertical left cylinder, are provided. Those skilled in the art will appreciate, however, that any other suitable position sensing arrangement could just as well be used.

In the preferred construction in order to insure a positive pick-up of only one sleeve at a time from the vertical stack, the path circumscribed by the pivot arms 25 and 26 is restricted to less than 180.degree. during each half of the delivery cycle because of the 1:1 overall gear ratio in the manifold drive chain. By so restricting the pivotal movement of the frame assembly, the bottoms of the vacuum cups 22 are horizontally positioned over the web for placement, but tipped with their outward edge upward (FIG. 4) for pick-up. Consequently, as the leading edges of the vacuum cups 22 strike the top of the sleeve stack during pick-up, the outward edge of the top sleeve bends slightly upward and is quickly grasped by the vacuum cups while the second and subsequent sleeves on the stack are unaffected.

The garment manufacturing apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention is fully automated and involves no manual operations. With this apparatus, and utilizing webs of nonwoven low cost material and pre-cut sleeves of such material, garments can be produced at a low manufacturing cost and sold as disposable garments for industry, hospital and household use. While the continuous web feeding and slitting, and adhesive applying operations illustrated are particularly suited to automated garment manufacture, the sleeve placement mechanism has application in other fields where sheet feeding devices are employed.

Claims

I claim as my invention:

1. A machine for manufacturing garments from continuous webs of material comprising, means for moving a continuous web of material, means for applying strips of adhesive to the two longitudinal edges of the web at preselected intervals, and means for transferring a pair of pre-cut garment sleeves laterally from respective sleeve pick-up positions adjacent to the web on opposite sides thereof and placing them transversely on the web in correspondence with the adhesive strips so that the respective shoulder ends of said sleeves register with said adhesive strips.

2. A machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for transferring a pair of pre-cut garment sleeves comprises a pair of sleeve transferring mechanisms located on opposite sides of the web, each of said placement mechanisms including sleeve supporting means for picking up the sleeve, holding it while it is transferred laterally, and depositing it at a predetermined location on the moving web, and means for carrying the sleeve supporting means between a sleeve pick-up and a sleeve placement position.

3. A machine for manufacturing garments from continuous webs of material comprising, means for moving a continuous web of material, means for applying strips of adhesive to the two longitudinal edges of the web at preselected intervals, and a pair of sleeve transfer mechanisms located on opposite sides of the web for transferring a pair of pre-cut garment sleeves laterally from respective sleeve pick-up positions adjacent to the web on opposite sides thereof and placing them transversely on the web in correspondence with the adhesive strips so that the respective shoulder ends of said sleeves register with said adhesive strips; each of said placement mechanisms including a frame assembly pivotally mounted to swing between a sleeve pick-up and a sleeve placement position, and sleeve supporting means movably carried by said frame and operable to flip a sleeve up and over through 360.degree. while transferring it laterally from the stack to the web.

4. In a machine for the manufacture of garments from continuous webs of material, a mechanism for transferring a pre-cut garment sleeve from a vertical stack located adjacent and perpendicular to the side of a moving web and for placing it transversely on the web, each sleeve in the stack being arranged with the wrist portion near the longitudinal edge of the web and the shoulder portion spaced outwardly therefrom, said mechanism comprising a frame assembly pivotally mounted to swing between a sleeve pick-up and a sleeve placement position; sleeve supporting means rotatably attached to the frame assembly for picking-up the sleeve at its shoulder end, holding it during the delivery movement of the frame assembly while the sleeve is transferred laterally, and depositing it at a predetermined location on the moving web; and means for simultaneously pivoting said frame and for rotating the sleeve supporting means in the direction of the pivotal movement of the frame between a sleeve pick-up and a sleeve placement position.

5. In a machine for the manufacture of garments from continuous webs of material, a mechanism as set forth in claim 4, for transferring a pre-cut garment sleeve from a vertical stack located adjacent and perpendicular to the side of a moving web and for placing it transversely on the web, in combination with a second identical mechanism, said pair of mechanisms being positioned on opposite sides of the web and operable for positioning a pair of sleeves on the moving web.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4, wherein said sleeve supporting means includes a vacuum manifold having a plurality of radial vacuum tubes arranged in a parallel line along the length thereof for gripping the sleeve element and holding it by suction.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6, wherein said sleeve supporting means further comprise a sleeve plate rotatably carried by the frame and moved with the manifold for flipping a sleeve up and over through 360.degree. while transferring the sleeve laterally from the stack to the web.

8. In a machine for the manufacture of garments from continuous webs of material, a mechanism for transferring a pre-cut garment sleeve from a vertical stack located adjacent and perpendicular to the side of a moving web, and for placing it transversely on the web, each sleeve in the stack being arranged with the wrist portion near the longitudinal edge of the web and the shoulder portion spaced outwardly therefrom, said mechanism comprising a frame assembly pivotally mounted to swing between a sleeve pick-up position over the stack and a sleeve placement position over the web; and sleeve supporting means movably carried by said frame and operable while the frame assembly swings between said positions for engaging the upper surface of the top sleeve on the stack, for lifting the top sleeve from the stack, and for flipping the sleeve up and over through 360.degree. so as to transfer the sleeve laterally from the stack to the web and to deposit it on the web with its upper surface facing up.

9. A mechanism for transferring a flexible sheet member from a vertical stack located adjacent to the side of a moving web and for placing it on the web, said mechanism comprising a frame assembly movably mounted to shift laterally between a sheet pick-up position over the stack and a sheet placement position over the web; and sheet supporting means movably carried by said frame and operable while the frame assembly shifts between said positions for engaging the upper surface of the top sheet member on the stack, for lifting the top sheet member from the stack, and for flipping the sheet member up and over through 360.degree. so as to transfer the sheet member laterally from the stack to the web and to deposit it on the web with its upper surface facing up.

10. A method for use in the manufacture of garments from continuous webs of material of transferring a pre-cut garment sleeve from a position adjacent a moving web and placing it transversely on the web, comprising the steps of: delivering a pre-cut garment sleeve to a position adjacent to the side of the moving web so that the wrist portion of the sleeve is positioned near the longitudinal edge of the web and the shoulder portion is spaced outwardly therefrom; picking the sleeve up by its shoulder portion; flipping the sleeve up and over through a path approximating a circle while moving it laterally towards the moving web in order to throw the wrist portion of the sleeve outwardly over and transversely onto the web; holding the shoulder portion slightly off of the web until it is aligned with an adhesive strip carried by the web; and discharging the sleeve downwardly onto the web so that the shoulder portion thereof registers with said adhesive strip.