Title of Invention

A FEED SYSTEM FOR TEXTILE ARTICLES

Abstract

Via a textile guide system for flat textile goods, the textile goods are fed by a continuous conveyor to processing stations and the textile web is fed between conveyor elements of the continuous conveyor and a stationary support whereby means is provided to press the textile web against the stationary support and whereby each pressing member has a vertical guide means in which a housing-fixed holding pin engages and apart from the guide means at least one pressing spring means is provided whereby the noise formation is largely suppressed. The vertical guide means is close to the oncoming end of the pressing member (3) approached by the conveyor and the pressing spring means (7) is arranged close to the downstream end of the pressing means(3).

Full Text

The invention relates to a feed system for flat articles, textile webs or textile goods, such as piece goods, fabric articles and the like, especially for automatic cutting and sewing apparatus capable of operating on such goods or for use with other types of textile processing machines and equipment. The textile goods, in the form of a web or as individual pieces, preferably are engaged at their edges by a continuous driving element, for example, a driving belt or chain, and conveyed thereby to processing stations which can be stations for folding, seaming, edge stabilization or the like. In general, the web or succession of fabric pieces are engaged between the continuously driven elements, for example, an endless belt or endless chain, and a stationary support which can be a fixed surface, a stationary rail or an array of fixedly located but freely rotatable rollers. In such a system means can be provided for pressing the textile goods against a stationary support such as the aforementioned rollers, the rail or surface, e.g. by pressing the conveyor element against a flat side of the article to be displayed. The resiliently mounted pressing elements may be spaced apart in the direction of travel and, in a system as described in EP 05 17 746 Bl, each pressing member can be guided transversely to the travel direction by a vertical guide which likewise is perpendicular to the plane of the goods. This vertical guide can be a slot formed in the pressing member and receiving a pin which is fixed so that the pressing member can be biased by a pressing spring means against the conveying element and the goods engaged between the conveying element and the support surface or members. The pin and slit or slot can define the maximum displacement of the pressing member. The spring can be braced against a stationary bar or other portion of the housing which is oriented on a side of the pressing member opposite that along which the conveying element is provided. At the upstream side of the pressing member, with respect to the direction of displacement, i.e. the oncoming side for the textile goods, the pressing member is formed with an inclined edge guiding the conveyor element beneath the pressing member. While this prior art apparatus has been satisfactory by and large in operation, the pressing members in use tend to generate excessive noise which is undesirable. Such noise results when a leading edge of a textile article clamped between the toothed belt and the underlying support passes into the region of a pressing member. Starting from this earlier system, the object of the invention is to provide a textile article feed system of a kind such that the noise formation by the pressing members is suppressed to the greatest extent possible. To achieve this object, the invention proposes that the It vertical guide means, i.e. the slit receiving the holding pin, be offset closer to the upstream side of the pressing member, i.e. the side at which the conveyor means, especially a belt, approaches the pressing member, while the spring means is offset on the pressing member to a location close to the rear or downstream end of the pressing member. Since the slit for the holding pin is no longer located centrally respective to the pressing member but rather is offset toward the upstream side, the noise which has been generated by the pressing member as a result of the flapping tendency thereof is suppressed, especially where the spring is provided close to the downstream end of the pressing member. In many cases, the suppression of the flapping action is so effective that there is no noise generated at the pressing member. Preferably the pressing spring means, especially a pressing spring, is a coil spring of the compression type which is received in a blind bore of the pressing member, one end of the spring being engaged in the blind bore while the other end bears upon a supporting surface. The blind bore preferably runs parallel to the slit and opens at a side of the pressing member which is opposite that on which the conveyor, especially a belt, is provided. This feature apart from the offset, is known in the art, but in the offset arrangement here described allows the spring, especially the coil spring, to provide an additional guide for the pressing member and nevertheless permits the pressing member to tilt within the limits afforded by the spring since the spring, which is free between the upper edge of the pressing member and the abutment against which it is braced, is freely bendable. The pin as noted, can be engaged in the slit and can be provided with means for guiding the pressing member parallel to the slit and for retaining the pressing member axially relative to the pin. This means, therefore, can secure the pressing member on the pin so that it is not shiftable axially thereon. In this manner it can ensure that the pressing member will not slide axially from the holding pin. The means for this purpose can be a coining of the holding pin so as to provide it with a head, a ring which is affixed to the holding pin or a collar on the holding pin which can engage an outer flank of the pressing member or can itself be received in a recess or groove in the pressing member. In the region of the inclined inlet edge of the pressing member, a roller or other rotary means can be provided to reduce friction between the oncoming conveyor and the pressing member. This can simplify the feeding of a towel or like relatively thick web of material beneath the pressing member in a case in which the belt is deformed by the oncoming edge of the fabric article in the configuration of a sort of step. This step can, thanks to the roller or similar or rotatable member at the inclined edge of the pressing member, pass through the latter without hooking it or locking against the pressing member. As a result, the passage of the article is effected with little generation of noise and without any difficulty. Preferably the pressing member and the conveyor element, especially the belt, have mutually engaging surfaces which are contoured complementarily so that the conveyor element is guided longitudinally in the travel direction through the pressing member. This contouring can be a projecting rib on the side of the conveyor opposite that at which the fabric is engaged and which is received in a guide groove of the pressing member within which that rib is engaged. The rib and groove can be trapezoidal in cross section. The rib and groove arrangement provide a profiling by means of which the belt is guided by the pressing member. This has been found to highly advantageous for reliable operation of the textile guide system and for its low noise operation. An embodiment of the invention has been illustrated in the drawing and is described in greater detail below. The drawing shows: FIG. 1 the important parts of a textile article feed system according to the invention in an elevation view; FIGS. 2 to 4 details in elevation or in end view. In the drawing, a feed system for textile articles, especially for the automatic cutting and sewing of textile webs or like textile processing units has been illustrated. The textile web 1 or individual textile pieces are preferably guided on their edges by a continuously operating conveyor with for example driven belts, to a through processing station, like stations for the folding, seaming or edge fastening or the like. As a result, the textile web 1 or the individual articles are fed between the endless belt and a stationary rail 2 or a stationary set of rollers which are freely rotatable, means being provided for pressing the textile web 1 against the stationary belt 2. The belt 4 which has a planar side engageable with the textile web 1 and on its opposite side is engaged by a plurality of spring-mounted pressing members 3, is formed as a toothed or cog belt and extends into the direction 10 of displacement. The pressing members 3 are spaced apart and oriented in this direction with a gap between them. Each pressing member 3 is formed with a vertical slot or slit 5 extending perpendicular to the plane of the textile web and, of course, transverse to the direction of displacement 10. Each slit or slot 5 receives a holding pin 6 which in turn is mounted upon a frame or housing structure for the apparatus, the pin 6 serves to guide the member 3 and to limit the excursion thereof in the vertical direction. The slot and the pin 6 are offset from the center of member 3 toward the upstream end of the latter. Also acting upon the pressing member 3, but at a location close to the downstream end, is a pressing spring 7 which is braced on a portion 8 of the housing such as a stationary bar. The pressing member 3 has at its upstream side a bevel or inclined inlet edge 9 at which the article first approaches the member 3 and with the conveyor belt is pressed toward the support surface 2. The slot 5 and pin 6, therefore, are located close to the upstream end at which the conveyor belt first approaches the member 3 and close to the front end of the pressing member 3 while the spring 7 is arranged close to the rear end of the pressing member 3. The pressing member can be provided with a blind bore receiving the pressing spring which can be a coil spring. The blind bore extends parallel to the slot 5 and opens on the side of the pressing member opposite that which engages the belt 4. The retaining pin 6 engages in the slot 5 and is provided with additional means whereby the pressing member 3 is guided parallel to the slot 5 and which can arrest the pressing member axially relative to the pin 6 so that the pressing member does not shift along this pin. Such means can be represented by a head 11 which can be coined on the pin 6 and engages the pressing member 3 from the exterior. The member 11, for example, suppresses axial movement on the pin 6. Preferably the pressing member 3 in the region of the inclined inlet edge 9 has a roller 12 or some other rotary means. As has been made clear from the illustration in FIG. 4, the pressing means 3 at its lower side can have a belt-engaging surface with a contour corresponding to that of the belt, here shown to have a groove 14 of trapezoidal cross section which receives the correspondingly-shaped groove 13. The rib 13 and the groove 14 with their trapezoidal cross section permit a particularly good feed and guidance with the system of the invention. Upon the approach of a textile article 1 to the first pressing member (see FIG. 1), the orientation of the pin 6 and slot 5 and the spring 7 reduces any tendency of the pressing member 3 to flutter even when a relatively large step is formed in the conveyor 4 as the article 1 approaches the inlet of the pressing member. In addition, a hooking of the belt 4 is avoided by the inclined edge 9 and the roller 12 engaging the conveyor. The invention is not limited to the embodiment shown but can be varied significantly within the framework of the disclosure. All features which are new and have been described and/or illustrated and individually and in combination, are considered important to the invention. WE CLAIM: 1. A feed system for feeding flat textile goods such as textile webs or articles, especially for automatic cutting and sewing apparatus for textile webs or like textile processing apparatus, wherein the textile goods or individual pieces are preferably fed at their edges by continuously operating conveyors like driven belts or chains to processing stations like stations for the folding, seaming, edge stabilization or the like and wherein the textile web or the individual pieces are fed between conveyor elements of the continuous conveyor or the endless belts and a stationary counter member or a stationary roll or stationary freely rotatable rollers, wherein means are provided for pressing the textile web against the stationary counter support, the stationary rail or rollers and, preferably, the conveyor element has a planar side lying the textile web and an opposite side engaged by a plurality of spring-loaded pressing members which are arranged in succession in the longitudinal direction of the conveyor element, and wherein each pressing member has a vertical guide, preferably a slit or slot arranged perpendicular to the fabric plane and extending transversely to the longitudinal direction, in which a holding pin fixed to the housing engages and which limits the maximum positions of the pressing member, wherein in the longitudinal direction of the pressing member, apart from the guide means, a pressing spring means is provided which is pressed on the one hand against the pressing member and on the other hand against a stationary bar or like housing part which is arranged on the side of the pressing member opposite that along which the conveyor element is provided, wherein preferably the pressing members at the oncoming side of the conveyor element have inclined incoming edges, characterized in that the vertical guide means, preferably the slot (5) receiving the holding pin (6) is arranged close to the upstream end of the pressing member at which the conveyor, especially a belt (4) meets the pressing member in the travel direction of the conveyor and the pressing spring means (7) is arranged close to the downstream end of the pressing member (3). 2. The textile guide system according to claim 1 wherein the pressing spring means, especially the 3 pressing spring (7) engages in a blind bore of the pressing member (3) at one end, the blind bore runs parallel to the slot, and the blind bore opens on the side of the pressing member (3) opposite that at which the conveying means, especially the belt (4), is provided. 3. The textile guide system according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the guide means is a holding pin which engages in the slot (5) and has means (11) by means of which the pressing member (3) is guided parallel to the slot (5) and holds the pressing member (3) axially relative to the holding pin (6) or axially unshiftable on the holding pin (6). 4. The textile guide system according to claims 1 to 3 wherein the pressing member (3) in the region of the inclined inlet edge (6) has a roller (12) or a like rotating means. 5. The textile guide system according to claims 1 to 4 wherein the pressing member on the side turned toward the conveyor element, especially the belt, has a contour corresponding to the contour of the conveyor element or belt cross section so that the conveyor element or the belt (4) is guided in the travel direction by the pressing member (3). 6. The textile guide system according to claims 1 to 5 wherein the conveyor element or belt (4) on its side turned toward the pressing member (3) has a projection (13) and the pressing member (3) has a guide groove (14) matching it. 7. The textile guide system according to claim 6 wherein the projection (13) and the groove (14) are formed trapezoid in cross section. 8. The textile guide system according claims 1 to 7 wherein the pressing member (3) has a skid supporting it against the conveyor. 9. The textile guide system according to claims 1 to 8 wherein the pressing member is comprised of a small square block whose small lower side is formed as a supporting skid.

Documents:

1125-mas-1997-abstract.pdf

1125-mas-1997-assignement.pdf

1125-mas-1997-claims filed.pdf

1125-mas-1997-claims granted.pdf

1125-mas-1997-correspondnece-others.pdf

1125-mas-1997-correspondnece-po.pdf

1125-mas-1997-description(complete)filed.pdf

1125-mas-1997-description(complete)granted.pdf

1125-mas-1997-drawings.pdf

1125-mas-1997-form 1.pdf

1125-mas-1997-form 26.pdf

1125-mas-1997-form 3.pdf

1125-mas-1997-form 5.pdf

1125-mas-1997-other documents.pdf