The present invention generally relates to sewing systems and methods for forming mattresses, and in particular, to a system and method of sewing and/or attaching a panel of a mattress or other bedding article to a flanging material.
In the textile field, most sewing operations traditionally have been extremely labor intensive, manual operations that generally have required skilled workers for cutting, sewing, and finishing textile articles. The more labor intensive the sewing operation and the greater the skill required of the operator to form the article, the greater the cost and the slower the production of such articles. For example, in the manufacture of mattresses, and especially when forming a pillowtop mattress, a top panel that includes a foam or cushion material is sewn to a flanging material, after which it is applied over a spring set for the mattress, with the flanging material being pulled down over the side edge of the spring set and hog ringed or stapled to a spring to secure the top panel of the mattress thereto. A border then typically is attached about the sides of the mattress, covering the flanging material and springs. Further, the upper panels and pillowtops of mattresses generally must be sewn or attached to the mattress border, pillowtop attachment gusset, and possibly a flanging material, by a tape edge, which is applied along the mating edges or seams therebetween by a tape edge applicator.
Currently, there exist automated systems that enable workers to measure, cut, and sew borders, attachment gussets, flanging materials and other parts of a mattress or foundation. A drawback of such automated equipment is that it typically has been limited in the type and number of sewing operations that can be performed, while other operations, such as applying tape edges about the borders and pillowtops of mattresses, still tend to require significant skill and manual control by an operator to be performed. As a consequence, while various components of a mattress or foundation set can be formed at increased rates, the final assembly of the mattress or foundation set generally is still limited to more labor intensive, manual operations.
Briefly described, the present invention generally relates to an automatic panel sewing and flanging system and a method of trimming and attaching a flanging material to a panel, such as a quilted fabric or other textile panel for use in forming mattresses, foundation sets, and/or other similar articles. The present invention is adapted to attach the flanging material along the side edges and about a corner portion of the panel, with less pleating and distortion to achieve more accurate rounded or accurate corners. The automatic panel sewing and flanging system of the present invention is designed to further receive and automatically sew and attach a flanging material to the panels as needed while enabling a single operator to operate multiple systems, with the panels received from a conveyor or other transport mechanism from one or more quilting machines, or alternatively, from other sewing systems or stations, or supplied from inventory or other supply means.
The automatic panel sewing and flanging system generally will include a large air-assisted work table having a series of air jets or ports mounted or formed therein for aiding in the movement of the panels across the work table. A sewing assembly or workstation generally will be mounted along one of the sides of the work table. The sewing assembly or workstation will include a single or multiple needle sewing head mounted on a turntable and having one or more sewing needles and an edge trimming or cutting blade, with a roll of flanging material further generally being mounted adjacent the sewing head, and a flange cutter located downstream from the sewing head. A panel generally will be loaded either automatically from the conveyor or other transport, or manually into a sewing position under the foot of the sewing head and then will be guided and sewn along the edge of the panel. As the sewing head sews along the edge of the panel, the trimming/cutting blade generally trims away excess material, while the sewing head forms a chain stitch and an over-edge stitch or safety stitch along the cut panel edge. During this sewing operation, the sewing head also can attach the flanging material to the trimmed edge of the panel. Alternatively, the system can be operated without the attachment of the flanging material if so desired.
As a corner of the panel is detected approaching the sewing head, the sewing head generally will be slowed and can be stopped and with the needle(s) of the sewing head near the corner of the panel. One or more clamps then can be lowered into a position offset from the edges of the panel, so as to engage and hold the corner of the panel against the work table. The sewing head, which is mounted on a turntable-style base, then generally can be rotated in a substantially arcuate motion about an arc of approximately 90 degrees, or other rotational movement as needed to sew about the corner as desired. During rotation, the sewing head generally will be operated as it is rotated around the corner of the panel to perform the corner sewing process, so as to cut and sew, and attach a flanging material as needed along a substantially consistent radius about the corner of the panel.
Because the panel is being held stationary during the corner sewing process, a substantially more uniform and consistent corner radius can be achieved. Once the sewing head has completed its rotation about the corner of the panel, the sewing head then can be rotated back to its home or initial sewing position, with the quilted panel also being rotated by movement of at least one of the clamps with the movement of the sewing head, so as to be placed into a position to present its next side edge in the path of travel for sewing therealong. As a result, a rectangular, square or other configuration panel can be formed that is sewn along all four sides of the panels with a substantially more consistent and accurate radiused edge being formed about each corner, with or without flanging material also being attached along each edge of the panel.
Various objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a review of the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring now to the drawings in which like numerals indicated like parts throughout the several views,
As generally illustrated in
As further indicated in
As illustrated in
The control system 40 generally includes a processor or controller 41, which can include a user interface, here shown as a touch screen 42, although other types of user interfaces, such as a keyboard and monitor, mouse, etc. also can be utilized. The controller 41 can be programmed with operational controls or parameters for sewing of the panels, and can provide feedback and the ability for the operator to adjust various parameters such as pile height, movement of the sewing assembly, etc. Additionally, stop and start switches 43 and a thumb switch 44 can be provided adjacent the sewing assembly 22 for activating and/or stopping the operation of the automatic panel sewing and flanging system.
As illustrated in
As also indicated in
Such a corner sewing operation generally is initiated by detection of the next side edge N (
As further illustrated in
A first or corner clamp mechanism 74 (
Each of the clamp assemblies 78/79 (
Additionally, as indicated in
In operation of the automatic panel sewing and flanging system 10 according to the principles of the present invention, as illustrated in
As the panel is moved along its path of travel 12 through the sewing zone 21 of the sewing assembly 22, the sewing head 50 sews and trims along the side edge S of the panel so as to attach the flanging material F to the side edge, while trimming away excess material from the side edge of the panel as indicated in
Upon actuation of the corner clamp mechanism, the clamp is engaged against the panel so as to compress and hold the panel against the upper surface of the work table and prevent further movement thereof. Thereafter, as indicated in
After the sewing head has completed the corner sewing operation, the rotatable clamp mechanism 75 is lowered and the sewing head and the clamp arm 76 will be rotated or otherwise moved in the direction of arrow 88, back to an initial or home position, as indicated in
The side edge sewing and flanging and corner sewing and flanging operations thereafter are repeated for each of the side edges and corners of the panel. Once the last side edge of the panel has been completed, and as the panel is being sewn off, a flange material cutter 90 (
Still further, the automatic panel sewing and flanging system of the present invention can be utilized for sewing materials other than a flanging material to a panel, as well as for sewing or seaming the edges and corners of a panel without attaching flanging or other materials thereto. For example, where a flanging material is not needed to be attached to the panel, the unseen side edges of the panel can be passed through the automatic panel sewing and flanging system for sewing at the side edges as discussed above, but without the feeding and attachment of the flanging material thereto.
Accordingly, the automatic panel sewing and flanging system of the present invention enables panels of varying sizes (i.e., king size, queen size, etc.) and thicknesses to be automatically trimmed and flanged as needed, with the flanging material generally being attached with a chain stitch and over edge stitch, thus forming a safety stitching along the side edges of the panels. Additionally, by fixing the panel in position and thereafter engaging its sewing about the corner of the panel by movement of the sewing head thereabout, substantially consistently sized, shaped and sewn/flanged corners, which additionally can have flanging material that is attached thereto, can be formed with pleating and/or puckering of the corner portions of the panels, and the flanging material attached thereto, being substantially minimized. As a result, more consistently sized and/or uniformly sewn panels can be produced to enable more consistent and/or faster assembly of mattresses, foundation sets and other articles utilizing such panels.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that while the present invention has been discussed with reference to certain embodiments, various modifications, changes, additions, and deletions can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The present Patent Application is a formalization of previously filed, co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/989,346, filed Nov. 20, 2007 by the inventors named in the present Application. This Patent Application claims the benefit of the filing date of this cited Provisional Patent Application according to the statutes and rules governing provisional patent applications, particularly 35 U.S.C. §119(a)(i) and 37 C.F.R. §1.78(a)(4) and (a)(5). The specification and drawings of the Provisional Patent Application referenced above are specifically incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in their entirety.
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