Claims
- 1. A continuous process of forming shirt cuffs or the like comprising moving the free end of a continuous web of lining material or the like from a supply along a path through a sewing machine, placing a series of panels of cuff material or the like in spaced relationship with respect to one another on the web of lining material along the length of the web of lining material before the web of lining material is moved through the sewing machine, folding an edge portion of the series of panels of cuff material about an edge of the continuous web of lining material, sewing through the folds of the series of panels of cuff material and the continuous web of lining material to form a connected series of partially completed cuff assemblies, accumulating a predetermined length of the connected series of partially completed cuff assemblies which extend from the sewing machine, continually cutting the free end of the web between the panels to separate the partially completed cuff assemblies from the connected series of partially completed cuff assemblies in response to the accumulation of at least a first predetermined length of the connected series of partially completed cuff assemblies and terminating the separating of the series of partially completed cuff assemblies in response to the accumulation of less than the first predetermined length of the connected series of partially completed cuff assemblies and terminating the moving of the web of lining material and the series of panels of cuff material through the sewing machine in response to the accumulation of more than a second predetermined length of the connected series of partially completed cuff assemblies.
- 2. The process of claim 1 and wherein the step of continually cutting the partially completed cuff assemblies from the series of partially completed cuff assemblies comprises the steps of simultaneously moving the web of lining material beneath a reflective plate while moving the panels of cuff material over the reflective plate, detecting the movement of an edge portion of each panel of cuff material as it moves over the reflective plate, terminating the movement of the series of partially completed cuff assemblies after the detected edge portion of a panel has moved to a predetermined position, and cutting the series of partially completed cuff assemblies at the detected edge portion.
- 3. The process of claim 1 and wherein the step of continually cutting the partially completed cuff assemblies from the series of partially completed cuff assemblies comprises the cycle of rolling a disc cutter against a bearing plate from one side of the path of the series of partially completed cuff assemblies in a first direction across the path to the other side of the path, indexing the next adjacent partially competed cuff assembly along the path, rolling the disc cutter against the bearing plate in the direction opposite to the first direction from the other side of the path back across the path to the one side of the path, and indexing the now next adjacent partially completed cuff assembly along the path.
- 4. The process of claim 1 and further including the step of forming a vertical stack of cuff assemblies with the last stacked cuff assembly being placed on the bottom of the stack.
- 5. The process of claim 1 and further including the step of sequentially moving the separated partially completed cuff assemblies to a stacking position and urging each partially completed cuff assembly in an upward direction to the bottom of a stack of partially completed cuff assemblies.
- 6. A continuous process of forming shirt cuffs or the like comprising the steps of moving a web of cuff lining material or the like extending from a supply in a first direction along its length toward a sewing machine, placing cuff panel pattern parts or the like on the web of lining material as the web of lining material moves toward the sewing machine with one edge portion of each of the cuff panel pattern parts overlying an edge of the web of lining material and with the cuff panel pattern parts being spaced from one another along the length of the web of lining material, folding the overlying edge portion of each of the cuff panel pattern parts about an edge of the web of the lining material as the web of lining material moves toward the sewing machine, sewing through the web of lining material and the folded portion of the cuff panel pattern parts to form a connected series of partially completed shirt cuffs, accumulating a predetermined range of lengths of the connected series of partially completed shirt cuffs which has moved through and which extends from the sewing machine, moving the connected series of partially completed shirt cuffs from its accumulation and severing the web of lining material adjacent one edge of each cuff panel pattern part to separate the partially completed shirt cuffs from the connected series of partially completed shirt cuffs and leave a short length of cuff lining material extending from one edge of at least some of the partially completed shirt cuffs.
- 7. The process of claim 6 and wherein the step of severing the web of lining material between the precut pattern parts of cuff panel material comprises moving the web of cuff lining material on one side of a reflective surface and moving the cuff panel pattern parts on the opposite side of the reflective surface as the partially completed shirt cuffs move toward a cutting station, detecting the movement of a cuff panel pattern part across the reflective surface, and cutting the web of lining material in response to the detection.
- 8. The process of claim 6 and further including the step of moving the partially completed shirt cuffs in an upward direction to form a stack with the partially completed shirt cuffs being added to the bottom of the stack.
- 9. The process of claim 6 and further including the step of urging the partially completed shirt cuffs as they are cut toward a stacking station.
- 10. The process of claim 6 and wherein the step of accumulating a predetermined range of lengths of the connected series of partially completed shirt cuffs comprises moving the connected series of partially completed shirt cuffs through an inverted U-shaped path and moving the upper portion of the path upwardly and downwardly to lengthen and shorten the path.
- 11. The process of claim 6 and wherein the step of accumulating a predetermined range of lengths of the connected series of partially completed shirt cuffs comprises moving the connected series of partially completed shirt cuffs through an inverted U-shaped path and moving the upper portion of the path upwardly or downwardly to lengthen or shorten the path, and further including the step of terminating the step of severing the web of cuff lining material in response to the movement of the upper portion of the inverted U-shaped path below a predetermined position.
- 12. The process of claim 6 and wherein the step of accumulating a predetermined range of lengths of the connected series of partially completed shirt cuffs comprises moving the connected series of partially completed shirt cuffs through a U-shaped path and varying the length of the U-shaped path.
- 13. A process of forming shirt cuffs or the like comprising moving a continuous web of lining material or the like along a path through a sewing machine, placing a series of shirt cuff pattern parts or the like on the web of lining material at spaced intervals along the web of lining material so that the web of lining material carries the series of shirt cuff pattern parts along the path, connecting a side portion of the shirt cuff pattern parts to the lining material along one side of the lining material to form a connected series of shirt cuff assemblies, moving the portion of the web of lining material away from its connected side portion beneath a reflective surface as the connected series of shirt cuff assemblies continues to move along the path and moving the portions of the shirt cuff pattern parts away from their connected side portions over the reflective surface, detecting the movement of each of the pattern parts over the reflective surface, and actuating a subsequent garment making step in response to the detection of the movement of each of the pattern parts over the reflective surface.
- 14. The process of claim 13 and further including the step of separating the connected series of shirt cuff assemblies at one edge of each shirt cuff pattern part.
- 15. A continuous process of forming shirt cuffs or the like comprising moving a continuous web of lining material or the like along its length along a path toward a cutting mechanism, placing shirt cuff pattern parts or the like on the web of lining material in spaced relationship with respect to one another, attaching the shirt cuff pattern parts to the web of lining material along one edge of the web of lining material to form a connected series of partially completed shirt cuffs, moving the web of lining material on one side of a reflective plate while moving the shirt cuff pattern parts on the other side of the reflective plate as the continuous web of lining material moves along its length toward the cutting mechanism, detecting the presence and absence of the shirt cuff pattern parts as they move across the reflective plate, and cutting the continuous web of lining material between adjacent ones of the shirt cuff pattern parts in response to the detection of the presence and absence of the shirt cuff pattern parts as they move across the reflective plate.
- 16. The process of claim 15 and wherein the step of cutting the web of lining material comprises stopping the movement of the lining material.
- 17. The process of claim 15 and wherein the step of cutting the web of lining material comprises rolling a disc cutter against a bearing plate from one side of the path of the web of lining material to the other side of the path.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 391,645, filed Aug. 27, 1973, which application is a division of application Ser. No. 243,573 filed Apr. 13, 1972, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,682 issued Dec. 25, 1973, which application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 79,031, filed Oct. 8, 1970, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,604 issued July 11, 1972.
The process of making shirt sleeve cuffs in the past has required a plurality of difficult alignment and sewing steps and requires skilled machine operators because of the multiple number of plies of outer cuff pattern parts and inner lining pattern parts required to form the cuff, and because the pattern parts are small and are easily misplaced. For example, a typical cuff making process in the past required both the outer cuff panels and inner lining panel to be cut in the cutting room by dye cutting or clicking, and the outer panels and liner panels were tagged in the cutting room and then transferred to the sewing stations in the sewing room. At the first sewing station an operator aligned the inner liner panel with a first cuff panel, folded the overlying edge of the cuff panel over an edge of the liner panel, and sewed through the fold to form a hem or Brighton roll in the cuff panel about the edge of the liner panel. The plurality of partially completed cuffs formed in this manner were connected by a chain stitch and were accumulated at the first sewing station.
After a bunch of partially completed cuffs had been passed through the first sewing station, the bunch was transferred to a second sewing station where the second outer cuff panel was aligned in overlying relationship with the first cuff panel and folded about the hem of the first cuff panel, and the operator then stitched about an end of the fold and around the unstitched edges of the inner liner and cuff panels and over the other end of the fold to complete the cuff. The cuffs were again connected together by chain stitching as they left the sewing station and when the batch of cuffs had been passed through the second sewing station, they were transferred to a processing station where the cuffs were separated, inverted, pressed, and stacked.
The old procedure required not only the cuff panels but the liner to be cut to shape in the cutting room so that a substantial amount of liner material as well as cuff panel material was wasted. Also, the slow processes of aligning the edges of cuff panels and liner panels were required at both the first and second sewing stations, and the sequence of the outer panels had to be maintained at both the first and second sewing stations so that one or both operators would not incorrectly match cuff panels in a cuff structure from different bunches of material or from different layers in a bunch and form cuff structures having mismatched colors.
Several attempts have been made to improve the old piece method of forming shirt cuffs. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,679 discloses a process where a continuous web of lining material is used in an automated process, where the outer pattern parts of the cuffs are placed on the continuous web of lining material and the pattern parts are sewn to the lining material and the sewn together parts are accumulated in a roll. The lining material is subsequently unrolled and separated between the series of pattern parts. While this system has been somewhat successful in reducing the machine operator time and expense required to manufacture shirt cuffs, the close attention of relatively skilled operators is still required for the step of separating the series of partially completed shirt cuffs, and the process is not a continuous process.
Briefly described, the present invention comprises a process of forming shirt cuffs or the like wherein a continuous web of cuff lining material noves along a path through a sewing machine, and precut cuff pattern parts are placed in overlying spaced relationship on the lining material. A conveyor belt moves into contact with the lining material and pattern parts and holds them together as they move through the sewing machine. The overlying portion of each pattern part is folded under the web of lining material, and the folded portion of the pattern part and the web of the lining material are sewn together by a sewing machine. As the connected together series of partially formed shirt cuffs leave the sewing machine, they are continuously accumulated in an inverted U-shaped path where the upper portion of the path is movable upwardly or downwardly between predetermined positions to lengthen or shorten the U-shaped path so as to accumulate or feed out the connected series of partially completed shirt cuffs. The connected series is fed from the accumulation through a detector and a cutter to a stacker. The detector determines when the trailing edge of a cuff panel pattern part moves across a predetermined point toward the cutter, and in response to this detection, the movement of the pattern part is interrupted and a disc cutter rolls across the web of lining material adjacent the trailing edge of the pattern part to separate the partially completed shirt cuffs. The partially completed shirt cuffs are moved to a stacker where the individual shirt cuffs are fed to the bottom of a stack and await transfer to a subsequent processing station.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a continuous process for fabricating partially completed shirt cuffs or the like that requires a relatively unskilled operator and which functions rapidly and accurately to properly form partially completed shirt cuffs.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.
US Referenced Citations (11)
Divisions (1)
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243573 |
Apr 1972 |
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Continuation in Parts (2)
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391645 |
Aug 1973 |
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79031 |
Oct 1970 |
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Patent Grant
3970021
