EP0887453A1 - Apparatus and method for positioning textile articles - Google Patents

Abstract

The fittings position textile hose products to a datum mark. The fittings comprise a structure (1) which has two pairs of cylindrical rollers (4). These lie parallel, one above the other, rotating on their longitudinal axes. The product is placed on them. The rollers are controlled by photodetectors (7) to detect a longitudinal datum on the product. This also controls momentary compressive adhesion of the corresponding fabric portion during pickup, at the surface of the fixed object (44) between each pair of rollers, by associated padded pistons (70). Also claimed is the method of positioning the hose (5) by rotating each product (5) around its own longitudinal axis, to locate a datum mark in correspondence with the reading axis of one or more photodetectors. Rotation is achieved by drawing the fabric inside the product.

Description

The subject of the present invention is an apparatus and a method for positioning products manufactured textiles, like tubular elements for the production of tights.

It is known by those skilled in the art that tights are made by assembling two stockings, whose corresponding portion of the body is interested in a longitudinal section of a predetermined length, to sew them together, in correspondence of the edges that have been cut. For this purpose, the stockings are invested in twin flat support shapes that allow movement between several distinct stations of loading, positioning, cutting, sewing and unloading of a horizontal carousel machine at sew the tips called "line-closer".

Machines for assembling tights are described, for example, in US patents 4,444,140, US 5,345,889 and US 4303026.
It is also known that to assemble manufactured products such as tights, starting from the bottom with the tips already sewn, it is necessary to position and orient the manufactured products on the respective forms of support, so that the seam lines of the tip in correspondence of the foot of each stocking and the union seam of the edges which form the body are oriented reciprocally in a timely manner, failing which the garment is of insufficient quality, presenting the tip of the foot oriented incorrectly with respect to to the body.

The sewing of the toe of the stockings is carried out with machines called "toe-closer" as for example those described in the patents US 5014634, US 5272993 and US 4020775.
In addition, the patent: US 5,564,609 describes an apparatus suitable for positioning manufactured products as stockings for tights, comprising rollers acting from the outside on the manufactured products being treated to cause them to rotate about the respective longitudinal axes and thus orient them in a predetermined benchmark.
A drawback linked to the use of this known positioning apparatus consists in that the compression exerted by the rollers on the fabric of the manufactured product in positioning determines a very significant localized deformation of the meshes of the fabric, the latter. is of being more injurious if it is light and delicate fabrics which do not allow the spontaneous elastic recovery of the deformation. In addition, the positioning of the manufactured product is only partially automatic, since it is necessary to place the manufactured products on the respective support forms in a precise initial position.

The main object of the present invention is that of proposing an apparatus and a process which allow to orient manufactured products textiles as stockings for tights, particularly during their transfer between stations or machines for tiptoeing and stations or machines for assembly tights, automatically, quickly and easy.

This was achieved, in accordance with the invention, by adopting the idea of making a device having the characteristics described in the characterizing part of claims 1 and 6. Other characteristics are the subject of dependent claims.

The advantages that derive from this invention basically consist of it is possible to operate said positioning so automatic, reliable, fast and precise, so that the finished product is always the same and good quality; that an apparatus in accordance with the invention is relatively simple to manufacture and it can be combined with means for the transfer of manufactured goods between several operational stations or machines of a installation in which in each station or on each machine is performed an operation corresponding.

• les Figg. 1A et 1B représentent une vue en plan d'un appareillage conformément à l'invention au début et respectivement à la fin du positionnement;
• la Fig. 2 représente un schéma simplifié des moyens de l'appareillage illustré dans les Figg. 1A et 1B;
• la Fg. 3 représente schématiquement la vue latérale d'un appareillage conformément à l'invention, placé en aval d'une "toe-closer" et à laquelle sont asservis un chariot d'alimentation des produits manufacturés à positionner et un chariot de prélèvement des produits manufacturés été positionnés;
• la Fig. 14 représente schématiquement la vue en plan d'un appareillage conforméments à l'invention placé entre une toe-closer et une line-closer.

These advantages and characteristics of the invention as well as others will be more and better understood by each person skilled in the art in the light of the description which follows and with the aid of the appended drawings given by way of practical example of a concrete embodiment, but not to be considered in the limiting sense; drawings in which:

• Figg. 1A and 1B show a plan view of an apparatus in accordance with the invention at the start and respectively at the end of positioning;
• Fig. 2 shows a simplified diagram of the means of the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B;
• the Fg. 3 schematically represents the side view of an apparatus according to the invention, placed downstream of a "toe-closer" and to which are slaved a carriage for supplying the manufactured products to be positioned and a cart for removing the manufactured products been positioned;
• Fig. 14 schematically represents the plan view of an apparatus according to the invention placed between a toe-closer and a line-closer.

Reduced to its essential structure and in reference in the figures of the appended drawings, an apparatus according to the invention comprises a structure (1) placed between the two slave machines (2,3), and with, for each manufactured product to be treated, two pairs of parallel cylindrical rollers (4) superimposed, rotating around the longitudinal axes respective with corresponding motor control (40) and on which the manufactured product (5) in treatment is investible by means of a trolley (6) with hooks (60) which can be taken the manufactured products of the first machine (3) to invest it on the rollers (4): minus one of said pairs of rollers (4) being controlled with several optoelectronic detectors (7) for raising a benchmark longitudinal of the manufactured product and to order, during recovery, momentary membership, by compression, of the corresponding portion of tissue of the manufactured product on the surface of a fixed body (44) placed between the rollers (4) vertically superimposed on each pair (see Fig. 2) using the corresponding buffer pistons (70) and slaved to these.

The hooks (60) of the carriage (6) which transport the products manufactured at structure (1) are developed parallel to each other and to the rollers (4) and spaced so as to result in the outside of the rollers (4) (as we can see in Fig. 4A) to invest in these respective manufactured products (5), with rollers (4) which result inside. The discount from manufactured products (5) to rollers (4) occurs by effect of the translation of the carriage (60) as indicated by the arrows (F) in Fig. 1A, which determines the hitting and stopping of the edge previous (51) manufactured goods (5) against the rear base (4 ') of the rollers (4), the dimensions are conveniently pre-selected from way to achieve this effect. Another advancement of carriage (6) in the direction indicated by arrows (F) of FIG. 1, followed by its uplift after the aforementioned product stop hit manufactured (5) determines the delivery of the product to rollers (4) of the structure (1).

The manufactured product (5) is taken by the machine (3) by means of the carriage (6), the hooks (60) have a concavity turned towards the machine (3) for the arrival of manufactured products (5) to be treated in such a way as to be able to pick up by an intermediate cart (36) which has hooks suitable for extraction of their elastic edge (51) of the supports (30) of the same machine (3) by means of a translation horizontal with a length stroke predetermined. After which the same cart (6) transports the manufactured product (5) to and to the structure (1) to invest the edge elastic on the rollers (4) which result thus internal to the product manufactured in treatment.

So the rotation of the rollers (4) is activated by so that the manufactured product begins to rotate around at its own longitudinal axis, like indicated by the arrows (G) in the diagram in Fig. 2.

When one of the detectors (7) detects the point of mark, which can for example be a mark longitudinal continuous or discontinuous in color or thicken or material different from that of the fabric or also a line or dividing line between two body parts of different thickness or mesh structure (as in Figg. 1A and 1B), the corresponding cylinders (70) are activated, permanently or with a delay programmed, to compress the corresponding portion of fabric of the manufactured product on the surface of the body (44) and prevent subsequent rotation.

When all the buffers of the cylinders (70) are in fabric compression position on the surface said body (44), said landmark results orthogonal to the reading axes of the detectors (7) and, therefore, the manufactured product results disposed on the tubes (4) in a known position and predetermined space as well as the product can be removed, as described in the continued, and transferred to another machine (2) after another possible product rotation manufactured around its longitudinal axis with total angular travel of a magnitude predetermined.

In the examples of Figg. 3 and 4 of the drawings attached, the machine (3) is a "toe-closer" and the machine (2) is a "line-closer" but can also treat a machine with shapes to iron the stockings or whatever. In the examples illustrated in the figures of attached drawings, each roller (4) is slaved to a corresponding electric motor (40) of the type "step by step" by means of a drive belt (41) actuating a toothed pinion (42) which engages a toothing (43) of the roller (4). In this case structure (1) is in two parts (A, B), each which carry a corresponding motor (40) with a roller (4), movable from and to a plane longitudinal symmetry (S-S) to allow regulate with pleasure the tension of the work for each manufactured product (5) being processed.

It is conveniently provided that the carriage (6) with the hooks (60) is mounted on a structure which allows the lowering and respectively the lifting to operate at different heights, in addition to the horizontal movement between the machine (3) and the structure (1) with said rollers (4) positioning.

To release the manufactured product (5) from rollers (4) you can use a carriage (8) with hooks (80) arranged parallel to each other and the rollers (4) and spaced apart so able to be inserted, carried by the carriage (8), in the space between the rollers (4). During the remotion of manufactured products (5) rollers (4) the carriage (8) moves the hooks (80) which in turn move by pushed each manufactured product (5) along the rollers (4), as indicated by the arrows (H) of Fig. 1B, until their complete extraction. By effect of the elasticity of the fabric of the products manufactured (5), these spontaneously adhere to the surface of the hooks (80) which, expediently moved by the carriage (8), carry the manufactured products (5) to and up to second machine (2), for example to and up the forms (20) of a "line-closer".

According to the invention, an operational method is made for product positioning manufactured tubular textiles (5) by means of the rotation of each manufactured product (5) around its own longitudinal axis until a longitudinal mark of the fabric in correspondence of the reading axis of one or more detectors, where the aforementioned rotation is carried out by means of the dragging of the fabric inside the product manufactured.

Claims (6)

Apparatus for positioning products fabricated tubular textiles in a point of predetermined benchmark, characterized in that includes a structure (1) with, for each product manufactured (5) to be treated, two pairs of rollers cylindrical (4) parallel superimposed, rotating around the respective longitudinal axes and on which manufactured product (5) being processed is investable: at least one of said pairs of rollers (4) being slaved to one or more optoelectronic detectors (7) intended for raising a longitudinal benchmark of the manufactured product and to order, during raising, momentary adhesion, by compression, of the corresponding tissue portion of the product manufactured on the surface of a fixed body (44) placed between the vertically overlapping rollers (4) of each pair by means of buffer pistons corresponding (70) and to these subject. Apparatus according to claim 1 characterized in that it can be associated with ways to invest in automatic products manufactured (5) on the rollers (4), with at minus a carriage (6) with hooks (60) developed parallel to each other and to the rollers (4) and spaced so as to result outside the rollers (4) to invest in these the respective manufactured products (5), with the rollers (4) which result inside, by effect of a translation operated parallel to the axis of development of the rollers (4), station of origin of manufactured products to the rollers themselves. Apparatus according to claim 1 characterized in that it can be associated with means for automatic product picking manufactured (5) been positioned, with at least one carriage (8) with hooks (80) developed parallel to each other and to the rollers (4) and spaced so as to be internal to rollers (4) for removing products therefrom respective (5) by effect of translation carried out parallel to the axis of development of rollers (4), part rear (4 ') of the rollers (4) towards that to the interior. Apparatus according to claim 1 characterized in that each roller (4) is controlled by a corresponding electric motor (40) of the "step-by-step" type by means of a transmission (41) actuating a toothed pinion (42) which engages a toothing (43) of the roller (4). Apparatus according to claim 1 characterized in that the distance between the rollers (4) is adjustable. Operational process for positioning textile tubular manufactured products (5) in means of rotation of each manufactured product (5) around its own longitudinal axis up to have a longitudinal mark of the fabric in correspondence of the reading axis of one or several detectors, where the aforementioned rotation is performed by dragging the fabric to inside the manufactured product.

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