GB2200143A - A device for actuating a hair- planting needle in a hair-planting machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to implanting hair on to hollow moulded polymeric dolls heads, etc. A needle 3 is parallel to but eccentrically mounted on a straight vertical rod 1, which has at 8 a sliding key with a surrounding gear 7, and which is reciprocated by a crank arm 4 on the end face of shaft 6. Bent arm 13 around shaft 6 cooperates with cam 14 which causes attached arm 11 to swivel about shaft 10, against biassing spring 15. Thus, rack 9 turns gear 7 to-and-fro. This makes possible synchronized reciprocating (hair- implanting) movement by crank 4 and rotational reciprocating repositioning movement by rack 9 and gear 7, when the needle is removed from the head. Thus, bending and breakage of needles, by undesired repositioning while the needle is still implanted in the head, is avoided. <IMAGE>

Description

A DEVICE FOR ACTUATING A HAIR-PLANTING NEEDLE IN A HAIR-PLANTING MACHINE The present invention relates to a device for actuating a hair-planting needle in a hair-planting machine, i.e. a needle-actuating mechanism.

Hair-planting machines plant hair on a synthetic polymeric head, the supply of hair being controlled by hand manipulation. In such a feeding operation, the hair-planting needles sometimes moves while still sticking into the polymer head. A bending force acts on the hair-planting needles and needles therefore often break. Therefore, such hair-planting operations do not always proceed smoothly and effectively.

The present invention sets out to provide a device for actuating a hair-planting needle which minimises bending or breakage of the hair-planting needle and thus promotes an efficient hair-planting operation.

The invention consists in a needle-actuating mechanism for a hair-planting needle comprising: a straight rod mounted both for reciprocation in its longitudinal direction and for rotation about its longitudinal axis, carrying at one end the hair-planting needle parallel to but spaced from the continuation of the said longitudinal axis; and drive means for the rod fed from a common rotary member and including (i) a reciprocation drive comprising a crank arm carrying the rod and journalled eccentrically in relation to the rotary member, whereby rotation of the rotary member causes reciprocation of the rod and (ii) a rotation drive comprising a cam surface about said rotary member, a journalled arm biassed against said cam surface, a toothed rack on said arm, and a pinion fixed around the rod for engagement with the toothed rack, whereby rotation of the rotary member causes said journalled arm to swivel and said rack to turn said pinion to-and-fro in a manner synchronizsed with reciprocating movement of the rod, thereby enabling repositioning movement of the needle arising from the turning movements of the rod to take place only when the needle and rod are in a relatively retracted position.

The present invention will be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hair-planting machine; Figure 2 is a front view, partly in section to show the interior mechanism thereof; Figure 3 is a side view of the device and internal mechanism thereof; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the device with frame portions removed; Figure 5 is a plan view showing a turning means for alternate right and left turning and Figure 6 is a plan view showing the top of a rod-covering cylinder and a reciprocating rod therof.

A reciprocating rod 1 is housed inside a rod-covering cylinder 2 (removed in Figure 4) and holds eccentrically a hair-planting needle 3 at its upper end face. A reciprocating crank 4 is connected with the lower portion of the reciprocating rod 1 and is essentially journalled on the end face of a rotating shaft 6 by its base portion 5. A gear 7 is attached to the reciprocating rod 1 (inside mechanical frame 16) by a sliding key 8 and is engaged with a rack 9 which is fixed onto the front end of a supporting arm 11 of which the other end is journalled by a supporting axle 10. The lower face of the front portion of the supporting arm 11 is connected with the upper end face of a moving arm 13 (see Figures 2, 3 and 5) by a stud having an internally threaded ball.Said moving arm 13 is journalled at another suppoorting axle 12 which is in turn attached to the side wall of the mechanical frame 16. The inside face of a middle portion of the moving arm 13 is made to contact an eccentric cam 14 by the biassing foce of coiled spring 15, one end of which is attached to the upper end of the moving arm 13 and the other end of which is attached to the mechanical frame 16.

The reciprocating rod 1 is vertically reciprocated inside the rod-covering cylinder 2 by rotation of the reciprocating crank 4, so that the hair-planting needle 3 may alternately protrude and retire from the upper end of the rod-covering cylinder 2 (see also Figure 2). The reciprocating rod 1 may also turn horizontally alternately right and left to a definite angle by engagement between the gear 7 and the rack 9, on turning motion of the moving arm 13 about an axis of the supporting axle 12. Accordingly, the hair planting needle 3 may move eccentrically and alternately to the right or left. For each cycle of the rotating shaft 6, the hair-planting needle 3 vertically reciprocates once and one horizontal and alternate right and left turning movement takes place. The alternate protrusion and retirement of the needle can be synchronized with the turning movement.

A polymeric body e.g. a moulded head 17 is held and fed on the rod-covering cylinder 2 while the hair-planting needle 3 reciprocates and turns i.e. moves to right or left, with uptake of hair from 18, 19, 20 and 21 as known per se.

In known hair-planting machines the hair-planting needle 3 is moved while it is still stabbed into the polymer body 17 and so becomes subjected to a bending force. In the present invention, the hair-planting needles becomes removed from the hair-planted body 17 and then moved ,so it scarcely receives any bending force. Therefore, it is seldom bent or broken in the feeding operation.

Claims (4)

Claims.

1.A needle-actuating mechanism for a hair-planting needle comprising: a straight rod mounted both for reciprocation in its longitudinal direction and for rotation about its longitudinal axis, carrying at one end the hair-planting needle parallel to but spaced from the continuation of the said longitudinal axis; and drive means for the rod fed from a common rotary member and including (i) a reciprocation drive comprising a crank arm carrying the rod and journalled eccentrically in relation to the rotary member, whereby rotation of the rotary member causes reciprocation of the rod and (ii) a rotation drive comprising a cam surface about said rotary member, a journalled arm biassed against said cam surface, a toothed rack on said arm, and a pinion fixed around the rod for engagement with the toothed rack, whereby rotation of the rotary member causes said journalled arm to swivel and said rack to turn said pinion to-and-fro in a manner synchronized with reciprocating movement of the rod, thereby enabling repositioning movement of the needle arising from the turning movements of the rod to take place only when the needle and rod are in a relatively retracted position.

2. A needle-actuating mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which the crank arm is eccentrically journalled to an end face of the common rotary member.

3. A needle-actuating mechanism as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the gear is attached to the rod by a sliding key whereby the rod can reciprocate and move in relation to the gear but is at all times capable of being rotated by the gear.

4. A needle-actuating mechanism as claimed in claim 1 and substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.