GB2350127A

GB2350127A - Thread loop trimming

Info

Publication number: GB2350127A
Application number: GB0012101A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Kyle
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-05-19
Filing date: 2000-05-19
Publication date: 2000-11-22
Anticipated expiration: 2020-05-19
Also published as: GB0012101D0; GB9911521D0; GB2350127B

Abstract

To trim thread loops from a textile article; e.g. thread loops 4 from between stitched thread patterns 5 in a moving quilt 6; programmed linear drive 16 traverses trimmers across the article. Each trimmer has both a loop cutter, whose arms and knives lift and cut thread loops, and a cutter 8 having air nozzles to raise cut thread, rotary cutters to trim thread ends close to the article, and a vacuum chamber to lift trimmed thread into vacuum carrier 10. Traversed trimmers may be located on opposite article sides. The loop cutters may be moved independently of the cutters.

Description

2350127 1 1 "Thread Trimming Apparatus and Metho& 2 3 This invention

relates to a thread trimming apparatus 4 and method.

6 Textile articles such as quilts or the like are 7 conventionally manufactured using a multihead sewing 8 machine to sew a repeating pattern of stitching. In 9 particular, quilts are manufactured by joining a number of congruent layers of material using a multihead 11 sewing machine to sew a repeating pattern of stitching, 12 with breaks between stitched areas. For speed and 13 economy, a continuous thread from a bobbin is used to 14 sew neighbouring elements of the pattern. The thread is forms a loop between the finish of one element of a 16 pattern and the start of the next. To complete the 17 quilt, these loops must be cut and trimmed. Sewn 18 quilts must thus be conveyed past operators suitably 19 positioned to cut and trim the loops manually.

21 When other articles are stitched by machine, 22 unnecessary threads at the termination of a stitched 23 portion, or between neighbouring stitched portions must 24 be manually trimmed therefrom. When articles are knitted by machine, excess lengths of yarn must 2 1 similarly be manually trimmed. Manual intervention for 2 this purpose is expensive in terms of both cost and 3 space, labour intensive, and impractical.

4 According to the present invention there is provided 6 a thread trimming apparatus comprising thread gathering 7 means; and thread cutting means.

8 9 Preferably said thread gathering means comprises a suction system. More preferably said thread gathering 11 means comprises a vacuum chamber. Said vacuum chamber 12 typically comprises a closure plate having thread 13 entrance means. Said thread entrance means are 14 preferably slots.

16 Preferably said thread cutting means comprises a sharp 17 edge. Said sharp edge may be a blade. Alternatively 18 said cutting means comprises a laser. Said cutting 19 means may comprise heat provision means. More preferably said cutting means comprises a rotary blade 21 adapted to cooperate with said slots to provide a 22 cutting action.

23 24 Preferably said thread cutting means is housed substantially within said vacuum chamber.

26 27 Preferably said apparatus is adaptable for use in 28 trimming excess threads produced in stitching a textile 29 article. More preferably said apparatus is adaptable for use in trimming loops of thread produced in 31 stitching a textile article. Alternatively said 32 apparatus is adaptable for use in trimming excess yarn 33 produced in knitting an article.

34 Typically said apparatus is adapted to move relative to 36 a textile article. The apparatus may be adapted to 3 1 move at right angles to a direction of travel of the 2 textile article.

3 4 Typically said apparatus further comprises loop cutting means. Said loop cutting means may comprise a blade.

6 Said loop cutting means may further comprise a profiled 7 pick-up member. Said loop cutting means may be adapted 8 for use independent of said apparatus.

9 Further according to the present invention there is 11 provided a method of trimming loose ends of stitched 12 threads from a stitched article comprising the steps 13 of:

14 providing cutting means; channelling loose ends of stitched threads towards said 16 cutting means; and 17 trimming said loose ends.

18 19 Preferably said method includes the initial step of cutting a loop of thread to provide loose ends.

21 22 Preferably said method includes the step of moving said 23 cutting means across a stitched article.

24 Embodiments of the invention will now be described by 26 way of example only with reference to the accompanying 27 drawings in which:

28 29 Fig la is a plan view of portion of a quilt; 31 Fig lb is a side view of Fig 1a; 32 33 Fig 2 is a schematic diagram showing conventional 34 manufacture of a quilt; 36 Fig 3a is a f ront view of the apparatus of the 4 1 present invention, showing the relative directions 2 of travel of the quilt and of a vacuum carrier of 3 the invention; 4 5 Fig 3b is an end view of Fig 3a; 6 7 Fig 3c is a plan view of Fig 3a; 8 9 Fig 4a is a side view of a thread trimmer 10 according to the present invention; 11 12 Fig 4b is a section through A-A of Fig 4a; 13 14 Fig 4c is a bottom view of the thread trimmer of is the present invention; 16 17 Fig 4d is a section through B-B of Fig 4c; 18 19 Fig Sa is a f ront view of a loop cutter of the 20 present invention; 21 22 Fig 5b is a perspective view of Fig Sa; 23 24 Fig 6 shows how the present invention replaces the 25 conventional method of trimming thread; 26 27 Fig 7a is a front view of the apparatus of another 28 embodiment of the present invention; 29 30 Fig 7b is an end view of Fig 7a; 31 32 Fig 7c is a plan view of Fig 7a; 33 34 Fig 8a is a side view of a thread trimmer of the 35 embodiment of Fig 7a according to the present 36 invention; Fig 8b, is a section through A-A of Fig 8a; 2 3 Fig 8c is a bottom view of the thread trimmer of 4 the embodiment of Fig 7a; 6 Fig 8d is a section through B-B of Fig 8c; 7 8 Fig 8e is a section through C-C of Fig 8a; 9 Figs 9a-c is an exploded isometric view of cutter 11 apparatus of the embodiment of Fig 7a; 12 13 Fig 10a is a front view of a loop cutter of the 14 embodiment of Fig 7a; 16 Fig lob is a perspective view of Fig 10a; and 17 18 Fig 11 is an isometric view of the loop cutter 19 apparatus of the embodiment of Fig 7a.

21 Referring to the drawings, a thread trimming apparatus 22 2 is adapted to remove the loops of thread 4 created in 23 the intervals between repeating elements 5 in a pattern 24 when stitching a textile article 6.

26 The apparatus 2 comprises a trimming unit 8 or series 27 of trimming units 8 mounted on a vacuum carrier 10.

28 The vacuum carrier 10 is connected via a tube 12 to a 29 vacuum unit 14.

31 The vacuum carrier 10 is attachable to a linear drive 32 mechanism 16 which spans the width of the stitched 33 article 6. The article 6 is pulled by rollers 18 over 34 a series of spaced apart rollers 19 past the apparatus 2. The vacuum carrier 10 is moved across the article 6 36 at right angles to the direction of travel of the 6 1 article 6. Movement of the vacuum carrier 10 back and 2 forth across the article 6 is controlled automatically 3 by means of a motor and programmable logic controller. 4 5 The, or each, trimming unit 8 is in communication with 6 the vacuum carrier 10 via a tube 20. 7 8 The, or each, trimming unit 8 comprises a body 22 9 having a vacuum chamber 24 which is in communication 10 with the vacuum carrier 10 by means of a tube 20. 11 trimming unit 8 has as a substantially circular base 12 plate 26 provided with a number of slots 28. These 13 slots 28 are positioned to describe the perimeter of a 14 circle. 15 16 The chamber 24 houses a rotary blade 30. The blade 30 17 has a number of straight or curved edges 31 on its 18 perimeter. The rotary blade 30 is mechanically 19 operable to rotate or oscillate against the base plate 20 26 to provide a cutting action similar to scissors. 21 22 The trimming unit 8 further comprises a ring 32 which 23 circumscribes the base plate. Said ring 32 has a 24 number of holes 34 positioned at regular intervals. 25 Said holes 34 are in communication with a source of 26 pressurised air via a radial slot 36. 27 28 A loop cutter apparatus 37 is positioned at a forward 29 end of the, or each, trimming unit 8 to which it may be 30 attached. Alternatively, the loop cutter apparatus 37 31 is independent of the trimming unit 8. Said loop 32 cutter apparatus 37 comprises a cutter element 38 33 having a body 40 with a slot 42 for adjustment of 34 distance between the cutter element 38 and the article 6, and one or more cutting blades 44 secured to the 36 body 40. The body 40 has an arm 46 shaped to lift a 7 1 loop 4 clear of the textile article 6 as it passes 2 underneath the apparatus, and to protect the article 3 from the blade 44. A loop cutter apparatus 37 may 4 comprise a single cutter 38 or multiple cutters 38. 5 Trimming units 8 with associated loop cutter apparatus 6 37 are spaced at regular intervals along the vacuum 7 carrier 10. 8 9 The vacuum carrier 10 is positioned to allow it to move 10 relative to a textile article 6 from which loose excess 11 threads are to be removed. 12 13 In use, the linear drive mechanism 16 moves the vacuum 14 carrier 10 relative to the textile article 6. In this is embodiment the apparatus 2 is adapted to trim the loops 16 of thread 4 between adjacent stitching patterns on a 17 quilt. The apparatus 2 can easily be adapted to trim 18 loose threads from any stitched article, or to trim 19 excess yarn from a knitted article. 20 21 A quilt 6 is formed from two layers of material 48 50 22 with a filling 52 sandwiched in between. When the 23 quilt 6 is produced industrially, the three layers 48 24 50 52 are sewn together with a multihead sewing machine 25 54. The stitching generally takes the form of a 26 pattern of stitched elements interspersed with a series 27 of breaks. The most efficient way to sew the pattern is 28 to use a continuous thread, leaving unused portions of 29 thread as loops 4 joining successive pattern elements 5 30 across the breaks. After stitching is complete, these 31 loops 4 are cut by the loop cutter apparatus 37 and 32 trimmed by the thread trimmer 8 of the present 33 invention. 34 35 The stitched quilt 6 is conveyed by means of a series 36 of rollers 56 to the thread trimming apparatus 2 which 8 1 is mounted above the path of the quilt 6. As the quilt 2 6 passes beneath the thread trimming apparatus 2 the 3 linear drive mechanism 16 is activated to move the 4 vacuum carrier 10 across the quilt 6. Simultaneously 5 the vacuum unit 14 is activated to provide a vacuum to 6 the vacuum chamber 24. 7 8 The first part of the apparatus 2 encountered by the 9 quilt 6 as it is conveyed therebeneath is the arm 46 of 10 a loop cutter 38. A loop 4 of thread is lifted clear 11 of the quilt 6 by the arm 46 of the loop cutter 38, and 12 then cut by the cutting blade 44, to leave two loose 13 threads. 14 15 Air under pressure is applied to the ring 32 16 surrounding the trimming unit 8 and is expelled through 17 the holes 34 therein. This blast of air blows the cut 18 ends of the loops into the cutting area under the 19 trimming unit 8. 20 21 The negative pressure created by the vacuum in the 22 vacuum chamber 24 of the trimming unit 8 sucks the 23 loose ends of thread through the slots 28 in the base 24 plate 26 of the unit into the vacuum chamber 24. The 25 blade 30 is rotated against the base plate 26 to give a 26 cutting action. Ends of thread pulled into the chamber 27 28 through the slots 28, are cut by cooperation between 28 an edge 31 of the blade 30 and a side of a slot 28, 29 which provides a scissors effect. 30 31 Waste thread is drawn by the vacuum through the tube 20 32 to a waste container. 33 34 The apparatus 2 is programmed such that the vacuum 35 carrier 10 moves across the quilt 6 until all the loops 36 4 between a neighbouring pair of pattern elements are 9 1 cut, and then moves back to its starting position ready 2 to traverse between the following pair of pattern 3 elements. The process is repeated along the length of 4 the quilt 6.

6 Since, when sewing a quilt, loops 4 of thread are 7 produced on both sides, identical thread trimming 8 apparatus 2, which may be controlled simultaneously or 9 independently, and which can be supplied by a single or 10 separate vacuum units 14, are positioned on either side 11 of the article 6 as shown in Fig 6. Comparison of Fig 12 5 and Fig 6 shows that the thread trimming apparatus saves labour, time and space. 14 15 Figs 7 to 11 illustrate an alternative embodiment of 16 the thread trimming apparatus, similar to that as 17 described above, but wherein the loop cutter apparatus 18 137 can move independently to the trimming units 108. 19 The loop cutter apparatus 137 comprises a number of 20 cutter elements 138, each having a body 140 with 21 adjustment slots 142 for adjustment of distance between 22 the cutter element 138 and the article 6, and one or 23 more cutting blades 144 secured to the body 40. 24 25 Each body 40 has an arm 146 shaped to lift a loop 4 26 clear of the textile article 6 as it passes the 27 apparatus 102. The arm 146 also protects the article 6 28 from the cutting blades 144. 29 30 As is best seen in Fig 11, the arm 146 can be of 31 varying lengths and multiple cutter elements 138 can be 32 attached to each arm 146. 33 34 An arm 146 is generally round in section and tapers at 35 its leading and trailing edges in a generally V-shaped 36 manner to a point (as is best seen in Figs 10a, 10b and 1 11) so as to prevent tearing of the article 6. 2 3 The round section of the arm 146 also provides a safer 4 configuration for operators. 5 6 The body 140 is provided with tapering edges 141 to 7 guide the loop 4 to the cutting blades 144. 8 9 The cutter elements 138, having the arms 146 attached, are mounted on a jig 170 which can move relative to the 11 article 6. 12 13 In this embodiment multiple vacuum units 114 are used 14 to increase the suction applied at the trimming units is 108. The vacuum units 114 are connected directly to 16 the trimming units 108 by a number of pipes 120. 17 18 The trimming units 108 are supported by a guide 110, 19 the guide 110 capable of pivoting around its 20 longitudinal axis to adjust the angle of the trimming 21 units 108 in relation to the article 6. 22 23 Rotating the trimming units 108 such that they contact 24 the article 6 at an of f set angle can improve airf low at 25 the trimming units 108 which in turn improves the 26 suction pick up of the cut threads. 27 28 This pivoting action can also be used if the quilt path 29 differs and results in a need for the trimming units 30 108 to differ in angle corresponding to this path 31 change. 32 33 As is best seen in Figs 8 and 9, the trimming unit 108 34 has cutting apparatus comprising a rotary blade 130 35 housed on the side of a stationary blade 131 nearest 36 the article 6.The rotary blade 130 is mechanically 1 operable to rotate against the stationary blade 131 to 2 provide a cutting action similar to scissors. The 3 cutting apparatus in this configuration has the 4 advantage that suction by the vacuum 114 urges the 5 rotary blade 130 against the stationary blade 131 which 6 improves the cutting action. 7 8 In addition to the pressurised air being supplied via 9 holes 136, as in the previous embodiment, additional 10 pressurised air is supplied through a pipe 139 to a 11 central location in the trimming unit 108 adjacent the 12 article 6, whereby the pressurised air flows through 13 grooves 180 in a cap 181 such that the air flows in 14 multiple directions. 15 16 The additional pressurised air improves the pick up of 17 the cut threads by the trimming unit 108. 18 19 Thread guides 190 are provided on the trimming unit 108 20 to catch the cut threads and guide them into slots 128 21 for trimming. 22 23 In this embodiment a greater number of slots 128 are 24 provided in the base of the trimming unit 108 than in 25 the previous embodiment which has the effect of 26 concentrating the vacuum flow. 27 28 A number of cleaning holes 195 are provided on the 29 trimming unit 108, adjacent the slots 128 to facilitate 30 cleaning. 31 32 In a further embodiment, the rotary cutting action of 33 the rotary blade can be substituted by a linear cutting 34 apparatus and action. For example, in this embodiment 35 a rectangular blade moving left and right would give 36 the cutting motion. In alternative embodiments, the 12 1 cutting blade moves in an oscillating or eccentric 2 motion. 3 4 Modifications and improvements can be made to the above 5 without departing from the scope of the invention. 6 13

Claims

1 CLAIMS

2 3 1 Thread trimming apparatus comprising thread 4 gathering means; and thread cutting means.

6

2. Thread trimming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, 7 wherein the thread gathering means comprises a 8 suction system.

9

3. Thread trimming apparatus as claimed in either 11 preceding claim, wherein said thread gathering 12 means comprises a vacuum chamber, said vacuum 13 chamber typically comprises a closure plate having 14 thread entrance means wherein said thread entrance is means is a slot or slots.

16 17

4. Thread trimming apparatus as claimed in any 18 preceding claim, wherein said thread cutting means 19 comprises a sharp edge.

21

5. Thread trimming apparatus as claimed in any of 22 claims 1 to 3, wherein said cutting means 23 comprises a laser.

24

6. Thread trimming apparatus as claimed in any of 26 claims 1 to 3, wherein said cutting means 27 comprises heat provision means.

28 29

7. Thread trimming apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein said sharp edge is a blade.

31 32

8. Thread trimming apparatus as claimed in claim 3 or 33 4, wherein said cutting means comprises a rotary 34 blade adapted to cooperate with said slots to provide a cutting action.

36 14 1

9. Thread trimming apparatus as claimed in any of 2 claims 3 to 8, wherein said thread cutting means 3 is housed substantially within said vacuum 4 chamber.

6

10. Thread trimming apparatus as claimed in any 7 preceding claim, wherein said apparatus is 8 adaptable for use in trimming excess threads 9 produced in stitching a textile article and is adaptable for use in trimming loops of thread 11 produced in stitching a textile article or is 12 adaptable for use in trimming excess yarn produced 13 in knitting an article.

14

11. Thread trimming apparatus as claimed in any 16 preceding claim, wherein said apparatus is adapted 17 to move relative to a textile article.

18 19

12. Thread trimming apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the apparatus is adapted to move at right 21 angles to a direction of travel of the textile 22 article.

23 24

13. Thread trimming apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said apparatus further 26 comprises loop cutting means.

27 28

14. Thread cutting apparatus as claimed in claim 13, 29 wherein said loop cutting means comprises a blade, a profiled pick-up member, said loop cutting means 31 being adaptable for use independent of said 32 apparatus.

33 34

15. Thread trimming apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the thread gathering 36 means can be orientated at differing angles in 1 relation to an article containing threads to be 2 trimmed.

3 4

16. Loop cutting means for a thread cutting apparatus comprising a blade and a profiled pick up member.

6 7

17. A method of trimming loose ends of stitched 8 threads from a stitched article comprising the 9 steps of:

providing cutting means; 11 channelling loose ends of stitched threads towards 12 said cutting means; and 13 trimming said loose ends.

14 is

18. A method as claimed in claim 17 further including 16 the initial step of cutting a loop of thread to 17 provide loose ends.

18 19

19. A method as claimed in claims 17 or 18 further including the step of moving said cutting means 21 across a stitched article.

22 23

20. Thread trimming apparatus substantially as 24 hereinbefore described with reference to or as shown in the accompanying drawings.

26 27

21. A method of trimming loose ends of stitched 28 threads from a stitched article substantially as 29 hereinbefore described with reference to or as shown in the accompanying drawings.