US1588340A - Method and apparatus for sewing bags and other articles - Google Patents

Description

June 8 1926.

C. F. SPARKS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEWING BAGS AND OTHER ARTI CLES OriginaIFile-fl June 30, 1924 EN TOE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 V J N 1/ Char/e5 E pamj.

June 8 1926.

c. F. SPARKS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEWING BAGS Ami" OTHER ARTICLES Original File-:1 June 30, 1924 5 sheetfrsheet 2 3 l 2 i i I I INVENT'OE (bar/e5 ipar/ms Jun-8 1926.

I C. F. SPARKS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEWING BAGS AND OTHER ARTICLES Original Filed June 30, 1924 5 s t s t 3 June 8 1926. 1,588,340

C.'F. SPARKS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEWING BAGS AND OTHER ARTICLES Original Filed June 50, 1924 5 s s t 4 17v VENTOE Afro EAL 5%? June 1926.

c. F. SPARKS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEWING'BAGS AND OTHERARTICLES Ori inal Filed J 50, 1924 s Sheets-Sheet s VENTOE har/e s F. 5 0

Fetenterl June $3, 1926.

lifhllTEE STATES P @FWGE.

L HAELES F. SPARKS, OF ALTON, XLLKWGES.

Application filed June 30, 192 1, Serial No. 723,191. Zienewed June 15, 1925,

This invention relates to the manufacture of cloth bags and various other articles in I which one or more reletively long seams are sewed in a piece of fabric.

The main object of my invention is to provide a method of sewing bags and other articles, which makes it practicable to use an automatic sewing apparatus in conjunction with high speed apparatus that perform other operations on the piece of fabric from which the article is constructedssuch, for example, as printing, cutting and foldinq machinery of the kind now generally used in the manufacture of cloth bags.

Another object is to provide a method of sewing fabric bags and other articles provided with relativcly long seams, that reduces the number of operatives required in the manufacture of such article '9 overcomes the necessity of running the sewing, machines at an -essively highspeed and makes it practicable to use short stitches in the side seam and bottom seam of a cloth bag. 1

And still another objectis to'provide a. practicabl apparatus for sewing bags-end other articles in accordance with my inven' tion.

To this end, I have devised aumethod of sewing: and other articles, which is characterized by arranging the-piece or material from which the articleais constructed in a certain position on a carrier that moves in a definite path, causiny asewim machine to form a scam in said piece while the car'- rier is in motion, and then ren'ioving ordischarging: the sewed piece from the carrier when the carrier reaches a certain point in its path of travel. Profer-ably the piece of iuaterial maintained in a fixed or stationary position on the carrier during the sew ing operation and the sewing machine is moved relatively to said piece fir'stin one directionso as to form a seam, and thereafter restored automatically to its starting position so/as to be in readiness to acton another piece of material when the earrier reaches the point where'the pieces are applied or positioned on the carrier. When my method is used in the manufacture of conventional cloth bags which'are produced by sewinga seam. along one side and along one endof a folded piece of fabric, I prefer to use one sewing machine to form the longitudinal side, seam of the bag and use a separate sewing machine to form the transverse bottom seam of the bag, said separate as my broad idea is concerned, whether the.

article is moved relatively to a stationary sewing machine, or whether a movable sewing, mach ne is caused to travel relatively to an article'that is maintained in a stationary or fixed position, so long as the article is .sustuincd or su iiported during the sewing operation by a movable part, such as a car rier, to which the article is applied at one point in the path of travel of the carrier and from which the article is removed or discharged at a dillerent point in the path of travel of the carrier, thus giving sufiicient time for the sewing operation to overcome the necessity operating the sewing machine at an excessively high speed. Genorally, the articles to he -sewed will be fed manually or automatically, one at a time, to a carrier that moves in a definite path and which is provided with a number of sewing units arranged so that a number of articles are being sewed at the same time, thereby enabling the method to be embodied in an automatic bag sewing apparatus that forms part of bag manufacturing apparatus that comprises conventional high speed printing, cutti and folding machinery.

The apparatus that I have devised for practicing my method can be constructed in various ways, but briefly described, it is composed of a carrier that moves in a definite path, such, for example, as a rotatable table or a revolving cylinder, a plurality of sewing units mounted on said carrier and each composed of one ore plurality of sewing machines, depending on the nature of the article being formed, and means for effecting relative movement of each article and the sewing machine or machines that act on same while the article is being moved )3; the carrier from the point at which the article is applied to the carrier to the point where the article is removed or discharged from the carrier. In the apparatus herein illustrated, which is designed for ,use in coi'ijunetion with other apparatus used'in the manufacture of cloth bags, such as printing, cuttingwand folding machinery, the carrier consists-01" a revolving drum or cylinder that is provided with four sewing units, each of which units comprises a conventional sewing machine for sewing the side seam of a bag and a separate conventional sewing machine for sewing the bottom seam of the bag. As each sewing unit on the carrier reaches a certain position in the path of travel of the carrier a piece of cloth, properly folded, is arranged in a certain position on the carrier, and thereafter, the sewing machines that acton said piece will become operative automatically and will move relatively to said piece so as to form a longitudinal seam at the side of the folded piece and a transverse seam at one end of said folded piece, said sewing machines being restored automatically to starting position atthe completion of the'sewing operation, At a certain point in the path of travel of the carrier the completed bag is removed or discharged from the carrier, thus leaving the sewing unit that formed the seams of the discharged bag in readiness to act on another folded piece of material, when said sewing unit reaches the point where the pieces of material are aplied or positioned on the carrier. Assummg that the carrier is rovided with four sewing units,,,as herein i1 ustrated, four bags will be completely sewed at each cycle of operations of the carrier. It is, of course, immaterial how many sewing units the carrier is equipped with, and while I prefer to arrangethe sewing machines that form the bottom seams of the bags in such a way that they moverelatively to the bags on which they are operating, this is not essential, for it would be practicable to form the longitudinal side seams of the bags by movable sewing machines carried by the carrier, and

form the transverse bottom seams of the bags by stationarily mounted sewing machinesarranged adjacent the carrier in such a way that the movement of the carrier would feed the bags past said stationary sewing machines.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a side elevational view of an apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention for prac- I ticing my improved method of sewing bags.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary end view of the lefthand end of said apparatus. Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view, illustrating the motors and electric circuit associated with the sewing machines that form the bottom seams of the bags.

Figure 4; is a detail view, illustrating the construction of thesegmental conductors and sliding brushes of said circuit.

Figure 5, is an enlarged transverse sectional view of a portion of the bag carrier, showing one of the machines used in the operation of sewing the longitudinal side seams of the bags.

Figure ti is a top plan view of the parts shown in Figure 5.

bag discharging mechanism that removes the sewed bags from the carrier;

Figure 13 is a transverse sectional view of the carrier, illustrating one means that can be used for holding the bag blanks in operative position on the carrier during the sewing operation. Figure 14 is a top plan view of a bag that has been sewed by my improved apparatus; and

Figure 15 is a sectional view, the line 15-15 of Figure 1d.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate one form of apparatus that may be used for sewing conventional clot-h bags in accordance with my invention, A designates a carrier which may be of any preferred construction or type, so long as it is of such design that it will support a plurality of sewing.machines and move said machines in a definite or predetermined path, past a point at which bag blanks can taken on be applied to said carrier and maintained in a certain position thereon while the sewing machines on the carrier are forming seams in the bag blanks, the term bag blank being herein used to designate a rectangular-shaped piece of fabric that is doubled or folded so as to form two superimposed portions which are adapted to be connected together at one edge and at one end by seams, thus forming a conventional cloth bag that is provided with a longitudinally-disposed side seam a and a iZIlIDSXCISO. end or bottom scam Z), as shown in Figure 14. In the apparatus herein illustrated the carrier A consists of a revolving cylinder or drum that is arranged in a horizontal position on a suitable supporting structure and rotated or driven continuously when the apparatus is in operation-by any suitable means, such, for example, as a n'iotor-drii'cn pinion 1 that meshes with a gear 2 secured to a. shaft 3 arranged at the center of the carrier A and rigidly connected to same. lhc carrier A is provided with a plurality of sewing units, preferably four, each of which sewing units consists of a sewing machine 15 that is used to form. the longitudinal side seam of a bag and a sewing machine C that is used to form the transverse bottom seam ot a ,bag. In the apparatus herein shown the sewing machines B are arranged on the inside of the carrier A in proximity to longitudinallydisposed slots 4 in the cylindrical shell of the carrier through which bag blanks are adapted to be inserted and. maintained in such. a position on the e xterior of the shell of the carrier that the sew ing machines B can crate on said blanks and form ldngitudinal y-disposed side seams a in the portions of the bag blanks that project inwardly through the slots 4. It is not essential, however, that the sewing machines B be arranged on the inside of the carrier A. After a bag blank has been inserted in one of the slots 4 of the carrier the sewing machine B that is arranged opposite said slot will become operative automatically and will move longitudinally of the carrier, lengthwise of the bag blank, and thus cause a seam a to be formed. in the bag blank. When said sewing machine B reaches the end of the bag blank, thus completing the seam a, the needle thread of the machine is severed automatically by a mechanism (not shown), but which forms part of the conventional bag sewing machine, and thereafter, said sewing machine B is moved automatically in the reverse direction back to its starting position. The sewing machines C that are used to saw the transverse bottom seams 5 of the bag blanks are arranged on the exterior of the carrier A, at one end of samees shown in Figure 1, and are operated in such a way that they will move circumferentially of the carrier first in. one directionftherebv forming transverse seams able means can be used in the bag blanks, and thereafter, will return automatically to starting position at the completion of the operation of sewing said transverse seams. Preferably, the two machines B and C that constitute each. of the sewing units are combined with mechanism that causes the machine C to start operating on the bag blank after the machine B has started on its movement lengthwise of the blank. Accordingly, the machines .8 and C operate on the bag blank simultaneously during a portion of the sewing operation, and as the carrier A is revolving this time to move the bag blank to the point where it is discharged from the carrier, ample time is provided tor'thc sewing operation, thus overcoming the necessity of operating the sewing machines at a" excessively high speec. and permitting thd stitches constituting the side and bottom seams: to be placed (lose enough together to insure scams that are tight and. no liable to Any suit for applying the bag blanks to the carrier; either a manually operable means, an automatic means or a combined manual and automatic means. So also with the means that used for removing or dischargingthe sewed bags from the carrier. the particular location of the bag side seam and bottom seam discharging mechanism being immaterial, So long as it is arranged at such a point in the path of travel of the carrier as to provide ample time for the operation of sewing the and still permit the sewing units to be in readiness to act on an unsewed bag blank when each sewing unit returns to the point at which the bag blanks are applied to the carrier.

In the apparatus herein illustrated each of the sewing machines B is mounted on a cerriage B, as shown in Figure 5, on the inside of the carrier A that travels longitudinally of said carrier parallel to the axis about which said carrier revolves, the carriage B" being provided with rollers 5 that travel on rails or tracks 6 carried by radially-disposed arms or supporting members 7 arranged on the inside of the carrier A adjacent the ends of same and also equipped with guide rollers 8 that embrace guide rails 9 which extend parallel to the track rails 6, the co-operating rollers and rails 5, 6, 8 and 9 being so constructed and arranged that the carriage B will not move radially with respect to the carrier A, but will be capable of moving longitudinally of said carrier. Any suitable means can be used for actuating the sewing machine B, and for moving said. machine longitudinally of the carrier A'first in one direction to produce the side seam of the and then in the reverse direction back to starting position.

In the apparatus herein shown an electric motor D is associated with each of the sewing machines B, said-motor being mounted on the carriage B and having a pinion 10 rigidly secured to its drive shaft 11. A sleeve 12- that is loosely mounted on the drive shaft 11 of said motor is provided with one member of a clutch Ewhose other member is connected to the drive shaft 11, said sleeve 1:2 being used to drive the needle mechanism of the sewing machine B and also being provided with a pinion .13 that forms part of tlze means for moving the sewing iimchine over the bag blank, during the operation of torming the side seam. The pinion 13 is connectcd by suitable gearing with a pinion 1 1, shown in Figures 5 and 7, that co-o'pcratcs with a rack 15 on the carrier A which is .nioved automatically into and out of engagement with said pinion 14 at (ertain points inthe" cycle ofoperations oi" the carrier A. he pinion 10 onthe drive shaft 11. of the motor I) is'connectcd by suitable gearing with a separate pinion 16, shown in Figat which the bag'blanks are appliedito the- 30 car ier, the clutch E isrendc redpoperatiy rack into engagement with the pinion l -l.

hen the carr c 13 reaches the end oitits stroke in this direction, or, in other words, when the sewing machine .8 reaches the r of the bu blank the clutch ii is tripped to stop the .mai'rhine-B and the rack is disengaged from the pinion 14. 'llhereatter the other racl; 1'? is moved into engagement withihe pinion! 16 so as to cause the carriage B to move automatically bac; to its starting position, said rack 17 being autoinaticully disengaged from the pinion 16 when the carriage 13 reaches its starting position.

Various means can be used for operating the clutch l1 and the racks 1:") and 17 that. ctfcct the abovc-descril cd movements of the carriage B and the sewing machine ll mounted theleon. in the apparatus hiy'zi shown the ri cltflfl that is used to move the machine 1) ion 'tiudinal-ly ot' the bag blank to form the side scam a in the bag is carried by a pair of vcutically-shil tablc bars 18 positioucd on opp isite sides of the rack 15 and connected together by pins 19, said bars 18 being mounted in supports 20 on the carrier A, in such a way that they can move bodily towards and away from the pinion 14;. A shifting" rod Lil that is arranged underneath the bars lo parallel to same, as shown in Figure 7, provided with recesses 22 that are adapted to receive the pins 15) when the rack 15 is disconnected froni the. pinion 14. At a certain point in the cycle of operations of the carrier L, a stationary cam 23, shown in Figure 7, engages a roller 23 on the end of the shifting rod 21 and moves said rod longitudinally so to cause the pins 19 on the plates to inoveupwardly out of the rcccsscs 22 in said shitting rod thereby moving the rack 15 into engagement with the pinion ll. and cijmscquentlyi causing the can riage ll to start traveling lengthwise of the bag blank. "When the carriage 1% reaches the end of its stroke in this direction, a tripping device 24 thereon i-ngagcsa stop 25 on the sh'.. 'ng rod 21. and moves said shifting rod longitudinally in the opposite direction, thereby permitting the pins if) on the plates 18 to more downwardly into the recesses 22 in said shittingrod, whereupon the rack 15 will be disengaged from the pinion 14.

A shitting lever 26 that is associated with the clutch E is so arranged that when the carriage B reaches the end of its stroke in the direction just described said clutch lever 26 will engage a coneshaped tripping device 2? on the carrier A and be moved by same in a direction to render the clutch E inoperative. At about the time the clutch E is rendered inoperative so as to stop the pinion l4 and cause the i'nachine to cease operating. and. after the -eel: 15 has been disengaged from said pinion 142., the rack 17 shown in l igure 8 is moved into engagement with its cooperating )llilOil it) by the engagement oil? a trij iiping device 28 on the -arriage B with it stop 29 on so id rock. The rack 17 is sustained by a pair of pivotally mounted links 30 connected to the, carrier ft, and. said rack is normally maintained in a position out oi. engagement with its pinion 16 by a spring 31. Assuming that the carriage B is traveling in the direction indicated. by the arrow in Figure 8, during the operation of forming the side seam of e bag, the tripping device 28 on the carriage stop 29 on the rack 17 as 1 strikes the the carriage nears the end of its stroke, and thus moves the rack 17 downwardly, whereupon sv retaining device 32 will move autonnitically into engagement with a shoulder 33 in the end of said rack and hold said rack in its depressed position in mentwith the pinion l6. Immediately thereafter the carriage B will start to travel in the reverse i'lirection hach to its starting; position and inst before said carriage reaches its starting position, tripping de vice 34: on the carriage a shoulder or collar 35011 a shifting rod 36 and moves lit) the retaining device 32 out of engagement,

with the shoulder 33 on. the rack 1.7 Whereupon said rack will move automatically out of engagementwith the pinion 16 under the inliuence ot the spring 81, The sewii'lg machine B remains inactive during the re inainder of the cycle of operations of the carrier 13., but when said i'uachine B approaches the point where the bag blanks are applied to said carrier; a stationary cam 2%? arranged at one end oi the carrier A acts upon a clutch shift ng bar 2% and moves said bar in a direction to cause the clutch. lever 26 to render the clutch l6 operative, whereupon the operations previously described will he repeated, namely, the sowiug machine ll will be rendered. operative and the carrii'i 'e B will start to more in a direction to cause said sewing machine to form a side seam. a in the bag blank which has just been positioned on the carrier A.

\Vhen the carrier A rotating all of the electric motors l) continue in operation the clectricjctu-rent being supplied to said motors by bus bars 39 on the carrier A provided at their ends with brushes that cooperate with stationarilymount-ed collector rings 40 that form part of the energizing circuit. L1, as shown in Figures 6 and 9, the motors D being electrically connected with said bus bars in such a way as to provide vfor the movement of the carriages B relatively to the carrier A.

ioo

. ries the sewing machine end 01 the carrier A, clesi natecl by the reference character 42 in ldigrlre 2, that is capable of a sli 'lit oscillatory incvemen with relation in he Perrier A, but'wliich is combined with seicl cei-ricr in such a Way that it will revolve :foi'wasclly with the same. An electric motor C is associated with each of the sewing machines 3 and each of said motors is herein illustrated as being operetively connected with its cooperating sewing machine C by a, driving belt 43., Obviously, be used for transmitting the power of the inotois C to the machine Cu Electric current is supplied to the motors U by a number of stationarily mounted segmental shaped conductors 4:4 forming part of the energizing-circuit 45, as shown in F igiire 3, and each cooperating with a pair of sliding brushes &6 that are electrically connected with one of the motors C by suitable conductors. Vhen the carrier A is in opera tion the motor C that. is associated with each of the sewing machines I will become operalive when said machine reaches e certain point in the path of movement, of the car rier A, will continue in operation for a certain period and then will become inoperative automatically when i'ls cooperating sewing machine reaches certain point in the path of travel of the carrier. During the .peiocl c of the sewing inecliines C is operative smcl machine is moved! circumferentielly relaiively, 250 the carrier by a pinion 47 on the shaft of its cooperating motor which meshes with a, segmental mole 18 secured in the carrier A. Assuming that an unsew cl bag lolenlr. has been applied to the Carrie A, the meter C- tliel: drives the sewing machine C which farms the bottom scars of that nerticuler long blank becomes operative at a certain point; in the path of tievel of 'l-he carrier by reason of the brushes 4.6 in ch-e mote-i" circuit moving into engagement with ilh'ili. co-operating segmental conductor lei. motor starts to operate the pinion i? on the shaft thereof which is then in mesh with co-operating rack 48 on. the carrier A will start to travel forwardly over said rack in the clii'ection'inrliccteil by the arrow in Figure 2, and will thus oscillate 0r bodily shift the supporting structure 4-2 that car- C and the motor C that operates said sewing machine. When said supporting struc'lzur 42 reaches such a point that the bottom scene 5 ofthe bag has been COLlRPlGlTECl 9, iii device 2L9 the end wall of the carrier ,s; see Figure. engages a lever 50 chi-ii controls e. clutcn 51 which is'usecl to cczmecfiliie pinion l7 with lhe drive shaft of its ire-operating motor C, and.- therea-itei', the supporting structure 42 will return toits'normel position against/ a stop 52. under the influence any other suitable means could As seen as said' printing, cutting of the 5 ring 53 which was pieced under tension living the forward movement of s ucl supporting sii'uctui'e. During the return movement of the supporting structure 4-2 the pinion is held disconnected from its" drive shaft, and when said supporting strnciure' reaches its normal pcsiticn, a second. tripping device 5% on the end Well (if 'lhecer'rier A engages ill. clutch shifting lever 50 and moves the clutch 51 in a direction to cause the pinion 47 to become connected to its driving shaft and be in readiness, to start lzreveiing forwardly over its rack 48 iii; the pcint in the psi-l1 of travel of the carrier A Where the sewing machines C siart to opei'ale on the bag blai'iks.

As previously sta'lecl, various means cen be used for applying the hag blanks to the carrier A. The means herein illustraied for this purpose comprises a manually-operated fee-(ling device 55 arranged at a certain point in the path of i'zwel of the carrier A end adapted tic-be engaged with an nnsewecl bag blank, as shown in Fignre 10. Thereafter, said feeding device is moved towards the carrier A so as to insert the unsewecl longit 'rciinal edge portion of the bag blank into one of the longitudinally-(lisposed slols 4 in the shell of the carrier encl cause a means on the carrier to engage the bag blank and strip it oil the feeding device 55 as the earlier A travels pest said feeding device.

In the apparatus herein she'wn the position ing of the beg blanks on the carrier is effected automatically after the mag blanks have been moved manually into 51 certain position, but it will loo obvious that an eutematic feeding mechanism might be used to ecrange the bag blanks in position to be engagecl by devices on the carrier .z'k that cause a bag blank lobe arranged in operative position on the carrier each time one of the sewing units approaches a certain ioint in the path of travel of the carrier, thus dispensing with the services of an operator to feed actual practice an automatic feeding device WoulclQnensccl in instances where my ini proved sewing apparatus is used in conjunce beg blanks to the carrier, and in tienwitiz other machinery usecl in the manuv facture of clet-li begs, such, {01' example, as and folding machinery. The feeding device 55 of the apparatus herein shown consists of a substantially horizontelly-disposc l, bar-like member of approximately the same length as a bag blank carried by e pair of swinging links 56 and a pair of rock arms 57 and provided with ivotell '-monntecl ri lin fin ers 58. The

rock arms 57 are rigidly connected 0 a horizontallymlisposecl rock shaft 59 mounted in a. suitable stationery supporting striicture 6O ancl provided at one end with e hand lever 61 that is adepteii to be onemlsccl manually range to turn said shaft in a direction to move the feeding device from the position shown in full lines in Figure 10 into the position shown in broken lines in said figure to insert the edge portion of the bag blank into one of they slots 4 of the carrier A. The feeding device 55 is pivotally connected to the .rock arms 57 in order that it may move relatively to said rock arms, and thus assume a substantial horizontal position while it is moving inwardly through the slot 4 of the carrier, and the links 56 are used to control or govern this movement of the feeding device, said links being pivotally connected at their upper ends to blocks 6'2 that slide vertically in guide-ways on the supporting structure (50. The gripping fingers 58 on said feeding device are connected to a rock shaft 63 that is provided at its opposite ends with arms 64 and 64, and when the feeding device is in its inoperative position, as shown in full lines in Figure 10, the arm 64 bears against a stop (56 which causes the gripping fingers 58 to be held spaced far enough away from the vfeeding device 55 to receive a stationary plate (57 on which an unsewcd bag blank ispositioned. As soon as the rock arms 57 start to move forwardly durin the operation of moving the feeding device 55 towards the carrier A, the arm (H: on the shaft to which the gripping lingers 58 are connected moves out of engagement with the stationary stop (36, thus permitting a spring (35 that acts on the shaft (53 to move the gripping fingers 5S upwardly through slots in the edge. of the supporting plate 67, and thus cause the unsewed bag blank to be clamped securely against the underside of the feeding device 55. Accordingly, the continued forward movement of said feeding device vwill cause the unsewcd bag blank to be stripped off the supporting plate 67 and moved forwardly through the longitudinally-disposed slot 4 in the shell of the carrier A, the gripping fingers 58 being released autonmtically when the feeding device rcachesthe position shown in broken lines in Figure 10 by means of a stop 68 on the carrier A that strikes against-the arm (34? on the gripping finger shaft (53. Before. tl.e gn'ippingfingers are actuated to release, the bag blank, however, a bag blank supportin means on the carrier that is arat the lower side of the slot 4 in which the bag blank is inserted and which is com osed ofa stationary plate 69 and a movable plate 70, moves u wardly into engagement with the bagblan and causes said bag blank to become xed on said plates by pins or projections 71 thereon. The movable ag blank supporti 1 plate on the carrier is pivotall mount and is acted upon by a spring 72 t at normally maintains said plate 111 a, certain position, but which means of a cam 75 on the carrier anism consists of a stationary cam permits said plate to swing outwardly dur ing the operation of ejecting the sewed bag from the carrier, as hereinafter described. After the teedin g device 55 has been inserted through the slot at in the shellof the carrier, said device becomes locked automatically by means of a spring-actuated locking dog 73 on the supporting structure 60 that engages a ing H in one of the rock arms 57, thus causing the bag blank to be held in such a position that it can be stripped oil said feed ing device when the bag holding plates 69 and 70 on the carrier move upwardly into engagement with the bag blank. As soon as said plates have engaged the bag blank, A trips the locking dog 73 and immediatelythereafter the feeding device will be moved automatically back to its normal position shown in full lines in Figure 10 by means of a, coiled torsion spring 76 that acts on the rock shaft 59 and which was placed under tension during the operation of moving the feeding device 55 towardsthe carrier.

The pins s71 on the bag blank supporting means on the carrier maintain the bag blank in operative position on the exterior of the carrier, but in order to eliminate the possibility of the bag blanks shifting or becoming disarranged, I prefer to provide the carrier A with a pneumatic holding means which may consist of a plurality of suction devices 77 arranged on theinner side of the shell of the carrier and connected with a manifold 78 {15' shown in Figure 13, in which a partial vacuum is maintained by means of a suction pump 78'.

Any suitable means can be used for removing or discharging" the sewed blanks from the carrier A. in the apparatus herein shown the discharging or removing 7mech- 9 arranged in proximity to the carrier A. in such a position that an actuating arm 80 on each of the movable bag blank supporting plates 70 on the carrier will travel over said cam, and thus cause said plates to swing outwardly, as shown in Figureg q, when plat-es travel giast the cam 7 thereby arranging the sewed blanks in a position where they can be engaged by an ejecting device 81 which strips said sewed bag blanks otf the carrier. he ejecting device 81 is similar to the feeding device 55, previously described, in title}: it consists of a bar-like member arranged longitudinally of the carrier and connected to a pair of rock arms 82 which are secured to a. spring-actuated rock shaft 83 carried by a stationary supporting structure 84. A plurality of springactuated ripping fingers 85 that are associatedwit said ejecting device are secured to a shaft 86 which is provided at one end with an arm 87. that bears against a stationary stop 88 when the ejecting device is in osition to receive a sewed liag blank, sai arm and stop cooperating with each other to hold the gripping fingers spaced away from the ejecting device 81. Normally, the ejecting device 81 is maintained in the position shown in full lines in Figure 12 by means of a pivotallymounted, spring actuated locking dog 88 arranged so that one end of same will engage a notch 89 in one of the rock arms 82 and its opposite end will be in. position to co-operate with a cam on the carrier A. Assuming that the carrier is revolving anti-clockwise the arm 80 on the movable bag blank supporting plate 70 on the carrier with which a completely sewed bag'blanlris engaged will strike against the stationary cam 79 at a certain point in the path of travel of the carrier, whereupon said late 70 will swing outwardly,'as shown in igum l2, and. thus cause the sewed longitudinal edge of the bag blank to be moved into the zone of the ejecting device 81. The continued forward movement of the carrier A causes the cam 90 thereon to trip the locking dog 88, and

as soon as said locking dog is tripped, the

arms 82 that carry the ejecting device 81 will swing downwardly into the position shown in broken lines in Figure 12, the gripping fingers 85 closing automatically during the first portion of the downward movement of said arm, and thus causingthe hag blank to be clamped against the ejecting device 81 and stripped of! the carrier by the downward movement of the arms 82. hen said arms reach the end of their downward. stroke a stationary stop engages an arm 87" on the shaft 86 to which the gripping fingers 85 are. connected, and thus automatically moves said gripping fingers away from the ejecting device 81, whereupon the sewed bag blank will be released from the ejecting device and deposited on a pile of sewed bags. Thereafter the ejecting device 81 is moved upwardly back to its former position by the operator pressing downwardly on a hand lever 91 connected to the shaft 83. As soon as the arm 80 on the plate 70 on the carrier leaves the cam 79,-said plate returns to its normal positionshow-n in Figure 10, due to the pressure exerted on same by its co-operating spring.72,thereby causing said plate to he read tostri an unsewcd bag blank from-the eeding-( evice55 when it reaches said feeding device.

Havingthusdescribed my invention, what I claim, as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for sewing cloth bagsand similar articles, comprising a carrier that moves in a definite path and which is adapted to receive the article to be sewed, a sewing machine on said carrier, means for causing said sewing machine to start operating automatically onthe artilii, after it erations.

longitudinally of said article firstin one direction and then back to starting position, thus forming a longitudinal seam in the article, and a separate and distinct sewing machine arranged so that it willv form a. transverse scam in the article while the arti clc is traveling to a pointat which moved from the carrier. K

2. An apparatus for sewing cloth hagsand similar articles. comprising: a carrier that moves in definite path and which is adapted to receive the article to be sewed, means for maintaining said article in a certain position on the carrier, a plurality of separate and distinct sewing machines on the carrier, and means for causing said machines to travel over said article in different directions, thus forming seams in same while the artinrrlehis being moved to a point from which it is discharged from the carrier.

An apparatus for sewing cloth bags and similar articles, comprising a carrier that moves in a definite path, means for maintaining an article in a certain position on said carrier, two automatic sewing machines that more} with the carrier, means :Eor cans ing said sewing machines to travel over the article indirections at right angles'to each other while the carrier is in motiomthus .tm'ming seamsin the article, and means for removing the sewed article from'tlce carrier before the carrier completes its cycle of op- 4. An apparatus for sewing cloth bags and similar articles, comprising a carrier that moves in a definite path, a pluralityofihas been positioned on the earlier and merc separate and distinct automatic sewing units that more with said carrier, means for leeding an article onto said carrier in position" to be acted upon by one of said sewing units each time one of said units passes a certain point in the path of travel of the carrier, and means for removing or discharging a sewed article from the carrier as each unit passes a diii'crent point in the path of travel of the carrier.

5. An apparatus for sewing cloth bags and similar articles, comprising a carrier that moves in a definite path, a plurality of sewing units that move with said carrier, each of which units comprises two separate and distinct automatic sewing machines, means for; ositioning a blank on said carrier each time a sewing; unit of the carrier ap proaches a certain point in the path of travel of the carrier, and means for causing the sewing machines constituting each of said units to start operating automatically on the olank after it has been applied to the carrier, moreover said blank in directions to form augzulai'iydisposed seams in the blank, and then return to starting position so as to be in readiness to begin operating on another blank by the time said machin liltihave returned to the point at which the blanks are applied to the carrier.

6. An apparatus for sewing cloth bags and similar articles comprising a carrier that moves in a definite path, a means lo cated at one point in the path of travel of the carri r for applying articles to the carrier, a means located at a diil'crent point in the path of travel of the carrier for removing sewcd articlesfroin the carrier, and means on the carrier for automatically sewingr seams in the article while it is traveling between said two points.

'5. An apparatus for sewing; cloth bags, comprising a revolving drum, means for holding a bag blank in a certain position on s aid drum, a sewing; machine carried by said drum, and means for causing; said sewing machine to travel over the blank on the drain and form a seam in the blanl c while the blank is being; moved to a point at which it is removed tom the drum.

An apparatus for sewing cloth bags, comprising a revolving drum, means tor holding a bag blank in a-certain position on said drum, two separate and distinct sewing nnichines that revolve with said drum, and means for causing said machines to form a side f-(illi'i and a bottom scam in the blank while the drum is moving the blank. from. the point at which it was applied to a. point ll'filll which it is removed from the drum.

9. in annantus for sewing cloth bags, comprising a revolving drum on which a bag blank is adapted to be applied, a sewing machine on said drum and means for causing said sewing- ,machine to travel longitudinally of the drum and then return automatically to starting position so to form a seam in the blank during a certain period in the cycle of operations of the drum. I

10. An apparatn:-; for sewing; cloth bags,

comprising a revolving diauio. two auto-- niatic sewing machines that, revolve with said drum, means for holding a bag blank on said drum in position to he acted upon by said sewing); machines, and means where b one of said eewin machines will he caused to travel longitudinally of the drum and then return to starting posit-ion and the other sewing machine will be caused to travel circumfcrentially oi": the drum and then return to starting position during a certain period in the cycle 0t operations of the drum as to form aide ecain and a hotloni scam in the blank.

l1. An a paratus for sewing'cloth bags, comprising a revolving drum, two sewing machines arranged so as to revolve with the drum, means for holding a bag blank in a certain position on said drum while the drain is traveling from a point at which blanks are applied to a point from which sewed blanks are removed from the cram, and means for causing said sewing machines to weenie operate on the blank simultaneously to form a longitudinallydisposed seam and a trans' verse scam in the blank and then return automatically to starting position during each cycle of operations of the drum.

12. An apparatus for sewing cloth bags, con'iprising a revolving drum whose shell is provided with aplurality of longitudinally- (lisposed slots, a plurality of sewing units arranged to move with the drum and each comprising a sewing machine arranged onthe interior of the drum and a separate sewing machine arranged on the exterior oi the drum, means for inserting the edge portion of a bag blank in each of said slots as the drum moves past a certain point in the path of travel of the drum, and means whereby the sewing machines hn the interior of the drum will be caused to travel longitudinally of the blank and the sewing machines on the exterior of the drum will be caused to travel transversely of the blanks during that portion of the cycle of operations of the drum in which the blanks are traveling towards the point at which they are discharged from the drum.

13. An apparatus for sewing cloth bags, comprising a revolving drum means located at one point in the path of travel or the drum for applying bag blanks to the drum, which blanks are adapted to be discharged at a different point in the path of: travel of the drum a plurality of side seam sewing machines on the drum arranged to move longitudinally of same first, in one direction and then back to starting; position, a plu- 'ality of separate and distinct end seam son ing machines, a supporting means or said end seam machines that revolves with the drum but which is capable of oscillating relatively to the drum, and means whereby each clv said side seam machines and each or said end seam machines will start operating automatically after the bag blank on which said machines operate has been positionedon the drum and at the con1- pletion of ithe sewing operation will remain inactive until they have returned to the point where an unsewed blank is applied to the drum v i 14. An apparatug; sewing cloth bags, comprising a carrier that moves in a definite )ath, means located ata particular point in the path of travell oi the carrier for applying hag blanks to same, plurality of sewing units associated with the carrier and each comprising two electrically'operated sewing machines, and. means whereby one sewing machine of: each. out said units will form a longrit11dmolly-disposed side scam in. the blank and the other sewing machine of the unit will form-a transversely-disposed bottom seam in the blank during a certain. position of the cycle of operations of the sermon l5 rial comprising means for moving the material, and means for simuitaneousiy form ing a' seam in said material transversely of ihe direction of motion of the material, said seaming means being mounted on and movabie with the material moving means.

16. Apparatus for sewing seams in material comprising movable means upon which the materiel is monted adapted to move in a predetermined path, and means mounted movably on said first named means, said iast namedmeans being adapted to sew a, seam in said mate-rial.

17. Apparatus for sewing seems in material comprising a revolving cei'rier, means for mounting material on the revoiving car'- Apparatus for sewing seams in mute- 7 mounted on the carrier in said material.

and transversely opembie means for sewms" serum is. The method of sewing bags comprising the moving of bag material 1.01 sewing purposes and the simultaneous sewing of right-angle seams therein, one of which seams is formed parailei to the direction of i'he miner's/i n'iovenient.

19, A machine con'iprisiug a carrier surface moving about an axis, means for mounting material on the surface, & sewing head moving QiJOUt 'SZZiJi axis and reiaiiveiy to the carrier sai'iacp end in ibe' same direction thereof, said .nsiioi being adapted to seam said materizii.

CHARLES F. sPAnKsQ

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