US2049546A - Folding machine - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 4, 1936. R. G. REID FOLDING MACHINE Filed July 27, 1934 Patented Aug. 4, 1936 PATENT orrics FOLDING MACHINE Robert Gow Reid, Leicester, England, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, c: N. J., a corporation of New Jersey .Application' July 2'7, v1934, Serial No. 737,246

* In Great Britain September 5, 1933 10 Claims. (o1. 270493) This invention relates to machines for folding the edges of sheet material and particularly to machines for folding andpressing shoe upper parts, the marginal portions of which have been previously cemented, and. for folding and. pressing previously cementedtextile material, such as is utilized in the manufacture of waterproof clothing. The illustrated machine is ofv the type in which the margin of the material is: turned in- ..Wardly or folded by means of. a scroll. and the object of the invention is to provide an improved machine by means .of which work of goodquality may be formed at a high rate of speed without requiring unusual skill on: the part of the operator.

When the folding is to. be done upon textile material, such as. is employed in the manufacture of mackintoshes and similar clothing, it is frequently required to turn the margins of suchmaterial over the work from one-fourth of an inch to two inches. It is important that a previously cemented margin shall not be brought into contact with the body of the work untilit has been turned to a position over the body of-the work.

which it will finally occupy after it shall have been pressed down and caused to -adhere. thereto. The presence of air bubbles beneath the folded margins should be avoided: These things are accomplished in the-illustrated: machine by the provision of' a'folding mechanism employing a scroll in which two platesare held in spaced relation to form a slot for receiving. and defining a margin folded over the bodyof thework. As

the work is guided through the scrolhtlie inturnedmargin is held away from-the work by the lower of these plates.

Tofacilitate the entrance of the margin of a pieceof work being presented to'the machine in the slot of the scroll, the latter, in accordance with a feature of the invention, is mounted for tiltingmovement about anaxis here shown as parallel to the line of fold. The scroll as a unit is tilted to an upright position when the work'is first presented thereto; The presentationof a piece of work is also facilitated by mounting thescroll'for sliding, movement toward and away from the work feeding mechanism 'sothat it may be drawn away from the feed rolls when: the

pieceof work is inserted in the scroll and then I allowed to slide up to'operative position as'the' endof the work is grippedby the feed rolls.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of an adjustable edge gage which is illustrated as positionedin'the slot of the scroll andhas a surface for engaging the edge of. the

. a grooved pulley. Manda pinion l5 and supportmovable thin plate 26.

work. Prevention of the formation of air bubbles is effected, in accordance with another feature of the invention, by means of a pressing device which acts over the full width of the cemented and. folded margin as the work passes it and 6 presses out any bubbles of air inadvertently trapped beneath the folded margin.

These and other features of the invention are fully set forth in the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, 10 in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation with parts broken away and in section; V

Fig. 2 is an angular view of a portion of the work support, and the work folding and feeding mechanism;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation with parts broken away and in section, and Fig. 4 is a transverse section, enlarged, through the scroll but showing the scroll tipped upwardly to facilitate insertion of the edge of the work in the recess of the scroll. -I The machine is built upon a frame I llin which there is journaled a drive shaft l2 provided with ing at its other end a lower feed roll 16. Adjacent to the lower feed roll and supported by clamp screws I8 upon a rod 20 which is held in the frame by means of aset screw 22 is a work support or table 24. The lower feed roll l6 projects slightly through a slot 21 at one edge of this- Worksupporting table 24 and formed in a re- Cooperating with. the lower feed roll l6 and positioned above the work supporting table 24 is an upper feed roll mounted upon a shaft 32 which is journaled in a swingable bracket 34 and-is provided at its other end with a pinion 36. This bracket 34 is mounted for a limited swinging movement about a shaft 35 (Fig. 3) which is carried by the frame l0 and which is beyond the shaft 32 from the viewpoint of the observer in Fig. 1. The roll 30 is held in engagement with the work by means of a plunger '40 engaging a boss upon the bracket 34. This plunger slides in a casing 42 in the upper part 45 of the frame and is urged downwardly by a spring (not shown), the tension of which may be adjusted by a screw 44. The-limit of downward movement of the bracket 34 and, hence, of the upper feed roll 30 is determined by a stop screw 46. A driving connection between the feed rolls l5 and 30 is provided by means of idlers 48 and 56 beyond the pinions l5 and 36 and which are journaled upon stub shafts, one ofv which is shown at. 52, carried by a cover member 54 mounted 55 upon one end of the rod 20. The arrangement A of the driving gears is such that the feed rolls are rotated in opposite directions and have substantially the same peripheral speed.

Extending in the general direction of feeding movement and, hence, substantially parallel to the edge of the work supporting table 24, is a rod 60 which is carried by said table and which serves for slidably supporting a block 62 which is grooved to receive a downturned edge 64 of the table. Secured to the side of this block by a screw 66 is a hinge plate 68 on the upper edge of which is pivoted upon a hinge pin 69 a scroll 10. When a piece of work is to be inserted, the scroll I0 is turned to an upright position, shown in Fig. 4, which position is determined by engagement with the hinge plate 68 of lugs II upon the scroll 10.

The scroll "I0 guides the pre-cemented margin of a piece of material and folds this margin to cause it to overlie the body of the material thereby to make a fold which may be pressed down and caused to adhere to the body of the material. As will be seen from the drawing, the scroll normally overlies the body of the work and is provided with a recess I2 defined on one side by a cover plate I4 attached to the body of the scroll. The extent to which the work may be pushed intothe recess I2 is determined by an adjustable edge gage I6. This is made up of a T-shaped plate having an enlarged portion I8 at the entering side of the scroll. A shank 80 of the T which is received in a recess inthe scroll extending transversely of the edge of the material has a clamping screw 82 extending upwardly through a slot 84 in the top side of the body of the scroll. In order to facilitate the guidance of the entering work, the work contacting edge of the gage I6 is slightly farther away from the hinge pin 69 at the entering side of the scroll than it is at the leaving side.

Interposed between the scroll I0 and the feed rolls I6 and 30 is a presser 90 comprising an angular plate having a smooth under surface, the lower face of which is approximately the width of the folded portion of the material and which,

as will be explained, drags upon the folded margin 200 of a piece of mackintosh material 202. This presser is attached by screws to a support 92 which is slidable in a way formed between a downwardly extending lug 94 upon the table casting and a cover plate 96. This plate 96 has an elongated slot through which extends a pin attached to the slide and bearing a roll 98. A spring I00 tends to hold the presser yieldingly in engagement with the work. When it is desired to insert a new piece of work, the presser 90 may be lifted by means of a bell crank cam lever I02 having a finger piece I04 and a curved upwardly extending arm I06 provided with a notch I08. When the lever I02 is in the position shown in Fig. 3, the presser rests against the work under spring pressure. Movement of the lever to a position where the notch I08 underlies the roll 98 raises the presser away from the work. This bell crank lever I02 is pivoted upon' the machine will be provided with a wider scroll (not shown), a wider presser (not shown), wider feed rolls (not shown), and a wider scraper (not shown). When a piece of work is to be inserted, the feed roll 30 may be lifted by means of a treadle 5 (not shown) connected to a rod I20 which is linked to the outer end of an arm I22 forming an extension of the bracket 34.

Assuming the folding of a margin 200 of a piece of sheet material 202 is to be begun, the scroll or turning device I0 will be turned into upright position and slid back, away from the pressing device 90, and the previously cemented margin of the material will be pushed into it, the back position giving the operator space to draw the material forward. After the margin'of the material has been fitted into the recess back of the bottom plate I4 and against the edge gage I6, the scroll will be turned down flat over the table and the leading edge, including the margin 200 20 thus folded, of the material will be drawn underneath the pressing device 90 which is lifted at that time by the cam lever I02 forthat purpose. After passing under the pressing device, the leading'edge of the material is pushed right up to 25 the biteof the rolls I6, 30. The shaft I2 may be rotated at about 200 revolutions per minute with usual mackintosh material, giving a linear speed of travel of the work of over '70 feet per minute.

Particularly when adhesive containing rubber 30 is used, it is important that a cemented surface should not be allowed to touch any otherpart of the material until it is in correct position to be caused to adhere permanently thereto and, once a contact is obtained, that air bubbles should not be surrounded by adhering surfaces. The threading of the cemented margin of a piece of mackintosh material through a scroll of the nature above described tends to maintain the marginally cemented portion'apart from the other portions of the material and it is not until they reach the pressing device that the cemented portions are pressed into contact with one another. The pressing device acts over the full width of the cemented margin and, as the material passes, it presses backwards any bubbles of air that may possibly'be trapped in the cemented margin of the material. The rolls, besides acting to feed the material through the machine, act in some degree to consolidate the two thicknesses of material already acted upon by the presser.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

'1. In a machine of the character described, a work support, work feeding means, a scroll for turning in the margin of the work thereby to form a fold and comprising upper and lower plates mounted'in spaced relation to provide a slot extending inwardly of the work from the line of 60 fold, a gage slidably mounted on one of the plates and positioned between them, means for holding said gage in adjusted position, and means for supporting said scroll for tilting movement about an axis alongside of the line of fold whereby the 65 scroll may be tilted away from the work support to facilitate the insertion of the margin of a piece of work in the slot.

2. In a machine of the character described, a work support, work feeding mechanism, a scroll 7 for turning in the margin of the work thereby to form a fold, said scroll having a slot extending inwardly of the work from the line of fold, means for pivotally supporting said scroll for tilting movement about an axis adjacent to the line of 75 fold to an upright position, and means for limiting the tilting movement of the scroll in said upright position.

3. In a machine of the character described, a work support, work feeding mechanism, and a scroll for folding the margin of the work extending inwardly over the work and provided with a slot to receive the inturned margin, said scroll being mounted for sliding movement toward and away from the feeding mechanism.

4. In a machine of the character described, a work support, work feeding mechanism, a scroll for forming a fold along a line, and a support mounted for sliding movement toward and away from the feeding mechanism in a direction substantially parallel to the line of fold, said scroll being pivotally mounted on said support.

5. In a, machine of the character described, a work support, work feeding mechanism, a scroll positioned to engage the work before it is engaged by the work feeding mechanism, said scroll comprising a body overhanging the body of the Work, a portion separated therefrom to form a recess, and an adjustable edge gage having a work-engaging face within the recess of the scroll.

6. In a machine of the character described, a work support, work feeding mechanism, a scroll positioned to engage the work before it is engaged by the work feeding mechanism, an adjustable gage within the recess of said scroll, and means for supporting said gage for tilting movement toward and away from the work support about an axis adjacent to the fold formed by thescroll.

'7. In a machine of the character described, a work support, work feeding mechanism, a scroll positioned to engage the work before it is engaged by the work feeding mechanism, said scroll having a slot extending inwardly from the line of fold and above the body of the work, and a gage plate slidably mounted on said scroll in said slot for movement toward and away from the line of 5 fold and adapted to engage the inturned edge of the work.

8. In a machine of the character described, a work support, work feeding mechanism, a scroll positioned before said feeding mechanism and arranged to turn in the margin of the work, a drag presser interposed between the scroll and the feeding mechanism arranged to press down the inturned margin upon the work, said presser being movably mounted on said machine, and means for moving said presser into and out of operative position.

9. In a machine of the character described, a work support, work feeding mechanism, a scroll positioned before said feeding mechanism, and ar 20 ranged to turn in the margin of the work, and a presser interposed between the scroll and the feeding mechanism arranged to press down the inturned margin upon the work, said scroll being mounted for sliding movement along the work 25 support toward and away from the presser to facilitate the introduction of the work.

10. In a machine of the character described,

a work support, work feeding mechanism, a scroll positioned before the feeding mechansm to turn 30 in the margin of the work, a drag presser interposed between the feeding mechanism and the scroll, and means for lifting the presser away from the work support to facilitate the insertion of a piece of work.

35 ROBERT GOW REID.

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