US2226354A - Finishing welt and filler strip - Google Patents

Description

D 24, 1940. G. G, BARR 2,226,354

FINISHING WELT AND FILLER STRIP Filed Oct. 5, 1938 Patented Dec. 24, 1940 G rlen G. Barr, UnionCity, Ind., assignor to Back- .stay Welt Company, Union City, Ind., a corporaltion of Indiana.

' lApplication .October 5, 1938, Serial No..233,443

y 9 Claims;

.My invention relates to iwelts, gimps, bindings and similar finishing strips -and the like, and more particularly to lthose types which include a filler strip, `and to the-filler lstrip per se. United States Letters- Patent No. 1,719,729,

issued July 2, `i929, lto -Robert rC. Schemmel, discloses a nishing welt of the .blind nail type, having a base portion adapted to be nailed -to a support, like the bodyoraseat of an automobile or the framework of a piece of upholstered furniture, and having a flapportion hinged to the base and adapted to be folded down upon the base to cover and conceal` the nail heads. In that construction a filler strip .is ycommon to the flap and base, crossing-the hinge .line along which the flap and base meet. lThe ller strip contains a plurality-of stiffening elements in the form of transverse lengthsfof pliable wire which become bent at the hinge line ywhen the iiap is folded down on the base so that. -the strip serves to maintain the flap in substantial contact with. the base. J

Since the introduction vof 4.the Schemmel construction various :modifications in the'iiller strip have been madein an effort to overcome certain disadvantages which were found .to be inherent in it and incidental to its use. Chief among these disadvantages `is v.the undesirable stiffness and resistance lto bending introducedby thefiller strip into welts and the like which, without the strip, would be quite flexible. It is of course obvious that the .thickness of `the finishing strip is rather substantially increased by the addition of the filler strip; indeed, in many cases the filler 35 strip is added in order to give the devicemore body. While this augmented thickness and bulkiness does not materially ,interfere With smooth and neat bending of `the welt out of the plane of its base, it does result in very noticeable kinks 40 and puckers when the welt is disposed about a curve in the plane of its base, particularly if that curve be of comparatively short radius. It therefore, Well recognized in the trade that finishing strips and the like having fillerstrips are hard to bend neatly and smoothly in lateral curves, so that greater skill and more time are required for their installation, and this consideration has with some users outweighed the admitted advantages of ller strip welts and appreciably lessened the demand for them.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel ller strip construction which will retain the advantages of the bestpriorart filler strips and eliminate their resistance to side- (55` wise or edgewise bending, their tendency to kink lll or pucker when so bent, and their introductioncf kinking, puckering, bunching andthe like in the outer covering fabric of a 'laterally bent Welt or analogous device.

A further object is to provide a welt or other 5 nishing strip having the novel filler combined in a new relationship with the covering fabric so that the result is a device which will easily and neatly negotiate short lateral curves and yet have the body, Weight and durability of the prior art 10 ller strip welts and the like and all their other advantages.

These results are obtained by incorporating in the filler strip a novel type of pinking, an illustrated embodiment of which is shown on the accompanying drawing and will now be explained.

In the drawing, which forms part of this application for Letters Patent and in which the same reference numeral is used to designate corresponding parts inthe several views,

Figure 1 is a plan View of a length of ller strip before being processed in accordance with my invention;

i Fig. 2 is a similar view of a iiller strip after being slitted or pinkedxas proposed by the invention;

Fig. 3 is a view of a completed filler strip folded longitudinally on itself as in an installed finishing welt or the like and disposed in reverse curves to illustrate the .action of the pinked zone; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view, with one end in cross section, of a finishing Welt, showing the filler strip in place.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown in Fig. 1 a filler strip .of familiar type. It may comprise a Woven structure in which .the threads or filaments l are transverse of the strip, or at least have a transverse component, and the threads or filaments 2 run lengthwise of the strip, 40 or at least have a lengthwise component. The strip shown is of square or basket Weave; in some cases these strips are bias Woven. The invention is applicable to both types of fabric. Preferably, although not necessarily, the transverse filaments, or at least some of them, are of soft, pliable wire, either separate sections as shown, or a single length convoluted back and forth. This Wire imparts `stiffness to the fabric and to the finishing strip in which it becomes incorporated, and it serves to hold the flap portion ofthe welt up olf the base, or down in engagement with it, Wherever it may be positioned vduring the installing operation, all in a well understood manner.

The longitudinal filaments or threads 2 may also be made wholly or in part of wire, in which case the woven material is a wire cloth. These threads, however, may Well be non-metallic, such as cotton, since their principal and practically exclusive function is merely to hold the transverse threads together. Various metals and alloys may be used in making the wire, both lengthwise and crosswise, and it may be processed in different ways to havediierent bending characteristics.

The combination of lengthwise and transverse threads or filaments may comprise the whole of the fabric, or, as shown in Fig. 1, the fabric may include a coating 3 of latex, rubber, asphaltum or of various compounds of these and other like materials. The coating may completely cover the filaments and fill the interstices between them as shown in Fig. 1, or it may coat the filaments only, leaving openings between the wires. In some cases the coating will take the form of a sheet of cloth, paper or the like cemented to one or `both sides of the woven fabric.

It will be apparent that the fabric strip shown in Fig. 1, whichever of the alternative modifications explained hereinabove be adopted, will be resistant to edgewise curving, i. e., bending in the direction indicated by either of the arrows 4 in Fig. 1. As has been indicated, a principal object of this invention is to improve the ability of the filler strip of Fig. 1 to bend around curves of relatively short radius in the directions shown by these arrows.

This is accomplished by cutting the strip, as shown in Fig. 2, to provide the slits or pinking 5. It will be observed that these slits are formed in the central zone 6 only of the filler strip, the two marginal zones 'l being left unslitted, so that each longitudinal edge 8 is unbroken. In the square woven fabric selected to illustrate the invention, therefore, it is only the longitudinal filaments that are broken, the transverse filaments remaining unbroken and unimpaired in strength. If the weave be bias, the slitting will be directly transverse, exactly as shown, but some of the longitudinal threads or filaments will be out. It may be stated that in such case the threads or filaments having a longitudinal component are cut. In either case the side margins 'l of the filler strip remain uncut and of unimpaired strength, while it is only the central zone 6 which is weakened by cuts. It results that the slitted strip is easily handled because the filaments do not readily separate, being kept intact and in place by the unweakened side margins 1.

In accordance with standard practice, the new filler strip is wide enough to lie substantially half in the flap portion of a welt or the like and substantially half in the base portion. These respective halves are secured by cement or stitching to the welt covering fabric, core or other part of the welt. The longitudinal center line or approximately the center line of the ller strip coincides with the hinge line of the covering fabric of the welt. In other words, in use in a welt the longitudinal center line of the filler strip, indicated at 9 in Fig. 2, is the line on which the strip becomes folded, as shown in Fig. 3. This line is positioned along one edge of the finishing welt in which the ller strip is incorporated, as shown in Fig. 4, and this edge may lie along the inside or the outside of a curve. Fig. 3 illustrates the action of the slits when the strip becomes curved in either of the two directions indicated by the arrows 4 in Fig. l.

When the direction of the curve is such that the slitted zone 6 lies along the outside of the curve,

the slits expand, assuming the form of wedgeshaped openings. The center line 9 of the filler strip is thus allowed to elongate, since it is increased by the sum of the lengths of the bases of the wedge-shaped openings. When the direction of the curve is reversed, so that the slitted zone 6 lies along the inside of the curve, as is also shownin Fig. 3, the material of the strip immediately adjacent one side of each slit laps the material immediately adjacent the other side, so that the center line 9 becomes shortened to an extent equal to the sum of the lapped portions.

The slits are formed at intervals throughout the strip, preferably at regular intervals, and are sufciently close -together to render the sums of elongating portions or contracting portions amply sufficient to accommodate curves of the shortest radius which may Ibe encountered in any installation.

Fig. 4 illustrates the position of the ller strip in a finishing welt of generally familiar type. In this welt'thecovering fabric I0 is folded on itself to provide a base portion Il and a flap portion l2. The iiap may include a core i3, commonly of folded paper and sometimes stiffened by a cord I4. A tack or nail I5 secures the base to a support I6, and after the securing operation is completed the flap is folded down into covering relation with the base, as shown in the figure, the stiiening filaments of the filler strip serving to hold the flap and base in substantially engaged relation.

While the novel filler strip proposed by the invention may be associated in divers ways, including known ways, with Welts of this and other types, there are special advantages in positioning the strip in the novel way shown in Fig. 4. In this figure it will be observed that the free edge margin of the covering fabric in the base portion of the welt is hemmed over, as shown at Il, at the free edge of the base portion, leaving a generous area of the base portion between the hem and the hinge line. The other free edge margin of the covering fabric is similarly turned under and disposed beneath the free edge margin of the iiap portion, or the core thereof, as shown at i8, leaving a generous area of flap portion between this turned-under zone and the hinge line. The areas I1 and i8 of the, covering fabric are secured, by cernenting or stitching, to the respective base and ap portions of the welt. The filler strip is similarly secured, half to the base portion and half to the fiap portion, with its edges 8 abutting or approximately abutting the areas Il and I8. By this construction the filler strip becomes, in effect, a sort of continuation or connection between the ends of the covering fabric, and if the thickness of the ller strip is the same as that of the covering fabric there is no variation in the thickness of the welt fabrics across any part of the welt.

It will be noted that inthe construction just explained the two adjacent plies of filler strip fabric are not separated by any intervening material. This results in an important advantage, particularly along the hinge line of the welt, where the folded edge 9 of the filler strip is disposed with its slits 5, because these slits are free to open up, or the material adjacent them is free to lap over, if the welt be curved, without any interference or hindrance suchas would be interposed by any intervening body.. By this 'sort'of construction the possibilities of'the new filler strip are most fully realizedlA Y. 'i

This welt construction is further improved if the covering fabric be made of the material known as coach lace. This is a comparatively soft and relatively loosely woven fabric which is -uncoated, being thus distinguished from the doped fabrics or imitation leather. Coach lace and its equivalents are more stretchable and exible than doped fabrics because the component threads are more free to slide on each other and assume new relations accommodated to curved shapes. If the welt of Fig. 4 be made of coach lace or its equivalent it will be foundthat the slit actions illustrated in Fig. 3 are very readily permitted because the threads of the coach lace to which the filler strip material at the margins of the slits is secured are very free to move with the filler strip material. The resulting welt curvature is exceedingly smooth and uniform, being characterized by a notable lack of puckering, kinking and bunching.

Centrally pinked filler strips as proposed by this invention may advantageously be incorporated in welts different from that shown in Fig. 4. It is believed that that type of welt well exemplifies the merits of the filler strip and the manner in which it improves the bending capacities of the complete trimming device, and it is for this reason that the Fig. 4 welt has been selected to illustrate a preferred use of the invention. Moreover, it is evident that the novel filler strip cooperates in a novel and inventive manner with the specific construction of the Fig. 4 welt, and therefore claims to the specific combination are made hereinafter. It is to be understood, however, that the filler strip is useful in finishing strips and analogous devices of other and different character, and that the inl vention may be modified in numerous respects, all such modifications, to the extent that they incorporate the principles of the invention as pointed out in the appended claims, being within the scope and purview thereof.

What I claim is:

1. A filler strip for finishing welts and the like comprising an elongated, relatively narrow strip of textile material including a plurality of transverse lengths of Wire and longitudinal filaments interwoven with said wire, said filaments being continuous along both side margins of the strip and broken into relatively short lengths in the central zone of the strip.

2. A filler strip for finishing welts and the like comprising a relatively long and narrow sheet of uniform thickness from edge to edge including a multiplicity of transverse stiffening strands, said sheet being characterized by cuts providing a plurality of longitudinally spaced transversely directed slits in its central zone only.

3. A filler strip for finishing welts and the like comprising a relatively long, narrow and thin sheet of uniform thickness from edge to edge including a multiplicity of regularly spaced transverse stiffening strands, said sheet being characterized by cuts providing a plurality of longitudinally spaced transversely directed slits in its central zone only, the opposite edges of the strip and the marginal portions adjacent thereto being unbroken.

4. A filler strip for finishing welts andthe like comprising a relatively longr and narrow sheet of filaments woven together, including stiffening filaments having a component transverse of the.

strip and other filaments interwoven with the stiiening filaments and having a component longitudinal of the strip, the last named filaments being broken at intervals throughout the central zone ,onlyA of the strip by slits which terminate at .the longitudinal margins of the strip.

tudinally directed sheet means bonded to the wireholding the same in position and forming therewith a strip of uniform thickness from edge to edge, said longitudinally directed sheet means being characterized by cuts providing a plurality of spaced slits in the central zone only of the strip.

'7. A finishing welt of the blind nail type comprising a base portion adapted to be tacked to a support, a tack-concealing flap portion hinged to the base portion and adapted to be foldeddown thereupon, and a filler strip common to the flap and base portions and secured to both, being of uniform thickness from edge to edge and having a plurality of transversestiffening strands or filaments crossing the hinge line of the welt and characterized by cuts providing a plurality of longitudinally spaced transversely directed slits in its central zone only.

8. A finishing welt of the blind nail type comprising a covering fabric of relatively loosely woven material having a degree of stretchability and flexibility appreciably greater than doped or coated' fabrics, said covering fabric being folded on itself to provide a base portion 'adapted to be tacked to a support and a tack-concealing flap portion hinged to the base portion and adapted to be folded down thereupon, and a single, integral ller strip of uniform thickness from edge to edge common to the flap and base portions and secured to both, having a plurality of transverse stiffening strands or filaments crossing the hinge line of the welt and characterized by cuts providing a plurality of longitudinally spaced transversely directed slits in its central zone only.

9. A finishing welt of the blind nail type comprising a covering fabric folded on itself to provide a base portion adapted to be tacked to a sup- .port and a tack-concealing flap portion hinged to the base portion and adapted to be folded down upon the base portion, a flap core within the flap and having one marginal portion of the covering fabric secured to one margin of its under side,

the other marginal portion of the covering fabric being folded on itself in the base portion to provide a hem at the free edge of the base portion, and a single, integral filler strip extending continuously from substantially, abutting relation to the free edge of one of said marginal portions to substantially abutting relation to the free edge of the other of said marginal portions and secured to the covering fabric in the base portion and to the under side of the flap core, having its central zone crossing the hinge line and having its portions immediately adjacent the hinge line devoid of interposed covering fabric material, said filler strip being of uniform thickness from edge to edge characterized by cuts providing a plurality of longitudinally spaced transversely directed slits in its central zone only.

GLEN G. BARR.

Images