US2553074A - Adjustable tubular fabric spreader - Google Patents

Description

y 1951 E. s. BEARD 2,553,074

ADJUSTABLE TUBULAR FABRIC SPREADER Filed April 18, 1949 Edwbrd 5'. Beard WWW m Patented May 15, 1951 UNIT ED STATES PAT E NT Q'F F ICE.

ADJUSTABLE TUBULAR FABRIC" SPREADER;

Edward S;..-Beard, Spring City, Pa.

Application April' 18, 1949'; Serial No..88;116

31 Glaims.

1 Thepresentinvention relates to spreaders such as: are. used. in thetextile: trade andindustr-y: for

spreading tubular webbing made; for. example,

from: cotton, wool, rayon; silk: and .the like;

Tubular material spreaders in. this same field of endeavor are, of course, not-new. What is more; there. are. variant'types; which are in use: or havezbeen' proposed for; use andthey serve; primarily,.to spread the webbing asit'passesthereoverand to thereafter assist: inreeling'orwinding same into a skein or other convenient formv to later assist in the, making. of. underwear." and the like. These. spreadersare used, as a matter of fact. to control. and govern the: size of undershirts, such: as are prepared from tubular. stock of the nature under advisement. Spreaders-are made in different sizes and each one is generally inch larger in widththan the-other; the lengths being generally the same; and, as stated, the spreader is commonly used. prior to the completionof' a shirt or equivalent garment.

In the trade, after the. webbing is bleachedthe nextoperation is to form. the. size of the garments and this-is done by passing thewebbing over a spreader of the-typeherein shown and described. There arequitea number of: spreaders. in practical. industrial. use ranging from some 6v inches to; 42. inches. The size? is. mentioned .inmeference tozthe outside dimensions orwidth of the spreader as'a unit.

Incarrying out, the principles of the. instant invention, 1- have evolved and producedv a. simple and efficient. spreader construction which is possessed of.- the-utmost ofsimplicity and isotherwisesuch. indesign.- and adaptable.- construction aszto better fulfillthe requirements of the. textile industry in this specific phasethereof.

The fact that some of these spreaders. in use are; fairly complicated and are often. fragilev in general make-up, it is another purpose ofthe in,- ventionto: provide a: spreader which. is strong and durable, is destined to long life and is strengthened because of the-adaptation. and allocation of the complemental. features which goto formthe complete device.

More specifically, the present invention hasto do with a spreader frame which is characterized by a novel and improved extensibleand. retract.- ible base'means which makes it possible to adjust the frame parts toward and from each other to enable the one spreader to. takethe place of severalv spreaders of. the. one-piece type. commonly employed in the industry.

In carrying out the principles of the present invention I aim to'improve not only on patents grantedto others in this; line of endeavor? but, primarily, ona prior Patent"2,450,932 ofiQctober 12, 1948 grantedto. me.. Reference being'hadto the. previous patent, itwill beseen that it. has .to do with a. sturdy, open-.worlc'frame embodying an elongated U-shaped member, a transverse rod situated between and rigidly secured atits ends to theterminalends of the limbs or arms of 'said U-shaped member, the portion of the latter being cylindrical in cross section and of predetermined diameter, the major portion of said transverse-rod being also cylindrical in cross section but of a diameter greater than the diameter ofsaid portion, and'apair of cylindricalforwardly converging reinforcing or stabilizing rods the same in diameter as' the stated portions, the converging ends of the latter rodsbeing close together and integrated with the inner marginal surface of the big-ht ofsaid U-shaped member and-the reardi verging ends of said rods being spaced inwardly from said limbs and integrated with the forward surface of the cylindrical portion of said'transverse rod;

Inreducingto practice the present invention I utilize the U-shaped frame or member, the angularly related brace or stabilizing rods and a -transverse base means, said base meansbeing improved in that it is of sectional construction with the coacting sections telescopically connected together and provided with handy adjusting means; permitting said base means to be lengthened or. shortened and adjusting the reinforcing rods: and limbs of the U framein conlunction therewith.

Anoutstanding objective is to retain the facilities-and. advantagesof my patented spreader and to add thereto the' adjustmentfeature in theform of. novel base: means while, at the same? time, maintaining the factors of rigidity and strength, a; highly important achievement indeed.

Features and advantages not specifically mentioned in the preceding description will, be. clear as the. reader pursues his analysis of. the drawings, detailed description and. the subjoined claims;

In.the drawings:

Figure 1? is .a perspective viewof an adjustabletype textile spreader constructed in accordance with the principles of the present. invention and showing, in dotted lines, the improved adjustment feature;

Eigure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a fragmentary type with portions broken. awaysand shown; in section; to reveal the details of my improvements; and.

Figure. 3 is. a cross-section on the liner 3-1-3 of Figure 2,. looking: in. the. direction of the arrows.

Referring now tothe drawings by distinguishing reference numerals and. accompanying. lead lines; the numeral; 5 designates the stated u-shaped. member. or frame which is made. of solid. rods and. characterized by a roundedinose or'bight portiontfifi and. a pair. of opposed complemental limbs or armstl and 8, the major; basal ends: of which are inapproximate parallelism.

The complemental stay rods are denoted by the numerals 9 and ID and are on opposite sides of the longitudinal center of the frame. The forward converging ends are integrated as at the points 9a and I on with the inner peripheral surface of the bight portion 6.

The improvements reside, as stated, in the base means; otherwise the overall structure has the same general make-up and appearance of the spreader frame disclosed in my previous Patent 2,450,932.

Generally speaking, the base means is a sectional mechanical device of a precision adjustment type and yet is sturdy and, therefore, of great strength to resist distortion of the frame and stays. r

Reference being had to Figure 2, it will be seen that the adjustment means II takes the form of a turnbuckle housed and concealed, es sentially speaking, within the confines of a cylindrical main sleeve I2. Auxiliary sleeves I3 and I3a, of duplicate construction, are telescopicaly slidable in the end portions of the main sleeve or handle I 2. These auxiliary sleeves form parts of the turnbuckle means and they are provided at their inner open ends with ring nuts I4 (one only shown in Fig. 2) welded or otherwise secured in place. A screw-threaded shaft having oppositely threaded portions I and I6 serves to adjustably couple the sleeves I3 and I3a and nuts I4 together. That is to say, the screwthreaded end portions are screwed into the com-.

plemental nuts to make the adjustable union between the parts. A circular collar I1 is rigidly mounted on the median portion of the shaft between the screw-threaded end portions I5 and I6 and said collar is provided with a peripheral groove i8 which is registrable with diametrically opposite orifices or ports I9 in the sleeve I2. After the turnbuckle means is assembled in the sleeve I2, welding material is poured through the openings or ports I9 into the groove I8 and thus the sleeve I2 becomes a rigid part of the collar and consequently the shaft I5 to which the collar is affixed. It follows, therefore, that by grasping the handle or sleeve I 2 and turning it in an obvious fashion, the turnbuckle means serves to project and retract the auxiliary sleeves I3 and I3a. One end of the stay rod II) is welded at 2I to the sleeve I 3. The corresponding end of the arm 8 is welded at 22 to the tapered end portion 23 of said sleeve. The same idea is carried at the right in Figure 2 where it will be seen that the'stay rod 9 is welded at 24 to the projectible and retractible sleeve I3a, while the corresponda ing end of the arm I is welded at 25 to the tapered terminal or end portion 25 of said sleeve I'Sa. It is novel, I believe, to interconnect the complemental arms or limbs of a U-frame, and coacting end portions of companion braces with triple sleeve base means having a turnbuckle construction housed and concealed in the several sleeves I2, I3 and I So. More specifically, novelty is predicated on a turnbuckle screw carrying, at its center, a collar which is snugly fitted into the bore of the sleeve I2 and welded or otherwise secured rigidly to the screw between the oppositely threaded end portions I5 and I 6. s

From the foregoing description and illustrative drawings it will be evident that I have evolved and produced a simple, practical, highly efiicient, reliably sturdy textile spreader which is possessed of 9.1101? the features and advantages established in my prior Patent 2,450,932, plus the 4 highly important advantage of a properly constructed adjusting device forming the base means for the stays and arms of the frame structure.

Itisthought that persons skilled in the art to which theinvention relates will be able to obtain a clear undersanding of the invention after considering the description in connection with the drawings. Therefore, a more lengthy description is regarded as unnecessary.

Minor changes in the shape, size and arrangement of details coming within the field of invention claimed may be resorted to in actual practice, if desired.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A textile spreader of the class shown and described comprising a U-shaped frame includinga curvate bight portion and opposed substantially parallel limbs, and extensible and retractible base means interposed between and connected with the free end portions of said limbs, said base means embodying a main handle forming sleeve, auxiliary sleeves fitted telescopically and slidably into the respective ends of said main sleeve, nuts fitted and secured in the inner opposed ends of said auxiliary sleeves, a feed screw having end portions threaded into the respective nuts, a collar fixed on the central portion of said feed screw between said nuts and fitting snugly in the central portion of said main sleeve, the latter being fixed to said collar.

2. The structure defined in claim 1, wherein said collar has a peripheral groove and said main sleeve has orifices aligned with said groove,

whereby said main sleeve may be fixed to said collar by injecting weldin material through said orifices into said groove. 7

3. A tubular fabric spreader for use in the textile industry comprising a substantially U- shaped frame embodying a bight portion and opposed substantially parallel limb portions, and extensible and retractible base means interposed between the free end portions of said limbs, said base means embodying a'main handle-forming open-ended sleeve, 2. pair of auxiliary duplicated sleeves fitted telescopically and slidably into the respective ends of said main sleeveand projecting beyond said ends and secured attheir respective outer ends to the free ends of said limbs, turnbuckle means housed partially within "the intermediate portion of said main sleeve and interposed between the adjacent inner ends of said auxiliary sleeves and operatively connected with the main and auxiliary sleeves, respectively, in a manner to slidably project and retract the auxiliary sleeves in respect to the end portions ofthe main sleeve, and a pair of convergent reinforcing rods within the confines of said U-shaped frame and connected at their diverging ends of the respective auxiliary sleeves and at their converging ends to the inner marginal surfaces of the central region of the bight portion of said U- shaped frame.

EDWARD S. BEARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

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