US2710439A - Looper clip chaining machine - Google Patents

Description

June 14, 1955 Filed Dec. 5, 1954 R. C. PRICE LOOPER CLIP CHAINING MACHINE 8 Sheefi-Sheet l INVENTOR Roy 0. Price BY 67 m,

ATTORNEYS R. C. PRICE LOOPER CLIP CHAINING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 iled Dec. 3, 1954 I nshg NdE INVENTQR y 6. Pnce ATTORNEY5 June 14, 1955 R. c. PRICE LOOPER CLIP CHAINING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 3, 1954 INVENTOR Roy C. Price BY 6/ 0 flaw W fi ATTORNEYS June 14, 1955 R. c. PRICE LOOPER CLIP CHAINING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 5, 1954 'limllml I! I IIIIIT 6 e 0." M M I w R M 5 M a O W 8 a m g w m .M mm 6 T w Y I B a I u u 5 1 mm m H o w L m? mm a ATTORNEYS June 14, 1955 Filed Dec. 5, 1954 R. C. PRICE LOOPER CLIP CHAINING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 I N VENTQR Ray C, Price ATTORNEYS June 14, 1955 R. c. PRICE 2,710,439

LOOPER CLIP CHAINING MACHINE Filed Dec. 3, 1954 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 I NVENTOR Roy 0. Price ATTORNEYS June 14, 1955 R. c. PRICE 2,710,439

LOOPER CLIP CHAINING MACHINE Filed Dec. 3, 1954 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 1 NVENTOR Z n? d. l y/c5;

ATTORNEYS June 14, 1955 R. c. PRICE LOOPER CLIP CHAINING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed Dec. 3, 1954 ql lllllrlllllll'llk WW M w W 5M.

ATTORN E Y8 Unite StatesPatent Cfilice 2,710,439 .Patented June 14, 1955 This invention relates to apparatus for knotting closed loops of non-rigid material together, and, more particularly, to a machine for automatically knotting closed loops of textile material into a chain.

In the operation of forming socks in a hosiery mill, when the toe of the sock is looped, a small piece of waste material is cut off from the toe of the sock and discarded. The waste material is ring-shaped and of relatively small width. It is called a looper clip and, less often, a looper noodle. Oftentimes these looper clips are destroyed, but it has been proposed that the loops wasted in making a number of socks be knotted together into chains which can subsequently be employed to form the wefts of rugs.

In the past, the knotting operation of these looper clips to form chains thereof has been performed by hand, a laborious, monotonous and uneconomical practice. The apparatus of the present invention is designed to perform the knotting operation automatically by machine, and so improve the efficiency and economy of the operation, as well as freeing manpower for other tasks.

it will be understood that the apparatus herein disclosed could be utilized to knot closed loops of any nonrigid material together, but it is particularly adapted to forming chains of looper clips and will, accordingly, be described particularly for that operation.

The apparatus of the present invention comprises, generally, a carrier for a plurality of separate looper clips movable automatically to a knotting station, and a knotting device for automatically knotting each successive clip from the carrier as it passes the knotting station to the last clip of a cable retained at the knotting station. The knotting device includues an upper looper operative initially to hold the rear end of the last clip of the chain, then to overlap the last clip with a elip on the carrier when that clip reaches the knotting station, and a lower looper for finishing tying the knot in the two clips,'-whereupon the upper looper picks up the rear end. of the new last clip of the chain and holds it for a new kuotting operation with the next clip on the carrier. The apparatus further includes means for moving the upper and lower looper and for appropriately timing the movements thereof.

The apparatus of the present invention will be more fully described in cooperation'with accompanying: drawings, showing a preferred embodiment of the apparatus.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a. perspective view of the apparatus of the present invention looking at the apparatus from the rear and one side thereof;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view taken from the opposite side of the apparatus;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an end elevational view of the apparatus of Fig. 2, taken from the forward end thereof;

Fig. 5 is an end elevational view taken from the rear end of the apparatus;

Fig. 6 is an exploded view showing the individual parts of the apparatus;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 3 showing .the apparatus in the first position of its cycle of operation;

Fig. 9 is a partial view similar to Fig. 8, showing the apparatus in the second position of its cycle, and,

Figs. 10-14 are views of portions of the apparatus and loops of Fig. 9, showing the positions of the various parts and the loops during further steps of the operation effected with the machine.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the apparatus of the present invention comprises generally a base 1, a supporting and carrying means for the loops to be added to a chain,

'5 identified at 2, an upper looper mechanism 3 for supporting the last loop of the chain to which the other loops are to be knotted, and the lower looper mechanism 4 which is operative to cooperate with the carrying means 2 and the upper looper mechanism 3 to knot additional loops successively carried by the carrying mechanism to the last loop of the chain. The apparatus additionally includes means for moving the carrying means and for synchronizing motions of the upper looper mechanism and lower looper mechanism with the carrying means, to be described hereinafter.

The base 1 includes a pair of vertical sidewalls 10 and 11, secured at their lower ends to a bottom member 12, which acts as the support for the base. The side walls 10 and 11 may be of Bakelite to eliminate the need for special bearings for the several shafts journalled in the side walls.

The main drive shaft 13 is journalled in side walls 10 and 11 at the forward end of the apparatus. a large pulley 14 fixed to the shaft, by which it may be driven from some suitable source of rotary power, not

shown. A second pulley 15, also fixed on shaft 13, may be utilized to drive an auxiliary apparatus, not shown or described herein.

The main drive shaft also carries a pair of sprockets 16 and 17, which drive endless chains 18 and 19, respectively, the latter forming parts of the supporting and carrying means 2 for the loops to be knotted to the chain. The rear sections of the chains cooperate with sprockets 20 and 21, respectively, mounted on a cross shaft 22 which is journalled in side walls 10 and 11.

The loop supporting and carrying means 2 comprises, in addition to the sprockets and endless chains, a set of spaced pins 25 mounted on the chains 18 and 19 and extending at right angles with respect to the chain. The pins are designed so that a loop may be placed on any set of four of the pins to form substantially a square outlined by the pins. Motion of the chains imparted thereto by means of the main drive shaft and the sprockets then causes movement of loops mounted on such pins toward the upper looper mechanism 3. One such the base, together with supporting means for supporting.

the upper looper pins above the base for movement toward and away from the .base and movement forward and back with respect to the base. The pins of the upper looper are designed to support the last loop or It carries wardly from the support block 31 with respect to the direction of movement of chains 18 and 19.

Supporting block 31 is attached at its upper end to an upper looper slide member 32 which extends substantially at right angles to block 31. The upper looper slide member 32 slides forwardly and rearwardly with respect to the direction of movement of chains 18 and 19 along rods 33, whose rearward portions pass through slots in the slide member and whose forward portions are fixed in parallel rod holder 35. Rod holder 35 is fixed to a sub stantially vertically-extending upper looper back stand 36, which, in turn, is mounted on side walls and 11 by means of hinges 37 and 38, respectively.

An adjustable strap member 40 has its upper end fixed to the parallel rod holder 35, and has its lower end bolted to a rack lever 41 at one end thereof, the other end of the rack lever being bolted at 42 to side wall 11. The forward end of the rack lever 41 cooperates with the camming surfaces of a double cam 43 mounted on main drive shaft 13 for rotation therewith. ous that the double cam cooperates with the adjustable strap and the rack lever to furnish an upward and downward movement of the upper looper pins twice during one rotation of the shaft, corresponding to one cycle of operation of the apparatus.

The parallel rod holder also supports at its forward end a downwardly extending looper chain guide 45 which is designed to hold the chain of looper clips up out of the way of the apparatus after they have been knotted into the chain.

The apparatus now to be described is designed to provide the upper looper pins 30 with a forward and rearward movement, with respect to the direction of movement of the looper clips mounted on chains 18 and 19. That apparatus includes a pair of back connecting straps and 51, bolted at their lower ends to the sides of bottom wall 12. At their upper ends, back straps 50 and 51 are connected together by a cross rod 52, and cross rod 52 also supports a pair of rearwardly extending top connecting straps 63 and 64. The rearward ends of the top connecting straps 63 and 64 are bolted to opposite ends of a stepblock 65, which is in turn bolted to the upper side of slide member 32.

Straps 50 and 51 also carry between their ends a laterally-extending stud block 70, which in turn carries an adjustable holder 71, the latter supporting a ball bearing 72. Ball bearing 72 cooperates with a cam 73 mounted for rotation with the main drive shaft 13, and having a single camming surface for causing movement forward and rearwardly of the upper looper pins once during each rotation of the drive shaft, and hence once during a complete cycle of the apparatus.

It will be obvious that with the apparatus so far described, upper looper pins 30 are given a forward and rearward movement once during a cycle of the apparatus, and the pins are given an upward and downward move ment twice during a complete cycle of the apparatus. This cycle will be more fully described hereinafter.

Back straps 50 and 51 are resiliently supported be tween their ends by springs 75 and 76, respectively, the

springs being connected at one end to the respective strap Iand at the other end to the respective side wall of the ase.

The lower looper mechanism 4 comprises generallya pair of bifurcated lower looper prong members 78 and 79 extending substantially parallel to the sides 10 and 11 of the base, and having their rear ends urged toward each other by a spring 80. The prong members each have upwardly and rearwardly-extending hook portions 81 and 82, respectively, for a purpose to be described. A pair of U-shaped strap members 83 and 84 have their upper ends attached to the rearward ends of lower loopers 78 and 79, respectively, and have their lower ends mounted on a vertically-extending lower looper stand 85.

It will be obvi- Lower looper stand 85 is mounted at its lower end on a lower looper slide 86 which is designed to move for-' wardly and rearwardly with respect to the bottom wall 12 of the base, and is supported thereon. A pair of forwardly and rearwardly extending brace members 87 may be mounted on walls 10 and 11 above slide member 86 to restrain the slide member against upward movement.

In order to impart forward and rearward movement to slide member 86, a lower looper pitman rod 88 is provided. The rearward end of the pitman rod is fixed in a notch 89 in the upper portion of a slot 90 formed in lower looper stand 85. The forward end of pitman rod 88 is attached to the distal end of a crank the crank being mounted for rotation on a cross shaft 96. A lower looper gear 97 is mounted on the outward side of cross-shaft 96 and meshes with a skip gear 98 mounted on main drive shaft 13 for rotation therewith and having teeth on one quarter of its circumference. When skip gear 98 turns through one complete revolution, it turns lower looper gear 97 one revolution thereof, thus, through the crank member 95 and pitman rod 88, moving the lower looper slide member 86 forwardly and rearwardly once during each revolution of the main drive shaft.

A pawl 100 is provided to lock lower looper gear 97 except during the portion of the cycle in which it is permitted to rotate to move the lower looper slide. Pawl 100 is bolted at its lower end to side wall 10 of the base, and has adjacent the lower portion of its upper end a pin which fits in a recess in the journal of lower looper gear 97. Skip gear 98 is provided with a pin 101 extending outwardly therefrom and adapted to kick the upper end of pawl 100 just as the gear teeth of the skip gear approach the teeth of lower looper gear 97, thus releasing the lower looper gear for rotation with the skip gear.

The lower looper prong members 78 and 79 must be provided with an upward and downward movement of their surfaces once during each cycle of operation of the apparatus, for a purpose to be explained hereinafter. In order to accomplish this result, a cam 105 is provided with a single fiat surface and is mounted adjacent the lower surfaces of the lower loopers on a cross-shaft 106. Cross-shaft 106 also carries at its outer end a sprocket wheel 107, which is driven by a chain 108. Chain 108 is endless and is driven by a second sprocket wheel 109 mounted on shaft 96. A roller 110 is mounted on a shaft 111 journalled in side wall 10 of the base, and po= sitioned adjacent chain 108 to hold the upper reach of the chain down.

During operation of the lower looper prongs in a cycle of the apparatus, it is necessary that the lower looper prongs be moved toward each other and later away from each other once in each cycle of the apparatus. To provide for this effect, a pair of push pins 115 and 116 are provided and journalled in side walls 10 and 11, respectively. The inner end of each of these push pinsbears against the outer surface of the corresponding lower looper prong member, 78 and 79, respectively. The outer ends of the push pins bear against screws carried by the forward ends of lower looper cam levers- 117 and 118, respectively. The rear ends of cam levers 117 and 118 lie against lower looper cams 119 and 120, respectively, mounted for rotation with a cross-shaft 121. Leaf spring members 122 and 123 each have one of their ends mounted on the respective side walls 10 and 11, and

' their other ends fixed to the respective lower looper cam lever 117 and 118, so that the forward ends of the cam levers areurged away from each other, to permit the lower loopers 78 and 79 to move away from each other. Shaft 121 has a sprocket 125 mounted on its outer end and adapted to be driven by a chain 126. Chain 126 is endless and is driven by a sprocket 127 mounted for rotation with main drive shaft13.

As a result of this camming mechanism described immediately hereinabove, the lower loopers 78 and 79 have their forward ends moved toward and away from each other once during 'eachicycle of'the apparatus. The movement toward each other of the lower loopers is opposed by springs 80,122 and 123. Lower looper cam levers 117 and 118 are mounted on cam lever brackets 130 and 131, respectively, which are in turn lrjnounted on side walls 10 and 11, respectively, of the ase.

The lower loopers 78 and 79 are supposed to be moved toward one another and held there during forward move-- ment of the lower looper slide 86. In order to assist in holding the lower loopers together while they are in the forward portion of their travel, a pair of lower looper guides 135 and 136 are provided, these being mounted on side walls 10 and 11, respectively, and having forward and inwardly extending portions to force the lower loopers toward each other when they are moved forwardly between the guides. Members 140 and 141 are also provided, for a dual purpose. The rear ends of these members constitute a guard for chains 18 and 19, and the forward ends thereof extend inwardly and upwardly to provide a surface to strip the rear end of a looper clip off carrying pins 25 when the clip has reached the forward ends of these members.

In order to hold the loops or clips mounted on the pins 25 downwardly during the knotting operation, looper clip guides 145 and 146 are provided and are mounted on the upper surfaces of Walls 10 and 11, respectively. The innermost and lowermost surfaces of these guides extend from the rear thereof forwardly and downwardly, and the inside front surface thereof has its edge formed as an arc of a circle, so as to prevent a looper clip from flying backwardly, once the clip has been knotted to the chain.

In order to make perfectly clear the cooperation of the portions of the apparatus hereinabove described, one complete cycle of the apparatus in knotting a clip to the last looper clip of a chain thereof will now be described.

The cycle of operations will be described in conjunction with Figs. 8-14, showing the positions of the various operating parts of the machine during a cycle. As the cycle begins, shaft 13 is in a position such that double cam 43 has one of its raised faces contacting the roller bearing on the lower side of cam lever 41 (see Fig. 7 for illustration of these parts). Consequently, upper looper slide member 32 is in its upper position, as shown in Fig. 8, and the upper looper pins are held above plus 25 carrying looper clip 26. The lower looper prong members '78 and 79 are in their rearward and lower positions, and the upper looper pins 30 are in their rearward positions, corresponding to the positions of roller 72 and cam 73 in Fig. 8.

From these positions at the beginning of cycle, the following changes take place, going now to the position of Fig. 9.: as the shaft 13 rotates (counterclockwise, as

shown by the arrow in Fig. 9) chains 18 and 19 move forwardly, carrying pins 25 and looper clip 26 along with them. The raised portion of cam 73 contacts bearing 72 to move upper looper slide member 32, and hence upper looper pins 30, forwardly with carrier pins 25; when the upper looper pins have reached their foremost position, the pins stop movement momentarily while the carrier pins continue to move forwardly and carry the forward end of looper clip 26 beyond the upper looper pins. and hence forward of the rear end of the last clip 27 of the chain (the position of clip 26 shown in'Fig. 9). While this operation is taking place, the raised portions of cams 119 and 120 (Fig. '1) come into contact with cam levers 117 and 118 to move lower looper prong members 78 and 79 toward each other.

The second stage in the cycle now occurs, causing movements of the various parts to the position shown in Fig. 10. Double cam 43 moves to the position shown in Fig. 7, thus causing the upper looper pins to move downwardly and carry the rear end of clip 27 with them down below the plane defined by clip 26 to create an strip clip 27 from the upper looper pins.

6 overlap between the planes defined by clips 26 and At the same time, the toothed segment of gear 98 (Fig. 1) moves into engagement with gear 97, causing motion of chain 103 to begin rotation of shaft 106. Cam 105 is mounted on shaft 106 and hence moves clockwise to the position shown in Fig. 10, thus moving lower looper prongs 78 and 79 upwardly.

Going nowinto the fourth position of the apparatus, shown in Fig. 11, pitman rod 88 is moved forwardly by rotation of shaft 96 to carry lower looper slide member 86 forwardly. This movement causes lower looper prong members 78 and 79 to move forwardly in such manner that the upper prong of each of the prong members moves into the overlap between clips 26 and 27, with the rear end of clip 27 in the bight between the prongs of each prong member.

Lower looper prong members 78 and 79 next continue to move forwardly to the foremost end of their travel, shown in Fig. 12. The forward end of clip 26 has now been passed by the upper prongs of the prong members.

Now, the prong members begin their rearward travel back to the position shown in Fig. 13, and carry with them the forward end of clip 26, which is concurrently stripped from the associated pins 25. At the same time,

3 double cam 43 (Fig. 7) reaches a position such that one of its raised faces contacts cam lever 41, causing upper looper pins 30 to move upwardly away from the lower looper. However, the rear end of clip 27 is now held by the prong members, so that the prong members Also, earn 105 returns to the position with its fiat side against the prong members, so that the prong members move down to their original positions.

By this time the lower looper prong members have completed their cycle of operation, but the knot between clips 26 and 27 is not quite complete. Going now from the position of Fig. 13 to that of Fig. 14, supporting pins 25, now carrying only the rear end of clip 26, move past upper looper pins 30. Then, double cam 43 again reaches a position causing upper looper pins 30 to move downwardly, and they move into a position just forward of the former forward end of clip 26, now held by hooks 81 and 82 of prong members 78 and 79.

In the last stage of the cycle the apparatus returns 7 to the position shown in Fig. 8, cam 43 causing upward movement and cam 73 causing rearward movement of upper looper pins 39, simultaneously, so that the pins pick up the former forward end of clip 26 and carry it upwardly to the location occupied by clip 27 in Fig. 8. 1

The knotting, cycle is now complete and the parts of the apparatus are in position for a new knotting cycle to knot clip 26 in Fig. 14 to the rear end of now-knotted clip 26. The operation may be continuousand rapid,

and is obviously automatic.

It is evident that many changes could be made in the apparatus specifically described without departure from the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered limited by the embodiment described but only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for knotting one closed loop to another closed loop comprising means for holding said one 1001), means for holding said other loop, and means coacting with both said holding means to move the holding means relative to one another and to knot the loops together, said last-mentioned means operating to strip said other loop from its holding means and position said one loop to be picked up and held by said holding means for said other loop, during knotting operation, whereby a third loop may be positioned on said first-mentioned holding means and be knotted to said one loop by a further cycle of operation of the apparatus;

2. Apparatus for knotting one closed loop to another closed loop comprising means initially operative to hold said other loop, means for supporting said one loop with loop held open, means for moving one of said holding and supporting means to move the associated loop to cause the planes defined by the loops to intersect, means movable between the over-lapping ends of the two loops operative to strip said other loop from said first-mentioned means and move the over-lapping end of said one loop in a direction to knot the loops together, said firstmentioned means then being operative to hold said one loop, and means for stripping said one loop from its supporting means.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 in which said means movable between the over-lapping ends of the two loops is movable in one direction to project through the aperture defined by said over-lapping ends and is movable in another direction to move the over-lapping end of said one loop away from the overlap.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 in which said movable means strips said one loop from its supporting means during its movement in said one direction and holds the one loop for its movement in said other direction, said other direction being reverse to said one direction.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 in which said movable means comprises at least one fork having a hook projecting from one of its spaced ends, the overtween the over-lapping ends of the loops to permit said 3 last-mentioned means to strip the other loop from the supporting means, then movable downwardly to pick up and hold the one loop after knotting of the loops together.

7. Apparatus for forming a chain of closed loops comprising means for supporting at least one loop with its loop held open, said means being movable substantially continuously in one direction, and knotting means located adjacent the path of movement of said supporting means, said knotting means being operative to hold another loop with its loop open, then to form a knot between said one loop and said other loop and release said other loop, then hold said one loop and release it from said supporting means.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 7 in which said knotting means comprises an upper looper operative initially to hold said other loop and operative later to hold said one loop, and a lower looper operative to knot the two loops together.

9. Apparatus for forming a chain of closed loops comprising a base, a rotating shaft journalled on said base, means for supporting at least one loop and holding it open, means connecting said shaft to said loop supporting means to translate rotational movement of said shaft into substantially linear movement of said loop supporting means, an upper looper for holding one spread end of another loop adjacent the path of movement of said loop supporting means, cam means rotatable with said shaft, means cooperable with said cam means and said upper looper to cause the latter to move while holding =1.

said other loop, from a position above said loop-supporting means downwardly to move the other loop to overlap said one loop, then upwardly away from the loops, then downwardly once more to pick up said one loop, then upwardly once more, during a knotting cycle, a lower looper, means connecting said shaft and said lower looper and operative to convert rotational movement of said shaft into reciprocating linear movement of said lower looper, said last-named means operating to cause movement of said lower looper in one direction through the overlapping'ends of said one and said other loops after the upper looper has moved upwardly, said lower looper operating in said movements to strip said other loop from the upper looper, and, in its reverse movement, to carry the forward end of said one loop rearwardly with respect to the direction of travel of said loop supporting means and retain it while the rear end of said one loop moves past the lower looper until the upper looper returns downwardly and picks up the forward end of said one loop.

10. Apparatus as defined in claim 9 in which said means connecting said shaft with said loop supporting means comprises an endless chain, and said loop supporting means includes a plurality of spaced pins projecting from and carried by said chain.

11. Apparatus as defined in claim 9 in which said means connecting said shaft with said loop supporting means comprises a pair of spaced substantially parallel endless chains, said shaft coacting with said chains to cause endless movement thereof, and said loop supporting means includes a plurality of spaced pins projecting upwardly from and carried by said chain.

12. Apparatus as defined in claim 9 in which said upper looper comprises a supporting member, means mounting said supporting member above said loop supporting means, and a pair of spaced pins carried by said supporting member and projecting downwardly toward said loop supporting means, said pins being operable to hold said one end of said other loop spread apart.

13. Apparatus as defined in claim 12 in which said cam means includes a double cam mounted on said shaft and said cooperable means includes a lever mounted at one end on said base and having its other end contacting the face of said cam, means connecting the other end of said lever to said means mounting said supporting member to translate movement of the other end of the lever upwardly and downwardly in response to movement of the cam into movement upwardly and downwardly of the upper looper.

14. Apparatus as defined in claim 12 in which said cam means includes a cam mounted on said shaft and having a pair of rises separated by a pair of lows, and said cooperable means includes lever means connected at one end to said means mounting said supporting member and at the other end to said base, and a roller connected to said lever means between said ends thereof and riding on said cam.

15. Apparatus defined in claim 9 in which said lower looper comprises a pronged bifurcated member, the plane defined by the prongs of said member extending at an angle with respect to said loop-supporting means, the upper of said prongs having a hook extending upwardly therefrom, said means connecting said shaft and said lower looper including a support for said bifurcated member, a crank arm rotatable with said shaft during at least a portion of a rotation thereof, and means connecting the crank arm to said support, said bifurcated member moving forward, with respect to movement of said loop supporting means, when said other loop overlaps said one loop, to move the upper prong thereof between the overlapped ends of the loops and the lower prong below both loops, and said hook acting during rearward travel of said hifurcated member to hold the forward end of said one loop and carry it therewith.

16. Apparatus as defined in claim 15 in which said lower looper includes another bifurcated member spaced from said first-mentioned bifurcated member and mounted therewith, means urging said bifurcated members apart, and cam means rotatable with said shaft and cooperable with said bifurcated members to force them toward each other for movement of the members between the overlapped ends of the loops.

17. Apparatus defined in claim 9 including means mounted on the base for forcing the rearward end of said one loop off said loop supporting means after said rearward end has passed said upper looper.

18. A looper clip chaining machine comprising a base, a. shaft journalled for rotation on said base, a pair of substantially parallel endless chains mounted on said base for movement with rotation of said shaft, spaced pins mounted on and projecting outwardly from each of said chains, each set of four of said pins being operable to support one opened looper clip, an upper looper comprising a pair of pins, support means for said last-mentioned pins positioned along the path of movement of said chains in such manner that said upper looper pins project downwardly in a zone between the planes defined by the chains, and are spaced apart along a line joining said planes, means including cams rotated by said shaft for imparting forward and rearward and downward and upward movement to the upper looper pins with respect to the movement of said chains, a lower looper comprising a pair of bifurcated prong members, each of the upper prongs of said members having a hook projecting upwardly therefrom, means urging said prong members apart, cam means controlled by said shaft for moving said prong members toward each other, mounting means for said prong members, and means operative by said shaft for moving said mounting means forward and rearward with respect to the direction of travel of said chains, the upper looper pins being adapted to carry the rear of a chain of looper clips to which other clips carried by said pins on said chains are to be successively joined, the above-defined apparatus operating as follows during one complete cycle to join one looper clip to the chain: (1) the upper looper pins carrying the rear end of the last clip of the chain moves forwardly with the chains carrying said one looper clip; (2) the upper looper pins move downwardly as the forward end of said one clip moves past them and carries the rear end of the last clip down below the plane defined by said one clip and through the loop defined thereby; (3) during the preceding operation the bifurcated prongs of the lower looper are moved toward each other and upward to a position such that they will. fit in the area of overlap of said last clip and said one clip; (4) the upper looper remains stationary while said lower looper moves forwardly and causes its prongs to project through the area of overlap of the two clips, the rear end of said last clip fitting into the space between the prongs of each bifurcated prong member of the lower looper; (5) the upper looper moves upwardly away from the lower looper while the lower looper moves rearwardly, catching the forward end of said one clip on its prongs, stripping it from the chain pins, and carrying it with itself, and stripping the rear end of said last clip from the upper looper; (6) the prong members of the lower looper spread apart while the rearward end of said one clip is moved by its supporting pins past the lower looper prong members and said forward end of said one clip; (7) the upper looper moves downwardly between the forward and rear ends of said one clip, then moves rearwardly and upwardly to strip the forward end of said one clip from the lower looper prongs and carry it with itself; and, (8) the rear end of said one clip is stripped from the pins supporting it.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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