US2887697A - Lace clamping device - Google Patents

Description

May 26, 1959 J. FossA 2,887,697

LACE CLAMPING DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 19, 1952 :5 Sheets-Sheet 1 J. FOSSA LACE CLAMPING DEVICE May 26, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed Dec}. 19, 1952 United States Patent LACE 'CLAMPING DEVICE Original application December 19, 1952, Serial No.

326,948. Divided and this application May 26, 1958,.

Serial No. 737,661

Claims. (Cl. 12-585) The invention relates to improvements in a machine for lacing an eyeletted shoe upper and more particularly to an improved device for clamping the lacing cord.

The invention is herein disclosed as embodied in a lacing machine of the general type shown in the United States Patent to Fossa No. 2,461,889, dated February 15, 1949, for Machine and Method for Manufacture of Shoes. The instant application is a division of a copending application of Fossa Serial No. 326,948 for Machine for Operating upon Shoe Uppers filed in the United States Patent Oflice December 19, 1952.

The illustrated lacing machine operates in accordance with a recurring cycle to place groups of stitches through successive pairs of eyelets in a shoe upper which is mounted on a work holder with the lacing margins thereof in an opened-out edge-facing relation. The operation of the lacing mechanism is synchronized with a feed mechanism which imparts a stepped advancing movement to the associated work holder and upper.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide a novel and improved device for clamping and for holding the severed end of the lacing cord for the start of another lacing operation in the machine.

The several features of the invention will be readily understood by one skilled in the art from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of the lacing machine;

Fig. 2 is a view in right side elevation of substantially those portions of the lacing machine shown in front elevation in Fig. 1, the machine being shown in its stop position with the end of the lacing cord held in the clamp;

Fig. 3 is a detailed sectional plan view of the clamp taken on a line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a somewhat fragmentary view of the lacing machine looking from the right to illustrate the operation of the clamp, in which the cord has been advanced by the cord pusher member past the retracted clamping element and the clamping element is about to be tripped into clamping position;

Fig. 5 illustrates the position of the clamp and clamp actuating mechanism during a lacing operation, in Which the clamp is fully engaged, and the cord positioning element and clamp actuating bar are fully retracted;

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view on an enlarged scale of the clamp as shown in Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view in front elevation at the plane VII in Fig. 2 of the cam and follower connection for shifting the clamp actuating cam roller into Patented May 26, 1959 ice looper 328 on which is pivotally mounted a' double spreader 329 disposed below the work.

The several cooperating instrumentalities of the lacing machine are driven from cranks and cams mounted on a main cam shaft 337 (see Figs. 2 and 7), a secondary cam shaft 338 mounted parallel with and connected to turn at one-half speed of the main cam shaft (see Fig. l), and a driving sleeve 339 (Fig. 7 )carried on the main cam shaft and arranged to be driven at one quarter of the speed of the main cam shaft. Reciprocatory movements are imparted to the needle 327 by means of connections from the main cam shaft. The mechanism for operating the cutter and clamp to sever and grip the severed end of the lacing cord is actuated also by connections from the main cam shaft. Rocking movement is imparted to the double looper and lateral swinging movements are imparted to the needle by means of connections from the half speed cam shaft. Stepped advancing movements are imparted to the feed slide of the machine to present successive pairs of eyelets to the lacing mechanism, and the stop motion mechanism is actuated by means of connections from the quarter speed cam sleeve 339.

The general arrangement of the lacing instrumentalities will be evident from a consideration of Fig. 1 in which the eye lacing machine needle 327 above referred to is mounted on a needle bar 343 which is supported for longitudinal movement in a frame 344 arranged for lateral swinging movements about a pivot 345. Vertical movements are imparted to the needle 327 by means of a crank 346 which is connected by link 347 with a pair of toggle links 348, 349, the upper of which is connected to a needle actuating lever 350. The double looper 328 is secured at its lower end to a carrier rod in the form of a rock shaft which is in turn supported for lateral movements bodily on a depending frame arranged to swing about a pivot (not shown). It will be understood that the lacing machine thus generally described in connection with Figs. 1, 2, and 4 is in general similar to the lacing machine specifically described in the Fossa Patent No. 2,461,889, above referred to, and that only so much of the machine is here shown as is believed necessary to illustrate the connection of the invention therewith.

Lacing cord is supplied to the needle from a spool or cop, not shown, housed in a container 356 to a tension device 358 (see Fig. 1), and thence to an auxiliary take-up device 360. From the auxiliary take-up device the cord is directed through a guide 361 to the eye of the needle 327.

The illustrated machine is provided with an improved cord cutting and clamping device which operates in a novel and improved manner to insure the engagement of the lacing cord with the clamp and moves it certainly into position to be engaged by the clamp and which further causes the clamp to operate in an improved manner to engage with and clamp the lacing cord end.

The cord cutting and clamping mechanism of the machine is controlled by a rocking movement imparted to the stop motion rock shaft 369 of the machine upon the stopping and starting of the lacing machine. While the shaft 369 and the stop motion associated therewith is fully illustrated in Fossa Patent No. 2,461,889 above referred to, portions of this mechanism relevant to the present invention will be briefly described with reference to Figs. 7 and 2, of which Fig. 7 illustrates the stop motion lock bolt carrier lever 370 which is loosely mounted on stop motion rock shaft 369 and is given an oscillatory movement at the end of each lace forming cycle of four stitches by engagement with the rise portion of its cooperating cam 371 on the quarter speed driving sleeve 339 with a roll on the lock bolt carrier lever 37 0. .A lock bolt 372 supported on a lateral extension of assess? lever 370 is normally maintained in a retracted position out of engagement with a socket formed in a laterally extending arm 373 secured to the stop motion rock shaft 369. Upon completion of the lacing operation upon a shoe upper the lock bolt 372 is tripped into operation by means of a connection with the vertically moving feed bar 375 of the machine (see Fig. 2), which connects the arm 373 and rock shaft 369 to turn with the bolt carrier lever 370 in a clockwise direction to the position shown in Fig. 1 to initiate the operation of the lacing machine stop mechanism. A return movement of the feed bar 375 when the machine is started causes the lock bolt 372 again to be withdrawn so that the lever 373 and stop motion rock shaft 369 are permitted to return to their normal inoperative position under the infiuence of compression spring 376 (see Fig. 2).

As shown in Fig. 1, the stop motion rock shaft 369 is provided at its forward end with a downwardly extending arm 377 which is operatively connected with the hub portion of a cord cutting and clamping cam lever 378 slidably supported on and keyed to turn with a transverse rock shaft 379 by means of which the cord cutting and clamping mechanism is operated. The cam lever 378 is provided with a roll which is arranged to be acted upon by a face cam 380 formed on the rear face of the needle crank 346 on the main cam shaft 337 of the machine. A clockwise rocking movement of the stop motion rock shaft 369 and arm 377 to the position shown in Fig. l in stopping the machine causes the cutting and clamping cam lever 378 to be shifted axially of its supporting shaft 379 into operative relation to the cam 380. The rocking movement of the stop motion rock shaft 369 and depending arm 377 in the counterclockwise direction upon the starting of the machine causes the cutter and clamp and cam lever 378 to be again moved to its inoperative position out of the path of the face cam 380.

The connections from the rock shaft 379 for severing the lacing cord (see Fig. l) comprise a lever arm 381 which is secured to the left hand end of the rock shaft 379 (see Fig. 1) and is connected by a link 382 with a lever arm 384 which is in turn connected by a link 386 with the tail of a rotatable cutter 388 supported to turn on a vertical pivot 390.

In accordance with the invention, a novel and improved clamp is provided for clamping the severed end of the lacing cord. The clamp is arranged to be operated by the rocking of shaft 379 through connections which comprise a downwardly extending clamp actuating lever 392 secured to the rock shaft 379 as shown in Fig. 1, a forwardly extending latch arm 394 (see Fig. 2) pivotally supported at 396 to the lower end of the clamp actuating lever 392 for actuating the clamp, and a slide bar 398 which is connected to a downward extension of the latch arm 394 and acts to engage with and position the cord accurately in position for the operation of the clamp. A tension spring 400 connected between the downward extension of the latch arm 394 and a point on the machine frame tends to swing the latch arm in a counterclockwise direction and to maintain the cam roller in engagement with its operating cam 380. The clamping device arranged to be operated by the movement of the lever arm 392 and latch arm 394 comprises a depending clamping lever 402 (see Figs. 1, 2, 6) secured to a transverse rock pin 404 on a bracket 406 on the machine frame.

At its opposite end the rock pin 404 carries an upwardly extending aim 408 which is formed with a latch engaging abutment 409 for engagement with the notched undersurface of the latch arm 394, and is also formed with a reaiward extension in which is mounted an adjustable stop screw 410. A plate 411 secured to the upwardly extending arm 408 is slotted to receive the end portion of the latch arm 394. A tension spring 412 connected atone end to the arm 408 and at its other end to a pin on the bracket 406 tends normally to swing the arm 408, rocker pin 404, and clamping lever 402 in a generally forward or clockwise direction to the clamping position in Figs. 2 and 6. The clamping lever 402 is formed at its lower end with a clamping surface which comprises a laterally extending V-shaped cord clamping plate 414 (see Fig. 3) arranged for engagement with a rela tively stationary yieldably supported vertical clamping plate 416 carried on the lower end of a vertically disposed plunger 418 slidable in a housing 420 on the bracket 406.

A compression spring 421 seated in a recess at the upper end of the plunger 418 and arranged to bear against the pivot pin 404 tends to force the clamping plate 416 downwardly. Movement of the clamping plate 416 is limited by engagement of a pin 424 secured to the plunger 418 with a pair of slots formed in the housing 420. The arrangement of the parts described is such that a forward thrust of the lever arm 392 and latch arm 394 causes the abutment 409, forming a part of the lever arm 408, to engage with the notched undersurface of the latch arm 394 to swing the clamping lever 402 in a counterclockwise direction so that the clamping lever 402 is moved to a fully retracted position. Continued forward movement of the latch arm 394 causes the stop screw 410 on the rearward extension of arm 408 to trip the latch arm 394 out of engagement with the abutment 409 and thereby to permit the clamping member 402 to swing downwardly under the pressure of its spring 412 to the clamping position. The thrust movement of the lever 392 and latch arm 394 is accompanied by a forward movement of the pusher bar 398 which is supported toward its outer end in a downwardly extending bracket 426 so that the offset forward end of the slide 396 is arranged to be engaged with and to force the cord past the rearwardly moving clamp lever 402 and to locate the cord with certainty in the path of the clamping plate 414 during its return movement to clamping position. The machine stops with the parts in the positions shown in Fig. 2. The cam roller 378 is engaged with the high portion of cam 380. The slide bar 398 and latch arm 394 remain in their forwardly extended positions until the machine is again started when the slide bar 398 and latch arm 394 are returned with lever 392 to the retracted position shown in Fig. 5.

The invention having been described What is claimed is:

1. In a lacing machine for lacing eyeleted shoe uppers the combination with a lacing mechanism including a lacing needle operable to insert lacings of lacing cord through the eyelet pairs of an eyeleted upper, of a cord end holding device comprising a swinging cord engaging arm pivoted on the machine having at the free end thereof a cord engaging surface lying in a plane substantially tangent to the arcuate path of the swinging movement of said surface, and a cooperating cord engaging element movable on the machine along a fixed path substantially on a line extending radially from the axis of said swinging arm against said tangent cord engaging surface, and spring means moving said cooperating cord engaging element yieldably against said tangent normal surface.

2. In a lacing machine having an eye needle and a looper mechanism operable in accordance with a lacing cycle to insert a series of enchained loops through the eyelet pairs of an eyeleted shoe upper, the combination of a clamping device for clamping a poition of the lacing cord extending between the needle and the work, which comprises a clamping element supported on the machine to yield vertically, a clamping element pivoted on the machine having an offset clamping surface arranged for t a pendant position of said pivoted element to engage beneath and to support said vertically yieldable clamping element, yieldable means urging the pivoted clamping element to said pendant position, and a clamp actuating device operable to retract said pivoted clamping element and thereafter to permit the return of said pivoted clamping element to the pendant position under the influence of said yieldable means to engage and clamp said portion of the lacing cord.

3. In a lacing machine having an eye needle and a looper mechanism operable in accordance with a lacing cycle to insert a series of enchained loops through the eyelet pairs of an eyeleted shoe upper, the combination of a clamping device for clamping a portion of the lacing cord extending between the needle and the work, which comprises a clamping element supported on the machine to yield vertically, a clamping element pivoted on the machine having an offset clamping surface arranged for a pendant position of said pivoted element to engage beneath and to support said vertically yieldable clamping element, yieldable means urging the pivoted clamping element to said pendant position, a cord positioning member movable on the machine along a path to engage with and position said portion of the lacing cord in the path of movement of the offset portion of the pivoted clamping element, and a clamp actuating device acting when rendered operative to move the cord positioning member to engage with and to position said cord portion, and simultaneously to retract and thereafter release said pivoted clamping member under the influence of said yieldable means to engage with and clamp said cord portion.

4. In a lacing machine having an eye needle and a looper mechanism operable in accordance with a lacing cycle to insert a series of enchained loops through the eyelet pairs of an eyeleted shoe upper, the combination of a clamping device for clamping a portion of the lacing cord extending between the needle and the work, which comprises a clamping element supported on the machine to yield vertically, a clamping element pivoted on the machine having an offset clamping surface arranged for a pendant position of said pivoted element to engage beneath and to support said vertically yieldably stationary clamping element, a cord positioning member arranged to be advanced on the machine along a path to engage with and position said portion of the lacing cord in a path of movement of the offset portion of the pivoted clamping element, a reset and trip device comprising a member arranged to be advanced in one direction and means controlled by said advancing movement to retract said pivoted clamping element and thereafter to permit the return of said clamping element to clamping position, and a clamp actuating device acting when rendered operative to simultaneously advance said cord positioning memher and actuating element to position and thereafter to clamp said portion of the cord.

5. In a lacing machine having an eye needle and a looper mechanism operable in accordance with a lacing cycle to insert a series of enchained loops through the eyelet pairs of an eyeleted shoe upper, the combination of a clamping device for clamping a portion of the lacing cord extending between the needle and the work, which comprises a relatively stationary clamping element supported on the machine, a cooperating clamping element pivoted on the machine for movement into clamping engagement with the stationary clamping element, means yieldably urging the pivoted clamping element against the stationary clamping element, a cord positioning element movable on the machine to engage with and position said portion of the lacing cord in the path of move ment of the pivoted clamping element, and a clamp actuating device including means acting when rendered operative for moving the cord positioning element to engage and position said cord portion, and in timed relation therewith for retracting said pivoted clamping element against the influence of said yieldable means, and thereafter for releasing said pivoted clamping element to engage and clamp the positioned cord portion.

No references cited.

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