US2963721A - Loop spreader for lacing machine - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 13, 1960 P. SPARKES 2,963,721

LOOP SPREADER FOR LACING MACHINE Filed July 23, 1957 INVENTOR.

United States Patet lt O LOOP SPREADER FOR LACING MACHINE Philip Sparkes, Boston, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Boston, Mass., a corporation of New Jersey Filed July 23, 1957, Ser. No. 673,654

4 Claims. (Cl. 12-585) This invention relates to shoe upper lacing machines of the type having a series of lacing needles for inserting a separately fastened strand through each pair of eyelets in a folded shoe upper. The upper is applied to the series of needles which act to carry the upper into operating position in the machine and which thereafter are reciprocated and alternately moved in different directions to loop a separate strand of cord through each pair of eyelets and then to form a locking loop for the previously form loop. l

In order to take the loop from the needles and retain it in the path of the needles during the next reciprocation and then cast off these loops and engage the newly presented loops on the needles, two sets of hooks are provided, one set being arranged to engage and spread a needle loop during reciprocation in one direction and the other set of hooks being arranged to engage and spread the loop in the opposite direction.

The loop spreader heretofore employed in machines of this type have been diflicult and costly to manufacture, prone to damage in operation of the machine, difficult to remove and expensive to replace. The arms of the spreader frequently get bent in use. This occurs if the eyelets of the upper are not located in alignment so that the needle springs out of its proper course and bends or breaks one of the hooks in which an arm of the spreader terminates. Since in practice the hooks must be hardened to resist wear in operation, the danger of breakage is increased.

The loop spreader of the present invention comprises a yoke having defined seats therein which accurately locate separate hooked strand-engaging arms, together with means for detachably securing the arms in place so that in case of damage to either arm that individual arm may be removed and replaced. Important economies consequently result both in the cost of manufacturing the spreader and in servicing the machine since the yoke which is the principal member of the spreader may remain permanently in its proper position in the machine and either one or both of the hooked arms may be quickly and conveniently replaced without disturbing the yoke itself.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation showing the spreader and associated parts on an enlarged scale,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the spreader as seen from beneath, or as swung into reverse position,

Fig. 3 is a view showing the parts of the spreader in exploded relation,

Fig. 4 is a similar view in side elevation, and

Fig. 5 is an end view thereof.

Secured in the frame of the machine is an outwardly projecting carrier bar 10, channel shaped in cross-section and having a pair of loop taker arms 11 and 12 formed Patented Dec. 13, 1960 as a part thereof and projecting downwardly into hookshaped ends 14 and 15 as seen in Fig. 1. The arms 11 and 12 extend also upwardly from the bar and furnish bearings for the loop spreader shaft 13 which extends in parallel relation to the carrier bar 10. A torsion spring 13', shown at its left hand end, holds the shaft 13 and the parts carried thereby normally in operative position as shown in Fig. 1. One of the needles 16, its associated measuring finger 17 and a cooperating pair of shoe upper clamps 18 are shown in Fig. 1 in their operative relation to the looper. The parts heretofore described may be identical with the corresponding parts of upper lacing machines now in wide use and as shown in full detail, for example, in United States Letters Patent No. 2,106,320, January 25, 1938, Fossa.

As best shown in Figs. 3-5 the loop spreader of the present invention comprises a yoke-shaped member 26 having two forks which are transversely perforated at 21 to receive the loop spreader shaft 13. The longer fork of the yoke is provided with a threaded aperture 22 to receive a cone-pointed adjusting screw 23 and the shorter fork is drilled longitudinally and tapped to receive a setscrew 24' by which the yoke is securely fastened to the shaft 13 so as to rock with it. In the transverse connecting bridge 20' of the yoke are formed seats for matingly receiving the hooked arms 26 and 27 of the loop spreader and these seats are formed in part by transverse shoulders 25 at the base of the forks. The connecting portion of the yoke takes the form of a wide flat bridge 20, and as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, its under surface is offset inwardly thereby reducing the thickness of the bridge as compared to the thickness of the two forks and of the seats for the strand-engaging arms 26 and 27. Each seat is drilled and tapped to receive screws 26 or 27 and each of the spreader arms 26 and 27 is shaped to make an interlocking fit with its own seat. For that purpose each of the arms is enlarged at its inner end and has a substantially square base of substantial area with a straight upper edge contacting the shoulder 25 and stepped to coincide with the contour of the yoke. Each base is counter-sunk to receive the head of its attaching screw. Preferably the hooked strandengaging arms 26 and 27 are formed of beryllium bronze and while this has proved to be eminently satisfactory, any suitable metal may be employed.

Between the hooked arms of the spreader is located a point locating plate 19. This is mounted to rock upon the shaft 13 and its position is adjustably determined by the seating of the adjusting screw 23 which bears against the tail of the plate 19 where it projects beyond the shaft 13. The inwardly offset surface of the bridge 20' above referred to forms in effect a wide shallow channel in the face of the bridge opposite that to which the hooked arms are secured and furnishes the clearance for the point locating plate or bar 19. It will be apparent from an inspection of Fig. 2 that either one of the strand-engaging arms 26 or 27 of the loop spreader may be conveniently detached and removed from the yoke 20 without in any way disturbing the position of the yoke or an undamaged hooked arm. Convenient access is provided to the heads of the screws 26' and 27' when the yoke 20 is swung with the shaft 13 into its reverse or inoperative position as shown in Fig. 2. Here the heads of the screws are fully exposed and easily reached by a screw driver. This is an important advantage in servicing a machine as complicated as the lacing machine dealt with herein. In servicing the machine all that is required is a supply of the right and left hooked arms 26 and 27 produced by conventional process of standard interchangeable manufacture. While the heads of the screws 26' and 27' are exposed in the inoperative position of the yoke they are concealed when the yoke is swung into its operative position so they are not likely to be tampered with by the operator.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail a preferred embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent: i V i V e 1. An improved loop spreader for lacing machines having a yoke mounted to be reversed from operative to inoperative position in the machine, characterized in that the yoke has spaced forks connected by a flat bridge having defined seats thereon formed in .part by transverse shoulders at the base of the forks of. the yoke at each end of the bridge, in combination with replaceable hooked right and left strand-engaging arms having rectangular bases fitting said. seats with edges shaped to engage with said shoulders and accurately locate the strand-engaging arms on the yoke, together with a separate screw for each arm securing it in place on the yoke and having its head exposed to View only when the yoke is rocked into its inoperative position and concealed when the yoke is rocked into its operative position. a

2. An improved loop spreader as described in claim 1, further characterized in that the bridge of the yoke is offset inwardly in its outer surfaceand reduced in thickness as compared to the thickness of the seats for its strand-engaging arms.

3. An improved loop spreader for lacing machines having a yoke mounted to be reversed from operative to inoperative position in the machine, characterized in that the yoke has spaced forks connected by a flat bridge having defined seats thereon formed in part by transverse shoulders at the base of the forks of the yoke at each end of the bridge, in combination with replaceable hooked right and left strand-engaging arms having their inner ends enlarged and forming substantially square attaching areas with edges fitting the shoulders of the said yoke 'and accurately locating the said arms on the yoke, together with a separate screw for each arm securing it in place on the yoke and having its head exposed to view only in one position of the yoke.

4. An improved loop spreader as described in claim 3, further characterized in that the bridge of the yoke is provided with a Wide channel disposed symmetrically between the forks of the yoke and in the face of the bridge opposite to that to which the hooked arms are secured.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Heilman et a1 Dec. 17,

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