US2970329A - Trimming machines - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 7, 1961 c.F. FITZGERALD TRIMMING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 15,.` 1959 Inventor WJVGQ Feb. v7, 1961 c, F. FITZGERALD 2,970,329

TRIMMING MACHINES Filed April 15, 1959 5 sheets-sheet z Feb. 7, 1961 c.'F. FITZGERALD TRIMMING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 15, l1959 United States Patent C) TRMMING MACHINES Charles F. Fitzgerald, Beverly, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, NJ., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Apr. 15, 1959, Ser. No. 806,673

8 Claims. (C1. 12-4.3)

This invention relates to machines for performing trimming operations on shoe bottoms and more particularly to machines for trimming the inseams of partially fabricated welt shoes. A machine of this type is disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,226,872, granted May 22, 1917, to Andrew Eppler. It is to be understood, however, that in certain aspects thereof, thel invention is not limited to inseam trimming machines but is applicable generally to trimming machines which operate progressively about a shoe bottom to remove excess material therefrom.

The patent to Eppler discloses an inseam trimming machine by which surplus portions of the inseam are severed by a cup-shaped trimming knife which cuts the inseam material into long thin strips comprising upper leather, insole rib material, canvas reinforcing material and a tar-like substance from the box toe or stIffening material, etc. It has been found difficult to remove these long strips efficiently by mechanical means from within the cup of the knife and from the trimming area generally and frequently the machine must be stopped and the strips removed manually. 'This problem has been recognized and one solution offered in United States Letters Patent No. 2,750,608, granted lune 19, 1956, to John M. vWhelton, wherein there is disclosed a trimming machine having a rotary chopping cutter which severs the inseam substance into small chips which are subjected to the action of an exhaust fan to remove them from the machine. A similar cutter is shown in United States Letters Patent No. 2,802,225, issued August 13, 1957, to Joseph C. Cantley. In both the Whelton and Can'ley machines the rotary chopping cutters produce two distinct cuts in the inseam material, one extending substantially parallel to the shoe bottom and the second substantially normal thereto whereupon the surplus inseam material is severed from the shoe bottom and also chopped into small chips by a single cutter stroke. This results in the cutter being subjected to considerable amounts of vibration and shock which requires that the cutter have extreme strength and durability. In fact, the cutters employed in the above-identified machine utilize hardened tips, such as tungsten carbide or similar material inserts and also must be journaled in rigidly mounted bearings all of which adds greatly to their cost.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a trimming machine having an improved organization of cutting and feeding elements arranged to facilitate rapid and automatic removal of material cut from the inseam substance.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved inseam trimming machine having means for severing the surplus portions of the inseam from the shoe bottom into small chips which may be readily removed from the machine.

Applicant has found that by employing a mechanism similar to that disclosed in the above-identified Epp'er patent, to wit, the rotary cup-shaped trimming knife which cuts the inseam material into long thin strips, as do ICC most of the present day commercial machines, and by utilizing a separate mechanism for chopping the' strips into small chips, a far more economical machine may be produced than the single chopping cutter type. This is primarily because the same rigidity and precision of construction is not required as in a machine which performs this operation by a single cutter.

To this end applicant has produced a machine having substantially the same feeding and trimming elements as in the above-identified Eppler patent plus the addition of a rotatable chopping cutter to chop the strips of inseam material into small chips after the strips have been removed from the shoe by the rotary knife. This is accomplished by locating a chopping cutter within the cupshaped knife in such position that the elongated chips which are severed by the knife are directed into the path of the cutter. The cutter employed for this purpose is a multi-blade sharpened rotor which requires no special inserts and which does not require precision manufacture since it does not engage the shoe bottom as does the cutter in both the Whelton and Cantley machines. In other words, since applicants cutter acts only on the strip after it is severed from the shoe bottom, it need not be constructed with the precision required in a cutter which acts on the shoe bottom directly to administer a finished cut thereto.

These and other features of the invention and the advantages gained thereby will best be understood from a consideration of the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the head of an inseam trimming machine embodying the principles of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the portion of the machine shown .in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a detailed perspective view, partly in section and on an enlarged scale, of the trimming knife and chopping cutter; and

Fig. 4 is a detailed perspective view of the chopping cutter and cooperating chopping mechanism.

The usual arrangement of the feeding and trimming instrumentalities of an inseam trimmer is employed in the illustrative machine which in many respects is similar to that shown in the above-identified Eppler patent to which reference may be had for a more detailed description of the common parts. A rotary cutter in the form of a knife 2 identical with that of the Eppler machine is employed to trim the inseam. Cooperating with the knife to feed and trim the shoe are a driven feed wheel 4 and a welt crease guide 6 plus a rib guide 8 all mounted adjacent the lower edge or cutting point of the knife 2. The welt crease guide 6 is shaped and mounted on the machine to enter the crease between the grain side or upper engaging surface of the welt and the upper leather to press the welt against the feed wheel 4 and also to restrict lateral movement of the shoe inwardly of the machine. The feed wheel 4 has a knurled frustoconical periphery 10 engageable with the flesh side or out-A sole attaching surface of the Welt opposite the welt crease guide, it being noted that a shoe is maintained bottom upwards when being trimmed. The rib guide 8 is engageable with the inner surface of the insole rib and may be either non-rotatable, mounted for idling rotation or power driven as it actually is in many commercialv machines. In the present machine it is rotatably mounted' adjacent the feed wheel 4 and welt crease guide 6 by' means hereinafter to be described.

The machine has a main frame 12 in which is journaled a main drive shaft 14 which receives its power from any convenient means, as for example, a motor driven belt and pulley 16 (Fig. l). The shaft 14 is driven ina' clockwise direction when viewed in the direction of feed,

, 3 as seen in Fig. 2, which represents the right-hand or feeding side of the machine as seen by the operator. AThe welt crease guide 6 comprises an idler wheel mounted for rotation on a stud i8 threaded in the forward end of a 1ever'20 which is pivoted in the machine frame on a stud 22. Y`The welt crease guide is`biased upwardly-toward the `feed Wheel 4 to grip the welt, by a compression spring j(not shown) within the frame. To release the welt crease guide 6 from its gripping position in order to insert a shoe, the operator depresses a rod 2d, which extends vvertically thro-ugh the frame of the machine, by a treadle (not shown).

The rib guide 8 is mounted for rotation at the lower end o-f an L-shaped bracket 26 which is secured by a screw 28 to a mounting plate 30 which in turn is secured by screws 32 to the lower end of a bracket 3d, the upper end of which is mounted for pivotal movement about a shaft'36 (Fig. 2) .xedin the upper portion ofthe machine frame. lAlso secured by Athe screws 3?, to the bracket 34 is a cutter guard 35 which surrounds the front peripheral portion o-f the knife 2 to protect the operator during the trimming operation. As in the prior art machines, the pivotal motion `of the bracket 34. and, hence, of the rib guide 3 is controlled by a lever arm 4% which has its rearward end attached to the treadle rod 24 by lock nuts 42. When the rod 24 is moved downwardly, the lever il is rotated in ya clockwise direction about the shaft 36, hence the rib guide bracket 3d, which is adj'ustably connected to the lever di?, is also rotated in a clockwise direction about the shaft 367m move vthe rib guide 8 out of operative position to permit a shoe to be inserted in the machine. Simultaneously, movement of the treadle rod 24 causes the lever 20 to pivot in acounterclockwise direction about the fulcrum stud 22 whereby the welt crease guide 6 moves downwardly away from the feed wheel 4 in order that the welt of a shoe to be trimmed may be inserted between the welt crease guide and the feed wheel. When the treadle is released, the rib guide 8 moves with pressure against the inner surface of the inseam which pressure continues during the trimming process. All of the abo-ve-described feed mechanism is similar to that disclosed in the prior art and operates in a like manner as illustrated by theidentied patent to Eppler. Furthermore, the knife 2 operates in a manner similar to that of the corresponding Eppler knife for severing surplus material from the inseam of a partially fabricated shoe. As stated above, this surplus material is normally removed in thin strips which are difficult to remove from the rotating cup knife and 'the remaining portions of the machine as well.

Referring to Fig. 3, the trimming knife 2 will be seen in operative relationship to a partially fabricated shoe shown in section and mounted on a last in which the following elements are included: A l-ast Sil, an insole 52, a welt 5d, a preformed insole rib V56, a lining 5S, .upper leather 6i) and with the usual portions of these .elements forming the upstanding inseam designated 62.

In order to facilitate the remo-val of the severed portions of the inseam which is shown in Pig. 3 beginning to curl upwardly in the area designated 64, there is provided a chopping cutter 66 vand a cooperating shear block 68. The chopping cutter in its illustrated form comprises apair of diametrically opposed blades 70 (Fig. 4) extending outwardly from a hub 72. .The cutteris secured by a screw 74 to a shaft 76 which extends substantially parallel with the axisof rotationAof the cutter 2. The shaft 76 is so positioned that its axis of rotationB and likewise that of the cutter is parallel to the laxis Aof the trimming knife 2. The cutter rotates close to the inner periphery of the knife 2 .adjacent .the trimming point, which is the lowermost point on its periphery, Yjust inwardly of the knife to chop the inseam strip intosmall chips just after it hasbeen severed from thershoe. The blades 70 of thecutter cooperate with asurface V80 formed 4 1 on the shear block 68 and producen cut in a substantially vertical plane. While it is desirable that there be metal-to-metal or shearing contact between the blades 7i) and the surface Si? it is not required to produce a cut. The block 63 provides a back-up or resistance member for the strip of inseam and the sharpened blades 70 can cut it into chips without actually touching the surface 80.

The shear block 68 is mounted by a pair of screws 82 at the lower end of a removable housing 84 (Fig. 2) which forms part of the outer portion of the machine frame. The housing 84 is of irregular conguratiornits upper portio-n fitting snugly within an opening 86 in the frame and is secured therein by a removable stud 88. In effect, the outside of the housing 84 constitutes a part of the outer wall of the machine frame. The inner portion of the housing S4- is hollow and constitutes the lower portion of a waste removal conduit having anv opening 87 in close proximity withrthe periphery .of the trimming knife. After the chips are severed'by the chopping cutter 66 they are removed through the opening 357 of waste removal conduit and thence through a continuing :conduit S8 which leads either to an exhaust fan or `a factory dus-t removal system.

YThe means for rotating the chopping cutter will Anow be described. rl'he shaft 76 on which the cutter is mounted rotates in a bearing 96 which is secured to the lower end of the removable housing 84. The shaftfmounts a gear 92 which meshes with a gear 94 secured to a shaft 96 which rotates in a bearing 9% likewise mounted on the housing 84. The shaft 96, and hence the cutter, derive their power-from la pulley 100 which is driven froma belt 1M. This belt passes around a pulley 104 whichY is mounted on the same shaft 166 as a second pulley 103, which, by a belt Mtl, derivesy power` from themainidrive shaft 14. The shaft HB6 is mounted in a bracket 112'secured by screws 114 to the housing 84.

-By the above described construction, it will beseen that since virtually all of the chopping cutter vdriving mechanism is mounted in the housing 84, it is extremely easy to remove the entire assembly. By removing the belt 110, the housing SLlmay be pivoted upwardly about the lstud 88 to gain access to the trimming knife 2. vFurthermore, by the removal of the stud 88 the housing'8`4 and all of the structure mounted thereon maybe completelyremoved from the machine.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim fasl new and desire to secure by Letters Patent vof the United States is:

l. Ina shoe trimming machine, a rotary cuppedtrimming `knife for severing surplus material from a shoe in strips, and means within the knife for chopping the strips into small chips for easy removal from the machine.

2. In a shoe trimming machine, a rotarycuppedtrimming knife for severing surplus material from a Vshoe in strips, and means within the knife forchopping the strips into small chips after the surplus portion has beensevered from the shoe but before it is removed from themachine.

3. ln'a shoe trimming machine having a rotary cupped trimming knife for severing surplus material from azshoe in strips, a shear block within the knife and a: multi-blade chopping cutter cooperating therewith vfor chopping'the strips into small chips for easyremoval from themachine.

4. In a machine having a rotary cupped trimming knife for severing strips of surplus material from a Vpartially fabricated shoe, a chopping cutter rotatable within the trimming knife for chopping said stripsinto small chips, and a waste removal conduit positioned `adjacent-'said knife for removing the chips therefrom.

5. In an inseam trimming machine, arrotarycupped trimming knife'for severing surplus LinseamLmaterialxinto str ips, means for'feeding and guidingza shoe to a`trimnungz point .on the Vperiphery 4of theknife, a. shear block' positioned inwardly of the knife adjacent the cutting point and engageable with the severed strip, and a chopping cutter cooperating with the shear block to chop the strip into small chips for easy removal from the machine.

6. In an inseam trimming machine having a cupped trimming knife for severing surplus inseam material into strips, means for rotating the knife about a rst axis, means for feeding and guiding a shoe to a trimming point on the periphery of the knife, means for chopping the strips into small chips for easy removal from the machine comprising la chopping cutter Within the knife, and means for rotating said cutter about a second axis substantially parallel with .said first axis with the cutter maintained close to the inner periphery of the knife adjacent said trimming point. l

7. In an inseam trimming machine having a cupped trimming knife for severing surplus inseam material into strips, means for rotating the knife about a rst axis, means for feeding and guiding a shoe to a trimming point on the periphery of the knife, means for chopping the strips into small chips for easy removal from the machine comprising a chopping cutter within the knife, a shear block positioned within the knife adjacent said trimming point for cooperating with said cutter, and means for rotating said cutter about a second axis substantially parallel with said rst axis and in operative relation to the shear block.

8. In an inseam 'trimming machine having a cupped trimming knife for severing surplus inseam material .into strips,kmeans for rotating the knife about a rst axis, means for feeding and guiding a shoe to a trimming point on the periphery of the knife, means for chopping the strips -into small chips for easy removal from the machine comprising a chopping cutter within the knife, and means for rotating said cutter about a second axis substantially parallel with said rst axis with the cutter maintained close to the inner periphery of the knife adjacent said trimming point, and a waste removal conduit positioned adjacent the knife for removing the chips therefrom.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,226,872 Eppler May 22, 1917 1,974,487 Eppler Sept. 25, 1934 2,497,155 Davis Feb. 14, 1950

Images