US3052388A - Pressing machine - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 4, 1962 M. MUTOLESE FRESSING MACHINE Filed April 5, 1960 MICHAEL MUTOLEE mm H W ATTORNEY United E tates 3,652,388 PRESSING MACHINE Michael Mutolese, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to John G. Weingarten, line, Haverford, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania lFiled Apr. 5, 1964), Ser. No. 26,510 6 Claims. (Cl. 223-57) The present invention relates to a pressing machine, and more particularly to a pressing machine for pressing the collar and adjacent shoulder portions of a coat.

In the manufacture of coats, the final operation is the pressing of the coat. It has been found that the collar of a coat is very difficult to press properly. Therefore, unless the presser is an expert who knows how to shape a collar, and takes the time necessary to properly shape the collar, the collar will be stretched. The stretching of the collar of a coat causes the collar to stand away from the neck when the coat is worn.

It is object of the present invention to provide a pressing machine for pressing the collar of a coat.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a pressing machine for pressing the collar of a coat Without stretching the collar.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a pressing machine for pressing the collar of a coat which will enable a relatively unskilled operator to achieve a high level of quality pressing.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a collar pressing machine which will produce coats of consistent pressed uniformity.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of the pressing machine of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a partial front elevational View taken along the lines 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view of the buck taken along the lines 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view showing details of the floating mount between the pressure head and its support.

FIGURE 5 is a bottom view of the presser head taken along the lines 5-5 of FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawing, wherein like numerals indicate like elements, there is shown in FIGURE 1 an elevational view of the pressing machine of the present invention.

The pressing machine, generally designated by the numeral It), comprises a base 12 having an upright pressing head support 14 at its back end, and an upright buck supporting column 16 in front of the pressing head support 14. A buck 18, made from a porous material and padded as is well known in the art, is mounted on the buck supporting column 16. A pressing head 20 is secured to one end of a pair of parallel arms 22 by a floating mount which will be discussed in detail hereinafter. The parallel arms 22 are provided with a reinforcing bracket 23 and are pivoted to the pressing head support 14 by pivot pin 24. Pivotation of the arms 22 moves the pressing head 20 into and out of engagement with the buck 18.

The buck 18 is preferably formed of a casting having the configuration of the upper body portion of a person. As is well known in the art, the buck 18 will be made porous and will be provided with padding on its outer surface and a lining of linen material will be stretched over the buck so as to provide a smooth outer surface. Since the buck 18 has the configuration of the upper portion of a Patented Sept. 4, I962 person, the elements thereof have the same corresponding relation to a person. Thus, the buck 18 has a downwardly extending front chest portion 30, a pair of substantially horizontally extending shoulder portions 32 and a neck portion 34 projecting upwardly between the shoulder portions 32. The upper surfaces of the shoulder portions 32 are rounded, and are contoured into the neck portion 34. Thus, when a coat is placed over the buck 18, the collar and adjacent shoulder portions of the coat will be supported by the buck 18 in the same position that the coat is supported when worn by a person.

As shown in FIGURE 3, the buck 18 is seated on top of the buck supporting column 16 with the shoulder portions 32 and the neck portion 34 being above the top end of the column 16, and with the chest portion 30 of the buck 13 extending along the front side of the column 16. A plate 36, having a plurality of holes 4% therethrough, is secured to the end of column 16 which is located inside of the buck 18. Thus, the plate 36 cooperates with the buck I8 to provide a vacuum chamber 38 within the shoulder portions 32 and the chest portion 30 of the buck 18. An imperforate plate 42 is secured across the interior of the column 16 beneath the perforated plate 36. A pipe 44 extends through the plate 42 and is in communication with the vacuum chamber 38 through the holes 4% in plate 36. The pipe 44 extends downwardly through the buck supporting column 16, and is connected to a means for creating a vacuum, such as a vacuum pump. A second pipe 4% extends through the buck supporting column 16, pipe 48 having one end located just :below the imperforate plate 2 and its other end being connected to a pipe 50, which in turn is connected to a source of steam. Pipe 48 delivers steam to a point just below imperforate plate 4-2. so as to provide a means for heating the buck 18. Pipe 5t) delivers steam to the presser head 2d by way of flexible hose 51 which is connected to pipe 46 on the presser head Zll.

The floating mount between the presser head 24 and the parallel arms 22 will now be described. As shown in FIGURES 1, 2, and 4, the parallel arms 22 are provided with a pair of bearing blocks 54. Each of the bearing blocks 54 is welded to a separate one of said parallel arms 22 by welding 55. It will be noted that the bearing blocks 54- extend outwardly in a radial direction away from the parallel arms 22, and are perpendicular to said parallel arms 22. Each bearing block 54 is provided with a pair of spaced holes 56 therethrough. The upper surface of the presser head 20 is provided with two sets of pins. Pins 52 are provided on one side of the upper surface of presser head 2t and pins 53 are provided on the other side of the upper surface of presser head 20. Pins 52 extend through holes 56 in the bearing blocks 54 and are provided with threaded ends. Mounted on the threaded ends of pins 52, there are provided adjusting nuts. Between the adjusting nuts on each pin 52 and the upper surface of the bearing blocks 54 there are provided springs 57 which surround each of the pins 52 and bias the adjusting nuts in a direction away from hearing block 54. The cooperation between pins 53 and bearing blocks 54 is identical with the above description of the cooperation between pins 52 and the bearing block 54. Each of the bearing blocks 54 is provided on their lowermost surface with a transverse socket 599. The upper surface of presser head 20 is provided with a pair of semispherical projections 58 which cooperate with the sockets 59 to enable the pressure head 20 to have a self-accommodating relationship with the buck 18. Since the springs 57 are the only means holding the presser head 20 in assembled disposition with the parallel arms 22, the presser head 20 has a floating mount. To allow the presser head to have a self-accommodating relationship with the buck 18, the holes 56 in the bearing blocks 54 are substantially greater than the diameter of the pins 52 and 53. Thus, it will be seen that the presser head Ztl has a certain amount of rocking movement with relation to the parallel arms 22. Connected to the bearing blocks 54, there are provided a pair of parallel legs 68 which are connected to the bearing blocks in any convenient manner such as by nuts and bolts or welding. At their lower extremity, the legs 68 are connected together by a handle 79.

The pressing head 20 is preferably formed as a hollow metal casting having a steam chamber therein. Steam is admitted to the steam chamber in the pressing head 29 by valve 65 which is operated by a manual lever 64. The inner surface of the pressing head 20 is provided with a blind cavity '74- which is shaped or contoured so as to conform with the outer surface of the buck 18. The contour of the cavity 74 is shown in phantom in FIG- URES l and 2. When the pressing head 20 is disposed over and adjacent to the buck 18, the pressing head 20 will envelop the shoulder portion 34 and the truncated neck 35 of the buck 18. Thus, only the collar of a coat will be pressed. The cavity 74 of the presser head 20 is provided with a series of holes 7 6 which extend in a horseshoe fashion around the cavity 74 so as to admit steam from the steam chamber in presser head Ztl to the collar portion of a coat on the buck 18.

The steam line St) is provided with adjustable time control 78 which automatically cuts oif the flow of steam into the steam pipe t? after a predetermined time. The timer 78 is initiated by lever 64' which operates valve 65 in a manner which, per se, is well known in the art and not shown in the drawing.

Extending from the base 12 there is provided a pair of levers 26 and 23. When the presser head 20 is pulled down juxtaposition to buck 18 by handle 70, the lever 26 is depressed by the operators foot so as to lock the presser head in its lowermost position. As shown in FIGURE 2, there is provided a manual lever 66 which trips the locking mechanism and allows the presser head N to be returned to its uppermost position. As is well known in the art per se, a spring is provided in the support 1-4 for returning the presser head 2% to its uppermost position when the locking mechanism has been tripped by lever 66. Lever 28 controls the vacuum source, such as a vacuum pump. When desired, depression of lever 28 operates a mechanism not shown for placing vacuum chamber 33 in communication with a source of vacuum. A vacuum in chamber 38 causes the garment placed on buck 18 to withdraw any liquid on the garment, and thereby dries the garment.

The operation of the coat collar pressing machine of the present invention is as follows:

A coat is draped over the buck 18 with the shoulders of the coat extending along the shoulder port-ions 32 of the buck l8 and with the collar of the coat fitting around the neck portion 34 of the buck '18. The operator then manually pulls the presser head 26 in juxtaposition to the buck 18 by handle 7%. The lever 26 is then depressed to lock the presser head Ztl in juxtaposition to the buck 18 with the garment therebetween. The provision of a floating mount between the presser head and the parallel arms 22. allows the presser head 24) to be selfaccommodating to the garment positioned on buck 18. This self-accommodating feature allows a range or versatility in the type of coats to be pressed on buck 18. The operator pulls down on lever 64 thereby opening valve 65 and initiating timer '78. When the timer 78 shuts off, there will be an absence of steam coming out of holes 75 of the presser head 20. The operator then depresses lever 28 with his foot so as to provide a vacuum in vacuum chamber 38 which will dry the garment and remove any steam or moisture from the surface thereof. After the garment has been dried, lever 66 will be actuated so as to return presser head 20 to its uppermost position. Then. the garment can be removed from the buck 18.

Thus, in the pressing machine it of the present invention, the buck 18 supports the collar of the coat so that the collar is properly shaped during the pressing operation. Therefore the pressing machine it) of the present invention can be operated by an inexperienced operator, and will provide a perfectly pressed coat collar every time. As a result of applicants novel presser head and its floating mount, the collar will not be stretched. In addition, the pressing machine 10 of the present invention supports every coat the same way so that there is provided a uniform shaping and pressing of the coat collars.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A pressing machine comprising a base, an upright support along one side of said base, an upright column on said base along another side thereof, a buck mounted on said column, a presser head having a blind cavity, the upper edges of said head lying in substantially the same plane, a front portion of said head being substantially longer than a rear portion thereof, and the distance between opposite sides of said head being substantially less than the distance across shoulders on said buck, said head being adapted to press only a collar of a garment on said buck, said presser head being connected to each one of a pair of arms with a floating mount, said arms being pivotably connected to said upright support, and means for selectively moving said presser head in juxtaposition to said buck so that said presser head envelops a portion of said buck in said blind cavity, and said floating mount connection of said presser head enabling said presser head to be self-accommodating with respect to said buck.

2. A pressing machine in accordance with claim 1 wherein said floating mount includes a pair of spaced semi-circular surfaces on said presser head, and a cooperating socket on a journal block secured to said arms, said semi-spherical surfaces being received within said cooperating sockets, whereby said presser head has a substantial amount of pivotable movement toward and away from said upright support.

3. A pressing machine in accordance with claim 1 wherein said floating mount includes a journal block fixedly secured to each arm, a pair of holes in each block, a pin on said presser head extending through each hole in said blocks, the diameter of said holes being larger than the external diameter of each pin, resilient means biasing the presser head against said journal blocks, and semicircular surfaces on said presser head received within semi-circular sockets on said journal blocks.

4. A collar pressing machine comprising a buck and a pressing head, said buck having substantially horizontal shoulders converging into a truncated neck, said head being annular in plan view and having a blind contoured cavity which is identical to the shape of and adapted to mate with only said neck to shape only the collar of a garment, said head having a front portion which is substantially longer than a rear portion thereof, said front portion being adapted to cooperate with an upper chest portion of said buck in front of said neck, said rear portion being adapted to cooperate with the rear portion of said neck, the distance between opposite sides of said head being substantially less than the distance across said shoulders, the upper edge of said front and rear portions being in substantially the same plane, and means for selectively moving said presser head in juxtaposition to said neck so that said neck is enveloped by said blind cavity.

5. A machine in accordance with claim 4 including an upright support spaced from said buck, said head being pivotably supported by said upright support, and means enabling said head to move toward and away from said support so as to be self-accommodating with respect to said buck.

6. A machine in accordance with claim 4 wherein said pressing head is provided with a steam chamber therein, openings through the inner surface of said head providing communication between said chamber and said blind cavity, said openings being arranged in a horseshoe pattern with the arcuate portion of said pattern being adjacent the rear portion of said head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Coleman Oct. 27, 1936 De Marco May 24, 1938 Liebowitz Dec. 26, 1950 Mutolese July 23, 1957 Stiefel May 30, 1961

Images