US3224365A - Printing attachment for glove turning machines - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 21, 1965 R; T. CRUMBLISS 3,224,365

PRINTING ATTACHMENT FOR GLOVE TURNING MACHINES Filed Jan. 15, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 HVVENTOR. ROBERT T. CRUMBLISS ATTORNEY Dec. 21, 1965 R. T. cRuMBLlss 3,224,365

PRINTING ATTACHMENT FOR GLOVE TURNING MACHINES Filed Jan. 15, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.2.

INVENTOR. ROBERT T. CRUMBLISS WITNEISS 5%444 BY gu J07 ATTORNEY 1955 R. T. cR ub AB uss 3,224,365

PRINTING ATTACHMENT FOR GLOVE TURNING MACHINES Filed Jan.l3, 1964 4Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig. 4.

INVENTOR.

ROBERT T. CRUMBLISS WI TNESS A T TORNE Y Dec. 21, 1965 R. T. CRUMBLISS PRINTING ATTACHMENT FOR GLOVE TURNING MACHINES Filed Jan. 15, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 1 I l II.

III II INVENTOR. ROBERT T. CRUMBLISS BY fl/o ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,224,365 PRINTING ATTACHMENT FOR GLOVE TURNING MACHINES Robert T. Crumbliss, Chattanooga, Tenn., 'asslgnor to The Singer Company, New York, N .Y., acorporation of New J erse Filed Jan. 13, 1964, Ser. No. 337,487 7 Claims. (Cl. 101-43) The present invention relates to a printing attachment for a glove turning machine and more particularly to such an attachment Which will automatically print only on selected gloves.

In the manufacture of gloves, it is desired to prlnt on the glove various indicia, for example, trademarks and style and size designations. The practice has been to print on only one face of one glove of each pair, such as on the back of the right hand glove, or alternatively, to print on both gloves of each pair. Heretofore, the pr nting has usually been performed as a separate operation after the glove has been completed. The device 111 accordance with this invention is adapted to perform the printing operation automatically as a part of the normal cycle of operation of a glove turning and pressmg machine such as disclosed in the United States patent of Beasley, No. 2,838,216, that is, a machine which inverts and presses a glove that, in the normal manner, has been sewed inside-out. The device in accordance with this invention is also adapted to print automatically either or both the right hand and left hand gloves.

Accordingly, the objects of this invention are to provide a printing attachment, including a control mechanism therefor, which is adapted to be associated with a glove turning machine and to be actuated automatically during the cycling of such machine to print in the desired fashion, all without adverse effect upon or interference with the cycling of the machine, and at the same time, to provide such as attachment which is simple and economical and yet is efficient, reliable and trouble-free in operation.

Having in mind the above and other objects that will be evident from an understanding of this disclosure, the invention comprises the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts as illustrated in the presently preferred embodimentof the invention which is hereinafter set forth in such detail as to enable those skilled in the art readily to understand the function, operation, construction and advantages of it when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a glove turning machine provided with a printing attachment in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the machine of FIG. 1 with the top cover plate removed.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary end elevational view of the machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the control switches for the printer.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of the controls the printing attachment.

The invention is herein illustrated and described as embodied in a glove turning machine similar to that forming the subject matter of the above noted Beasley patent to which reference is made for a more complete description of the structure and operation of the machine, the machine being herein disclosed only insofar as is necessary for an understanding of this invention.

The illustrated glove turning machine comprises a selfsupporting housing 1. Journaled in the front and rear walls of the housing 1 at the one end thereof is a shaft 2 to which intermittent quarter-tum rotation is imparted by a Geneva wheel 3 secured therein and cooperating with a continuously rotated drive pin 4 on the output shaft of a gear reduction unit 5 supported on a bracket 6 within the housing 1. Rotation is imparted to the unit 5 by a motor 7 mounted on the rear wall of the housing 1 and having a pulley 8 on the drive shaft thereof that is connected by a belt 9 with a pulley 10 on the input shaft of the unit 5.

At the front of the machine, there is mounted on and rotatable with the shaft 2 a glove form, generally indicated at 11. The glove form comprises a hub 12 from which extend four hand elements 13 each consisting of four finger tubes 14 and a pair of thumb tubes 15 disposed upon opposite sides of the finger tubes and which adapt the hand element for receiving both right and left hand gloves. The hand elements are disposed at ninetydegree intervals. In the normal rest positions of the form 11 during the idle motions of the Geneva drive, one of the hand elements 13 is disposed vertically in a loading position where an operator can conveniently insert therein a glove that is inside-out. The form 11 is then advanced counterclockwise so that the different hand elements 13 are brought successively to the loading position and the individual hand elements are advanced successively to the idle position (to the left in FIG. 1), to the tucking position (to the bottom in FIG. 1), to the glove transfer position (to the right in FIG. 1), and back to the loading position.

In the tucking position, the tips of the fingers and thumb of the glove are pushed into the ends of the respective tubes 14 and 15 by a tucking device 16 which comprises four finger rods 17 and a pair of thumb rods 18 that are mounted on a slide 19 that is adapted to be reciprocated vertically by means (not shown) connecting the same to the output shaft of the gear reduction unit 5.

At .theiglove transfer position, a glove on the hand element 13 is removed therefrom by a glove transfer it will be right-side-out. As the clamps 20 are advanced, they carry the glove into one of the hand elements 21 of a glove heating form 22 which, like the gloce turning form 13, includes four such hand elements disposed at ninety degree intervals. The glove heating form 22 is mounted on a shaft 23 journaled transversely of the machine and is rotated clockwise in quarter-turn increments by a Geneva wheel 24 that cooperates with a continuously rotated drive pin 25 on the output shaft of a gear reduction unit 26. The unit 26 is in turn driven by the pulley 10 through a drive shaft 27.

To provide for reciprocation of the clamps 20, they are mounted on a slide 28 having a rack 29 on the lower edge thereof, which rack meshes with a gear 30 on a shaft 31 journaled transversely of the housing 1. Oscillation is imparted to the shaft 31 by a rack 32 which cooperates with a gear 33 on the shaft 31 and which is connected to a crank arm 34 on the output shaft of the reduction unit 26. As the slide 28 is reciprocated, the clamps 20 are opened and closed by a cam follower 35 connected to each of the clamps to operate them simultaneously and cooperating with the cam surfaces 36 and 37 of a cam plate 38.

3 tion (to the bottom in FIG. 1) and back to the glove transfer position. In the glove stripping position, the gloves are removed from the hand elements 21 by the stripping mechanism 39.

The glove is adapted to be printed while at rest during the idle period of the Geneva wheel 24 in the first idle position, that is, when it is at the top in FIG. 1. For printing the glove, there is a printer 40 which may be of any suitable conventional commercially-available type and which, in the illustrated form includes a printing head 41 having type 42 on the face thereof. The head 41 is advanced by a pneumatic cylinder 43 and is automatically retracted. The printer 40 is mounted upon the top of the housing 1 behind the hand element 21 in the printing position so that when the head 41 is advanced the type 42 is impressed against the glove on the hand element 21, the type being disposed for example within the area defined by the dotted line 44 in FIG. 1. Air under pressure is supplied through a line 45 to the cylinder 43 to advance the same, the air supply being controlled for example, by a solenoid actuated valve 46 (FIG. The type 42 is inked by inking rollers 46 carried by an arm 47 mounted upon a shaft 48 which is actuated to move the inking rollers across the type 42 as well as into contact with an ink supply roller 49 and across an ink dispersing surface 50.

The controls for actuating the printing 40 to impart a printing stroke thereto include an arm 51 carried by a bracket 52 secured to the housing 1 and adapted to wipe against the inner or right hand thumb tube 15 of the hand elements 13 at the end of the first ninety degrees of rotation of the glove turning form 11 from the loading position, that is, at what has heretofore been its idle position and which is, with the illustrated machine, the glove sensing position. There is also provided an arm 53 carried by the bracket 52, which arm is adapted to wipe against one of the finger tubes 14 of the hand element 13 on the glove sensing position. For a purpose that is hereinafter explained, the arm 53 is disposed to engage the finger tube 14 before the arm 51 engages the thumb tube 15.

In addition to the contacts 51 and 53, the control mechanism for the printer 40 includes a plurality of switches supported on a vertical mounting plate 54 within the housing 1 at the rear corner thereof. The switches include four actuating switches and four selector switches which are herein referred to generally by the reference numerals 55 and 56 respectively and individually (FIGS. 4 and 5) by the reference numerals 55a, 55b, 55c, and 55d, and 56a, 56b, 56c, and 56a. The switches 55 and 56 are arranged with one of the selector switches 56 and one of the actuating switches 55 disposed at each ninety degree position and are adapted to be actuated substantially simultaneously by a cam 57 mounted on a shaft 58 that is journaled in the plate 54 and in the rear wall of the housing 1 and is driven in timed relation to the actuation of the machine by a chain 59 entrained about a sprocket 60 on the shaft 58 and a sprocket 61 on the shaft 2. There is also provided a further switch 62 mounted on the rear wall of the housing 1 and adapted to be actuated by the rack 32 at the end of the advance stroke of the glove transfer clamps 20. A final switch 63 (FIG. 5) is associated with the printer 40 and is adapted to be actuated at the end of the printing stroke.

With reference to FIG. 5, there are in the control circuit four relays herein referred to generally by the numeral 64 and individually (FIG. 5) by the numerals 64a, 64b, 64c, and 64d. Each of the relays 64 include contacts 65 which are opened by off-coils 66 and are closed by on-coils 67. The relays 64 are all latching type relays so that when the on-coil 67 is energized, the contacts 65 will remain closed until the off-coil 66 is energized. Power for the control circuit is supplied from a normal line voltage power source 68 through a transformer 69, one side of which is grounded and the other side of which is connected by a common lead 70 with one side of both the off-coil 66 and on-coil 67 of each of the relays 64. The opposite side of each of the off-coils 66 is connected by individual leads 71 to one side of contacts 72 of the respective normally open actuating switches 55, which are all double pole switches. The opposite sides of the contacts 72 are connected by a common lead 73 with one side of the normally open switch 63 associated with the printer 40, the other side of the switch 63 being grounded. Thus, when the switch 63 is closed at the end of the printing or advance stroke of the printer 40, and with the contacts 72 of any one of the switches 55 closed, the oif-coil 66 of the relay 64 associated therewith is energized to open the contacts 65 which then remain open until the on-coil 67 is energized.

The sides of the on-coils 67 of the relays 64 opposite from the power lead 7 0 are connected by individual leads 74 to one of the sides of the switches 56, the opposite sides of which are connected by a common lead 75 with one Side of a normally closed contact 76 of a relay 77. The opposite side of the contact 76 is connected by a lead 78 to the arm 51 which is adapted to engage the thumb tube 15 of a hand element 13, which is grounded through the housing 1. The coil 79 of the relay 77 is connected at one side to the power lead 70 and to the other side by a lead 80 to the arm 53 which engages the finger tubes 14 of the hand element 13. Thus, when any one of the switches 56 is closed, and with the contacts 76 of the relay 77 closed, the on-coil 67 of the respective relay 64 is energized to close the contacts 65 thereof, which contacts then remain closed until the off-coil 66 of that relay is energized. If the arm 53 engages a finger tube 14 and is thus grounded, the coil 79 of the relay 77 is energized to open the contacts 76 so that the oncoil 67 cannot be energized and the contacts 65 will remain open.

The contacts 65 of the relays 64 are each connected at one side by a common lead 81 to the line voltage power source 68, and at the other side are connected by individual leads 82 to one side of the second set of contacts 83 of the switches 55. The other side of the contacts 83 are connected by a common lead 84 with one side of switch 62 associated with the rack 32 for actuating the glove transfer clamps 20, the opposite side of the switch 62 being connected by a lead 85 to the one side of the printer actuating solenoid 46 which is connected at the other side by a lead 86 to the line voltage power source 68. Thus, when the contacts 65 of any one of the relays 64 are closed, and the contacts 83 of the switch 55 associated with that relay are also closed, and the switch 62 is closed, the solenoid 46 is energized to impart a printing stroke to the printer 40.

The operation of the device is as follows. The gloves, which are inside-out, are placed by the operator on the hand element 13 that is in the loading position, which is at the top in FIG. 1. On the first quarter-turn of the shaft 2, the loaded hand element 13 is moved counterclockwise to the sensing position, to the left in FIG. 1. At the same time, another hand element 13 is moved to the loading position. Upon subsequent cycles of the machine, the hand elements 13 are moved successively to the sensing position, the tucking position, the transfer position, and back to the loading position. At the transfer position, the glove is removed from the hand element 13 and transferred to the hand element 21, being inverted in the process. The hand element 21 is then moved clockwise upon subsequent cycles of the machine to the printing position, the idle position, the glove stripping position, and back to the transfer position. Thus, a glove placed on a hand element 13 at the loading position, appears four cycles later on a hand element 21 at the print- 1ng position.

Each of the relays 64 correspond to one of the hand elements 13 and all of them operate in the same manner. Therefore, for convenience, the operation of only one of the relays 64 is hereinafter described.

Assuming that the machine is to print right hand gloves only, the arm 51 is arranged as shown to engage the thumb tube 15 which is used with left hand gloves. In the final movement of the hand element 13 as it moves into the sensing position, the arm 51 engages the tube 15 so that one side of the switch 56 is connected to ground through the contacts 76 of relay 77, the arm 51 and the thumb tube 15. The cam 57, which rotates in timed relation to the rotation of the shaft-2, closes the switch 56 thereby energizing the on-coil 67 of the relay 64. The contacts 65 of the relay 64 are thus closed and power from the line voltage power source 68 is applied to one side of the contacts 83 of the switch 55. The switch 55 remains open so the printer 40 is not actuated at this time. Three cycles later, this glove is then at the printing position on the hand form 21. At this time, when the cam 57 closes the switch 56 for setting the relay 64 for the glove in the sensing position, it also closes the switch 55 associated with the glove in the printing position. The circuit from the line voltage power source 68 is then completed through the contacts 65 of the relay 64 and the contacts 83 of the switch 55. Subsequently, upon completion of the advance stroke of the rack 32, which is substantially at the mid point of the dwell interval, the switch 62 is closed to energize the solenoid 46 and impart a printing stroke to the printer 40.

The relay 64 is cleared at the end of the printing stroke by the switch 63 which is closed to energize the oif-coil 66 of the relay 64 through the contacts 72 of the switch 55, thereby opening the contacts 65. The printer 40 then automatically returns to its rest position.

If a left-hand glove had been in the hand element 13 at the sensing position, the arm 51 would have been electrically insulated from the thumb tube 15, and the on-coil 67 of the relay 64 would not have been energized. Thus, the contacts 65 of the relay 64 would have remained open and the printer 40 would not have been actuated when the switch 55 was subsequently closed by the cam 57.

The printer 40 also is not actuated when there is no glove present on the hand element 21 at the printing position. For this purpose, the arm 53 is adapted to engage the finger tubes 14 before the arm 51 engages the thumb tube 15. If there is a glove present, the arm 53 is electrically insulated from the tube 14 and the circuit will operate as above described. However, if there is no glove present, the arm 53 contacts the tube 14, thereby energizing the coil 79 of relay 77 to open the contacts 76, thereby opening the circuit of the on-coil 67 of relay 64 so that when the arm 51 engages the thumb tube 15 and the switch 56 is subsequently closed by the cam 57, the on-coil 67 is not energized and the contacts 65 remain open.

It will be obvious that the machine can be readily adapted for printing left hand gloves as well as right hand gloves by moving the printer 40 to the other side of the hand elements 21 and by moving the arm 51 to sense the right hand thumb tube 15. The machine can also readily be provided with a second printer 40 together with duplicate control circuits similar to the above for printing both right hand and left hand gloves.

Numerous alterations of the structure herein disclosed will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. However, it is to be understood that the present disclosure relates to a preferred embodiment of my invention which is for purposes of illustration only and not to be construed as a limitation of the invention. All such modifications which do not depart from the spirit of the invention are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus set forth the nature is claimed herein is:

1. In a glove turning machine, a first hand element and means for moving the same from a loading position wherein it is adapted to receive a glove to a transfer of the invention, what position, a second hand element and means for moving the same from a transfer position opposed to the transfer position of said first hand element to a printing position and to a glove unloading position, a transfer mechanism for removing a glove from said first hand element in the transfer position and transferring it onto said second hand element and for inverting the same as it is transferred, a printer for printing on a glove on the second hand element in the printing position, and actuating means for said printer to impart a printing stroke thereto and means for controlling said actuating means comprising a relay, sensing means for electrically engaging said first hand element to determine whether a glove of a selected hand is on the same and for closing said relay in response thereto, and means in series with said relay and said actuating means for actuating said printer when the glove on said first hand element at the time of engagement by said sensing means is subsequently in printing position on the second hand element.

2. In a glove turning machine in accordance with claim 1 in which said last mentioned means comprises switch means adapted to be engaged by an element movable in timed relation with said first and second hand elements.

3. In a glove turning machine in accordance with claim 1 in which said relay includes coil means adapted to be energized to open and to close the contacts thereof, said means for closing said relay is actuated in timed relation to the actuation of said first hand element and is disposed electrically in series with said sensing means and said means for actuating said printer is actuated in timed relation to the actuation of said second hand element, and in which there is provided means for opening the contacts of said relay after actuation of said printer.

4. In a glove turning machine in accordance with claim 1 in which said sensing means is adapted to determine whether no glove is present on said first hand element.

5. In a glove turning machine, a first hand element and means for moving the same from a loading position wherein it is adapted to receive a glove to a transfer position, a second hand element and means for moving the same from a transfer position opposed to the transfer posi tion of said first hand element to a printing position and to a glove unloading position, a transfer mechanism for removing a glove from said first hand element in the transfer position and transferring it onto said second hand element and for inverting the same as it is transferred, a printer for printing on a glove on the second hand element in the printing position, and means for actuating said printer to impart a printing stroke thereto when a glove of a selected hand is on said second hand element at the printing position comprising a relay including contacts and coil means for opening and closing the contacts, sensing means for electrically engaging said first hand element and for energizing said coil means to close the contacts of said relay in response to the presence of a glove of a selected hand in a sensing position on said first hand 'element, and means in series with the contacts of said relay for actuating said printer when the glove on said first hand element at the time of engagement by said sensing means is subsequently in printing position on the second hand element.

6. In a glove turning machine, a plurality of first hand elements and means for moving the same in succession from a loading position wherein they are adapted to receive gloves to a transfer position, a plurality of second hand elements and means for moving the same in succession from a transfer position opposed to the transfer position of said first hand element to a printing position and to a glove unloading position, a transfer mechanism for removing a glove from a first hand element in the transfer position and transferring it onto a second hand element and for inverting the same as it is transferred, a printer for printing on a glove on a second hand element in the printing position, and actuating means for said printer to impart a printing stroke thereto and means for controlling said actuating means comprising a plurality of relays corresponding to the number of the first hand elements, sensing means for electrically engaging each of the first hand elements in succession to determine whether a glove of a selected hand is on the same and for closing a respective one of said relays in response thereto, and means in series with said relays for actuating said printer when the glove on a first hand element at the time of engagement by said sensing means is subsequently in printing position on a second hand element.

7. A control mechanism for actuating a printer in timed relation to the operation of a glove turning machine for printing gloves on the hand elements of the machine, comprising, a switch actuating element adapted to be mounted on the machine and to move in timed relation with the movement of the hand elements, a plurality of switches corresponding in number to the number of hand elements and adapted to be engaged individually by said switch actuating element when the respective hand element moves into a selected position, a plurality of relay means corresponding in number to the number of switches, means electrically connecting each of said relay means in series with one of said switches, sensing means adapted to engage the hand elements electrically and electrically connected to each of said relay means through individual ones of said switches, whereby each of said relay means will be closed when the respective one of said switches is closed by the switch actuating element, and second plurality of switches electrically connected individually in series with the contacts of said relay means and adapted to be closed by said switch actuating element when the respective hand element moves into a selected position subsequent to the position wherein the first switch associated with the respective relay was closed.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,517,207 11/1924 Gallagher 10144 1,830,638 11/1931 Butz 101-43 2,511,456 6/ 1950 Boldizzoni 22357 X 2,838,216 6/ 1958 Beasley 223--57 3,010,623 11/1961 Parrish et a1. 22357 X WILLIAM B. PENN, Primary Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. IN A GLOVE TURNING MACHINE, A FIRST HAND ELEMENT AND MEANS FOR MOVING THE SAME FROM A LOADING POSITION WHEREIN IT IS ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A GLOVE TO A TRANSFER POSITION, A SECOND HAND ELEMENT AND MEANS FOR MOVING THE SAME FROM A TRANSFER POSITION OPPOSED TO THE TRANSFER POSITION OF SAID FIRST HAND ELEMENT TO A PRINTING POSITION AND TO A GLOVE UNLOADING POSITION, A TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR REMOVING A GLOVE FROM SAID FIRST HAND ELEMENT IN THE TRANSFER POSITION AND TRANSFERRING IT ONTO SAID SECOND HAND ELEMENT AND FOR INVERTING THE SAME AS IT IS TRANSFERRED, A PRINTER FOR PRINTING ON A GLOVE ON THE SECOND HAND ELEMENT IN THE PRINTING POSITION, AND ACTUATING MEANS FOR SAID

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