US3244129A - Attaching apparatus for slide fastener elements - Google Patents

Description

April 1966 A. STEINGRUEBNER 3,244,129

ATTACHING APPARATUS FOR SLIDE FASTENER ELEMENTS Original Filed July 11, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTQR.

BY ARTHUR sm/veez'iaw/z mwww A ril 5, 1966 A. STEINGRUEBNER ATTACHING APPARATUS FOR SLIDE FASTENER ELEMENTS Original Filed July 11. 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.2.

April 5, 1966 A. STEINGRUEBNER 3,244,129

ATTACHING APPARATUS FOR SLIDE FASTENER ELEMENTS Original Filed July 11, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 I INVENTOR. ARTHUR SIZWGRflB VER BY 142W and BMW April 5, 1966 v A. STEINGRUEBNER, 3,244,129

ATTACHING APPARATUS FOR SLIDE FASTENER ELEMENTS Original Filed July 11. 1960 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

ARTHUR STEINGRUB'NER BY WW 5am sewing machine.

United States Patent 3,244,129 ATTACHING APPARATUS FUR SLIDE FASTENER ELEMENTS Arthur Steingriiebncr, Bonn, Germany, assignor to Wahl Brothers, New York, N.Y., a partnership Original application July 11, 1960, Ser. No. 42,035, now Patent No. 3,158,118, dated Nov. 24, 1964. Divided and this application Oct. 2, 1963, Ser. No. 318,470 Claims priority, application Germany, July 14, 1959, r; 54,003 13 Claims. (Cl. 1122) This is a division of application Serial No. 42,035, filed July 11, 1960, now Patent No. 3,158,118.

This invention relates to the manufacture of slide fasteners, and more particularlyto a device for producing a slide fastener chain having a continuous elongated carrier, such as a tape, and a plurality of longitudinally spaced rows of interlocking elements secured to the carrier.

The preferred type of slide fastener for many applications consists of two lengths of elongated carriers, such as tapes of textile material, arranged side by side and connected by two rows of interlocked elements respectively secured to the carriers. The element rows are shorter than the lengths of tape to which they are secured so as to provide free tape ends which facilitate sewing of the slide fastener into a garment and the like.

Fastener chain having on each tape successive interlocking elements which are integral portions of a single piece of material, such as a suitably shaped metal wire or plastic filament has found wide acceptance recently.

1 It is common practice to shape the wire or filament into a row of interlocking elements and then to attach the row of elements to a tape by sewing on a suitably adapted In the usual modified sewing machine employed, continuous strands of interlocking elements are sewn to continuous lengths of carriers to produce a continuous chain from which individual fastener lengths are then cut.

If free tape ends are desired, it is necessary to remove the two terminal portions of the row of slide fastener elements from the cut chain length. This additional removal operation is costly in itself and necessitates the loss of substantial amounts of fastener element material. In a slide fastener having a 7" row of fastener elements in the finished condition and 1" free ends at either end, the loss of fastener element material amounts to 22% of the total material employed. The cut-away fastener elements are practically useless and without value as scrap material.

A primary object of this invention is to improve the manufacture of slide fastener chain having free tape ends at each fastener end.

Another object is the provision of a device for attaching interlocking slide fastener elements to tape which avoids the removal operation of fastener elements for the purpose of making fastener lengths with free tape ends.

An additional object is to avoid the material losses inherent in the removal operation referred to above.

With these and other objects in view, the invention provides a device which includes asewing station and separate feeding means for continuously feeding a continuous carrier toward the sewing station, and for feeding strands of slide fastener elements to the sewing station along a predetermined path. The fastener element feeding means of the invention includes a feed dog arranged at a distance from the sewing station, and a cutter between the feed dog and the sewing station. The feed dog can be moved into the path of the fastener elements for engagement therewith, and hence along the path to, advance the elements toward the sewing station, and can then be withdrawn. The cutter also is moved into and out of the 3,244,129 Patented Apr. 5, 1966 path of the elements to cut a continuous strand of fastener elements into discrete lengths.

Other features and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the figures thereof, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a double-needle chain stitch sewing machine modified for the purpose of the invention, with parts of the sewing machine broken away to show operating elements of the device of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in front-elevational sectional view on line IIII;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, partially sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 1, the section being taken on line IIIIII of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of details of the apparatus of FIG. 1 with portions of the apparatus removed to reveal the operating elements of the invention; and

FIG. 5 shows the apparatus of FIG. 4 in a different operating position.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, and initially to FIG. 1, there is shown a double-needle chain stitch sewing machine of generally conventional type and illustrated only to the extent necessary for explaining the present invention. Although many internal working parts of the sewing machine have not been shown explicitly, it will be understood that the sewing machine includes a source of power for actuating sewing movement, and a power transmission train for transmitting motion to the several working parts in a synchronized manner.

The sewing machine has a head 1 which includes a horizontally extending arm 2 on the free end of which a neede bar 3 is mounted for reciprocating vertical movement. The bottom end of the needle bar 3 is equipped with a needle holder 4 to which two needles 5 and 6 are fastened in side by side arrangement for producing two parallel seams.

As is customary in chain stitch sewing machines, two threads are fed to each needle in the direction of the arrow 7. The needles 5, 6 receive respective first threads 8, 9 from tension discs 10, 11 to which they are led by thread guides 12, 13 and eyes 14, 15 from respective supply spools 16, 17. Second threads 18, 19 are passed to the needles 5, 6 from a thread take-up 20 and a common tension disc 21. The second threads are drawn from respective thread spools 28, 29 through thread guides 24, 25, 26, 27 and over idler guide pulleys 22, 23. The eyes 14, 15 and the spools 16, 17, 28 and 29 are mounted on spool pins 30, 31 in the usual manner.

The arm 2 of the sewing machine head 1 is equipped with two integral brackets 32, 33 on which storage drums 34 and 35 for slide fastener tapes 37 and 36 are rotatable. The tapes 36, 37 are led downwardly from the spools 34, 35 and through a slot between a throat plate 38 and a bed plate 39 of the sewing machine. They leave the sewing area with fastener elements 43 attached thereto to form a finished chain which is then delivered from the sewing machine by a pair of pinch rolls of which only the upper roll 91 is visible in FIG. 1.

The fastener elements 43 are drawn toward the sewing area from a storage drum 40 which is rotatable about a horizontal axis between two brackets 41 and 42 mounted on the base housing of the head 1. The fastener elements 43 form two interlocked continuous strands.

The base housing holds the stitch forming elements which cooperate with the needles 5, 6 to form chain stitches which attach the slide fastener elements 43 to the tapes 36, 37. Since these stitch forming elements are well known in themselves, they have been omitted from the drawing, and a more detailed explanation thereof is not necessary for an understanding of this invention.

A portion of the sewing machine base has been broken away to show elements of the motion transmitting train which actuates movement of the upper pinch roll 91 and of other parts of the mechanism. A sprocket 79 is connected to the main drive of the sewing machine by means of the shaft 85 for continuous rotation. As will be shown in more detail hereinafter, a chain 87 transmits movement of the sprocket 79 to a sprocket 88 which is fixedly fastened on a common shaft 89 with the pinch roll 91. The shaft 89 is supported in a pillow block 90 on the bed of the head 1.

The shaft 85 has an integral crank shaft extension 77 journaled in a standard 78 in the base housing of the sewing head 1. A long crank pin 75 is eccentrically mounted on the shaft 77 by means of a crank web 76 for actuating intermittent feeding of slide fastener elements toward the sewing area as will be more readily apparent hereinbelow.

FIG. 2 shows the base housing of the sewing machine 1 in front elevational section to reveal the mechanism for feeding strands of slide fastener elements 43 to the sewing area. The throat plate 38 and bed plate 39 are mounted super-imposed on the cover 47 of the housing and a continuous strand of two interlocked rows of slide fastener elements 43 is being drawn toward the sewing area from the storage drum 40 which is seen to be mounted on the sidewall 58 of the housing by means of the bracket 42. The sewing area is indicated by vertical openings 44 and 45 in the throat plate 38 and the bed plate 39 respectively through which the needles and 6 move up and down in the usual manner.

The fastener elements 43 are guided toward the sewing area by a guide groove or channel 46 in the bed plate 39 which extends between the drum 40 and the openings 44, 45. The cover 47 has a recess 48 at the bottom of the groove 46 which accommodates a feed dog 49 having teeth which can be moved up and down through the recess 48 transversely into and out of the groove 46, and longitudinally of the groove in a direction toward the sewing area. The teeth are adapted to engage the elements 43.

The feed dog 49 is mounted on a link 50, one end of which is rotatably secured to the crank pin 75 (see FIG. 1) for movement in a circular path parallel to the plane of FIG. 2. The other end of the link 50 is hinged by means of a pin 51 to a plunger 53. The pin 51 engages a longitudinal slot 52 in the plunger 53 to permit longitudinal movement of the link 50 relative to the plunger 53. The plunger 53 is guided for free vertical movement in the base housing of the head 1 by a guide cylinder 54 which is fixedly secured to the housing bottom 67.

The plunger 53 carries a laterally projecting cam follower 55 which cooperates with a cam disc 56 to actuate vertical reciprocating movement of the plunger 53. The cam disc 56 is rotated by a motion transmitting sprocket 57 to which it is fixedly fastened and which is rotatably mounted on the housing sidewall 58.

A pin 64 on the plunger 53 transmits the movement of the latter to one end of a lever 65. The center of the lever is supported on a column 68 by means of a pin 66 which passes through an elongated opening in the lever 65. The other end of the lever 65 is formed with a longitudinally elongated opening for passage of a pin 69 in a cutting block 70. The block 70 carries a cutting blade 71 and is slidably retained in a guide channel 72 integral with the base housing cover 47 and having its orifice in the groove 46.

The synchronized drive arrangement for the feed dog 49 and the cutting blade 71 is best seen from FIG. 3 which shows the relevant portion of the device illustrated in FIG. 2 in plan view. The sprocket 57 is intermittently rotated by a timing chain 59 which is trained over an idler 57 adjacent the sprocket 57 and a sprocket rotatably mounted on the sidewall 58 of the base housing. The sprocket 60 rotates continuously and is driven from the main drive of the sewing machine by a pair of bevel gears 61 driven by a shaft 62 which is supported in the housing by a pillow block 63. The continuous movement of the sprocket 60 is imparted to the chain 59, but is transmitted only intermittently to the sprocket 57 by driving dogs 94 on the chain 59 which extend radially outward from the idler 57 when passing over the latter and engage the recesses between the teeth of the sprocket 57. While only a single dog 94 has been shown in FIG. 3 for the sake of clarity, it will be understood that the chain carries as many spaced dogs 94 as are required to impart the desired movement to the plunger 53, to the teeth 73 of the feed dog 49, and to the cutting blade 71.

The elements transmitting the movement of the shaft 85 to the pinch roll 91 are seen more clearly in FIG. 3 than in FIG. 1. A chain 80 is trained over the sprocket 79 on the shaft 35 and over a sprocket 81 which is rotatably mounted on the base housing by means of two brackets 82, 83 on a shaft 84 to which the sprocket 81 and a sprocket 86 are fixedly fastened. The sprocket 86 which is obscured in FIG. 1 drives the chain 87, and thus the pinch roll 91. The lower pinch roll 92 is driven by friction with the finished fastener chain 93 as it passes between the pinch rolls as seen in FIG. 2.

A locking arm 74 is attached to the bed plate 39 for cooperation with the teeth 73 of the feed dog 49 as is seen in FIG. 5. The teeth are omitted from FIG. 4 for the sake of clarity.

The operation of the aforedescribed device is best understood from FIGS. 4 and 5 which show only the essential operating elements of the device in two dilferent positions.

As the needles 5, 6 on the needle holder 4 reciprocably move into and out of the openings 44 in the throat plate 30 they sew each of the two rows of fastener elements which constitute the continuous strand 43 to one of the tapes 36 and 3'7. The tapes with the elements attached emerge from the sewing station as a piece of finished fastener chain 93 the two halves of which are in interlocking engagement. The finished fastener chain 93 is drawn from the sewing station by the cooperating pinch rolls 91 and 92 which continuously rotate in the directions of the arrows.

The movement of the tapes 36 and 37 through the sewing station thus is continuous. The fastener elements 43 are moved through the sewing station because of the fact that a forward portion of the elements is sewn to the tapes and must move with the latter. Feeding of the elements toward the sewing station is controlled by the feed dog 49.

The feed dog is fixedly mounted on the link 50 the two ends of which respectively partake of the continuous movement of the crank pin and the intermittent movement of the cam follower 55. As seen in FIG. 4, the cam follower 55 travels over a cam portion of the disc 56 which raises the cam follower to its highest position, whereby the link 50 raises the feed dog 49 into its operative position. Because of the circular movement imparted to the corresponding end of the link 50 by the crank pin 75, the teeth 73 of the feed dog 49 travel in a circular path of smaller radius in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 4. They move from a position in which they are out of engagement with the elements 43 and substantially withdrawn from the groove 46 which defines the path of the elements, upward into engagement with the elements in the groove 46, and hence forward toward the sewing station. The teeth 73 are then withdrawn downward from the fastener elements 43 and moved back toward the starting position while out of range of the fastener elements.

"intermediate the arm 74 and the sewing station.

The eccentricity of the crank pin 75, and the dimensions of the link 50 and of the elements cooperating with it are selected in such a manner that the fastener elements 43 are fed toward the sewing station for combination with the tapes 36 and 37 at the desired ratio for proper spacing of the elements on the tape. The resilient locking arm 74 urges the fastener elements 43 against the bottom of the groove 46 when the feed dog 49 is withdrawn.

Engagement of the sprocket 57 by one of the drive dogs 94 on the chain 59 causes angular displacement of the cam disc 56. The cam follower 55 drops from the position shown in FIG. 4 to that seen in FIG. 5. The feed dog 49 is thereby withdrawn into an inoperative position in which the teeth 73 cannot engage the fastener elements 43 during cyclic movement of the crank pin 75. Feeding of the strand of slide fastener elements toward the sewing station is stopped, and the portion of the strand of elements above the feed dog 49 is clamped to the bottom of the groove 46 by the arm 74.

The sudden downward movement of the cam follower 55 and of the connected arm of the lever 65 causes the other arm of the lever to be raised suddenly, and the cutting blade 71 severs the strand of fastener elements The severed forward end is drawn into the sewing station and sewn to the tapes there. The rearward portion is immobilized until the cam follower 55 is raised again to the position shown in FIG. 4 by the next drive dog 94 passing over the sprocket 57, whereupon forward feeding of the fastener elements toward the sewing station is resumed.

Since tape feed and sewing proceed continuously, there emerges from the pinch rolls from time to time a length of fastener chain the tapes of which do not carry fastener elements. When the continouus chain is then cut across these lengths, individual pieces of fastener chain with free tape ends are obtained. The length of the chain portions having fastener elements mounted thereon, and the length of the gap between these chain portions on which no elements are sewn is determined by the spacing of the drive dogs 94 on the chain 59, and may be altered simply either by changing the positions of the dogs 94 on the chain 59, or by interchanging several chains having differently spaced dogs.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention, and that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for the purpose of the disclosure which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to be protected by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a device for producing slide fastener chain having a continuous elongated carrier and a plurality of longitudinally spaced rows of interlocking fastener elements secured to said carrier, a support; a sewing station on said support; first feeding means on said support for continuously feeding a continuous carrier through said sewing station; and second feeding means on said support for successively feeding rows of slide fastener elements to said sewing station along a predetermined path for sewing of said rows to said carrier in longitudinally spaced relationship at said sewing station, said second feeding means including feed dog means movable into a position of engagement in a first portion of said path in a transverse direction, said feed dog means when in said position being adapted to engage the elements of a continuous strand of said rows of slide fastener elements; cutting means on said support movable toward and away from said path at a second portion thereof intermediate said first portion and said sewing station for cutting said continuous strand of slide fastener element rows; and actuating means for actuating movement of said feed dog means into said position of engagement in said path and along the same toward said sewing station, and for thereafter withdrawing said feed dog means from said path, and for actuating movement of said cutting means toward and away from said second path portion in time sequence.

2. In a device as set forth in claim 1, said actuating means moving said cutting means toward said second portion of said path when said feed dog means are withdrawn from said first portion of said path.

3. In a device as set forth in claim 1, locking means engageable with said elements for locking movement thereof at said first portion of said path, when said feed dog means is withdrawn from said path.

4. In a device as set forth in claim 1, said actuating means including a rotary cam member, and cam follower means cooperating with said cam member for actuating said movements of said feed dog means and of said cutting means in a predetermined sequence.

5. In a device as set forth in claim 4, drive means for intermittently rotating said cam member.

6. In a device as set forth in claim 5, said drive means including a continuously moving chain member; sprocket means secured to said cam member for rotation therewith; and entrainment means on said chain member for engaging said sprocket means at predetermined intervals so as to intermittently rotate said cam member.

7. In a device for producing slide fastener chain having a continuous elongated carrier and a plurality of longitudinally spaced rows of interlocking fastener elements secured to said carrier, in combination:

(a) a sewing station;

(b) first feeding means for continuously feeding a continuous carrier through said sewing station;

(c) second feeding means for intermittently feeding slide fastener elements to said sewing station along a predetermined path for sewing of said elements to said carrier, said second feeding means including (1) a feed member movable transversely of a first portion of said path toward and away from a position of engagement with a continuous strand of slide fastener elements in said path, said feed member when engaging said strand being adapted to move the elements thereof along said first portion;

(d) cutting means movable toward and away from a second portion of said path intermediate said first portion and said sewing station for cutting said strand; and

(e) actuating means for actuating said movement of said feed member transversely of said first portion and said movement of said cutting means in timed sequence, said actuating means including (1) a timing member (2) drive means for actuating continuous moveof said timing member,

(3) a motion transmitting member connected to said feed member and to said cutting means for joint movement therewith, and

/(4) a plurality of entrainment means mounted on said timing member for continuous movement therewith toward and away from said motion transmitting member said entrainment means being spaced from each other in the direction of movement thereof, and projecting from said timing member toward said motion transmitting member for selective entraining engagement therewith when adjacent said motion transmitting member.

8. In a device as set forth in claim 7, said timing member being a continuous elongated timing chain, and said drive means including sprocket means, said timing chain being trained over said sprocket means.

9. In a device as set forth in claim 8, said entrainment means projecting from said chain transversely of the direction of elongation thereof.

10. In a device as set forth in claim 7, said motion transmitting member being rotatable and formed with circumferentially spaced recesses engageable by said entrainment means for rotating said motion transmitting member.

11. In a device as set forth in claim 7, means for actuating movement of said feed member along said first portion of said path while said feed member engages said strand of slide fastener elements.

12. In a device for producing slide fastener chain having a continuous elongated carrier and a plurality of longitudinally spaced rows of interlocking fastener elements secured to said carrier, in combination:

(a) a sewing station;

(b) first feeding means for continuously feeding a continuous carrier through said sewing station;

(c) second feeding means for feeding slide fastener elements to said sewing station along a predetermined path for sewing of said elements to said carrier, said second feeding means including (1) a feed member movable transversely of a first portion of said path toward and away from a position of engagement with a continuous strand of slide fastener elements in said path, said feed member when engaging said strand being adapted to move the elements thereof along said first portion;

((1) cutting means movable toward and away from a second portion of said path intermediate said first portion and said sewing station for cutting said strand; and

(e) actuating means for actuating said movement of said feed member transversely of said first portion and said movement of said cutting means in timed sequence, said actuating means including -(1) a timing member,

(2) drive means for actuating continuous movemovement of said timing member,

(3) a rotatable motion transmitting member formed with circumferentially spaced recesses,

(4) a rotary cam secured to said motion transmitting member,

(5) a cam follower engaging said cam and connected to said feed member and to said cutting means for joint movement therewith, and

(6) a plurality of entrainment means mounted on said timing member for continuous movement therewith toward and away from said motion transmitting member,

(7) said entrainment means being spaced from each other in the direction of movement thereof, and projecting from said timing member toward said motion transmitting member for selective entraining engagement with said recesses when adjacent said motion transmitting member.

13. In a device for producing interconnected elongated slide fastener chains having longitudinally spaced rows of interlocked fastener elements connecting two carriers, in combination:

(a) a sewing station;

(b) first feeding means for continuously feeding two continuous elongated carriers through said sewing station;

(c) guide channel means defining a path of two interlocked strands of continuous slide fastener elements toward said sewing station;

(d) second feeding means for intermittently feeding said interlocked strands in said path toward sewing station, said second feeding means including (1) a feed dog carrying teeth, and

(2) actuating means for actuating continuous cyclic movement of said feed dog from a first position to a second position in a direction transversely toward a portion of said path, thence in a direction substantially along said path toward said sewing station to a third position, and thereafter back from said third station to said first station in a direction away from said path, and

(3) shifting means for shifting said cyclic movement of said feed dog between an operative condition in which said teeth move in said path while said feed dog moves from said second to said third position, and an inoperative position in which said teeth are spaced from said path while said feed dog moves from said second to said third position;

(e) cutting means movable toward and away from a portion of said path spaced from said third position toward said sewing station for cutting said interlocked strands; and

(f) timing means for initiating said shifting and said cutting in timed sequence,

(1) said sewing station including sewing means for simultaneously sewing said interlocked strands to said carriers respectively.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,369,026 2/1945 Dasher 112-262 2,822,770 2/1959 Schwartz 112-2 2,885,774 5/1959 Walde-s 112-2 3,054,364 9/1962 Popovitsch 1122 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. IN A DEVICE FOR PRODUCING SLIDE FASTENER CHAIN HAVING A CONTINUOUS ELONGATED CARRIER AND A PLURALITY OF LONGITUDINALLY SPACED ROWS OF INTERLOCKING FASTENER ELEMENTS SECURED TO SAID CARRIER, A SUPPORT; A SEWING STATION ON SAID SUPPORT; FIRST FEEDING MEANS ON SAID SUPPORT FOR CONTINUOUSLY FEEDING A CONTINUOUS CARRIER THROUGH SAID SEWING STATION; AND SECOND FEEDING MEANS ON SAID SUPPORT FOR SUCCESSIVELY FEEDING ROWS OF SLIDE FASTENER ELEMENTS TO SAID SEWING STATION ALONG A PREDETERMINED PATH FOR SEWING OF SAID ROWS TO SAID CARRIER IN LONGITUDINALLY SPACED RELATIONSHIP AT SAID SEWING STATION, SAID SECOND FEEDING MEANS INCLUDING FEED DOG MEANS MOVABLE INTO A POSITION OF ENGAGEMENT IN A FIRST PORTION OF SAID PATH IN A TRANSVERSE DIRECTION, SAID FEED DOG MEANS WHEN IN SAID POSITION BEING ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE ELEMENTS OF A CONTINUOUS STRAND OF SAID ROWS OF SLIDE FASTENER ELEMENTS; CUTTING MEANS ON SAID SUPPORT MOVABLE TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID PATH AT A SECOND PORTION THEREOF INTERMEDIATE SAID

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