US3425144A

US3425144A - Feeding apparatus for ironing machines

Info

Publication number: US3425144A
Application number: US554836A
Authority: US
Inventors: Adolf Helmer Petterson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1965-06-03
Filing date: 1966-06-02
Publication date: 1969-02-04
Anticipated expiration: 1986-02-04
Also published as: DK113423B; GB1078640A; FR1481817A

Description

Feb. 4, 1969 A. H. PETTERSON FEEDING APPARATUS FOR IRONING MACHINES Sheet Filed June 2, 1966 Feb. 4, 1969 A. H. PETTERSON 3,425,144 I FEEDING APPARATUS FOR IR QNING MACHINES Filed June 2, 1966 Sheet of 5 Sheet 3 Feb. 4, 1969 A. H. PETTERSON FEEDING APPARATUS FOR IRONING MACHINES Filed June 2, 1966' l n u n n I n 1 I I I u I I m I 1 u m m u H H A. H. PETTERSON FEEDING APPARATUS FOR IRONING MACHINES Feb, 4 9

She t Filed June 2. 1966 Feb. 4, 1969 A. H. PETTERSON FEEDING APiARATUS FOR momma MACHINES Sheet Filed June 2, 1966 Fig 7 United States Patent C) 3,425,144 FEEDING APPARATUS FOR IRONING MACHINES Adolf Helmer Petterson, Skarsgatan 70, Goteborg, Sweden Filed June 2, 1966, Ser. No. 554,836 Claims priority, application Sweden, June 3, 1965,

7,265/65 US. Cl. 38-143 Int. Cl. D06f 67/04, 61/08 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to a feeding apparatus for ironing machines or mangles which are provided with a spreading device for spreading out the laundry, such as sheets, table cloths and the like, for introduction into the mangle.

In machines of the kind mentioned certain difiiculties have been met in transfer of the leading edge, for example, of a sheet, from the spreading device to the conveyor belts at the feed table of the mangle. It is of importance that the leading edge be placed on the feed table without creases and in a direction perpendicular to the direction of advance. Only in this case it is possible to carry out the ironing and further advancing of the sheet in a proper way.

The invention has for its object to provide means for transferring the leading edge of the laundry to be ironed from the spreading device to the feed table in fully open condition and free of any distort-ions or wrinkles.

A further object of the invention resides in providing apparatus of the above-mentioned character which is durable in construction, reliable and efliicient in operation.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a feeding apparatus of the above character which comprises a beam for receiving and retaining the foremost edge of sheet material in a spread out position, a rotatable shaft arranged above the feed device and extending perpendicularly to the direction of advance of the sheet material in said feed device, the beam being supported by the shaft for rotation therewith through one revolution from a starting position in which the beam receives the sheet material, the beam passing through a position during said revolution in which the material is released to the feed device and at least one rotatable roller arranged parallel to said beam and coupled to said shaft by suitable means for rotation therewith along a path in which the roller rolls over the sheet material to keep it in contact with the conveyor of the feed device after the sheet material has been released from the beam.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings by way of example without limiting the invention.

in the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrats in cross section the feeding apparatus combined with a feel means;

FIG. 2 shows a part of the same arrangement in a perspective view in its initial position;

FIG. 3 shows the parts of the apparatus at the beginning of the feeding operation in the same manner as FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows in a similar way the parts after the completion of the feeding;

ice

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the spreading-out pegs;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a cam disc arrangement; and

FIG. 7 is a front view of another cam disc.

In FIG. 1 a machine-stand 1 supports a feed device 2 constructed in conventional manner with a larger driven roll 3 and a smaller :runner roll 4, around which endless conveyor belts 5 run. The essential novelty of the invention consists in the arrangement of a rotor 6 mounted for free-running on a shaft 7. The shaft 7 is hollow and secured to a spreading beam 8 for an article such as a sheet. The beam 8 retains the leading edge of a sheet in spread out and stretched condition along the beam by a suction effect, as will be explained more fully subsequently.

The rotor 6 comprises a stay bar 9 of crescent-like cross section secured to end discs 10, one at each end of the feed device 2. Additionally, the rotor is provided with three free-running

rollers

11a, 11b and 11c, the shafts of which bear on one end of respective rocker arms 12. These arms are pivotable about pivots 13 inserted in the end discs 10, while the other ends of the rocker arms support guide pulleys 14, running in guide tracks 15 in stationary cam discs 16 secured adjacent each end disc (see FIG. 7). The cam discs are of such a structure that, during a short period of movement taking up approximately an angle of 45, the rollers 11 are displaced outwardly of the rotor to an outer position as shown in FIG. 1 for the roller 11a bearing on the conveyor belts 5. Due to this arrangement, each roller is made to bear on the conveyor belts or the articles lying thereon at an extended distance from the center of the rotor 6. The roller will thus be rolled off with a greater spread than the conveyor belts, since the roller shaft for a short period after the rollers contact with the conveyor belts is brought in towards the center of the rotor to the position shown for the upper right hand roller 11b. The rollers 11 are made of a tubelike jacket about which is wound a soft plastic material. The upper left hand roller 11c is traveling in an outwardly displaced position in FIG. 1 in consequence of the contour of the guide track 15 of the cam disc 16.

The rotor with its stay bar 9 and the end discs 10 is driven under the control of a one-revolution coupling (not shown) in such a manner that the spreading beam 8 for each revolution stops in the position shown in FIG. 1, in which is readily accessible for spreading out the sheet, as for example, by means of pneumatically transportable pegs 20, as shown in FIG. 5.

After the start of rotation of the rotor, the beam 8 is entrained in the rotary movement with delay, so that it rotates with a lower speed than the rotor 11c, and the upper left hand roller as shown in FIG. 1 being right above the beam 8 moves at a higher speed downwards and arrives at the position shown in FIG. 4, where it is obliquely below the beam and in contact with the conveyor belts 5. This roller 11b is thus ready for smoothing the foremost edge of the sheet, now released from the beam. The said edge portion of the sheet is smoothed out in this way and pressed against the conveyor belts, so that the feeding-in to the mangle may start. The relative movement of the beam 8 and the rotor 6 is brought about by a cam disc 31 shown in FIG. 6, which is located outside the left end of the feed disc.

FIG. 5 shows the pegs 20, which are arranged for displacement on the beam 8 in

guides

21 and 22. The peg to the left in the FIGURE 5 is shown in its closed position, i.e. its gripping position. The peg to the right is in an open clutching position ready for the introduction of a sheet corner. By rocking the peg about its bearing shaft 23 clockwise from the inclining position to a position perependicular to the beam 8, the jaws of the peg are brought together to their gripping position and maintained in this position by means of a spring 24. The pegs are carried by a common carriage 25, which may optionally be moved to the left or the right on the beam 8 for spreading the foremost edge of the sheet, which has been manually laid down along the beam. The sheet edge is retained on the beam by the suction effect. A chamber 26 in the beam communicates, via valves with an evacuating device, thus producing suction in small channels 27 connected to recesses in the active suction surface of the b am. The carriage 25 is coupled to a thin plate 28 (see FIG. 1) inserted in a longitudinal slot in the wall of the shaft 7 and secured to a piston 29 in the shaft serving as a pneumatic cylinder, the latter cylinder being coupled, via valves at its opposite ends, to the same evacuating source as the chamber 26.

FIG. 2 illustrates the conveyor belts 5 on the feed table and the rotor 6 with the spreading beam 8 in its position ready for start of an operation. Below the beam, the stay bar 9 is fixed into the end discs 10 and above the beam is the roller 11c.

As shown in FIG. 3, the rotor 6 has started rotating so that the roller 110 is just in front of the beam, approximately in the position assumed by roller 11a in FIG. 1. At this moment the suction effect in the chamber 26 is stopped, the leading sheet edge then sliding off the suction face of the beam, which will then be inclined towards the conveyor belts S as shown in FIG. 1 in dash-lines. The roller 110 then passes at an increased speed over the edge of the sheet to smooth it out over the conveyor belts. Shortly thereafter, the roller 11b is brought into contact with the conveyor belts, as shown in FIG. 4 in position below the stay bar 9. The rotor 6 has thus completed almost half a revolution. After a further half revolution, the beam 8 returns to its initial position as shown in FIG. 1, and the roller 11a comes into engagement with the conveyor belts and freely on the same, while the rotor is at a standstill. The articles for ironing will in this way be kept in contact with the conveyor belts during the further feeding movement.

By means of button controls the pegs can be moved and stopped, the chamber 26 in the beam can be switched on to achieve the suction effect and the one-revolution coupling can be started. The driving force for the coupling is obtained from the driving device of the mangle proper.

FIG. 6 illustrates the cam disc 31 employed in order to achieve the relative movement between the beam 8 and the rollers 11. The left end of the feed table is designated by 30. Beyond the same is the cam disc 31 having a guide track 32. In this track runs a roller 33 at one end carried by a rocker arm 36 pivoting about a pivot 34 in an arm 35, the other end 37 of the rocker arm being pivoted to a link rod 38. This is in turn pivoted to the shaft 7, while the arm 35 is secured to a bearing sleeve for the rotor 6. As long as the roller 33 follows the circular portion of the guide track, the beam 8 and the rotor 6 rotate at the same speed, but when the roller enters the curved-in portion 40 of the guide track, the beam is tilted in a direction opposed to the rotary movement, so that the roller 11c catches up with the beam in the position shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 illustrates the rigidly secured cam disc 16 at each end disc 10 of the rotor 6. The guide track 15 of the cam disc 16 follows a circular path with the exception of a curved-in part 41, extending through an angle of about 120. When the guide pulley on each rocker arm 12 passes the said curved-in part 41 of the guide track the shaft of the roller 11 is moved outwardly from the center of the rotor 6 while the rocker arm pivots about its pivot 13. This movement is started in the position in which the roller (FIG. 1) is situated and terminates when the roller is rolling over the conveyor belts.

Within the scope of the invention the rotor 6 may be provided with only one single roller 11 arranged as shown by roller 11c, and other means may be used for pressing the articles against the conveyor belts during the feeding in movement. The spreading out pegs 20 may be driven in any optional manner known per se and be made in accordance with any other construction than the one indicated hereinbefore.

What is claimed is:

1. A feeding apparatus for ironing machines having a feed device with a conveyor for advancing spread-out sheet material, said apparatus comprising a beam for receiving and retaining the foremost edge of sheet material, a spreading device mounted on said beam for spreading out the foremost edge of the sheet materal on said beam, a rotatable shaft arranged above the feed device and extending perpendicularly to the direction of advance of the sheet material in said feed device, said beam being supported by said shaft for rotation therewith through one revolution from a starting position in which the beam receives the sheet material, the beam passing through a position during said revolution in which the material is released to the feed device, at least one rotatable roller arranged parallel to said beam and means coupling said roller with said shaft for rotation therewith along a path in which the roller rolls over the sheet material to keep it in contact with the conveyor of the feed device after the sheet material has been released from the beam.

2. A feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said shaft is hollow and constitutes a pneumatic cylinder, a piston being mounted in said cylinder and coupled to said spreading device to operate the same.

3. A feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein a plurality of said rollers are provided, each contacting the sheet material on the conveyor in succession, said means which couples the rollers to the shaft comprising a stationary cam disc and means coupled to each roller and engaged by said disc to cause respective movement of each roller, while it is rotating with said shaft, in a radially outwardly direction relative to said shaft before contact with the sheet material on the conveyor and thereafter radially inwardly.

4. A feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means coupling the roller with said shaft comprises a driven rotor supporting said roller, and means coupling the rotor and shaft such that the latter is driven with the rotor at varying relative speeds.

5. A feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said beam and roller are driven at a rotational speed to cause the roller to roll on the feed table with a speed which is higher than the speed of advance of the conveyor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,976,625 3/1961 Bazelmans 38-2 3,103,755 9/1963 Hajos 38l43 3,136,081 6/1964 Fredholm 38-143 3,315,385 4/1967 Taylor 38-143 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 38-49