US3464602A

US3464602A - Shirt unloader and delivery apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3464602A
Application number: US736330A
Authority: US
Inventors: John Romansky
Original assignee: McGraw Edison Co
Current assignee: McGraw Edison Co
Priority date: 1968-06-12
Filing date: 1968-06-12
Publication date: 1969-09-02
Anticipated expiration: 1986-09-02
Also published as: DE1926667A1

Description

J. ROMANSKY 3,464,602

SHIRT UNLOADER AND DELIVERY APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 2, 1969 Filed June 12, 1968 FlCS. l

INVENTOR JOHN ROMANSKY AGE/VT -p 1969 J. ROMANSKY 3,464,602

SHIRT UNLOADER AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed June 12, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

INVENTOP JOHN ROMANSKY AGENT rJlullllllllllllllm I l I l I I 4 l l I l I 4 SheetsSheet 3 ROM ANSKY By &J0114 l/V VE/VTOR I; Zr

| l i r I JOHN Sepit. 2, 1969 J. ROMANSKY SHIRT UNLOADER AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed June 12, 1968 F IG. 4

AGENT Sept. 2, 1969 J. ROMANSKY SHIRT UNLOADER AND DELIVERY APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 12, 1968 FIG. 6

II'I 0 1:41.

INVENTOR JOHN ROMANSKY AGE/VT Unite States 3,464,602 SHIRT UNLOADER AND DELIVERY APPARATUS John Romansky, Rochester, N.Y., assignor to McGraw- Edison Company, Elgin, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 12, 1968, Ser. No. 736,330 Int. Cl. D06c 15/00; D06f 71/00 US. Cl. 223-57 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An object of the invention is to provide a shirt unloader of simple and economical mechanism which has a simple mode of operation to provide a reliable and dependable unloading service.

Another object is to provide a turntable timed with the unloader for receiving shirts from the latter and providing a station giving an operator or operators a facility and ample time to take the shirts therefrom for final folding and packaging.

These and other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims.

In the description of my invention reference is had to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIGURE 1 is a fractional plan view of a four-turret shirt press and of an unloader and delivery turntable according to my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view from the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an end elevational view taken from the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fractional elevational View from the line 4-4 of FIGURE 1 showing to larger scale details of construction of the unloader;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view from the line 5-5 of FIGURE 1 showing the pressing station of the four-turret shirt press;

FIGURE 6 is a righthand elevational view of the unloader shown in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is an end view to larger scale of the conveyor arm of the unloader and of the sprocket drive wheel therefor; and

FIGURE 8 is a side view to larger scale with portions broken away of the conveyor arm of the unloader.

The present unloader and the delivery apparatus is in its broader aspects operable with any shirt pressing device, but is shown in connection with a four-turret press 10 by way of preferred example. This press has a center post 11 upstanding from a suitable base on the floor not shown. Iournalled on this post is a carriage comprising a hub having four equally spaced radial bars 12. Mounted on these radial bars concentric with the center post is an annular platform 13, and mounted on the platform above the outer ends of the respective radial bars are respective bucks 14 for receiving shirts thereon to be pressed. These bucks may be of a construction shown in the pending Stewart application Ser. No. 618,251, filed Jan. 31, 1967, and need not be herein described. The carriage of the shirt press is indexed by 90 intervals by an air cylinder 15 having a piston rod with a drive pin 16 engageable atent with a four toothed ratchet 17 on the central hub of the carriage.

With reference to FIGURE 1 the buck at the left side of the press constitutes a loading station S where an operator places a shirt on the buck and dresses the same for a shirt pressing operation. The next station S in a direction clockwise from the station S has a shoulder pressing yoke 18 which is timed to engage the shoulder portion of the dressed shirt and press the same. This shoulder press may be of the same construction as is described in the aforementioned pending Stewart application and need not be herein described. The next station S is a pressing station comprising two pressing chests 19 at opposite sides of the buck. These chests are operated by respective air cylinders 20 through respective toggle mechanisms 21 (FIGURE 5) to engage the buck and press the body portion of the shirt. Each buck has shirt extending arms 22 which are retracted after each pressing operation. The body pressing chests and operating mechanism therefor, as well as the shirt extending arms, are also described in the pending Stewart application abovementioned. In the operation of the four turret press the shoulder press 18 and the body press 19 at stations S and S are operated in timed relation with the indexing of the carriage 12-13 by any suitable means. The station 8.; located in advance of the pressing station S is where the finished shirts are lifted from the buck by the unloader and delivery apparatus according to my invention.

The unloader 23 comprises a hollow frame or housing 24 upstanding from the floor 25. The frame 24 is located at the side of the buck at the station 5.; between this buck and a turntable 26 at the delivery station. In the upper part of the frame 24 are side standards 27 carrying a cross shaft 28 therebetween secured to the frame against rotation. Journalled on the central portion of this shaft between the standards 27 is a hub 29 secured to a hollow conveyor arm 30 and to a sprocket wheel 31 (FIGURE 7). The conveyor arm extends from the shaft 28 between the standards 27 by the distance of the shaft from the medial plane MM of the buck at the station S Preferably the conveyor arm is rectangular in cross section, as shown. On the shaft 28 within the hollow conveyor arm is a knurled collar 32 secured to the shaft by cross pin 33.

The sprocket wheel 31 is housed in one of the side standards 27 as is shown in FIGURE 6. Trained around this sprocket wheel is a chain belt 34. This belt leads downward through the frame 24 and is trained around another sprocket wheel 35 on a shaft 36 journalled in bearings 37 secured to opposite side walls of the frame 24. The ends of the chain belt 34 are secured to opposite ends of a piston rod 38 secured to a piston 39 in an air cylinder 48 mounted on the inside wall of the frame 24. The air cylinder has nipple connectors 41 at opposite ends thereof enabling air pressure to be led into the cylinder to drive the piston 39 back and forth whereby to swing the conveyor arm 30 between a pickup position over the buck at the station 8., and an unloading position over the turntable 26 (FIGURE 2).

Iournalled in the outer end portion of the conveyor arm 30 is a crossbar 42 extending laterally across the buck 14 when the conveyor arm is in its pickup position. Secured to this crossbar are two shirt grippers each comprising a pair of

clip members

43 and 44 which are for example of a spring material biased into engaged relationship shown in FIGURE 4. The clip members are bowed away from each other through their central portions and have pads 45 as of felt secured to their lower gripping surfaces. Interposed between the central bowed portions of the clip members is an air cylinder 46 which receives air pressure from a line 47 to spread the clip members apart. The air line 47 is led along the conveyor arm to the frame 24 wherein connection is made to a source of air pressure not shown. Also, connections would be made here from a suitably controlled air pressure source to the cylinder 40.

Within the conveyor arm 30 is a cable 48 trained by several revolutions 48a around the collar 32 at the hub end of the conveyor arm and trained likewise by several revolutions around a hub 49 on the cross bar 42 at the outer end of the conveyor arm. The ends of this cable are connected adjustably to each other through a turnbuckle 50 to set the cable to the desired tension. The turnbuckle is accessible via a removable side plate 51 on the conveyor arm. The coupling of the cross bar 42 to the stationary collar 32 via the cable 48 serves to retain the cross bar rotatively stationary as the conveyor arm is swung about the shaft 28 with the result that the grippers 4344 are maintained in a depending relationship to the cross bar as they are swung between pickup and unloading position.

The turntable 26 comprises a post 52 upstanding from a base 53. On the upper end of this post a carriage 54 is journalled having six equal distantly spaced radial arms 55. On the outer ends of these arms are shirt hangers 56 of an inverted U-shape as shown in FIGURE 2. The turntable is positioned so that when the carriage is in an indexed position one of the arms will stand midway between the shirt grippers 43-44 and the respective shirt hanger 56 will be directly below the crossbar 42 as shown in FIGURE 1. The turntable is indexed by 60 intervals by means of an air cylinder 57 cooperable with a ratchet wheel 58 at the hub of the turntable.

The shirt grippers 43-44 are spaced along the crossbar 42 to grip the outer end portions of a pressed shirt just extending off from the shoulders of the buck after the extender arms 22 are retracted (FIGURE 1). The initial movement of the grippers from their pick-up positions is upwardly because the conveyor arm 30 is then standing in a nearly horizontal position (FIGURE 2) causing the shirt to be lifted from the buck and to be then transported over to the delivery station. As the shirt is so transported the lower hanging portions thereof are swept across a curved spreading arm 59 (FIGURE 6) the ends of which are bolted in the inside wall of the frame 24. This spreading arm comes within the open front of the shirt to spread it apart as indicated in FIGURE 2. The hangers 56 are relatively narrow so that the shirt will envelop the hanger in the receiving position and will drape down thereover when the grippers are released as indicated in FIGURE 2.

In the start position of the shirt unloader, the conveyor arm 30 is at the end of its travel overhanging the delivery station with the clip members 4344 engaged and holding a shirt just taken from the buck at the unloading station S The unloader is moved through one cycle while the four turret press and the turntable 26 are at standstill. The conveyor arm 30 starts its upward swing from the delivery station through a short distance before the grippers 43-44 are opened by the air cylinder 46. This allows the shirt to fall by a sufficient distance to fluff open before it is caught on the adjacent hanger 56. The grippers 43-44 are continued to be held open by the air cylinder 46 until the conveyor arm 30 nears its pickup position. At this point a timing switch '60 is operated to set a timer T which controls the further onward movement of the conveyor arm before the

clip members

43 and 44 are closed. This timing mechanism thus sets the depth of grip of the clip members on the shoulder portions of the shirt. The air cylinder 40 is immediately reversed to start the return stroke of the conveyor arm 30, and when the conveyor arm reaches its return position over the delivery station the air pressure is cut off to stop the cycle. The turntable 26 may be indexed in synchronism with the indexing of the four turret press, in which case a single shirt will be deposited on each of the hangers 56. On the other hand, the four turret press may be indexed several times for each indexing of the turntable in which case a predetermined number of shirts will be draped one on top of the other on a hanger 56 before the turntable is advanced.

I claim:

1. A machine including a vertically mounted pressing device and means for unloading shirts and similar garments from said pressing device and transporting the shirts to a delivery station at the front of said pressing device comprising a horizontal crossbar supported for overhead swinging movement in an arc about a horizontal axis parallel with the crossbar from a pickup position over said pressing device to an unloading position at the delivery station, a pair of shirt gripping means mounted on said crossbar in depending relation thereto for engag ing the upper part of a shirt on said pressing device when said crossbar is in said pickup position, and means for retaining said shirt gripping means in said depending relationship to said crossbar as the crossbar is swung between pickup and unloading positions whereby a shirt picked up by said gripping means is lifted from said pressing device and transported to said delivery station in a single movement.

2. The machine set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said shirt gripping means comprises a pair of clip members biased into closed position, and an air cylinder carried by said clip members for opening the same.

3. The machine set forth in claim 1 including power means for swinging said gripping means through a cycle from said delivery station to said pressing device and back again, and means for opening said gripping means during movement thereof from said delivery station.

4. The machine set forth in claim 1 wherein said pressing device includes a buck for receiving a shirt thereon to be pressed, pressing chests for engaging the back and front portions of the body of the shirt on said buck, sleeve extender arms on said buck for holding the sleeves outwardly during pressing of the body, and means supporting said gripping means on said crossbar to engage the outer shoulder portions of a shirt on said buck after said sleeve extender arms are retracted.

5. Machine set forth in claim 1 wherein said delivery station includes a turntable having a plurality of equal distantly spaced radially extending shirt hangers, and means for indexing said turntable to enable a predetermined number of shirts to be draped on said shirt hangers in succession as said machine is operated.

6. The machine set forth in claim 1 wherein said pressing device comprises a plurality of equal distantly spaced bucks on a rotatable carriage, means for indexing said carriage to move said bucks successively into position for pickup of shirts therefrom by said gripping means, means for swinging said crossbar from a start position at said delivery station to said pickup station and back again while said carriage is stationary, and means for indexing said carriage while said crossbar is in said start position.

7. The machine set forth in claim 1 wherein said crossbar has a start position at said delivery station, including means for opening said shirt gripping means when said crossbar is moved a predetermined distance from start position at said delivery station and to reclose said gripping means when said crossbar reaches said pickup position.

8. A machine including a pressing buck and means for removing shirts or similar articles from said pressing buck and conveying the same to a delivery station, comprising a frame mounted between said buck and said delivery station at the side of the buck, a conveyor arm journalled to the upper end of said frame to swing overhead between a pickup position over the buck and an unloading position at said delivery station, a crossbar journalled in the outer end of said conveyor arm and extending laterally of said buck, a plurality of pairs of shirt gripping clip members secured to and depending from said crossbar in position to grip the outer shoulder portions of a shirt on said buck when the conveyor arm is in said pickup position, and means for rotating said crossbar relative to said conveyor arm to maintain the crossbar rotatively stationary and said clip members in depending relationship to the crossbar as the conveyor arm is swung between said pickup and unloading positions.

9. The machine set forth in claim 8 wherein said rotating means comprises a stationary collar on said frame at the journal axis of said conveyor arm, and a cable trained around said collar at one end and about said crossbar at the other end for holding said crossbar rotatively stationary as said conveyor arm is swung between its pickup and unloading positions.

10. The machine set forth in claim 9 including a sprocket wheel secured to said conveyor arm at its journal axis, a second sprocket wheel journalled to said frame, a chain belt trained around said sprocket wheels, and an air cylinder having a piston rod secured to said chain belt for driving said conveyor arm between its pickup and unloading positions.

11. The machine set forth in claim 8 including a turntable at said delivery station having a plurality of radial arms each with a shirt hanger thereon, and means for indexing said turntable to bring said shirt hangers successively into a position below and midway between said pairs of shirt gripping members when said conveyor arm is at said delivery station, each of said shirt hangers having a narrow width relative to the spacing between said pairs of gripping members to cause a shirt carried frontwise to said delivery station to envelope said hanger and to drape downwardly thereover when said gripping members are released.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,050,220 8/1962 Parris 223-57 3,080,099 3/1963 Albiez 223-47 3,174,662 3/1965 Kanuegiesser 223-57 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner GEORGE V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 2141