WO1990000356A1

WO1990000356A1 - An automatic brassiere shoulder strap assembly system

Info

Publication number: WO1990000356A1
Application number: PCT/AU1989/000293
Authority: WO
Inventors: Paul C. Wong
Original assignee: Wong Paul C
Priority date: 1988-07-13
Filing date: 1989-07-10
Publication date: 1990-01-25

Abstract

The invention provides means for both driving and constraining the trajectory of a flexible member, such as the brassiere strap, such that it will manoeuvre into the required geometric shape and at the same time, where required, thread through, or wind around, various hardware components or other flexible members, preferably in one continuous and smooth motion from start to finish of the said operation. A preferred embodiment of the invention is an apparatus which is designed for the winding and assembly of the brassiere shoulder strap assembly, in which a length of strap material is threaded through the apertures of normally two hardware articles - the slide and the ring, wherein a fully or semi-confining guide track is shaped to receive a strap from a delivery means and thread the strap firstly, through one aperture of the slide, then back through the second aperture of the slide (as in the action of threading a belt through a common belt buckle), and then secondly through the ring, and lastly again through the first aperture of the slide and back through the second aperture of the slide in the same manner as in the first threading through the slide, but on the inside of the first threading. The strap driving means are drive spindles driving againts spring loaded reaction blocks, positioned at salient points as follows; firstly to drive the strap along the receiving part of the guide track into the first aperture of the slide, secondly to pickup the nose of the strap upon emergence from this said first aperture, perform a 'U' turn and return it through the slide's second aperture and along the guide track to the ring, thirdly to pickup the nose of the strap upon emergence through the ring, and fourthly (optionally for longer guide tracks) to augment the drive on the strap prior to its re-threading through the slide, inside of the first threading. The termination of the drive of the strap through the guide track is controlled by the sensing of the double thickness of strap as it emerges from the second threading of the slide, and wherein the completed assembly is extracted from the guide track by the extension of the drive spindles out of the plane of the guide track.

Description

AN AUTOMATIC BRASSIERE SHOULDER STRAP ASSEMBLY SYSTEM

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a concept for the automatic threading of flexible strapping through rings, buckles, slides and other similar hardware. More particularly, but not exclusively, the invention is applicable to the automatic manufacture of the brassiere shoulder strap assembly by the threading of woven straps through a ring and a slide in a particular, manner. See Fig 1 for the form of the brassiere shoulder strap assembly.

The current practice in the automatic manufacture of brassiere shoulder strap assemblies employs a concept which mimicks the manual method, Figs 2a & 2b, wherein the threading function is performed by gripping the nose of the strapping 1 by tweezer-like fingers 2 and

threading the fingers through the aperture 3 in the ring or slides, then transferring the strap 1 to another set of fingers A which acts to pull the strap through the aperture, thus completing one threading operation. The linking together of four threading operations through the ring and slide is required to produce each shoulder strap asembly. Currently, automatic machines designed to perform this task require intricate and accurate movements and entails machine parts, such as the tweezer-like fingers, that are both miniature and relatively fragile.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the invention to produce a concept for a class of operations, as represented by the assembly of brassiere shoulder straps and other similar products, which do not have the disadvantages of complex machine movements, slow cycle time, and delicate machine parts. Often, input componentary to such automatic machines are faulty or outside dimensional or shape tolerance; any machine which is sensitive to such small variations to the degree that machine damage will be caused is obviously a less desirable piece of production machinery than one which will not be damaged by such small variations. Such a machine concept which is intrinsically more robust is a second objective of the invention.

The invention provides means for both driving and constraining the trajectory of a flexible member, such as the brassiere strap, such that it will manoeuvre into the required geometric shape and at the same time, where required, thread through, or wind around, various hardware

components or other flexible members, preferably in one continuous and smooth motion from start to finish of the said operation.

In one aspect, the present invention provides means for driving and guiding a length of strap 5 through the the eyes of the slide 6 and ring 7 and at the same time form the required end shape of the strap, 8, as shown in Fig 1 , in this said operation that is called the bra shoulder strap assembly operation. Preferably, the said driving and guiding means will allow straps of different width, thickness, and stiffness to be assembled and allow different hardware to be assembled.

The three aspects of the invention - the guiding means, the driving means for the said flexible filament-like member ( call it a strap for ease of description ), and where other articles are required the assembly means, are described in the following. A preferred, but non exclusive, means of controlling the trajectory of the said driven strap is to use constraining means such as a confining or semi-confining guide track along which the strap can be freely but accurately guided. By such means it is possible to define both simple and complex trajectories to be travelled by the strap.

The strap driving means can be separately installed from or be integrated into the strap guidance means. In the separate option, means such as driving wheels or rollers, preferably synchronized, can be

positioned at salient points along the said guide track to provide drive to the strap as it travels along the guide track. In the integrated option, the strap driving and guiding means can be combined, as is possible in an implementation where cooperating drive belts is used to sandwich the strap between them to both transport and guide the strap along a

predetermined trajectory. Further, strap driving means which are a combination of the above separate and integrated options are also possible, as can be illustrated by an example wherein a flexible drive belt is used to both trap the strap against a geometric form ( which defines the motion trajectory ) and at the same time provides drive to the strap. Furthermore, there are many other drive means available to those skilled in the art, examples include the use of directed air or water jets, electromagnetic induction where the driven article is responsive to such forces, and peristaltic motion, among others.

Where required, the assembly of the said strap with the said hardware or other straps is performed by interposing the threading apertures of the hardware ( or the bodies of the hardware articles ) in the appropriate positions along the strap's trajectory, so that the strap threads its way through the various hardware ( or through or around other straps ) in the process of taking its final geometry.

The invention addresses firstly the aspect of forming the required geometry of the said flexible member or strap and where required, assembling it to various articles of hardware or with other flexible members, and to provide means whereby such operations may be performed in one continuous, relatively fast motion, and wherein the dimensions of the specific machinery means to perform the said threading task do not necessarily have to be on the same dimensional scale as the threading aperture in the articles of the assembly itself, in that they need not be correspondingly small and therefore be mechanisms that are miniature and fragile, and secondly addresses entire machine systems for the manual or automatic production of brassiere shoulder strap assembly or similar operations.

To additionally perform other operations, which in the case of the brassiere shoulder strap example, include the cutting to length of the strap, the sealing of the said cut ends against fraying, the feeding of the slide and ring into their appropriate assembly position, the sensing of the strap's progress as it is driven through its guiding means and the means to sense its completion and means to terminate the drive, the removal of the finished shoulder strap assembly from the assembling and drive/guide means, the stitching or welding together of parts of the straps after assembly, and the magazining and counting of the completed assemblies, other concepts and machine design ideas must be integrated to achieve an entire machine concept.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the invention for use in the brassiere shoulder strap assembly operation, is used, by way of example, to describe in some detail the concept of the invention. It is understood that, generally the invention is applicable beyond this description for brassiere manufacture to other tasks requiring similar functions, and specifically, that for brassiere manufacture, there are many embodiments, beyond the preferred one described hereinafter, that fall within the scope of the concept. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings:

Fig 1 is a diagram of the brassiere shoulder strap assembly.

Fig 2 is a diagram showing the conventional method if threading a

member through a small aperture.

Fig 3 is a diagram showing the main elements of the preferred

embodiment of the invention.

Fig 4 is a diagram showing the main elements of an entire automatic brassiere shoulder strap assembly system.

fig 5 is a diagram showing the method of extraction and welding od the complete strap assembly after assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As a result of experimentation and consequent development, the concept has been evolved into a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment which is described in the following.

The preferred form in shown in Fig 3. This comprises a block of suitable material 9 into which is cut a specifically shaped track 10 of a path length corresponding to the loop length of the assembled shoulder strap, and which has a cross-sectional profile 1 1 necessary to accomodate the range of strap widths and thicknesses required and to freely guide the strap along the required trajectory, interposed across the track 10 are the apertures of the slide 12 and the ring 13 ( both shown in cross-section ), such that the trajectory of the strap along the track 10 goes through the sequence as follows; the strap enters the track at its entry 14, goes through the first aperture 15 of the slide 12, does a "U" turn and goes through the second aperture 16 of the slide 12, proceeds to and goes through the aperture in the ring 13, continues along the track 10 and returns to the slide 12 to go through the apertures 15 and 16 again, but on the inside of the first threading of the strap, and stopping a short distance, normally about 25mm pass the slide 12. To prevent the strap from escaping out of the track 10, cover plates 17 , of which only one is shown in the view AA in Fig 3, is actuated to cover the track 10 during driving of the the strap. in this particular embodiment, drive to move the strap through the track 10 is provided by synchronized rotary drive spindles 18, 19, 20, 21 that are located at critical positions along the track 10. Each of these drive spindles drive the strap against spring loaded reaction blocks 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 which serve to maintain a near constant drive force regardless of variations in the thickness of the driven strap. The reaction blocks 23 & 24 are positioned in the depicted manner to accomodate the double thickness of strap which is threaded through the slides 12 towards the end of the assembly cycle. Drive spindle 19 is positioned to serve two critical functions, the first to pickup the nose of the strap once it exits the first slide aperture 15, and secondly to effect the "U" turn of the strap before entering the second slide aperture 16. Drive spindle 20 is positioned to pickup the nose of the strap once it exits the ring aperture 13, and drive spindle 21 adds impetus to the strap at the midpoint, and is relevant where the guide track is long. When the nose of the strap enters the track confluence 27 it get entrained with the moving body of the strap which assist the nose to thread through the slide apertures 15, 16 the second time.

The stopping of the strap motion once its nose has reached the required position beyond the slide 12 after the second threading, can be by a number of means. A preferred means is to detect the presence of two thicknesses of strap at the required point.

The slide 12 is introduced into its assembly position along a slot 28 by a pusher blade 30; similarly, the ring 13 is positioned via the slot 29 by the pusher blade 31. When the assembly operation is complete, the preferred method of extracting the assembly is, after the retraction of the cover plates 17, by the extension of all the drive spindles 18, 19, 20, 21 ( out of the plane of the diagram ) so carrying the strap and slide/ring assembly with them, out of the track 10. From there the assembly can be removed for the next operation.

The aforementioned strap assembly apparatus forms part of a machine system in which brassiere shoulder strap assemblies are produced. A preferred embodiment of the machine system is shown in Fig 4, wherein from inputs comprising a roll 32 of strap material and disordered

aggregates of slides 33 and rings 34 in separate containers. Following the sequence of operation, the strap is unrolled from the roll 32, metered out and cut to selectable lengths by the metering and drive conveyor 34, and cut by the cutter module 35, and optionally sealed to prevent the fraying of the cut ends ( optionally by means of an ultrasonic cutter - shown in Fig 4 where a reciprocating anvil 36 is mounted above a fixed ultrasonic horn 37 ), and where required the profile of the cut may be optimised, say in the from of a rounded nose, to ease the threading operation downstream in the said strap asembly apparatus 39. Any joins in the strap is detected by sensors 38, which may be thickness, colour, or transmission sensors to allow the removal of these faulty straps before they are delivered to the strap assembly apparatus 39. The ejection of faulty straps is by means of a drop gate 40 which ejects the faulty strap to waste. The bulk slides and rings are orientated and fed by means such as a vibratory bowl feeders 33, 34 and delivered by guide tracks 41 , 42 to the strap assembly apparatus 39 appropriately sequenced and at the appropriate feed rates.

After the strap assembly has been performed and the assembly has been extracted out of the strap guide track ( as described before in the preferred embodiment of the strap assembly apparatus ), the assembly is then presented for the joining of the nose of the strap to the body of the strap ( in the normal manner for the brassiere shoulder strap assembly operation ) by either sewing or ultrasonic welding as shown in Fig 5. Once the strap assembly 44 has been extracted by the strap drive spindles 48, a slide gripper 43 engages the slide 49 and pulls the strap assembly 44 laterally off the drive spindles 48. A specially shaped anvil 46 is used to ensure the strap nose 45 is positioned onto the front face of the anvil 46, where a ultrasonic welding tip, 47, will move in to weld the strap nose 45 to the body of the strap so completing the entire operation.

Further, after welding the loop of the strap assembly may be enlarged to a selectable size by expanding the loop between driven bars, prior to the magazining and counting of the completed strap assemblies. Also the strap assembly apparatus may be configured as part of a manual machine wherein, by way of example, cut to length straps are inserted into the entry of the said strap guide track by hand, and the control of the strap drive is also manual ( as, say, the control of a sew head in a conventional sewing machine), and similarly manually performed are the insertion of the hardware to be assembled, the extraction and removal of the completed strap assembly. Additionally machine of of varying degrees of automation between the limits described above can be

configured as appropriate to the requirements of production demand.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. An apparatus which provides guiding and driving means for forming flexible filament-like members into complex geometic forms, and where required, thread it through various articles of hardware or with other flexible members, and which performs such operations in one continuous, relatively fast motion.

2. The apparatus of Claim 1 , wherein the dimensions of the specific machinery means to thread the filament-like members do not necessarily have to be on the same dimensional scale as the threading aperture of the articles of the assembly itself.

3. The apparatus of Claim 2, wherein a preferred, but non exclusive, means of controlling the trajectory of the flexible filament-like member ( call this flexible filament-like member a strap for ease of description ) is to use constraining means such as a confining or semi-confining guide track along which the strap can be freely but accurately guided, and which is shaped to a simple or complex trajectory as required by the final geometry of the strap, and wherein the driving means to give motion to the strap can be chosen from a spectrum of means which range from that which is separated from, to that which is fully integrated, into the strap guidance means, and further wherein the assembly of the strap with various items of hardware articles or with other straps, when required, is performed by interposing the threading apertures of the hardware ( or the bodies of the hardware articles if threading is not involved) in the appropriate positions along the strap's driven trajectory, so that the strap threads its way through the various hardware ( or through or around other articles or straps ) in the process of taking its final geometry, and wherein the required hardware in positioned across or adjacent to the strap guide track by means such as pusher blades inserting the hardware components via their own guide tracks.

4. The apparatus of Claim 3, wherein the strap guiding and driving means comprise driving wheels or rollers, preferably synchronized, and positioned at salient points along the said guide track to provide drive to the strap as it travels along the guide track, particularly at points along the track where the direction of travel is change, or where the strap is emerging from assembly with a hardware article.

5. The apparatus of Claim 3 wherein the strap driving and guiding means can be combined, such an arrangement can be illustrated by cooperating drive belts which are used to sandwich the strap between them to both transport and guide the strap along a predetermined trajectory, or in a variation in which the strap driving and guiding means comprise a flexible drive belt which is used to both trap the strap against a geometric form ( which defines the motion trajectory ) and at the same time provides drive to the strap.

6. The apparatus of Claim 3 wherein the strap driving and guiding means comprise of methods which use directed air or water jets, electromagnetic induction where the driven article is responsive to such forces, and peristaltic motion.

7. The apparatus of Claims 3, 4, 5 & 6 wherein the completion of the strap forming and assembly is determined by means which detects the presence of a part of the strap, say the nose, when it reaches a certain position of the said guide track, or when the assembly requires that multiple thicknesses of strap is achieved at a certain position of the guide track, detection means are used which can differentiate between the number of strap thicknesses, so that such sensing of the strap in or near its assembly completion position can be used to terminate the drive motion of the strap.

8. The apparatus of Claims 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 wherein upon completion of the said assembly operation, the assembly is removed ( following retraction of the strap confining means if they are employed to create a fully confining guide track ) by the relative extension of the strap driving means, such as the drive rollers or wheels, out of the plane of the said guide track, so extracting the assembled strap ( and hardware ) with the strap driving means out of the guide track for removal.

9. The apparatus of Claims 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 wherein the apparatus is designed for the winding and assembly of the brassiere shoulder strap assembly, in which a length of strap material is threaded through the apertures of normally two hardware articles - the slide and the ring, wherein a fully or semi-confining guide track is shaped to receive a strap from a delivery means and thread the strap firstly, through one aperture of the slide, then back through the second aperture of the slide ( as in the action of threading a belt through a common belt buckle ), and then secondly through the ring, and lastly again through the first aperture of the slide and back through the second aperture of the slide in the same manner as in the first threading through the slide, but on the inside of the first threading, and wherein the strap driving means are drive spindles driving against spring loaded reaction blocks, positioned at salient points as follows; firstly to drive the strap along the receiving part of the guide track into the first aperture of the slide, secondly to pickup the nose of the strap upon emergence from this said first aperture, perform a "U" turn and return it through the slide's second aperture and along the guide track to the ring, thirdly to pickup the nose of the strap upon emergence through the ring, and fourthly ( optionally for longer guide tracks ) to augment the drive on the strap prior to its re-threading through the slide, inside of the first threading, and wherein the termination of the drive of the strap through the guide track is controlled by the sensing of the double thickness of strap as it emerges from the second threading of the slide, and wherein the completed assembly is extracted from the guide track by the extension of the drive spindles out of the plane of the guide track.

10. The apparatus of Claim 9 wherein the said strap assembly apparatus is part of a machine system in which brassiere shoulder strap assemblies are produced automatically from inputs comprising rolls of strap material and disordered aggregates of slides and rings in separate containers, wherein the strap is unrolled, metered out and cut to selectable lengths, and optionally sealed to prevent the fraying of the cut ends ( optionally by means of an ultrasonic cutter in which the preferable arrangement is a reciprocating cutting anvil positioned above a fixed ultrasonic horn), and where required the profile of the cut may be

optimised to ease the threading operation downstream in the said strap asembly apparatus of Claim 9, and wherein any joins in the strap is detected by sensors, so to allow the removal of these faulty straps before they are delivered to the strap assembly apparatus, and wherein the bulk slides and rings are orientated and fed by means such as a vibratory bowl feeder and delivered by guide tracks in an orientated single file to the strap assembly apparatus at the appropriate feed rates, and wherein after the strap assembly has been performed and the assembly has been

extracted out of the strap guide track, the assembly is presented for the joining of trie nose of the strap to the body of the strap ( in the normal manner for the brassiere shoulder strap assembly operation ) by either sewing or ultrasonic welding and in which the preferred method for ensuring that the nose of the strap assembly is in the correct position for automatic joining is to extract the strap assembly off the said extended drive spindles by means which engages the slide and moves the assembly off the said drive spindle, and at the same time pulls the strap assembly over a specially shaped dividing anvil which ensures that the said strap nose is always in the desired position for joining, and wherein the loop of the strap assembly may be enlarged to a selectable size prior to the magazining and counting of the completed strap assemblies, and wherein the sequencing of the aforementioned functions and the sensing of the successful completion of each elemental function making up each entire brassiere shoulder strap assembly is under automatic, preferably, comput control. .

1 1. The apparatus of Claims 8 & 9 wherein the strap assembly apparatus is configured as part of a manual machine wherein, by way of example, cut to length straps are inserted into the entry of the said strap guide track by hand, and the control of the strap drive is also manual ( as, say, the control of a sew head in a conventional sewing machine), as is manual, the insertion of the hardware to be assembled, the extraction and removal of the completed strap assembly.

12. Apparatus of varying degrees of automation between the limits defined by Claims 1 1 and 8 & 9.