US2232536A - Fabric finishing machine - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 18, 1941. H. KAsTRlNsKY y FABRIC FINISHING MACHINE Filed Oct. 21. 1939 Patented Feb. 18, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in fabric finishing machines, and particularly to means for maintaining the fabric in evenl condition while being drawn through the machine, the principal object of the invention being to provide means for positively gripping the fabric at its edges and moving said edges along at the same speed as the center portion of the fabric.

A` further object of the invention is to provide special means operable in association with the edge-gripping means for treating tucked or shirred fabrics whereby the tucks will be evenly pressed and caused to lie perfectly flat.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

In the drawing accompanying this specification, I

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an edge-gripping and moving element constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional View on an enlarged scale, taken approximately on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional side view of one of the individual gripping devices;

Fig. 4 is a front view of the device shown in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view through the take-up rollers of a finishing machine illustrating the improved tuck-pressing device. i

In finishing machines of the type with which the invention has to do, the generall object isto cause a width of fabric to be unwound from a carrying'roll and drawn through the machine wherein it receives suitable treatment such as steaming, spreading. pressing, etc., and is finally Wound on to a rotating receiving or take-up roll at the delivery end of the machine. The pull necessarily exerted on the fabric to carry it around the various rollers over which it must pass has a tendency to produce irregularities in the finished fabric. In other words, the pulling tension cna fabric of substantial width is likely to be unequal at different points in the width. This is particularly noticeable in a fabric having transverse stripes, in which, owing to the fact that the fabric offers greater resistance to the pulling force at its side edges than at the longitudinal center line, after having passed through the machine the stripes are found to be arc-shaped or bowed. Attempts have been made to overcome this defect, by providing means contacting with the edges of the fabric and urging them forward. Such means have usually consisted of endless chains, one at each edge of the (oi. afs- 57) fabric traveling in the same direction as the fabric and carrying means in frictional contact with the said fabric edges. However, because of the yielding character of the fabric, any device which operates by frictional contact has a tendency todistort the edges of the fabric by reason of the pressure that must be exerted in order to i create the desired frictional contact. The present invention, therefore, is an improvement over such frictional devices in that it provides means for positively gripping the edges of the fabric and moving them along, without exerting any pressure or push on the fabric from edge to edge.`

In the drawing I have shown only one chain unit of the device, it being understood that one such unit is disposed at each side edge of the fabric I, of which only a portion of the width is shown, and that such units may be driven from any suitable source of power and may be spaced at different distances apart to accommodate fabrics of different Widths, as is common in practice.

The unit shown in the drawing comprises a rotatable shaft 2 having secured thereto a sprocket 3. A non-rotatable shaft 4 is mounted at a predetermined distance from shaft 2 and carries a sprocket 5 mounted for rotation thereon, and a vchain 6 is mounted on said sprockets n Each gripping device comprises a frame conn sisting of a base plate 'I having a pair of legs 8 extending 'upward and forward at an acute angle at opposite sides of the plate. A lever 9 is pivoted intermediate its ends on a pin I0 in the legs 8 near the free ends thereof, the portion of the lever that extends below the pivot pin being of such length that in one direction of its pivotal movement it willstrike the top surface of the` plate 1 near the forward end Ithereof so that the lever cannot pass beyond the forward edge of the plate, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. A coil spring I I serves normally to maintain the lever in the plate-engaging position, said spring being mounted on the pivot pin I0 and having one end secured in an opening in one of the legs 8 while its opposite end rests on an enlarged nose I2 formed at the lower end of the lever. One complete device as so constructed is secured to each link of the chain 6 by rivets I3 passing through openings formed in the base plate 1 near its rear end, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2.

A cam disk I4 is secured on the shaft 4 at such height above the sprocket that during the travel of the chain around said sprocket the upper portion of each successive lever 9 will pass around a portion of the periphery of the disk. The portion of the disk that overlies what may be termed the idle part of the chain, is of such radius that the levers 9 will pass freely around from said idle part toward the active run of the chain without contact with the disk.` However, just in advance of the point where the disk overlies the beginning of the active run of the chain, the radius of the disk is increased in length to form a camlike portion I4a so that the upper portion of each successive lever will ride on the periphery of the cam-like portion, thus causing the leverV to swing on its pivot against the tension of the spring Il and raising the nose I2 out of contact with the base plate l, the leverbeing maintained in that position until it arrives approximately at right angles to the direction of travel of the fabric I at which time the nose I2 of the lever and the plate 'I are disposed in straddling relation to the edge of the fabric, as shown at the right-hand side of Fig. 2. At this point the periphery of the cam disk is sharply cut away as indicated at I5, so that when the lever arrives at this point its contact with the periphery of the disk ceases and, under the tension of the spring II the nose I2 grips the fabric between it and the base-plate 1. The edge of the fabric is thus positively held and carried along with the chain during its travel from the sprocket 5 toward sprocket 3.

It is of course necessary that the fabric be released from the successive gripping devices as they arrive at the end of the active run of the chain. For this purpose, a disk I6 is secured on the shaft 2 in the same horizontal plane as the cam disk I4. The diameter of the disk I6 is such that it will trip the levers 9 at any point where it overlies the chain, so that as the successive levers arrive at a point opposite the sprocket 3 they are caused to swing away from the plate in the same manner as above described in connection with the cam I4a, whereby the fabric is released and left free to continue its travel beyond the chain. The levers will remain in open or fabric-releasing position until they have passed out of contact with disk I6 on the inactive or idle run of the chain.

In Fig. 5 I have shown in section a device which may be used in a finishing machine either independently of or in combination with the fabricgripping meansy above described. The said device comprises a horizontal bar II triangular in crosss-ection disposed in the path of the fabric I during its passage from the gripping means to the receiving roller I8. The fabric is led over the apex of the bar and is maintained in close contact with the two upper sides thereof by tension rollers I9 and 20 disposed in parallel relation with the bar adjacent to the opposite side edgesof the base of the bar. From the bar I1 the fabric passes around rollers 2I and 22 and thence to receiving roller I8. This device is particularly useful in the treatment of tucked or shirred fabrics, since by reason of the passage of the fabric between the rollers I9, 2l) and the flat sides of the bar the tucks are caused to lie perfectly fiat and smooth.

It is believed that the operation of the gripping means will be readily understood from the foregoing description. I have deemed it unnecessary to illustrate a complete fabric-finishing machine herein, since such machines are well known in the art. It will be understood that a pair of complete gripping units such as that illus- -trated in Fig. 1 are disposed at opposite side 'edges of the fabric, and that the chain driving shafts 2 of both units are driven so as to cause portion of the width of the fabric between the leu ver and plate and any transverse pull on the fabric will act to increase the gripping action of the lever thereon.

Having thus described my invention, what I u claim is:

The combination with an endless traveling chain, of a gripping device'secured to each link of the chain and comprising a base plate extending laterally from said chain, a lever pivoted on said plate and disposed at an acute angle thereto,saidlever having a rounded nose portion at its lower end, tension means normally maintaining said nose portion of said lever in engagement with the plate, a xed disk disposed in overlying relation to the chain at one end of its runs and having a cam portion operative to engage said lever as the chain passes from one run to the other temporarily to move said lever on its pivot thereby to carry said nose portion out of engagement with the plate, the periphery of said disk being cut away at the base of said cam portion to permit return of said lever under the action of said tension means and a disk in overlying relation to the chain at the opposite end of its runs, said disk being of such diameter as to project into the path of the lever whereby the lever will engage the periphery of the disk and be swung on its pivot thereby to maintain th-e nose portion out of engagement with the plate while the chain passes back to the first-mentioned HARRY KASTRINSKY.

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