Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CASE: 52-CS
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~ his invention relates to an improved apparatus for
affixing slide fastener elements to fabric, for instance,
the fabric of a garment. More specifically, the
invention relates to apparatus by which a "ladder" or
line of slide fastener elements may be sewn directly to the
fabric of a garment without the conventional intervening
zipper tape.
According to the present invention, there is provided
apparatus for use in machine sewing a continuous line
of fastener elements to fabric and for severing connecting
cords of the line of fastener elements upon completion of
the sewing operation, the apparatus including a reciprocable
blade engagable between adjacent fastener elements of the
line, a linkage driven in timed relationship with a needle
of the sewing machine for reciprocating the blade in a con-
tinuous path to feed the fabric and fastener elements in
step-by-step fashion through the sewing machine, and a
selectively actuable mechanism for deepening the path of
reciprocation of the blade to sever said connecting cords~
~b Other features of the invention will be apparent
from a study of the accompanying specification including
the attached drawings. In the drawings:
Fig. ~ is an enlarged view transverse of a line
of fasteners with which the invention is adapted to be
used.
Fi~. 1 is a perspective view of an attachment em-
~odying the invention attached to a conventional sewing
machine;
Fig. 2 is a side view of the attachment showing the
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adjacent parts of the sewing machine in fragmentary
fashion and taken from the opposite side of the attachment
from Fig. 1. The lower portion of the side of the attach-
ment is broken away to show the knife guide means;
Fig. 2a is a section view taken on the line 2a-2a of
Fig. 2;
Fig. 3 is a top view with respect to Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is a front end view shown in fragmentary
fashion;
Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of
Fig. 3;
Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of
Fig. 3;
Fig. 7 is a sectional view showing the engagement of
the feed and cut-off knife with a line of fastener
elements;
Fig. 7a is an enlarged fragmentary front end view of
the knife and related parts in the position shown in Fig.
7;
Fig. 8 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 7 but
showing the feeding process further advanced with the
knife having fed one of the fastener elements (blackened
. .
for easy recognition); -
Fig. 8a is an enlarged fragmentary end view of the
knife and related part in the position shown in Fig. 8;
Fig. 9 is a view comparable to Figs. 7 and 8 but
' showing the needle fully depressed with the cutter pin
extended to cause the seVering of the line of fastener
` elements.
Fig. 9a is an enlarged fragmentary view of the knife
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and related part in the position shown in Fig. 9;
Fig. 10 is a front end view of a modified apparatus
adapted for sewing side-by-side lines of fastener
elements. This view is partly in section to show the
relationship of the feeding knife with the lines;
Fig. 11 is a side view partly in section showing the
apparatus of Fig. 10;
Fig. 12 is a view showing lines of fastener elements
attached to a single piece of fabric by the modification
of the apparatus shown in Figs. 10 and 11;
Fig. 13 is an enlarged sectional view of the product
shown in Fig. 12, the fabric having been cut intermediate
the lines;
Fig. 14 is a further step towards completion of the
product shown in Fig. 13 wherein the fabric is folded to
dispose the lines of fastener elements on the inside of
the fabric in invisible fashion;
Fig. 15 shows in sectional view the fastener of Fig.
14 with its lines interlocked;
Fig. 16 is a view of the fabric in assembly of
Fig. 15 showing the zipper slider and an end stop;
Fig. 17 is a block diagram showing the system employ-
ing the apparatus disclosed in Figs. 1 through 11; and
Fig. 18 is a block diagram showing the various steps
in the process using the system of Fig. 17.
Referring now to the drawings, a typical fastener
element with which the invention is adapted to be used
is shown in Fig. A. It comprises a "U"-shaped fastener
element having an enlarged head H at its bight, legs L,
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and heels N. Notches o indent the legs adjacent the
heels. This "U"-shaped element is of plastic and embedded
in the heels are cords M running the length of the
fastener and serving to immobilize the elements and uni-
formly space them. As in the past, the severing of such a
line of fasteners is accomplished by simply cutting the
cords M between adjacent elements where desired.
As shown in Fig. 1, an apparatus embodying the in-
vention is generally designated 10. It is adapted to be
10 mounted on the presser foot shaft S of a standard sewing
machine having a needle bar NB with clamp C and needle N
working in cooperation with the sewing machine bed B. A
conventional feed dog FD ~Fig. 17) engages and moves
fabric through the machine from the underside.
The apparatus comprises a frame 12 having a foot
poxtion with a vertical opening 14 adapted to receive the
presser foot shaft S to which the frame 12 may be secured
by the clamping screw 16 disposed in a tapped hole inter-
secting the opening 14. The front end of the frame com-
20 prises a pair of pressing shoes 18 and 20. The shoes arejoined ~y a web 22 having a depending spreader cam 24
(Fig. 5~. To stabilize the fastener elements E as they
move between the shoes 18 and 20 and are spread by the cam
24, the shoes may present lnwardly extending flanges 26
and 28 which engage in the notches O (Fig. A).
Disposed above the shoe 20 in the front of the frame
and mounted for movement reciprocally of the frame with
some vertical movement as well, is the feed arm 30. Arm
30 rests against the frame 12, and is held thereagainst
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by the retainer plate 31. The front end of the arm 30 is
confined to limited vertical movement by the stop finger
32 which is secured by bolts as shown to the leftward side
of the frame 12 and extends up over the shoe 18 to present
its distal end above the arm 30. In addition, the feed
arm 30 is formed with a slot 34 adjacent its rear end.
The slot 34 receives a "T"-shaped spacer 36 which is
bolted as by bolt 38 to the frame. The spacer 36 limits
the vertical movement of the rear of the arm but permits
10 horizontal reciprocal movement of the arm against the
frame (see section 2a).
As shown in Fig. 2a, the frame 12 is drilled with
successive smaller bores 37, 37a, 37b from its upper sur- ~ ;
face downward, the last bore 37b intersecting the cutout
for the rearward end of the arm 30. The last bore 37b
receives a pin 39 which engages the upper surface of the
arm 30. The pin 39 is headed at its upper end and is
urged downwardly by a spring 39a disposed in bore 37a be-
tween the pin 39 and a set screw 39b which is adjustably
20 disposed in tapped bore 37. The pressure exerted on the
feed arm by the pin 39 serves to damp the motion of the
arm 30 and also to slightly urge the forward end of the
arm 30 upward and counterbalance the weight thereof. This
assure5 that the knife 57 clears the elements E as the
knife moves forwaxd.
Thus, the feed arm 30 is confined to a limited
horizontal movement as limited by the opening 34 at its rear
end. At its forward end, the arm 30 is permitted slight
vertica~ movement limited upwardly by the stop 32.
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Downwardly, the travel of the front end of arm 30 islimited, as will be described.
An upward extension 40 (Fig. 2) of the arm 30 mounts
a perpendicularly outward threaded stud 42 which is re-
ceived into an opening in the drive arm 44. The forward
end of the drive arm 44 is slotted, as shown at 46, to
receive the clamping screw CS of the needle clamp C.
A bracket 47, the lower end of which is attached to
arm 30, a suitable compression washer 47a and a nut 48 are
10 also received by the shaft 42 so that the drive arm 44 is
pressed snugly against the feed arm 30. As a result,
when the needle vertically reciprocates, as in a sewing -
motion, the drive arm ~4 oscillates about the stud 42.
This causes an up-and-down oscillating movement of the
front end of the feed arm 30.
Further controlling the motion of the feed arm 30
and drive arm 44 is the cam roller 50 which is mounted
for free rotation on a spindle 52 on arm 44. ~ cam sur-
face 54 is provided in a slot 56 in the stationary frame
20 12. The cam 54 is formed with a peak 54a which, as the
roller 50 rolls over it, causes the rightward movement
(Fig. 2~ of the entire drive arm/feed arm assembly 44,30.
At this same time, the feed arm 30 has dropped due to
the fxictional engagement of the descending drive arm
44 with the feed arm 30. A spring shoe 58, mounted on
frame 12, urges the wheel S0 leftwardly. The spring shoe
58 is pivoted to the frame 12 by pin 60. The shoe 58 is
urged le~twardly by a spring 58a disposed between the
shoe 58 and the frame 12.
Mounted on the front end of the arm 30 is a feed
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knife or blade means which serves, as it moves down and
rightwardly (Fig. 2), to engage between adjacent fastener
elements E of the line of fastener elements to move the
entire line a short distance rearwardly in the sewing
machine.
In operation, preferably the feed arm 30 reaches its
reaxward limit as the needle shaft reaches its lower
limit. Then, as the shaft raises, the arm 44 is cor-
respondingly driven up. This causes the front end of
10 the arm 3Q to raise. As the needle N moves farther
upward, the spring shoe 58 urges the arm 44 forwardly
(Fig. 7) causing the knife to move foxwardly also.
It will be understood that as the arm 30 and knife
57 is making its hoe-like motions, pulling in step-by-step
fashion the fastenex line through the machine, the needle
N is appropriately synchronized with this motion to sew
the fastener elements E, one-by-one, to the fabric F.
The mechanism fox cutting off the line of slide
fastener elements E includes the feed arm 30 and the knife
20 57 as already described. It will be noted that the right-
ward end ~Fig. ~ of the drive arm 44 is formed with a
slot 62. On the othex side of the frame 12 there is
mounted an electxic solenoid 70 having an armature
comprising a pin 72. The pin is biased in the retracted
condition by the spring 73 and stop element 74 limits
the retxoactive travel of the pin (Fig. 1~.
Upon actuation of the solenoid 70, the pin is
dxiven into the slot 62. The pin has a tapexed fxont
end ~Fig.2~
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so that even though, as shown in Fig. 2, the pin is not
precisely aligned with the slot, the driving action by
the solenoid 70 causes the pin to wedge into the opening
62 and to move the drive arm 44/feed arm assembly in a
rightward direction. This is done against the bias of
the spring shoe 58.
The rightward movement as described causes the knife 57
to assume a new rightward position (Fig. 9) at which
the knife is free to be driven all the way down to sever
connecting cords of the line of slide fastener elements
between adjacent elements (Fig. 9a). It wiIl be under- -
stood that the knife 57 is normally held above such a
lower level by the horizontal retaining guide means 76 (Fig.
9) comprising the upper surface of cam 24. This
means normally prevents the movement of the knife 57
to a level sufficiently low so that the line of fasteners
are severed. However, as shown in Fig. 3, the guide
means 76 terminate just rightward of the normal end of
travel of the feed knife 57. Hence, the normal recip-
rocation of the knife 57 is at a level whereat the cords
holding the fastener elements E together are not engaged
or cut thereby: the knife normally only engages between
adjacent elements E and steps the line along. It is
only upon actuation of the solenoid 70 and penetration of
the slot ~2 b~ the pin 72 which drives the assembly
30, 44 rightward to its limit which permits the severing
position of the knife 57.
It will be clear that after the severing of the
coxds M, the continued activation of the solenoid with
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the machine operating will cause the continued stitching
of the machine and the continued advancing of the fabric
F, but no feeding of the line of elements E. This enables
the machine to make so-called anchoring stitches before
and after the sewing of the line of elements E.
The basic principles and operation of the feeding
and severing foot for zipper lines having been now
explained, the modification shown in Figs. 10 and 11
should be readily understandable.
In the Figs. 10-11 embodiment, the primed form of
the same reference numerals used in the Figs 1 through
9 embodiment are employed where applicable.
Reference is made to Fig. 10 which is a front
view of a presser foot embodying the invention and having
dual fastener line feeding and severing capabilities. In
this modification, the frame 12' supports a pair of
fastener element-spreader cams 24' and element guide
rails 26', 28' formed in the shoe structure 20', 18'.
The front end of a feed arm 30 is formed with a pair of
unitary knives 57'. As in the Figs. 1 through 9 embodi-
ment, the knives 57', when supported on the guides 76 and
are driven in their hoe-like fashion, serve to step the
lines of spaced side-by-side elements E' along. Upon
the activation of the solenoid (not shown) the arm 30'
and knife 57' move to its more rightward position and
operate rightward of the guide 76' to accomplish the
severing of the cords of the lines of fasteners simul-
taneously.
With the apparatus shown in Figs. 10 and 11, lines
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of side-by-side spaced parallel fasteners may be stitched
directly to a layer of fabric as shown in Fig. 12. As
shown, the relative canting of the two elements E' shown
in Fig. 10, dispose the lines of fasteners in opposite
fashion (Fig. 12), that is, with the heads of the fastener
elements pointing outward with respect to the other line
of fasteners. The intermediate product, therefore, is
as shown in Fig. 13, a pair of fastener lines with their
"U"-shaped openings opposing each other.
As shown in Fig. 3, the fabric F between the elements
may then be cut on a line parallel to and intermediate
the two lines (see the broken line CL in Fig. 12 indi-
cating the cut line~. In the next steP in the garment
manufacturing process, the fabric F may be folded at the
positions FF just outside of the lines of fastener
elements E', yielding the further intermediate product
shown in Fig. 14. Finally, a slider X may be applied and
the lines of elements E' intermeshed thereby, as shown in
Figs. 16 and 15. A conventional slider stop SS may be
20 applied at the fabric joint and further stitching done
along the line of severance, as will be understood by
one skilled in the art.
Thus, using the dual applicator described in Figs.
10 and 11, there i5 provided means for economically
producing, without use of the conventional intermediate
tapes, an invisible-type fastener directly attached to
the fabric of a garment. Those in the trade will
` appreciate the elimination of the expensive and time-con-
suming intermediate steps including the previously thought
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necessary provision of slider elements already affixed to
intermediate tapes. Obviously, the apparatus and method
of the present invention offers profound advantages over
conventional processes.
Figs. 17 and 18 show in self-explanatory fashion in
block diagram, the controls for apparatus embodying the
invention.
Referring to Fig. 17, a keyboard is connected to a
computer/control device which in turn is connected to the
sewing machine motor as well as to a cycle sensor capable
of counting the number of rotations of the main shaft of
the sewing machine.
In an actual commercial embodiment, the computer/
control device takes the form of an instrument known in
the trade as a "Microprocessor" and is available from
the Pro-Log Corporation of Monterey, California, and
bearing the model number PLS-402.
Additional connections to the computer/control
device lead to the stitch solenoid 70, a start switch,
a digital display element indicating the number of
stitches the computer/control device is set for in
accordance with the pre-pxogrammed length fed in by the
keyboard and a format circuit which establishes a general
program for the machine's operation.
Now referring to Fig. 18, the method of operating
the machine, includin~ the cixcuitry set forth in Fig. 17,
is pxesented~
~ 5 will be understood, prior to operation of the
sewin~ machine the keybo~rd is used to feed into the
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computer/control device information basically includingthe desired length of the zipper. The pre-established
format circuitry establishes from this information the
number of stitches involved and also presents to the
computer/control device the number of end stitches which
serve to provide stitching to the fabric prior to and
subsequent to the actual stitching of the line of
fasteners so that at either end of the line there are
additional securing stitches to avoid the inadvertent
working free of the ends of the fastener lines.
Pursuant to the instructions fed to the machine by
the computer/control device, the commencement of the
stitching operation is effected with the solenoid 70
activated. The activation of the solenoid causes, as the
needle end reciprocates, the blade 75 to simply recipro-
cate in its cutting position without effecting any feeding
of the fastener element line.
When the cycle sensor has counted the appropriate
number of pre-stitches, the computer/control device
automatically deactivates the solenoid 70 so that in sub-
sequent reciprocations of the needle, the drive arm 44
- drives the feed arm 30 and in the aforedescribed hoe-like
motions feeding the line of fasteners at each recipro-cation
of the needle, with the needle correspondingly
stitching the individual elements to the fabric F.
When the cycle sensor has counted the pre-determined
number of rotations of the sewing machine drive shaft which
equate to the number of inches of zipper to be installed,
the computer/control device activates the solenoid 70 to
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to cause the cutting operation of the line of elements E
as aforedescribed.
Finally, with the solenoid 70 activated, the
solenoid and the knife 57 reciprocating in its cutting
position without feeding of any lines of element, the
final or post stitches are counted out by the sensor
prior to the shutting down of the machine.
It will be apparent that the improved apparatus and
method as described represent a tremendous advance in the
art which effects new economies in the manufacture of
garments and improves quality of the final product.
