Cloth clamping device

A cloth clamping device comprising:

• a clamping mechanism configured to come into contact with an upper surface of a cloth, among cloths placed so as to be stacked in the up-down direction, and to clamp the cloth with which the contact is made, the clamping mechanism including a support portion, a leg portion, a foot portion, and a clamping portion,
• the leg portion being provided on the support portion such that a lower end of the leg portion protrudes below the support portion, and such that the leg portion is capable of moving up and down between an upper position in which the leg portion is positioned relatively upward with respect to the support portion, and a lower position in which the leg portion is positioned relatively downward with respect to the support portion,
• the foot portion being provided on the lower end of the leg portion and protruding in a sideway direction from the leg portion, and coming into contact with the upper surface of the cloth when the leg portion is positioned in the upper position,
• the clamping portion including a leading end portion and a base end portion,
• the leading end portion facing the foot portion in the sideway direction, and
• the base end portion being pivotally supported by the support portion, at a position in the sideway direction with respect to the leading end portion and above the leading end portion, and
• the clamping portion
• being positioned in a closed position when the leg portion is in the upper position and
• being positioned in an open position when the leg portion is in the lower position,
• the closed position being a position in which the clamping portion comes into contact with the upper surface of the cloth and the leading end portion is positioned above the foot portion, and
• the open position being a position in which the leading end portion pivots downward with respect to the closed position and is positioned in a sideway direction with respect to the foot portion;
• and
• an up-and-down movement mechanism configured to move the clamping mechanism up and down, the up-and-down movement mechanism being connected to the support portion.