Attachment for sealing seams

A sewing and sealing machine allowing sewing and sealing of a seam between fabric members in a single operation, comprising:

• a reel for providing a quantity of thread comprising between about 2% and about 6% by weight of a thermoplastic polymer material selected from the group consisting of polyurethane, nylon, polyester, polyolefin, and vinyl;
• a sewing mechanism adapted to incrementally draw said at least two fabric members from an upstream side of said sewing machine towards a downstream side of said sewing machine, and to cause a needle to puncture said at least two fabric members at regular intervals and to draw said thread through said punctures, to form a sewn seam;
• and
• a sealing mechanism, comprising:
• a control unit for receiving operational signals from said sewing mechanism, said signals including a synchronization signal and a signal from an operator-controlled switch for initiating sewing operations;
• a reel for supply of a strip of thermoplastic polymer material selected from the group consisting of polyurethane, nylon, polyester, polyolefin, and vinyl;
• a feeder assembly for feeding the strip of thermoplastic polymer material between the fabric members;
• a plurality of driven rollers;
• a pair of idler rollers opposed to each of said driven rollers;
• a continuous belt disposed over said idler rollers;
• each of said driven rollers and idler rollers being controllably heated responsive to control signals from said control unit;
• wherein said driven rollers are brought into engagement with said fabric members in response to said signal from an operator-controlled switch for initiating sewing operations and said driven rollers are driven intermittently by motors controlled by said control unit responsive to said synchronization signal while said at least two fabric members are incrementally drawn from said upstream side of said sewing machine towards said downstream side of said sewing machine, in order to apply heat and pressure to said seam so as to melt said polymer from said thread, whereby said polymer from said thread fills and seals said punctures, and so as to melt said polymer from said strip, whereby said polymer from said strip fills and seals spaces between said fabric members between said punctures.