Glove turning and blocking process and apparatus

A process of turning and blocking a stitched inside out glove of leather or similar material which comprises the steps of:

• mounting said glove, in an inside out condition, on a fixed skeletal hand having finger mounting members of rod-like form and relatively small diameter, with the finger mounting members extending longitudinally inside and substantially to the ends of the fingers of the glove;
• moving tubular mandrels, of relatively larger diameter, over the respective glove finger bearing finger mounting members so as substantially to surround the glove fingers, and to form a generally straight line for turning purposes defined by the extremities of said tubular mandrels;
• gripping the wrist portion of the glove laterally in clamping means adapted to move longitudinally of the skeletal hand;
• moving said clamping means and wrist portion of the glove gripped thereby towards said tubular mandrels and thereby turning the hand portion of the glove to its right side out condition with simultaneous lateral stretching of the hand portion by said clamping means;
• sealing the turned edge of the hand portion in substantially air-tight manner against a resilient sealing collar by bringing the clamping means engaging said turned edge into engagement with a resilient collar so as to form a chamber of restricted air escape inside the partially turned glove;
• releasing said clamping means to release lateral stresses on said hand portion;
• supplying heated air to said chamber of restricted air escape so as to urge the finger portion of the glove away from said tubular mandrels;
• continuing the moving of the clamping means and wrist portion of the glove away from the fixed skeletal hand so as to turn the finger portions of the glove onto the tubular mandrels;
• withdrawing the clamping means from engagement with the glove;
• and
• removing the turned glove from the tubular mandrels.

Apparatus for turning and blocking gloves comprising:

• at least one finger mounting member of relatively small diameter adapted to be received inside a finger of a stitched, inside out glove mounted thereon;
• at least one finger receiving mandrel of relatively larger diameter adapted to be arranged in substantial longitudinal alignment with said at least one finger mounting member;
• an expandable and retractable wrist clamp adapted to expand to grip the inside of the wrist portion of the glove mounted on said at least one finger mounting member, said wrist clamp being movable relative to said at least one finger mounting member in a direction longitudinally thereof towards and away from said at least one finger receiving mandrel, for transferring a glove finger mounted on said at least one finger mounting member onto said at least one finger receiving mandrel by rolling the finger onto the outer surface thereof;
• a sealing clamp surrounding said at least one finger receiving mandrel and adapted to engage with the edge of the wrist clamp to grip therebetween in substantially sealing manner an edge of a glove gripped by said wrist clamp, around the periphery of said edge;
• means for supplying air pressure to the inside of a glove sealingly gripped between said sealing clamp and said wrist clamp.