US 4,223,816 AGranted

Hosiery cuff forming apparatus

AssigneeSurratt Hosiery Mill, Inc.

InventorClarence J. Glover

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Abstract

The present apparatus automatically forms the desired length of folded cuff on hosiery articles and the cuffed hosiery articles are automatically removed from the apparatus. The operator is only required to successively position hosiery articles on tubular members (T-1, T-2 and T-3) as they are successively moved in a step-by-step manner by a turret (10) to a loading station, a cuff folding station, and a hosiery stripping station. The operator draws a hosiery article over the tubular member (T-1) at the loading station with the closed toe end of the hosiery article covering the open free end of the tubular member. The tubular member is then moved to the folding station where a plunger (30) moves the closed toe end of the hosiery article inwardly of the tubular member leaving a folded cuff on the outside of the tubular member (T-2). The tubular member is then moved to the stripping station where gripper means (13) removes the hosiery article with the folded cuff from the tubular member (T-3) and releases the same into a convenient collection receptacle.

Claims6

Dependent claims

An apparatus for forming a folded cuff on a hosiery article having an open end and a closed toe end, said apparatus comprising

(a) a tubular member including an open free end over which the open end of the hosiery article is adapted to be drawn so that the closed toe end of the hosiery article covers said open free end of said tubular member,
(b) plunger means including a free end aligned with and adapted to pass into said open free end of said tubular member,
(c) means supporting said plunger means for reciprocating movement a predetermined distance into and out of said open free end of said tubular member so that said free end of said plunger means engages and moves the closed toe end of the hosiery article inwardly of said tubular member when reciprocated into said tubular member, leaving a cuff portion on the outside of and overlying and encircling a portion of said tubular member adjacent said open free end and the portion of the hosiery article positioned on the inside of said tubular member, and
(d) gripper means supported for reciprocating movement parallel to said tubular member and adjacent said open free end of said tubular member, and
(e) operator means for moving said gripper means inwardly to said open free end of said tubular member to grip the hosiery article with the cuff on the outside of said tubular member and the reaminder of the hosiery article on the inside and for then moving said gripper means outwardly and away from said open free end of said tubular member and in a direction parallel to said tubular member to withdraw the cuffed hosiery article from said tubular member.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.