Garment welt folder

An apparatus for mechanically folding a piece of welt material along longitudinal fold lines and along transverse fold lines, comprising:

• (a) a template for locating at least two longitudinal fold lines which define an area therebetween and transverse fold lines to be made in the welt material such that a first portion of the welt material is inside and two second portions of the welt material are outside the area defined by the longitudinal fold lines, said template having a recessed area with longitudinal edges corresponding to the longitudinal fold lines and a slot having a substantially rectangular cross section extending transversely across the recess beyond each longitudinal edge;
• (b) first and second finger blades with sharply defined longitudinal edges corresponding to the longitudinal edges of the recessed area, said first and second finger blades for movement into the recessed area and thereby securing the welt mtaterial between the longitudinal edge of the recessed area and the longitudinal edges of the finger blades;
• (c) first and second double-acting fluid cylinders connected to each finger blade, for movement of the finger blades between a retracted position away from the welt material and an extended position where the longitudinal edge of each finger blade is positioned directly above the corresponding longitudinal edge of the recess;
• (d) a flat plate upon which the first and second double-action fluid cylinders are mounted, said flat plate hinged adjacent the template and movable in the vertical plane;
• (e) a third double-action fluid cylinder operatively connected between the flat plate and the template for moving the flat plate in the vertical plane such that the finger blades alternately secure and release the welt material at the longitudinal fold lines;
• (f) first and second guiding blades for assuring the finger blades are oriented substantially parallel to the surface of the recessed area when the finger blades secure the welt material, said first and second guiding blades mounted on the second and third double-acting fluid cylinders, respectively, and extending outwardly to a distance corresponding to the outward extension of the folding blades;
• (g) first and second folding blades, with sharply defined outer edges, for folding the two second portions of the welt material over the first portion of the welt material at the longitudinal fold lines;
• (h) fourth and fifth double-action fluid cylinders connected to the first and second folding blades, respectively, for movement of the folding blades between the retracted position away from the recessed area and an extended position over the recessed area such that the welt material is folded along the longitudinal fold lines as the folding blades move from the retracted to the extended position;
• (i) a plate with sharply defined lower edges and a substantially rectangular cross section movably mounted above the template, the substantially rectangular cross section of the plate corresponding to the substantially rectangular cross section of the slot extending transversely across the recess;
• and
• (j) a means for moving the plate between a retracted position above the recessed area to an extended position, where the lower end of the plate is in the slot, such that a transverse fold is created.

A method for folding a piece of welt material along longitudinal fold lines and along transverse fold lines, comprising the steps of:

• (a) positioning a piece of welt material on a template having a recessed area with longitudinal edges corresponding to at least two longitudinal fold lines to be made in the welt material, and which define an area therebetween such that a first portion of the area of the welt material is inside and two second portions of the area of the welt material are outside the area defined by the longitudinal fold lines;
• (b) extending a pair of finger blades each having a longitudinal edge corresponding to a longitudinal edge of the recess of the template outwardly over the welt material such that the longitudinal edge of each finger blade is positioned directly above the corresponding longitudinal edge of the recess;
• (c) lowering the pair of finger blades onto the welt material such that the welt material is secured between the longitudinal edges of the finger blades and the longitudinal edges of the recessed area at the longitudinal fold lines;
• (d) extending a pair of folding blades outwardly from a retracted position away from the longitudinal edge of the recessed area to an extended position over the longitudinal edge of the recessed area, such that the two second portions of the area of the welt material are folded over the first portion of the area of the welt material at each longitudinal fold line;
• (e) retracting the pair of finger blades to a position away from the welt material such that the finger blades no longer secure the welt material between the longitudinal edges of finger blades and the longitudinal edges of the recessed area;
• (f) raising the pair of finger blades above the surface of the recessed area;
• (g) retracting the pair of folding blades from the extended to the retracted position;
• (h) lowering a plate having a cross section corresponding to the cross section of a slot formed in the template and extending at least between the longitudinal edges of the recess therein into the slot and thereby forming the transverse fold in the longitudinally folded welt material;
• and
• (i) raising the plate above the welt material.