Method and apparatus for transferring hosiery between hosiery manufacturing machines
AssigneeDetexomat Machinery Limited
InventorsMichael J. Hodges, Malcolm K. Scanes
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Hosiery manufacturing equipment comprises a line closer (L) and a toe closer (T) which are linked by a hose transfer mechanism (M) consisting of two conveyors (30, 31) which overlap in a region between the closers (L, T). The conveyors have respective hose holders (39, 40) which coact in the overlap region so that hose carried by the first holder (39) are stripped therefrom and taken over by the second holder (40) which ultimately mounts the hose on the toe closer (T); the first holder is responsible for stripping the hose from the line closer (L) and for rotating the hose through a predetermined angle which is related to a difference in angular attitude between respective hose supports (10, 16) of the two closers (L, T).
Claims26
Hosiery manufacturing equipment including first and second spaced apart hose support means aligned with respect to each other, and a transfer means which strips hose from said first support means, carries same to said second support means and loads said hose thereon, said transfer means including endless conveyor means located between said first and second hose support means, said endless conveyor means having at least one hose holding means secured thereto and being movable therewith, said hose holding means including a set of hose gripping fingers, a portion of said conveyor means being positioned adjacent said first support means so that said fingers make engagement with the welt end of hose supported thereat and strip said hose from said support, after which said transfer means deliver said hose to said second support means and places said welt end of said hose in an encircling relationship on said second support means in a predetermined attitude with respect thereto.
Hosiery manufacturing equipment including first and second spaced apart hose support means and a transfer means which strips hose from said first support means carries it to said second support means and loads it thereon, said transfer means including endless conveyor means located between said first and second hose support means, and at least one hose support means associated therewith and being movable operationally between said support means, said hose holding means including a set of hose engaging finger means, a portion of said conveying means being positioned adjacent said first support means for said hose holding means to engage with the welt end of hose supported thereat, said transfer means being operative during transfer to effect removal of said hose from said first support means, carriage of said welt end of said hose to said second support means and placement of said welt end in an encircling relationship on said second support means, the equipment being adapted to place the hose on said second support means at a predetermined rotational attitude.
Manufacturing equipment for pantihose including a line closer having first support means for support of pantihose thereon, a toe closer for pantihose spaced apart from said line closer and having second support means for pantihose thereon, and a transfer mechanism which strips pantihose from said first support means, carries said pantihose to said second support means and loads same thereon, said transfer mechanism comprising first and second endless conveyors located between said line closer and said toe closer, said first conveyor being located adjacent said line closer and having pantihose holding means secured thereto and movable therewith into engagement with the waist portion of a pantihose on said first support means to remove said pantihose from said first support means and convey same to said second conveyor, said second conveyor being located between said first and second support means, and overlapping with said first conveyor, said second conveyor having pantihose holding means secured thereto and movable therewith into engagement with pantihose being held by said first conveyor pantihose holding means and conveying said pantihose to said second support means, said holding means on said second conveyor being operable to place the waist portion of said pantihose about said second support means.
A method for manufacturing pantihose from a pair of hose legs which are open at both ends, said pantihose having a body portion formed by seaming the legs together along a seam line which, in the finished pantihose, extends from the top of the body portion at the front through the crotch of the body portion and to the top of the body portion at the back, the method including the steps of:
- mounting said hose legs on a holder therefor on a line closing machine;
- advancing said mounted legs past a cutting and seaming station and joining said legs together by a seam to form said body portion, and thereafter advancing said pantihose to a discharge station;
- transferring said hose from said discharge station of said line closer to a pair of suction tubes of a toe closing machine and mounting the hose thereon in a predetermined attitude, said transfer step including movement of an endless conveyor and hose engaging finger means associated therewith into engagement with said body portion and stripping said hose from said line closer, and thereafter transferring said pantihose to a pair of suction tubes of a toe closing machine, said transfer step further including sucking the hose legs free end first into respective ones of the suction tubes while disposing the body portion of said pantihose about said suction tubes in said attitude so that the sewn line of the body portion is located substantially centrally between the suction tubes and is in a plane substantially perpendicular to a plane containing the suction tubes;
- everting the hose legs onto said suction tubes by moving the body portion rearwardly over the suction tubes to draw the legs out of and onto the tubes;
- and
- seaming the open free end of the legs to form closed toe ends.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.