US 4,601,225 AGranted

Apparatus for automatically cutting apart successive articles

AssigneeCannon Mills Company

InventorsDennis L. Starnes, William G. Kimball, Robert E. Watson

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Abstract

An apparatus is provided for automatically cutting apart successive articles, such as terry towels, from a continuous length of material, in which such articles are separated therein by portions extending transversely across the material and of less thickness than the articles, so that each cut article has an equal amount of thinner portion remaining on each cut edge for subsequent hemming or the like. The apparatus includes devices for automatically aligning and positioning the thinner separating portion of the material relative to a cutting device so that the cutting device will cut the articles apart generally through the center of the thinner separating portion of the material.

Claims13

Dependent claims

Apparatus for automatically cutting apart successive articles, such as terry towels, from a continuous length of material, in which such articles are separated therein by portions extending transversely across the material and of less thickness than the articles, so that each cut article has an equal amount of the thinner portion remaining on each cut edge for subsequent hemming or the like;

said apparatus comprising:
frame means;
cutting means carried by said frame means for transversely cutting the material to separate the successive articles;
means carried by said frame means for sequentially feeding the continuous material through said apparatus in generally a longitudinally-extending path of travel and for stopping the material in a cutting position in which the next successive thinner separating portion of the material is generally adjacent said cutting means;
and
means carried by said frame means for aligning and positioning the thinner separating portion of the material relative to said cutting means so that said cutting means will cut the articles apart generally through the center of the thinner separating portion of the material, said aligning and positioning means comprising a pair of movable blade means positioned transversely across and perpendicularly to one surface of the material in said apparatus and in equally spaced relation on each side of said cutting means, means for moving said pair of blade means between a first position out of engagement with the material when the material is being fed by said feeding means and a second position in engagement with the thinner separating portion of the material which has been positioned adjacent said cutting means, and means for moving each of said blade means after engagement with the material between an inward position in which said blade means are spaced apart a distance less than the longitudinal dimension of the thinner separating portion in the material and an outward position in which said blade means are spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the longitudinal dimension of the thinner separating portion, so that said blade means will be moved apart into engagement with the respective edges of the thicker articles joining the thinner separating portion transversely across the material for aligning and positioning the thinner separating portion equally on each side of said cutting means.

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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

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Abstract

said apparatus comprising:
frame means;
cutting means carried by said frame means for transversely cutting the material to separate the successive articles;
means carried by said frame means for sequentially feeding the continuous material through said apparatus in generally a longitudinally-extending path of travel and for stopping the material in a cutting position in which the next successive thinner separating portion of the material is generally adjacent said cutting means;
and
means carried by said frame means for aligning and positioning the thinner separating portion of the material relative to said cutting means so that said cutting means will cut the articles apart generally through the center of the thinner separating portion of the material, said aligning and positioning means comprising a pair of movable blade means positioned transversely across and perpendicularly to one surface of the material in said apparatus and in equally spaced relation on each side of said cutting means, means for moving said pair of blade means between a first position out of engagement with the material when the material is being fed by said feeding means and a second position in engagement with the thinner separating portion of the material which has been positioned adjacent said cutting means, and means for moving each of said blade means after engagement with the material between an inward position in which said blade means are spaced apart a distance less than the longitudinal dimension of the thinner separating portion in the material and an outward position in which said blade means are spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the longitudinal dimension of the thinner separating portion, so that said blade means will be moved apart into engagement with the respective edges of the thicker articles joining the thinner separating portion transversely across the material for aligning and positioning the thinner separating portion equally on each side of said cutting means.

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