Tape feeding apparatus
AssigneeMIM Industries, Inc.
InventorRicky J. Frye
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for feeding lengths of tape to a sewing location to be joined to other material including cutting off an end portion of selected length from forward end of tape, then feeding said portion to sewing location.
Claims11
Tape feeding apparatus to feed patches of tape from a tape supply to a sewing location, the tape having a plurality of short, resilient hooks firmly attached thereto and extending from a first surface of the tape, the tape feeding apparatus comprising:
- (a) supporting means comprising parallel guide means, at least one of which is movable toward and away from the other to accommodate tapes of different widths, the guide means guiding the tape along a path from the tape supply toward the sewing location;
- (b) one-way propulsion means intersecting the path to engage the tape and to move the tape only toward the sewing location;
- (c) severing means at a location along the path between the one-way propulsion means and the sewing location to sever one of the patches at a time from the end portion of the tape extending toward the sewing location;
- (d) holding means to hold the end portion of the tape during the severing of each patch;
- (e) adjustable receiving means at the sewing location to receive the patches, one at a time, the receiving means comprising:
- (i) first and second parallel sides, at least one of which is adjustable toward and away from the other to set the space between them according to the width of the tape, and
- (ii) a third side perpendicular to the first and second sides to receive the edge of the patch that previously constituted the end of the portion of tape from which that patch was severed and to hold that edge in a predetermined position in the sewing location, the receiving means being open along the fourth side facing the severing means.
Tape feeding apparatus to feed, to a sewing location, patches of tape from an end of tape from a tape supply, the tape comprising a strip of base material of a selected width and having a plurality of short, resilient hooks firmly attached thereto and extending from a first surface of the base material each patch having a selectable length, the tape feeding apparatus comprising:
- (a) supporting means comprising parallel guide means, at least one of which is movable toward and away from the other to accommodate base materials of different widths, the guide means guiding the tape along a path from the tape supply toward the sewing location:
- (b) one-way propulsion means intersecting the path to engage the tape and to move the tape toward the sewing location, the propulsion means comprising:
- (i) a driving drum to engage the tape,
- (ii) actuating means to rotate the drum a selected angular amount to move the end of the tape toward the sewing location by a distance equal to the length of a patch, and
- (iii) pressure means to press the tape into non-slipping engagement with the driving drum;
- (c) severing means at a location along the path between the one-way propulsion means and the sewing location to sever one of the patches at a time from a portion of the end of the tape;
- (d) holding means to hold the end portion of the tape during the severing of each patch;
- and
- (e) adjustable cloth plate means at the sewing location to receive the patches, one at a time, the adjustable cloth plate means comprising:
- (i) first and second parallel sides, at least one of which is adjustable toward and away from the other to set the space between them according to the width of the base material, and
- (ii) a third side perpendicular to the first and second sides to receive the edge of the patch that previously constituted the end of the portion of tape from which that patch was severed and to hold that edge in a predetermined position in the sewing location, the receiving means being open along a fourth side facing the severing means.
Tape feeding apparatus to feed patches of tape from a tape supply toward a sewing location, the tape feeding apparatus comprising:
- (a) supporting and guiding means to support tape from a tape supply and to guide the tape as it moves along a predetermined path from the tape supply toward the sewing location;
- (b) one-way propulsion means intersecting the path to engage the tape and to move it only toward the sewing location;
- (c) severing means at a severing location along the path between the one-way propulsion means and the sewing location to sever one of the patches at a time from the end portion of the tape extending toward the sewing location;
- and
- (d) means to hold the end portion of the tape during the severing of each patch and, while holding the severed patch, to move the severed patch from the severing location toward the sewing location.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.