Hosiery toe closing method and apparatus
AssigneeDetexomat Machinery Limited
InventorsMichael J. Hodges, Sydney Beal
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The toe end of a hose blank has a looper line bead and is toe closed by movement past a seamer along a seam line located by reference to the bead, the blank being mounted on a toe closer carrier of conventional form. Opposed blades of the carrier execute a forward movement to pass the beaded end of the blank through a space between two open jaws of a positioning device; the jaws thereafter close and by drawing the blank backwards the bead is brought against the jaws, which are at a pre-set location relative to the seamer and the toe end is thereby positioned ready for seaming. The toe end is then conveyed to and past the seamer by a transport belt, the positioning established by the jaws being maintained during conveyance of the blank to seamer.
Claims13
A toe closer for closing the toe end of a hosiery blank which terminates in a bead or barrier, a seamer and means to transport the toe end of a blank in a flattened state along a path past the seamer for the latter to generate a toe closing seam across the blank, the closer further including means to position a blank before transport to the seamer, the positioning means comprising an initially open pair of jaws located in a pre-set relation to the path of transport and the seamer, means for presenting the end of a blank through the open jaws, and means for closing the jaws about the end of a blank presented therebetween, whereby in use a blank is positioned by retraction of the blank until the terminal bead or barrier thereof abuts the closed jaws.
A toe closer for closing the toe ends of hosiery blanks which terminate in a thickened bead, comprising:
- a seamer;
- hose carriers for mounting blanks for toe closing, said carriers each being movable, in turn, sequentially through a plurality of stations including a loading station, a positioning station and a seaming station;
- means to transport toe ends of the blanks in turn along a transport path to said seaming station for the seamer to generate a toe closing seam across each blank;
- and
- means to position each toe end to place said bead thereof at a datum position prior to transport of the toe end to said seamer;
- said positioning means comprising a pair of jaws aligned generally parallel with said transport path and located in a predetermined datum position with respect to said seamer and said transport path, said jaws being adapted to execute opening and closing movements respectively for receiving a toe end to be positioned and thereafter for positioning the toe end by engagement of the thickened bead with the closed jaws;
- said positioning means being operatively associated with toe end displacing means which displacing means is operable to displace the toe end of a blank located between the closed jaws in a direction whereby said bead is abutted with the jaws, thereby to locate the bead at said datum position;
- said jaws, in the closed condition, being adapted to define a gap through which the toe end can freely move but which is smaller than the bead;
- each of said hose carriers being adapted to execute reciprocal movements at the positioning station for advancing the toe end of a blank carried thereby between the opened jaws of said positioning means;
- and
- said transport means being operable, after said bead of each blank has been positioned at said datum position, to displace the toe end along said gap and along said transport path to said seaming station, said transport means being operative to preserve the positioning of said bead during displacement of the toe end along said path.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.