Waistband attachment system

A method of manufacturing garments, comprising the steps of:

• moving garment pieces along a sewing path through a sewing station;
• sewing the garment pieces to form a finished garment;
• as the garment pieces are sewn, moving a pivot arm and grippers of a stacking assembly into an engaging position adjacent the garment pieces;
• after the sewing of the garment pieces is completed, engaging the finished garments with the grippers, and, with the garments held therein, thereafter moving the garments away from the sewing station toward a disengaging position;
• and
• releasing the garment pieces and stacking the garments in bundles.

A method of manufacturing garments, comprising the steps of:

• moving garment pieces along a sewing path through a sewing station;
• sewing the garment pieces to form a finished garment;
• as the sewing of the garment pieces are sewn, moving a pivot arm and grippers of a stacking assembly into an engaging position adjacent the garment pieces;
• detecting the size of the garments and moving at least one of the grippers with respect to the other to adjust the position of the grippers according to the size of the garments;
• after the sewing of the garment pieces is completed, engaging the finished garments with the grippers, and, with the garments held therein, moving the pivot arm and grippers away from the sewing station toward a disengaging position;
• and
• releasing the garment pieces and stacking the garments in bundles.

A waistband attachment system for attaching a continuous elastic waistband to a waist portion of a garment as the waistband and the garment are moved along a sewing path extending through a sewing head assembly, said attachment system comprising:

• a puller roller for pulling the elastic waistband and the waistband portion of the garment along the sewing path and through the sewing head assembly;
• a waistband expansion assembly constructed and arranged to expand the elastic waistband to a predetermined size;
• and
• a bottom edge guide assembly for guiding the waistband portion of the garment along the sewing path, said bottom guide assembly being constructed and arranged to selectively guide the waist edge of the gannent into engagement with a knife of the sewing head assembly as the garment advances along the sewing path;
• said bottom edge guide assembly including a series of carriers mounted on a drive chain and movable in a direction perpendicular to the sewing path as the garment advances along the sewing path for engaging and moving the garment across the sewing path, each of said carriers being independently movable in the direction of the sewing path to enable a seam of the garment to pass thereunder while others of said carriers are maintained in engagement with the garment.