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US 6,123,038 AGranted
Stitching machine and method of stitching
AssigneeABM International, Inc.
InventorsEdward D. Kames, Michael V. Schwarzberger, Neal A. Schwarzberger
Life of this patent
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AssigneeABM International, Inc.
InventorsEdward D. Kames, Michael V. Schwarzberger, Neal A. Schwarzberger
Estimating the term…
The disclosed stitching machine has fabric handling structures, including a rack and rack support structures suited for allowing rack movement between spaced loading/unloading and stitching stations, and clamps on the rack suited for holding fabric for stitching. Flooring structure provided at the loading/unloading station is suited to be shifted between a loading configuration to underlie the rack and support fabric laid thereon until it can be gripped and held by the rack clamps upon such being closed, and an unloading configuration out of the way of an overlying stitched fabric yet held on the rack suited to allow such fabric to fall from the machine upon the rack clamps being opened. Power devices shift such flooring between the loading and unloading configurations, and the rack between the loading/unloading and stitching stations. A sewing machine mounted at the stitching station is controlled to trace out and stitch the fabric as desired.
A machine for stitching flexible fabric layers together along seams inwardly of the periphery thereof, comprising the combination of
A machine for stitching flexible fabric layers together along seams inwardly of the periphery thereof, comprising the combination of lift and load mechanism for automatically picking off only an uppermost set of fabric layers arranged in a vertical stack, said mechanism including a sticky bar and means to move the sticky bar downwardly against the uppermost fabric layer to become bonded thereto and thereafter to move the sticky bar upwardly to draw the bonded uppermost set of fabric layers upwardly off of the stack, grippers carried adjacent the sticky bar, and means to shift the grippers between:
A method of stitching flexible fabric layers together along seams inwardly of the periphery thereof, comprising the steps of laying out one set of the fabric layers on a substantially flat underlying support surface at a loading/unloading station and clamping opposite side edges of the fabric layers to a mobile rack positioned at said loading/unloading station, increasing the spacing between the clamped side edges to tension the held fabric layers substantially tight and flat suited for stitching, indexing the mobile rack and tensioned fabric layers from said load/unloading station to a stitching station whereat stitching can take place, returning the rack and tensioned and seamed fabric layers to the loading/unloading station and removing the support surface thereat, and releasing the clamped side edges of the seamed fabric layers and allowing such layers to fall from control of the rack and from the loading/unloading station.
A machine for stitching flexible fabric layers together along seams, comprising the combination of
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.