Apparatus and method for folding a textile fabric length
AssigneeTexpa Maschinenbau GmbH & Co.
InventorsHermann Schmitt, Siegfried Henze
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus (1) for folding a textile fabric length (11) is provided with at least two transport belts (2, 3) which can be driven in opposite directions, wherein a gap (27) is disposed between the transport belts (2, 3), through which gap the fabric length (11) can be drawn while forming a fold when the transport belts (2, 3) are driven in opposite directions. In order to achieve greater folding accuracy, a gripping member (4) is disposed above the two transport belts (2, 3), which member can move substantially parallel to the upper side of the transport belts (2, 3) and can be brought to lie between the front and the back end (12, 23) of the unfolded fabric length (11) with a fixing action.
Claims15
An apparatus for folding a textile fabric length, comprising:
- at least two transport belts which can be driven in opposite directions, wherein a gap is disposed between the transport belts, through which gap the fabric length can be drawn while forming a fold when the transport belts are driven in opposite directions;
- a gripping member disposed above said two transport belts, said gripping member being movable substantially parallel to an upper side of said transport belts and is movable to lie between a front and a back end of the unfolded fabric length with a fixing action;
- a feed device for feeding the unfolded fabric length in a freely suspended manner into a region at a side of said transport belts.
A method for folding a fabric length in an apparatus with at least two transport belts which can be driven in opposite directions, wherein a gap is disposed between the transport belts, through which gap the fabric length is drawn while forming a fold when the transport belts are driven in opposite directions, and a gripping member is disposed above the two transport belts and can move substantially parallel to the upper side of the transport belts, the method comprising the steps of:
- feeding the fabric length laterally to the transport belts in a freely suspended manner;
- bringing the gripping member to lie against the unfolded fabric length between the front and the back end of the fabric length with a fixing action;
- moving the gripping member laterally up to an end point while forming a fabric length which is folded once and lies in two layers;
- disengaging the fabric from the gripping member;
- drawing the fabric length into the gap disposed between the transport belts while forming a further fold by driving the transport belts in opposite directions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.