Apparatus for automatically orienting hosiery articles for closing toe ends thereof
AssigneeB.B. & S Knitting Consultants
InventorsBob Jordan, Michael R. Wood
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for orienting sock blanks or the like so that the open toes of the blanks can be sewn closed includes a device for turning the sock inside out, a sock rotation device for grasping the sock and rotating it until sensors detect that the sock is in the proper orientation, a sock transfer device for taking the sock from the sock rotation device toward a sewing machine, and sock guiding and positioning mechanisms for feeding the sock into the in-feed nip of the sewing machine.
Claims25
An apparatus for orienting and positioning an open toe end of a tubular sock blank so that the toe end can be closed in an automatic sewing machine, the apparatus comprising:
- a tube for supporting the sock blank sleeved thereover such that the sock blank extends lengthwise along a longitudinal axis of the tube with the toe end opened up into a generally tubular shape and positioned adjacent an open end of the tube;
- and
- a sock rotation device structured and arranged to move into the open toe end of the sock, grasp the sock and remove the sock from the tube such that the sock is supported on the sock rotation device, and for rotation of the sock about an axis thereof while inserted in the sock for orienting the sock prior to transfer of the sock into a sewing machine.
A sock rotational device for rotatably orienting a sock blank, comprising:
- a pair of generally cylindrical rods arranged in parallel spaced relation to each other, each rod being rotatably supported at one end thereof by a rod support and extending away from the rod support in an axial direction and terminating at a free end, the rod supports being movable toward and away from each other in a transverse direction for varying the spacing between the rods, wherein the rods comprise axially extending grooves in the outer surfaces of the rods for preventing rotational slip of the sock relative to the rods;
- an actuation system for moving the rod supports apart to cause the rods to spread a toe end of a sock into a generally flattened orientation;
- and
- a drive arrangement structured and arranged to rotatably drive the rods about their axes in the same rotational direction so as to rotate the sock about an axis.
An apparatus for rotationally orienting a tubular sock blank so that an open toe end of the sock blank can be closed in an automatic sewing machine, the toe end having an extended toe pocket extending along approximately half of a circumference of the open toe end, the toe pocket protruding axially beyond the remainder of the toe end, the apparatus comprising:
- a sock rotation device operable to extend into a sock to spread the open toe end of the sock into a generally flattened condition and to rotate the flattened toe end about an axis while inserted in the sock such that and edge of the sock that circumscribes an opening at the open toe end forms a generally flattened loop that rotates about said axis;
- and
- a sensor system including at least a first optical sensor emitting a light beam aimed to detect a feature of the toe end of the sock when the sock is rotated by the sock rotation device so as to bring said feature into alignment with said light beam of the first sensor, whereby a rotational orientation of the sock is determined based at least in part on an output signal from the first sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.