Quilted fabric panel cutter
AssigneeL&P Property Management Company
InventorsMichael A. James, David Brian Scott, Terrance L. Myers
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for cutting a quilted material web having a quilted patterns thereon into panels having a desired length and width with respective quilted patterns centered therein. A first detector detects a center of a quilted pattern on the quilted material web; and in response thereto, a cutting apparatus cuts the quilted material web to form edges of a panel equidistant from the quilted pattern center. The cutting apparatus includes a pair of trim blades that cut opposite side edges of the panel equidistant from the quilted pattern center and a cross cutting apparatus that cuts end edges of the panel equidistant from the quilted pattern center.
Claims6
A method of cutting a quilted material web having quilted patterns into panels, each of the panels having a width and a length with a respective quilted pattern disposed therein, the method comprising:
- applying center marks to the quilted material web, the center marks identifying centers of respective quilted patterns;
- providing a cross cutting apparatus for cutting end edges of respective panels;
- providing an edge detector for detecting end edges of respective panels;
- providing a trimming apparatus for cutting side edges of the panels;
- providing a center detector for locating the centers of the quilted patterns by detecting the center marks;
- moving the center detector to a position longitudinally displaced from the cross cutting apparatus by a distance substantially equal to one-half the length of a panel;
- moving the quilted material web in the longitudinal direction;
- detecting a position of a center mark;
- stopping motion of the quilted material web in response to detecting the position of the center mark;
- transversely centering the trimming apparatus relative to the center of the panels in response to the detecting of the position of the center mark;
- operating the cross cutting apparatus to form a first end edge of the panel;
- moving the edge detector to a position longitudinally displaced from the cross cutting apparatus by a distance substantially equal to the length of the panel;
- moving the quilted material web in the longitudinal direction;
- operating the trimming apparatus to simultaneously longitudinally cut opposed side edges of the panel substantially equidistant from the center of the panel;
- detecting the first end edge with the edge detector;
- stopping motion of the quilted material web in response to detecting the first end edge;
- and
- operating the cross cutting apparatus to form a second end edge of the panel, the first end edge and the second end edge being equidistant from the center of a panel.
A method of cutting a quilted material web having quilted patterns into panels, each of the panels having a width and a length with a respective quilted pattern disposed therein, the method comprising:
- applying center marks to the quilted material web, the center marks identifying centers of respective quilted patterns;
- moving a center detector to a position longitudinally displaced from the cross cutting apparatus by a distance substantially equal to one-half the length of a panel;
- moving the quilted material web in a longitudinal direction;
- detecting a position of a center mark with the center detector;
- stopping motion of the quilted material web in response to the detecting of the position of the center mark;
- transversely centering a trimming apparatus relative to the center of the panels in response to the detecting of the position of the center mark;
- operating a cross cutting apparatus to form a first end edge of the panel;
- moving an edge detector to a position longitudinally displaced from the cross cutting apparatus by a distance substantially equal to the length of the panel;
- moving the quilted material web in the longitudinal direction;
- operating the trimming apparatus to simultaneously longitudinally cut opposed side edges of the panel substantially equidistant from the center of the panel;
- detecting the first end edge with the edge detector;
- stopping motion of the quilted material web in response to detecting the first end edge;
- and
- operating the cross cutting apparatus to form a second end edge of the panel, the first end edge and the second end edge being equidistant from the center of a panel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.