| 1. | A method of turning sewn, elongated workpieces such as neckties, whereby the workpiece is placed on a tubular mandrel and a flap of the outer end of the work¬ piece is introduced into a clamp opening in a gripping head on the outer end of a rod, which, from the root end of the mandrel is projected into the relevant gripping position, whereafter a mechanism for closing the clamp opening and retracting the rod for extraction of the workpiece is actuated, characterized in that said re¬ traction is effected by means of a cross displaceable retraction unit, which, after having drawn the gripped workpiece end out of the root area of the mandrel is displaced laterally so as to bring the drawn out end length portion into a transverse position, in which it is brought to cross a working area of a longitudinally operating conveyor having a projecting entrainment dog that will engage the transversely extending workpiece portion and thereby cause the workpiece to be extracted through the mandrel with double speed owing to the asso¬ ciated tackle effect based at the initially gripped workpiece end being maintained held in an advanced, though laterally displaced position. |
| 2. | A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the retraction unit, when laterally displaced, is brought into a position next to the root end of another mandrel mounted in parallel with the first mandrel, whereafter the gripping rod is introduced into the other mandrel. |
| 3. | An apparatus for carrying out the method accord¬ ing to claim 1, comprising a tubular mandrel and a rod with a gripping head for introduction into the mandrel from a root end thereof, and a movement control mecha¬ nism for effecting this introduction and a subsequent retraction upon the outer end of a workpiece placed on the mandrel having been gripped, such that the workpiece is turned inside out in being extracted through the mandrel, characterized in that the movement control mechanism with the said rod is mounted in such a cross displaceable manner that upon an initial extraction of the workpiece from the root area of the mandrel it is operable to impart to the extracted end stretch of the workpiece a crosswise oriented direction relative to the extraction direction, and that in operative engagement with this transversely disposed stretch of the workpiece there is provided a conveying system having a projecting entrainment dog, which, by a motion substantially in or parallel with the extraction direction, will hit the transversely positioned stretch of the workpiece to thereby produce a further extraction of the workpiece with a velocity twice the velocity of the entrainment dog. |
| 4. | An apparatus according to claim 3, in which the conveying system is an endless belt conveyor having two or more projecting, mutually spaced entrainment members. |
| 5. | An apparatus according to claim 3, in which there is mounted, in alignment with the laterally dis¬ placed position of the gripping rod, the root end of another mandrel projecting in parallel with the first mandrel, said movement control mechanism and gripping rod being operable to cooperate alternatingly with the two mandrels. |
| 6. | An apparatus according to claim 3, in which there is mounted, next to the laterally displaced posi¬ tion of the gripping head, stationary clamp means for taking over from the gripping head the temporary clamp¬ ing of the first extracted end portion of the workpiece. |
| 7. | A mandrel for use by the turning of elongated, tubular workpieces, in particular neckties having a thin end and a thick end, characterized in that it is made of a number of resiliently flexible rods mounted as genera tors on an elongated conical figure and projecting from a root area with a relatively big diameter to an outer holding ring with a smaller diameter. |
The present invention relates to a method and to a device for turning of neckties and other elongated, sewn articles being sewn with the inside out and then turned or rolled to right position. A such turning of a sewn necktie or belt is rather troublesome, and previous atte tps to automatize the turning have not turned out successfully. There has been developed various auxilia¬ ries for facilitating a manual turning, and for illu¬ stration can be mentioned that actually a factory manu¬ facturing approximately 90.000 neckties a day has em¬ ployed 24 operaters only for the purpose of turning the neckties. Skilled "turners" are thus able to turn ap¬ proximately 7 neckties a minut, but by the invention it is attempted to make it possible to double the capacity for each operator and thus a considerable reduction in cost of production.
So far it has primarily been a matter of specula¬ ting in devices for facilitating the manual turning of the neckties, but by the invention it is realized that the turning operation itself very well can be conducted by machinery, when only the operator places the sewn necktie material on a "sausage filler", on which the material can be placed in a crumpled position and there¬ after extracted through the inner of this "sausage fil¬ ler" for turning of the material. The normal procedure is to place the necktie material on a conical mandrel with the wide end of the necktie placed at the wide base end of the mandrel, whereafter the turning is made by extracting the wide end of the necktie backwards over the mandrel, so that the wide end of the necktie in the turning forms an outer, active forwardly pulled layer on the outside of the succeeding narrow end of the sewn necktie member.
However, proposals for turning machines are already known by which means the tie members are drawn on a
mandrel in the shape of a "sausage filler" and is grip¬ ped by the outer, open end thereof by means of a grip¬ ping head inside the mandrel, whereafter the gripping head is drawn backwards through the mandrel dragging the gripped member end, whereby the member end is turned by this extraction. The tie member may be released when it is drawn backwards in its full length from the root of the mandrel. However, this technique, see e.g. US-A-2, 156,339, has not, as known so far, been put into prac¬ tice, probably because the said machines are hardly able to work with higher capacity than in a skilled manual turning. It is a matter of very long movements, which can not be made with high speed, i.e. the cycle time, namely from the start of the withdrawal of gripping head to the returning of the gripping head to gripping posi¬ tion, will be comparatively long. The single operator thus has to use several more devices in order to utilize the time effectively.
The invention has for its purpose to provide a turning method based on the said known techniques, but with such modifications that the turning speed can be increased by simple means, and that the operator can utilize the time with increased effectivity.
According to the invention this can be obtained by the turning being made according to claim 1.
By the said transverse motion of the withdrawal device after the extraction from the mandrel the first extracted end part of the tie member is brought to ex¬ tend crosswise, whereafter it is easily engaged by the rearwardly moving entrainment dog, so that this by the tackle effect will cause a further extraction and tur¬ ning of the tie member with twice the speed of the en¬ trainment dog. When the tie member is completely drawn off it can be released from the gripping head, where¬ after it can be delivered to deposition or removal in lengthfolded condition.
After the release of the tie member from the grip¬ ping head, this head is immediately ready for the rela¬ tively short return movement to the operative gripping position, i.e. the cycle time will be reduced con¬ siderably. The entrainment dog can be returned indepen¬ dently of the movements of the gripping head, but the dog will preferably be placed on a continuous conveyor belt, which is able to manage a further dog, which thus automatically is advanced for use while the first dog is in operation. This returning will not take extra time then, and, for that matter, the method would be useful also if the tie members are wanted to-be turned into a fully extended delivery position.
Preferentially, next to the laterally offset posi¬ tion of the withdrawal position of the gripping head, there is placed another, parallel tube mandrel, on which the operator can place the next tie member already be¬ fore the member on the first tube mandrel is drawn en¬ tirely inside the latter. As soon as the gripping head has liberated the previous member, it can, from the present position, be directly projected into cooperation with the parallel mandrel and later be set off back to its original position. Thus the gripping head can inter¬ play between the two mandrels, whereby the working capa¬ city can be increased considerably.
As a further improvement there can be placed clamp holders in the device for the first extracted tie member end near the place or places to where the gripping head is set off after the extraction from the relevant man¬ drel. These clamp holders can then immediately take over the holding function of the gripping head during the dog's extraction of the remainder of the tie member, i.e. the gripping head is quite early liberated for performing a new gripping cycle by the other mandrels. This as well is contributing to increasing the capacity.
The mandrel could be a rigid, conical mandrel, but
for a desirable quick and lenient handling of particu¬ larly neckties there has been provided a new and very advantageous mandrel design in connection with the in¬ vention. It must be considered that the outer most end part of the mandrel necessarily has to be so narrow that it can receive the narrow end of the necktie. This in¬ troducing the problem that at the end of the turning event, there is lack of space inside the mandrel when the wide end of the necktie is to be extracted. This brings about a compromise, which considers an easy put¬ ting on of the narrow necktie end as well as an easy extraction of the wide part, and while this is possible with some neckties, it is actually impossible as to the rather thick neckties with extra width in the wide end. Compromising this, both putting on of the narrow end and extraction of the thick end becomes rather difficult, and there is a high risk for severe damage of the neck¬ ties.
By the invention it is found possible to solve this problem on basis of the observation that the putting on of the narrow end very well can be uncomplicated on a rather large diameter, if only the axial extent of this diameter area is quite short, i.e. corresponding to the turning-mandrel behind the outher ringmouting being narrowed relative to the mouthing diameter, whereas correspondingly an extraction of the thick end can pass through a rather narrow opening, if this is of a short extent, i.e. if the mandrel behind the opening is wider than this. These two circumstances can be considered simoultaneously if instead of a tube a ring is used, which is connected to the wide root basis by help of a number of rods placed as generators on a conical tube surface, but spaced from each other. When the "tube" is formed by these rods, for example of heavy metal wire, the effective tube diameter will be variable behind the outer end of the tube, as the rods can be squeezed a
little inwards by the putting on of the narrow necktie end and correspondingly squeezed a little outwards by the passage of the wide end, and both functions can be effected without difficulty and without risk of damaging the neckties.
In the following the invention is described in more detail with reference to the drawing, in which fig. 1 schematically shows a perspective view of a turning apparatus according to the invention, and fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of a portion thereof.
The apparatus shown has a cabinet 2, on the front side of which, next to holes 4, is placed two base pla¬ tes 6 for projecting mandrels 8 and 10, each consisting of a circular row of rods 12, stretching between the base plate 6 and an outer ring 14 at the front part of the mandrels. The rods 12 consist of resilient, flexible metal wire, and they form the tubular structures 8 and 10, which are cylindrical along approximately the first half and from there deflected to a conical expansive course inwards to the plates 6. The rings 14 can as an example have an outer diameter of 23 mm and an inner diameter of 18 mm, whereas the rods 12 can be of 3 mm ironwire being welded endways in against the rings 14, all weldingburrs and local projections being carefully removed in the entire welding area.
Behind the hole 4 for the mandrel 8 is provided a rod 16, stretching coaxial with this mandrel and is projectable inside this by means of a rear cylinder 18, the piston rod 20 of which is connected with a block 22, from where the rod 16 extends. This block is a small working cylinder, cooperating with an inner operating rod 24 in the tubular rod 16, see fig. 2. In front the tubular rod 16 has a spocket block 26 for the central rod 24, which is terminated with a rounded head part 28 having the same diameter as the block 26.
In fig. 2 these parts are shown in a foremost, fully projected position, in which the front end of the block 26 is located a little ahead of the ring 14. By means of the small cylinder 22 the central rod 24 is pushed forward relative to the tubular rod 16, so that the block head 28 is located at a certain distance from the front end of the block 26, i.e. with a gap 30 be¬ tween these parts.
An operator can put on a new sewn necktie member on the mandrel 8 with the wide end in front, and the tie member can very well be wrinkled together on the mandrel so that this can be shorter than a third of the length of the necktie. The putting on will end with the front parts 28,14 breaking through the hole, which in the necktie member appears at its narrow end, and the opera¬ tor can then insert an edge part of this hole in the gap 30 and thereafter activate an actuator button 32, which primarily provokes a reversal of the small cylinder 22 for retraction of the central rod 24 relative to the tube 16, i.e. for clamp closing of the gap 30 and thus for squeezing of the inserted edge part of the necktie end.
In a following - or for that sake simultanous - phase of the operation the cylinder 18 is activated for withdrawal of the rod system 16,24 through the mandrel 8. Hereby the narrow end of the necktie member is pulled backwards from the ring 14, inside therethrough, and by further withdrawal the entire tie member will by and by be turned during this passing through the mandrel 8. However, it is inappropriate to perform the whole ex¬ traction of the tie member by a corresponding extensive withdrawal of the rod system, and it will be mentioned below how this can be done in a more appropriate way.
However, it is first to be mentioned that already at the putting on of the necktie member the circumstance will appear that the narrow end of the material, being
put on last, is capable of squeezing the rods 12 in¬ wards, as shown with dotted lines in fig. 2, whereby the tie member partly becomes easier to put on and partly also becomes easier to pull off at the turning. The ring 14 can thus be proportioned with a comparatively large diameter, so that inside the ring there is also the required space for the terminating extraction of the wide end of the necktie member. By the extraction of this end the rods 12 will correspondingly be squeezed outwards, so that a more powerful compression of the wide end will take place only in the area by and just behind the ring 14, and with such a short length of the most compressed area, the resistance against the extrac¬ tion will be comparatively small. It is hereby achie¬ vable that the necktie member can be extracted with a drawing power, which both at the beginning and at the end of the course is so moderate, that the member is not exposed to any damaging draw, and yet is rather easy to put on the mandrel.
The cylinder 18 or another suitable device for projecting and withdrawing of the rod system 16,24 is mounted in a transversely movable way on guides 34 and is connected with non-illustrated means for performance of just such a transverse motion that the rod system 16,24 is brought to stand aligned with the other mandrel 10, as shown in dotted lines, it also being shown that the outer block 26,28 on the rod system is placed a little behind the root of this mandrel 10. Thus the first extracted end of the necktie member, designated 36, will extend along the shown oblique path, the trans¬ verse motion itself provoking yet a further extraction of this end, which is still squeezed in the gap 30.
Down below the tie member stretch 36 near the posi¬ tion of the head part 26,28 as last referred to, there is placed a plate part 38, while there above there is placed a fixed, vertical cylinder 40, the downwardly
turned piston rod on which carries a pressure shoe 42, which by actuation of the cylinder 40 can squeeze the end of the necktie member 36 down against the plate 38 and thus retain the necktie just next to the headpart 26,28. After such an activating, which can be effected by an associated control unit, the same unit manages a return activation of the small cylinder 22, whereby the necktie end is released from the headpart 26,28, respon¬ sive to the outer head 28 being projected a short dis¬ tance.
Half-way between the two mandrels 8 and 10 inside the cabinet and in the longitudinal direction thereof, there is placed a continous belt 44 being lead around reversing rollers 46, of which one is driven by a non- shown motor with such a starting function that a protru¬ ding dog 48 on the belt 44 is caused to be swung up from the foremost reversing roller 46 and be moved rearward¬ ly, whereby this dog hits the corsswise disposed necktie length 36 and thus pulls this backwards, as shown with a dotted line 50 in an intermediate position. It will from this also appear that this movement will cause a further extraction of the necktie, the narrow end of which now being squeezed between the pressure plates 38 and 42, and that the speed of this extraction will be twice the speed of the dog 48. The length of the belt 44 is pro¬ portioned so that the extraction will be completed when the dog 48 reaches the rear end of the belt 44.
It could be sufficient if the extraction was com¬ pleted when the wide end of the necktie is pulled back¬ wards just free of the base plate 6, whereby the turned necktie could be deposited in siglefolded condition, but in practice it is preferred to pull the withdrawal so far as to delivery of the turned necktie in full length in unfolded condition, i.e. with the wide end placed at the rear end of the apparatus, near the end of the belt 44. When this withdrawal of the wide end of the necktie
is terminated, the drive motor of the belt stops, and the cylinder 40 is deactivated for release of the narrow necktie end, so that the turned necktie can be delivered by a simple deposition on an underlying carrier area, which for instance is accessible for a manual removal of the neckties through a side opening 52 in the cabinet. Alternatively it can of course be arranged that the neckties are transported out on a conveyor belt or ot¬ herwise.
On the belt 44 is placed not only the dog 48, but also a corresponding, but diametrically opposite placed dog 48, which after the extraction of the tie will thus be placed at the front of the belt 44, ready for perfor¬ ming a new extraction operation.
While the whole described turning event of the necktie member on the mandrel 6 takes place, the opera¬ tor can place a new tie member on the mandrel 10, as the operating unit manages to project the rod system 16,24 to the outer end of this mandrel as soon as the small cylinder 22 is activated for releasing the narrow end of the previous tie member. When this putting on is comple¬ ted, the operator can activate the operation button 32', whereby the small cylinder 22 can immediately retract the outer head part 28 for squeezing the end of the new tie member, while the cylinder 18 can thereafter with¬ draw the rod system 16,24 to the position shown with dotted lines in the right hand side of fig. 1. From here the cylindar 18 and with that the rod system 16,24 is ready to be transversely moved to the position which in fig. 1 is shown with full lines in the left hand side. Just like before the narrow end of the necktie will hereby be drawn obliquely out from the basic part of the mandrel 10, and the provisionally extracted end can be squeezed between panels beneath a cylinder 40' fully corresponding to the cylinder 40, whereafter the further turning course will be exactely as described above, i.e.
by the use of the same central conveyor belt 44, now with the dog 48' as the active part.
In this way the operator can cycle between placing the necktie members on the two mandrels 8 and 10, while the interior handling tools 18 and 44 in single versions are operable to effect a succesive turning of the tie members. Besides the mandrels themselves it is only the holding cylinders 40 with associated pressure panels, that need to be doubled.
It is essential for the invention that the operator can thus utilize the waiting time in connection with the turning of the single tie member for putting on a new member on the parallel mandrel.