Sheet feeding or delivering – Feeding – Separators
Patent
1985-05-07
1987-12-15
Caldwell, Sr., John W.
Sheet feeding or delivering
Feeding
Separators
271105, B65H 306, B65H 344, B65H 500
Patent
active
047127821
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for separating a fabric piece from a stack of such pieces and transferring the separated piece to a station for subsequent processing.
It will be appreciated that there are problems in the handling of fabric pieces in view of their limp nature, and the distortion or creasing which may occur as a result of non-uniform stressing of the piece of fabric.
However, with the increasing costs of manual labour there is a growing demand for mechanized handling of fabric pieces, particularly in the clothing trade, where high volume production of articles of standard size and shape is prevalent.
There have previously been proposed mechanisms for the separation and transfer of fabric pieces. However, these are relatively complex mechanisms usually designed for handling one particular shaped piece of fabric.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus which is effective in the separation of a piece of fabric from a stack of such pieces, and transferring that separated fabric piece for subsequent processing. The apparatus should be of convenient, reliable and of simple construction.
There is provided in accordance with one aspect of the present invention a method of separating and transporting pieces of limp fabric from a stack of limp fabric pieces to a receptor comprises:
establishing contact between a margin portion of the top piece of said stack and a portion of a carrier member;
effecting relative movement between said portion of the carrier member and said stack, whereby portion of said top piece is separated from said stack and releasably gripped by the carrier member, effecting relative movement between the carrier member and the stack to remove said top piece from said stack so said top piece is supported by the carrier member in an extended condition.
transferring said carrier member with said top piece supported thereby from said stack to a receptor,
effecting relative movement between said carrier member and said receptor to disengaging said top piece from the carrier member, releasing said marginal portion from the carrier member whereby said top piece is deposited in an extended condition on said receptor.
Conveniently, the carrier member has a part cylindrical surface, and the top piece of fabric is wrapped about said surface by rotating the carrier member about the axis of the cylindrical surface. Preferably there are perforations in said cylindrical surface and suction is applied to the fabric piece through the perforations to hold the fabric piece wrapped about the carrier member.
Also the fabric receptor may have a perforated surface through which suction is applied to the fabric piece to establish holding engagement therebetween. When the carrier member with the fabric piece wrapped thereabout is correctly located relative to the receptor, the suction applied to the fabric piece on the carrier member is reduced or terminated to release the fabric piece and the suction at the receptor takes over to hold the fabric piece to the receptor. The carrier member is rotated about the axis of the cylindrical surface to deposit the fabric piece onto the receptor.
Preferably the marginal portion of the fabric piece, releasably gripped by the carrier member, is adjacent one edge of the fabric piece and extends in the axial direction of the cylindrical surface of the carrier member. After this edge of the fabric piece has been gripped, the carrier member is rolled along the fabric piece by rotation about the axis of the cylindrical surface. When the marginal portion at the opposite edge of the fabric piece comes into engagement with the cylindrical surface, as a result of the rolling action, suction is applied to this opposite edge marginal portion to hold it to the cylindrical surface.
The carrier member, with the fabric piece attached thereto, is then moved to a position adjacent the receptor member, so that the opposite marginal portion is immediately adjacent the suction area of the receptor. The suction applied through
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Caldwell Sr. John W.
Dunlop Olympic Limited
Oberley Alvin
Philpitt Fred
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