Apparel apparatus – Forming – pressing – molding – and stretching – Forms
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-16
2002-06-11
Mohanty, Bibhu (Department: 3747)
Apparel apparatus
Forming, pressing, molding, and stretching
Forms
C223S072000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06401992
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for concurrently pressing the front, back and sleeves of both long and short sleeve garments on the same pressing machine.
2. Description of the Background Art
Presently, in the field of finishing shirts, three separate machines are normally utilized. The first machine is for pressing the collars and cuffs. The second machine is for finishing the sleeves. The third machine is for pressing the body of the shirt. A continuing effort is being made to increase the efficiency of the shirt finishing process by minimizing the number of machines necessary for the finishing and by simplifying the machines. By way of example, consider U.S. Pat. No. 3,654,714 to North directed to a steam-air garment press; U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,106 to Beckett directed to a control system for garment finishing apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 3,715,064 to Eubank directed to a garment finishing apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 4,634,030 to Uchikoshi directed toward a laundry presser for simultaneously pressing multiple clothing sections; U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,745 to Oberlye directed toward a press and method of making same; U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,962 to Downie directed toward an indexing mechanism for a mannequin carriage having a slidable, pivotable support and index bar moveable by a fluid cylinder for movement between a dressing position and a garment press; U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,535 to Gill directed toward an indexing system for rotary garment press; U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,216 to Harrod et al. directed toward a method and apparatus for concurrently pressing the front and back of a shirt and finishing the sleeves through the use of air pressure; U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,773 to Harrod et al. directed toward a method and apparatus for finishing the sleeves and pressing the body of a shirt in combination with an integrated collar cuff presser; and lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,326 to Mohan et al. directed toward a shirt pressing apparatus with movable cuff clamps.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art to improve and preserve the quality of a short sleeve garment, improve operator efficiency and reduce operator fatigue while providing a short sleeve clamping mechanism for a garment pressing machine which adapts to varied lengths of sleeves.
Nothing in the prior art provides the benefits attendant with the present invention.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement which overcomes the inadequacies of the prior art devices and which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the art.
Another object of the present invention is to press the front and back of a garment while concurrently finishing both short and long sleeves.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a first stopping pin for positioning each of the rotatable clamps in a retracted position on each of the elongated arms, and a second stopping pin for positioning each of the rotatable clamps in a loading position on each of the elongated arms.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a pressing apparatus where the pair of elongated arms are extended through gravity to a pressing position and contracted through a piston to a loading position.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a pressing apparatus that uses a clip to effectively finish long sleeve garments and a rotatable clamp to effectively finish short sleeve garments.
It is a further object of the present invention to increase the efficiency, simplicity and safety of garment finishing machines while reducing the cost through reduced equipment.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved pressing apparatus for finishing a sleeve of a garment comprising, in combination, a buck in the general form of a wearer having a front and a back and opposite lateral sides therebetween and adapted to hold at least a front and back of the garment in an orientation for being pressed; a pair of elongated arms positioned on opposite lateral sides of the buck, said elongated arms extending away from said buck to finish the sleeve of the garment and said elongated arms contracting towards said buck to load and unload the garment; a clip positioned at an upper end of each of said elongated arms, each of said clips being formed with resiliently urged fingers and adapted to receive an area of a long sleeve of the garment on the buck to be finished at the region at the end of the long sleeve to form an obstruction for the flow of heated air and steam therethrough during a finishing operation; and a clamp positioned along the length of each of said elongated arms, each of said clamps having a resiliently urged end adapted to receive an area of a short sleeve of the garment on the buck to be finished at the region at the end of the short sleeve to form an obstruction for the flow of heated air and steam therethrough during the finishing operation, whereby the pressing apparatus may be used to press long sleeve garments and alternatively, upon use of the clamps, short sleeve garments.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved pressing apparatus of the type in which a buck is adapted to hold at least a front and back of a long sleeve garment, and in which a clip is positioned at an upper end of a pair of elongated arms that extend the sleeves of the long sleeve garment away from opposite sides of the buck, wherein the improvement comprises a clamp positioned along the length of each of the elongated arms, each of said clamps having a resiliently urged end adapted to receive an end of a short sleeve of a short sleeve garment to form an obstruction for the flow of heated air and steam therethrough during a finishing operation, whereby the pressing apparatus may be used to press long sleeve garments and alternatively, upon use of the clamps, short sleeve garments.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method of pressing a garment wherein a long sleeve garment is placed on a buck adapted to hold at least a front and back of the long sleeve garment, and each of the long sleeves of the long sleeve garment are extended away from opposite sides of the buck through a clip positioned at an upper end of a pair of elongated arms, the improvement comprising contracting the pair of elongated arms towards said buck; placing a short sleeve garment having a pair of short sleeves onto the buck; positioning a clamp on each of the elongated arms into a load position, said clamps being positioned along the length of the pair of elongated arms; placing an end of each of the short sleeves of the short sleeve garment into the respective clamp; extending the pair of elongated arms away from said buck; flowing heated air and steam through the short sleeve garment during a finishing operation; and contracting the pair of elongated arms towards said buck to unload the short sleeve garment.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method for finishing a pair of sleeves on a garment comprising the steps of providing a buck in the general form of a wearer having a front and a back and opposite lateral sides therebetween and adapted to hold at least a front and back of the garment in an orientation for being pressed; providing a pair of elongated arms positioned on the opposite lateral sides of the buck; contracting said pair of elongated arms towards said buck; placing an end of each long sleeve of a long sleeve garment in a clip positioned at an upper end of each of said elongated arms, extending said pair of elongated arms away from said buck; flowing heated air and steam through the long sleeve garment during a finishing operation; contracting said pair of elongated arms towards said buck to unload the long sleeve garment; placing an end of each short sleeve of a short sleeve garment in a clamp positioned along the length of each of said elongated arms; extending said pair of elongated arms away from said buck; flowing heated air an
Harrod Michael K.
Wagner John
Holland & Knight LLP
Mohanty Bibhu
Unipress Corporation
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