US1396159A - Method of manufacturing tufts and article derived therefrom - Google Patents

Description

T. A. BDWERS. METHOD OF MANUFACTURING T UFTS AND ARTICLE DERIVED THEREFROM.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 13. 1920.

1,39 1 59, Patented Nov. 8,1921.

F25 FE-E- 5 WITNESSES 26 u will UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS A. BOWERS, 0F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedNov. 8, 192;.

Application filed. November 13, 1920. Serial No. 423,921.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS A. Bownns, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Method of Manufacturing Tufts and Article Derived Therefrom, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

In connection with the manufacture of ornamental devices, such as pom pons, tufts, tassels, etc, it is a Well appreciated fact that considerable difficulty has been experienced in providing devices of this nature in which the strands forming the same would not become loose presenting an unsightly appearance, or be lost entirely from the tuft.

With this in view, my invention relates to an improved method of forming devices of this character, as well as the finished article derived therefrom, and aims primarily to provide a method of manufacture by means of which the fibers of strands will be firmly fixed in place so that the liability of the objections set forth in the preceding paragraph occurring is entirely eliminated.

A further object of my invention is to provide a method, and device of this character, by means, of whichthis article may be rapidly manufactured at a minimum of cost and labor.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a novel form of binder which will more effectively grip upon the strands of fiber of which'the finished article is composed. i r Y Further objects of my invention will appear in the annexed specification and drawings, which latter present practical embodiments of my invention, and in which Figure 1 illustrates a pom pon comprising I a bundle of fibers, secured together by a binding element, located substantially intermediate the extremities of the ends of the fibers.

Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. 1, but showing the binding element positioned to one side of the center portion of-the fibers.

Fig. 3-is a cross sectionalview of a fin ished pom pon constructed in accordance with the arrangement of the parts. as has been illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a. view similar to Fig. 3 but corresponding to a position of the parts as illustrated i -Fig. 2. I

Fig. 5 illustrates the manner in which the fibers of the bundle, as illustrated in Fig. 2, ma be manipulated to provide a slightly different form of finishedarticle.

Figs. 6 to 9show various forms of binding elements which may be utilized to advantage. 'Fig. 10 is a somewhat diagrammatic view of certain of the fibers, showing the arrangement of the same subsequent to being'subjected to one of the stepsof the process of manufacture.

Fig. 11 illustrates a pon which may my method, and

Figure 12 shows the length of fibers previous to their having been severed into bundles.

novel form of pom be constructed according to 1am aware that heretofore pom pons and other devices comprising a bundle of fibers, properly secured together, have'been produced. In such cases, however, the binder has merely been wrapped around the bundles of fiber. and the strands of fiber at the center of the bundle are not sufficiently held to prevent them from becoming unloosened, and from being pulled out.

According to my invention, I utilize a plurality of parallel strands of fibrousmaterial, such as silk, which are primarily subjected to the action .of a contracting die. This action will result. in the deformation of the strands adjacent their points of contact with the die, thus causing what might be termed a merging of the strands one into the other, adjacent this point. f

This, as may readily be appreciated will result in an inter-engagement of the strands, and it .will be appreciated that the gummy constituent usually found in fibrous materials will exude from the body of the fibers when subjected to the constricting action aforementioned. Thus, this constituent will act as an adhesive to join or cement adjacent fibers, one tothe other, and at the point at which they have beensubjected to the constricting action- Thus, a group of fibers. are provided in which all of the same are firmly secured one to the other, as has been illustrated in Fi 10, in which the reference numeral 15 indicates the strands of fibrous material, and 16 the point at which they havebeen subjected to the pressing action.

' Subsequent tothe accomplishment of this result a bind r .17 gra ny uitable them??? may be brought to encircle the strands at their point of construction 16, as has been indicated. in Fig. 12.

It will also be seen, this latter figure, that thebody of the strands 15 may now be'severed along the lines AA; B-B; or C,C to produce respectively a bundle of fibers and finished article, as'has been illustrated in Figs. 11, 1 and 3; and 2 and 4; respectively. In other words, the strands are cut at points to one side of the binder 17 intermediate the binders, or at a point slightly to one side of the said latter intermediate point.

Conceding that the strands have been out at points intermediate the binders, as in Fig. 1, it will be seen that the upper half portion 18 of the bundle may be opened or flufl'ed out, to produce a substantially 'lating the upper and lower half hemispherical ornament, such as has been illustrated inFig. 3, the lower half 19 of the bundle being bent upwardly to a point at which the individual fibers lie in a fiat plane around which latter staples 20 indicated in dotted'lines, may pass to secure the device properly in position. It will be appreciated that in this connection, any suitable securing means, in lieu of the staples 20 may be and that my invention is in no wise directed to this point.

On the other hand, a pom pon or similar article may be produced by cutting the strands along the lines G-G of Fig. 12, in which event, bundles such as has been illus trated in Fig. 2 are produced. By manipuportions 21, and 22 respectively of this bundle in the manner described in connection with the operation of the article illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, it will'be seen that a finished article of the appearance as illustrated in Fig. 4

is produced, which includes a substantially hemispherical form, comprising the upper half portion 21, the longer portion 22 extending in a flat plane and projecting a distance beyond the hemispherical contour of the section 21, thereby presenting the effect of a flange or border, surrounding the hemispherical portion.

A variation from this form of article-may be arrived at by: utilizing the bundle illustrated in Fig. 2, and subjecting the lower section,'or portion 22 of the same, .to a bending action, beyond that of the fiat plane illus trated in Fig. 4, so that theextremities of the strands of section 22 will be brought to .a' point at which they will form a continuation otthe convex surface produced by the extremities of the fluifed out shorter sec tion 21, thus producing a particularly-maslsive appearing article, {as in :Fig. '5.

Still :anothrformof article may b e-produced by serving the strands along the lines of Fig. .12, .bymeans of which it will be seen, reference being had :to Fig.11,

as has been indicated in that a bodyiportion 23 is provided, forming the body of the pom pon, the stump 24 extending beyond the binding element 17. This stump is now subjected to theaction of hot water or alcohol, resulting in a permanent enlargement of this stump or base portion, but precluding any possibility of the strands forming the same, from *pulling through the binding element 17. Subsequent to this, a binder of shellac, glue, cement or any other suitable material is applied to the stump 24, as at 25', which will further anchor the fibers of the tuft to prevent any movement thereof. 7

It will be appreciated that any suitable form of binding element 17 may be utilized, but with a view 01" providing an eleme nt of thisnature which" will serve with a maximum of efiiciency, to prevent any movement of the individual strands, I conveniently utilize an encirclingagent of the nature illustrated in Figs. 6 to 9, all of which, as will be noted, are irregularly shaped, and conveniently formed with inwardly extending serrations 26 adapted to provide firm interengagement between the fibers and the binding element, thus further enhancing the immovable relationship of the strands, one with respect to the 0ther.=

Thus summing up my invention, it will be seen'that thesame consists, essentiallyin the utilization of strands of any desiredmaterial, which strands lie parallel to each other, and are subjected. to the action of a to 9 are utilized, although this is not necessarily the case, the binding. elements illustrated in the figures referred to being merely adapted to more firmly engagethe fibers by virtue of their irregular shape, and further, by means of the serrations. 7

Subsequent to this procedure, a cutting of the strands at definite points, such as the lines suggested,-will result in the formation of bundles of strands which may be manipu lated to form various types of porn pons or devices of similar character, and in the instance where the cutis made along the lines T A A' of Fig. 2, the-bundlesthus'provided are preferably subjectedto the action specified in the preceding paragraph to form the finished article illustrated in Fig.6.

Thus I have described a method of forming pom pons and similar articles, which is extremely economical in practice, and by means of which the individual strands are secured one to the other bya-number-ofdifferent expedients of providing in aggregate a finished article which shall be novel in appearance, and in which the possibility of the individual strands becoming loosened is well nigh precluded, or at least reduced to a minimum.

Obviously numerous modifications of structure and procedure might readily be resorted to without in the least departing from the spirit of my invention, which I claim as:

1. A method of manufacture, consisting in arranging a plurality of strands of fibrous material parallel to each other, subjecting said strands to the action of a contracting die, whereby to crimp the same, applying binding means to said strands adjacent said point of crimping, and in subsequently cutting sai strands at points between said binding means.

2. A method of manufacture, consisting in arranging a plurality of strands of material parallel to each other, subjecting said strands to the action of a contracting die,

whereby to crimp the same, applying binding means to said strands adjacent said point of crimping, and in subsequently cutting said strands at points slightly toone side of said binding means whereby to provide a stump, and in subsequently subjecting the stump to the action of a medium resulting in a swelling of the strands of the same.

3. A method of manufacture, consisting in arranging a plurality of strands of ma terial parallel to each other, subjecting said strands to the action of a contracting die, whereby to crimp the same, applying binding means to said strands adjacent said point of crimping, and in subsequently cutting said strands at points slightly to one side of said binding means whereby to provide a stump, and in subsequently subjecting the stump to the action of a medium resulting in a swelling of the strands of the same, and in applying adhesive to the stump thus formed.

THOMAS A. BOWERS.

Images