US3483579A - Machines for folding the edge of flexible materials,more particularly footwear insoles and the like - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 16, 1969 BOCCA ETAL 3,483,579

MACHINES FOR FOLDING THE EDGE OF FLEXIBLE MATERIALS, MORE PARTICULARLY FOOTWEAR Filed March a, 1968 INSOLES AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Shem 1 Dec. 16, 1969 occA EI'AL MACHINES FOR FOLDING THE EDGE OF FLEXIBLE MATERIALS MORE PARTICULARLY FOOTWEAR INSOLES AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed March 8, 1968 Dec. 16, 1969 A. BOCCA TA!- MACHINES FOR FOLDING THE EDGE OF FLEXIBLE MATERIALS, MORE PARTICULARLY FOOTWEAR INSOLES AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed March 8, 1968 4m mm Eec. 16, 1969 BOCCA ETAL 3,483,579

MACHINES FOR FOLDING THE EDGE OF FLEXIBLE MATERIALS MORE PARTICULARLY FOOTWEAR INSOLES AND THE LIKE Filed Ma ch 8, 1968 4 ShGEtS-Sheex L I W 4 A950 United States Patent 3,483,579 MACHHNES FER FOLDING THE EDGE OF FLEXIBLE MATERIALS, MGRE PARTICU- LARLY FGUTWEAR TNSOLES AND THE TAKE Alberto Bocca, Via S. Maria 23, and Mario Pagani, Via Pergolesi 22, both of Vigevano, Italy Filed Mar. 8, 1968, Ser. No. 711,635 Claims priority, application Italy, Mar. 9, 1967, 13,529/67 lot. Cl. A43d 43/06 US. Cl. 12-245 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for completing the folding of an edge of a flexible material in sheet form, more particularly insoles of footwear articles in which a mechanical member, receiving a reciprocal drive from the motive means of an edgefolding machine, is moved perpendicularly to the direction of feed of the insole stock: a rocking arm arrangement is further provided for preventing damages to the already folded edge by lifting the mechanical member therefrom, the operation of said rocker mechanism being properly attuned to that of the folding mechanism proper.

This invention relates to a machine for processing the edge of a material which is in the form of a flexible sheet or slab and is more particularly concerned with folding the edge of footwear insoles.

It is known that, for folding the edges of a flexible material, more particularly insoles of footwear or leather articles in general, the machines which are used at present comprise a working plane on which the material to be processed is caused to slide. Said working plane has an abutment the upper face of which is shaped with a suitable curvature with the concave surface directed upwards. The material to be processed passes over said concave surface and thus receives a first upward and inner curvature constituting a first fold, whereupon, with the possible addition of an adhesive, the folding of said edge is completed by a hammer-like mechanical member.

A shortcoming frequently experienced with these machines, is that, due to a certain inherent stiffness of the material, the curvature initially imparted thereto by said abutment is insufiicient as the material being processed is passed under the action of said hammer-like member, the latter sometimes acting in a direction which is perpendicular to the edge of the material being processed. As a result, a portion of the edge being processed may become insufficiently folded, or, in a few extreme instances, even straightened again, with the ensuing consequences, which are objectionable both from a practical and aesthetical standpoint, especially in the case of footwear insoles and leather articles.

This invention obviates the above indicated shortcoming by a device to be associated to a machine for folding the edges of a flexible material, said device comprising a mechanical member driven in reciprocation by the motor means of the machine, said mechanical member carrying out said reciprocal motion perpendicularly to the direction of advance of said material being processed and to the edge of said material, so as to continue the folding of the edge and to complete it.

An advantage of the device of the invention is that said mechanical folding member is active concurrently with said abutment and cannot give rise to a fold in a different direction or leave unfolded workpieces.

A further advantage resides in the provision of a pivotal rocker arm arrangement which supports said mechanical folding member so as to lift the same from the 3,483,579 Patented Dec. 16, 1969 folded edge so as to prevent damage to the folded edge during the return stroke of said member.

Another advantage of the device according to the inventic-n lies in the compactness and simplicity of the component parts thereof.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description of a preferred embodiment, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of a machine for folding the edges of a flexible material according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a detail cross-sectional view of the subject device,

FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 2, and

FIG. 4 is a view, similar to FIG. 2, showing the folding member in another position.

Referring to the drawings, the machine Ill for folding the edges of a flexible material comprises a bedplate 11, beneath which the motive and driving means (not shown) of the machine 14 are positioned. From the bedplate 11 a framing 12 extends, which contains the several mechanisms of the machine 10, of conventional design and not shown in the drawings to avoid confusion. To the framing 12 is afiixed an overhanging header 13, which projects over a working plane 14. On the latter plane, the workpiece or material to be processed is caused to advance, perpendicularly to the plane of the drawing, said material comprising, an illustrated, a thick layer, indicated at 45,

- and a thin layer 15 having protruding ends adapted to be folded over thick layer 45 as shown in FIG. 4.

From the overhangin header 13, a presser foot 16 projects downwardly towards the working plane 14, said presser foot engaging said thick layer 45 and being affixed to one end of a lever 17 pivoted at 18 to header 13. At the opposite end of the lever 18', a pivot 19 is rigidly atfixed, which is housed in a slot 20 formed through the end of a lever 21 pivoted at 22.

The opposite end 24 of lever 21 is vertically slidable within a slot 23, formed in a fixed portion of the framing. Appropriate means, not shown, is provided for displacing end 24 within the slot 23. As a result, on account of the mechanical connection between the levers 21 and 17, the presser foot 16 is caused to engage and disengage the material 15 being processed. Connected to the lever 17 is a spring (not shown), which is intended to urge the presser foot 16 against the material being processed.

On the working plane 14 an abutment 25 is mounted, which has a curved recess with a surface which is concave upwards and on which the layer 15 being processed is caused to pass, so that the edge 26 thereof may be folded. Rearward of the abutment 25 is mounted a member or bar 27, the right end of which (as viewed in FIG. 1) has a rounded tip and the bar 27 is pivotally connected at its other end, as shown at 28, to a vertical rod 29, the members 28 and 29 being perpendicular to one another. To maintain the bar 27 in the desired position, that is horizontal, a spring 30 is provided, which is affixed at one end to the bar 27 and, at the other end, to a tensioning spring device 39. The latter, in turn, is rigidly fastened to the vertical rod 29 by means of a set screw 31.

The rod 29, by the agency of the set screw 31 or other equivalent conventional mounting means, is rigidly connected with an actuating bar 32, whose opposite end is seated in a cavity 33 which houses a compression spring 34. To the rod 32 is solidly afiixed a block 35 formed by two half shells 4-0 and 41 afiixed to one another by a set screw 42 whose head protrudes from the working plane 14 and is slidably housed in an appropriate groove 43 formed in a cover plate 44. To the half-shell 41 is affixed 3 a wheel of ball bearing 36. The latter is kept pressed by the spring 34 against a cylindrical cam 37, having variable circumferential thicknesses, keyed to the mainshaft 38 of the machine 10.

The cavity 33 is formed in the framing 12. The rod 27, approximately midway of its length, rests against an end 46 of a rocker arm 47, mounted in such a way as to rotate in a vertical plane by means of a screwed pin 48 whose opposite end carries a tooth 49, adapted to come into engagement with a corresponding tooth 50 of a clamp 51. The clamp 51 is pivotally mounted at 52 so as to rock in a vertical plane which is perpendicular to the plane of oscillation of the rocker 47. The workpiece is caused to advance by the action of a hammer (not shown) which completes the folding of the edge 26 while simultaneously causing the workpiece to advance.

The operation of the machine is as follows.

Due to the engagement of the cam 37 with the ball bearing 36, the rod 32, urged by the spring 34, is driven in reciprocation and this reciprocal motion is transferred through the rigid vertical rod 29 to the bar 27: consequently, the latter is shifted to the right in correspondence with the engagement of the bearing 36 with the portion of the cam 37 which has a lower axial thickness.

As a result, the bar 27 engages the edge 26 so as to fold it in the direction defined by the recessed surface of the abutment 25. As the rod 27 reaches its right dead center as viewed in FIG. 4, the clamp 51 is rotated so as to cause its tooth 50 to engage the tooth 49 of the rocker arm 47 and rotate the pivot 48 so that the end 46 urges the bar 27 upwardly against the bias of the recoil spring 30 (see FIG. 4). The leftward return stroke of the bar 27 thus takes place without said bar sliding on the already folded edge and no damage can be consequently made thereto. As the bar 27 reaches its left deade center as viewed in FIG, 2, the clamp 51 disengages the tooth 49 of the rocker arm 47 so that the latter is restored to its normal position (as shown in FIG. 2) under the bias of the spring 30 exerted on the bar 27. Meanwhile, the above mentioned hammer causes another workpiece to be advanced in correspondence with the position of the bar 27 and so forth.

It is clear that the frequency and the amplitude of the reciprocal motion of the bearing 36 and the bar 27 will be a function of the configuration of the cylindrical cam 37, that is, of the different axial thicknesses thereof along its circumference. It will thus be clear that the bar 27 acts on the edge 26 of the layer 15, already folded in part, so as to continue the folding in the same direction as before and completing the folding.

The invention has been disclosed with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it being nevertheless understood that a number of equivalent mechanical modifications are possible within the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine for folding the edge of flexible sheet material, said machine comprising a planar working surface on which the sheet material is advanced in a given direction, an upstanding abutment on said surface positioned in the path of travel of said sheet material, said abutment having a recess with a surface which is concave upwards and on which an edge of the sheet material passes so as to initiate folding of said edge onto itself,'a presser foot which is periodically activated to hold the material against said working surface and said abutment, a folder member adjacent the path of travel of said sheet material, and means for reciprocally moving the folder member in a plane perpendicular to the direction of travel of the material and in a direction generally parallel to said working surface towards and away from said material such that the folder member engages the partially folded edge of said material to complete the folding thereof and thereafter is retracted.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 comprising means for lifting the folder member as it is retracted so that the folder member is raised above the folded material as it travels away therefrom.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said folder member is a bar having a rounded surface facing said material, said means for reciprocally moving the folder member comprising a rod supported for displacement in the direction of reciprocation of said bar and rigidly cou pled thereto, and means including a rotatable cylindrical cam acting on said rod to reciprocate the same and the bar therewith.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein said cam has a circumferential portion with different axial thicknesses engaging said rod to reciprocate the latter as the cam rotates, the difference in the axial thicknesses defining the amplitude and frequency of the reciprocal motion.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein said means acting on the rod comprises a spring urging the rod into engagement with said cam.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 5, wherein said rod includes a bearing which engages said circumferential portion of the cam.

7, A machine as claimed in claim 4, comprising a pivotal rocker arm engaging said folder member to lift the latter from the folded material as the folder member begins its movement away from said material.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said machine has a main drive shaft coupled to said means which reciprocally moves the folder member to drive such means.

References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 1,925,205 9/1933 Ridderstrom 12-55 2,849,734 9/1958 McGahan 1255 2,979,745 4/ 1961 Schaefer et al 1255 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 1255

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