Abstract: Method and apparatus for forming and joining large and small hems particularly on denim jeans and other types of trousers. An internally folded large hem is formed mechanically and in a highly accurate manner by engaging the end portion of a trouser leg under circumferential tension and folding a projected hem margin into the trouser leg while supporting opposite sides of the trouser leg in a region immediately adjacent to the desired hem fold line. A full depth small hem may be formed by compressing a limited portion of the large hem into a fold, with the raw edge of the fabric positioned substantially at the fold line of the large hem. The configuration of the compressed limited portion is retained until the sewing machine is in position to grip it and commence sewing. A continuous fold former is brought into position before sewing is commenced to complete the small hem folding initiated by the initial compression.

Abstract: A bi-directional actuator is disclosed which comprises a frame, rotatable about a principal longitudinal axis. The frame mounts two or more partially spherical drive elements. The centers of the partially spherical elements are located on the longitudinal axis of the frame, and the elements are mounted for rotation about individual axes which are perpendicular to but intersect with the longitudinal axes. The individual axes of the respective drive elements are also angularly oriented with respect to each other. The cross sectional outline of the frame is contained within a cylindrical envelope of less diameter than the spheres. Driving devices, such as a belt, are provided to engage at least one of the drive elements in any rotary position of the frame. Directly opposite the belt or other driving device, the driven element or elements engages a material to be driven, typically a piece of fabric.

Abstract: The disclosure is directed to method and apparatus for automatically forming and sewing pleats in draperies and the like. Conveyor feeding of the fabric margin is provided for. A rotatable indexing drum, with a plurality of pleating stations, engages the fabric in successive spaced area and forms the desired pleats. A displacement element acts on the fabric between pleat-forming stations of the drum for uniform, controllably variable pleat spacing. The formed pleats, while gripped by the pleat-forming drum, are advanced to a sewing station, where the sewing machine and a related fabric clamp function as manipulating jaws to engage and remove the pleat, which is thereafter held by the clamp while the pleat is stitched. A unique form of clamp allows the sewing machine to be in continuous motion during the stitching operation, while the fabric is held substantially stationary.

Abstract: A device for automatically supplying thread to the bobbin of a sewing machine of the kind wherein there is a thread feed tube arranged to receive the thread from a bulk source, a predetermined length of the thread is delivered to a rapidly rotating bobbin for winding of the thread thereon and then the thread is severed from the source.

Abstract: The application discloses a method and apparatus for cutting bed sheets and the like from a large, continuous length of fabric, forming hems on the cut edges of the fabric panels, and then sewing the hems. The fabric is fed "wrong side out", and one of the hems is formed upside down while the other is formed right side up. One hem is formed more or less directly above the other. A pair of sewing machines are mounted one above the other, and the entire fabric panel, with the just-formed hem folds, is advanced laterally through the sewing machines, simultaneously sewing both hems. By arranging for the mounting of both sewing machines, one above the other, servicing of the machines by a single operator is readily accomplished. Moreover, the substantial amount of fabric between the two hems is accommodated in a generally vertically oriented loop of the fabric providing for highly efficient utilization of factory space.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to a panel folding machine and method, particularly for large panels. The panel is gripped at opposite leading corners and wound up by spaced rotating drums engaging opposite side edges of the panel. The drums are axially withdrawn, dropping the once-wound panel onto a lateral conveyor, where the panel, initially wound in a somewhat cylindrical form, assumes a flat folded condition. The once-wound panel is conveyed laterally until the leading lateral edge is engaged and gripped by a second stage winding drum, rotatable at right angles to the first drum. The panel is then wound in a second stage, in a generally cylindrical configuration. The second stage winding drum is retractable, and is withdrawn after the second stage winding operation, permitting the twice folded panel to drop onto a support conveyor. While on the support conveyor, the panel is flattened, to form a neat, rectangular product of uniform dimensions, which is then taken away for packaging.

Abstract: Thread-loading apparatus for loading a bobbin spool with a predetermined length of thread between sewing operations wherein there is a reciprocal loading tube arranged to receive and draw thread from a package of thread, deliver its leading end to the bobbin and project it onto the bobbin while the latter is being rotated at a high speed so as to be caught thereby and wound onto the bobbin; a slack-producing device for drawing a slack length of thread from the package of thread preparatory to a loading operation to thus eliminate the inertial resistance of the package of thread to giving up thread; a precisely-controlled thread measuring device employed to control the length of thread delivered to the bobbin; and a bobbin having peripherally-spaced flexible fingers on its hub for entraining the leading end of the thread delivered to the bobbin.

Abstract: A bobbin spool for an automatic sewing machine wherein a predetermined length of thread is wound onto the spool for each sewing operation comprising a hub, spaced parallel flanges at opposite ends of the hub, one of said hubs constituting a turbine wheel by means of which the bobbin may be rotated at a high speed by means of a jet of air and a traction engendering element covering an arcuate portion of the hub.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to the automatic refilling of a bobbin spool, in a lock stitch type sewing machine, in the interval between the loading of work units. After sewing of a predetermined work unit, consisting of a single workpiece, or several workpieces, a premeasured thread length on the bobbin spool is exhausted. While the machine operator places a new work unit in position for sewing, the mechanism of the invention refills the empty bobbin spool, in situ, with a precisely measured length of bobbin thread, drawn from an effectively continuous supply source. The mechanisms provided for this purpose, in and of themselves generally known, are arranged in an improved, simplified and more compact arrangement, suitable for incorporation in a variety of commercial lock stitch type sewing machines available to the trade.

Abstract: The disclosure is directed to automatic bobbin rewinding for sewing machines. A two-station mechanism is provided enabling bobbins to be transferred from a winding position to a sewing position, with one bobbin being at all times in each position. When a bobbin is exhausted, that bobbin and its case are removed from the sewing machine and, simultaneously, a filled bobbin is removed from the winding position and combined with its case. The bobbin positions are then reversed, enabling the filled bobbin and its case to be inserted in the sewing machine, while the just-removed bobbin is separated from its case and inserted in the winding position. The filled bobbin remains attached to the main thread supply until it is inserted in the sewing position, enabling the thread to be guided and controlled until picked up by the sewing mechanism, thus avoiding the need for manual intervention.

Abstract: The application discloses a method and apparatus for the substantially automated forming and sewing of hems on pillowcases and the like. The open end of a pillowcase is applied over hem folding forms, which first fold a large hem, and then a small blind hem is formed to conceal the raw edge of the fabric. Unique arrangements, covered in my related U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,058, are provided for effecting these hem folding operations. According to the invention, the pillowcase is then partially inflated with air and advanced circumferentially, while the hem structure is sewed into the article. The disclosure includes advantageous arrangements for the detection of an unsewn seam along the formed hem, and also advantageous arrangements for sensing the completion of the sewing operation. Automatic arrangements are provided for the insertion and sewing of a label, and the removal and stacking of the completed article after sewing.