US3604701A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Processes, systems, and composite systems for automating the manufacture of wearing apparel, headgear, footwear, components thereof and similar products
Assignee: Ivanhoe Research Corp
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Filing: 1967-11-07
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Granted: 1971-09-14
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Expires: 1987-11-07
Abstract
Abstract Processes, systems, and composite systems for automating the manufacture of wearing apparel, headgear, footwear, components thereof and similar products (herein called ''''garments, garment components, and the like articles'''') providing automatic handling of fabric workpieces to pass them through a multiplicity of work stations and to combine various sizes and shapes of workpieces to produce garments, garment components and the like articles, including steps of automatically feeding stacks of fabric workpieces into cooperative relationship with the respective systems of machine groups wherein the stacks of workpieces are carried by transportable interchangeable coordinating preregistration worktables which cooperatively fit with the respective systems in the composite to which these preregistration worktables are addressed, said transportable worktables serving as an integral part of the machinery to which they are addressed, interacting with the machinery to provide preregistration frames of reference and coordinate control passing the stacks from system to system, taking the workpieces one at a time from the preregistered stacks while differentiating the respective workpieces from the next ones in the stack, putting the workpieces into registry stations, registering them in the registry stations to bring them into more accurately known coordinate positions, combining them with other workpieces, transferring them into work stations and passing them through the work stations, performing work functions thereon and putting those workpieces which have had work functions performed thereon into subsequent stacks in appropriately preregistered positions upon other transportable interchangeable coordinating pregregistration worktables for automatically addressing these preregistered stacks in proper presentation to subsequent systems of the composite without requiring manual rearrangement of the individual workpieces to effect compatibility with the subsequent systems.
Inventors
- 👤 George F Hawley
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 20:05
CPC Classifications
A; A41; A41H; A41H43/00; A41H43/02; A41D; A41D27/00; A41D27/20; A41D27/204; A41H42/00; D; D05; D05B; D05B33/00; D05B33/006; D05B41/00; D05D; D05D2305/00; D05D2305/02
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim
247 words
A process for automating the manufacture of wearing apparel, headgear, footwear, and similar products from a plurality of different fabric workpieces comprising the steps of placing a plurality of first workpieces on a first transportable worktable in preregistered position thereon, placing a plurality of second workpieces different from said first workpieces on a second transportable worktable in preregistered position thereon, moving said first worktable into a first infeed station adapted to differentiate an individual workpiece from the remaining workpieces on said first worktable and positioning said first worktable in said first infeed station to bring said preregistered first workpieces thereon into predetermined coordinated relationship therewith for automatically differentiating and removing said first workpieces from said first worktable one at a time, registering said first workpieces one at a time to bring them individually into accurately known location, moving said second worktable into a second infeed station adapted to differentiate an individual workpiece from the remaining workpieces on said second worktable and positioning said second worktable in said second infeed station to bring said preregistered second workpiece thereon into predetermined coordinated relationship therewith for automatically differentiating and removing said second workpieces from said second worktable one at a time, registering said second workpieces one at a time to bring them individually into accurately known location, combining respective ones of said second workpieces with respective ones of said registered first workpieces, and fastening together the respective combined first and second workpieces to form a plurality of substantially identical products.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
247 words
A process for automating the manufacture of wearing apparel, headgear, footwear, and similar products from a plurality of different fabric workpieces comprising the steps of placing a plurality of first workpieces on a first transportable worktable in preregistered position thereon, placing a plurality of second workpieces different from said first workpieces on a second transportable worktable in preregistered position thereon, moving said first worktable into a first infeed station adapted to differentiate an individual workpiece from the remaining workpieces on said first worktable and positioning said first worktable in said first infeed station to bring said preregistered first workpieces thereon into predetermined coordinated relationship therewith for automatically differentiating and removing said first workpieces from said first worktable one at a time, registering said first workpieces one at a time to bring them individually into accurately known location, moving said second worktable into a second infeed station adapted to differentiate an individual workpiece from the remaining workpieces on said second worktable and positioning said second worktable in said second infeed station to bring said preregistered second workpiece thereon into predetermined coordinated relationship therewith for automatically differentiating and removing said second workpieces from said second worktable one at a time, registering said second workpieces one at a time to bring them individually into accurately known location, combining respective ones of said second workpieces with respective ones of said registered first workpieces, and fastening together the respective combined first and second workpieces to form a plurality of substantially identical products.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
70 words
A process for automating the manufacture of wearing apparel, headgear, footwear, and similar products as claimed in claim 1 wherein said substantially identical products are components of other articles to be formed, said process including the steps of moving a third transportable worktable into a preregistration station, and placing said products one at a time on said third worktable in preregistered position thereon in readiness for performing further work thereon.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
137 words
A process for automating the manufacture of wearing apparel, headgear, footwear, and similar products from a plurality of different workpieces as claimed in claim 1 in which the removing of said first workpieces from said first worktable one at a time and the registering of said first workpieces one at a time, comprise the steps of differentiating each workpiece from the others remaining upon said first worktable, transferring each differentiated workpiece individually into a registration station, and registering each workpiece individually in said registration station and in which the removing of said second workpieces from said second workpieces one at a time comprise the steps of differentiating each workpiece from the others remaining upon said second worktable, transferring each differentiated workpiece individually into a second registration station, and registering each workpiece individually in said second registration station.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
53 words
A process for automating the manufacture of wearing apparel, headgear, footwear, and similar products as claimed in claim 1 including the steps of providing indicia on at least one of said transportable worktables corresponding to predetermined characteristics of the workpieces thereon, and sensing the indicia for identifying the workpieces in the infeed stations.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
35 words
A process for automating the manufacture of wearing apparel, headgear, footwear, and similar products as claimed in claim 4 wherein said indicia are sensed prior to the arrival of the worktable in the infeed station.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
309 words
A process for automating the manufacture of wearing apparel, headgear, footwear, and similar products from a plurality of different fabric workpieces comprising the steps of placing a plurality of first workpieces in a first stack of a first transportable worktable in preregistered position thereon, restraining said first stack solely by friction between the bottom of said first stack and said first worktable placing a plurality of second workpieces different from said first workpieces in a second stack on a second transportable worktable in preregistered position thereon, restraining said second stack solely by friction between the bottom of said second stack and said second worktable, moving said first worktable into a first infeed station adapted to separate individual workpieces from the top of said first stack on said first worktable and positioning said first worktable in said first infeed station to bring said preregistered first stack of workpieces thereon into predetermined coordinated relationship therewith for automatically separating and removing said first workpieces from the top of said first stack one at a time, registering said first workpieces one at a time to bring them individually into accurately known location, moving said second worktable into a second infeed station adapted to separate individual workpieces from the top of said second stack on said second worktable and positioning said second worktable in said Second infeed station to bring said preregistered second stack of workpieces thereon into predetermined coordinated relationship therewith for automatically separating and removing said second workpieces from the top of said second stack one at a time, registering said second workpieces one at a time to bring them individually into accurately known location, bringing together the respective ones of said registered first workpieces with respect to their order of occurrence in said stacks, and fastening together the respective first and second workpieces to form a plurality of substantially identical products.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
309 words
A process for automating the manufacture of wearing apparel, headgear, footwear, and similar products from a plurality of different fabric workpieces comprising the steps of placing a plurality of first workpieces in a first stack of a first transportable worktable in preregistered position thereon, restraining said first stack solely by friction between the bottom of said first stack and said first worktable placing a plurality of second workpieces different from said first workpieces in a second stack on a second transportable worktable in preregistered position thereon, restraining said second stack solely by friction between the bottom of said second stack and said second worktable, moving said first worktable into a first infeed station adapted to separate individual workpieces from the top of said first stack on said first worktable and positioning said first worktable in said first infeed station to bring said preregistered first stack of workpieces thereon into predetermined coordinated relationship therewith for automatically separating and removing said first workpieces from the top of said first stack one at a time, registering said first workpieces one at a time to bring them individually into accurately known location, moving said second worktable into a second infeed station adapted to separate individual workpieces from the top of said second stack on said second worktable and positioning said second worktable in said Second infeed station to bring said preregistered second stack of workpieces thereon into predetermined coordinated relationship therewith for automatically separating and removing said second workpieces from the top of said second stack one at a time, registering said second workpieces one at a time to bring them individually into accurately known location, bringing together the respective ones of said registered first workpieces with respect to their order of occurrence in said stacks, and fastening together the respective first and second workpieces to form a plurality of substantially identical products.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
57 words
A process for automating the manufacture of wearing apparel, headgear, footwear, and similar products from a plurality of different fabric workpieces as claimed in claim 6 comprising the steps of providing indicia on at least one of said worktables corresponding with predetermined characteristics of the stack of workpieces thereon, and sensing said indicia for identifying the stack.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
171 words
A system for use in manufacturing wearing apparel, headgear, footwear, articles of clothing, components thereof, and similar products from fabric workpieces comprising a plurality of transportable worktables adapted for carrying multiple-fabric workpieces in stacks upon each worktable in predetermined approximate coordinate positioned relationship with respect to the respective worktable on which the workpieces are carried, a plurality of infeed modules for feeding the worktables into known coordinate locations one at a time in sequence, a plurality of differentiating modules for differentiating the top workpieces on the stacks from the remainder thereof, a plurality of registration modules, a work-performing module, a plurality of transfer modules, one of said transfer modules transferring the differentiated workpieces from one of said infeed modules to one of said registration modules, another of said transfer modules transferring differentiated workpieces from another of said infeed modules to another of said registration modules, combining means for combining the registered workpieces before said work-performing module, and another of said transfer modules transferring the combined registered workpieces toward said work-performing module.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
171 words
A system for use in manufacturing wearing apparel, headgear, footwear, articles of clothing, components thereof, and similar products from fabric workpieces comprising a plurality of transportable worktables adapted for carrying multiple-fabric workpieces in stacks upon each worktable in predetermined approximate coordinate positioned relationship with respect to the respective worktable on which the workpieces are carried, a plurality of infeed modules for feeding the worktables into known coordinate locations one at a time in sequence, a plurality of differentiating modules for differentiating the top workpieces on the stacks from the remainder thereof, a plurality of registration modules, a work-performing module, a plurality of transfer modules, one of said transfer modules transferring the differentiated workpieces from one of said infeed modules to one of said registration modules, another of said transfer modules transferring differentiated workpieces from another of said infeed modules to another of said registration modules, combining means for combining the registered workpieces before said work-performing module, and another of said transfer modules transferring the combined registered workpieces toward said work-performing module.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
39 words
A system for use in manufacturing wearing apparel, headgear, footwear, articles of clothing, components thereof, and similar products from fabric workpieces as claimed in claim 8 in which said combining means is included in one of said registration modules.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
219 words
A system for manufacturing wearing apparel, headgear, footwear, articles of clothing, components thereof, and similar products from fabric workpieces comprising a plurality of transportable worktables adapted for carrying multiple-fabric workpieces in stacks upon each worktable in predetermined approximate coordinate positioned relationship with respect to the respective worktable on which the workpieces are carried, a plurality of infeed modules for feeding the worktables into known coordinate locations one at a time in sequence, a plurality of differentiating modules for differentiating the top workpieces on the stacks from the remainder thereof, a plurality of registration modules, a work-performing module, a plurality of transfer modules, one of said transfer modules transferring the differentiated workpieces from one of said infeed modules to one of said registration modules, another of said transfer modules transferring differentiated workpieces from another of said infeed modules to another of said registration modules, combining means for combining the registered workpieces before said work-performing module, another of said transfer modules transferring the combined registered workpieces toward said work-performing module, a stacking module for feeding the worktables one at a time in sequence into a stacking station, and another of said transfer modules transferring the workpieces from said work-performing module onto the worktable at said stacking statiOn to form a stack of workpieces thereon upon which the work has been performed.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
219 words
A system for manufacturing wearing apparel, headgear, footwear, articles of clothing, components thereof, and similar products from fabric workpieces comprising a plurality of transportable worktables adapted for carrying multiple-fabric workpieces in stacks upon each worktable in predetermined approximate coordinate positioned relationship with respect to the respective worktable on which the workpieces are carried, a plurality of infeed modules for feeding the worktables into known coordinate locations one at a time in sequence, a plurality of differentiating modules for differentiating the top workpieces on the stacks from the remainder thereof, a plurality of registration modules, a work-performing module, a plurality of transfer modules, one of said transfer modules transferring the differentiated workpieces from one of said infeed modules to one of said registration modules, another of said transfer modules transferring differentiated workpieces from another of said infeed modules to another of said registration modules, combining means for combining the registered workpieces before said work-performing module, another of said transfer modules transferring the combined registered workpieces toward said work-performing module, a stacking module for feeding the worktables one at a time in sequence into a stacking station, and another of said transfer modules transferring the workpieces from said work-performing module onto the worktable at said stacking statiOn to form a stack of workpieces thereon upon which the work has been performed.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US3054612A
Cited
US3420515A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1974-09-13 | 1975-03-15 | 1975-09-14 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1978-09-13 | 1979-03-15 | 1979-09-14 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1982-09-13 | 1983-03-15 | 1983-09-14 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |