Mold closing device for fabric molding

Claim 1

In a molding press for use in molding flat pieces of fabric into three dimensional shapes for use in garments, in which mold parts are mounted on a movable substantially rectangular support member for vertically upward movement by a main hydraulic ram into a closed position with respect to complementary stationary mold parts, the improvement comprising a mold closing device which supplements the normal mold closing action of said ram, said device including a pair of hydraulically operated cylinders and reciprocable pistons extending substantially horizontally beneath the front and rear edges of said support member, each of said cylinders having a pair of diagonally directed upper arms pivotally connected at their outer ends to said support member adjacent to the opposite corners thereof and having their inner ends pivotally connected one to said cylinder and one to said piston for outward movement thereby, each of said cylinders having a pair of diagonally directed lower arms pivotally connected at their outer ends to fixed portions of said press on opposite sides thereof and having their inner ends pivotally connected one to said cylinder and one to said piston respectively, and means for energizing both of said cylinders simultaneously after said support member has been moved to a substantially closed position with respect to said stationary mold parts, to provide sudden forceful and equal final closing movement of all four corners of said support member to force said support member and the fabric being molded against said stationary mold parts and thereby provide a stronger molding action and better definition of the molded configuration of the fabric.