US2914208A - Apparatus for heat sealing identification tags to garments and the like - Google Patents

Description

J. A. FILSINGER ETAL 2,914,208 APPARATUS FOR HEAT SEALING IDENTIFICATION TAGS TO GARMENTS AND THE LIKE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 28, 1956 AINVENTOR. Jzmfeson flF/Zsin er BY PAN/,0 N B aui ATTO NE Y.

Nov. 24, 1959 J. A. FILSINGER E 2,914,208

APPARATUS FOR HEAT SEALING IDENTIFICATION TAGS TO GARMENTS AND THE LIKE Filed May 28, 1956 a Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

J21 [@507 Al /35in er A TTORIVEY.

Nov. 24, 1959 J. A. FILSINGER EI'AL 2,914,208

APPARATUS FOR HEAT SEALING IDENTIF TION TAGS T0 GARMENTS AND THE LIK Filed May 28, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Unite States Patent APPARATUS FOR HEAT SEALING IDENTIFICA- rIoN TAGS T GARMENTS AND THE LIKE Jamieson A. Filsing'er and Philip N. Braun, Syracuse, N.Y. said Jamieson A. Filsinger assignor to Philip N. Braun' Application May 28, 1956, Serial No. 587,582, 4' Claims. 01. Zia-29) This invention relates to apparatus for heat sealing identification tags to garments and the like in connection with laundering and dry cleaning" processes.

Machines of this type are employed for affixing identi-fl portion of the tape in overlying relation to the heating iron and upon movement of the garment platen toward the iron, the end portion of the tape is severed to form the tag, and the tagis squeezed between the heater arm and the garment. The heat from the iron reactivates the adhesive and the simultaneous application of pressure seals the tag to the garment. clude printing mechanism for printing the desired identifying indicia on the reverse side of the tagthat is, the side contactingthehea-ter iron. A machine of this type is disclosed in its' entirety in, the copending application of Philip N. Braun, Serial Number 459,294, filed sep tember 30, 1954, now Pa'ten'tNo. 2,825,480, issued on March 4, 1958.

This invention has to do' particularly with the structure of the garment platen, and has as an object an arrangement wherein the tape severing shear'is mounted in close' proximity to the heater iron. The garment platen embodying a base portion and a movable garment contacting portion mounted thereon, the base and "the movable element having means cooperable during the initial application of pressure by the platen against the garment and tag, while the latter is overlyingthe face of the-heating iron, to effect a sidewise orlateral'shifting of the platen, garment and tag, to move the tag in full registration with the face of the heating iron, whereby heat and pressure are applied to the tag over the entirearea thereof.

The invention consists of the novel features and of the combinations and constructions hereinafter set forth and claimed. H I

In describing this invention, referencelis had to the accompanying drawings in which like characters desig nate corresponding parts in all the views.

In the drawingsi Figure 1 is a side elevational view of that portion of the machine embodying the platen, platen carrying arm and heater iron.

Figure 2 is a top plan view illustrating the anvil moved forwardly toward the heater iron but spaced an appreciable distance therefrom.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 with the movable element of the platen initially contacting the tag, the tag having at that instant been severed from the tape.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, showing the position of the parts with the anvil under full pressure compressing the garment and tag against the heater iron.

These machines also in Figure 51 5 via; area sir 511.16 corresponding t5.

line5-5,Figure I I Figure 6 is a frontelevational view of the heating iron, tag positioning and tag severing mechanism. 7

.The frame consistsof a U-shaped member formedof sheet metal and having vertically extending side ,walls 10, 11, and a bottom wall 12 A shaft 13 is journalled. in the side walls 10, 11, to provide a pivotal mounting for an arm 14 provided at its outer end with laterally extending handleprojections 15. The back wall. 17; of the frame extends upwardly, anda heater iron 18 is secured thereto. The platen carrying arm 14, intermediate its ends, is formed with; a forwardly projecting portion 20 carrying a transversely extending pin 21; which, when the arm i s moved toward the heaterarm 18,;passes over the hookedend nof a link 23 pivoted at 24 to a,

vertically disposed lever.-25 A plate 26 is secured tothe back. wall 17 of the frarne, and carries a bracket127 to which the upperendflof the lever 25 is pivotally mounted, as by pin 28. The link 23 is supported,- inter-, mediate its ends-on a pin- 2 9 mounted in ,the side walls,

10, 11, and 111511111; is for med with a downwardly curved cam surface 30. Thelink' is urged downwardly on the pin 29 by a tension spring 32, see Figure 1. When the-- arm 14 has been moved about its pivot 13 manually until the platen-is in the'position shown in Figure 2 thepin 21 is moved behind the hooked end 22 of link 23. There upon, the lever 25 is moved in a counter-clockwise di rection, Figure 1, about itsilp'ivot 28 by power means;

such asa'fiuid actuated cylinderandpiston structure,- not shown, and through theinstrumentality of. the link .23 the platen, with the garment draped thereovergis drawn tightly against the identification tag; and the latter is pressed against the heating iron, whereby heat and pres.-;

tag to the, garment.

sure are applied to thetag to effect the sealing of the The identification tags are formed from,a strip or. tape of suitable material, theface side confronting the.;.gar-.; ment platen, being'coated-with a suitable thermoplastic; adhesive. Thistape is indicated at 3,5. Thesupplygofl tapebeing usuallyinroll form ;and the machine proper, having a tape feedingmechanism, operable togadvance, the t he ta igrmii a Ldi a each t the platen:

is moved into engagemenpwiththe heating,, iron. A

form f. 31 eed i i ust ated; e.li aun iapp i n,. 459,294, previously mentioned. A guide structure 33 is;

provided to guide t he tape;;asit, is advaneed from the.

roll, and to position. theendgportionof the jtape in over-. lying relation ;,to, the, face of the heating? iron. 18, see. Figures land 6. h A stationaryshear blade ,37 is fixedlto'the left hanld end; oftheheaterjhonllii and a movable; shear blade 38 is mounted for cooperationwith the sta-... tionary blade 37 The blade38 ismounted on, a pivot: 40 and is maintained in tight shearingrelation" tothe" fixed blade 37. byla leaf spring f l ca frlied, by the depending portion 42 ofthe f xed blade, see Figured .5.

The rn'ovable blade'38' has a rearwardllextending tion pivotally attached to the uppereendgof alverticalljy disposed link 43, see Figure l. The lowerQend'of-Fthe nlafi s termed w t a ap r ure 4.5; elongatediin. a direction lengthwise of the link, to receive a pin 46 carried on an arm 47 attached to the platen carrying arm 14. The arrangement is such that when the face of the platen initially contacts the tag 36, the movable shear severs the end portion 36 to form the tag.

The garment supporting platen consists of a base 5'0 detachably secured to the arm 14, as by screws 51. The forward edge of the base 50 is formed with a relatively deep, rectangular shaped, slot 52 in which there is slidably mounted a garment supporting or contacting element. The inner portion 54 of this movable element is slidably mounted in slot 52 in the base 50. .A bar 56 Pai ented Nov. 24, 1959:

is mounted intermediate the inner end of the portion 54 and the bottom of the slot 52. A pin 57 is secured to the bar 56, intermediate the ends thereof, and is slidably mounted in a bore 5 8 formed in the base member 50. The ..bar 56 is yieldingly-urged outwardly against the portion 54 by helical compression springs 59. Outward movement of the portion 54 is limited by a pin 60 extending through the slotted portion of the base and through an aperture 61 which is elongated in a diagonal direction, the slot 61 and pin 60 serving to cam the movable element to the left by action of springs 59, as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

The outer enlarged portion 64 of the movable element is also provided with a rectangular shaped slot extending lengthwise of the element, and in which is positioned a channel member '66. A pad 67 of resilient material, such as rubber, is mounted in the channelmember 66, and is retained against the bottomwall 68, thereof, by a pin 69' which extends through the side walls of the channel member and the rubber pad, and also through the portion 64. The opposite end of thepadisretained by a. pin 7 0 which extends through the side Walls of the channel member, but does notextend through the side walls of the outer portion 64 of the movable member. An aperture is provided extending inwardly from the bottom wall of theslot in the portion 64, and a helical compression spring 71 is positioned in this bore and acts against the bottom wall 68 of the channel member. The spring 71 is positioned toward the pin 70 whereby the channel member is moved about its pivotal mounting 69, this movement being limited by a plate 74 having a hooked end portion 75 engaging the bottom Wall 68 of the channel member, the plate 74 being secured to the portion 54 of the movable member as by screws 76.

With this arrangement, the movable member is normally positioned outwardly and shifted to the left, Figures 2 and 3, of the base 50. Also, the pad 67 is in canted position. The garment is draped over the pad 67, and the arm 14 is moved toward the heater iron during which movement the end portion 36 of the tape is advanced to overlying relation with the heater iron 18. As the forward corner of the canted pad 67'engages the end portion 36 of the tape, as shown in Figure 3, the shear blade 38 is actuated to sever the end portion from the tape to form the tag. This engagement of the tag prevents it from falling or moving out of place. Further movement of the platen toward the heating iron, under the influence of the power actuator referred to, elfects movement of the pad 67 about the pivot 69 to bring the pad and channel member in parallel relation with the face surface of the iron 18 and thereupon, the movable element is moved inwardly of the base against compression springs 59 and during this inward movement, the mov: able element and the pad carried thereby are shifted laterally to the right, as shown in Figure 4, and this movement effects similar shifting of the severed tag,

whereby the entire area of the reverse side of the tag is brought in registering contact with the face of the heater iron 18 and accordingly, heat and pressure are applied over the entire area of the tag during the sealing operation. This results in the tag being more uniformly aflixed to the garment.

What we claim is: I

1. Apparatus for heat sealing thermoplastic coated identification tags to garments comprising a frame, a heater iron mounted in the frame and having a heating surface, means for positioning the free end portion of a tape from which the tags are formed in overlying relation to the heating surface of said iron, a garment platen, means operable to effect relative movement between said iron and platen to effect compression of a garment against the end portion of the tape and to press the latter against said heater iron, a shear mounted in juxtaposition to said iron and being operable upon such relative movement between the platen and iron to sever said end portion of the tape to provide the identification tag, said platen comprising a base, a garment engaging meritber mounted on said base for movement relative thereto and projecting therefrom toward said heater iron, and means responsive 'to the exertion of pressure against said severed tag for shifting said member and the severed tag laterally across the surface of the heater iron in a direction away from said shear.

2. Apparatus as. defined in claim 1 and including means for yieldingly opposing such shifting movement of said garment engaging member.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim '1 wherein said base and said movable member have coacting means for guiding the shifting of said shiftable member under pressure between the platen and said heater iron.

4. Apparatus for heat sealing thermoplastic coated identification tags to garments comprising a frame, a heater iron mounted in the frame and having a heating surface, means for positioning the free end portion of a tape from which the tags are formed in overlying relation to the heating surface of said iron, a garment platen, means operable to efiect relative movement between said iron and platen to elfect compression of a garment against the end portion of the tape and to press the latter against said heater iron, a shear mounted in juxtaposition to said iron and being operable upon such relative movement between the platenand iron to sever said end portion of the tape to provide the identification tag, said platen comprising a base, a pad mounted on the base and extending in angular relation to the heating surface of said iron to cause the garment carried by said platen to engage the end of the tag remote from said shear, and

said pad being movable on said base in parallel relation to the heating surface of'said iron upon the exertion of pressure on said tag to shift said tag laterally along said iron. I

References Cited in the file'of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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