US3094084A - Folding mechanism for label sewing machines - Google Patents

Description

June 18, 1963 K. HEDEGAARD 3,094,084

FOLDING MECHANISM FOR LABEL SEWING MACHINES Filed Oct. 17, 1961 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 18, 1963 K. HEDEGAARD 3,094,084

FOLDING MECHANISM FOR LABEL SEWING MACHINES Filed Oct. 17, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ArroRA/Ey `neath the presser plate. vices must be heated in order to preserve lthe shape of United States Patent O 3,094,084 FOLDING MECHANISM FOR LABEL SEWING MACHINES Kristen Hedegaard, Gentofte, Denmark, assignor to G. M. Pfaff AG, Kaiserslautern, Pfalz, Germany, a corporation of Germany Filed Oct. 17, 1961, Ser. No. 145,565 Claims priority, application Germany Oct. 18, 1960 8 Claims. (Cl. 112-104) The present invention relates to sewing machines, more particularly to machines for the sewing of labels, emblems, identification marks and the like work pieces to a garment or other base of sewing material, and a major object of the invention is the provision of simple and efficient mechanism for folding or reversely bending the edges of a label or the like work piece prior to the commencement of a sewing cyole or operation.

It has already become known in the sewing of labels or the like work pieces to utilize a work presser foot in the form of .a plate or frame having a contour or outline conforming to the outline of the label to be sewn and cooperating with a reciprocating needle in the ordinary manner, with further means being provided to operate said plate or frame, together with the work held thereby, through a path conforming to said outline, in such a manner as to stitch a seam along the edge of the label and to sew the same to the garment or other base of sewing material.

In the operation of known label sewing machines of this type, it is desirable or necessary to rst fold the edges of the labels and to subsequently place or position the prefolded labels underneath the presser plate or frame. For this purpose, the labels are either folded by hand which method is bot-h time-consuming and requires special skill or experience, or, alternatively, the labels are pre-folded by the aid of a special `folding device. The use of such devices not only involves additional costs without relieving the operator from the cumbersome and time-con suming aligning operations in positioning the labels under- Besides, the known folding dethe folded labels until the commencement of the sewing operation.

There are known other sewing machine constructions designed for the affixing of labels and the like work pieces `to a base of sewing material, whereby the labels are cut from a continuous strip by the aid of a cutting device and the separated units or pieces folded by the aid of a special folding device and held in the folded position by a speci-al `clamp until after the termin-ation of the label sewing operation or cycle. Stich devices, besides being highly complex mechanically, have the drawback that the labels can be folded only in the downward direction, with the result that the sewing material must be placed upon the folded units. As a consequence, the lower thread seam being undesinable from `an appearance point of view, compared with the upper thread seam` of the conventional lock stitch sewing machine, will appear on the side of the sewn labels together with the cut end of the thread, aside from other drawbacks and defects of folding devices and methods of -this type.

Accordingly, an important object of the present invention is the provision of an improved folding device structurally and operably combined with a label or the like sewing machine, whereby the labels or the like work pieces may be positioned or aligned and folded efliciently and expeditiously prior to Ia label sewing operation or cycle.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a label or the like work piece folding device `for use in a label sewing machine and the like by which folding or reversely bending of the edges of the labels is effected by 3,094,084 Patented June 18, 1963 ice mechanical folding means operatively embodied in the 'sewing machine, in such a manner as to ensure the sewing of the labels uniformly and with a minimum of dependence upon the personal factor or operating skill.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a label folding device of this type operably embodied in a label sewing machine, whereby to reduce the number of manual control operations :to a minimum 4in the interest of increasing the efficiency and reliability of the label sewing oper-ations.

Other objects of the invention are the provision of a mechanical label or work folding device of the type referred to and structurally embodied in a label sewing machine,.which is both simple in construction as well as efficient and reliable in opera-tion; which can be operated by unskilled labor safely and expeditiously; and which may be readily embodied in or combined with existing label sewing machine and the like by which folding or The invention, both as to its ancillary objects and novel aspects, will be better understood from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification and in which:

FIG. l is a perspective view of a label sewing machine yembodying folding mechanism constructed in accordance with Ithe principles of the invention, the` position of the folding elements as shown corresponding -to the position :upon termination of a folding operation with the folding template and clamp being retracted to its inoperative position prior to the commencement of a label sewing operation;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the sewing machine shown by FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a partial view showing the front of the label folding device embodied in FIGS. l and 2 in the raised or inoperative position of the work presser foot or plate of the machine, and with the work piece or label being inserted between the presser foot and folding template;

FIG. 4 is a further partial view simi-lar to FIG. 3 and showing the position of the lfolding clamp in the operative position with the work piece or label being reversely bent around the edges of the folding template; and

FIG. 5 is a partial view also similar to FIG. 3 and showing the position of the folding clamp atV the instant of release from the work piece or folding template upon the presser foot being lowered to work engaging position.

Like reference numerals denote like parts in the different views of the drawings.

With the foregoing objects in View, the invention involves general-ly the provision, in connection with a label or the like sewing machine of known construction, of a folding plate or template resiliently engaging the undersurface of the presser plate or frame of the machine and Vadapted to position a :label or work piece held therebetween, said template being arranged for operation between -an operative position of engagement with said plate and a retracted or inoperative position of disengagement from said plate, and the operation of the template being advantageously coupled with the operating organs of the sewing machine, such as the presser foot lifting lever or the like control member and the starting and stopping means of the machine, in an eff-ort to increase the operating safety and to reduce the number of manual control operations Ito a minimum.

The actual sewing of the labels may be carried out in accordance with well-known methods, such as by operation of the presser foot or plate through a path conforming to the outline of the presser plate or the labels being sewn by the aid of control mechanism being in motion transmitting connection with the main drive shaft of the sewing machine, such as shown and described in greater detail in my copending patent application Serial No.

v 'a a 129,852, entitled Machine for Sewing Labels and the Like, filed August 7, 1961, which prior application is hereby embodied in the present application by reference.

There is further provided in accordance with the -invention folding mechanism comprising essentially a support being advantageously directly affixed to the presser `foot lifting bar or the like of the sewing machine, said support being in turn provided with a pair of projections and a vertical guide slidably supporting a work folding clamp. 'Ille latter may comprise a manually operable actuating member sliding upon said support and a pair of clamping arms having sliding surfaces, each said arms having one end pivotally connected to an end of said member and said arms having their opposite ends terminating in a pair off inwardly directed folding claws. Said arms are urged towards one another by the provision of rst resilient means, whereby to cause said surfaces to engage and cam with said projections, while said member 'and in turn the entire clamp structure are urged to an inoperative or retracted position upon said support by the action of second resilient means operably connected therewith, with said member normally engaging a stop upon said support.

Said sliding surfaces are provided with suitable wedgeshaped recesses or cut-outs, whereby, with the presser foot or plate and adjoining templatebeing in the raised position, operation of the clamp by 4the aid of said member in the downward direction against the action of said second resilient means rst causes the arms to spread by camming of said projections with said surfaces and then to close or move towards one another upon said projec- -tions engaging said recesses, in such a manner as to engage and reversely bend or fold the projecting edges of a label or 4the like Work piece, placed between the presser plate and folding template, around the edges of the latter by said folding claws.`

The foregoing operation is carried out manually in the raised position of the presser foot. Lowering thepresser plate together with the template and folded label to a position of engagement of the claws with the sewing base then results in a spreading of said arms and disengagement of said claws from the label and template by virtue of the camming of said projections with the recesses of the clamping arms. In order to automatically retract the folding clamp to its inoperative position, there may be provided spring-urged locking means adapted to hold the clamp in the operative -or folding position and to be released by said arms upon disengagement -of the folding claws from the label and template in the manner described hereinbefore and further understood from the following.

The control of the folding template Iby the presser foot lifting bar or equivalent control member and by the starting means of the sewing machine is advantageously such as to cause the template, being normally locked in its inoperative or retracted position against the action of a return spring, to lbe released and operated by said spring to its operative position upon stopping of the sewing machine and subsequently raising of the presser foot and to be returned to and locked in the inoperative position, upon lowering of the presser plate to work engaging position before starting of the machine for commencing of a label sewing cycle, in the manner as will become further apparent as the following description proceeds.

Referring toy the drawings, the numeral 1 denotes the upright from which extends a lower work supporting arm 2 and anupper arm 3, the latter terminating in a sewing head 4 in accordance with conventional sewing machine constructions. Projecting laterally from the upright 1 is the end of a worm shaft 5 being in driving connection with the main ldrive shaft (not shown) of the sewing machine and serving to operate thepressure plate 62 through a` path conforming to the configuration or outline of the label or thelike work piece 63 to be sewn to abase 65, such as a garment, by Way of a control disk 6 and suitable motion transmitting and control mechanism as shown, for instance, by the above-mentioned copending patent application.

The presserplate lifting bar 7 is operatively connected in a known manner with alifting lever 8 through a connecting member 9, FIG. 2, to which is secured by means of screws 10 a two-part plate orsupport 11 extending on both sides of the needle bar 12. The two parts of thesupport 11 are connected at their upper ends by abracket 13 and are connected at their lower ends by a Ipair of lugs orplates 14 secured to acentral sleeve 15 and being joined to one another by means of a pair ofscrews 16 or in any other suitable manner. Extending from theplate 11 orlugs 14 are a pair ofprojections 17, FIGS. 4 and 5, which may be in the form of attened bolts or pins and the purpose of which will be described presently. Supported by thesleeve 15 is the lower end of aguide rod 18 held by means of a screw nut or stop 19 upon said rod, while the upper end of said rod is suitably guided upon the body of the sewing machine, such as within a bore of abolt 20 supporting the needle bar 12.

Slidably mounted upon therod 18 is atrapezoidalshaped locking member 21 having two upwardly extendinglateral arms 22 with outersliding surfaces 22a tapering towards one another. Acompression spring 23 en- -circling therod 18 has one end engaging themember 21 and has its opposite end abut against anoperating member 25 extending transversely to and being slidably mounted upon therod 18, said member being provided with a handle or grippingelement 25 and normally engaging thebracket 13 `forming a stop therefor in the retracted or inoperative position of the 'folding device, FIG. l.

The folding clamp proper comprises a pair of foldingarms 27 each having yone end pivotally connected, as at 26, to an end of themember 25 and said arms terminating at their lower ends in a pair of foldingclaws 28 advantageously produced by inwardly bending the ends of the arms at substantially right angles, in such a manner as to provide a work folding clamp by theelements 25, 27 and 28 collectively denoted by thenumeral 29 in the drawing. Aixed to botharms 27 at the same height are a pair offurther projections 30 in the form of flattened bolts or the like, while the arms are resiliently urged towards one another by means of aflat spring 31 encircling themember 25 such as to causelthe projections 30 to engage or cam with thesliding surfaces 22a. The inner surfaces of thearms 27 forming a pair of furthersliding surfaces 27a are provided, at points below and at a distance from theprojections 30 equal to the distance between the lower edge of themember 21 and theprojections 17, with a pair of triangular or Wedge-'shaped recesses 32.

Item 33 is a sleeve placed upon themember 25 and encircling the rod 1S anditem 34 is a further coil spring encircling said rod and having one end engaging the upper end of said sleeve and having its opposite end engaging thebolt 20 in the retracted or inoperative position of the `clamp 29, FIGS. l and 3.

As more clearly shown by FIG. 2,item 36 represents a safety lever being rotatable in a known manner about a fixedpivot 35 and operated or controlled by thestarting lever 38 of the sewing machine through alink 37, such as described in greater detail in the above-mentioned copending application, the position of thelever 36 shown in the drawing corresponding to the operating or running condition of the machine, or retracted position of the label folding template. Thelever 36 has a lower extension or lever arm to the end of which is secured a at headed screw orbolt 39 serving as a guide for the hookshaped or reversely bent end of a pulling wire or rod 40 which has its opposite end secured to ascrew clamp 41 being in turn secured to aplate 42 slidable upon the top surface of the work supporting arm 2 of the sewing machine. Theslide 42 consists of two parts engaging the outer edges of the presser plate control member orslide 43 which controls the displacement of thepresser plate 62 in the lengthwise dimension of the arm 2, inthe manner more clearly described in the afore-mentioned copending application, both parts of theslide 42 being joined by a cross piece or connectingbracket 45.

Secured to thebracket 45 is a support 46 for a ilat spring 47 connected thereto by means ofscrews 48. Further secured to the end of the spring 47 on the side of the head 4 of the machine is a folding plate ortemplate 49 having awork supporting surface 49a and folding edges 49b, FIG. 3. Secured or clamped to the end of the spring 47 supporting thetemplate 49 is a guide sheet orplate 50, extending in an upward direction and resiliently engaging a pin 51. The latter passes through the free end of .a guide rod 55 extending in the lengthwise direction of the arm 2 and being secured to the presser foot carrier 52 by means of a screw nut 53 and a counter nut 54, FIG. 1. Acompression spring 56 encircling the rod 55 has one end engaging the nut 55 and has its opposite end engaging a slide member 57 secured to the support 46. The member 57 has an upper forked end adapted to receive a locking lever 59 rotatable about a pivot screw 58, said lever having its free end engaging a pawl 60 mounted upon the presser foot carrier 52. Secured to Vthe presser foot lifting bar 9 is an angularly bent actuatingrod 61 having its free end arranged to engage the end of the locking lever 59 during raising of the lifting bar 9 or presserfoot 62. The latter is provided with a pair of upstanding lugs orguides 64 for cooperation with the `claws 28 during a work folding operation.

In the following will be described the operation of the work folding device according to the invention as shown by the drawings. During a sewing operation, that is, with thestarting lever 38 in the On-position, the lower extension of thelever 36 is in the retracted position, in respect to the head 4, as shown in FIG. 2, whereby thefolding template 49 connected to it through the wire 40 is also in the retracted or inoperative position, or behind thepresser plate 62, FIGS. 1 and 2. In this position, thespring 56 presses against the sliding member 57 with the lever 59 being engaged and locked by the pawl 60. After termination of the sewing operation, the machine is stopped, preferably automatically, in a known manner, whereby to cause thestarting lever 38 to be operated to its Off-position to result in thescrew 39` to be displaced in a direction towards the head 4 by way of thelever 36. If now the presserplate lifting lever 8 is operated to raise thepresser plate 62, th angularly bent end of the actuatingrod 61 engages the end of the locking lever 59 extending beyond the pawl 60, in such a manner as to deflect said lever in an upward direction or to release the same so that thespring 56 will be enabled to expand and to displace the member 57 together with thefolding template 49 in the direction towards the head 4 to a position where the template is underneath and urged against the undersurface ofthepresser plate 62, FIG. 3, by the action of the spring 47.

The edge of thetemplate 49 projecting beyond the presser plate y62 is now depressed manually for the insertion of a work piece orlabel 63 between said plate .and template, as shown in FIG. 3. During the raising of the presser plate I62 from the position of FIGS. l and 2 to the position of FIG. 3, the support orplate 11 is pulled in an upward direction by the member 9, while thespring 34 engaging thebolt 20 acts to retain themember 25 in its voriginal position by way of thesleeve 33.

ber 21 until the pins orprojections 30 upon said arms coincide or engage the lower edge of themember 21. At this instant, theclaws 28 have assumed a position ready to envelop thetemplate 49. Due to the action of thespring 31, theprojections 30 engage the lower edge of themember 21, while therecesses 32 are engaged by theprojections 17. In the meantime, theclaws 28 have pushed the end of the labels orwork piece 63 projecting beyond the edges of the template in a downward direction past and around thefolding edges 49a, FIG. 4, theclamp 29 being held in this position by the action of thespring 23 urging theprojections 30 against the lower edge of themember 21.

The foldedwork piece 63 is then lowered upon thebase 65 by lowering of thepresser plate 62, throughlever 8 whereby to simultaneously lower thesupport 11 by way of the member 9, in such a manner .as to cause the individual folding elements to initially maintain their relative positions and to cause the wedge-shaped edges of therecesses 32 to cam with theprojections 17, during the last phase of the downward movement only that is, when theclaws 28 engage thebase 64, thereby in turn to cause the .arms to be swung outwardly and to release thetemplate 49 from its grip with said claws, in a manner readily understood. The foldedwork piece 63 now overlies thesewing base 65 underneath thepresser plate 62, in proper operative position. Simultaneously with the spreading of thearms 27, the locking of theclamp 29 by theprojections 30 released, FIG. 5, whereby theclamp 29 will be returned to its starting position, FIGS. 1 and 3.

If the sewing machine is now started to commence a label sewing operation,lever 38 throughlink 31 causes `the end of thelever 36 to be returned to the Off-position as shown in FIG. 1, whereby to in turn retract thetemplate 49 to its inoperative position behind thepresser plate 62 and .at the same time to cause the lever 59 to lock with the pawl 60.

In the foregoing the invention has been described with reference -to a specific illustrative device. It will be evident, however, that variations and modifications, as well as the substitution of equivalent elements and parts for those shown and described herein for illustration, may be made without departing from the broader scope and spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative rather than in a restrictive sense.

I claim:

1. Folding mechanism for a lalbel sewing machine of the type comprising stitch forming means including a needle, drive means to operate said needle, a work presser plate, a presser plate lifting bar operable between lowered `work engaging and raised positions, said plate having an Vthrough a path conforming to the outline of said label,

whereby to sew the edges of said label to said base, said yfolding mechanism comprising ,a retractable folding template resiliently engaging the undersurface of said presser plate and means to operate said template between an op- 'erative position of engagement with said plate in the raised position and a retracted lateral position of disengagement from said plate in the lowered position, a support affixed to said presser plate lifting bar and provided with a pair of rst projections, a vertical guide rod having `one end supported by Isaid support and havingits opposite end slidably mounted upon said machine, a label folding clamp comprising an operating member transverse to tand slidably mounted upon said rod, a pair of clamping 'arms having a pair of sliding surfaces, each said arms having `an end pivot-ally connected to an en d of said member `and said arms being provided, at their 7 opposite ends, with inwardly directed folding claws, first resilient means to urge said arms and claws towards one another, to cause said sliding surfaces to resiliently engage said projections, second resilient means .to urge said clamp to retracted position upon said support with said member engaging a stop upon said support, said sliding surfaces being provided with wedge-shaped recesses, second projections upon said arms spaced from said recesses, a locking member resiliently slidably mounted upon said support and having a pair of second ysliding surfaces engaging said second projections, whereby, with said presser plate and adjoining folding template in the raised position, operation of said member in a direction away from said support against the action of said second resilient means first causes `said arms to spread outwardly by camming of said first projections with said first sliding surfaces and then to be operated in a direction towards one another upon said first projections engaging said recesses such as to engage and reversely bend the projecting edges of a label placed between said presser plate and template about the edges of said template by said claws and to lock said clamp by interengagement of said locking member and said second projections, and whereby, furthermore, with said presser plate and supporting plate being lowered by said lifting bar, said claws upon engaging said sewing base are released from said template by camming of said first projections with said recesses such as to effect release of said claws from said template and to return said clamp to retracted position by the action of said second resilient means releasing said locking member.

2. In label folding mechanism for a label sewing machine as claimed in claim 1, further resilient means to urge said template to its operative position, means to lock said template in its inoperative position against the action of said further resilient means, and means to release said locking means by said presser plate lifting bar in the lowered position.

3. In label folding mechanism for a label sewing machine as claimed in claim l, control means to start and stop said machine, fuither resilient means to urge said template to its operative position, means actuated by said control means to lock said template in its inoperative position by said control means against the action of said further resilient means during the operation of said machine, and means to release said locking means by said presser plate lifting bar in the lowered position.

4. Folding mechanism for a label sewing machine comprising stitch forming means including a needle, drive means to operate said needle, a work presser plate, a presser plate lifting bar operable vertically between a lowered work engaging and a raised position of said presser plate, said presser plate having an outline conforming .to the outline of a label or the like to be sewn to a base of sewing material, to hold said label against said base in the lowered position of said presser foot, means being in motion transmitting connection with said drive means to operate said presser foot through a path conforming to the outline of said label, whereby to sew the edges of said label to said base, said folding mechanism comprising a retractable folding template resiliently engaging the undersurface of said presser plate and provided with means to operate said template between an operative position of engagement with said presser plate and a lateral position of disengagement from said presser plate, said folding mechanism compri-sing a support affixed to said presser plate lifting bar and provided with a pair of first projections, a vertical guide rod having one end supported by said support and having its opposite end slidably mounted upon said machine, a folding clamp comprising an operating member transverse to and slidably mounted upon said rod, a pair of clamping arms having a pair of sliding surfaces, each said arms having one end pivotally connected to an end of said member and said arms being provided, at their opposite ends, with inwardly directed folding claw members, first resilient means to urge said arms towards one another, to cause 'said projections to resiliently engage said sliding surfaces, a compression coil spring encircling said rod intermediate said member and said support said member and said support to urge said member to retracted position upon said support with said member engaging a stop upon said support, said sliding surfaces Ibeing provided with wedgeshaped recesses, whereby, with said presser foot and adjoining folding template in the raised position, operation of said clamp by said member in .the downward direction against the action of second resilient means first causes said arms to spread outwardly by camming of said projections with said sliding surfaces and then to be operated inwardly towards one another upon said projections engaging said recesses such as to engage and reversely bend the projecting edges of a label placed between said presser foot and said template about the edges of said template by said claw members, and means to release said template and said clamp to retracted position upon said claw members engaging said sewing base after operation of said presser foot to its lowered position by said lifting bar.

5. In label folding mechanism for a label sewing machine as claimed in claim 4, said last means being comprised of a locking member slidable upon said rod against the action of said second resilient means and having at least one surface camming with a projection of said clamping arms, whereby to lock said clamp to said support upon said first projections engaging said recesses and with said arms assuming a minimum spreading angle in the clamping position of said claw members engaging said template, and whereby to unlock said clamp by spreading of said arms upon said claw members engaging said base in the fully lowered position of said presser plate.

6. In combination with a label and the like sewing machine of the type including a work presser plate having an outline conforming to the outline of a label to be sewn to a base of sewing material, and means to sew said label clamped between said presser plate and said base by a seam following said outline, of label folding mechanism comprising a retractable folding template resiliently engaging the undersur-face of said presser plate in the raised position and means to operate said template between an operative position of engagement with and a retracted ylateral position of disengagement from said presser plate, a movable support having a pair of projections and operable vertically between a first upper and a second lower position iny synchronism with the presser plate operation, a folding clamp comprising an operating member vertically slidably mounted upon said support, a pair of clamping arms having a pair of sliding surfaces, each said arms having one end pivotally connected to one end of said member and being provided, at their opposite ends, with inwardly directed folding claws, first resilient means to urge said arms towards one another, to cause said projections to resiliently engage said surfaces, second resilient means between said member and said support to normally urge said clamp to retracted position upon said support with said member engaging a stop upon said support, said sliding surfaces being provided with wedge-shaped recesses, whereby operation of said clamp by said member towards said presser foot and template against the action of said second resilient means rst causes said arms to be spread outwardly by engagement of said projections with said surfaces and then to be swung inwardly towards one another upon said projections engaging said recesses such as to engage and reversely bend the projecting edges of a label placed between said presser foot and template about the edges of said template by said claws and to llock said claws against said template and the folded label by said second spring means, and means to release said claws from said template and label and to return said clamp to retracted position upon said claw engaging said base of sewing material upon operation of said support from said first to said second position.

7. In work folding mechanism for ia label sewing machine :as claimed in claim 6, Iincluding a presser foot lifting bar having operating means for 'operating said presser :foot between a 'lowered Work engaging position and a raised work disengaged position, vand means rigidly connecting said support to said lifting bar.

l8. In label folding mechanism as claimed in claim 6, said last means being comprised of a locking member also slidable upon said support against the action of said second resilient means and having at least one surface camming with `a projection of said clamping arms, whereby to lock said clamp to said support upon said first projections engaging said recesses and with said arms References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS `870,543 Chilton Nov. 12, 1907 1,199,822 Rosenthal et lal. Oct. 3, 1916 1,246,301 Moffatt et al. Nov. 13, 1917 2,130,509 Regen Sept. 20, 19'38

Claims (1)

1. FOLDING MECHANISM FOR A LABEL SEWING MACHINE OF THE TYPE COMPRISING STITCH FORMING MEANS INCLUDING A NEEDLE, DRIVE MEANS TO OPERATE SAID NEEDLE, A WORK PRESSER PLATE, A PRESSER PLATE LIFTING BAR OPERABLE BETWEEN LOWERED WORK ENGAGING AND RAISED POSITIONS, SAID PLATE HAVING AN OUTLINE CONFORMING TO THE OUTLINE OF A LABEL OR THE LIKE TO BE SEWN TO A BASE OF SEWING MATERIAL, TO HOLD SAID LABEL AGAINST SAID BASE IN THE LOWERED POSITION OF SAID PLATE WITH THE EDGES OF SAID LABEL PROJECTING BEYOND THE EDGES OF SAID PLATE, MEANS BEING IN MOTION TRANSMITTING CONNECTION WITH SAID DRIVE MEANS TO OPERATE SAID PLATE THROUGH A PATH CONFORMING TO THE OUTLINE OF SAID LABEL, WHEREBY TO SEW THE EDGES OF SAID LABEL TO SAID BASE, SAID FOLDING MECHANISM COMPRISING A RETRACTABLE FOLDING TEMPLATE RESILIENTLY ENGAGING THE UNDERSURFACE OF SAID PRESSER PLATE AND MEANS TO OPERATE SAID TEMPLATE BETWEEN AN OPERATIVE POSITION OF ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID PLATE IN THE RAISED POSITION AND A RETRACTED LATERAL POSITION OF DISENGAGEMENT FROM SAID PLATE IN THE LOWERED POSITION, A SUPPORT AFFIXED TO SAID PRESSER PLATE LIFTING BAR AND PROVIDED WITH A PAIR OF FIRST PROJECTIONS, A VERTICAL GUIDE ROD HAVING ONE END SUPPORTED BY SAID SUPPORT AND HAVING ITS OPPOSITE END SLIDABLY MOUNTED UPON SAID MACHINE, A LABEL FOLDING CLAMP COMPRISING AN OPERATING MEMBER TRANSVERSE TO AND SLIDABLY MOUNTED UPON SAID ROD, A PAIR OF CLAMPING ARMS HAVING A PAIR OF SLIDING SURFACES, EACH SAID ARMS HAVING AN END PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO AN END OF SAID MEMBER AND SAID ARMS BEING PROVIDED, AT THEIR OPPOSITE ENDS, WITH INWARDLY DIRECTED FOLDING CLAWS, FIRST RESILIENT MEANS TO URGE SAID ARMS AND CLAWS TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER, TO CAUSE SAID SLIDING SURFACES TO RESILIENTLY ENGAGE SAID PROJECTIONS, SECOND RESILIENT MEANS TO URGE SAID CLAMP TO RETRACTED POSITION UPON SAID SUPPORT WITH SAID MEMBER ENGAGING A STOP UPON SAID SUPPORT, SAID SLIDING SURFACES BEING PROVIDED WITH WEDGE-SHAPED RECESSES, SECOND PROJECTIONS UPON SAID ARMS SPACED FROM SAID RECESSES, A LOCKING MEMBER RESILIENTLY SLIDABLY MOUNTED UPON SAID SUPPORT AND HAVING A PAIR OF SECOND SLIDING SURFACES ENGAGING SAID SECOND PROJECTIONS, WHEREBY, WITH SAID PRESSER PLATE AND ADJOINING FOLDING TEMPLATE IN THE RAISED POSITION, OPERATION OF SAID MEMBER IN A DIRECTION AWAY FROM SAID SUPPORT AGAINST THE ACTION OF SAID SECOND RESILIENT MEANS FIRST CAUSES SAID ARMS TO SPREAD OUTWARDLY BY CAMMING OF SAID FIRST PROJECTIONS WITH SAID FIRST SLIDING SURFACES AND THEN TO BE OPERATED IN A DIRECTION TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER UPON SAID FIRST PROJECTIONS ENGAGING SAID RECESSES SUCH AS TO ENGAGE AND REVERSELY BEND THE PROJECTING EDGES OF A LABEL PLACED BETWEEN SAID PRESSER PLATE AND TEMPLATE ABOUT THE EDGES OF SAID TEMPLATE BY SAID CLAWS AND TO LOCK SAID CLAMP BY INTERENGAGEMENT OF SAID LOCKING MEMBER AND SAID SECOND PROJECTIONS, AND WHEREBY, FURTHERMORE, WITH SAID PRESSER PLATE AND SUPPORTING PLATE BEING LOWERED BY SAID LIFTING BAR, SAID CLAWS UPON ENGAGING SAID SEWING BASE ARE RELEASED FROM SAID TEMPLATE BY CAMMING OF SAID FIRST PROJECTIONS WITH SAID RECESSES SUCH AS TO EFFECT RELEASE OF SAID CLAWS FROM SAID TEMPLATE AND TO RETURN SAID CLAMP TO RETRACTED POSITION BY THE ACTION OF SAID SECOND RESILIENT MEANS RELEASING SAID LOCKING MEMBER.

Images