Apparatus for the manufacture of reinforced panties

摘要

An improved technique for automatically producing a reinforced, peripherally contoured fabric blank adapted to be folded over and sewn to form a finished panty is described. A plurality of fabric segments to the central portion of which an underlying reinforcing strip is sewn is advanced along a conveyor and into a first one of a plurality of work stations distributed around a turret that is rotatably carried on a fixed support. A plurality of magnetically-actuable fabric holders are rotatably supported on the outer ends of corresponding spider arms that extend toward the work stations from the turret. Each holder has a contoured periphery corresponding to that of the panty blank, and after receiving the fabric segment from the conveyor indexes it successively into a plurality of second work stations each equipped with a contour sewing machine. During each such indexing movement, the holder is rotated about its axis to present, to each sewing machine, a different portion of its periphery, and each corresponding sewing machine is adapted to cut off the excess of the fabric segment projecting beyond the then-presented periphery of the holder and to sew an edge seam on the segment along such peripheral portion of the holder. After all four sides of the segment have been cut away and seamed, the resulting blank can be folded over parallel to the edges of the reinforcing strip and provided with closing seams to complete the panty.