Sleeve insertion system with edge guide feature

Abstract

An apparatus for high production assembly and sewing of tubular sleeve sections to shirt bodies. Tubular sleeve sections are loaded onto sleeve cones, preferably of cylindrical or frusto-conical form. The sleeve cones may be mounted for pivoting movement to facilitate manual loading. A retractable, hollow body shell closes over the loaded sleeve cones, and a shirt body is loaded over the body shell and previously loaded sleeve sections. Load fixtures, comprising a body shell and a pair of sleeve cones as described, are mounted on a carrier, preferably a rotary turret, for advancement from one work station to another, for loading, sewing and unloading operations. For sewing, the load fixtures are bodily detachable from the carrier, and rotated about the axis of the sleeve cones, while the shoulder seams are sewn by a stationary sewing apparatus. To enable expedited loading of the shirt bodies and tubular sleeve sections, the apparatus advantageously includes edge guides, for automatically aligning the edge margins of one or both of the shirt body or sleeve section, as the edge margins approach the point of sewing. Where edge guides are employed, loading of the shirt body and sleeve sections usually can be accomplished more rapidly, since less precision is required in the initial alignment of an inside-out orientation for the sewing operation. At the unload station, the shirt tails are engaged and drawn off of the load fixtures while simultaneously being turned to an outside-out orientation.