US2222461A - Hosiery form - Google Patents

Description

HOSIERY FORM Filed April 15, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 all - ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 19, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE H SIERY FORM York Application April 15, 1938, Serial No 202,236

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in hosiery forms and more particularly to the method and apparatus for making such forms from a tube of Celluloid or other moldable material.

The DeWitt Patent No. 2,029,706 granted February 4, 1936, discloses a similar method and apparatus and the present invention is a further development thereof having for its primary objects the attainment of greater rapidity in the manufacture of the forms and a better control over the forms whereby the Walls are of substantial uniformity in thickness, any thinness in the wall structure at the bends or joints due to the stretching of the tube being avoided.

These and other objects of the invention will be set forth in the following description and in the drawings which form a part thereof and in which Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate a two section mold by which this invention can be carried out;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of such mold taken along the line 33 on Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 illustrates a tube of Celluloid from which 2.3 the hosiery form can be made;

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate two successive positions that may be taken by the tube with respect to one section of the mold before the form is made;

Fig. 7 illustrates the completely formed form while it is in one of the mold sections;

Fig. 8 illustrates a finished hosiery form made in accordance with this invention; and

Fig. 9 is a cross sectional View of a detail of the mold.

The mold here illustrated comprises two half sections 2! and 22 in each of which is formed a depression 23 of such contour that, when the sections are assembled as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the depressions unite to form a chamber, the inner walls of which define the contour of the finished hosiery form.

Each section comprises an inner wall 25, an outer wall 26, and a curved flange 21. The inner and outer walls are spaced apart to form a compartment 28. Inlets and outlets 3| permit the introduction and removal of steam, water or the like so that the invention may be carried out in the manner described below. A nozzle 32 at the end of a pipe 33 similarly permits the introou duction and removal of steam, air or the like to and from the interior of the tube as the form is made.

The half sections each include half of the leg, and the foot of the form. The wall of each sec- 55 tion at the bottom of the foot is cut away to provide a recess 35 which extends across the wall. An inwardly projecting flange 36 is provided on each wall at the recess 35 as shown in Fig. 9.

Except at the recesses 35 the edges of the sections are in contact when the mold is closed and are secured therein by the clamps 31. The flanges 21, when the mold is closed, form a collar 38 which receives the nozzle 32 and the end of the tube in which the nozzle is inserted so that such end is clamped between the nozzle and the collar. The tube is thus fixed at each end inthe mold and longitudinal movement of the tube is prevented. The outer face of the nozzle and the inner face of the collar are provided with complementary grooves and bosses and the rela' tive dimensions thereof are such that the end of the tube is clamped securely in place.

The hosiery form is made according to this invention from a tube 40 preferably of Celluloid. One end of the tube is softened as by dipping in hot water and then forced out to the nozzle 32. The tube is then placed upon one section of the mold (see Fig. 5). Steam is introduced through the pipe 33 to soften the tube and is then out off. The limp tube is laid in the depression 23 with the open end in the recess 35. Care is taken that no part of the tube rests upon the wall of the mold section except at the flange 21 and the recess 35. The section 22 of the mold is placed upon and clamped to the section 2 I.

After the mold has been thus clamped closed the tube, which has thus been closed at one end in the recesses 35, is subjected to heat and pressure in two steps. The first step consists in introducing steam first into the compartments 28 and then into the tube 40. The second step consists in forcing air into the tube and at the same time driving water through the compartments. By the first step the mold is heated and the tube heated and expanded into contact with the walls of the mold. By the second step the walls of the mold are cooled and the expansion of the tube completed so that it is held throughout its surface in contact with the cooled walls of the mold and thus set in the desired contour. If the steam were not followed by the air the cooling of the mold walls would condense the steam and create a vacuum which would result in unevenness in the surface of the finished form.

The mold is then opened and the tube is disclosed in the condition shown in Fig. 7. The end of the form opposite the nozzle has a projection 4| (Figs. '7 and 9) formed in the recesses 35 and the other end has an inturned flange formed by the ends of the flanges 21, which as shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, project inwardly from the walls of the sections and a conical tip 42 formed by the flanges 21. The projection 4| and tip 42 are trimmed to produce the finished form 43 shown in Fig. 8.

It has been discovered that the heat applied in the first step to the mold and the tube causes the Celluloid of the tube to flow. Advantage of this fact is taken in that the mold during this first step is placed as shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 so that the material will flow down to the heel of the form where the greatest strain is set up and the heel of the finished form willp'ossess the necessary strength and thickness; advisable to shift the position of the mold from time to time during the first step in order to guard against any undue thinness'in the wall of the form and to insure a general uniformity in thickness throughout the form.

The forms so mademay be opaque and flesh colored or may be transparentv depending upon the stock from which the tubes are made. The pressures under which the steam and air are supplied vary according to the types of forms made, being greater for the opaque and flesh colored forms than for the transparent forms. More specifically it has been found that the following pressures result in satisfactory forms.

For opaque flesh colored forms use in step No. 1 steam at 20 pounds pressure in compartments 28 and at 15 pounds pressure in the tubes and in step No. 2 air at 40 pounds pressure in the tubes. For transparent forms use in step No. 1 steam at 10 pounds pressure in compartments 28 and!) to 10 pounds pressure in the tubes and in step No. 2 air at 30 pounds pressure in the tubes.

While one embodiment of this invention has been described specifically it will be understood 40 that the invention is not limited thereto and that It has been found it may be carried out in other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as set forth in the following claims.

We claim:

1. In an apparatus for making hosiery forms 5 or the like may be introduced into the tube that end of the tube being clamped between the nozzle and the collar when the mold is closed.

2. In an apparatus for making hosiery forms from a tube, a mold in which the tube is expanded into the hosiery form, said mold comprising two separable sections each section containing a depression, the walls of which meet when the mold is closed, to form a chamber the wall of which determines the outer contour of the hosiery form, and including a curved flange which flanges, when the mold is closed, meet to define a collar, and a nozzle over which one end of the tube is slipped and through which steam, air or the like may be introduced into'the tube that end of the tube being clamped between the nozzle and the collar when the mold is closed, the walls of the sections being provided with compartments unconnected with the depressions or chamber and adapted to receive steam, water or the like whereby the mold may be heated or cooled.

WILLIAM J. DE WITT. ISAAC GOODFELLOW. CECIL L. SIMS.

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