GB2032344A - A method of making clothes for dolls - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of making clothes for dolls or the like comprises superposing two strips (1) of weldable synthetic fabric, e.g. of acrylic, nylon or polyester yarns, and welding the two strips (1) together (as at 5) at or in proximity to the desired edges of each garment (7) which is to be produced. A cutting operation is carried out around the edges of the garments (7) and, finally, each garment (7) is turned inside out so that the cut edges which have been welded together (as at 5) are inwardly directed of the garment (7). The welding may be high frequency welding along discontinuous lines 5 to simulate sewn seams. Cutting may be performed at a separate station to the welding or simultaneously with the welding by combined cutting blades and welding elements on a single support or by a single element. The garments may be trimmed ornamentally. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A method of making clothes for dolls The present invention relates to a method of mak ing clothes for dolls, puppets and the like and to the clothes so produced.

With industrially made dolls, the clothing has become increasingly important and more and more elaborate both as regard its fashionable quality and the quality of the fabrics used to such an extent that it is usually the clothes which is the first object of attention and which classifies the quality and type of products in this trade.

Conventional clothes for dolls are made by the same systems as employed for manufacturing individuals' clothing. In order to make dolls' clothing first the so-called "lay" has to be formed, which comprises several superposed fabric layers, and thereafter the cutting operation is performed. This latter operation is made by using suitable handknives or cutters that are manually operated to follow a preestablished tracing, or by a punching operation utilizing appropriate blanking tools. After cutting, the parts of each garment have to be sewn together utilizing sewing machines each operated by an experienced workwomen.Thereafter, a finishing operation is performed on each doll garment which may comprise finishing the garment, using other kinds of machines, with a wide variety of trimmings such as collars, edgings, borderings, ribbons, laces, belts, embroideries, various kinds of ornaments, button-holes, buttons, hooks and the like.

Such known method of making clothes for dolls or the like is expensive since it involves a great deal of labour and also since it involves a large number of special machines.

Moreover, the small sizes of the clothes to be made do not permit full advantage to be made of the productive capacity of the employed machines. For instance, the seams sewn in said garments are so small in length that sewing machines are not able, in general, to develop their highest attainable working speed, so that the output of these machines is considerably reduced. It has been established that the cost of a dolls dress alone will, on an average comprise 50% of the cost of the finished product as a whole, said cost covering the cost of the employed materials together with the cost of the manual labour.In otherwords, in a doll, the torso, limbs, head, provided with make-up and dressed with hair capable of being combed, the movable openingand-closing eyes, the shoes and socks, the assembly of all these components, the doll's clothing and dressing operation, and the presentation case do not involve, in most cases, a cost higher than that of the said dress alone, when this latter is obtained by the above mentioned conventional method.

The object of the present invention is to provide a novel method of making clothing for dolls which allows high production rates to be obtained with reduced employment of manual labour and without utilization of sewing machines so that the cost of the clothing can be substantially reduced yet ensuring a satisfactory quality for the end product.

According to the present invention there is pro vided a method of making clothes for dolls or the like, comprising the steps of providing two strips of synthetic materials, which materials are capable of being welded to one another, superposing one strip over the other strip, repeatedly performing thereafter along the length of said strips a welding operation in order to join the two strips together at or in proximity to at least one of the desired edges of each garment which isto be produced, cutting each of the garments out of the superposed strips around the desired edges, and turning each garment inside out so that the edge or edges of the garment which have been welded together are directed inwardly of the garment.

Preferably, the welds produced in the welding operation comprise dotted or dashed lines so that sewn seams are simulated.

Preferably also, said fabric strips, before being superposed one above the other, are prepared by providing on their surfaces designs or tracings or trimmingsto simulate finishings used in human clothing.

In this way, garments for dolls can be produced which are finished with trimmings and which are comparable to garments obtained by conventional methods utilizing sewing and other special machines, and yet which can be made at high production rates and with a minimum of labour.

The present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: - Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of apparatus for the production of dolls' dresses according to the method of the present invention; - Figure 2 is a diagram showing the various stages of the method according to the invention when used to produce a doll's dress; and - Figures 3 and 4 are two examples of dolls' dresses that can be obtained by the method of the present invention.

Referring now to the above figures and particularly to figures 1 and 2, the method according to the invention comprises laying two strips 1 of a synthetic type fabric, which is capable of being welded, one on top of the other. Use may be made, for instance, of a fabric made of acrylic, nylon, polyester and other resin based yarns, appropriate to the properties which are desired in the finished product such as appearance washability, durability and so on.

The strips 1 may be taken off from respective rolls la, and then one superposed above the other while being advanced together on a table 2 (figure 1 ) in a direction which is shown by the arrow A. Above the table 2 there are provided two stations 3 and 4, namely an electronic welding station 3 and a punching or cutting station 4. Feeding means (not shown) are provided to cause said strips 1 to be intermittently moved, with constant steps forward, in order to correspond in position with said stations 3 and 4.

The station 3 is equipped with an electronic, high frequency welding apparatus (known per se), which is so designed as to perform a succession of weld lines 5 (Figure 2), which lines preferably comprise discontinued or dashed lines with a view to imitating the stitches of sewn seams. These weld lines 5 are provided near the boundaries of the doll garment which is to be obtained in lieu of the conventional seams made by thread. The welding apparatus is alternatively moved downward and upward in order to produce, at each down stroke, a complete set of welds 5 pertaining to one doll dress, while at the end of each upward stroke, the strips 1 are made to advance together by a step, so as to bring the now made welds correctly below the punching or cutting station 4.

The cutting station 4 is equipped with cutting or blanking tools (known per se) which alternatively move up and down, similar to the welding apparatus, in order to perform, at each down stroke a cut 6 along the boundaries of a dress 7 which is completely cut out of, and separated from, the strips 1. The cut 6 is made along lines which are slightly outwardly spaced from the weld lines 5 of the dress 7.

In a modification of the above described method, instead of being made to occur in successive steps, the welding and cutting operations may take place in a single step, by either combining together on a single support the welding elements and the cutting blades, or by providing for the welding elements to produce the punching action themselves while welding is being performed. This latter modification is only possible if a fabric having suitable properties is used.

After separation of the cut out dresses 7, the remaining portion of the strips 1, which now have openings 8 therein where the garments have been punched out continue moving along the table 2 towards a waste collection station, while each dress is turned inside out so that it reaches the stage as indicated by 9 wherein the fabric faces that were initially made to adhere against one another are now outwardly directed in a manner similar to that which occurs when garment parts are sewn together by thread.

After turning inside out, the dresses 9 can be either immediately utilized for clothing the dolls, or they can be conveyed to a special workshop where the garments receive trimmings such as pockets, collars and the like which may themselves be applied by an automatic system making use of electronic welding.

The welding and cutting apparatuses may be arranged for simultaneously producing two or more garments at a time so that a very high production rate is obtained.

According to a further improvement of the invention, provision can be made to have the fabric strips 1 initially figured with designs and tracings, to delineate, for instance, a collar, a belt, a pocket, ornaments and similar trimmings. These designs and tracings may be produced either by printing them on the fabric using the silk screen system or any other suitable printing system, or by directly weaving said designs and tracings into the fabric by utilizing, for instance, weaving machines of the Jacquard type. It is thus possible to pre-establish or produce beforehand patterns or trimmings for the finished garment on the strips 1. Of course, some given designs or patterns can be provided which pertain to the front of the garment, and others which pertain to the back thereof. Thus, for instance, pockets may be provided on the front, which are absent on the back.

The fabrics carrying the designs and trimmings are then superposed one on top of the other so that their figured surfaces are adjacent one another inwardly of the two layers of fabric and so that the designs and trimmings on the two strips 1 exactly coincide with one another. Automatic controlling and adjusting devices of the photo-electric cell type may be provided for this purpose.

The manufacturing process then proceeds in a manner similar to that described above until the garment is turned inside out in the manner already stated.

Thus, various styles of dolls' clothing can be achieved, all of which are provided with whatever trimmings or designs may be required and added initially to the fabrics so that end finishing operations or sewn seams are no longer required.

It is therefore possible to obtain, for instance such a doll's dress as shown in figure 3, where the garment is provided with trimming 10 at the neck and at the bottom of the skirt, and with belt 11 and pocket 12, or as shown in figure 4, where the garment is carrying other kinds of trimming or ornamental patterns, shown at 13.

False pleats, as indicated at 14, can also be printed in order to simulate, for example, gathering of the cloth fullness. Most styles or fashions of dresses can be obtained, with each trimming, including buttons, properly figured thereon, to achieve a considerable economy over conventional methods, owing both to the minimized labour costs involved and the saving of materials with respect to known methods which require additional portions of fabric in order to form the various trimmings such as collars, pockets and the like.

Thus, it can be seen that dolls' clothing wholly comparable in appearance to quality clothing made by conventional methods utilizing sewing machines, can be economically and readily obtained by the method according to the invention.

Moreover, a number of welding and cutting apparatuses can be provided, which are each supplied with respective strips of fabric and which operate in a wholly automatic manner, so that a single operator is able to control several production lines with important saving of labour.

Claims (14)

1. A method of making clothes for dolls or the like, comprising the steps of providing two strips of synthetic materials, which materials are capable of being welded to one another, superposing one strip over the other strip, repeatedly performing thereafter along the length of said strips a welding operation in order to join the two strips together at or in proximity to at least one of the desired edges of each garment which is to be produced, cutting each of the garments out of the superposed strips around the desired edges, and turning each garment inside out so that the edge or edges of the garment which have been welded together are directed inwardly of the garment.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the welds produced in the welding operation comprise dotted or dashed weld lines so that sewn seams are simulated.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said fabric strips, before being superposed one above the other are prepared by providing on their surfaces designs or tracings or trimmings to simulate finishings used in human clothing.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein said designs, tracings, or trimmings are printed on the fabric strips.

5. A method according to claim 3, wherein said designs, tracing, or trimmings are obtained by introducing them into the fabric when it is being woven.

6. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the welding and cutting operations are performed simultaneously.

7. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the cutting operation takes place after the welding operation.

8. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said superposed strips of fabric are moved intermittently over a supporting surface and welding and cutting operations are performed between periods of movement of said fabric strips.

9. A garment for a doll orthe like, obtained by the method according to claim 1, comprising two superposed portions of synthetic fabric capable of being welded, said-portions being joined together by weld lines located in given regions near the edges of the garment and the edges of the garment being intended to be located inwardly of the garment.

10. A garment according to claim 9, wherein said two portions of fabric carry on their surfaces designs, tracings or trimmings which simulate finishings used in human clothing.

11. A garment according to claim 10, wherein the designs or tracings are printed on to said portions of fabric.

12. A garment according to claim 10, wherein the designs are woven directly into said portions of fabric.

13. A method of making clothes for dolls or the like subtantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

14. A garment for a doll orthe like substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.