US2664841A - Presser lifter actuating mechanism for sewing machines - Google Patents

Description

A. N. HALE ET AL Jan. 5, 1954 PRESSER LIFTER ACTUATING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Feb. 27, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet l v IN VEN TOR. Avthur N.HaLe

By Edward L. Koenig Wi/l liam JFdwaz/ds WITNESS ATTORNEY Jan. 5, 1954 A. N. HALE ET AL PRESSER LIFTER ACTUATING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Feb. 27, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Avzfhzur N. Hale By Edward 1,.K0'enig VWTNESS William I Edwards ATTORNEY Jan. 5, 1954 A, N. HALE ET AL PRESSER LIFTER ACTUATING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Feb. 27. 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Amh/unfl N. Hale Edward L. Knenig William Ifdwards ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 5, 1954 Arthur .N. Hale, Stratford, Edward L. Koenig, 'Wes'tport, and William J, Edwards,'Stratford, Conn, ass'ignors to The Singer Manufacturing Company, Elizabeth, N. J acorporation "of New Jersey Application'February 27, 1952, Serial No. 273,802

Claims.

The present invention relates tov sewing machines and particularly to a knee operated device for raising and lowering the presser mechanism, or what is commonly referred to as a knee-shift. The present invention has for an object to provide such a device that is constructed of simple mechanical :expedients which are inexpensive to manufacture and yet durable and dependable in operation, and which can be readily adjusted to fit various types of sewing machines.

Having in mind these and other objects that will be evident from an understanding :of this disclosure, a presently preferred embodiment of the invention is hereinafter set forth in such detail as toenable those skilled in the art to readily understand the function, operation, construction and advantages of it, when read incon-junc- Fig. 3 is a bottom plan View onan enlarged scale of the knee-shift device per se which is included in Figs. 1 and 2.-

Fig; 4 is a section view on a larger scale taken substantiallyalong theline 4-4 of Figs. :3, with parts broken away.

In the drawings, the knee-shift device that has 1 been selected for purposes of illustrating the present invention is generally indicated at i and is secured to the under side of a table2 upon which is mounted a sewing machine 3. The machine 3 is substantially thesame as that disclosed and claimed in the copending application oi Hale, Serial No. 226,082,.filed May 12, 1951,

and since the particular machine does ,not constitutea critical element of the invention, it is not deemed necessary to expand this disclosure in relation thereto. It is sufficient for purposes of the present disclosure to point out that the machine-3 includes a bed 4, an upstanding standard-5 and an overhanging bracket arm 6 terminating in a head 1. J ournaled for vertical reciprocation in suitable bearings in the head 1 is the usual presser-bar '8, spring biased downwardly and carrying a presser-foot ii at its lower end. A collar ii) is fixed to the presser-bar B and includes a rearwardly extending lug ll that is adaptedtoibe engaged and raisedeither by hand by the cam surface of a conventional hand-lever l2 or by a knee-operated mechanism including an arm [3 secured to one end of a rock-shaft 5 4' suitably journaled longitudinally of the bracketarm '6'. At its end opposite the arm I 3, the shaft H has secured thereto a rearwardly extending actuating lever 15. .A spring is acting between the lever 15 and the bracket-arm 3 normally urges the lever I5- upwardly and maintains the arm l3 .in engagement with a stop pinl'l. A chain 18 is connectedto the free end of the lever I5 for actuating the same. Thus it will be seen that, as the chain is pulled downwardly, the presser is liftedfrom operative position, and as the tension on the chain isrelaxed, the presserfoot will return to its normal position under spring pressure.

The knee-operated mechanism for pulling the chain I8 downwardly generally designated at l, comprises an L-shaped baseplate It provided with elongated apertures 20 which are adapted .to receive screws -2| that secure the base plate to the under .side of the table 2. The elongated apertures provide limited lateral adjustment of the base ,plate relative to the table 2 and consequently to the machine 3. An aperture 2?. is punched in the one leg ofvthe L-shaped base plate I9, which aperture is so formed as to leave three ears'23, 24 and 25 which are subsequently bent into planes at right angles to the base plate, as shown in the drawings. Thus the ears '23, 24 and 25 are, in effect, struck up from the base plate l9. 'Theears 23 and 24 are directly opposed to each other and have bushings 26 secured in suitable aperturestherein to provide spaced bearings. A-yoke member 2"! is pivoted to the base plate 19 by means of a pivot bolt 28 that passes through suitable apertures formed in legs 29 and 30 oftheyoke and throughthe bushings '26. The

'p'i-vot bolt 28 may be secured in any suitable manner such as having one end headed and the other end 'upset. Fitted in an aperture 3i which is drilled preferably horizontally in the yoke 2'! is one end of a rod 32 that is secured in the desired That portion of the rod 32 that is fitted in the yoke 21 is formed at almost a right angle to the remainder thereof which thus'lies in substantially a vertical plane when in normal operating position, and which carries a conventional knee-pad 34 secured to the rod 32 in vertically adjusted position by a setsc'rew'35. The leg '3fl of the yoke member is elongated to form a laterally extending lever scincluding a reduced end portion 3'! terminating in aball3'8. Pivotalmovem'ent"oftheyoke ZlabOut the pivo'tbolt 28"is limitedin the one direction by a raised flat 39 formed on'the lever 36 that contactsthe base plate l9 ,:'and in the other direction by an adjustable stop member 48,- U-shaped :in cross-section, that is secured to the car 25 in vertically adjusted position by a screw 4| fitted in an elongated slot 42 in the stop-member 40 and a tapped hole in the ear 25, which stopmember 40 is adapted to abut against the body portion of the yoke 21.

Punched or struck down from the base plate i9 and depending therefrom are two spaced apart cars 43 having bushings .4 fitted in suitable apertures therein to form spaced apart, aligned bearings for a rock-shaft 55. It will be noted that the shaft 45 extends substantially parallel to the pivot bolt 28 and, thus, at a right angle to lever 36 of the yoke 21. There is provided a partially cylindrical socket member M having a transverse shaft receiving bore drilled through one end thereof that slidably receives the shaft 45. The socket member is adjustably secured to the shaft 45 by a set screw 41. One end of the socket member 45 is provided with a hole or socket d8 that slidably receives the ball end 38 of the arm 38. Surrounding the shaft 45 is a spring 49, one end of which engages one of the bearing ears 43 and the other end of which is fitted into an aperture 50 in the socket member 45 to bias the parts into their neutral position as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The shaft 45 is provided at one end with a laterally extending arm 5! i. e. oblique or angularly offset with respect to the longitudinal axis of the shaft and having an aperture or eye 52 formed therein to receive the end connecting link of the chain IS.

with reference to Fig. 1 it will be obvious that as an operator places her knee against the kneepad 3d and presses it and the rod 32 in the direction of the arrow A, the yoke 21 pivots in a counterclockwise manner about the pivot bolt 28, which depresses the ball end 38 of the lever 36 and consequently the socket end of the member as is depressed in a clockwise manner about the axis of the shaft is, rotating the shaft 45 and carrying downwardly the arm 5! connected to the chain l8, thus pulling on the chain and elevating the presser mechanism. When the operator relaxes the pressure on the knee-pad 34, the elements are returned to their neutral position by the spring 49.

An important feature of the present invention is that although there has been provided extremely simple and direct mechanical connections between the elements which provide a rugged and durable construction and permit inexpensive manufacture of the parts and easy assembly thereof, the complete structure is still fully adjustable so that the device may be adapted to use with a great variety of machines. Thus, upon loosening the set screw 41, the shaft 65 and consequently the eye 52 can be shifted to adapt the mechanism for use, with a machine of different size than the one shown. The parts are then looked in their adjusted position solely by tightening the screw 41.

Numerous alterations of the structure herein disclosed will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. However, it is to be understood that the present disclosure relates to a preferred embodiment of our invention which is for purposes of illustration only and not to be construed as a limitation thereof. All such modifications which do not depart from the spirit of this invention are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what we claim herein is:

1. A knee-shift device for a sewing machine comprising a base plate, a pair of opposed apertured ears struck from said base plate, a pivot bolt journaled in said apertured ears, a rod pivoted to said base plate by said pivot bolt, a lever rigidly associated with said rod to be moved thereby upon movement of said rod about said pivot bolt, a second pair of opposed apertured ears struck from said base and providing spaced bearings, a rock-shaft rotatably and slidably journaled in said second pair of apertured ears substantially parallel to said pivot bolt, an arm carried by said shaft and adapted to be operatively associated with the presser bar mechanism of a sewing machine for raising and lowering the same upon oscillation of said shaft, a member projecting substantially perpendicular from said shaft and releasably fixed thereto in adjusted position longitudinally thereof, and a ball and socket joint between said lever and said member.

2. A knee-shift device for a sewing machineas set forth in claim 1 wherein said ball and socket joint comprises a socket member having a shaft receiving bore transversely thereof at one end and a socket formed longitudinally thereof at the other end, a ball fixed to the free end of said lever, and being fitted into said socket, said shaft being rotatably and slidably fitted into the shaft receiving bore, and a set screw for locking said socket member to said shaft.

3. A knee-shift device for a sewing machine comprising a rod adapted to be pivotally carried by a sewing machine support, a shaft adapted to be rotatably carried by said sewing machine support on an axis substantially parallel to the pivotal axis of said rod, a laterally projecting arm on said shaft adapted to be operatively associated with a presser-bar mechanism of a sewing machine for raising and lowering the same upon oscillation of said shaft, and operative connections between said rod and said shaft for oscillating said shaft upon pivotal movement of said rod, said operative connections including a joint comprising an interrelated ball and socket, one of which is carried by said rod and the other of which is carried by said shaft.

4. A knee-shift device for a sewing machine comprising a base-plate, a rod pivotally carried by said base-plate, a lever rigidly associated with said rod to be moved thereby upon movement of said rod about its pivot, a shaft rotatably carried by said base plate and including an arm carried by said shaft and adapted to be operatively associated with the presser bar mechanism of a sewing machine for raising and lowering the same upon oscillation of said shaft, and operative connections including a ball and socket joint between said lever and said shaft for oscillating the shaft upon movement of said lever.

5. A knee-shift device for a sewing machine as set forth in claim 4 wherein said ball and socket joint include an interrelated ball and socket, one of which is secured upon the end of said lever and one of which is releasably secured upon said shaft in adjusted position longitudinal- 1y of said shaft.

ARTHUR N. HALE. EDWARD L. KOENIG. WILLIAM J. EDWARDS.

Name Date Merritt Apr. 6, 1915 Number

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