US2808794A - Vertically pivoted presser foot for zigzag sewing - Google Patents

Description

W. A. AYRES Oct. 8, 1957 VERTICALLY PIVOTED PRESSER FOOT FOR ZIGZAG SEWING Filed Nov. 21, 1955 wawsuAaA-lAyee-s rraR YQG pad VERTICALLY PIVOTED PRESSER FOOT FOR ZIGZAG SEWTYG Application November 21, 1955, Serial No. 547,997

8 Claims. (Cl. 112-235) This invention relates to a vertically pivoted presser foot for zigzag sewing.

In order to produce zigzag stitches, sewing machines or attachments for sewing machines, have been provided with bars that are oscillatable in a horizontal plane relative to the path of movement of the reciprocating needles of the sewing machines.

These oscillating bars at their outer or free ends have been provided with presser feet having elongated transverse slots therein and through which slots the needles pass. These presser feet, heretofore, have been pivotally connected to the bars so as to have rocking movement relative thereto about horizontal axes. Consequently the presser feet move with the oscillatable bars as a unit and without any relative motion in the horizontal direction.

As will be understood in the art, the presser feet engage the material being sewed and since the presser feet have no relative movement with respect to the oscillatable bars in the horizontal direction the oscillation of the bars and the presser feet tends to twist the cloth or material being sewed and results in the same slipping and thus producing poor quality of work. Also the twisting of the cloth makes it difficult to properly guide the cloth so as to have the stitches therein properly located. In addition, the twisting of the cloth frequently causes loss of desired width in the zigzag stitches.

An object of the present invention is to provide a presser foot construction which is connected to the oscillatable bar of a sewing machine or of a sewing machine attachment for producing zigzag stitches and which presser foot and its connection to the oscillating bar facilitates and renders more accurate the guiding of the cloth with minimum twisting of the latter so that the zigzag stitches taken therein will be at the desired location.

A further object of the invention is to provide a presser foot and an operative connection between it and the oscillating bar of a sewing machine or a sewing machine attachment for zigzag sewing such that the quality of the work performed by the machine or attachment is improved, is more uniform and is more pleasing in appearance.

A still further object is to provide a presser foot such as referred to in the above named objects and which eliminates lost motion due to the cloth slipping relative to the presser foot and thereby enables the desired width of zigzag stitches to be made in the cloth.

A general object is to eliminate the disadvantages of the prior arrangements as recited above.

The invention contemplates attaining the above named objects and the advantages and objects later becoming more apparent during the detailed description which is to follow by employing a presser foot that is pivotally connected to the oscillating bar about a vertical axis so that during the oscillations of the bar the presser foot while moving with the bar also will have relative swinging movement thereto in a horizontal direction.

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification and wherein 2,89,794 'Patented Oct. 8,' 1957 Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of the oscillatable bar of a sewing machine or of a sewing machine attachment for producing zigzag stitching and to the free end of which bar there is pivotally connected about a vertical axis a presser foot embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the construction shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing a modified form of construction embodying the invention;

Fig. 4-is a side elevational view of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic illustration of an oscillatable bar carrying a presser foot that cannot move or swing relative to the bar in a horizontal direction, and illustrates the arrangement employed prior to the present invention, the bar and presser foot being shown in central position bearing upon the cloth or material to be sewed while the operators finger is shown in position to guide the cloth.

Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate the relationship of the presser foot andbar and of the material when the bar and presser foot have oscillated toward the left or toward the right as viewed in the drawing from the central position as shown in Fig. 5, and

Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are diagrammatic views similar to Figs. 5, 6 and 7 but illustrating an oscillating bar and presser foot embodying the present invention andthe action of the same in swinging from central position to oscillated position in either direction.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, 11 indicates an oscillatable bar used in a sewing machine or a sewing machine attachment for producing zigzag stitching in the material being sewed. The needle of the sewing machine is indicated at 12 and it will be understood thatsaid needle vertically reciprocates in a fixed path during the sewing operation while the bar 11 swings or oscillates from the central position shown in Fig. 1 and about a fulcrum, not shown, and which preferably is adjustable longitudinally of the bar so as to vary the stitch width as desired.

The oscillatable bar 11 may be incorporated in various forms of mechanism for producing zigzag sewing but as an illustration of one specific form the bar may be considered as the oscillatable bar in the zigzag stitching attachment for sewing machines shown, described and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 550,577, filed December 2, 1955. Y

The oscillatable bar 11 at its free end and on its longitudinal center line is provided with a downward depres-' sion 13, the under surface of which constitutes a rocking surface for the presser foot 14. The presser foot 14 mounts a vertically extending pivot or fulcrum pin 15 that passes freely through an opening in the depression 13 and is provided on its upper end with a head so that said pin 15 operatively interconnects the presser foot 14 and the oscillatable bar 11. This operative connection is such that the presser foot has limited rocking movement vertically about the underside of the depression 13 and also can swing horizontally about the axis of the pin 15 and relative to the bar 11. In other words, the presser foot is universally connected to the oscillatable bar, it being understood that the rocking movement of the presser foot vertically relative to the bar is more limited than is its pivoted movement horizontally relative to the bar. The depression 13 in the free end of the oscillatable bar 11 is located in a downwardly offset end portion 16 of the bar and said portion rearwardly of the depression 13 and on the longitudinal center line of the bar 11 is provided with an opening 17. The presser foot 14 has fixed therein rearwardly of the fulcrum pin 15'a stop pin 18 that extends upwardly through the opening 17 and is of substantially less diameter than said opening so that the pin can have movement in the opening as the presser foot 14 swings about the vertical axis relative to the bar 11, but will engage the circumference of the 2 ing or slot 19. The needle 12 will be located midway be- I tween the ends of the slot 19 and together with the fulcrum pin 15 and stop pin 18 on the longitudinal center line of the bar 11 when the presser foot 14 and the bar 11 are in their central position. The presser foot 14 is further provided with a longitudinal slot 20 that is perpendicular to the slot 19 and has its inner end communicating therewith midway between the opposite ends of the slot 19 while the outer end of the slot 20 is at the free end of the presser foot. Theslot 20 forms transversely spaced feet at the outer end of the presser foot and these feet may have their free ends upturned as indicated at 21 to facilitate the passage of cloth or material beneath the presser foot. The underside of the presser foot may be provided with longitudinally extending cloth engaging teeth or serrations indicated at 22.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4 showing a modified construction embodying the invention, the oscillatable bar 23 has at its free end a widened portion 24 that is offset downwardly from the remainder of the bar 23 but is parallel thereto. The portion 24 of the bar is provided on its free end with a centrally located inwardly extending rectangular recess that forms transversely spaced parallel arms 25 located at the opposite longitudinal sides of the portion 24 and overlying the presser foot later to be referred to.

At the base of the recess in the portion 24 and centrally thereof said portion is provided with a depression 26 similar to the depression 13 of the previously described form. The portion 24 on its opposite longitudinal edges and in transverse alignment with the depression 26 is provided with upstanding lugs 27. The presser foot proper is indicated at 28 and is substantially of the same construction as the presser foot 14 of the previously described form. The presser foot 28 is provided with a transverse slot 29 in which the needle 12 reciprocates. Also the presser foot 28 has a longitudinal slot 30 that is perpendicular to the slot 29 and communicates therewith and extends centrally of the presser foot to the outer upturned edge of the latter dividing the outer end of the presser foot into spaced feet as in the previously described form. t

The presser foot 28 has fixed therein an upstanding fulcrum or pivot pin 31 which passes through an opening in the depression 26 and is provided with a shoulder above the upper surface of the depression to retain the pin 31 in position and to maintain the presser foot 28 pivotally connected to the portion 24 about a vertical axis. The upper end of the pin 31 is provided with an opening through which extends a spring wire 32, the opposite ends of which are anchored in the lugs 27. The spring wire 32 functions to normally maintain the presser foot 28 centralized with respect to the portion 24 as indicated in Fig. 3 and in which position the pin 31 is in alignment with the needle 12 on the longitudinal center line of the bar 23. V

The presser foot 28'inwardly of the fulcrum or pivot pin 31 and on the longitudinal center line of the bar has fixed therein an upwardly extending stop pin 33 which passes through an elongated slot 34 formed in the portion 24 of the bar. It will be understood that when the bar 23 oscillates and the presser foot 28 is in engagement with the material being sewed under the spring pressure exerted on the presser foot rod that the oscillating movements of the bar 23 in the horizontal direction will move the presser foot 28 laterally in opposite directions but that said presser foot can have relative swinging movement in the horizontal plane.

It will further be understood that the ends of the, slot 34;.function tov engage the pin, 33, tov limit. the, maximum swinging movement of the presser foot relative to the portion 24 in the horizontal direction. It will also be understood that the spring 32 constantly tends to restore the presser foot 28 to its central position wherein the stop pin 33, the fulcrum pin 31 and the needle 12 are all located on the longitudinal center line of the bar 23 with the pin 33 midway between the ends of the slot 34 and the needle 12 midway between the ends of the slot 29.

As in the previously described form, the presser foot 28 will have limited vertical rocking movement about a horizontal axis and relative to the portion 24 and on the depression 25. Consequently, as in the previously described form, the presser foot can be said to have a universal connection to the portion 24 of the bar 23, inasmuch as it has the limited rocking movement relative to the bar about the horizontal axes and a swinging movement relative to the bar about the vertical axis of the fulcrum or pivot pin 31.

Referring to Fig. 5, B represents an oscillatable bar of a sewing machine or a sewing machine attachment and which bar is oscillated in the horizontal plane by mechanism not shown but understood in the art. The bar B may have an adjustable fulcrum about which is oscillates as indicated at F and as will be well understood in the art. The bar B may be provided with a presser foot P that is either integral with the bar or is pivoted totbe bar to move about a horizontal axis relative to the bar. In other words, Fig. 5 represents the previously used constructions and shows the bar in central position wherein the needle N is located centrally of the transverse slot S in the presser foot.

The material being sewed is indicated at M while the thumb of finger of the operator is indicated at T in the position it takes in guiding the material beneath the presser foot so that the stitches will be located in predetermined position in the material. It will be noted that the guiding thumb or finger T of the operator is in alignment with the needle N and the fulcrum F of the bar B.

During the oscillation of the bar B it swings first in a clockwise direction as indicated in Fig. 6 and then in a counterclockwise direction as indicated in Fig. 7 and it will be observed that the presser foot P moves as a unit with the bar B and in an arc, this as indicated by the arrows in Figs. 6 and 7. The movement referred to displaces substantially the relationship of the operators thumb to the center line of the presser foot. This is because the presser foot has no swinging movement about a vertical axis relative to the bar. Such movement of the presser foot with the bar substantially twists the cloth or material M and this results in producing a slippage of the cloth and a poor qualityof stitching therein. Also the twisting of the cloth and the displacement of the presser foot makes it difiicult to properly guide the cloth so as to have the zigzag stitches correctly located.

'Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are similar to Figs. 5, 6 and 7 but schematically show the functioning of an arrangement embodying the present invention and wherein the presser foot P is pivotally connected to the oscillatable bar B about a vertical axis indicated at V so as to have swinging movement relative to the bar in a horizontal plane.

In Figs. 9 and 10 the arrows indicate that as the bar oscillates the presser foot P has lateral movement but maintains substantially its relationship to the thumb of the operator.

It has been found in actual tests that the vertically pivoted presser foot P while oscillating with the bar B has the relative swinging movement thereto in the horizontal plane that reduces to a minimum displacement of they presser foot relative to the operators thumb and that the twisting of the material or cloth M is reduced, thus facilitating the guiding of the cloth and enabling the zigzag stitches to be properlylocated in the cloth and of the correct stitch width, thus improving the quality of the work.

Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described it will be understood that the invention is susceptible of various forms and modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a sewing mechanism, a horizontal bar oscillatable in a horizontal plane and adapted to be moved by spring pressure toward the material being sewed, a presser foot adapted to engage said material and provided with a transverse slot for a vertically reciprocating needle, and means pivotally connecting said presser foot to the free end of said bar about a vertical axis, whereby said bar and presser foot can have relative swinging movement in a horizontal direction and about said vertical axis.

2. In a sewing mechanism as defined in claim 1 and wherein said bar on its under side adjacent its free end is provided with a depression through which said vertical axis of said means extends and about which depression said presser foot has limited rocking movement in a vertical direction relative to said bar whereby said presser foot in elfect has a universal connection with said bar.

3. In a sewing mechanism as defined in claim 2 and wherein said bar is provided with an opening and said presser foot with an upwardly extending stop pin passing through said opening and having limited horizontal movement therein when said presser foot swings horizontally relative to said bar.

4. In a sewing mechanism as defined in claim 2 and wherein said vertical axis of said means is located on the longitudinal center line of said bar.

5. In a sewing mechanism as defined in claim 2 and wherein said vertical axis of said means is located on the longitudinal center line of said bar, while said bar is provided with an opening the center of which is located on said longitudinal center line of said bar in spaced relationship to said vertical axis, and said presser foot is provided with an upwardly extending stop pin passing through said opening and having limited horizontal movement therein.

6. In a sewing mechanism as defined in claim 2 and wherein spring means cooperates with said vertical axis means to maintain said bar and said presser foot normally in longitudinally centralized aligned relationship.

7. In a sewing mechanism as defined in claim 2 and wherein said means pivotally connecting said bar and presser foot about a vertical axis includes a pivot pin carried by said presser foot and extending through an opening in said depression of said bar.

8. In a sewing mechanism as defined in claim 7 and wherein said pivot pin at its upper end is provided with an opening therethrough while means is provided on said bar mounting a spring wire that extends through said opening in said pivot pin.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,704,169 Carmichael et a1. Mar. 5, 1929 1,901,752 Karle Mar. 14, 1933 2,314,861 Antonelli Mar. 30, 1943 2,646,015 Johnson July 21, 1953

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