AU460552B2 - Threading feature for roller type presser foot - Google Patents

Description

45.4 61 /72

Background of the Invention

Field of the Invention-

This invention relates to a roller type presser foot,

and in particular to such a foot constructed so that the

needle thread can be easily moved between one end of a

forward presser roller and the support for such end, around

such one end of the roller, and into a needle region rear-

wardly of the roller, and to a construction enabling easy

installation and removal of the roller from its mounting

means.

Description of the Prior Art

Typical examples of known roller type presser feet

are shown by United States Patent No. 2,513,343, granted

July 4, 1950, to Amelia Maxson; by United States Patent No. 3,433,192, granted March 18, 1969, to Domenick C.

Pingitore et al, and by my own prior patent No. 3,511,200,

granted May 12, 1970. I know of no prior patents or any other

prior art teaching or literature which relates to a manner

of easily threading a roller type of presser foot.

o 460,552

45.461/72 According to an aspect of the present invention

there is provided a presser foot of a type including a pair

of laterally spaced apart supports, a presser roller extend-

ing between said supports, and axle-socket means at each end

of the roller mounting said roller onto said supports for

rotation therebetween, said axle-socket means comprising a

live axle at one end of said roller, said axle having a

rounded end, and a receiving socket in the support for such

axle, such support also including an inner lead in surface

which forms a cleft with a portion of said rounded end,

said inner surface including a channel therein extending in

substantially the same direction as said cleft and opening

against a portion of the rounded end of the axle, such axle

being short enough and said channel being deep enough that

the axle is normally retained within the opening therefor,

but a thread may be brought from a location above the roller

and placed into said cleft and be brought under said support,

then easily moved rearwardly across the rounded end of the

axle into the channel, and then moved further rearwardly

from said channel and around such rounded end until the

thread is located below the presser foot and rearwardly of

said roller. Additional features of the invention will become

apparent from the description of an illustrated preferred

embodiment which follows

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454 6.1 n2 Brief Description of the Drawing

FIG. 1 is a perspective view looking from above and towards the left side and front end of one embodiment of the invention, showing a presser foot component in full line and showing the lower portion of a mounting shank in broken line; FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the foot component' FIG. 3 is a top plan view, on an enlarged scale, of the roller supporting front end portion of the foot component, showing the position of the needle thread at the start of the threading operation made possible by the present invention; FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the thread advanced into the vertical support recess at the end of the roller axle, and showing a portion of the support in section; FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIGS. 3 and 4, but showing the thread advanced past the axle end portion of the roller, and showing portions of both supports in section; FIG. 6 is a fragmentary front end elevational view of the left end portion of the foot component, showing the thread substantially in the position it occupies in FIG. 3. FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6, but showing the thread substantially in the position it occupies in FIG. 4, and also showing a portion of the left mounting tine in vertical section, the section being taken substantially at the valley of a vertical channel formed in the inner surface of the mounting tine in the region of the axle receiving hole; FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7, but showing the thread substantially in the position it occupies in FIG.

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454 6 1/72 FIG. 9 is a fragmentary s.ie elevational view looking towards the left front corner of the foot component; and FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9, but showing a modified form of opening or socket for receiving the left end roller axle.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments

The presser foot assembly comprises a foot component and a mounting shank 12. The foot component 10 includes

a transverse slidebar 14 which is received in, and forms a slide joint with, a transverse slideway 16 formed at the lower end of the mounting shank 12. Reference is made to

my U.S. Patent No. 3,342,151, granted September 19, 1967, for a thorough description of the slide joint, its purpose, its manner of operation, and the manner in which the mounting shank 12 is secured to the presser bar of a sewing machine, and the relationship of the foot component with respect to the material on which it acts. The present invention relates to a type of .presser foot having a roller 18 at its forward end. By way of typical

and therefore nonlimitive example, a roller of a type having

a central guide portion for zipper teeth chains is illustrated.

However, the invention is applicable to all types of presser

rollers. Relatively wide, cylindrical presser surfaces

are provided on opposite sides of the zipper tooth guide avenues. As in the case of the presser roller 21 of the presser foot shown by the aforementioned U.S. Patent

No. 3,433,192, the presser surfaces 20 of my roller 18 rest on the material traveling through the needle region and exert a downward force on the material being sewed, urging it against an advancing mechanism (not shown) located below the material.

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A pair of mounting nes 2, 24, extend forwardly in

opposed parallelism at the forward end of the foot component The presser roller 18 is received between these tines 22, 24, and a needle receiving region 26 is located rearwardly of the central portion of the roller 18. During the sewing

operation the needle N reciprocates up and down within the region 26. A pair of axially aligned openings or sockets 28, are provided in the tines 22, 24 for receiving and journaling short live axles or trunions 32, 34, respectively, at the ends of roller 18. In the illustrated embodiment the axle 32 is slightly longer than the axle 34 and is adapted to be the first axle set within its socket and the last axle removed.from its. socket during installation and removal of the roller 18. As

shown by FIG. 3, the extreme end portion of axle 34 substantially follows an arcuate path 36 during installation and removal of the roller 18. The inner surface or cheek of tine 24 is horizontally curved at 38 and this curve 38 extends inwardly substantially to the innermost horizontal boundary of the socket 30. When the axle 32 of roller 18 is in place and the opposite end is being swung horizontally inwardly the rounded outer end of axle 34 contacts and slides along the curved lead in surface 38 until the axle 34 snaps into place within. the socket 30. The foot component 10 is-made from a suitable structural plastic which provides some flexibility in the tines 22, 24 so that they will spring apart slightly when the rounded end of axle 34 is pressing against the curved surface 38. The tines 22, 24 have the ability to flex outwardly laterally of the foot component 10 'because they are relatively narrow where they join the main part of the body 10. However,

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4 5 4 6 1 n2 they are very deep where they join the main body 10 and they

offer stiff resistance to a force tending to make them "roll" sideways. Also, the sockets 28, 30 make substantially

right angle corners with the inner side surfaces of the tines

22, 24 in the vertical direction (see FIGS. Hence,

there is no curved surface present for camming the rounded end of axle 34 in and out of the socket 32 when the roller 18

is forced in the vertical direction. The substantially'right

angle intersection of the surfaces in question also means

that the tines must be sprung apart a further amount to permit

installation or removal of the roller 18 by forcing it

vertically. Any such vertical force would tend to make at

least the tine 24 tend to "roll", and as explained above, the

tine 24 has good resistance to rolling. Hence, owing to its construction the roller 18 is at least not easily

removable by a vertical force. Thus, a substantial downward

force can be exerted from the tines 22, 24 to the roller 18

via its axles 32, 34, and from the presser surfaces 20 of the

roller to the material being sewed. The necessary downward

presser force can be applied on the material without worry

that it will cause the roller 18 to pop upwardly out of

engagement by the sockets 28, According to the invention, a vertical V-cut or groove

(FIGS. 3 and 4) is provided in the inner side face or cheek

of the tine 24. As best shown by FIG. 3, the valley region

of the groove 40 extends into the tine 24 past the rounded

end of the axle 34. As also best shown by FIG. 3, when the

axle 34 is in place within socket 30 the curved surface 38

intersects a portion of the rounded end of axle 34 and forms

a vertically extending cleft therewith.

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45461/72 According to the invention, the thread T is threaded into' the needle region 28 of the foot component 10 in the following manner: With the needle raised, the thread T below the needle N is placed between the surface 38 of tine 24 and the side surface 42 of the roller 18, and the thread T is moved downwardly and laterally outwardly below support 24 and is drawn rear- wardly of the foot component 10 in the direction of the arrow 44 (FIG. to place the thread T in the above-described cleft defined by and between the rounded end surface of axle 34 and the adjacent portion of curved cheek surface 38. Further movement of the thread T in the direction of arrow 44 (FIG. 4) causes the thread to slide along the curved-end surface of axle 34 until it is wholly within the vertical groove 40. This movement of the thread T is aided rather than prevented by the inner cheek surface 38. Once within the groove 40 the thread T is easily moved all the way past the rounded end of axle 34 into the needle region 36 by an additional movement in the direction of arrow 34. The movement of the thread T from a position above the roller 10 and outside of the needle region 26 (FIG. 1) to a position below the foot component and in the needle region 26 is a single continuous operation which is easily performed by the operator and only small forces are required. The cooperating surfaces at the end of axle 32, on the inner side of tine 24, and through and along the groove 40 all cooperate to cam or move the thread T in the desired direction. Prior to sewing the foot component is slid sideways to center the needle N into its sewing position, shown in broken line in FIG. 8. As should be readily evident, the features which make the roller 18 easily installable into and removable from the

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45461/72 sockets 28, 30, and the features which make the thread T

readily movable past the roller 18, complement each other

and in no way does one set of the features interfere with

the function of the other set of features.

FIG. 10 relates to a modified form of foot component

in which the socket opening 30 is replaced by a downwardly

opening socket having an entrance portion defined between

points A-A which is slightly narrower than the full diameter

of the axle 34. In this embodiment the roller 18 is installed

and removed in the direction of the slot, between the points

A-A. A vertical V-groove and a generally horizontally curved

lead in surface similar to cheek surface 38 may be added to

the inner side of this tine 24' so that threading may be

accomplished in the manner described above.

Having fully described typical embodimentc of the

invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by

Letters Patent is defined in the claims which follow:

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Claims (4)

1. 454 61n72 The claims defining the invention are as follows

   i. A presser foot of a type including a pair of

   laterally spaced apart supports, a presser roller extending

   between said supports, and axle-socket means at each end of

   the roller mounting said roller onto said supports for

   rotation therebetween, said axle-socket means comprising a

   live axle at one end of said roller, said axle having a

   rounded end, and a receiving socket in the support for such

   axle, such support also including an inner lead in surface

   which forms a cleft with a portion of said rounded end,

   said inner surface including a channel therein extending in

   substantially the same direction as said cleft and opening

   against a portion of the rounded end of the axle, such axle

   being short enough and said channel being deep enough that

   the axle is normally retained within the opening therefor,

   but a thread may be brought from a location above the roller

   and placed into said cleft and be brought under said support,

   then easily moved rearwardly across the rounded end of the

   axle into the channel, and then moved further rearwardly

   from said channel and around such rounded end until the

   thread is located below the presser foot and rearwardly of

   said roller.
2. 2. A presser foot according to claim 1, wherein

   said channel is of such a depth that it extends into the

   support beyond the normal position of the rounded end of the

   axle.
3. 3. A presser foot according to claim 1 or

   claim 2 wherein the inner lead in surface of said support

   extends laterally outwardly as it extends forwardly of the

   presser foot from the region of said cleft.

   S0- 46Q552

   A 4 61 2 1 4. A presser foot according to any oen of claims are generally to 3 wherein both said channel and said cleft

   vertically oriented. A presser foot according to claim 4, wherein into the said channel is of such a depth that it extends rounded end of support beyond the normal position of the

   the axle. the 6. A presser foot according to claim 5, wherein laterally inner lead in surface of said support extends presser foot from outwardly as it extends forwardly of the

   the region of said cleft. said 7. A presser foot according to claim 1, wherein slightly so supports are flexible enough to spring apart pressed upon that the roller can be removed by it being in a direction near the end thereof close to said axle support, and generally along the inner surface of said roller the,rounded during installation and removal of the lead in surface. end of said axle slides along said inner wherein 8. A presser foot according to claim 7, the inner surface of the opening for said axle intersects angle both above and the support at substantially a right and below the axle below the axle, to form shoulders above out from said for resisting easy movement of the roller vertical direction. opening when it is pressed upon in the hereinbefore 9. A presser foot substantially as drawings. described with reference to the accompanying

   Dated: March 13, 1975.

   PHILLIPS ORMONDE AND FITZPATRICK

   Attorneys for

   ROBERT BROWN HOWELL

   -11 460.552

   A 5 4 6 1m17

   460,552

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