910,796. Inserting lengths of thread ; knot-tying devices. KIMBALL CO., A. Feb. 20, 1959 [Feb. 21, 1958], No. 5838/59. Class 112. A portable device for passing a length of string through an article and tying the ends of the string together comprises an eye-pointed needle, a string- carrying reel, string-severing means, and string - knotting means including a loop-forming member having a helicallyshaped forked forward end, a loop-retaining arm, and actuating means adapted to rotate and to reciprocate the loop-forming member. The device is used for attaching tags to articles. A needle 24 having a keyholeshaped eye is fixed in a holder 36 slidable in a tube 38 rigid with a frame 20 provided with a handle 22. A stud 34, projecting from holder 36 through a slot 40 in tube 38, is engaged in a slot 56 in one arm of a bellcrank lever 52 pivoted at 54 to frame 20. A pin 50 on the other arm of lever 52 is engaged in a slot 48 in one arm of a lever 42 pivoted at 44 to frame 20. The other arm of lever 42 is formed with a thumb-piece 46 which, when pushed forwardly, serves to raise needle 24 against the bias of a spring 58 attached to a bar 60 slidably mounted on lever 42. Needle 24 is held in the raised position by pin 50 entering a notch 210 in a catch 204 pivoted at 206 to frame 20 and biased downwardly by a spring 208. To release the needle, upward pressure is applied to a thumb-piece 214 on bar 60, whereby a flange 212 on the latter raises catch 204 to free pin 50. String 86 passes to needle 24 from a reel 32, rotatable on a spindle 68 carried by frame 20, through an apertured pin 90 carried by bellcrank lever 52 and disposed in an arcuate slot 94 in frame 20. A spring 66 mounted within spindle 68 serves to bias the side of reel 32 against a flange 80 on spindle 68 for tensioning the string. A rack bar 96, slidably mounted on frame 20 and movable rearwardly against the bias of a spring 202 by means of pressure on a grip 98, meshes with a quadrant 120 on a spindle 118 journalled in frame 20. A quadrant 116 on spindle 118 meshes with a cylindrical rack 108 slidably mounted in a tube 110 pivoted in a bracket 114 fixed to frame 20. A frame 112 fixed to tube 110 journals a spindle 104 carrying at its front end a knot-tying spiral member 26 formed with an open-ended slot 134. An elongated gear 106 fixed to spindle 104 meshes with rack 108. A screw 138 fixed to spindle 104 meshes with a nut 140 slidably but non-rotatably mounted on frame 112 and biased rearwardly by a spring 144. A cone 146 fixed to spindle 104 is biased by a spring 150 against a roller 148 pivoted on frame 20. A curved, loop-retaining arm 28 projects forwardly from a spindle 186 journalled in ears 190 carried by a plate 192 fixed to frame 20. A spring 194 biases arm 28 rearwardly and downwardly, whereby a radial finger 188 at the rear end of spindle 186 normally lies in the rear arm of an inverted U-shaped slot 200 formed in plate 192 and abuts a plate 198 fixed to rack bar 96. One blade 166 of a pair of scissors 30 is fixed to frame 20. The other blade 170 is pivoted to the front end of a bar 172, the rear end of which is slidable in an inclined groove formed in a block 174 fixed to frame 20. A triangular slot 176 in bar 172 is engaged by a pin 178 fixed to rack bar 96. A spring 185, connected between pin 178 and the front end of bar 172, biases the rear end of the latter against block 174. In operation, the threaded needle 24, raised by pressing thumb-piece 46, is passed through a tag and through an article to be tagged. The free end of the string is held while the needle is retracted, and the two limbs of the string loop are ther laid in a groove 124 formed in a block 126 fixed to frame 20, the string being guided into groove 124 by a curved finger 128 fixed to frame 20 and the sides of an opening 130 in a casing 132 surrounding the device. Grip 98 is then pressed to move rack-bar 98 rearwardly, whereby frame 112 rotates counterclockwise and spindle 104 also rotates and moves rearwardly till a thrust bearing 159 on cone 146 abuts frame 112, when nut 138 moves forwardly against spring 144 and continued rotation of spindle 104 carries the free end of spiral member 26 into an aperture 136 in block 126 for gripping the string limbs in slot 134. During the rearward movement of bar 98, pin 178 engages the upper edge of slot 176 to move the rear end of bar 172 upwardly along block 174 and to stress spring 185. Said rear end is disengaged from block 174 after the string is gripped in slot 134, when spring 185 operates blade 170 for severing the string limbs. Near the end of said rearward movement plate 198 uncovers the rear arm of slot 200, when finger 188 travels up the sloping front edge 196 of plate 198 under the influence of spring 194, and the curved arm 28 descends into the loop of string extending between the slot 134 and the spiral member 26, as shown in Fig. 9. When grip 98 is released, spring 202 draws bar 98 forwardly, whereby spindle 104 rotates to withdraw the free end of spiral 26 from aperture 136, and then continues to rotate while moving forward and also swinging clockwise. Finger 186 is also pushed along the upper portion of slot 200 to move arm 28 forwardly. Continued rotation of spindle, 104 causes the string to be looped upon itself and to be drawn through the loop to form a knot, as shown in Fig. 12. The string is finally gripped manually between the member 26 and the tagged article and pulled away from member 26 to tighten the knot and release the string from slot 134, and also to return arm 28 to its initial position. When the needle is retracted, the lower end of the needle holder 36 abuts a pin 226 on one end of a catch 222, pivoted at 224 to frame 20, to raise the other end 230. When the needle is raised, pin 226 is freed and end 230 thereby drops behind a shoulder in a plate 232 fixed to grip 98, to prevent actuation of the latter.