US2177854A - Sewing machine attachment - Google Patents

Description

1939. o. J. ANTONELLI SEWING MACHINE ATTACHMENT Filed 'July 17, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Urazza [fln/wveZ/z ATTORNEYS Oct. 31, 1939.

0. J. ANTONELLI SEWING MACHINE ATTACHMENT Filed July 17, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I valltllflilallllltln I i i w H H] W" 1939- 'o. J. ANTONELLI 2,177.85?

SEWING MACHINE ATTACHMENT Filed July 17, 1937 s Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR flrazl'a flnllmelli I ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 31, 1939 2.171.854 SEWING moms: ATTACHMENT Ora-do J. Antonelli, Fall River, Mass.

Application July 11, 1937, Serial No. 154,101

8Claims.

This invention relates to a structurally and functionally improved attachment for use in connection with sewing machines, and especially an attachment by means of which the machine may stitch a number of layers of material and simultaneously notch or serrate such material.

To those skilled in the art, it is well known that attachments for sewing machines, and by meansof which a sewing and serrating or notching of the in material is possible, have heretofore been placed upon the market. These attachments have commonly been known as pinking devices, and have embodied a construction such that an operator was enabled to substantially simultaneously stitch two 18 layers of material one to the other and to serrate or notch the material. The latter function has contributed toward preventing the material from tearing or threads being drawn in the material.

However, after the operation was completed, the no material layers were connected by a line of stitching such that upon the outside of a garment an unsightly seam was presented. Moreover, the edge portions of the connected layers or strips extended inwardly so that if the structure was ll included in a garment, such edge portions caused discomfort on the part of the wearer and also resulted in a somewhat unsightly appearance being imparted to the garment adjacent such edge portions. Quite aside from these objections, the 80 additional difficulty was presented that the seam would not resist any reasonable strain, so that even during laundering the threads providing the seam would frequently be broken, thus resulting in an opening of the seam, or the threads would of as themselves tear through the material, again necessitating a repairing ofj'the garment.

The heretofore designed attachments also embodied a structure such that it was necessary, in effect, to reconstruct the machine to which they do were to be applied and after such reconstruction the machine was substantially inoperative for ordinary sewing 'operatlons. This criticism is quite aside from the objection that in order to perform certain operations a series of independent 45 time wasting and expensive steps were necessary while other operations were totally impossible of performance. Thus it is an object of the invention to provide a sewing machine or sewing machine attachment so by means of which, with minimum effort and the expenditure of a minimum amount of time, all desired operations may be performed by a rela-- tively unskilled operator. These operations will include, for example, the simultaneous stitching 55 and serrating of the edge portions of a single layer of fabric and which edge portions may, at the will of the operator, be folded upon themselves prior to .such stitching being resorted to. Moreover, a

multiplicity of layers may be simultaneously treated and under these circumstances the oper- 5 ator may, with facility, bring the edge portions of two or more layers together, fold them upon themselves, and serrate them, or may fold only one layer upon itself while serrating two or more lay- .ers. A further operation which suggests itself and which may be accomplished by means of an attachment constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention is that of attaching any desired number of layers above or below a given layer and not necessarily adjacent 1 .the edge of such latter layer; these additional layers being, if desired, folded upon themselves adjacent their edge portions, attached to the latter layer by a row of stitching, and serrated beyond such row of stitching. I

A further object is that of providing a structure such that it will not be necessary to rebuild or tear down a portion of the machine to which the attachment is to be applied. Rather, the attachment may readily be disposed in operative association with the machine, or be removed therefrom so that the machine will be re-established to its initial usefulness. In fact, by means of the present invention-and as afore brought outthe attachment may be left in place and the machine 80 employed without the attachment functioning in cooperation with the material layers in any manner other than that in which the structure initially provided cooperated with the material. Thus, an operator is enabled to employ the attachment for 85 its specialized purpose and thereupon to resume ordinary stitching on material while the attachment remains inoperative insofar as any specialized purpose is concerned.

An additional object is that of furnishing an attachment which will embody relatively few parts, each individually simple and rugged in construction, these parts being-capable of ready assemblage in the form of a unit which may, with facility, be associated with or removed from a $5 sewing machine and which, in its operative condition, will function over long periods of time with freedom from all difllculties.

With these and other objects in mind, reference is had to the attached sheetsof drawings, illustrating practical embodiments of the invention and in which Fig. 1 is a rear view of a more or less conventional form of sewing machine and showing an attachment in association therewith; l6

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary end view of the machine and illustrates the attachment coupled thereto, such attachment having certain of its parts broken away to disclose underlying construction;

Fig. 3 is a front view of the unit as shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the lines 5-5 and in the direction of the arrows of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but showing a slightly different form of unit.

Fig. '1 is a side view of the attachment as shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a front view of the same;

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view taken along the lines 9--9 and in the direction of the arrows as indicated in Fig. '7;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view showing various methods of securing layers of material to each other and by means of attachments embodying the teachings of the present invention;

Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing an attachment of slightly different construction from that heretofore illustrated;

Fig. 12 is a bottom plan view similar to Fig. 4%, but illustrating the unit as constructed in Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but still showing the unit of Fig. 11, and

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary perspective view of material layers or strips illustrating the method of attaching the same to each other by means of a unit embodying the structure of Figs. 11

By way of primarily illustrating some of the various classes of work which may be performed, attention is directed to Figs. 10 and 14. In the former figure numeral l5 indicates a layer of material. Viewing the left hand portion of this layer, it will be seen that a strip It has been secured thereto and this strip has been bent upon itself adjacent one of its edges as indicated at IT, has received a row of stitching l8 at a 'point immediately beyond the zone of bend, and

has been serrated or notched as at l9 beyond such line of stitching. In the next station illustrated. in this figure, a pair of strips 20 and 2i have been secured to layer l5 by a row of stitching 22, and at points beyond such row have been serrated or notched as indicated at 23. In the next station layer l5 has been attached to layer 24, such attachment embracing a reverse bending of layer I 5 adjacent its edge and a row of stitching 25 adjacent such bend. At points beyond such row both the layers l5 and 24 are serrated or notched as indicated at 26. Again, referring to the next station, it will be observed that layer 24 is coupled to a layer 21 by folding the latter upon itself adjacent its edge and in turn folding layer 24 upon itself and around the folded edge portion of layer 21, so that four thicknesses of material are provided in line with the row of stitching 28. In connection with this line of stitching it will be observed that a blind" stitch is provided. In other words, the outer surface of the material will be uninterrupted except for the line of fold of layer 24 and no stitching will be apparent. Of course the stitching might have extended through all layers had this been desired. Beyond such row of stitching the edges of both layers are serrated or notched as at 29. Finally, among the examples illustrated is the one occurring adjacent the right hand of Fig. 10, in which layer 21 has been In all these several forms of construction, it will be observed that the material layers lie flat and in face to face contact with each other. In other words, the edge portions do not extend or tend to extend perpendicular to the body of the layer. Moreover, the layers overlap the lines of stitching and accordingly any tendency of the latter to pull" is relieved to a major extent. Of course, as will be observed and by means of this type of work the faces of the strips or material layers opposite to those illustrated in Fig. 10 will present a neat and more or less unbroken appearance. This is quite aside from the fact that the notohing or indenting prevents the tendency of the material to rip and, in the case of an end reinforcement such as illustrated at 303l, a noticeably neat result is achieved.

Referring to Fig. 14, numeral indicates a layer of material which is folded. upon itself and within the fold iii of a layer or strip 82. The line of stitching 93 similarly to the line of stitching 28 provides for a blind stitch. In certain respects, the attachment as shown in Figs. 11

.to 13 should preferably be employed to provide for stitching of this type, but as afore indicated in Fig. 10, the attachments of Figs. 1 to 9 may be employed for this purpose. It will, moreover, be observed in Fig. 14 that in the right hand side thereof layer 92 is secured to layer 94 by folding each of these layers upon itself and in opposite directions, so that four thicknesses of material are provided. A line of stitching may extend through three of these layers so that blind stitching is provided for, and adjacent the inner edges of both layers, notohing or serrating 86 has been resorted to; this being also true of the inner edges of layers 30 and 92.

Work of the type particularly shown in Fig. 10 may be accomplished by apparatus constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention and of which apparatus two somewhat preferred forms have been illustrated. In both of these forms it is intended that the attachment shall not require any destructive reorganization of the machine to which it is applied. Accordingly, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the numeral 32 indicates a more or less conventional form of sewing machine, including a presser foot bar 33, needle bars 34, and drive wheel 35. Conveniently affixed to the hub of the latter by a removable bolt 36 is a sprocket 31. A bracket 38 is coupled in any suitable manner to the body of the machine and rotatably mounts a shaft 39 supporting a sprocket 40 in line with sprocket 31. Preferably the relative diameter of these sprockets is such that a two to one reduction is furnished and a chain or other suitable connecting medium (not shown) extends between these sprockets. By means of a shaft 4| and universals 42 and 43 a drive is transmitted to the shaft 44 of the attachment generally indicated at 45. The latter is coupled to the presser foot bar 33 after there has been removed from this bar the conventional presser foot.-

Thus, it will be observed that the attachment does not necessitate any destructive reorganization of the machine it being simply necessary to mount in any desired manner the bracket 38 and to couple the sprocket 31 or equivalent element to the drive shaft which mounts the wheel 35. It is particularly to be emphasized that the deck of the machine need not be drilled in that the entire attachment is in the nature of a self-contained unit which is preferably entirely supported upon bar 33.

Referring now to the form of attachment shown in Figs. 2 to 5 inclusive, it will be observed that this conveniently includes a body 46 presenting a pair of spaced arms 41 extending in the direction of shaft 4| and rockingly mounting between them a shaft 43. As shown, these arms need not necessarily be of the same length and the shaft 48 supports are integral with a bell crank lever 49 having its outer arm terminating in a fork portion 50 at right angles to shaft 44. Between the arms of this portion there is mounted upon shaft 44 an eccentric 5| which preferably has its dwell portion in the form of a tangentially extending edge, as particularly illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4, it being of course understood that a similar and parallel extending edge is furnished at a point diametrically opposite thereto. In this manner, as shaft 44 is rotated and if the inner edges of the fork arms are relatively flat, a proper and firm sliding contact will at all times occur between these parts and even as the fork portion rocks around pivot 48 from one to the other extreme position. Incident to such rocking, the lower arm of bell crank lever 49 will be correspondingly moved and thus the notching or indenting mechanism may be associated with this arm.

Riding within this opening of the presser foot or of an element attached thereto, is a cooperating die or blade 59 which-again having in mind the illustrated configuration-will include diverging straight edge portions extending at an angle of less than nienty degrees with respect to each other. A proper cooperation of the blade edges with the edges of the die defined by the opening is assured for example by providing the blade with an extension 60 against the upper edge of which a spring 6| bears. This spring may have its opposite end attached to body 46 at any desired point, it being thus obvious that a constant tendency exists for the knife to be pressed downwardly into fully seated position with respect to the opening or passage within which it rides. The outer end of knife 59 is conveniently provided with an extension 62 which is coupled to arm 49, it being apparent that a certain amount of play may exist at this point of connection so that the knife will not be moved in an arcuate manner. It is obvious that with this construction a user will simply bring two layers of material into proper operative association and will thereupon introduce the same under presser foot 55 and within the guiding slot 56 of the latter in a manner calculated to produce exactly the particular result which may be desired among, for example, those illustrated in Fig. 10. The needle 56 will cooperate with the material to provide a row of stitching and immediately behind the stitching the material will be notched or serrated in any desired manner. During such notching or serrating it will be understood that all strains and shocks will be absorbed and counteracted in body 46 or the several parts associated therewith, so that no strain will be thrown upon bar 33.

Body 46 presentsan opening in line with bar 33 and is preferably slitted as at 52 at a point from this openingto the edge of the body. This slit is bridged by a bolt53 and it is obvious that by turning this bolt the portions of thebody may be sprung to cause the same to tightly grip the bar 33 disposed within the opening thereof. Moreover, the body 46 is preferably furnished with a set screw 54 at a point below the slitted portion 52, and which set screw will bear against bar 33 to additionally guard against any possibility of Lnovement of the attachment with respect to the The lower end of body 46 terminates in a pressr foot 55, which, for convenience of manufacture need not necessarily be integral with body 45. This presser foot is provided with a guiding slot or groove 56 such that material associated with the foot may be guided to be folded in any desired manner adjacent the opening 51 provided for the passage of needle- 56. At a point preferably immediately beyond this opening the presser foot mounts or presents an opening intersecting the groove or slot 56, theedges of the opening defining one portion of a cutting die which, in the embodiment illustrated, includes straight side walls converging toward each other at an angle of slightly less than ninety degrees. Obviously, these edges might be ofany desired configuration in order to impart a corresponding configuration to the edges of the material which are to be serrated or notched.

In the form of unit shown in Figs. 6 to 9, drive shaft 44 mounts a cam 53 which preferably does not have tangentially extending edge portions. The end of shaft 44 is mounted in a bushing 65 eccentrically disposed within the clamping porton 66 of the body 61 of the attachment. In line with cam 63 a lever 68 is pivotally mountedas at 69, this lever being provided with a forked end 10. for cooperation with cam 63. It accordingly follows that as shaft 44 revolves lever 56 will be rocked and therange of movement of this lever may be varied by shifting bushing 65 after releasing clamping portion 66.

In a manner similar to that heretofore described in connection with the structure of Figs. 1 to 5, body 61 is formed with a bore to receive presser bar 33 and a slit 68 extends from this bore and is bridged by a bolt 66. Accordingly, after removal of the conventional presser foot, bar 33 may be inserted within the bore and subsequently by tightening bolt 69 a firm clamping contact of the parts is established such that no movement of the attachment can occur relative to bar 33.

As will also be observed, the attachment includes a needle opening ii in what might be termed the presser foot portion 12 of this attachment and this portion defines a slot 13 for the guidance of the material, so that the edge portions thereof may be folded as desired in accordance with the illustrations of Fig. 10. As will be observed, especially in Fig. 9, this slot is continued in the walls of a bore 14 extending in this example parallel to the bore which receives bar 33. For convenience of manufacture the outer wall of the bore may be defined by cover plates or strips 15 and 16 respectively, which need not be integral with the body 61 of the attachment although they should be immovable with respect thereto and at this time it is to be noted that as shown particularly in Fig. '7 considerable spacing exists on the part of strip or plate 15-16.

Mounted within bore 14 is an indenting or notching knife 11 and this knife may be pressed into. firm cooperating relationship with respect to the walls of the bore and the edges of the cooperating die portion; as defined by slot 13 by means of a spring 16. At this time it will also be observed that the slot 13 preferably extends at a tangent so that the notching or serrating operation may be achieved with minimum effort. The knife or die 11 is, of course, moved by connecting the same as at 19 to the end of lever 68, it

being understood that a certain amount of play is provided in this connection so that the knife or die may travel in a straight path.

Also, if desired, a guide element 80 may be adjustably associated with the front face of the presser foot so that the degree to which the material may penetrate slot 13 is at all times controlled. Of course, if it is found, due to wear on the part of the mechanism, a proper notching or serrating is not being accomplished, this may readily be compensated for by simply adjusting bushing 65 and it will be obvious that the severing strains will be entirely absorbed or counteracted within the body 61 and will in no wise be transmitted to post or bar 33. In both illustrated forms of the attachment, it will be obvious that if an operator desires, the machine may operate in a conventional manner without any notching, serrating, or folding of the material occurring, by simply allowing the material which is to be stitched to ride underneath the presser foot and without entering the slots 56 or 13. Under such circumstances the attachment will simply function as a conventional presser foot and, in fact, the severing mechanism may operate without accomplishing any useful purpose. Ordinarily by simply loosening bolt 38 it will be unnecessary to drive the parts of this mechanism. When such drive is established, however, it will be apparent that as shown one notching or serrating action will occur for each two stitches which are achieved. Obviously, this ratio might be varied as desired. Also, it is particularly to be noted that no cutting of the body of the machine 32 is necessary nor is it necessary to drill or otherwise mutilate the deck of this machine.

Now, referring to the attachment as particularly shown in Figs. 11 to 13: The numeral 46 indicates the body of the attachment which is coupled in the usual manner to the presser-foot bar 33. A driving shaft 44 supports a cam 5| to oscillate the forked end 50 of a bell-crank lever 49. The latter is pivotally supported, as at 48, by the body 48 and its lower arm is similarly coupled to a notching or serrating knife 59. This construction is, in many respects, identical with that heretofore described in connection with Figs. 2 to 5 inclusive.

Also, similar to the construction shown in the foregoing figures, the body of the attachment is provided with a transverse channel furnishing a female die within which knife 69 reciprocates. A spring 6! assures proper contact between the surfaces of these parts and, it will be noted, this serrating station is situated at the rear of needle 58, as also shown in the preceding views.

The presser foot portion of the attachment also includes, in the present instance, a plurality of parts, but these parts preferably embrace-in theembodiment under consideration-a pair of forwardly extending portions 8. and 82, which are adjusted to have their lower surfaces extend in substantially the same plane. Their inner edges are spaced from each other a distance adequate to accommodate any desired number of material layers and a needle guide Si, in the form of .a cup-shaped, perforated member, may be secured to the body of the attachment in any desired manner, as at 85.

Quite irrespective of the foregoing, however, it will be observed that by this arrangement of parts a plurality of material guides are furnished, one to each side of the cup member 8|. As a consequence, the needle in reciprocating will pass for example through three layers of material, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 13. After the stitching has been achieved, the knife will sever the material and thus there will be provided a finished result corresponding to that shown in Fig. 14. It is, of course, to be understood that any desired number of layers might be operated upon, the illustration of four layers having been resorted to in order to avoid unnecessary complications of illustration.

Thus, among others, the several objects of the invention as specifically afore noted are achieved.

It will be observed that numerous changes in construction and rearrangements of the parts might be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus of the character described embracing a body including a presser foot, a material receiving guide forming a part of said foot, said foot including a bore presenting shearing edges defined by said guide, a blade, means for movably supporting said blade with respect to said body and within said bore, and means for moving said blade whereby all shearing stresses will be absorbedwithin said body, and said presser foot providing a needle accommodating opening in advance of said blade.

2. An apparatus of the character described embracing a body including a presser foot, a material receiving guide forming a part of said foot, said foot including a bore presenting shearing edges defined by said guide, a blade, means for movably supporting said blade with respect to said body and within said bore, and means for moving said blade whereby all shearing stresses will be absorbed within said body, and said presser foot providing a needle accommodating opening in advance of said blade, said opening intersecting a portion of said guide.

3. An apparatus of the character described embracing a body including a presser foot, a material receiving guide forming a part of said foot, said foot including a bore presenting shearing edges defined by said guide, a blade, means for movably supporting said blade with respect to said body and within said bore, means for moving said blade whereby all shearing stresses will be absorbed within said body, said presser foot providing a needle accommodating opening in advance of said blade, and a spring bearing against said blade to maintain the same in operative association with the shearing edges defined by said guide.

4. An apparatus of the character described embracing a body including a presser foot, a material receiving guide forming a part of said foot, said foot including a bore presenting shearing edges defined by said guide, a blade, means for movably supporting said blade with respect to said body and within said bore, means for moving said blade whereby all shearing stresses will be absorbed within said body, said presser foot providing a needle accommodating opening in advance of said blade, and means cooperative with said blade moving means for varying the range of movement of the latter.

5. An apparatus of the character described embracing a body including a presser foot, a material receiving guide forming a part of said foot, said foot including a bore presenting shearing edges defined by said guide, a blade, means for movably supporting said blade with respect to said body and within said bore, means for moving said blade whereby all shearing stresses will be absorbed within said body, said presser foot providing a needle accommodating opening in advance of said blade, and means connected to said presser foot to control the depth to which the material may extend into said guide.

6. An apparatus of the character described embracing a body including a presser foot, a material receiving guide forming a part of said foot, said foot including a bore presenting shearing edges defined by said guide, a blade, means for movably supporting said blade with respect to said body and within said bore, means for moving said blade whereby all shearing stresses will be absorbed within said body, said presser foot providing a needle accommodating opening in advance of said blade. and means disposed in advance of said guide and connected to said presser foot to provide a plurality of guiding portions for material and whereby in line with said needle accommodating opening all material layers may be penetrated by a needle.

'7. An apparatus of the character described embracing a body including a presser foot, said foot being formed with a longitudinally extending slot providing a material receiving guide, said presser foot being formed with a transversely extending bore presenting shearing edges defined by said guide, a blade mounted for reciprocation within said bore, a rocker arm pivotally supported by said body and connected to said blade to reciprocate the latter, means for oscillating said rocker arm to cause movement of said blade with all shearing stresses absorbed within said body, and said presser Jfoot providing a needle accommodating opening in advance of said blade.

8. An apparatus of the character described embracing a body including a presser foot, said presser foot and body being formed with a slot extending longitudinally of said presser foot and to one side of the latter, said body including a bore intersecting that portion of the slot extending to one side of said presser foot and in conjunction therewith furnishing shearing edges, a blade, means for supporting said blade with respect to said body and within said bore to have movements normal to the plane of the presser foot and to cooperate with such shearing edges, means movably connected to said body and said blade whereby to reciprocate the latter within said bore whereby all shearing stresses will be absorbed within said body, and said presser foot providing a needle accommodating opening to one side of said blade.

' ORAZIO J. ANTONELLI.

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