US2194794A - Means for spacing and forming buttonholes and other stitchings in articles of clothing - Google Patents

Description

2,194,794 HEB March 26, 1940. G, EssoP' AND FORMING BUTTONHOLES AND 0T MEANS FOR SPACING STITCHINGS IN ARTICLES 0F CLOTHING Filed larch 19, 1938 INVENTOR.

Patented Mar. 26, 1940 UiTED 1 STAT-ES PATENT; OFFICE,

MEANS, FOR sP oI o AND FoRMING BUT- TONHOLES AND OTHER STITCHINGS IN ARTICLES F CLOTHI G George Jessop, lngle Application March 19,

Nook, Gomersal, near Leeds, England 1938, Serial No. 196,884

In' Great Britain March 24, 1937 3 Claims.

ing. Itis, however,.,equally applicable tov the sewing on of spaced buttons, bar tackings of sewn buttonholes and other like spaced stitchings. The primary object of the present invencate the position for each buttonhole, button or other stitchings, but also to allow for the automatic making or stitching ofa plurality of separate spaced stitchings along, the edge of the garment after the ,machineha's been set.

The present invention comprises in combination withan automatic'buttonhole' sewing maehine'of known type in which the work is held stationary and the relative movement of the parts to sew'about the buttonhole is produced by travel of the stitch frame including thesewing head of themachine as described for instance in United States Patents Nos. 488,028,,494280, 655,637 and 713,764, mechanism attachable to said machine comprising means forvholding the work and automatically spacing at one operation the position and number of stitchings necessary to fill up an allotted space, and means for automatically stitching successively a plurality of separate stitchings at a pre-determined distance apart at one operation of the machine, i. e., after the machine is once. startedand before it is automatilly stopp i One embodiment. of this invention comprises a matic sewing machine of'the Reece type such as is described in United States Patents Nos. 488,028,'494,280, 655,637 and 713,764, the said gauge consisting of a plurality of indicating fin-' gersor barsheld movably parallel and mecha nism for equally and automatically spacing them apart, meanslfor carrying the gauge in a slidable manner transversely in relationto the head of l tion is not only to instantlyand accurately indigauge adapted to be held in relation to an autothe edge of the garment'to be operated upon be- '7 described making reference moths :accompanying drawing in which is shown anembodimentof this invention applicable to an'automatic buttonhole sewing machine of the reciprocating head type in which the needle bar. is moved along the length of the buttonhole whilst the garment is held stationary 'during the stitching, as: described,

for instance, in the patent specificationof 'United one construc- Nos. 488,028, $94,280, 655,637 and Fig. 2 is a view in sec-tionlooking in the-direction of the arrow, on line A-A of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a similar view in; sectionon line Of Fig.1. "I

Fig. 4.15 an enlarged detail view in pan, 3 Throughout the views similar parts are desig-q cating fingers I, 2, 3 4, -5 and 5, held movably parallel by links I. The links 1 are; pivoted together at '8 in the centre of their, length andat their ends, withthe exception of the end. links. Theextremities ofthe links 1' arealso pivoted to the bars. l-6 at sand-ea, the pivots of the latter working inslots in said: bars, the wholear rangement constituting a lazy tongs mechanism, so that on moving the barsfea'chbar will be moved equally apart from its adjacent one.

A gauge so constituted is carried in a'slidable manner on a pair of horizontally and parallelly arranged rods Ill fixed parallel with the front edge and transversely, in respect of the oscillating head I l of'a sewing'machine of the Reece, type, above referred to, by meansof eye bolts or sleeves 9b carriedon the underside on the bars I--B. 5 The rods It, are carried in angular relation to the table of the sewing machine by end frames or brackets l2 adapted to be attached to the edge of a table carrying the sewing machine, so

that the rear edges of the bars l-B will beadjacent to the surface of the usual table, Ha of the machine, but clear of thevneedle thereof.

The gauge is provided with clamping means adapted .to position and retain the edge of the garment to be operated :upon at about theends' of its length and to lock the bars of the gauge in position after adjustment," for which purpose I la. Jaws or stops ii and it to receive and position the edge of a vest l9, for instance-shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 1are pivoted at Na and 811- to the plates l5 and It so that on moving the jaws on their pivots, the edge of the vest l9 can be clamped between them and the underside of the plates i5 and 15.

Each clamp is operated separately, the jaws 58 (see Figs. 1 and 3) by means of a pivoted lever 23 connected to the clamp is by a rod 29. The one end of the rod 2| is pivoted eccentrically to the lever 28 and its other end is pivoted at Zia to the clamp l8 at a distance from its pivot li'fft. The rod 2i may be made adjustable length in any convenient manner, the arrangement is such that when the lever 23 is in the clamping position -as shown in Fig. 3it will remain in such position until rocked in an opposite direction.

The other clamping means 55, H (see Figs. 1 and 2) is similarly arranged but also serves to lock the bars l-3 in position after adjustment. In order to adjust or space the bars i-15 apart-the end bar 6 being temporarily fixed as will be presently desoribedthe opposite end bar l is made in one with or furnished with a handle 22, and inorder to limit the movements of the bars and to provide a means for locking them in position after adjustment, a rod. is anchored by its one end at 23a to the top of the bar 6, and then passes freely through an eye 23b carried by the bar 5, and a guide eye 23c carried by the bar 2. Adjustable stops 2d are adapted to be fixed on the rod 23 for limiting the opening and closing movements of the bars l-E. The bars are locked in position after adjustment by a cam shaped lever 25 adjacent to the eye 23c and through which the rod 23 passes, the said lever 25 being pivoted at its free end to a jointed rod 28 which connects the rocking jaws I! with a pivoted lever 2'? which functions as in the first described clamping means. The rod 25 is articulated at 23a and provided with a universally jointed guide link 26b.

The bars l--6 when in their locked position so as to have no relative motion in respect of each other, are free to slide as a single carriage on the fixed supporting rods ill under the influence of a tension spring 28 acting between an eye bolt to on one of the pivots B of the links 1 and the adjacent end frame l2.

The intermittent movement of the carriage is controlled under the influence of the spring 28 and the stopping of the sewing machine is efiected after the final sewing is effected by mechanism actuated from the stop motion of the sewing machine.

In the sewing machine to which this invention is applied the machine is started by momentarily depressing a starting lever 29 and the reciprocating head ll after a stitching is completed automatically actuates the stop gear of the machine. The motion of the machine is utilized to actuate the intermittent motion of the carriage in any convenient manner. One such way is as follows:

The head ll of the machine is furnished with an arm lib through which passes a rod 35. Motion is imparted to the rod 35 in one direction by an adjustable stop 35a and in the opposite direc tion by anotheradjustable stop 35b carried on the rod 35 and engaging with the arm H1).

The front ends of each bar or finger l--6, see more particularly Fig. 4, are furnished with a pair of teeth 39, 3| on opposite sides as shown. A lever 32 is pivoted at 32a to a fixed bar [2a connecting the end frames 52 together. The lever 32 is furnished with teeth 32b and 320 adapted to alternately engage with the teeth 30 and 3| in the manner of the pallet of an escapement. The tooth 320 is in the form of a spring controlled pivoted pawl made conveniently by pivoting a slotted lever on the pivot furnished on its outer end witha tooth 32c and having its inner end controlled by a compression spring 33a. Stops 332) on the lever 32 are provided to limit the angular movement of the lever 33 with respect to the lever 32. The free end of the lever 32 at 34 is connected to the rod 35, the arrangement being such that as the rod 35 is reciprocated, the teeth 32b and 320 of the pallet 32 will alternately engage with the teeth 30 and 3i and so allow the oarriageunder the influence of the spring 2B to be moved intermittently after each stitching is completed.

In place of the connecting rod 35, the well known Bowden wire mechanism comprising a flexible inextensible member in combination with a flexible incompressible member may be em.- ployed to transmit the motion from the head ll of the machine to the pallet 32.

In order to start the sewing machine by operating the usual starting lever 29 and to keep the latter depressed during the successive stitching operations, the following arrangement is provided. A cranked rod 36, 31 is fixed by its one end 31 to an upstanding plate on the bar or finger 2, and its other end 36 may be guided in a bushing fixed in one of the end frames l2. The rod 36, 31 is carried above and transversely of the bars or fingers. The starting lever 29 of the sewing machine is provided with a dependent blade spring arm 38, provided witha stop or nose 38a adapted to engage beneath the portion 36 of the red when the lever 29 is depressed by its end 29a and to be released when it reaches the portion 31. the starting lever 29, the nose 38a will engage beneath the portion 36 of the rod and the machine will start stitching. The stitching then proceeds, due to the lever 29 remaining depressed,

and as soon as the last buttonhole cycle of the sewing machine to stitch the last buttonhole of the series has been started, the nose 38a will'no longer be engaged by the portion 33 but will be opposite the portion 3'5, and thus be released, al-

lowing the lever 29 to move upwardly and stop the machine at the completion of that cycle.

In operation, the garment, for instance a vest 19 as shown in Fig. 1 is positioned on the table He: of the sewing machine with its edge engaging within the stops formed by the clamps l1, IS, the lever 20 is then operated to clamp the vest at its edge. The carriage, by means of its handle 22 is then slidden on the rods l0 until the bar 6 is engaged by the pallet 32, when the position for the first buttonhole l9a will be immediately beneath the needle bar of the machine. After the stops 24 have been set to fix the spacing of buttonholes required to be sewn, the bars 5-I are extended by the handle 22 until the number of said bars, corresponding to the number of buttonholes, fill up the allotted space. The lever 27 is then operated to clamp the edge of the vest, and at the same time lock the bars in position by means of the cam lever 25 and rod 23. The machine is then set in operation by. momentarily depressing the starting lever 29, the head thereupon moves in sewing down thefirst side of the buttonhole, the arm llb engaging the stop 35b of the rod 35 as the head approaches the limit of its movement in that direction at the eye end of It will thus be seen that on depressing the buttonhole, shifting the rod as thereby disengaging the tooth 320 from the tooth 3| and causing the tooth 32b to engage the tooth 30, see Fig. 4. The head [I then moves in sewing down the second side of the buttonhole, the arm ||b engaging the stop 35a asthe head approaches the limit of its movement in this direction, thereby shifting the rod 35 at the end of the sewing operation. This movement releases the tooth 32b from the tooth 30, and allows the carriage under the influence of the spring 28 to move until the tooth 3| of the second bar 5 is engaged by the tooth 320 of the pawl 33. As the pawl 33 is capable of slight spring controlled movement on its pivot 32a, after the tooth 320 is disengaged from the tooth 3| (say of the bar 4, see Fig. 4) it cannot re-engage therewith, but is free to assume its normal position ready to engage with the tooth 3| of the next bar 3. As soon as the first buttonhole |9a is completed, the motion of the head connected with they arm llb, operates the pallet 32 so as toallow the carriage, under the influence of the spring 28 to move until the second bar 5 is engaged by the pallet 32 and thus move the vest l9 into a new position for sewing the second buttonhole |9b.

In Fig. 1 the machine is shown at the start of a stitching operation, the downwardly turned tooth 3| of the bar or finger is engaged by the tooth 320 of the lever 33. As the machine reaches the eye end of the buttonhole, the lever 32 is operated, causing the tooth 32b to engage with the tooth 30 and the tooth 320 to be disengaged from the downwardly turned tooth 3|. The tooth 32b engages with, the upturned tooth 30' of the bar or finger 4 (see Fig. 4) before the tooth 3| is released from the tooth 320. As soon as the tooth 320 is clear of the tooth 3|, and the tooth 32b is fully engaged with the tooth 30, the lever 33 moves outwardly on its pivot 32a under the influence of the spring 33a into the position shown in Fig. 4. During this time there has been no movement of the carriage. The stitching then proceeds, and when finished the rod 35 is again operated but this time in the opposite direction, causing the tooth 32b to disengage the tooth 30 and allow the carriage to move under the influence of the spring 28, so that the downwardly turned tooth 3| of the next bar or finger 3 is engaged with the tooth 32c thereby moving the lever 33 on its pivot against the action of the spring 33a and the cycle of operations is repeated. Each successive buttonhole is then sewn in like manner until the last buttonhole is completed whereupon the machine is stopped.

The cranked portion of the rod 36, 31 is so arranged that the starting lever 29 is released during the shift of the carriage after sewing the buttonhole I90, i. e., immediately after the hole I90 is completed, the machine stitching the last hole |9d with the starting lever 29 raised or in the oil position, the stop motion only coming into in which the stitch frame is reciprocated whilst the garment is held stationary, but it will be understood that by suitably modifying the mechanism, it may be used in conjunction with sewing machines in which the stitch frame is not traversed but the garment is moved.

I declare that what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with an automatic buttonhole sewing machine of known type in which the work is held stationary, and the relative movement of the parts to sew about the buttonhole is produced by travel of the stitch frame including the sewing head of the machine, a gauge consisting of a plurality of indicating fingers held movably parallel and mechanism for equally spacing them. apart, means for carrying the gauge in a slidable manner transversely in relation to the stitch frame including the sewing head of the sewing machine, clamping means for holding the' edge of the garment to be operated upon beneath the needlebar of the'machine, and locking'the gauge after adjustment, means for automatically sliding the gauge, and with it the garment after each separate stitching is completed, and means carried by the gauge co-acting with the starting and stopping gear of the machine to keep the maallel by links pivoted together and to the fingers in the manner of lazy tongs, means for adjusting and limiting the spacing apart of the fingers, means for locking the fingers after adjustment, a pair of parallelly arranged rods carried parallel with the front edge of the machine, and on which the gauge is adapted to slide, a spring for cOntrolling the sliding movement of the gauge, a pair of clamps adapted to position and retain theedge of a garment between them and beneath the needle bar of the machine, means for operating each clamp separately, mechanism operated from the I head of the machine to release and allow the gauge under the influence of its spring to move after one stitching has been completed into a position for the next stitching, means for keeping the starting lever of the machine in a depressed or starting position during the separate stitchings and releasing it or stopping the machine after the whole of the stitchings have been completed.

3. A machine for spacing and forming a pluings in articles of clothing comprising in combination with an automatic buttonhole sewing machine of known type in which the work is held stationary, and the relative movement of the parts to sew about the buttonhole is produced by travel of the stitch frame including the sewing head of the machine, a plurality of indicating fingers, a series of links pivoted together in pairs at the centre of their lengths and at their ends, attaching the end pivotsto the fingers to allow the latrality of buttonholes and other separate stitch- K ter to move parallelly with each other, a pair of fixed parallelly arranged guides carrying the fingers transversely in a slidable manner thereon, a frame carrying said guides in parallel relation to the front edge of the sewing machine, a spring for controlling the sliding motion of the connected fingers, a handle for moving the fingers against the action of the spring, a pair-of stops and clamps carried by the fingers to position and clamp the edge of a garment beneath the needle bar of the sewing machine, means for separately operating each clamp, a rod fixed at its one end to an end finger and extending transversely above?! the fingers, adjustable stops on said rod adapted to co-act with a stop on one of the fingers to limit the separation apart of the fingers, means for locking one of the fingers, other than the one to which the rod is fixed, to the rod to prevent relative movement of the fingers after adjustment, a spring controlled catch adapted to engage the fingers and prevent their movement along their supporting guides; mechanism for intermittently releasing said catch operable from the head of the sewing machine, means co-operating with the starting lever of the sewing machine to cause said starting lever to keep the sewing machine in operation, and stop it on completion of the last stitching.

GEORGE JESSOP.

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