US2274198A

US2274198A - Uncurling guide for sewing machines

Info

Publication number: US2274198A
Application number: US308361A
Authority: US
Inventors: Hacklander Hans
Original assignee: Singer Co
Current assignee: Singer Co
Priority date: 1939-12-09
Filing date: 1939-12-09
Publication date: 1942-02-24
Anticipated expiration: 1959-02-24

Description

Feb. 24, 1942. H. HACKLANDER- 2,274,193

UNCURLING GUIDE FOR SEW ING MACHINES Filed Dec. 9, 1959 Patented Feb. 24, 1942 UNCURLING GUmnFon sawino Y MACHINES Y Han Hac l iid nmnd n. N- J; e si o, h

Singer Manufacturing Company, Elizabeth, N. J a ccrperation of New Jersey a Applieaticn Decemben 9, 193.9, Serial No. 308,361

; 10 Claims. (01. 112-20) This invention relates. to fabric guides for sewing machines and more particularly to uncurling. guides for hosiery seaming sewing machines.

In fabric guides of the type in question'as pres viously constructed,,.diificulty was experiencedin properly controlling and directing the fabric sec; tions when traversing" portions of varying thick,- nesses, such as passing from the :body of the stocking to the welt, thereof: This difficulty" arises from the fact that as the. thickened por: tion of the stocking enters between the central guiding plate-and the uncurlers, the unc'urler's swing outwardly. away from the central guiding plate about their pivotal axes of support, which axes of support heretofore have been relatively. close to the lower ends of the uncurlers. As the uncurlers swing away from the central guiding plate they move into positions which areout' of parallelism with the face of the central guiding plate. When in this abnormal relation the un'-. curlers engage the stocking at the thickened portion adjacent the marginal edges only-{leav ing the remainder or major part ofthe stocking adjacent the thickened portions uncontrolled:

The uncontrolled section of the stocking fre quently drops slightly below the usual edge guiding memben resulting in a variation in the depth of needle-bite in thestocking, whichef fects materially the quality of high grade hosiery.

fie present invention has for its main objective the provision of an uncurling guide for hosiery seaming machines which will more'effectively controland direct the marginal portions of hosiery sectionathe efliciency or whichfguid e will notbe reduced whentraversing sections elf varying thicknesses. V

A further object of the present invention is to provide an uncurling guide which, because of its superior design, will give to the operator greater visibility in the vicinity ofthe stitching point. A still further object of the present invention istheprovision of an uncurling guide wherein the pivotal axes of support {or the uncurle'r's have been positioned remote frpm the operative; end of the guide whereby the degree of hen para lelism between the cent al guiding p tean t e nc lerswhen tr ve sin th ken d tio s of the ho i r s QiiQns s ed d to a m nimum;

With the above and other objects in view, as; wi l e e r a pea he invention cam fire the devices, combinations and "arrangements or parts hereinaiter set forth and illustrated in the acco pan in d awin 0i a Pre emb d m o the invention. immwh ch the se er l features of the invention and the advantages 'Intheaccompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is a right, side elevation 01? the upper portion of a sewing machine embodying a preferred form of my invention, .a portion of the machine-frame being" broken away to illustrate the mounting of the uncurling guide.

Fig; 2 is a front elevation of the elements shown "in Fig.1, with the front feed-cup and shaft therefor removed to clearly illustrate uncurling guide in elevation.

-3 isan enlarged perspective view of the supporting. bracket for the uncurling guide.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional .view of the edge-guiding element of, the uncurling guide taken along the line 4-4, Fig. 2. 1 a

Fig. 5 is an enlarged disassembled perspective view ofthe .uncurling guide showingthe details of construction of its component parts.

In the embodiment of the invention selected for illustration, my improved uncurling guide is shown as applied to a so-called cup-feed sewing -machine having a standard I- and an overhangi and other devices not shown. Since the sewing machine illustrated in the drawing forms no part of the present invention, no further description of the same will be made, except to those parts which have a direct bearing on the uncurling guide: For, a detailed description of the cupfeed machine shown in the drawing, reference may be had to my copending application Serial No. 296,031, filed Sept. 22, 1939.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be observed that within the overhanging bracket 2 the machineframe is provided with a horizontal ledge '6 adapted to support for limited lateral adjustment'a right-angle bracket 1 towhich is secured for limited vertical adjustment the uncurlingi guide. To provide for the lateral adjustment of the guide, the horizontal limb of the right-angle bracket 1 is preferably formed with an elongated slot 8 through which passes'a clamping screw 9 threaded into the ledge 6. The ledge 6 in its upper surface is formed with. a guide-groove.

which is adapted to receive a tongue ID provided in the horizontal limb of the right-anglebracket I, whereby the uncurling guide is constrained to move transversely of the stitch-line; Secured by a clamping screwll to the vertical limb 'Of'.

the

the right-angle bracket 1 is the usual uncurling guide plate [2 formed with an offset 13 into which is threaded an adjusting screw I4 shouldered to receive the bifurcated projection [5 formed at the lower end of the vertical limb of the right-angle bracket 1. When it is desired to raise or lower the uncurling guide the clamping screw II is loosened and the adjusting screw [4 turned the required number of turns to adjust the guide into the desired position, when the clamping screw H is tightened, locking the guide in its adjusted position. The guide is constrained to move in a vertical line only during this adjustment through the medium of a tongue It on the plate I2 and groove I 1 in the vertical limb of the right-angle bracket 1.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the plate 12 has clamped to its left hand face by means of a screw I8 a cylindrical boss 19 formed upon a stationary disk 20. Freely journaled upon the cylindrical boss 19 is the head 21 of the usual central guiding plate 22. The head 21, see Fig. 5, is formed with an ear 23 into which is threaded a fulcrumstud 24 upon which are journaled the latches 25 and 26 designed to lock the uncurling guide in operative or inoperative positions. 'The latches 25 and 26 and the above described pivotal support for the uncurling guide form no part of the present invention, those parts being fully described in my copending application Serial No. 303,946, filed Nov. 13, 1939.

The gist of the present invention resides in the construction of the lower or fabric-controlling portion of the guide. The details of this portion of the guide are best shown in Fig. 5. It will be seen in this figure that the central guiding plate 22 terminates at its lower end in a thin bladelike fabric-engaging plate 21 against the opposite faces of which are yieldingly biased two

uncurlers

28 and 29 having relatively long and slender shanks 30 and 3|. The shanks of the uncurlers at their upper ends are apertured as at 32 and 33, and disposed between the

cross-bars

34 and 35 integral with, or otherwise secured to, the central guiding plate 22, to receive the pivotstuds 36 and 31 threaded into the cross-bar 35. The two

uncurlers

28 and 29 are biased into cooperative clamping relation with the opposed faces of the fabric-engaging plate 21 by a U- shaped spring-wire 38 passing through a small hole 39 inthe central guiding plate 22 adjacent the head thereof. The two free ends of the spring-wire 38 enter small depressions 40 in the shanks 30 and 3| of the uncurlers. The body or bowed portion of the U-shaped spring-wire 38 passes freely through the small clearance hole 39 in the central guiding plate 22, the depending limbs of the spring-wire being arranged substantially in vertical alinement with the shanks 30 and 3| of the

uncurlers

28 and 29, see Fig. 2, and relatively long to engage the shanks of the uncurlers at points substantially midway their lengths. With this arrangement a spring can be employed having a high degree of flexibility which is advantageous in that it facilitates spreading of the uncurlers for the introduction of the fabric sections into the guide. A further advantage of this preferred spring arrangement is that an equal pressure is applied automatically to each of the uncurlers. This is also important in that the amount of stretch of the two marginal edges of the stocking blank incident to their passage through the guide is equal, and this results in both' the'marginal edges of the stocking emerging from the uncurling guide simultaneously with-out one marginal edge being longer than the other. It should be understood that in the event it is desirable to renew or replace the spring-wire 38 by a stronger one, the change can be effected easily and quickly by simply grasping the two ends of the spring-wire, spreading them apart and then turning the spring-wire upwardly to permit the unthreading thereof out of the clearance hole 39.

To provide means whereby a uniform depth of'needle-bite in the fabric sections can be effectively obtained, the fabric-engaging plate 21 has secured thereto an edge-guiding element. This edge-guiding element is shown in Fig. 4 and it comprises a pin 41 extending through the plate 21 and having mounted on each end small collars 42 and 43. During the operation of the uncurling guide the collars 42 and 43 enter clearance apertures 44 and 45 in the

uncurlers

28 and 29. In prior uncurling guides the edge-guiding element was in the form of a screw, one collar being the head of the screw and the other collar being a nut'formed with a. screw-driver slot so that the nut could be tightened. With this previous construction it frequently happened that the marginal edge of one of the fabric sections became snared on the threads of the screw beyond the outside of the nut, resulting in a pulled stocking. The present form of edge-guiding element eliminates this fault, inasmuch as the ends of the pin 4|, after the collars 42 and 43 have been placedin position, are flared or riveted and subsequently polished, thereby to provide a smooth surface which cannot snare the edge of the fabric section.

It will be understood from Figs. 1 and 5 that the two

cross-bars

34 and 35 are positioned as close to the head 2| of the central guiding plate 22 as is possible. In other words, the pivot-studs 36 and 31 for the

uncurlers

28 and 29 are disposed a considerable distance from the fabric uncurling portion of the guide. This is decidedly advantageous over previous constructions, because when traversing fabric sections having varying thicknesses the degree of non-parallelism between the uncurlers 28 and 29 and the opposed faces of the fabric-engaging plate 21 is greatly reduced. It will be appreciated that the closer to the lower end of the guide the pivot-studs 36 and 31 are placed, the greater the degree of nonparallelism existing between the fabric-engaging plate 21 and the'uncurlers 28 and 29 when traversing a thickened section of fabric. The raising of the pivot-studs to a point adjacent the head 2| of the central guiding plate 22 has a further advantage over previous constructions in that it permits a construction which gives to the operator better visibility in the vicinity of the stitching point.

From the above description it will be understood that I have provided an uncurling guide which is superior to prior constructions in the matter of controlling and directing the fabric sections, simplicity of design, ease of manufacture and assembly, and better visibility to the operator.

While I have illustrated and described one embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that the improvement is susceptible of various modifications within the scope of the invention.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:

'1. An uncurling guide for sewing machines comprising, a central guiding plate having a head mounted so that'the uncurling guide may be shifted into and out of operative position, un curlers cooperating at their lower ends with said central guiding plate for controllingand directing fabric sections preparatory to stitching, means carried by said central guiding plate adjacent the head thereof for pivotally supporting the upper ends of said uncurlers on horizontal axes, and spring means engaging each of said uncurlers intermediate its ends for maintaining said uncurlers in cooperative relation with said central guiding plate.

2. An uncurling guide for sewing machines comprising, a central guiding plate having a head mounted so that the uncurling guide may be' shifted into'and out of operative position, uncurlers having relatively long shanks cooperating at their lower ends 'with said-central guiding plate for controlling and directing fabric sections preparatory to stitching, at least one cross-bar secured to said central guiding plate directly beneath the head thereof, pivot-studs threaded into said cross-bar and supporting said uncurlers, and a spring-wire having its opposite ends in faces, uncurlers fulcrumed at their upper ends and, cooperating at their lower ends with the fabric-engaging faces of said central guiding engagement with the uncurlers beneath the point .at their lower ends with said central guiding plate for controlling and directing fabric sections preparatory to stitching, at least one cross-bar secured to said central guiding plate directly beneath the head thereof, pivot-studs threaded into said cross-bar and supporting the upper ends of said uncurlers, and a U-shaped springwire extending through said central guiding plate and having its free ends in engagement with the plate for controlling and directing fabric sections preparatory to stitching, and spring means located to engage said uncurlers intermediate their fulcrum points and lower ends for biasing said uncurlers toward and into cooperative relation with said central guiding plate, said spring means applying automatically an equal pressure upon each of said uncurlers.

7. An uncurling guide for sewing machines having an operative and an inoperative position, a central guiding plate having fabric-engaging faces, uncurlers fulcrumed at their upper ends and cooperating at their lower ends with the fabric-engaging faces of said central guiding plate for controlling and directing fabric sections preparatory to stitching, and a single spring connecting said uncurlers together intermediate their respective fulcrum point and lower end for biasing said uncurlers toward and into cooperative relation with said central guiding plate.

8. A sewing machine uncurling guide having an operative and an inoperative position, a central guiding plate having a clearance aperture therein and a plurality of fabric-engaging faces, uncurlers formed with relatively long shanks 'fulcrumed at one end upon said central guiding plate, and a spring extending through said clearance aperture in the central guiding plate and having its free ends each in engagement with one of the uncurlers between its fulcrumpoint and its other end for biasing said uncurlers parallel fabric-engaging faces, uncurlers each uncurlers intermediate their ends for yieldingly biasing said uncurlers in cooperative relation with said central guiding plate.

4. An uncurling guide for sewing machines having an operative and an inoperative position,

a central guiding plate having fabric-engaging faces, uncurlers fulcrumed at their upper ends and cooperating at their lower ends with the fabric-engaging faces of 1 said central guiding plate for controlling and directing fabric sections preparatory to stitching, and spring means located to engage said uncurlers intermediate their fulcrum points and lower ends for biasing said uncurlers toward and into cooperative relation with said central guiding plate.

5. An uncurling guide for sewing machines having an operative and an inoperative position,

a central guiding plate formed with fabricengaging faces, uncurlers provided with relatively long shanks, said uncurlers fulcrumed at ends with the fabric-engaging faces of said central guiding plate for controlling and directing ,fabric sections preparatory to stitching, and spring means having limbs arranged in substantheir upper ends and cooperating at their lower fulcrumed at one end upon said central guiding plate and at its other end cooperating with one of the fabric-engaging faces of said central guiding plate, said central guiding plate having a clearance aperture therein above the fulcrum axes of the uncurlers, and a U-shaped spring extending through said clearance aperture and having its free ends in engagement with the uncurlers intermediate their ends for yieldingly holding said uncurlers in operative relation with said central guiding plate.

10. An uncurling guide for sewing machines having an operative and an inoperative position, a central guiding plate having fabric-engaging faces, uncurlers fulcrumed at their upper ends and cooperating at their lower ends with the fabric-engaging faces of said central guiding plate for controlling and directing fabric sections preparatory to stitching, spring means adapted to engage said uncurlers intermediate their fulcrum points and lower ends for biasing said uncurlers toward and into cooperative relation with said fabric-engaging faces, and an edgeguiding element for engaging and directing the edges of the fabric sections controlled by the uncurling guide, said edge-guiding element including two collars mounted upon the opposite ends of a pin extending through said central guiding plate and having its ends flared to retain said collars snugly against said central guiding plate.

HANS HACKLANDER.