US2280278A - Tufting machine - Google Patents

Description

T. J. AMOS TUFTING MACHINE .AprilZl, 1942.

Filed May 5, 1959 I a Sheets-Sheet 1,

April 21, 1942. 1-. J. AMOS TUF'IING MACHINE Filed May 5, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 21,1942. p

TUFTIN G MACHINE Thomas J. Amos, Rome, Ga., assignor to W.-EL Dellinger, Floyd County, Ga.

Application May 5, 1939, Serial No. 271,958

7 Claims.

This invention relates to tufting machines and more particularly to tufting machine attachments for use with sewing machines of a conventional type having the usual vertically reciprocal needle, and associated fabric feeding mechanism. i

One important object of the present invention is to provide a tufting attachment for sewing .machines which shall comprise a novel formof thread looper and cutter members constructed and aranged to cooperate with a thread carrying needle to form loops and tufts in a base fabric in a more efiicient and uniform manner than heretofore accomplishedby similar devices.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tufting machine attachment of the character designated including a novel arrangement of looper hook and improved mechanism for operating the same.

i A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the characterdesignated in shall be connected together and operated in a novel manner by the needleoperating shaft.

A further object of the inventionis to provide a simplified arrangement of threadrlooper and cutter members which shall be mounted on a bearing bracket projecting from the sewing machine base in close proximity to, the path of movement of the needle.

A further object of the invention is to provide .a novel thread looper and cutter unit construction in which the number of moving parts shall and tufting attachment parts;

Fig. 3 is a frontview of the tufting attachment;

Fig. 4 is a front view showing the operation on a base fabric;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view and Fig. 6 isa fragmentary sectional view of the shaft connections.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, there is shown a conventional type of sewing which the looper and associated cutter members machine head indicated by the numeral I 0. This head includes the usual arrangement of a Work supporting base plate II and a housing arm 12 upon which is mounted a casing head portion 1 3. This casing head [3 includes the usual operating mechanism for a vertically reciprocable needle bar M with its thread carrying needle I5 and the associated presser foot bar mechanism indicated by the numeral I6. Underneath the base plate II is mounted a pair of parallel rock shafts l"|--IB which are connected to operate feed mechanism indicated by the numeral I9 for moving a base fabric in cooperation with the needle and presser foot as well understood in the art. These devices are operated in synchronism from a common sourceof power indicated by the shaft Zll and flywheel 2 I. The shaft 20 includes the usual arrangement of cam members 22, 23

and 24 at the rear end of the shaft and a needle operating cam member 25 at the forward end of the shaft.

The cam 22 connects with the work feeding rock shaft I l by a link 26 and the cam 23 connects with a cooperating work feed shaft l8 by means of a link 21. associated in a standard type sewing machine to which a tufting attachment embodying the present invention may be applied and no further description is believed neesssary.

In this embodiment of the invention the cam 24 is employed as the sole power source for operating the tufting attachment in timed relation with the other sewing machine parts. This cam directly connects a longitudinally disposed shaft 29 with the tufting looper device indicated by the numeral 28.

One important feature of the present arrangement is that a cutter member indicated by the numeral 29' is rigidly mounted on the forward free end of the shaft .29 and the looper member cooperating therewith is mounted on a parallel auxiliary shaft 3|. These shafts project through and are supported at the front of the machine by a depending bearing bracket 32. The arrangement is such that the looper and cutter membersare fully accessible in front of the bracket for the purpose of cleaning, repair, adjustment or. removal of these parts whenever necessary for any reason. r r

The bracket 32 is preferably in the form of an L-shaped block having an opening 33 at the top portion for receiving a headed bolt 34 and 34 to rigidly secure the same to a depending lug 35 on the underside of the work support base. This lug 35 is the bearing lug that supported the bobbin and shuttle operating shaft in These are the usual parts the standard sewing machine and which is now removed to accommodate the present tufting attachment. The lower portion of the block is provided with parallel spaced bearing openings which support the front ends of looper and cutter operating shafts 29 and 3| as heretofore described. The important feature is that these shafts provide independent mounting and independent drives.

The looper mechanism includes a radially disposed arm member 36 rigidly mounted on the end portion of the shaft 3| adjacent to the front face of the bearing block. The end of the arm engaging the shaft 3| is provided with split circular opening 3'! in which the together by a threaded tap screw 38. This provides a ready means for angularly adjusting the arm 36 relative to the shaft when it is desired to adjust the path of movement of the looper relative to the needle l5. The other end of the arm 36 is similarly formed to adjustably receive a looper rod 39 extending upwardly at right angles to its supporting arm. In this case a split opening 40 transverse to the sides is clamped by a tap screw M which rigidly clamps the looper rod therein. The upper end of the rod'39 is slotted as indicated by the numeral 42 so as to receive alooper hook element 43. The forward bottom portion of the looper hook is formed'with a knife edge portion Q4. The looper hook 43 is pivotally mounted in the slot 42 by a pivot pin 45 and extends toward the path of reciprocation of the needle I5.

- The cutter device 29' includes a substantially S-shaped member which is mounted directly on the longitudinally disposed shaft 29. The member 29 is warped longitudinally of its length so as to compensate for any irregularities between the base mounting and the top pivotal connection with the associated looper. of the cutter member 29' is provided with a slot 46 which provides securing means for rigidly attaching it to the end of the shaft 29 by means of a headed tap screw 4?. The forward upper portion of the S-shaped cutter member is provided with a knife edge blade 48 adapted to cooperate with the knife edge 44 of the looper hook and in shearing contact'relation. The rearward top portion of the S-shaped member is provided with an opening 48 tion of the looper hook 43. The knife and looper blade portions are held in yieldable shearing relation by a warped yieldable spring plate member 59. This plate 53 is secured by the pivot pin 49 and guided by a slotted portion 5| engaging the pivot pin 45. The nose portion of the plate 50 engages the knife and thus by adjusting the pivot pin 49, the tension on the looper and shear blades 44 and 48 may be regulated as desired, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

One of the important features of this construction is that the cutter element is rigidly sides are clamped The lower end which is adapted to receive a [y pivot pin 49 which is threaded into the rear porof movement.

parts getting out of adjustment is reduced to a minimum. This connection also provides reinforcement of the drive at the place where work is expended in forming and cutting loops of thread.

The link connection 52 between the shafts 29 and 3| includes collar arms 53 and 54 respectively. The arms are adjustably mounted on the respective shafts by tap screws 53 and 54. It will be noted that the link 52 is shorter than the distance between the parallel axis of the shafts 29 and 3| as shown in Fig. 6. This provides a convenient adjustment for changing the relative operating characteristics of the looper and cutter devices.

The shaft 29 is directly connected to the operating cam 24 by a rod 55 having an end portion 56 rigidly clamped thereto by a tap bolt 51. The upper portion of the rod 55 is curved outwardly as indicated by the numeral 58 so that the extremity is opposite the cam 24. The end of the rod 55 is connected by a short link 58 and a bearing strap 6t. This connection enables the cam 24 to move the shaft 29 with a small amplitude of rocking movement.

The mounting for the rearward ends of shafts 29 and 3! includes a depending bracket 62 for the auxiliary shaft 3! and another depending bracket 63 for the shaft 29 adjacent the arm connection 55.

It will also be noted that this construction provides a tufting unit which is of simplified construction in that it employs a minimum number of moving parts and these are mounted so that they may be readily removed without disturbing any of the other adjustments. For example it will be noted that the looper mounting 36 on the auxiliary shaft 3! may be moved laterally with respect to the auxiliary shaft or the vertical looper member may be moved vertically without disturbing the adjustment of the auxiliary shaft. It will be noted that while there are a minimum number of moving parts it is of importance that these also move through a relatively small range It will also be noted that all of the parts move in an arcuate path and there are no reciprocating movements or bearing surfaces as in machines of this type formerly constructed.

Another feature of construction is that the entire attachment may be removed from the machine by disconnecting the link at the power shaft cam and removing the two bearing support brackets. Also it will be noted that if it is desired for any reason to remove the knife for sharpening or for any other reason this may be done without affecting the adjustment of the looper. This is also true should it be desired to remove the looper without disturbing the adjustment of the knife.

The specific operation of the machine to form tufts includes feeding a base fabric 64 over the work supporting base H by the feed mechanism l9 in timed relation with the reciprocation of the needle [5 carrying a strand of thread 65 to form successive loops on the looper and sever the same to form tufts as indicated in Fig. 4.

Another important feature of the proposed construction is the floating mounting for the looper blade 43. The rear end of the blade 43 is pivotally mounted at 45 on its driving support rod 39 which moves in a small are about the rotative axis of shaft 3| and the intermediate portion is connected at 45 to the cutter member 29 which is rigidly mounted on, and moves in an are about the axis of its driving rock shaft 29. As the looper blade is moved forward by rod 39 to receive a loop of thread from the needle I5, it pivots about the pin 49 and causes the forward end of the looper hook to move with the desired oscillatory movement toward and from the needle I5 in its reciprocatory movement to feed loops of thread through the base fabric.

The novel feature of mounting the looper and cutter members on separate oscillatable drive shafts and then connecting the same close to the loop forming and cutting zone of operation of these parts provides a simplified construction which operates in a more efiicient manner. This construction also enables these parts to be removed from their drive shafts-independently of each other and removed from the machine so as to facilitate adjustmenurepair or replacement of these parts in a convenient and accessible manner.

Another feature of this arrangement is that the pivotal connecting points 45 and 48 for the looper and cutter members are under tension of the leaf spring 50 and thus provide a machine that is more quiet in operation as well as insure the efficient operation of the thread looper and cooperating cutter members.

Having thus fully described my invention what Iclaim is: i

1. A tufting attachment for sewing machines comprising in combination with a work supporting base, a depending bracket having a pair of parallel openings therein, a shaft member projecting through each opening and supported therein for rocking movement, a floating looper hook member, a vertically disposed rod having one end rigidly mounted on one rock shaft and the free end pivotally connected to one end of the looper member, a vertically disposed cutter member rigidly mounted on the other rock shaft and having its free end connected to the intermediate portion of said looper member, and a driving connection between the shafts for operating the same in synchronism.

2. The combination with a sewing machine having a work supporting base and a longitudinally disposed power shaft located above the base, a tufting attachment including a depending plate bracket having a pair of parallel openings therein, located below the base and projecting through one of the openings and supported therein, a vertically disposed cutter member having its lower end rigidly mounted on the free end of said rock shaft, an auxiliary rock shaft projecting through the other opening and supported therein, a vertically disposed looper member mounted on the free end of said auxiliary shaft and in offset relation thereto, said looper member having a hook portion projecting in shearing relation with said a longitudinally disposed rock shaft .members together, and a cutter member, connection means between the looper and cuttermembers for moving the same as a unit, a direct driving connection between the looper shaft and the cutter shaft, and a direct driving connection between the power shaft and the cutter shaft.

3. A tufting attachment for sewing machines comprising in combination with a work supporting base, a depending bracket having a pair of parallel openings therein, a shaft member projecting through each opening and supported therein for rocking movement, a loop forming member mounted on one shaft, and having a blade portion, a cutter member rigidly mounted on the other shaft and having a blade portion in shearing relation with said looper blade, means pivotally connecting said looper and cutter driving connection between the shafts for operating the same in synchronism.

4:. Apparatus of the character designated in claim 3, including means for adjusting the lower end of the cutter member on its shaft so as to swing the cutter blade about the pivot connection on the looper blade.

5. A tufting attachment for sewing machines comprising in combination, 2. depending plate bracket, a pair of parallel rock shafts mounted in the lower portion of said bracket, means for connecting the shafts together to drive the same in synchronism, a loop forming member mounted on one shaft adjacent to the front face of said bracket and having a loop cutting blade member, a, warped S-shaped cutter member having its lower end rigidly mounted on the other shaft adjacent the front face of the bracket and having a blade portion in shearing contact relation with said looper blade, and means including a slot formed in the lower end of said blade for adjusting the cutter blade relative to the rock shaft mounting the same.

6. A tufting attachment for sewing machines comprising in combination, a pair of parallel rock shafts, means for connecting the shafts together to drive the loop forming member mounted on one shaft and having a blade portion, a warped cutter member rigidly mounted on the other shaft and having a blade portion in shearing contact relation with said looper blade, said cutter member being substantially S-shaped and including means for connecting the top portion of the cutter member to the looper member, and means at the lower portion of the cutter member for adjustably mounting the same on its operating shaft.

7. Apparatus of the character designated in claim 2 including a lateral motion cam link pivotally connecting said power shaft and said cutter shaft.

THOMAS J. AMOS.

same in synchronism, a v

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