US2717567A - Presser foot supporting and operating means for sewing machines and the like - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 13, 1955 o. HESS 2,717,567

PRESSER FOOT SUPPORTING AND OPERATING MEANS FOR SEWING MACHINES AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 14, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 13, 1955 o. HESS 2,717,567

PRESSER FOOT SUPPORTING AND OPERATING MEANS FOR sEwING MACHINES AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 14, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I 29.22 a

INVEHTDRZ Orro Hess United States Patent PRESSER FOOT SUPPORTING AND OPERATING MIIIiiiXJNS FOR SEWING MACHINES AND THE L Otto Hess, Ludwigsburg, Wurttemberg, Germany Application January 14, 1953, Serial No. 331,167

8 Claims. (Cl. 112-235) The present invention relates to sewing machines and the like.

More particularly, the present invention relates to presser foot supports which are turnable to one side and which support the presser foot for independent lateral turning movement.

Known devices of this type have several defects. With some of these devices the presser foot support can only be turned through a limited, insufficient distance to one side, and other devices of this type include a universal joint which requires a special means which prevents undesired rnovement of the presser foot support but which very often prevents the sewing machine from operating in its normal manner.

One of the objects of the present invention is to overcome these defects by providing a presser foot support which guarantees proper operation of the machine and at the same time permits easy swinging of the presser foot through a substantial distance to one side.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a means for raising a presser foot support of this type from its operating position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a means for releasably retaining the presser foot in its inoperative, raised position.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a means for adjusting the extent to which the presser foot is raised.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic means for releasably maintaining the presser foot support in its operative position, where the presser foot is not located to one side of its operating position.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a means for limiting the lateral turning movement of the presser foot itself about a horizontal axis.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a means for adjusting the extent to which the pressure foot itself is free to tilt laterally about a horizontal axis.

With the above objects in view the present invention mainly consists of a presser foot supporting apparatus, for sewing machines and the like, which includes a frame supporting a shaft for movement about its axis, this shaft being substantially horizontal when in its operating position. An elongated rigid top member is fixed adjacent a rear end thereof to the shaft for turning movement therewith, and an elongated bottom member is located alongside of the top member and is turnably connected thereto adjacent the rear end thereof for turning movement about a second axis perpendicular to the shaft axis, this bottom member is adapted to carry a presser foot.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of speice cific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side view, partly in section, of an apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view, partly in section, of the structure of Fig. 1, taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of part of the structure of Fig. 1 illustrated in a position diiferent from that of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of a detail of the present invention taken along the line 44 of Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view of the details of the invention taken along line 5-5 of Fig. l in the direction of the arrows;

Figs. 6 and 7 are views taken in the direction of arrow A of Fig. 1 illustrating different positions of the presser foot, respectively;

Fig. 8 is a partly sectional view corresponding to Figs. 6 and 7 of a different embodiment of the structure of Figs. 6 and 7;

Figs. 9 and 10 are partly sectional, fragmentary side views of a different embodiment of the invention and illustrating the structure in different positions thereof, respectively;

Figs. 11 and 12 are fragmentary sectional views respectively illustrating different positions of an embodiment of a detail of the invention different from that shown in the above figures, these figures being taken along line 11-11 of Fig. 10 in the direction of the arrows; and

Figs. 11a and 12a are detailed views respectively taken along lines 11a and 12a of Figs. 11 and 12, respectively.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 an elongated rigid top member 1 of a presser foot support which has located along its underside a bottom presser foot carrying member 2 which directly carries the presser foot 3. The member 1 is fixedly connected to a shaft 4 in any suitable way as by having split end portions drawn together about the shaft 4 by a screw member (Fig. 1). The shaft 4 is mounted for turning movement about its axis on the frame of the machine, as is shown most clearly in Fig. 2.

A stop member in the form of an angle piece 5 is connected to the bottom member 2 by a screw 7, the angle piece 5 having a top leg 8 adapted to extend over the top face of member 1 when the members 1 and 2 are coextensive with each other (Fig. 4). A pivot pin 6 is turnably mounted in the member 1, as shown in Fig. 1, and has a loWer threaded end portion connected to the member 2 so that the latter may swing in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2, about the axis of pivot pin 6 laterally away from the member 1 so that the presser foot 3 may in this way be moved to the side. Upon movement of member 2, and presser foot 3 therewith, back to their operating position, the stop member 5 engages the member 1, in the manner most clearly shown in Fig. 4, to limit the turning movement of member 2 with respect to member 1 and to properly locate members 1 and 2 with respect to each other.

An elongated pin 9 is slidably mounted in a bore 10, of member 1, which extends along the length of the latter and opens onto the front end face thereof. A spring 11 is located in the bore 19 and engages the pin 9 to urge the latter forwardly and outwardly of the bore 10. The front end portion of member 2 is formed with an upwardly extending, integral projection 13 located opposite the front end face of member 1 and formed with a recess 12 located opposite the bore It) to receive the free end of pin 9 so that the latter, under the influence of spring 11, releasably holds the members 1 and 2 in their operating position where they are coextensive with each other. A finger piece 14 is threadedly connected to the pin 9 and extends laterally therefrom through an elongated slot 15 formed in the member 1 and Communicating with the bore 1% thereof so that the operator may grasp the finger piece 14 and move the latter, and pin 9 therewith, rearwardly against the action of spring 11 so as to release the member 2 which then may be moved together with presser foot 3 laterally away from its operating position.

' It will be seen that the finger piece 14 engages the member 1 at the front end of slot 15 so that the pin 9 extends at a predetermined distance beyond member 1 when the pin 9 is released to the action of spring 11. This predetermined distance is small enough to permit extension 13 of member 2 to automatically move member 9 rearwardly against the action of spring 11 when member 2 is returned to its operation position, so that the spring 11 automatically moves the front end of member 9 into the recess 12 when member 2 is returned to its operating position. Thus, the finger piece 14 need only be used when member 2 is moved away from its operating position, although in this case also the member 2, if moved with a large enough force, will automatically force pin 9 to the rear to release the member 2.

A lifting means is provided to raise the presser foot support 1, 2 and the presser foot 3 therewith upwardly from the operating position to the inoperative position shown in Fig. 1 against the action of spring 11:, which engages the member 1 to urge the latter and members 2 and 3 therewith downwardly to their operating position, the shaft 4 turning about its axis during movement of the presser foot support 1, 2 to and from its operating position. This lifting means takes the form of a lifting lever 16 which is mounted on a part of the frame through which shaft 4 extends for movement about the axis of shaft 4, as is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the lever 16 being actuated to raise the presser foot support 1, 2 upon a downward pull of the cord or wire shown at the left of Figs. 1 and 3, and the lever 16 turning in a counterclockwise direction about the axis of shaft 4, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 3, during raising of presser foot support 1, 2.

The lever 16 has a rearwardly extending arm to which the actuating cord or wire is connected and a forwardly extending arm which extends beneath and engages an integral, lateral extension 111 of member 1 so that upward movement of the forward arm of lever 16 raises the presser foot support 1, 2. The free end of the forward arm of lever 16 extends into a recess of the frame of the machine in which the spring 18 is located, this spring 18 engaging this forward free end of lever 16 to urge the latter in a clockwise direction about the axis of shaft 4 to the position where the presser foot support 1, 2 is located in its operating position, and it will be seen that projection 1b cooperates with lever 16 to limit clockwise movement of presser foot 3 about the axis of shaft 4, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 3.

The lever 16 is provided With a top catch portion 19 adapted to cooperate with the catch 20 of a pawl member 22 turnable about the pivot pin 21 which is fixed to the frame. A spring 23 engages the frame and pawl 22, as is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3, to urge the pawl 22 in a counterclockwise direction about pivot pin 21. Also, the pawl 22 includes a finger piece 24. When the lever 16 is turned in a counterclockwise direction about the axis of shaft 4 to raise the presser foot 3 to its inoperative position, the finger piece 24 is moved forwardly by the operator to locate the catch 20 opposite catch 19 so that upon release of lever 16 the springs 18 and 1a will be unable to lower the presser foot support 1, 2 to its operation position, the parts then being in the inoperative position illustrated in Fig. 1.

In order to release the presser foot support for movement back to its operating position, the finger piece 24 may be moved rearwardly to disengage catch 20 from catch 19, as shown in Fig. 3, or the lever 16 may be turned slightly in a counterclockwise direction about the axis of shaft 4, as viewed in Fig. 1, against the action of springs 18 and 1a, so that spring 23 will automatically move the pawl 22 from the position of Fig. 1 to that of Fig. 3, and then the lever 16 may be released so that the presser foot support will automatically assume its operating position. In this way, the bottom part 25 of presser foot 3 is moved downwardly from the inoperative position thereof shown in Fig. l.

The presser foot is pivotally connected to the front end portion of bottom member 2 for turning movement about an axis parallel to the length of the latter by a pivot pin 26 which threadedly engages the member 2, as is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 5. Thus, the presser foot itself is independently turnable about a substantially horizontal axis so as to automatically adapt itself to the work. The forward end portion 13 of bottom member 2 is provided with a pair of forwardly extending, integral projections 27 (Fig. 5) which are located on opposite sides of pivot 26 and between which the presser foot 3 is located with sufficient clearance to provide the desired turning of the press er foot about the axis of pivot 26 (Figs. 6 and 7). The presser foot engages these projections 27 so that the latter limit the extent to which the presser foot may turn in opposite directions about the axis of pivot 26.

Figs. 8-12 show some possible variations in the construction of features of the invention described above and shown in Figs. l7. Those parts illustrated in Figs. 8-12 which are identical with those of Figs. l7 are indicated by the same reference characters, while those parts illustrated in Figs. 8-12 which correspond to parts shown in Figs. l-7 but are of a different construction are indicated by primed reference characters of these corresponding parts.

in the embodiment of Figs. 9 and 10, the front end 13 of member 2' is formed with a conical bore 12 into which the front conical end of pin 9' extends so as to provide a more positive interconnection between top member 1 and bottom member 2'. Thus, the embodiment of Figs. 9 and 10 will provide a positive interconnection between members 1 and 2', but on the other hand it is necessary to move the finger piece 14 whenever the member 2 is moved to or from its operating position.

Intead of a projection 1b, the embodiments of Figs. 8-12 includes a screw member 29 threadedly engaging and passing transversely through the top member 1' (Figs. 11 and 12), and this elongated member 29, which is turnable about its axis, carries a free end portion 30 extending beyond member 1 and being eccentric to the axis of member 29 so that turning of the latter regulates the elevation of end portion 30. The lifting lever 16 has a forward arm extending beneath part fit? of member 29 and is turnably mounted on a pivot 17 fixed to the frame, rather than being turnable about the axis of shaft 4 as in the embodiment of Figs. l7. The lever 16' has a front free end engaged by spring 18 in the same way as described above and is also provided with a catch portion 19 adapted to cooperate with the catch 20' of pawl 22' to hold the lever 16' in the inoperative position, shown in Fig. 10, where the floor 25 of presser foot 3 is raised from the operating position thereof illustrated in Fig. 9.

The pawl 22' is turnable about the pivot 21, which is fixed to the frame, for movement from the position of Fig. 9 to that of Fig. 10, a Wire spring 23' engaging a stationary pin fixed to the frame, extending about pin 21, and engaging pawl 22 to urge the latter to the position shown in Fig. 9. When the lifting lever 16 is turned from the position of Fig. 9 to that of Fig. 10 against the action of spring 18, the forward arm of lever 16 engages part of member 29 (Fig. 12) to raise the presser foot support 1', 2' from its operating position to the inoperative position shown in Fig. 10.

With the parts in this position the operator turns the pawl 22 to the position of Fig. 10 where the catches 19 and 20 engage each other, and it will be seen that catch 19' is located directly over the axis of pivot 21' so that the spring 18 urges catch 19 downwardly against the pawl 22 and prevents the latter from being turned back to the position of Fig. 9 by spring 23. Thus, the parts are maintained in the inoperative position of Fig. 10.

In order to move the parts back to their operative position, the operator may either manually turn the pawl member 22 from the position of Fig. 10 toward that of Fig. 9 to release lever 16 to the action of spring 18 so that spring in will return the presser foot 3 to its operating position, or the lever 16 need only be turned slightly against the action of springs 18 and 1a in a counterclockwise direction about the axis of pivot 17 to release pawl 22' to the action of spring 23, and then the lever 16' may be released to the influence of spring 18 so that spring 1a will return the presser foot to the operating position of Fig. 9. It is evident that with this embodiment of the invention the member 29 may be turned to adjust the elevation of part 30 thereof so as to regulate the extent to which the presser foot 3 is raised to its inoperative position.

Fig. 8 illustrates a further embodiment of a means for limiting the turning of presser foot 3 about the axis of pivot 26 so that the extent of turning of the presser foot may be adjusted. As is shown in Fig. 8, a lateral projection at the front end of bottom member 2 or 2 threadedly carries a pair of screw members 28 which are located respectively above and below the turning axis of pivot 26. Thus, the screw members 28 may be turned to adjustably limit the turning of presser foot 3 in opposite directions about the axis of pivot 26.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of presser foot supporting means for sewing machines and the like differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in presser foot supporting and operating means for sewing machines and the like, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Presser foot supporting apparatus for sewing machines and the like, comprising, in combination, a frame; a shaft mounted for turning movement about its axis on said frame, said shaft being substantially horizontal when in its operating position; an elongated rigid top member fixed adjacent a rear end thereof to said shaft for turning movement therewith, said top member being formed with an elongated bore opening onto a front end of said top member opposite from said rear end thereof; an elongated bottom member located alongside of said top member and being turnably connected thereto adjacent said rear end thereof for movement about a second axis perpendicular to said shaft axis, said bottom member being adapted to carry a presser foot and having an end portion located next to said front end of said top member and formed with a cutout facing said front end of said top member and said bore thereof; an elongated pin slidably mounted in said bore of said top member for movement into and out of said cutout of said bottom member for releasably connecting said top and bottom members to each other to releasably restrain said bottom member against turning movement with respect to said top member about said second axis; and a spring located in said bore of said top member and engaging said pin to urge the same outwardly of said bore into said cutout of said bottom member.

2. Presser foot supporting apparatus for sewing machines and the like, comprising, in combination, a frame; a shaft mounted for turning movement about its axis on said frame, said shaft being substantially horizontal when in its operating position; an elongated rigid top member fixed adjacent a rear end thereof to said shaft for turning movement therewith, said top member being formed with an elongated bore opening onto a front end of said top member opposite from said rear end thereof and said top member being formed with an elongated slot extending along the length thereof and communicating with said bore; an elongated bottom member located alongside of said top member and being turnably connected thereto adjacent said rear thereof for movement about a second axis perpendicular to said shaft axis, said bottom member being adapted to carry a presser foot and having an end portion located next to said front end of said top member and formed with a cutout facing said front end of said top member and said bore thereof; an elongated pin slidably mounted in said bore of said top member for movement into and out of said cutout of said bottom member for releasably connecting said top and bottom members to each other to releasably restrain said bottom member against turning movement with respect to said top member about said second axis; a finger piece fixed to said pin and extending through and beyond said slot; and a spring located in said bore of said top member and engaging said pin to urge the same outwardly of said bore into said cutout of said bottom member, said finger piece engaging said top member at the forward end of said slot to limit movement of said pin outwardly of said bore and into said cutout of said bottom member.

3. Presser foot supporting apparatus for sewing machines and the like, comprising, in combination, a frame; a shaft mounted for turning movement about its axis on said frame, said shaft being substantially horizontal when in its operating position; an elongated rigid top member fixed adjacent a rear end thereof to said shaft for turning movement therewith; an elongated bottom member located alongside of said top member and being turnably connected thereto adjacent said rear end thereof for movement about a second axis perpendicular to said shaft axis, said bottom member being adapted to carry a presser foot; and an angle member fixed to said bottom member and having a leg extending over said top member to limit turning movement of said bottom member about said second axis in one direction with respect to said top member.

4. Presser foot supporting apparatus for sewing machines and the like, comprising, in combination, a frame; a shaft mounted for turning movement about its axis on said frame, said shaft being substantially horizontal when in its operating position; an elongated rigid top member fixed adjacent a rear end thereof to said shaft for turning movement therewith; an elongated bottom member located alongside of said top member and being turnably connected thereto adjacent said rear end thereof for movement about a second axis perpendicular to said shaft axis, said bottom member being adapted to carry a presser foot; and a stop member fixed to said bottom member and engaging a side of said top member to limit turning movement of said bottom member about said second axis in one direction with respect to said top member.

5. Presser foot supporting apparatus for sewing machines and the like, comprising, in combination, a frame; a shaft mounted for turning movement about its axis on said frame, said shaft being substantially horizontal when in its operating position; an elongated rigid top member fixed adjacent a rear end thereof to said shaft for turning movement therewith; an elongated bottom member located alongside of said top member and being turnably connected thereto adjacent said rear end thereof for movement about a second axis perpendicular to said shaft axis,

said bottom member being adapted to carry a presser foot; a projection fixed to and extending laterally from said top member; lifting means engaging the underside of said projection to raise said top member and bottom member therewith; and releasable pawl means mounted on said frame and engaging said lifting means to releasably maintain the same in a position where said top and bottom members are raised to an inoperative position by said lifting means.

6. Presser foot supporting apparatus for sewing machines and the like, comprising, in combination, a frame; a shaft mounted for turning movement about its axis on said frame, said shaft being substantially horizontal when in its operating position; an elongated rigid top member fixed adjacent a rear end thereof to said shaft for turning movement therewith; an elongated bottom member located alongside of said top member and being turnably connected thereto adjacent said rear end thereof for movement about a second axis perpendicular to said shaft axis,

said bottom member having a free front end portion; a

pair of projections fixed to opposite sides of said front end portion of said bottom member, respectively, and extending forwardly therefrom; and a presser foot turnably connected to said front end of said bottom member be tween said projections for turning movement about an axis substantially parallel to the length of said bottom membensaid projections engaging said presser foot to limit the turning movement thereof.

7. Presser foot supporting apparatus for sewing machines and the like, comprising, in combination, a frame; a shaft mounted for turning movement about its axis on said frame, said shaft being substantially horizontal when in its operating position; an elongated rigid top member fixed adjacent a rear end thereof to said shaft for turning movement therewith; an elongated bottom member located alongside of said top member and being turnably connected thereto adjacent said rear end thereof for movement about a second axis perpendicular to said shaft axis, said bottom member having a free front end portion; a pair of projections fixed to opposite sides of said front end portion of said bottom member, respectively, and extending forwardly therefrom; and a presser foot turnably connected to said front end of said bottom member between said projections for turning movement about an axis substantially parallel to the length of said bottom member, said projections engaging said presser foot to limit the turning movement thereof and being integral with said bottom member.

8. Presser foot supporting apparatus for sewing machines and the like, comprising, in combination, a frame; a shaft mounted for turning movement about its axis on said frame, said shaft being substantially horizontal when in its operating position; an elongated rigid top member fixed adjacent a rear end thereof to said shaft for turning movement therewith; an elongated bottom member located alongside of said top member and being turnably connected thereto adjacent said rear end thereof for movement about a second axis perpendicular to said shaft axis, said bottom member having a free front end portion; a projection fixed to a side of said front end portion and extending forwardly therefrom; a presser foot turnably connected to said front end of said bottom member at one side of said projection for turning movement about an axis substantially parallel to the length of said bottom member; and a pair of screw members threadedly connected to said projection and respectively being located above and below said turning axis of said presser foot to adjustably limit the turning thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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