US2972969A

US2972969A - Shoe sewing machines

Info

Publication number: US2972969A
Application number: US789842A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lloyd G Miller
Original assignee: United Shoe Machinery Corp
Current assignee: United Shoe Machinery Corp
Priority date: 1959-01-29
Filing date: 1959-01-29
Publication date: 1961-02-28
Anticipated expiration: 1978-02-28
Also published as: FR1247097A; DE1104307B; GB944336A

Description

Feb. 28, 1961 L G, M|L| ER 2,972,969

SHOE SEWING MACHINES File Jap. 29, 1959 stron snwrNG MACHINES Lloyd G. Miller, Beverly, Mass., assigner to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Boston, Mass., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Jan. 29, 1959, Ser. No. '789,842

5 Claims. (Cl. 1'12-52) The present invention relates to machines for attaching a welt to a last-supported Goodyear welt shoe upper and an insole member, and more particularly, to improvements in welt guides therefor, similar to those disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,509,221, granted May 30, 1950, upon application of J. P. Fredericksen, and in United States Letters Patent No. 2,898,875, granted August ll, 1959, upon an application led in the name of the present inventor.

The machine of the inventors patent is constructed with a welt guide arranged to assist in the attachment of a welt to a shoe in a manner which will prevent it from being strapped against the shoe upper, the outer welt edge being untensioned and the inner edge being compressed, so that the outer edge projects away from the bulging upper and has -no need of being attened into the plane of the insole in a separate operation before an outsole may be stitched or cemented to it. This result is obtained in the machine of the patent by utilizing a welt-engaging and deecting finger extending upwardly from the welt guide across its exit and beyond the sewing point between a section of the welt running from the guide along the upper of the shoe being operated upon to raise the outer unattached edge of the weltto a position at least level with the outer tread surface of the insole member. The use of a welt-deliecting finger in this manner is effective for the purpose intended when the welt is soft and well tempered. When the welt is untempered and relatively stii, the amount of exure required to raise it to the extent indicated may impart greater frictional resistance to its movement through the guide than is conducive to or desirable for good shoemaking results. Although the point at which the frictional resistance is applied to the welt is located beyond the sewing guide where it affects the outer edge of the welt only, the inner edge being sewn to the shoe, the feeding movement of the shoe in the machine may be retarded, especially when operating upon thick, stiff welt.

To avoid retarding the feeding movement of the shoe while detiecting the free outer edge of the welt after being attached to a shoe, the machine of the Fredericksen patent is provided with a guide which connes the welt near the point of sewing operation, but the widthwise dimension of the guide is greater at its entrance than at its exit to enable'the welt to swing within its general widthwise plane through a limited angular movement restricted to the point of needle operation as a center. By this construction also the welt is attached to a shoe with less tension along its outer edge and in a more satisfactory manner than is possible with the conventional form of welt guide.

-The object of the present invention is to provide a Goodyear welt inseam sewing machine with a welt guide which enables the attachment of a welt to be accomplished with still greater uniformity than heretofore by employing a construction capable of utilizing the advantages of the inventions disclosed in both the Fredericksen and inventors prior patents above identilied tts Patent ICC Patented Feb. 28, 1961 without any of the disadvantages resulting therefrom. Other objects are to simplify and improve the lconstruction and 'mode of adjustment of a guide for a Goodyear welt inseam sewing machine in which the risk of imparting greater frictional resistance to the feeding movement of a shoe is avoided, while at the same time improving the accuracy of direction afforded by the guide of the Fredericksen patent. A still further purpose of the invention is to provide a welt guide capable of enhancing Vthe quality and uniformity of workmanship obtainable through the use of a welt-engaging and deliecting linger, in which it is unnecessary .to elevate the outer edge of the welt to the extent required in the machine of inventors patent.

The principal feature of the present invention, in attaining the objects outlined, includes the use in a curved hook needle Goodyear welt shoe sewing machine having a welt guide formed of a doubled-over strip of sheet material and a connecting base, between the doubledover portions of which and the base the welt is directed and edge gage means for the welt is arranged for pressing it widthwise against the connecting base between the doubled-over portions, the edge gage means comprising an elongated spring tting between the doubledoverfportions of the guide strip and forming` an incomplete loop having a gap to take up yieldingly a limited amount of widthwise movement in .the welt as the curvature on a shoe being sewn changes from concave to convex. As illustrated, the leaf spring is clamped outside the space between the folded-over portions of the welt guide strip by a releasable screw and clamp plate engaged by the screw to grip the spring in` a direction sbstantially parallel to the movement of the welt through the guide. In so doing adjustments are possible for welts of diiferent widths by providing fa shank on the leaf spring gage which extends through the clamping means at a position where it is readily visible and accessible even with the shoe parts in operating position in the machine.

These and other features of the invention, as hereinafter described and claimed, will become apparent from the following detailed specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of al welt guide and its mounting for a machine, iny which the features of the present invention are embodied; u

Fig. 2 is a sectional detail view in left side` elevation of partsof .the machine and a portion of a shoe being operated upon surrounding the sewing point;

LFig. 3 is a plan View of lthe same parts of the machine andl a shoe being operated upon, illustrating the action while sewing about a concave curvature of a shoe;

'Fig 4 is a similar view of the same machine parts illustrating the action while sewing about a convex curvature on the shoe; Y*

Fig. 5 is a sectional View of a portion of a shoe, illustrating theV position of the welt after being sewed by the machine of Fig. l; v

Fig. 6 is a perspective detail View of an edge gage employed in the welt guide; and n v Fig. 7 is a perspective detail view looking from the left front of a support for the welt guide.

The illustrated machine in its construction and mode of operation is substantially the same as that disclosed in United States vLetters Patent No. 2,763,224, granted September 18, 1956, upon application of J ames P, Carter. The machine is a shoe inseam sewing machine which is arranged to direct a welt 2 into line with an inseam y4 connecting an insole 6 with the overlasted margin of a shoe upper 8 mounted on a last 9, the inner edge-of the welt being secured by the inseam and the outer edge being free and projecting beyond the seam line and the upper uniformly in a attened condition, as illustrated in the solid lines in Fig. 5. Numerous expedients are employed to secure this result and to avoid excessive distortion in the welt during sewing when it is sewn in strapped condition, as shown in the broken lines of Fig. 5. If the welt is sewn in the broken line strapped position of Fig. 5, it is common to slash and beat it until it is forced to expand along its outer edge to relieve the tension and to permit it to assume the solid line flat position.

The illustrated machine is provided with a curved hook needle 10, a curved awl 12, a channel guide 14, a back rest 15 (Fig. 2), an improved welt guide and other stitch-forming and work-engaging devices, the construction and mode of operation of which are similar to those of the patents and application, above referred to. The needle, awl, and channel guide are actuated toward and from engagement with the work and are moved in the direction of work feed alternately to produce a continuous feeding movement of the work, the awl forming a perforation in the work and feeding the work to a position where the needle enters the perforation formed by the awl to continue the feeding movement of the work. Before the needle enters the work, the awl retracts leaving a brief interval in which the needle and awl are disengaged from the work. During the intervalbetween the retraction of the awl and the engagement of the work by the needle, the work is fed with the channel guide, the thread tension being such and the operator normally exerting a force in a direction, that insures frictional engagement of the shoe with the channel guide duri` ing this interval. Because the shoe is fed continuously yby the stitch-forming and work-engaging devices, it lis more important for the welt to move freely through the welt guide than in a machine in which the shoe is -fed intermittently, and in which there is an interval between feeding movements, enabling the position of the welt in the welt guide to become readjusted.

The welt guide in the machine of the present invention instead of employing a welt-deecting nger extending from the guide across its exit and beyond the sewing point to raise the outer edge of the welt to a position level with the outer surface of the sole member on the shoe, has a welt-deecting finger of greatly reduced length, so that it does not raise the outer edge of the welt to a position level with the sole member. Under many conditions the use of a welt-deflecting linger is entirely eliminated without preventing the welt from being attached to the shoe in relatively at, nonstrapping position.

As is common with prior welt guides, the illustrated within the channels of the block 22 and are secured in place by a bolt 24 having a nut 26, the bolt passing through registering openings in the terminals of the strip 16 and in the channel block 22.

Instead of utilizing a rigid edge gage disposed within the space between the doubled-over portions of the welt guide strip 1'6, the edge gage employed in the guide of the present invention is4 constructed to press the Welt widthwise yieldingly against the connecting base 18 of the strip and to take up a limited amount of widthwise movement in the welt as the curvature of a shoe being sewn changes from time to time throughout a sewing operation. As illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, it is readily apparent that the portion of the shoe operated upon presents a concave curvature, the welt 2 entering the welt guide along a relatively straight path with little or no tension. Under this condition the welt has no tendency to stretch along the outer edge, but on the contrary there is set up a force of relative compression lengthwise of the welt. In sewing about a convex curvature in the shoe parts as in Fig. 4, however, a relatively high tension is impressed upon the outer edge of the welt and if the welt'is thick and stiff considerable force is required to direct the welt into proper sewing position under this condition. It is about the convex curvature of a shoe, therefore, in which the greatest force is applied to the welt by the edge gage, and as a result there exists the greatest tendency for the welt to bind and offer resistance to feeding movements.

As shown in Fig. 4, the edge gage has yielded a limited amount without affording an opportunity for the welt to separate fromthe abutment or connecting base 18 along the outlet of the welt guide. For this purpose the welt edge gage comprises an elongated leaf spring 28 of an untwisted rectangular cross section and a uniform Width to lit loosely within the space between the doubled-over portions of the strip. The spring is bent to form a wedgetheY space between the folded-over portions of the welt guide comprises a strip 16 of sheet metal `doubled over into spaced parallel relation to form a generally U-shape with a connecting base 18 resulting from a reverse bend ybetween the doubled-over sides. The welt passes through the space at the base end of the guide and the base end provides an abutment against which the inner edge of Y position in the machine with the outside surface of its connecting base end in contact with the upper of a shoe directly opposite the point of operation of the channel guide 14, so that uniform guiding action of the shoe along the welt guide is insured, rearwardly extending ex` tremities of the strip 16 beyond the center of the obtuse anglefare disposed above and below an I-shaped channel block 22. The doubled-over terminals of the strip t guide strip 16. When the edge gage spring yields from pressure of thewelt, the free end of the loop 30 engages the forward end of the shank 34 to form a rigid stop whenrthe gap is closed, the yielding movement thus being limited by the width of the gap. 4 The edge gage clamp consists of a releasable screw 36 threaded into a flange Von the block Z2 forming the left side of the channels therein. The screw 36 passes loosely through an opening in an L-shaped clamp plate 38 and Y, into the channel block 22. A lower arm of the clamp plate is moved as the screw 36 is tightened to engage the shank 34 of the leaf spring and grip it against movement in a direction substantially parallel to the movement of the welt through the welt guide, as indicated by the arrows in Figs. 3 and 4. The arrangement of the screw and clamp plate-is of advantage in preventing malpositioning of the-edge gage when an attempt is made to adjust the gage while in rcontact with the outside edge of the welt inthe welt guide. YThe adjustment of the edge gage is not complicated, as in the Welt guide of the prior patents, and'is readily effected by the use of a single releasable clamp screw 36 Yfor both the welt guide and gage, the clamp Vscrew 36 being entirely'independent of the bolt 24 for clam-ping the Vwelt guide to the channel block ZZ. Furthermore, the clamp screw 36 and the clamp plate 38 being located entirely outside of the space between the folded-over portions of the welt guide strip, are readily visible and accessible at all times. Also, by this arrangement it is possible to remove the edge gage spring 28 without loosening the bolt 24 for holding the welt guide in place. When the screw 36 is released the shank end of the leaf spring 28 may be lowered from between the clamp plate and the side tlange of the channel block. For this purpose the loop 30 of the leaf spring enters the space between the doubled-over portions of the welt guide strip only between the obtuse angle formed by the guide and the connecting base end of the strip, which is relatively straight and inclined upwardly. When the screw 36 is released, the loop 30 in the spring may be moved downwardly and rearwardly along the inclined portion to a position which will depress the shank 34 of the spring below the ange on the channel block and the lower arm of the clamp plate so as to free the spring without removing the screw 36.

As in the welt guide of the inventors prior patent, the mounting channel block 22 has projecting from its right side an integral spindle 40 secured within a split clamp 42, in turn mounted on a welt guide carrier similar to that illustrated in said patent.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and a particular embodiment having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A machine for attaching a welt to a last supported Goodyear welt shoe upper and to a sole member, having stitch-forming devices, including a curved hook needle and a welt guide formed of a doubled-over strip of sheet material with a connecting base, between spaced doubled-over portions of which the welt is directed, in combination with edge gage means for pressing the welt widthwise against the connecting base between the doubled-over portions, said gage means comprising an elongated leaf spring fitting the space between the doubled over portions of the welt guide strip and forming an incomplete yielding loop having a gap to enable widthwise movement in the welt limited by the width of the gap as the curvature of a shoe being sewn changes from concave to convex and to form a rigid stop when the gap is closed.

2. A machine for attaching a welt to a last supported Goodyear welt shoe upper and to a sole member, having stitcheforming devices, including a curved hook needle and a welt guide formed of a doubled-over strip of sheet material with a connecting base, between spaced doubledover portions of which the welt is directed, in combination with edge gage means for pressing the welt width- Wise against the connecting base between the doubledover portions, said gage means comprising an elongated leaf spring fitting the space between the doubled over portions of the welt guide strip and forming an incomplete yielding loop having a gap to enable widthwise movement in the welt limited to the width of the gap as the curvature of a shoe being sewn changes from concave to convex, and means for clamping the leaf spring outside of the space between the doubled-over portions of the welt guide strip, said clamping means consisting of a releasable screw and a clamp plate engaged by the screw disposed to grip the spring in a direction substantially parallel to the movement of the welt through the welt guide.

3. A machine for attaching a welt to a last supported Goodyear welt shoe upper and to -a sole member having stitch-forming devices including a curved hook needle, a welt guide formed of a doubled-over strip of sheet material with a connecting base, between spaced doubledover portions of which the welt is directed and an I* shaped channel mounting block for the guide within the channels of which the doubled-over portions of the strip 6. are secured, in combination with edge gage means for pressing the welt widthwise against the connecting base between the doubled-over portions of the strip, said gage means comprising an elongated leaf spring fitting the space between the doubled-over portions of the welt guide strip and forming an incomplete yielding loop having a gap to enable widthwise movement in the welt limited to the width of the gap as the curvature of a shoe being sewn changes from concave to convex, and means for clamping the leaf spring outside of the space between the folded-over portions of the welt guide strip, consisting of a releasable screw threaded into the mounting block and a clamp plate engaged by the screw disposed to grip the spring against the block in a direction substantially parallel to the movement of the welt through the welt guide.

4. A machine for attaching a welt to a last supported Goodyear welt shoe upper and to a sole member, having stitch-forming devices including a curved hook needle, a welt guide formed of a double-over strip of sheet material with a connecting base and spaced doubled-over portions extending from the base in parallel relation and forming an obtuse angle and relatively straight spaced portions at either side of the angle, within the space along the base end of which strip the welt passes and an I-shaped channel mounting block for the guide, within the channels of which the doubled-over portions of the strip are secured, in combination with gage means for pressing the welt widthwise against the connecting base between the doubled-over portions of the strip, said gage means comprising an elongated leaf spring forming an incomplete yielding loop having a gap to enable widthwise movement in the welt limited to the width of the gap as the curvature of a shoe being sewn changes from concave to convex, said loop of the spring fitting the relatively straight portions of the strip at that side of the angle along which the welt passes, and means for clamping the leaf spring entirely outside of the space between the folded-over portions of the welt guide strip, the leaf spring entering the space between the doubledover portions of the strip only at that side of the obtuse angle engaging the welt to enable adjustment of the spring along or removal of the spring from the doubledover portion of the strip, said clamping means consisting of a releasable screw threaded into the channel mounting block `and a clamp plate engaged by the screw acting to grip the strip against the block in a direction substantially parallel to the movement of the welt through the welt guide.

5. A machine for attaching a welt to a last supported Goodyear welt shoe upper and to a sole member, having stitch-forming devices including a curved hook needle and a welt guide formed of a doubled-over strip of sheet material with a connecting base, between spaced doubledover portions of which the welt is directed, in combination with edge gage means for pressing the welt widthwise against the connecting base between the doubled-over portions, said gage means' comprising an elongated leaf spring of uniform untwisted rectangular cross section fitting the space between the doubled-over portions of the welt guide strip and forming an incomplete angular loop having a gap to enable widthwise movement in the welt limited to the width of the gap as the curvature of a shoe being sewn changes from concave to convex.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,640,448 Roberts lune 2, 1953 2,648,302 Pearsall Aug. 11, 1953 2,878,762 Rubico Mar. 24, 1959