US2985125A

US2985125A - Rufflers

Info

Publication number: US2985125A
Application number: US778344A
Authority: US
Inventors: Basil S Nickerson
Original assignee: Greist Manufacturing Co
Current assignee: Greist Manufacturing Co
Priority date: 1958-12-05
Filing date: 1958-12-05
Publication date: 1961-05-23
Anticipated expiration: 1978-05-23

Description

y 1961 B. s. NICKERSON 2,985,125

RUFFLERS Filed Dec. 5, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 1961 B. s. NICKERSON 2,985,125

RUFFLERS Filed Dec. 5, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR j/ ATTORNEY United States Patent C) RUFFLERS Basil S. Nickerson, North Haven, Conn, assignor to The Greist Manufacturing Company, New Haven, 'Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Dec. 5, 1958, Ser. No. 778,344

8 Claims. (Cl. 112- 135) This invention relates to sewing machine attachments and more particularly to a rufiler attachment designed for use in connection with the ordinary household sewing machine.

The usual attachment of the character illustrated in the present application comprises a frame adapted to be secured to the presser bar of a sewing machine, this frame carrying a fixed ruflling blade over which the material passes. Cooperating with this fixed r-uflling blade is a movable or reciproca-ble blade of resilient material, this blade being secured to a blade carrier or slide slidably mounted in the frame. A lever is pivoted on the frame and depends from its pivot point to have its lower end pivotally connected to the blade carrier or slide, this being a fixed pivot. A fork arm is also pivoted on the frame and provided with a pawl member to engage a shoulder upon the depending lever to actuate the same to move the movable ruffling blade forwardly to effect a ruffling operation.

The fork arm is adapted to be connected to a stud or post on the needle bar for reciprocation thereby. Means is also provided on the fork arm to engage a member attached to the depending lever to move it in a reverse direction, and this member is usually adjustable so as to determine the limit to which the depending lever is retracted or moved in a rearward direction. This determines the starting position of the milling blade and the final position of the blade is determined by the height of the stud on the needle bar to which the fork arm is connected when the needle bar is at the top of its stroke. Therefore, the adjustment of this member on the depending lever will determine the width of the rufile.

As stated, the limit of the forward position of the movable ruflling blade is determined by the height of the stud on the needle bar with which the fork arm is connected when the needle bar is at the upper limit of its stroke. This varies considerably depending upon the particular make of sewing machine with which the attachment is used. For example, in some sewing machines the length of the stroke of the needle bar is longer than in others and in other instances the position of the stud with which the fork arm is attached is at a different height from the frame of the rufller than is the case with machines of other make. It is, of course, desirable to have the ruming blade terminate its forward stroke at the same position regardless of the particular machines to which it is connected. Means is provided to this end in the present instance by providing an adjustable connection between the depending lever and the slide or carrier to which the ruflling blade is secured so that the forward position of the blade may be set at the desired point regardless of the final upward position of the fork arm.

Also it has been found that when materials of different weights are employed greater pressure of the movable rufiling blade on the fixed blade is required with a heavy material than with a light material. As the movable blade is generally resilient and flexible, it sometimes occurs that this blade will, not effect proper feeding of the material when it is relatively heavy. Provision is made in the present case for adjusting the stilfness of the movable rufiling blade by providing a stiffening member to engage the upper face of this blade and oppose the flexing thereof. This stiifening member is adjustable so that its point of contact with the movable ruflling blade may be varied and in that way adjustment can be made for materials of any weight.

One object of the present invention is to provide a rufller attachment for sewing machines wherein the milling blade is actuated from the movement of the needle bar and means is provided to adjust the position of the blade with respect to the position of the needle bar of the sewing machine.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a miller attachment for sewing machines wherein the rufiling blade is actuated by a fork arm connected to the needle bar, which fork arm is connected to the ruflling blade by means including an adjustable connection whereby the position of the ruflling blade and particularly the forward position thereof may be varied with respect to the position of the fork arm.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a ruflling attachment for sewing machines wherein the ruffling blade is reciprocated by a pendulum lever pivoted to the frame of the attachment, which lever is in turn actuated by the usual fork arm, and to provide an adjustable connection between this lever and the ruffling blade or the reciprocating member which carries the rufiling blade so that the position of the latter may be varied with respect to the position of the pendulum lever.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a ruflling attachment for sewing machines having a flexible or resilient rufiling blade with adjustable means to stiffen the blade against flexing in order to improve its operation with materials of various weights and textures.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a rufller attachment embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a view of the lower portion of the attachment taken from the side opposite that shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 55 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a detailed perspective view of the movable ruflling blade and the stiffening mechanism therefor.

To illustrate one embodiment of the invention there is shown in the drawings a rufller attachment comprising a frame 10 having an adapter 11 secured thereto, which adapter is as usual adapted to be secured to the presser bar of the sewing machine with which the attachment is to be used. Pivotally mounted at 12 upon an upstanding portion of the frame is a fork arm 13 having a bifurcated end '14 adapted to be connected. with a stud or needle screw upon the needle bar of the sewing machine.

Pivoted to the fork arm at 15 is the usual pawl carrier 16 having a pawl 17 adapted to engage a shoulder 18 at the upper end of a depending or pendulum lever 19 pivoted to the frame at 12 coincidently with the fork arm and move this lever forwardly. A ratchet wheel 29 may be rotatably mounted on the frame on the pivot 12, which ratchet wheel contains deep and shallow notches adapted also to be engaged by the pawl 17 so as to vary 3 screw which extends through an arcuate slot 26 in the lever 19. The above mechanism is usual in rulflers of this character and operates in a well-known manner.

Secured to a laterally extended portion 28 of the frame is afixed rufiiing blade 2h which usually is of spring steel and, therefore, resilient. Cooperating with the fixed blade is a movable ruffiing blade 36 also of spring steel and resilient and flexible, which movable blade is secured to the under face of a laterally extended foot portion 31 of a blade carrier or slide 32 (see Fig. 6). This blade carrier is slidably connected to the frame between the upstanding portion thereof and a guide shoe 33 riveted at 34 to the frame so that the elongated slide member 32 may be reciprocated in a forward and rearward direction. It may also be noted that the movable rufiling blade is provided at its forward end with serrations or teeth 35 and with a needle-receiving slot 36 which enables this blade to move forwardly to a position beyond the needle.

As shown more especially in Figs. 1, 3, 4 and 6, the carrier or slide 32 is provided at its rear end with a slot 38 so that it may be adjustably connected to the lower end of the lever 19. This connection is made, as shown in Fig. 4, wherein, as illustrated, a screw 39 passes through the slot 38 and is threadedly engaged with an L-shaped nut 4% on the side of the lever 19 opposite that of the slide 32, this nut having an arm 41 extending below the slide so as to prevent its rotation when the parts are assembled. The lever 19 is provided with an opening 42 through which the screw 39 passes, this opening, however, being considerably larger than the screw and the latter being embraced by a sleeve 43 of slightly greater thickness than that of the lever 19 so that the latter will not be clamped between the carrier 32 and the nut but will be free to rotate about the sleeve 43 in the operation of the device. With this construction it will be apparent that within the limits permitted by the length of the slot 38 the carrier 32 of the feed blade may be adjusted with respect to the lever 19 which will serve to adjust the forward limit of its stroke with respect to the position of the fork arm 13 and of the needle bar to which the latter is connected. This will provide for the use of the attachment regardless of the stroke of the needle bar which, as stated, varies depending upon the particular sewing machine with which the attachment may be used.

It has been found that the flexibility or resilience of the movable ruffiing blade 39 which is proper for use with some kinds of material will not feed properly and will be too flexible when a heavy glazed material is employed as the blade will some times slide over the surface of such material without feeding it. Therefore, in order to be able to adjust the pressure of the movable blade upon the material, a stiffener is provided to engage the upper surface of the blade and which is also adjustable to vary its point of engagement with the movable blade.

As illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawing, this stiffener comprises a fiat relatively stiff member 45 slidably mounted upon the upper surface of the laterally extending member 31 of the carrier or slide 32. This member is provided with openings 46, and rivets 47 extend through these openings into the member 31 to adjustably hold it in place.

A crenelated spring 48 is provided between the heads of these rivets and the upper surface of the member 45 so as to frictionaly hold the latter in any position to which it may be adjusted. The forward end of the member 45 is bent downwardly, as shown at 49, in order that its end portion may engage the upper side of the blade 30. This point of engagement may, of course, be varied by changing the position of the stiffening member 45 as permitted by the slots 46 so that the pressure exerted by the blade 30 upon the material can be varied as desired. The member 45 may also be slotted as shown at 50, which slot will register with the slot 36 of the movable blade 30.

While I have shown and described an embodiment 4 of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A ruffler attachment for sewing machines comprising a frame, a fixed blade thereon, a flexible blade cooperating with, and movable relatively to, the fixed blade, a carrier member reciprocably mounted on the frame to the lower face of which said movable blade is secured, a stiffening member secured at one end to the upper face of the carrier and having a free end portion engaging one face of the movable blade to limit its movement away from the fixed blade, means for actuating the carrier member, and means for adjusting said stiffening member relatively to the carrier member to vary its stiffening effect on the movable blade.

2. A ruffler attachment for sewing machines comprising a frame, a fixed blade thereon, a flexible blade cooperating with, and movable relatively to, the fixed blade, a carrier member reciprocably mounted on the frame upon the lower face of which said movable blade is carried, a stiffening member secured to the upper face of the carrier and extending forwardly therefrom to engage one face of the movable blade to limit its movement away from the fixed blade, means for actuating the carrier member, and means for adjusting said stiffening member longitudinally of the movable blade and carrier to vary its point of contact therewith.

3. A ruffier attachment for sewing machines comprising a frame, a fixed blade thereon, a flexible blade cooperating with, and movable relatively to, the fixed blade, a carrier member reciprocably mounted on the frame upon which said movable blade is carried, a stiffening member on the carrier and engaging one face of the movable blade to limit its movement away from the fixed blade, and means for actuating the carrier member, said stiffening member comprising a body portion in spaced relation to the movable blade and having a downwardly projecting forward end to engage the surface of the movable blade on the side thereof opposite the fixed blade.

4. A ruffler attachment for sewing machines comprising a frame, a fixed blade thereon, a flexible blade .cooperating with, and movable relatively to, the fixed blade, a carrier member reciprocably mounted on the frame upon the lower face of which said movable blade is carried, a stiffening member secured to the upper face of the carrier and engaging one face of the movable blade to limit its movement away from the fixed blade, means for actuating the carrier member, means for adjusting said stiffening member longitudinally of the carrier and movable blade to vary its point of contact with the latter, and spring means frictionally holding said stiffening member in adjusted positions.

5. A rufiler attachment for sewing machines comprising a frame, a fixed blade thereon, a flexible blade cooperating with, and movable relatively to, the fixed blade. a carrier member reciprocably mounted on the frame upon which said movable blade is carried, a stiffening member on the carrier in upwardly spaced relation to the upper surface of the movable blade and engaging one face of the movable blade to limit its movement away from the fixed blade, means for actuating the carrier member, said stiffening member. being provided with slots, retaining elements slidably received in said slots and secured to the carrier whereby the member is adjustable on the carrier in a direction longitudinally of the fixed blade, and the forward end of said stiffening member extending downwardly to engage the upper surface of the blade in substantially line contact.

6. A ruffler attachment for sewing machines comprising a frame, a rufiling blade fixed on the frame, a carrier member reciprocably mounted on the frame, a cooperat ing movable blade supported on the carrier for reciprocation thereby, a fork arm pivoted on the frame, means operatively connecting the fork arm to the carrier by which the latter is reciproc-ated by oscillation of the fork arm including a pendulum lever member actuated by the fork arm, means for adjustably connecting said carrier member to said lever member, said means comprising a slot in one of said members, elongated in the direction of movement of the carrier member, and a pivot element carried by the other member and adjustable in said slot, and interengaging means on said fork arm and lever for varying the stroke of the latter relatively to the movement of the former.

7. A rufller attachment for sewing machines comprising a frame, a rufiiing blade fixed on the frame, a carrier member reciprocably mounted on the frame, a cooperating movable blade supported on the carrier for reciprocation thereby, a fork arm pivoted on the frame, means operatively connecting the fork arm to the cam'er by which the latter is reciprocated by oscillation of the fork =arm including a pendulum lever actuated by the fork arm and pivoted at its lower end to said carrier member, means for adjusting said pivot point to vary the position of the movable blade with respect to the pendulum lever, interengaging means carried by said fork arm and lever for adjusting the length of the stroke of the blade regardless of the position of the pivot point.

8. A rufiler attachment for sewing machines comprising a frame, a rufliing blade fixed on the frame, a carrier member reciprocably mounted on the'frame, a cooperating movable blade supported on the carrier for reciprocation thereby, a fork arm pivoted on the frame, means operatively connecting the fork arm to the carrier by which the latter is reciprocated by oscillation of the fork arm including a pendulum lever member actuated by the fork arm, means for adjustably connecting said carrier member to said lever member, said means comprising a slot in the carrier member elongated in the direction of movement of said member, and a pivot element carried by the pendulum lever member and adjustable in said slot, and the forward end of said stiffening member extending downwardly to engage the upper surface of the blade in substantially line contact.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Carmichael et a1 Aug. 27, 1929