US3013512A - Automatic zig-zag sewing machine - Google Patents

Description

1951 AKIRA YAMASHlTA 3,013,512

AUTOMATIC ZIG-ZAG SEWING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 1N VEN TOR. AKIRA YAMASHITA Dec. 19, 1961 AKlRA YAMASHITA AUTOMATIC ZIG-ZAG SEWING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 18, 1959 lllllll INVENTOR J E =H m m M V A. m K A llIl ll Array/#15 Dec. 19, 1961 AKlRA YAMASHITA 3,013,512

AUTOMATIC ZIG-ZAG SEWING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR AKIRA YAMASH (TA 2 l I l 4 M n 0 v ws 0% A r 1 .1: 1 M MI I w Dec. 19, 1961 AKIRA YAMASHITA AUTOMATIC ZIGZAG SEWING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 18, 1959 INVENTOR AKIRA YAMASHITA U .1 ite This invention relates to zig-zag sewing machines and more particularly to improvements in an automatic zigzag sewing machine making possible the production of a greater variety of decorative stitches by simpler mechanisms than used heretofore.

The most commonly used automatic zig-zag sewing machines are those which use a plurality of rotating cams in conjunction with a cam follower or followers which transmit motion from the rotating cam surface to a lever, which, in turn, is connected to a needle bar mounted for lateral swinging motion. The swinging motion of the needle support in a timed sequence corresponding to the movement of the cloth by a feeding means effects the automatic production of ornamental and decorative stitches.

While machines using rotary cams are generally satisfactory for producing a limited number of decorative stitches, it has been found that when an operator desires to have available a large variety of decorative stitches such machines have been found to have a number of deficiencies. The principal deficiency is that it is only possible to provide for a limited number of separate cams within the space available in the arm or casing of the sewing machine. For this reason it has usually been necessary for the purchaser of such a machine to purchase more than one set of rotary cams in order to get the desired variety of decorative stitches. Should the operator desire to combine in a single job more than one kind of decorative stitch, and the desired stitch patterns cannot be produced by a single set of rotary cams, it has been necessary to change to another set which includes the necessary cam surface for producing the desired pattern.

In addition to the above mentioned problem, the sets of rotary cams and the mechanism for indexing the cam follower or followers are expensive to produce. Also there is the problem of having a large number of moving parts which add to the complexity of such sewing machines and render them difficult to maintain and repair.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide simplified and improved means for producing auto-' matically a greater number of different decorative stitch patterns than has been possible to provide before without removing or changing any portion of the mechanism.

Another object is to provide an improved automatic sewing machine which has fewer rotating parts, is of simple construction and is easier to maintain and repair than previous sewing machines of this type.

A further object is to provide in the usual zig-zag sewing an improved mechanism including a plurality of stationary pattern profile elements, means cooperating therewith to effect the lateral swinging movement of the needle bar of an automatic zig-zag sewing machine to create a plurality of decorative stitch patterns.

The sewing machine of this invention has a usual needle bar pivotally mounted in the arm casing for endwise reciprocation and for lateral swinging movement. The main shaft, which is longitudinally disposed and journalled in the casing, has a connecting link, which on rotation, reciprocates the needle in its end-Wise movement, which, in cooperation with the usual shuttle and bobbin, effects the stitching as the cloth is fed across the bedplate.

Means are provided to produce a regular transverse zig-zag motion to the needle bar by moving a pitman,

tates atom 3,013,512 Patented Dec. 19', 1961 which is connected to the needle bar at a point spaced from the axis of rotation of the needle bar frame which carries the needle bar. In addition, means are provided for positioning the needle bar so that the center line of the zigzag stitch will be at the center of, to the right of, or to the left of the seam line.

In order to create a decorative stitch, it is necessary to vary the lateral position of the needle bar in a timed sequence which is related to the movement of the cloth brought about by the feeding mechanism of the sewing machine. The novel means employed by the improved automatic sewing machine of this invention to create the variable transverse movements of the needle bar includes the following: A number of stitch pattern profile elements or segments are arranged so that any particular desired stitch pattern may be selectively produced by presenting the pattern profile segment corresponding to the desired stitch opposite a tracer means.

Motion transmitting means link the profile segments and the needle bar, a portion of which is caused to traverse a selected profile segment in a timed sequence governed by the rotation of the main shaft so that the varying transverse movements of the needle bar are controlled by the shape of the selected pattern profile element. Any desired number-of pattern profile segments may be provided and may be arranged in any suitable manner. As mentioned above the profile elements remain completely stationary duringthe sewing operation. As will appear below, the motion transmitting means consists of novel elements which are simple in design, construction and operation.

Other objects, advantages and features of this invention will become more apparent in the description which followers when taken with the figures in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation view in partial section of the sewing machine of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional top view taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a partial top view of the machine illustrated in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an isometric view of the view of an embodiment of the decorative stitch pattern producing means employed in the machine of this invention;

FIGURE 5 is a cross sectional view of the device shown in FIGURE 3 taken on the line number 5-5;

FIGURE 6 is a cross sectional view of the device illustrated in FIGURE 5, taken on the line 66 of FIG. 5;

FIGURE 7 is an exploded isometric view of that portion of the machine of this invention illustrated in FIG- URE 4;

FIGURE 8A is a cross sectional view of that pattern profile segment used to produce the straight stitch shown in FIGURE 8B;

FIGURE 9A is a cross sectional view of a pattern profile segment for producing the stitch shown in FIG- URE 9B; and

FIGURE 10A is a cross sectional view of the pattern profile segment used for producing the stitch illustrated in FIGURE 103.

There follows a general description of the portions of the machine of this invention which are conventional, the novel decorative stitch producing means, and a description of how the various elements may be selectively arranged to produce a great variety of different stitch patterns.

Referring now to the figures and in particular to FIG- URES 1 and 2, the improved automatic sewing machine 11 of this invention has the usual base 12 upon which is mounted the working surface or bedplate 13 and the arm or casing 14.

Journaled in the casing 14 is the main shaft 15 which carries a balancing weight 16 which is used to offset the unbalance resulting from the various other elements which are connected to or driven -by the main shaft 15.

A crank portion 17 of the main shaft has a connecting rod 18 attached thereto which drives the shuttle oscillating rockshaft 19 which in turn controls the movement of the oscillating shaft 26. The usual shuttle 21, including a bobbin (not hown) is employed and is driven by the oscillating shaft 20 in the usual manner. These elements are located beneath the bed plate 13. In addition, a feeddog (not shown but desi nated generally below the bedplate 13 by the numeral 22) which is operated by a feeddog raising shaft (not shown) of the usual type is employed which in cooperation with the presser foot 22a effects the movement of the Work across the bedplate 13 in the usual manner. It will be assumed throughout the remainder of this description that the feeding of the Work will be at some constant operator selected value.

The casing 14 has the usual head 23 which carries bushings for mounting the presser bar 24 and presser foot 22a for endwise reciprocation.

A needle bar frame 25 is pivotally mounted on the presser 'bar 24. The needle bar 26 and hence the needle 27 are carried by the needle bar frame 25, which is in turn pivotally mounted on the presser bar 24.

A needle bar crank pin 28 connects the needle bar 26 to the needle bar link 32 which in turn is connected to the needle bar crank 33 which is driven by the main shaft 15. The needle bar crank pin 28 is slidabiy and rotatably mounted in the needle bar link 32 so that on rotation of the needle bar frame 25 about the presser bar 24, the endwise reciprocation of the needle bar 26 may be effected by the main shaft 15 through the crank 33 and link 32.

A pitman 36 is rotatably connected to the needle bar frame extension 29 by means of a hinge pin 31. It will be appreciated at this point that the endwise movement of the pitman 30 will rotate the needle bar frame 25 and hence the needle bar 25 to effect transverse movements of the needle 27.

The pitman 30 is rotatably connected on the end opposite the hinge pin 31 by means of a pitman-connecting block 34 to the floating pivot stud 135. Thus, by effecting a back and forth movement of the floating pivot stud 35 the needle bar 26 may be moved transversely to the direction that the work is being fed.

The position of the floating pivot stud 35 is controlled by the operation of the zig-zag movement connecting rod 36. The zig-zag connecting rod 36 has a rotatable pin 37 on its end opposite the stud 35. A rotatable slide block 38 is attached to the pin 37 on one side of the connecting rod 36 and a roller 39 is connected to the pin 37 on the opposite side of the connecting rod 36.

A zig-zag movement transfer crank 40 rotatably mounted on pivot 41 transfers the movement of the floating pivot stud 35 to a portion of the oscillating shaft 26 which in turn effects a transverse movement of the shuttle 21 by an amount which corresponds to the transverse movement of the needle bar 26.

Means are provided for effecting a regular back and forth movement to the stud 35 which include a zig-zag regulating lever 42 which has a channeled end portion 43 which governs the motion of connecting rod 36 by virtue of the fact that the roller 39 is mounted therein. Since the pivot of the connecting rod 36 is floating, the connecting rod 36s longitudinal movement is controlled by the confinement of the roller 39 in the channeled end portion 43 of the regulating lever 42.

The regulating lever 42 is mounted on a fixed pivot 44. In addition, a stitch Width adjusting lever is also pivoted on the fixed pivot 44 and a post 45a is provided which by contacting the regulating lever 42 controls the limit of the angular movement of the regulating lever 42 clockwise (as shown in FIGURE 2) and hence, as is fully explained below, controls the width of the stitch pattern produced.

A Zig-Zag lever 46 is provided which is rotatably mounted on a zig-zag lever pivot 49. A worm 50 on the main shaft 15 which meshes with a pinion 51 connected to a vertical shaft 52 on one end and an eccentric block 53 on the other, effects a regular swinging motion of the zig-zag lever 46 about its pivot 49 by the rotary movement of the eccentric block within the straight channeled side 47 of the zig-zag lever 46. A zig-zag lever bracket 54 is rotatably mounted on the zigzag lever pivot 49 so that the pivot 49 is free to move in an arcuate path about the bracket pivot 55 which connects the zigzag lever bracket 54 to the casing 14.

On the under side of the zig-zag lever 46 there is an arcuate channel 48 which carries the slide block 38 which thus connects the zig-zag lever 46 t0 the zig-zag movement connecting rod 36.

it Will be seen from the above that as the main shaft 15 rotates the worm gear 5% will drive the pinion 51, causing rotation of eccentric block 53. Rotation of the eccentric block 53 in turn causes a regular swinging movement of the zig-zag lever 46 about its pivot 49. This in turn, by virtue of the sliding connection between the slideblock 38 and the arcuate channeled side 43 of the zig-zag lever 46, will effect a varying longitudinal movement of the zigzag movement connecting rod 36 since its sidewise movement i restricted by the roller 39 which rides in the channelled end portion 43 of regulating lever 42. The zig-zag movement transfer crank rotates only about the pivot 41. Therefore as the end of the connecting rod 36 is moved along the arcuate groove the stud 35 will move in a back and forth movement.

It can readily be appreciated that the total amount of the back and forth movement of the stud 35 will be governed by the distance between the pin 37 and the center of the zig-zag lever pivot 49. In addition, movement of the zigzag regulating lever 42, which is connected by means of its channenled end portion 43 and the connecting rod roller 39 to the connecting rod 36, will effect a movement of the connecting rod 36 and hence the stud 35. If the center of the pin 37 lies directly beneath the center of the zig-zag lever pivot 49 and there is no motion of the regulating lever 42, no motion will be transferred to the stud 35 by the connecting rod 36, and hence no transverse motion of the needle bar 26 will result. On the other hand, the further to the left, as seen in FIGURE 2, the center of the pin 37 moves along the arcuate channel side 48 of the zigzag lever 46, the greater will be the displacement of stud 35, and hence the greater will be the displacement of stud 35, and hence the greater will be the transverse movement of the needle bar 26.

From the above it can be seen that as the stitch width adjusting lever 34 is rotated counterclockwise, as seen in FIGURE 2, the more the regulating lever 42 will be moved to the left, and hence the wider the stitch pattern will be.

A needle starting position lever 56 is provided which by virtue of its attachment to the zig-zag lever 46 may be used to move the zigzag lever pivot 49 in the direction indicated in FIGURE 2. This in turn, since the slideblock 38 will be moved an amount related to the amount of movement the zigzag lever pivot 49, will effect a displacement of the needle bar 26.

Thus the needle starting position lever 56 may be used to set the position of the resulting stitch so that it will lie on the center of, to the left of, or to the right of the seamline.

To summarize the above, the action of the zigzag lever 46 in cooperation with the connecting rod 36 by its attachment to the floating pivot stud 35 may be used to create either a straight stitch or a stitch of a regular zig-zag shape. By the use of the stitch width adjusting lever 45, the width of the zig-zag stitch produced may be controlled. In addition, the needle starting positioning lever 56 may be used to create a stitch pattern which is at the center, to the right, or to theleft of the seamline.

In order to create decorative stitches other than the regular zig-zag pattern, it is necessary to control in a timed sequence the transverse movement of the needle bar 26 in relation to the endwise reciprocation of the needlebar 26 and the feeding of the work. The novel means which are employed by the machine of this invention control the transverse movement of the needle bar 26 through a means to edect a variable angular movement of the regulating lever 42 about its pivot 44.

Referring now to FIGS. 3-7, the angular movement of the regulating lever 42 is controlled by a pendular arm 60 attached to the regulating lever extension 59 by means of a link 58 and a connecting pin 57. The pendular arm 69 is rigidly attached to a shaft 61 which is mounted in the casing 14 by pendular arm pivot 62.

The angular movement of the pendular arm 60 about its pivot 62 is controlled by a tracer slide 70 which bears on a slideblock 63 rigidly attached to the pendular arm 60.

The tracer slide is mounted in the under portion 68a of collar 63 so that it is free to move longitudinally. The collar 63 in turn is slidably mounted on a grooved cylinder 64. The grooved cylinder 64 is rotata-bly mounted on a fixed shaft 66 and is driven by the grooved cylinder gear 67. The groove 65 is cut into the cylinder 64 so that it has a shape substantially like a figure 8. The collar 68 has a stud 69 passing thercthrough, one end of which rests in the groove 65, and the other end of which extends into a slotted bracket 71 which is rigidly attached to the casing 14.

Thus, it may be seen that as the gear 67 is rotated the collar 68 is moved transversely by virtue of its confinement to transverse motion by the stud 69 extending into the slot of the slotted bracket 71. Since the tracer slide 70 is slidably mounted on the underside portion 68a of the collar 68, it too moves in a transverse direction as the grooved cylinder 64.

The tracer slide 70 has rollers 72 mounted on each end. A weak tracer slide spring 73 attached to a tracer slide post 74 and a gib 75 on the other, tends to pull the tracer slide 70 rearwardly in the portion 68a to the collar 68.

The grooved cylinder gear 67 is driven by a gear 76 rigidly attached to pinion gear 77 by a shaft 78 which is journaled in the casing 14. The pinion gear 77 meshes with worm 79 on the main shaft, and as the main shaft 15 rotates, the grooved cylinder 64 will be rotated, causing the complete transverse movement of the collar 68 in a regular time interval corresponding to the speed of rotation of the main shaft 15.

As may be seen in FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, a number of pattern profile elements or segments 86 are provided on a carrier 31. The carrierfil is rigidly attached to a carrier shaft 82. Also attached to the carrier shaft 82 is a carrier gear 83 which meshes with a selector gear 84. The selector dial 85 positioned on the exterior of the casing 14 and connected to the selector gear 84 by means of a shaft 86 makes possible the rotation of the carrier 81, so that any one of the segments 80 may be positioned opposite the forward one of the rollers 72 on the tracer slide 7% The pattern profile segments 80 may be of any suitable shape and, as will be fully explained below, it is these elements which control the production of various decorative stitches. All of the segments 80 illustrated are of different cross-sectional shape and each will produce a different stitch pattern. One of the segments 8011 has a regular flat cross-section. As will be explained below, when the selector dial 85 is rotated in such a manner as to present the segment 86a opposite the tracer slide 70, no motion will be transferred to the zigzag regulating lever 42 by the pendular arm 60. However, when any of the other segments 80 are positioned opposite the tracer slide 70 a motion will be transferred to the zigzag regulating lever 42 which will correspond to the cross-sectional shape of the particular segment selected by the operator.

In addition to the stitch width adjusting lever 45 which, will appear below, may be manually controlled by the operator, there is provided a stitch width selector dial 87 which through stitch width dial shaft 88 and pinion 39 moves a ratchet 91 to which is attached an indicator 90. The rotation of the stitch width selector dial 87 thus moves the indicator 90 which bears against the stitch width adjusting lever 45 and may be used to preselect any desired stitch width by controlling the position of the stitch width adjusting lever 45.

In order to insure that the tracer slide 70 maintains a good contact between the pendular arm slideblock 63 and the selected segment 80, a zig-zag regulating lever return spring 92 is attached between the casing 14 and a post 93 on the zig-zag regulating lever 42, as shown in FIG. 2. The spring 92 thus tends to case a rotation of the regulating lever 42 clockwise about its fixed pivot 44, thus tending to pull the lower end of pendular arm 60 forward to force the slideblock 63 against the tracer slide 76 which in turn bears against the selected segment 80.

In order to get a better understanding of how the machine of this invention effects the various kinds of stitches and stitch patterns it is capable of producing, its operation in producing a straight stitch, a regular zig-zag stitch, and decorative stitches will now be described.

In order to produce a straight stitch such as is shown in FIG. 8, it will be necessary to rotate the selector dial to its zero position which will position segment 80a opposite the tracer slide 70. It will be recalled that since the segment 30a has a regular shaped cross-section, no motion will be transferred to the regulating lever 42, and hence no effect on the position of the stud 35 will result from the action of the tracer slide on the segment 80a.

However, in order to overcome the effect of the zigzag lever, which under normal operation would effect a regular back an forth movement to the pivot 35, it is necessary that the stitch width selector be set at its lefthand position, at which point the centers of the pin 37 on the connecting rod 36 and the pivot 49 of the zig-zag lever 46 will coincide. At this point no motion will be transferred by the connecting rod 36 from the zig-zag lever 46 to the pivot 35, and hence the needle bar frame 25 will not be rotated about the presser bar 24.

With this, regular straight stitching as shown in FIG. 8B will result.

In order to effect a regular zig-Zag pattern of any possible width, all that needs to be done to the machine at this point is to vary the position of the connecting rod 36 by rotating the stitch width selector dial dial 87 or the manual movement stitch width adjusting lever 45. The manual movement of the stitch width adjusting lever 45 by the operator may be used to create a variable stitch pattern at will. However, if it is desired to create a regular pattern, the stitch width selector dial 87 should be used. This will shift the connecting rod 36 to some position other than the zero position and, as described above, the action of Zig-zag lever 46 will effect the longitudinal movement of stud 35. I

Assuming now that any one of the decorative stitch patterns is desired, the carrier 81 must be rotated to position the selected segment 80 opposite the tracer slide 70. It will be remembered that the return spring 92 keeps the tracer slide 70 pressed against the segment 80 at all times. Therefore, in order to make possible the rotation of the carrier 81 by the selector dial 85, it is necessary to move the stitch width adjusting lever 45 to its maximum righthand position, at which point the pendular arm 60 will be rotated rearwardly, and the tracer slide spring 73 will cause the tracer slide 70 to move rearwardly in its sup- 7 port on the underside portion of the collar 68 and hence withdraw the forward of the rollers 72 from the segment 80. With the stitch width adjusting lever 45 in its righthand position the selector dial may now be rotated and any one of the segments 80 may be positioned opopsite the tracer slide 70.

Once the desired stitch pattern is selected by the operator the rotation of the main shafts will again cause the traversing movement of the tracer slide 70 back and forth across the selected segment 80. This by virtue of the varying cross-section of the segment 80 will effect an angular movement of the pendular arm 60 and will in turn effect the angular rotation of the regulating lever 42 about its fixed pivot 44. The angular movement of the regulating lever 42 will vary the angular position of the channeled end 43 and thus will vary the longitudinal movement of the connecting rod 36 and hence the pivot stud 35 by an amount which corresponds to the shape of the segment 80 in contact with the tracer slide 70. Thus through pitman 35, the needlebar frame 25 will be moved transversely by an amount which corresponds to the shape of the particular segment 80 which has been selected.

Any desired number of segments 80 may be provided. While the segments 80 have been shown mounted on a substantially cylindrical carrier 81, it is possible to mount the segments 80 on any other means which is capable of positioning a selected segment opposite the tracer slide 70. For instance, an endless belt could be used upon which the segments 80 could be mounted, or a fiat or arcuate surface controlled by ratchet 91 and pinion 89 connected to a selector dial 87 could be employed.

The segments 80 may be individual elements or may be portions of a casting or molding of a suitable hard surfaced metal or plastic material. They should be capable of withstanding much use. The segments 80 can be produced easily by inexpensive casting, molding and finishing methods.

The segments 80 will produce stitches of varying patterns. For instance, segment 80b shown in FIG. 9a would produce the pattern illustrated in FIG. 9b. Likewise, a segement 80c having a cross-section such as shown in FIG. 10a, will produce the stitch pattern shown in FIG. 1011. It should be appreciated that the width of the various patterns produced may be varied at Will by the operator by using either the stitch width adjusting lever 45, or may be preset by use of the stitch width selector dial 87.

In addition, the patterns produced may be positioned width respect to the seamline by the needle starting position lever 56, so that the resultant pattern is on the center line of the seam or is to the right or the left thereof of the center line of the seam. If one of the decorative stitches is employed, either of the regular zig-zag shape or of the more intricate designs produced by the selection of one of the segments 80, the pattern may be set so as to vary from the left to right of the seamline, or from right to left.

It will readily be appreciated that the above described mechanism makes possible an almost infinite variey of stitch patterns. The various dial settings or lever positions may be used singly or in combination, so that the operator is free to choose from any one of the multitude of stitch pattern combinations. The controls, which can be preset by the operator or manually varied by the operator, are extremely simple and make it possible for any seamstress of average skill to produce a wide variety of decorative stitch patterns.

The simplicity of the mechanism by which the above is accomplished can easily be appreciated. This simplicity makes possible the easy maintenance and repair of the machine of this invention. In addition, the mechanism is one which can be produced at a low cost when compared with the complex automatic sewing machines known heretofore.

While the above description has been made in connection with a particular embodiment, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that there are many minor modifications which can be made which will not depart from the spirit of this invention nor from the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A decorative stitch producing sewing machine having a casing, a needle bar mounted in said casing for endwise reciprocation and for movements transverse to said endwise reciprocation, rotary shaft means connected to said needle bar for effecting said endwise reciprocation, and means for effecting said transverse movements of said needle bar including stationary stitch pattern profile means, tracer means in contact with and movable in a direction normal to said profile means, means driven by said shaft means for traversing said tracer means along said profile means and tracer motion transmitting means between said tracer means and said needle bar for moving said needle bar in timed sequence relative to said endwise reciprocation and in an amount depending on the shape of said profile means.

2. A decorative stitch producing sewing machine having a casing, a needle bar mounted in said casing for endwise reciprocation and for movements transverse to said endwise reciprocation, rotary shaft means connected to said needle bar for effecting said endwise reciprocation; and means for effecting said transverse movement of said needle bar including stationary stitch pattern profile means, tracer means in contact with and movable in a direction normal to said profile means, means driven by said shaft means for traversing said tracer means along said profile means and tracer motion transmitting means between said tracer means and said needle bar for moving said needle bar in timed sequence relative to said endwise reciprocation and in an amount depending on the shape of said profile means, said profile means including a plurality of separate and different profile elements and operator controlled means for pre-selecting any one of said profiles for controlling said transverse movements of said needle bar.

3. A decorative stitch producing sewing machine having a casing, a needle bar mounted in said casing for endwise reciprocation and for movements transverse to said endwise reciprocation, rotary shaft means connected to said needle bar for effecting said endwise reciprocation, and means for effecting said transverse movements of said needle bar including stationary stitch pattern profile means, tracer means in contact with and movable in a direction normal to said profile means, means driven by said shaft means for traversing said tracer means along said profile means and tracer motion transmitting means between said tracer means and said needle bar for moving said needle bar in timed sequence relative to said endwise reciprocation and in an amount depending on the shape of said profile means, said profile means including a plurality of separate and different profile elements, at least one of said elements having a regular fiat longitudinal cross-section and the remainder of said elements, each having a varying longitudinal cross-section, operator controlled means for pre-selecting any one of said elements with which to control said transverse movements of said needle bar to produce either of a straight stitch and a regular shaped zig-zag stitch when said regular shaped element is selected and a plurality of different decorative stitch patterns when any one of the other elements is selected.

4. A decorative stitch producing sewing machine having a casing, a needle bar mounted in said casing for endwise reciprocation and for movements transverse to said endwise reciprocation, rotary shaft means connected to said needle bar for effecting said endwise reciprocation, and means for effecting said transverse movements of said needle bar including stationary stitch pattern profile means, tracer means in contact with and movable in a direction normal to said profile means, means driven by said shaft means for traversing said tracer means along said profile means and tracer motion transmitting means between said tracer means and said needle bar for moving said needle bar in timed sequence relative to said endwise reciprocation and in an amount depending on the shape of said profile means, operator controlled stitch width varying means for limiting the total amount of said transverse movements of said needle bar whereby the stitch pattern width may be selected by the operator.

5. A decorative stitch producing sewing machine having a casing, a needle bar mounted in said casing for end wise reciprocation and for movements transverse to said endwise reciprocation, rotary shaft means connected to said needle bar for effecting said endwise reciprocation, and means for effecting said transverse movement of said needle bar including stationary stitch pattern profile means, tracer means in contact with and movable in a direction normal to said profile means, means driven by said shaft means for traversing said tracer means along said profile means and tracer motion transmitting means between said tracer means and said needle bar for moving said needle bar in timed sequence relative to said endwise reciprocation and in an amount depending on the shape of said profile means, said profile means including a plurality of separate and different profile elements and operator controlled means for pre-selecting any one of said profiles for controlling said transverse movement of said needle bar, said profile means including a plurality of separate and different profile elements at least one of said elements having a regular flat longitudinal crosssection and the remainder of said elements each having a varying longitudinal cross-section operator controlled means for pre-selecting any one of said elements with which to control said transverse movements of said needle bar to produce either of a straight stitch and a regular shaped zig-zag stitch when said regular shaped element is selected and a plurality of different decorative stitch patterns when any one of the other elements is selected.

6. In an automatic sewing machine having a base, casing means carried on said base, needle bar means, pivotal support means carrying said needle bar means on said casing allowing for endwise reciprocation and for lateral swinging movement, a main rotary shaft journalled in said casing means, crank means connecting said rotary shaft and said needle bar means for reciprocating said needle bar means in its endwise movement, and means for rotating said shaft; means for selectively producing a plurality of decorative stitch patterns automatically including a floating pivot means, pitman means pivotally mounted on said needle support means on one end at a position spaced from the axis of rotation of said needle bar support means and pivotally mounted on said floating pivot means at the other end thereof, zig-zagmeans for producing a regular back and forth movement to said floating pivot means and means for producing a variable back and forth movement to said floating pivot means, including a fixed pivot, regulating lever means pivotally mounted on said fixed pivot and rotatable pendular arm means; one arm of said regulating lever means being slidably connected to said zig-zag producing means and the other arm of said regulating lever means being linked to rotatable pendular arm means, means for controlling the angular movement of said regulating lever means and for effecting an angular rotation of said pendular arm means including a plurality of stationary pattern profile means, one of said pattern profile means having a regular longitudinal cross-section and the remainder thereof having varying longitudinal cross-sections dependent upon the desired decorative stitch to belproduced, selector means for selecting any one of the pattern profiles, tracer means positioned to bear on said selected pattern profile means on one end and said pendular arm means on the other end and means driven by said main shaft for traversing said tracer means transversely across said selector pattern profile means at a rate corresponding to the rotation of said main shaft whereby to produce a variable angular movement of said pendular arm means, regulating lever means, pitman means and hence said needle bar when one of said variable cross-section pattern profiles is opposite said tracer means and no angular movement of said pendular arm means is effected when said pattern profile having a regular cross-section is opposite said tracer means.

7. The device of claim 6 wherein said pattern profile means are mounted on turret means, selector dial means having a shaft and a selector gear attached thereto carried by said casing and said turret means has a gear attached thereto which meshes with said selector gear for positioning any one of said pattern profiles opposite said tracer means.

8. In an automatic sewing machine having a base, casing means carried on said base, needle bar means, pivotal support means carrying said needle bar means on said casing allowing for endwise reciprocation and for lateral swinging movement, a main rotary shaft journalled in said casing means, bell crank means connecting said rotary shaft and said needle bar means for reciprocating said needle bar means in an endwise direction, and means for rotating said main shaft; means for selectively producing a plurality of stitch patterns automatically including a floating pivot, pitman means pivotally mounted on said needle bar means on one end at a position spaced from the axis of rotation of said needle support means and pivotally mounted on said floating pivot means on the other end thereof, zig-zag means for producing a regular back and forth movement to said floating pivot means and means for producing a variable back and forth movement to said floating pivot meansincluding a fixed pivot, regulating lever means rotatably mounted on said fixed pivot, one arm of said regulating lever means being slidably connected to said zig-zag producing means and the other arm of said regulating lever means being linked to a rotatable pendular arm means, stitch width control means rotatably mounted on said fixed pivot, and said stitch width control means having limiting means forming a portion thereof, said limiting means being positioned adjacent the said slidable arm of said regulating means for limiting the angular movement of said regulating lever means whereby to selectively limit the total back and forth movement of said floating pivot, and means positioned on and carried by said casing for selecting the total width of the stitch produced by. said machine to a predetermined width, and means for com trolling the angular movement of said regulating lever means by the angular rotation of said pendular arm means including stationary pattern profile means, tracer means positioned to bear on said pattern profile means on one end and said pendular arm means on the other end and means driven by said shaft for traversing said tracer means transversely across said pattern profile means at a rate corresponding to the rotation of said main shaft.

9. The device of claim 8 wherein a plurality of separate and different pattern profiles are provided and selector means are provided to position a predetermined pattern profile opposite said tracer means.

10. The device of claim 9 wherein one of said pattern profile means has a regular longitudinal cross-section and the remainder of said pattern profiles have varying longitudinal cross-sections whereby no motion will be transferred to said pendular arm means, said bell crank means, said pitman means, and said needle support means when said pattern profile having a regular cross-section is opposite said tracer means and a stitch of varying pattern will be produced when any one of the other pattern profiles is opposite said tracer means.

11. The device of claim 10 including turret means for mounting said pattern profiles, and there is provided selector dial means having a shaft and selector dial attached thereto, and said turret means has a gear attached thereto, which meshes with said selector gear whereby any one 11 of said pattern profiles may be positioned opposite said tracer means.

12. In an automatic sewing machine having a base, casing means carried on said base, needle bar means, pivotal support means carrying said needle bar means on said casing allowing for endwise reciprocation and for lateral swinging movement, a main rotary shaft journalled in said casing means, bell crank means connecting said rotary shaft and said needle bar means for reciprocating said needle bar means in an endwise direction, and means for rotating said main shaft; means for selectively producing a plurality of stitch patterns automatically including a floating pivot means, pitman means pivotally mounted on said needle bar means on one end at a position spaced from the axis of rotation of said needle bar support means and pivotally mounted on said floating pivot means on the other end thereof, zig-zag means for producing a regular back and forth movement to said floating pivot means and means for producing a variable back and forth movement to said floating pivot means including a fixed pivot, regulating lever means rotatably mounted on said fixed pivot, one arm of said regulating lever means being slidably connected to said zig-zag producing means and the other arm of said regulating lever means being linked to a rotatable pendular arm means, and means for effecting an angular rotation of said pendular arm means including stationary pattern profile means, tracer means positioned to bear on said pattern profile means on one end and said pendular arm means on the other end, said pattern profile means comprising a plurality of separate and different pattern profiles, a selector means adapted to position any one of said pattern profiles opposite said tracer, and means driven by said main shaft for traversing said tracer means transversely across said pattern profile means at a rate corresponding to the rotation of said main shaft whereby the angular movement of said pendular arm means will effect an angular movement of said bell crank means and said pitman means to effect a lateral swinging movement of said needle bar means in an amount corresponding to the cross section of said pattern profile means in contact with said tracer means.

13. In an automatic sewing machine having a base, casing means carried on said base, needle bar means, pivotal support means carrying said needle bar means on said casing allowing for endwise reciprocation and for lateral swinging movement, a main rotary shaft journalled in said casing means, bell crank means connecting said rotary shaft and said needle bar means for reciprocating said needle bar means in an endwise direction, and means for rotating said main shaft; means for selectively producing a plurality of stitch patterns automatically including a floating pivot means, pitman means pivotally mounted on said needle bar means on one end at a position spaced from the axis of rotation of said needle bar support means and pivotally mounted on said floating pivot means on the other end thereof, zig-zag means for producing a regular back and forth movement to said floating pivot means and means for producing a variable back and forth movement to said floating pivot means including a fixed pivot, regulating lever means rotatably mounted on said fixed pivot, one arm of said regulating lever means being slidably connected to said zig-zag producing means and the other arm of said regulating lever means being linked to a rotatable pendular arm means, and means for effecting an angular rotation of said pendular arm means including stationary pattern profile means, tracer means positioned to bear on said pattern profile means on one end and said pendular arm means on the other end, said pattern profile means comprising a plurality of separate and different pattern profiles, a selector means adapted to position any one of said pattern profiles opposite said tracer, one of said pattern profiles having a regular flat longitudinally extending surface whereby no motion will be transferred by said tracer means, pendular arm means and bell crank means to said pitman means when said tracer means is positioned opposite said flat regular surface, and means driven by said main shaft for traversing said tracer means transversely across said pattern profile means at a rate corresponding to the rotation of said main shaft whereby the angular movement of said pendular arm means will effect an angular movement of said bell crank and said pitman means to effect a lateral swinging movement of said needle bar means in an amount corresponding to the cross section of said pattern profile means in contact with said tracer means.

14. In an automatic sewing machine having a base, casing means carried on said base, needle bar means, pivotal support means carrying said needle bar means on said casing allowing for endwise reciprocation and for lateral swinging movement, a main rotary shaft journalled in said casing means, bell crank means connecting said rotary shaft and said needle bar means for reciprocating said needle bar means in an endwise direction, and means for rotating said main shaft; means for selectively producing a plurality of stitch patterns automatically including a floating pivot means, pitman means pivotally mounted on said needle bar means on one end at a position spaced from the axis of rotation of said needle bar support means and pivotally mounted on said floating pivot means on the other end thereof, zig-zag means for producing a regular back and forth movement to said floating pivot means and means for producing a variable back and forth movement to said floating pivot means including a fixed pivot, regulating lever means rotatably mounted on said fixed pivot, one arm of said regulating lever means being slidably connected to said zig-zag producing means and the other arm of said regulating lever means being linked to a rotatable pendular arm means, and means for elfecting an angular rotation of said pendular arm means including stationary pattern profile means, tracer means positioned to bear on said pattern profile means on one end and said pendular arm means on the other end, said pattern profile means comprising a plurality of separate and different pattern profiles mounted on turret means, a selector means adapted to position any one of said pattern profiles opposite said tracer means including selector dial having a shaft and gear attached thereto, said turret means having a turret gear which meshes with said selector gear whereby rotation of said selector dial positions any one of said pattern profiles opposite said tracer means, and means driven by said main shaft for traversing said tracer means transversely across said pattern profile means at a rate corresponding to the rotation of said main shaft whereby the angular movement of said pendular arm means will effect an angular movement of said bell crank means and said pitman means to effect a lateral swinging movement of said needle bar means in an amount corresponding to the cross section of said pattern profile means in contact with said tracer means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,684,649 Scarpa July 27, 1954 55,754 Urscheler July 24, 1956 2,897,464 Miller July 28, 1959 2,9 5,119 Bono Sept. 22, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 531,323 Belgium Feb. 23, 1955 47,123 France June 3, 1957 92,784 Great Britain Apr. 2, 1958 9,620 Australia Ian. 14, 1959

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