US3017846A

US3017846A - Sewing machine attachment

Info

Publication number: US3017846A
Application number: US642233A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lakatta Edward
Original assignee: HARRIS HOGAN Co
Current assignee: HARRIS HOGAN Co; HARRIS-HOGAN Co
Priority date: 1957-02-25
Filing date: 1957-02-25
Publication date: 1962-01-23
Anticipated expiration: 1979-01-23

Description

E. LAKATTA SEWING MACHINE, ATTACHMENT Filed Feb; 25, 1957 Jan. 23, 1962 INVENTOR ATTORNEY 3,017,846 SEWING MACHINE ATTACHMENT Edward Lakatta, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., assignor to Harris-Hogan Company, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Filed Feb. 25, 1957, Ser. No. 642,233 4 filaims. (Cl. 112-114) This invention relates to a sewing machine attachment and more particularly an attachment for sewing shank buttons to a base material.

While the invention will be described in connection with sewing shank buttons it is, of course, capable of use with other forms of shank fasteners, such as eyelets, snaps and the like, and it is to be understood that it is comprehended that the invention may be used with any article that can be handled by the present attachment.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive attachment which may be readily attached to conventional sewing machines without substantial modification of the machines and which enables shank buttons to be quickly and easily positioned relative to the path of travel of the sewing machine needle.

Another object is to provide an attachment which may be secured to the sewing machine bed by unskilled laborers and without the use of special tools.

A further object is to provide an attachment which will yieldingly hold the buttons in place so that in the event that the opening in the button shank is not exactly in line with the needle during its sewing excursion, the needle will cam the shank in a transverse direction so that the needle may pass therethrough without injury to the needle, to the button or to the attachment.

Another object is to provide means for yieldingly clamping the button in proper position so that in the case of delicate or frangible buttons, they will not be broken or bent during rapid insertion of the buttons into position.

Still another object is to provide an adjustment both for the clamping force applied to the buttons and for one of the clamping members so that buttons of various sizes, may be accommodated between the clamping members.

Other objects and advantages that are inherent in the structure will be readily apparent from the following description, it being understood, that variations and modifications thereof may be resorted to so long as they fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawing forming part thereof and which similar reference numerals are used throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the attachment attached to the bed of a sewing machine.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one of the clamping arms and its supporting member and FIG. 7 is a view of one type of shank button which may be used with the invention.

In detail there is illustrated a sewing machine bed 10 to which the present invention is attached by means of knurled headed screws 11 and 12 threaded through openings in a base 13 and into threaded openings in the machine bed as shown.

Attached to the lower face of the base 13 at the forward end thereof is a vertical plate 14 which extends outwardly beyond the forward edge of base 13. At the rear end of plate 14 a rib 15 extends transversely of the base 13 and is provided with bearing and guiding surface 16, the purpose of which will appear hereinafter.

Secured to the plate 14 is a relatively thin, stiff but yielding blade 17 which is bifurcated at its forward end fil'ifidh Patented Jan. 23, 1362 as at 18 to receive the shank of a button and by using this thin blade it will be obvious that extremely short shanked buttons may be accommodated as well as buttons in which the hole through the shank is close to the button head.

The blade 17 is removably secured to the plate 14 by means of a screw 19 passing through the blade 17 and threaded into an opening in the plate 14 so that other blades may be substituted when desired.

In order that the blade may be in fixed position on the plate 14 and held against rotation movement around the screw 19 a retaining member 24 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2 the blade 17 at its point of attachment to the plate 14 is of the same height as the plate 14 and the retaining member 20 is provided with upper and lower flanges 21 and 22 embracing the upper and lower edges not only of the blade 17 but of the plate 14 so that pivotal movement of the blade 17 is prevented and the blade held in proper position at all times.

Cooperating with the blade 17 is a vertically disposed clamping arm 23 which is spaced from but substantially parallel with the blade 17. This arm extends forwardly of the base 13 to lie behind the bifurcated end of the blade 17 so that a button head may be placed between the arm and blade with the button shank extending through the bifurcated end of the blade.

The clamping arm 23 is pivotally mounted and spring biased toward the blade 17 so that buttons may be yieldingly held in proper position between the arm and blade.

To accomplish this pivotal mounting there is provided an arm mounting plate 24 provided with a threaded aperture 25 which is in alignment with arcu'ate slot 26 extending transversely of the base 13 at the forward end thereof. Passing through the slot 26 and threaded into the aperture 25 is a knurled headed screw 27 by means of which the mounting plate 245 may be clamped to the underside of the base 13 in any number of adjusted positions.

The rear end of the mounting plate 24 mates with the surface of the rib 15 so that the mounting plate 24 is guided by and bears against it during adjustment.

The clamping arm 23 is pivoted to the forward end of the mounting plate 24 by means of an upwardly extending integral lug 23 extending upwardly in front of the forward edge of the mounting plate and terminating in a horizontally extending wing 29 provided with an aperture 341 aligning with an aperture 31 in the mounting plate for the reception of a pivot screw 32.

As stated the clamping arm 23 is spring biased toward the blade 17 and this is accomplished by a wire spring 33 which is clearly shown in FIG. 3. This spring consists of a single piece of spring wire to provide a short leg 34 and a long leg 35 extending forwardly along the clamping arm and terminating in a bent finger engaging a recess 36 in the clamping arm forwardly of the pivot screw 32 and the short leg is provided with a bent finger 37 extending into an opening 38 in a lug 39 secured to the side of the plate 14 by means of a screw 41).

By means of this spring arrangement it will be obvious that the forward end of the clamping arm is at all times biased to swing about the pivot screw 32 toward the blade 17 so as to yieldingly hold a button between the arm and shoe. It will also be obvious that if the opening through the shank of the button is not exactly in alignment with needle during its sewing excursion that the shank may be cammed laterally by the needle in either direction to thereby prevent injury to either the needle or to the button being sewn.

By means of the adjustment provided by slot 26 and the screw 27 it is clear that the extent of swing of the clamping arm 23 may be adjusted to receive buttons of various u; sizes and that this adjustment may be simply and quickly made.

The present invention also contemplates means for adjusting the pressure of the clamping arm against the button so that delicate and frangible buttons may be used without fear of injury or destruction.

This is accomplished by a combined operating and pressure adjusting handle 41 which consists of a screw 43 having a knurled head with the screw threaded through a threaded aperture 43 in the clamping arm 23 in front of the pivot screw 32 and in such position that the inner end of the screw may bear, when desired, against the plate 14- as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4- so by rotating the handle the pressure of the clamping arm may be positively set for the desired pressure.

It is also seen since the handle 41 is in advance of the pivot screw 32, a rearwardly directed pull by the finger of the operator will open the throat between the clamp ing arm and blade for the insertion and removal of buttons and that upon release of the handle the throat size is reduced to grasp the button yielding due to the spring action previously described.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the structure described accomplishes all of the stated objects and advantages in a simple, inexpensive and facile manner without bulky or cumbersome instrument-alities and without resort to special tools or change in the machines with which it is to be used.

I claim:

1. A sewing machine attachment for sewing shanked fasteners having sewing apertures therein to a base material comprising a base plate adapted to be secured to the bed of the sewing machine, a blade secured to said plate and projecting forwardly therefrom and having a bifurcated freely movable free end for the reception of the shank of said fastener, and a rigid clamping arm pivoted to said base plate and engaging said fastener and maintaining the shank thereof with the aperture therein in alignment with a sewing machine needle, said blade and arm being yieldable to resiliently clamp the fastener and permit movement thereof transversely of the base plate to automatically align the shank aperture and sewing machine needle, said clamping arm being adjustably secured to said base plate for movement transversely thereof for varying the space between the arm and blade to accommodate fasteners of various sizes, the adjustment for said clamping arm comprising a mounting plate to which said arm is pivoted, said base being provided with an elongated slot extending transversely thereof, and a clamping screw extending through said slot and threaded into said mounting plate to clamp the mounting plate against said base in any of its adjusted positions.

2. A sewing machine attachment for sewing shanked articles having apertures therethrough to a base material comprising a base plate adapted to be attached to the bed of a sewing machine, a thin, vertical, flexible blade projecting forwardly from said base plate and having a bifurcated freely movable free end for the reception of the shank of said article, a rigid clamping arm carried by said base plate for engaging the head of said article and swingable toward and away from said blade to clamp the head portion of the article therebetween, a mounting plate for the clamping arm, means for pivotally mounting the arm on said mounting plate, means for adjustably mounting the mounting plate on the base plate for fixedly positioning the clamping arm pivot at different distances from said flexible blade, and a single spring having one end engaging the blade and its other end bearing against said clamping arm forwardly of its pivot to yielding urge the arm toward said plate.

3. An attachment as set forth in claim 2 in which said vertical blade is carried by a vertical plate secured to said base plate, and a retaining plate for the blade overlies the blade transversely thereof, a securing bolt passing through the retaining plate and the vertical blade and threaded into said vertical plate, said retaining plate including flange means engaging the edges of the vertical blade and the vertical blade to prevent pivotal movement of the blade relative to said vertical plate.

4. A sewing machine attachment for sewing shanked fasteners having sewing apertures therein to a base material comprising a base plate adapted to be secured to the bed of a sewing machine, a vertically extending plate secured to said base plate and having a bearing rib thereon extending transversely of the base plate, a vertical blade secured to said vertical plate and projecting forwardly therefrom and having a bifurcated free end for the reception of the shank of a fastener, a mounting plate adjustably secured to said base plate, a clamping arm carried by said mounting plate and extending forwardly therefrom in proximity to said vertical blade and adapted to engage the head of a fastener positioned within the bifurcated free end of said vertical blade for maintaining the sewing aperture in the shank thereof in alignment with the sewing machine needle, said mounting plate having a transversely extending heel portion engaging said bearing rib, means for adjusting said mounting plate on the base plate towards and away from the plane of said vertical plate and means for locking the mounting plate with the clamping arm in any one of a plurality of positions in spaced relation to said vertical blade.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,140,372 Gatchell May 25, 1915 1,931,830 Rich Oct. 24, 1933 2,131,012 McCann Sept. 20, 1938 2,781,734 Maxant et al Feb. 19, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 23,744 Great Britain Dec. 23, 1892 533,211 Great Britain Feb. 7, 1941