US3440982A

US3440982A - Attachment means for pocket or buttonhole slitter

Info

Publication number: US3440982A
Application number: US681266A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward Seaman
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1967-11-07
Filing date: 1967-11-07
Publication date: 1969-04-29
Anticipated expiration: 1986-04-29

Description

April 29, 1969 E. SEAMAN 3,440,982

7 ATTACHMENT MEANS FOR POCKET OR BUTTONHOLE SLITTER Filed Nov. 7, 1967 Sheet INVENTOR. EDWARD 554m BI Z,

April 29, 1969 E. SEAMAN 3,440,982

ATTACHMENT MEANS FOR POCKET OR BUTTONI-IOLE SLITTER med Nov. 7. 1967 Sheet 3 of 4 INVENTOR. fDH/Akfl 554m April 29, 1969 E, E M N 3,440,982

ATTACHMENT MEANS FOR POCKET OR BUTTONHOLE SLITTER Filed Nov. 7, 1967 Sheet of 4 F i E INVENTOR.

L DW/MD- SEA/ 44M Arron/ r April 29, 1969 E. SEAMAN 3,440,982

ATTACHMENT MEANS FOR POCKET OR BUTTONHOLE SLITTER Filed Nov. 7, 1967

Sheet

4 or 4 INVENTOR. fDW/IRD; SEAMAN United States Patent 3,440,982 ATTACHMENT MEANS FOR POCKET 0R BUTTONHOLE SLITTER Edward Seaman, 65 Harvard St., Garden City, N.Y. 11530 Filed Nov. 7, 1967, Ser. No. 681,266 Int. Cl. Db 3/00, 37/00 U.S. Cl. 112-68 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In the formation of pockets, buttonholes and the like in the mass production of garments, it is conventional to use a Z-needle sewing machine such as a Singer or Union Special designed to simultaneously slit and sew a plurality of overlying fabrics fed to the machine, the slit being of lesser length than and in inwardly spaced relation to the ends of the rows of stitching to permit the folding back and finishing of the pocket or buttonhole. Although special sewing machines have been designed to accomplish such sewing and slitting operations, the mechanism built into such machines is usually complicated, hence the machines are costly. Moreover, so far as I am aware none of such machines is capable of automatically varying the lengths of the slits in relation to the rows of stitching without modifying the machine nor are such machines capable of automatically stopping the slitting and sewing operations at will.

Accordingly, among the objects of the present invention are (a) to provide attachment means to a commercial sewing machine, said means comprising a slit cutter adapted for attachment to the needle 'bar of such sewing machine to form in the work pieces a slit progressively with the sewing operation, and to vary the length of the slit in relation to the length of the stitchingj (b) to automatically withdraw the slit cutter from its slitting position independently of the sewing operation; and (c) to automatically stop the sewing operation at a predetermined relation to that whereat the slit cutter is withdrawn.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention, not specifically enumerated, I accomplish with the attachment means of the present invention, the construction and operation of which will be understood from the detailed description which follows when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a conventional double-needle sewing machine, with parts broken away, to which the attachment means of my invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1 with the left-end portion thereof broken away to better illustrate the invention.

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of portions of the attachment means shown in FIG. 2 as viewed from the right-hand end thereof.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

. 2 3,440,982 Patented Apr. 29, 1969 ice FIG. 6 is a perspective view of portions of the operational means for withdrawing the slit cutter from cutting position and for stopping the sewing operation, as viewed in the direction of the arrows on the line 6-6 of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 7 to 9 are elevational views of the slit cutter and the means for operating the same in operative and inoperative positions.

FIG. 10 is a top plan view of the relationship of the work pieces in a preliminary stage of forming a pocket in a garment.

FIG. 11 shows the wiring diagram of the electrical means employed in the operation of the attachment means.

Referring to the drawings in the several figures of which corresponding parts are designated by the same reference characters, the attachments of the present invention are intended for application to a conventional sewing machine, such as a Singer or a Union Special for forming piped pockets or buttonholes of any desired length by simultaneously slitting and sewing garment fabrics in which such pockets or buttonholes are to be formed. Such sewing machines usually comprise a head 12, a needle bar 14 reciprocable in a well-known manner by a rotatable shaft .16 driven by the power source for the sewing machine.

Attached to and reciprocable with the needle bar is a needle clamp 18 in which may be secured a pair of laterally-spaced needles 20. Fixedly carried by a holder 22 which is pivotally mounted at 24 to the needle clamp is a cutter blade 26 movable between and with the needles from a normal non-cutting position as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 to a cutting position as shown in FIG. 7. Normally, the holder 22 is biased by a leaf spring 72 affixed to the needle clamp to urge and maintain the holder 22 and with it the blade, upwardly into noncutting position until physi cally moved downwardly against the force of the spring. For moving the cutter blade into cutting position is an angular lever 28, one arm 28a of which is pivoted at 30 to the needle clamp 18 and said arm is formed with a cam surface 32 adapted to engage and hold the holder 22 downwardly when the other arm 28b is moved upwardly. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 the cutting edge 26a of the blade 26 is offset and is disposed rearwardly in relation to the needles 20 in the direction of the sewing and slitting operation, so that when beginning the sewing operation, the slitting of the fabrics rearwardly of the sewing will simultaneously take place to provide for the finishing operation of the pocket in a conventional manner.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 5 of the drawings the attachment means of the invention requires the removal from the drive shaft 16 of the conventional pulley usually mounted on said shaft and driven from the power source of the machine and in lieu of such pulley there is fixedly mounted on said shaft a

twin driving pulley

34, 34a. The pulley 34 is adapted to be driven by a belt 36 trained over a hub 38 extending from a pulley 40 mounted loosely on a stub shaft 42 mounted in an arm 44a of a bracket 44 mounted on the table 46 of the sewing machine. Also mounted loosely on the shaft 42 is a pulley 48 over which is trained a belt 50 driven by the power source (not shown) of the machine. Also mounted loosely on the shaft 42 but physically connected to the hub 38 is a rotatable clutch element 52, see FIG. 5, having a recess 54 adapted to receive a detent 56 to normally prevent rotation of the clutch element and with it the hub 38 and pulley 40.

Mounted on the arm 44!; of the bracket 44 is a bifurcated bracket or clevis 58 in which is pivotally mounted on a pin 59, a lever 60, the upper end of which has a lateral extension which constitutes the detent 56 which also extends through and is slidable in a slot 62 formed in the upper end of the bracket arm 44a. The lever 60 is biased by a leaf spring 64 secured to the bracket arm 44b to normally hold the detent 56 within the recess 54 in the clutch element 52. The lever 60 at its top is formed with a tubular lug 61 within which one end 66a of a belt shifter 66 is secured by set screws 61a, and the other end of the belt shifter is formed with a hook 66b which engages the belt 36. Lever 60 is also pivoted at 68 to a control lever 70, operation of which downwardly moves the lever 60 about said pivot 68 and around the pivot pin 59 to the right as viewed in FIG. 1, to withdraw the detent 56 from the slot 54 in the clutch element 52 and simultaneously move the belt shifter 66 to transfer the drive belt 50 from the pulley 48 onto the pulley 40 to drive said pulley 40 and with it the hub 38 and the disengaged clutch element 52. The lever 60 has thereon two stop screws 61a, 61b which limit the movement of the control lever 70 as the inner end 71 thereof rides along the arm 44a of the bracket 44 in the course of depressing the lever 70.

Mounted on the arm 44b of bracket 44 is a solenoid 72 having an armature 74 to which is attached a lever 76 pivotally mounted at 78 in a bifurcated bracket 80 mounted on the bracket arm 44b. The lever 76 is normally biased by a coil spring 82, one end of which is anchored to said lever and the other end of which is anchored to a stud 84 extending upwardly from the bracket arm 44b. The free end of the lever 76 is formed as a latching detent 86 having a shoulder 87 adapted to engage over the control lever 70 when said control lever is depressed to hold it in said depressed position. Supported by the bracket arm 44a near the top thereof is a secondary bracket 88 which carries a normally open microswitch 90 which is adapted to be closed and so held by engagement therewith by the lever 60 when the said lever is moved by operation of the control lever 70.

Trained over the pulley 34a is a drive belt 92 engaging over a pulley 94 fixedly mounted on a drive shaft 96 at the input of a variable speed transmission means 98 mounted on the table 46 to the rear of the machine head 12. The variable speed transmission means may be of any preferred type, such for example as disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,691,896 and has a driven shaft 100 the speed of which may be varied in relation to the speed of the drive shaft 96. Mounted on the shaft 100 in longitudinallyspaced relation are a pair of circumferentially-

adjustable cams

102 and 104. Rigidly mounted on the machine head above and preferably rearwardly of the angular lever 28 for operating the cutter blade is a bracket 106 on which is pivotally mounted a lever 108 on a pivot 109. The lever at one end carries a pin 110 overlying the arm 28a of the angular lever 28 and to the other end of said lever is connected a rod 112, the free end 113 of which i angularly bent and overlies the cam 102. The lever 108 is biased by a coil spring 114 to maintain the end 113 in engagement with the surface of the cam so that when the high point 103 of the cam engages said rod end 113, the lever will be tilted against the force of the spring 114 to cause the pin 110 to depress the arm 28b of the angular lever 28 to move the cutter blade out of cutting position.

The cam 104 carries an arm 105 (FIG. 6) which when said cam is rotated engages an operating element 115 of a normally open microswitch 116 to temporarily close said switch until the arm clears said element 115. When the microswitch 116 is closed it completes an electrical circuit through the solenoid 72, since switch 90 has been previously closed, to draw the armature 74 to the left (FIG. 3) and with it the lever 76 against the tension of spring 82 to disengage the detent 86 from holding engagement with the depressed control lever 70, whereupon the leaf spring 64 moves the lever 60 to simultaneously move the detent 56 thereon to engage the slot 54 in the clutch element 52 to stop its rotation, permit the microswitch 90 to open, and cause the belt shifter to move the belt 50 from the pulley 38 onto the pulley 48 and stop the sewing operation.

The duration of the sewing operation and hence the length of the stitching can be controlled by adjusting the speed of rotation of the output shaft 100. The timing of the relative operations of the

cams

102 and 104 can be controlled by adjusting said cams circumferentially around the shaft 100.

With the attachments of the present invention mounted and operative on a conventional sewing machine of the types described, the primary sewing and slitting operations in a garment to provide piped pockets and buttonholes therein can be performed in a single operation.

In FIG. 10 there is illustrated the relative initial positions of the various fabric work pieces in performing the sewing and slitting operations. As illustrated in said FIG. 10 upon a strip of buckram backing 117 are superposed the garment fabric 118, piping strips 120 in relativelyspaced lateral relation and the pocket material 122. To commence the slitting 124 and the lines of stitches 126, the presser foot of the machine is first depressed in a conventional manner into engagement with the superposed fabrics, the cutter blade 26 is then depressed into cutting position rearwardly of the needle, as hereinbefore explained, by raising the lever arm 28a and the control lever 70 is then depressed to initiate the sewing and slitting operations. As hereinbefore described the depressing of the control lever 70 moves the belt shifter 66 from the pulley 48 to pulley 40 and simultaneously disengages the detent 56 from the clutch element 52 to drive the shaft 16 by belt 36 and drive the variable speed transmission by the belt 94 and its output shaft 100. Rotation of shaft rotates

cams

102 and 104 to control the relative lengths of the slit 124 and the stitching 126 respectively. When the microswitch 116 is closed by the cam 104 the attachment components are all returned to their initial positions by the means hereinbefore described and the machine is now ready for a succeeding sewing and slitting operation.

It will thus be seen, that with the attachments of the present invention applied to a conventional sewing machine, an operator in preparing the slitting and sewing operations for pockets and the like in garments can do so after a proper setting of the output speed of the variable speed transmission means and proper adjustments of the cams on the output shaft of said variable speed transmission without depending upon visual inspection of the slitting and sewing operations and thereby greatly speedup the operation of performing that particular operation.

What I claim is:

-1. Attachment means for a sewing machine having a needle bar carrying a needle, means for reciprocating said needle bar for performing a sewing operation, a slit cutter movably attached to the needle bar for reciprocation therewith, means for moving said slit cutter from a normal noncutting position to a cutting position for cutting operations while sewing a plurality of sitches and vice versa and means for holding said slit cutter in either of said positions, the attachment means comprising means for operating the needle bar reciprocating means and means for automatically withdrawing the slit cutter from its cutting position to its noncutting position at a predetermined time during the sewing operation and for automatically stopping the sewing operation at a predetermined relation to that whereat the slit cutter is withdrawn.

2. Attachment means according to claim 1, wherein the means for stopping the sewing operation is operable at a predetermined distance beyond that whereas the slit cutter has been withdrawn.

3. Attachment means according to claim 1, comprising a variable speed transmission means driven from a power source for the sewing machine, and cooperating means between the output end of the variable speed transmission means and the slit cutter for operating the cutter withdrawing means to move the slit cutter from its cutting position to its noncutting position.

4. Attachment means according to claim 1, camprising a variable speed transmission means adapted to be driven from a power source for the sewing machine, and cooperating means between the output end of the variable speed transmission means and the power source for operating said means for stopping the sewing operation.

5. Attachment means according to claim 1, comprising a variable speed transmission means driven by a power source for the sewing machine, and cooperating means between the output end of the variable speed transmission means and the slit cutter for operating the cutter withdrawing means to move the slit cutter from its cuting position to its noncutting position, and cooperating means between the output end of the variable speed transmission means and the power source for the sewing machine for operating said means for stopping the sewing operation.

6. Attachment means according to claim 5, wherein the output end of the variable speed transmission means is a shaft upon which is mounted two circumferentiallyadjustable cams, one of said cams operating said cutter withdrawing means for moving the slit cutter from its cutting position to its noncutting position and the other of said cams operating said means for stopping the sewing operation.

7. Attachment means according to claim 4 wherein the cooperating means between the output end of the variable speed transmission means and the power source for the sewing machine, comprises a stub shaft upon which is loosely mounted a first pulley driven by a belt from the power source, a second pulley having a hub and a single rotatable clutch element, said second pulley, hub and clutch element being rotatable as a unit, a spring-biased lever having a detent for normally holding the clutch element against rotation, a third pulley fixed on the shaft of a needle-bar reciprocating means, first drive means between said hub and said third pulley, second drive means between said third pulley and the input of the variable speed transmission means, belt shifting means operable by the spring-biased lever for moving the belt from the first pulley to the second pulley and vice versa and operable when moving the belt from the first pulley to the second pulley to release the clutch element, and said cooperating means between the output end of the variable speed transmission means and the power source further causing the detent device to move into engagement with the clutch element and move the belt from the second pulley onto the first pulley to stop the reciprocation of the needle bar.

8. Attachment means according to claim 7, wherein the cooperating means between the output end of the variable speed transmission means and the power source comprises a control lever pivotally connected to the spring-biased lever, a second pivoted lever formed with a detent, spring means biasing the second lever so that the detent thereon will engage over the control lever to hold it in its operative position when moved into said position and electrisally-controlled means for restoring the various recited means to their normal positions and stopping the operation of the sewing machine.

9. Attachment means according to claim 8 wherein the electrically-controlled means comprises a solenoid including an armature, two normally open microswitches, one of said switches controlling said solenoid; the second lever being pivotally connected to said armature, and the other of said switches being operable by the output end of the variable speed transmission, whereby when the control lever is depressed the machine will start the sewing operation and when the second switch is closed the circuit through the solenoid will close and operate it to withdraw the second pivoted lever from latching engagement with the control lever and the various spring means will function to return the respective parts to their normal positions of the machine at rest.

10. Attachment means according to claim 1, including a clamp mounted on said needle bar, a cutter blade holder pivotally mounted on said clamp, a slit cutter blade fixedly carried by said holder, said means for holding said cutter in either of said positions comprising spring means normally biasing the cutter blade holder for positioning the blade in noncutting position and camming means pivotally mounted on said needle clamp for moving and holding the cutter holder, in opposition to the biasing action of the spring means, into cutting position.

11. Attachment means as defined in claim 10- wherein the cutter blade is rearwardly and laterally disposed in relation to the needle in the direction of the sewing and slitting operation and is movable out of cutting position during the sewing operation.

12. Attachment means according to claim 11 wherein the said attachment means is applied to a two-needle sewing machine and the cutter blade is disposed between the needles.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 678,993 7/1901 Bissinger 112--125 1,936,381 11/1933 Corrall et al. 1l2-68 2,581,046 1/1952 Rich 112--68 2,620,759 12/1952 Pantusco et al. 11268 3,361,098 1/1968 Seaman 112128 XR H. HAMPTON HUNTER, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 112-125, 128