US3444833A - Fold-away spool holder for a sewing machine - Google Patents

Description

May 20, 1969 J. BLACKWOOD ET AL FOLD-AWAY SPOOL HOLDER FOR A SEWING MACHINE and Wrfnass United States Patent 0 U.S. Cl. 112218 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A spool holder for a sewing machine rotatable into an exposed position when the machine is to be operated and into a stored position in a cavity in the sewing machine when the machine is to be stored or moved.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The invention pertains to an adjustable spool support for a sewing machine adapted to be placed in an upright or lowered position and having fold-away means for accomplishing the same in a novel, eflicient, desirable manner.

Description of the prior art Sewing machines usually are equipped with a conventional stationary spool support having a pin upon which a spool of thread may be mounted and used as the source of needle thread supply. Generally, the pin is mounted on the bracket arm of the machine frame such that a line drawn through the axis of the pin is substantially perpendicular to the plane defined by the flat Work supporting surface of the frame. The overall height of the bracket arm, as measured from the work supporting surface to the topmost surface of the bracket arm, is thereby increased by the height that pin protrudes from the bracket arm surface.

Sewing machines intended for use in the home generally are stored in a cabinet provided with means for lowering the machine into stored position within the cabinet or the machine may be of the portable type and stored in a portable carrying case. The top of such cabinets have a substantially rectangular machine mounting memebr which is pivotally supported by the cabinet top and is disposed to move in and out of the cabinet. When the machine is lowered to stored position, every point thereof describes an arc around the pivot axis. The greatest arc is described by the free end of the spool support pin. Accordingly, the opening which receives the machine must be dimensioned to accommodate the greatest arc. Thus, it is apparent that relocating the pin will allow for a reduction in one of the dimensions of the opening. This allows for the corresponding dimensions of the cabinet top to be reduced thereby allowing for the manufacture of a more compact, space saving, less expensive cabinet. Substantially similar advantages are present in regard to the type of portable carrying case which can be manufactured since with the present invention, the machine per se is the significant consideration in determining the size of the case.

Furthermore, protrusion of the spool support pin from the surface of the bracket arm breaks the line of design of the bracket arm and detracts from the overall aesthetic appeal of the machine. Accordingly, it is desirable that the pin be otherwise positioned to enhance aesthetic appeal.

SUMMARY This invention relates to the art of sewing machines,

3,444,833 Patented May 20, 1969 and more particularly to a novel and improved spool holding means adapted to be mounted on the sewing machine whereby the spool can be held in either a lowered stored position or in an upright exposed operable position.

The present invention overcomes the prior art deficiencies by providing a spool holding means including a fold-away mechanism. This mechanism comprises a pivotally supported spool supporting arm to which a regular spool pin may be secured. A pivot stud carried 'by the arm is journaled for rotation in a bore formed in a bracket which is adapted to be secured to the sewing machine. A spring loaded adjustable plunger housed in the bracket engages an annular recess on the pivot stud to lock the stud in place with capacity for turning movement on the machine. In the annular recess, the stud is formed with slabbed surfaces providing plunger abutments adapted to maintain the spool holder in an operable or inoperable position. The slabbed surfaces are formed so as to provide stops which limit the turning movement of the spool pin arm so that the latter cannot abut against and damage the sewing machine upon which it is mounted. This construction facilitates storage of the machine in a cabinet or carrying case without having to worry about any elements protruding therefrom which might preclude storage in certain areas only large enough for the machine per se. Also, the possibility of damaging the spool holder itself is substantially decreased since it is well concealed within a cavity in the machine frame when the latter is stored away.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved adjustable spool support.

Another object is to provide a fold-away spool holder whereby the overall height of the sewing machine frame is substantially reduced.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a sewing machine having a more compact silhouette which is most desirable for sewing cabinets of the drop head type.

Another object of this invention is to facilitate manufacture of a portable sewing machine carrying case which is smaller and slimmer than heretofore attainable.

Having in mind the above and other objects that will be evident from an understanding of the disclosure, the invention comprises the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts as illustrated in the presently preferred embodiment of the invention which is hereinafter set forth in such detail as to enable those skilled in the art readily to understand the function, operation, construction and advantages of it when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a rear perspective view of a sewing machine embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical crosssectional view taken substantially along the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged assembled vertical crosssectional view taken substantially along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged rear elevational view taken substantially along the line 55 of FIGURE 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, wheren like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, there is shown in FIGURE 1 a conventional type sewing machine 10, such as illustrated in United States Patent No. 3,204,594, having a frame which includes a bed 11 having a flat work supporting surface 12. The bed has a raised platform 13 disposed at one end upon which is mounted a standard 14 of a bracket arm 15 terminating in a head 16. As best illustrated in FIGURE 1, an adjustable spool support which includes a spool supporting arm 40 pivoted to a supporting bracket is adapted to be secured to the back portion of the bracket arm 15 of the sewing machine 10.

The spool supporting arm 40 terminates in a circular spool pin holder 21 to which the regular spool pin 23 is secured. Commercially available spools of thread 24 may be axially mounted on the spool pin 23 and used as a source of supply of needle thread 25. The sewing machine 10 has a thread guide 22 located on the head 16 to guide the thread to a take-up mechanism (not shown). The thread guide 22 is hinged in a conventional manner so that it does not protrude from the sewing machine when the machine is placed in stored position.

The type of thread unwinder used in this embodiment has proven to be highly advantageous and desirable, and reference may be had to United States Patent No. 3,122,113 for a more complete description thereof. The disposition of the spool 24 on the pin 23 as shown in FIGURE 1, provides for relatively constant, substantially reduced, thread tension since the spool need not be rotated as thread is supplied therefrom. A circular retaining cap 26 mounted on the free end of the pin 23 prevents the spool 24 from being pulled off the pin as needle thread is drawn therefrom.

The supporting bracket 30 and supporting arm 40 are positioned substantially out of the line of sight 18 of the operator without sacrificing visibility of needle thread supply 24. The upright position 27 of the spool supporting arm 40 and holder 21, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, is the position in which these members are held relative to the bracket arm 15 when the machine is being operated. The dashed lines in FIGURE 2 illustrate the lowered storage or inoperative position 28 of these members.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, it is seen that a portion 17 of the frame of the bracket arm 15 is provided with an internally threaded channel 19 which is adapted to threadably receive an anchoring screw 31 having a beveled lower end 32. An aperture 34 formed in bracket arm 15 is adapted to receive a lug 33 therein. The lug 33 extends from the peripherally disposed substantially rectangular supporting surface 35 of the supporting bracket 30. A recessed channel 36 (see FIGURE 3) having a sloping Wall 37 is formed on the top surface of lug 33 and is laterally disposed to the rear of surface 35. Formed within the bracket arm .15 is an upstanding boss 38 which abuts the bottom upwardly sloping surface of the lug 33. The beveled end 32 of the anchoring screw 31 engages the sloping wall 37 thereby causing the bottom surface of lug 33 to contact the boss 38. The above arrangement secures the rectangular surface 35 tightly against the back surface of the bracket 15. The supporting surface 35 is slightly larger than the aperture 34 formed in the bracket arm 15 so that the aperture is completely hidden from view as shown in FIGURE 1.

The spool supporting arm 40 is elongated and comprises an upper portion 41 and a lower portion 42 angularly disposed in obtuse relationship to each other. The upper portion 41 terminates in an integrally formed circular spool pin holder 21 which carries the spool pin 23 in a manner well known in the art. Press fitted into a substantially annular recess 43 having a flat 44 formed in the lower portion 42 of the supporting arm 40, is a pivot stud keyed against rotation within the recess 43. The pivot stud 50 is formed with a flat 53 which is adapted to be aligned with the flat 44 formed within the recess 43. The pivot stud 50 has a radially disposed groove 55 formed substantially intermediate of its extremities with said radial groove 55 having two slabbed plunger abutment surfaces 56 and 56. The plunger abutment surface 56 is located to maintain the adjustable spool support 20 in its elevated operable position 27 while plunger abutment surface 56 is located to maintain said spool support 20 in its lowered storage position 28. Thus it is seen that the angularly shaped arm 40 is adapted to support a spool 24 both in an operable and inoperable position.

As shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, the supporting bracket 30 is provided with concentrically disposed upper and lower channels 60, 61 respectively, for housing a spring loaded adjustable plunger mechanism comprising a plunger 70, an adjusting screw 71 and a coil spring 72. The plunger 70- which is endwise slidable in the lower channel 61 is provided with a spring abutment surface '73. The adjusting screw 71 threadably engages the internally threaded upper channel 60. As best illustrated in FIGURE 4, the coil spring 72 is situated between the plunger 70 and the adjusting screw 71, and has a lower portion thereof disposed about an upper end of the plunger 70 which extends from the surface 73. The spring 72 is compressively constrained against the plunger spring abutment surface 73 by means of the adjusting screw 71 thereby axially loading the plunger 70. The loading can be varied to any desired degree by merely adjusting the screw 71. As shown in FIGURE 3, the supporting bracket 30 is also provided with a channel 63 substantially normally disposed relative to channels 60 and 61 and located at the lower end of the plunger mechanism channels to lower channel 61 whereby the channels intersect and form an orifice through which the lower extremity of the plunger 70 may protrude.

As shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, the pivot stud 50 carried by the arm 40 is journaled for rotation in the channel 63. The pivot stud is locked in place, having only a capacity for turning movement, when the spring loaded adjustable plunger 70 engages the pivot stud radial groove 55. The pivot stud slabbed surfaces 56 and 56' are preferably formed by an end mill which has not cut completely across the stud so as to form stops thereon which limit the turning movement of the spool pin arm 40, so that the latter cannot abut against and damage the sewing machine upon which it is mounted.

The radial groove 55 formed with the slabbed surfaces 56 and 56 form a cam section as shown by the crosssection in FIGURE 4. As the operator rotatably moves the arm 40 between operating and storage positions, the plunger 70 reciprocates endwise in the supporting bracket lower channel 61 and continuously applies tension to the pivot stud 50 during rotation. The tension is such as to allow for rotation of the pivot stud 50 whereby one of the surfaces 56 or 56' will contact the lower end of the plunger 70 depending on whether the spool is in operative or stored position.

However, when the spool pin arm 40 is rotated to storage position 28, the spool pin 23 is disposed beneath the bracket arm 15 in a cavity or opening formed between the bracket arm 15 and flat work supporting surface 12, thereby facilitating the storage of the machine in either a cabinet or carrying case without having to make provisions for any added height or depth.

Numerous alterations of the structure herein disclosed will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. However, it is to be understood that the foregoing disclosure relates to a preferred embodiment of our invention which is for purposes of illustration only and not to be construed as a limitation of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sewing machine having a frame, spool supporting means including a support arm, means for pivotally securing said arm to said sewing machine frame for turning movement between an upright operative position and a lowered inoperative position, said pivotal securing means comprising a bracket having a bore formed therein, said bracket being secured to the frame of said machine, a pivot stud carried by the support arm having formed thereon cam surface means comprising surfaces providing abutments defining the limits of turning movement of said support arm, said abutment surfaces being adapted to maintain the support arm in one of its upright operative and lowered inoperative positions, said pivot stud being journaled for turning movement in said bore, and pin means capable of supporting a spool carried by the upper end of said spool supporting arm.

2. In a sewing machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pivot stud is formed with a peripheral groove including said cam surface means, constructed and arranged to resiliently engage said cam surface means for cooperating with said abutments to maintain sufiicient tension on said pivot stud to facilitate turning movement thereof and to maintain said support arm in a selected one of its operable and inoperable positions.

3. In a sewing machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said sewing machine includes a bracket arm, said cam surface means being constructed and arranged such that in its lowered inoperative position said support arm is disposed with said supporting pin means substantially below said bracket arm.

4. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said spool supporting pin is disposed horizontally.

5. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pivot stud is disposed in substantially the same axial direction as is said spool supporting pin.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,450,837 10/1948 Marsac.

H. HAMPTON HUNTER, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

Images