US3574430A

US3574430A - Compound hinge for connecting sewing machine head to sewing machine cabinet

Info

Publication number: US3574430A
Application number: US880143A
Authority: US
Inventors: Manfred Merz; John A Fitzwater
Original assignee: Sears Roebuck and Co
Current assignee: Sears Roebuck and Co
Priority date: 1969-11-26
Filing date: 1969-11-26
Publication date: 1971-04-13
Anticipated expiration: 1988-04-13

Abstract

A compound hinge for connecting a sewing machine head to a sewing machine cabinet having a top surface panel provided with a cutout opening suitable to receive a sewing machine head. The hinge is secured adjacent to the opening and includes a pair of pivotal elements which are adapted for selective engagement with sewing machine heads having different base sizes so that a single cabinet will accommodate different size sewing machine heads.

Description

United States Patent Manfred Merz Montreal, Quebec, Canada; John A. Fitzwater, Oak Park, 111. 880,143

Nov. 26, 1969 Apr. 13, 197 1 Sears Roebuck and Co.

Chicago, 111.

Inventors Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee COMPOUND HINGE FOR CONNECTING SEWING MACHINE HEAD TO SEWING MACHINE CABINET 6 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 312/21,

16/29, 312/30 Int. Cl A47b 81/00 Field of Search 312/21, 30;

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,078,132 2/1963 Stanton et al Primary Examiner-Bobby R. Gay

' Assistant ExaminerJames C. Mitchell Att0rneys-Nathan N. Kraus and Joseph R. Marcus ABSTRACT: A compound hinge for connecting a sewing machine head to a sewing machine cabinet having a top surface panel provided with a cutout opening suitable to receive a sewing machine head. The hinge is secured adjacent to the opening and includes a pair of pivotal elements which are adapted for selective engagement with sewing machine heads having different base sizes so that a single cabinet will accommodate different size sewing machine heads.

PATENTEb APR 1 31971 SHEET 1 BF 2 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a compound hinge device for connecting a sewing machine head to a sewing machine cabinet. More particularly, this invention relates to a compound hinge intended to be used in pairs and each having a pair of pivotal elements, adapted to be selectively secured to a sewing machine head to pivotally support said head. By selectively utilizing corresponding elements of a pair of hinges, different sizes of sewing machine heads may be individually accommodated in a single cabinet. Thus, approximately 90 percent of the sewing machines presently on the market may be individually installed in a cabinet utilizing the hinges in accordance with our invention.

In a conventional household sewing machine, the sewing machine cabinet has a planar surface which has an opening to receive the sewing machine head so that the sewing machine head will be out of sight during periods of nonuse of the machine and when the sewing machine cabinet is used as a desk or work table or as a decorative piece of furniture. It is apparent that the sewing machine cabinet can be chosen and often is chosen by the consumer to fit into various interior settings in the consumers home so that it becomes desirable for the consumer to try to keep the cabinet purchased with the original machine so that additional expense can be avoided when the comurner desires to purchase a different sewing machine for any one of a number of reasons. It is also apparent that different makes of sewing machines and different models ofsewing machines are not of the same base size. Therefore, when the consumer decides to replace his present machine with a new or later model machine, he now finds that he must also replace the sewing machine cabinet at the same time. We have determined that at the present time there is no compound hinge or other device available that will allow the consumer to interchangeably accommodate different size sewing machine heads in a single cabinet.

According to present practices, vendors of sewing machines are required to provide a cabinet having an opening of a particular size cutout in the top panel of the cabinet to accommodate a particular size of machine head. The machine heads and cabinets generally are purchased from different sources of supply subject to different manufacturing schedules and the heads are installed in the cabinets just prior to delivery to the ultimate customer. Accordingly, at least two different sizes of cabinets must be stocked by a vendor in order to meet customers needs and thus a large stock of cabinets must be maintained since it cannot be exactly predicted in advance just which size of machine head will be sold.

The use of a compound hinge in accordance with our invention permits the utilization of a single cabinet arranged to accommodate at least two different sizes of machine heads with the result that a substantially smaller number of cabinets need be stocked in inventory.

We have found a novel compound hinge device for connecting different size sewing machine heads to a single sewing machine cabinet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide compound hinge devices for connecting a sewing machine head to a sewing machine cabinet.

It is a further object of our invention to provide compound hinges including two spaced pivotally supported hinge elements that support the sewing machine head, said elements being adapted for selective use with sewing machine heads having different base sizes so that a single cabinet will accommodate one of a plurality of different heads.

Therefore, the present invention provides, in combination, a sewing machine head, a cabinet having a top panel having an opening to receive said head, a pair of spaced compound said hinges including two spaced pivotally supported hinge elements, said elements being adapted for selective securement to said head, the spacing of said hinge elements being such that selected two of said elements will engage and support of one size of head and selected other two of said elements will engage and support another size of head whereby a single cabinet will accommodate one of a plurality of different sized sewing machine heads.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will become apparent from the following description when the same is considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a sewing machine cabinet having a planar surface having an opening to receive a large sewing machine head;

FIG. 2 is another top plan view of a sewing machine cabinet having a planar surface having an opening to receive a smaller sewing head;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of a sewing machine cabinet showing a pair of compound hinges secured to the same adjacent the cabinet opening for connecting the sewing machine head to the sewing machine cabinet;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view taken substantially on line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view on an enlarged scale, showing a compound hinge in accordance with a preferred embodiment of our invention;

FIG. 6 is a similar view of a modified embodiment of our invention;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view of the sewing machine cabinet showing in solid lines the compound hinge device pivotally supporting a sewing machine head in its operative position above the sewing machine cabinet and in broken lines the stored sewing machine head within the opening in the cabinet; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the compound hinge of our invention.

As set forth hereinabove, our invention is related to the type of sewing machines mounted in cabinets having a top panel providedwith a cutout opening. The machine head is pivotally supported by the panel and in operative in-use position the base of the head substantially covers the cutout. For storage purposes, the head is adapted to be rocked downwardly and passed through the cutout toassume a position in a space below the plane of the panel.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates, generally, a sewing machine cabinet having a top panel such as illustrated in FIGS. I, 2 and 3. Sewing machine cabinet 10 has a cutout 11 in the top panel to receive sewing machine head 13 which includes a sewing machine head baseplate.

A compound hinge l4 and 15 comprising pivotal means 16 and "and 20 and 21 are secured to cabinet 10 adjacent cutout II, as is shown in FIG. 3. The pivotal means include a plurality of

pivotal members

18, 19, 22 and 23 that may be engaged with the sewing machine head baseplate for pivotally supporting head 13. Pivotal members 18, I9, 22 and 23 are adapted for selective use with sewing machine heads having different size baseplates whereby a single cabinet will accommodate one of a plurality of different sewing machine heads.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 5 and 8, the compound hinge of our invention comprises a pair of spaced inverted

channel portions

35 and 36, the

inner legs

37 and 38 of which are connected by an intermediate plate portion 39. The outer legs of said channel portions are provided with integral flanges with said flanges and said plate portion being coplanar and being pierced to provide a plurality of screw holes 24a. The web of each channel portion is cut away as at 41, as illustrated clearly in FIG. 8 and the walls of the channel portions are pierced to receive

pins

16 and 17 which pivotally support hinges secured to said panel adjacent said opening, each of hinge elements. The hinge elements 18 and I9 are shaped substantially as illustrated in FIG. 7 and each includes a body portion having a recess and an integral finger portion 18a and 19a having a recess in the lower face thereof. The body portion has an edge 42 affording an abutment for the machine head, as illustrated in FIG. 7.

The hinge elements are arranged for limited swinging movement about their respective axis.

Referring to FIG. 5, it will be seen that the channel portion of the hinge is rearwardly offset from the portion and that the pins are correspondingly offset. Thus, the hinge element 18 projects laterally beyond the corresponding hinge element 19.

FIG. 1 shows the selective use of

hinge elements

19 and 23 to support a large baseplate containing sewing machine head.

Hinge elements

18 and 22 are disengaged and not in use as shown in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 2, a smaller baseplate containing sewing machine head is mounted within the cabinet by the selective use of

hinge elements

18 and 22 so that hinge elements 19 and 23 (shown in FIG. I) are in the disengaged position and out of use. Spacer means 9 close up the cabinet cutout or opening so that a larger work surface is now provided. Spacer means 9 may be dish shaped to hold pins and the like.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the letters A, B, C, D, E, and F represent actual measured intervals we have used in a sewing machine cabinet utilizing the compound hinge of our invention.

We have found that best results have been obtained utilizing our invention wherein the distance A is 3% inches, the distance B is 2% inches, the space between

hinge elements

18 and 19, represented by the letter C is 1 inch, the distance E being approximately 12 3 H32 inches, the distance F being 12 7/32 inches and the space between

hinge elements

22 and 23, represented by the letter D, being three-fourth inches.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, it is apparent that the compound hinges l4 and 15 are secured to the cabinet via, for example, screws 24 that are driven through holes 24A of both hinges.

As set forth hereinabove, FIG. 5 shows the compound hinge of our invention with the hinge elements 16 and I7 having fingerlike means I8 and I9 axially offset from each other so that means 18 extends approximately one-fourth inch beyond means 19.

FIG. 6 shows a modification of the compound hinge of our invention wherein

hinge elements

26 and 27 have fingerlike means 28 and 29 axially aligned with each other. Holes 25A through compound hinge 25 are utilized in conjunction with fastening means such as screws or bolts for affixing the hinge to the sewing machine cabinet adjacent the opening.

FIG. 7 shows the sewing machine head 13 secured to the hinge member 18 and fingerlike means 180 via securing means 30, here, a set screw. The set screw prevents movement of sewing machine 13 on fingerlike member 18a during the pivoting movement of the member as the sewing machine head is raised to its operative position, as shown, above cabinet wherein the machine rests on machine rest 31, or lowered to its idle position, shown in dotted lines, within the opening. Releasable locking means 140 permit locking of hinge element 18, for example, in an operative position and are made an integral part of the compound hinge mechanism. Hinge element 18 may also be locked in a maintenance or oiling position above the operative position by moving sewing machine head 13 and hinge element I8 above the operative mode locked position so that pivotal member 18 fimily rests on said releasable locking means 14a.

larger size base is laced in the opening, one of the hinge pins 18a or 19a may e readily engaged with the basep ate in conjunction with at least another compound hinge as was previously shown.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In a particularly preferred embodiment of our invention, this invention provides, in combination, a sewing machine head, a cabinet having a top panel having an opening to receive said head, a pair of spaced compound hinges secured to said panel adjacent opening, each of said hinges including two spaced pivotally supported hinge elements, said elements including fingerlike means at one end for selective securement to said machine head which includes sockets to receive certain of said fingerlike means, the spacing of said hinge elements being such that selected two of said elements will engage and support one size of head and selected other two of said elements will engage and support another size of head whereby a single cabinet will accommodateone of a plurality of a different sized sewing machine heads.

It is apparent that the present invention provides a compound hinge for allowing a consumer to interchangeably accommodate different size sewing machine heads in a single cabinet.

Various changes coming within the spirit of my invention may-suggest themselves to those skilled in the art; hence, I do not wish to be limited to the specific embodiment shown and described or uses mentioned, but intend the same to be merely exemplary, the scope of my invention being limited only by the appended claims.

We claim:

I. In combination, a sewing machine head, a cabinet having a top panel having an opening to receive said head, a pair of spaced compound hinges secured to said panel adjacent said opening, each of said hinges including two spaced pivotally supported hinge elements, said elements being adapted for selective securement to said head, the spacing of said hinge elements being such that selected two of said elements will engage and support one size of head and selected other two of said elements will engage and support another size of head whereby a single cabinet will accommodate one of a plurality of different sized sewing machine heads.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said hinges includes two spaced inverted channel portions, each receiving a hinge element.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said hinge elements includes fingerlike means at one end and wherein said machine head includes sockets to receive certain of said fingerlike means.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3 wherein said machine head includes means for securing said fingerlike means in said machine head sockets.

5. The invention as defined in claim 3 wherein said fingerlike means are axially offset from each other.

6. The invention as defined in claim 3 wherein said fingerlike means are axially aligned with each other.

Claims

1. In combination, a sewing machine head, a cabinet having a top panel having an opening to receive said head, a pair of spaced compound hinges secured to said panel adjacent said opening, each of said hinges including two spaced pivotally supported hinge elements, said elements being adapted for selective securement to said head, the spacing of said hinge elements being such that selected two of said elements will engage and support one size of head and selected other two of said elements will engage and support another size of head whereby a single cabinet will accommodate one of a plurality of different sized sewing machine heads.