US724869A - Electrical cloth-cutting machine. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED APR; '7, 1903.

P. HCWE.

ELECTRICAL 'CLOTH CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION` FILED AUG. 2. 1901.

No MIDDEL.

UNITED YSTATES VPATENT OFFICE.

PATRICK HOWE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF FIVE-SIXTHS TO FENNO CLOTH CUTTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSA- CHUSETTS, A COPARTNERSHIP.

ELECTRICAL CLOTH-CUTTING` MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 724,869, dated April 7, -1 903.

Y Application tiled August 2, 1901. Serial No. 70,639. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom, it mag/concern:

Beit known that I, PATRICK Hows, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Electrical Cloth-CuttingMachines, of'which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts. 1o My invention is an improvement in electrical cloth-cutting machines, its object being to provide a construction which shallbe powerful and yet exceedingly light on the table. As stated more fully in my Patent No. l5 637,613, granted November 21, 1899, modern cloth-cutters must be electrically operated, and in my said patent I provided a compact construction for this purpose; but in practice'I 'have found that it was impracticable zo to operate a cloth-cutter having such a heavy Weight at its outer end, as, in the iirst place, its constant use produces too great a strain on the strength of the operator, in the Vnext* place this great weight requires' a base or z 5 foot plate of such shape and dimensions as to prevent the proper cutting of very small and narrow pieces of cloth, and, in the third place, said weight requires rolls and special construction for permitting the movement of the 3o cutter over the table, and these rolls, &c., be-

come rapidly clogged with lint and dirt, all these objections taken together making it practically impossible to use an electrical construction of the said general character. Accordingly in my present invention I have provided an electrical construction which while securing all the desired advantages of economy of space, construction, operation, neatness, and convenience permits 4o the employment of exceedingly-light cutting mechanism capable of cutting the-smallest and narrowest pieces of cloth and capable of being swung or moved Without exertion freely and rapidly in all directions.

The constructional details of my invention will be pointed out more fully in the course of the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of my invention is 5o shown, and the latter will be more particularly defined in the appended claims, also forming a part of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of 011e embodiment of my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view thereof in side ele- 55 vation, the table and certain other portions being broken away and shown in section for clearness of understanding. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation thereof, parts being broken away and shown'in section. Fig. Lis acentral ver- 6o tical section taken on the line 4 4, Fig. 2 and Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5 5, Fig. 3, showing the eccentric relationof the motor-bracket.

Y Mounted on a suitable stand a, of any desired construction, is a base a' of a post or column a5, threaded at its lower end, as shown clearly in Figs. 2 and 4, vand provided above said threaded portion with a reduced shaft a, extending up above the supporting-arm of 7o the cutter, as shown at a7, which will be presently described. Mounted on this shaft is a sleeve b, resting on lugs or a shoulder c' of a nut or housing c, adjustable' on the threaded end of the post a5. The sleeve b is shown as an extension or'laterally-projecting portion of l an arm which is connected at its free end to -a second arm @,carrying the cloth-cutter fat itsouter end. These arms are connected together in usual manner and carry the operat- 8o ing mechanism of the cloth-cutter, herein shown as comprising a rod e', driven by gearing at e2 from a pulley g, belt g', and pulley g2 on the armature-shaft of the motor M. The

` motor M is carried by a bracket m, clamped by any'suitable means, as by a bolt m', to the upper end a7 of the post a5. Said bracket has at its lower end upwardly-projecting ears or studs m2,provided with bearing-bolts migwhich carry an internal ring m4, provided ywith other A9o bearing-bolts 'm5, together constituting a universal joint for a central bearing m6 for the lower end m7 of the armature-shaft, on which ythe pulley g2 is mounted eccentrically to the vswinging center of the arm d. The bracket 'm is secured to the shaft 0.5 eccentrically, as

indicated at m8, Fig. 5, in coaxial line with said pulley for the purpose of tightening the belt g' upon being turned slightly around to the rear, Fig. 1, or to the left, Fig. 5, as laced roo belts cannot be run with cloth-cutting machines on account of the vibration caused thereby, and hence this provision for tightening the belt without lacing it becomes necessary.

By having the motor located over the stationary shaft or support to which the swinging arms d e are pivoted all the weight is removed from the cutter j', so that it is possible to employ an exceedingly narrow and small foot-platef for the disk cutterf2 to cooperate with. The practical importance and value of this mattei' will be more apparent when it is borne in mind that sufcieut power is required for driving these cloth-cutters through a considerable thickness of cloth, at least one-fourth horse-power being desirable, and to provide such an amount of power electrically would require an amount of iron and copper making the cloth-cutter end fof the machine weigh over one hundred pounds, whereas in the construction above set forth the weight of the cutterfis reduced to one pound.

rlhe operatorcannotshove the one-hundredpound electrical cutter around on the table all day without great fatigue, whereas there is no diiculty whatever in operating a light cutter of one-pound weight, and yet the cutter is driven just as powerfully in my present construction as in the previous construction.

The advantage of having the small toe or foot platef is that it makes it possible to make very small turns and cut very narrow pieces of cloth, both of which are impossible with the large foot-plate and heavy machine as'shown in my before-mentioned patent, and also the lightness of the operating endfof the machine does away with the necessity of rollers, as already explained, and permits the machine to be moved quickly and freely to follow all sharp turns and special patterns with an accuracy impossible with a heavy moving end.

By turning the nut or sleeve c upwardly the arms d e and cutterf may be raised almost out of contact with the table, thereby permitting the greatest freedom of movement with the least fatigue.

All the aforesaid lightness of construction and facility of movement are made possible by having the motor M placed on the stationary standard or support of the machine, where it is practically at the center movement, and instead of placing a prohibitive weight at the endfof the machine it gives steadiness of movement, preventinga tendency to vibration in the standard and giving, in a sense, counterbalancing effect, while accomplishing the leading purpose of permitting the machine to be driven electrically by a belt in substantially the same manner as in my Patent No. 355,085, of December 28, 1886.

It will be understood that my purpose is to retain the recognized advantages of the old style of machine-for instance, as shown in my last-mentioned patent-and yet operate the same electrically, as the modern requirements call for electricity as a motive power, require correspondingly high speed, steadiness, durability, dac., and all these objects are secured by transferring the weight of the motor from the moving endfof the machine,

to the standard m or stationary support part of the machine, said motor being supported thereby independently of the movements of the swinging arm.

It will be seen that by the special construction of the present embodiment of my invention the motor, driving-pulley, and adjacent parts do not bring the slightest weight upon the swinging parts of the machine and that the latter are adjustable up and down on the post a5 without requiring any adjustment of the motor or motor-bracket, the adjustment of the latter by the bolt m' being for the purpose of tightening the belt g', as explained.

I am aware that many changes in constructional details and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and accordingly I do not limit myself otherwise than as explained hereinafter in the claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A cloth-cutting machine, comprising a rotary cloth-cutter, swinging arms carrying said cloth-cutter and also provided with driving means for rotating said cutter, and including a driving-belt, a fixed standard or support to which said swinging arms are concentrically pivoted, a motorbracket mounted on said fixed support independently of saidswinging arms, an electric motor carried by said bracket, a driving-pulley eccentric of the pivotal axis of said arms on said support and driven by said motor, said belt pass` ing over and being driven by said drivingpulley. j

2. A cloth-cutting machine, comprising av rotary cloth-cutter, swinging arms carrying said cloth-cutter and also provided with driving means for rotating said cutter, and including a driving-belt, a fixed standard or support to which said swinging arms are concentrically pivoted, a motor-bracket mounted on said fixed support independently of said swinging arms, an electric motor carried by said bracket, the armature-shaft of said motor extending toward said bracket, a pulleyl mounted thereon for driving said belt, and a bearing carried pivotally by said bracket for the free end of said armature-shaft.

IOO

IIO

3. A cloth-cutting machine, comprising a stand, a stationary post or column projecting vertically therefrom and having its upper portion reduced to constitute a supporting-shaft, a rotary cloth-cutter, swinging arms carrying the same at one end, and at their other end provided with a vertical sleeve, a housing adjustably mounted on said post below its reduced part, said sleeve being carried by said housing and journaled on said reduced part, a bracket secured to and extending laterally from said supporting-shaft above said sleeve, an electric motor mounted on said bracket vertically above said post, and belt and pulley connections from the armature-shaft of said motor for operating said rotary cutter.

4. A cloth-cutting machine, comprising a stand, a stationary post or column projecting vertically therefrom and having its upper portion freduced to constitute a supporting-shaft, a rotary cloth-cutter, swinging arms carrying vthe same at one end, and at their other end stand, a stationary post or column projecting vertically therefrom and having its upper portion reduced to constitute a supporting-shaft, a rotary cloth-cutter, swinging arms carrying the same at one end, and at their other end provided with a vertical sleeve, a housing havingthreaded connection with said post below said reduced part, said housing having an inwardly-projecting shoulder above its threaded part, said sleeve fitting between said housing and said supporting-shaft and carried on said shoulder, a bracket secured to and extending laterally from said supportingshaft above said sleeve to permit free swinging movement of said arms to any position, an electric motor mounted on said bracket above said post, and driving connections from the armature-shaft of said motor for driving said cutter. A

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to-this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PATRICK HOWE.

Witnesses: e

GEO. H. MAXWELL, Guo. W. GREGORY.

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