US783412A - Sewing-machine feed mechanism. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905. J. BIGELOW.

SEWING MACHINE FEED MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2, 1904.

Al/r/vzmrza NITED STATES Patented February 28, 1905.

JOHN BIGELOWV, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

SEWING-MACHINE FEED MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters .tatent N0. 783,412, dated February 28, 1905. Application filed January 2, 1904. Serial No. 187,495.

To a whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN BIGELOW, of Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin, State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewing-\llachine Feed Mechanism, of which the following is a speciiication.

This invention relates to improvements in feed mechanisms for sewing-machines, and particularly to feed mechanisms for the class of sewing-machines known as single-thread loop-stitch machines, of which the Willcox & Gibbs Automatic is an illustration. In an application for Letters Patent filed by me September 26, 1903, Serial No. 174,702, I have described and claimed the modified form of looper which I use, while in my present application I describe and claim my reversible feed mechanism.

The object of this mechanism is to feed the work either forward or backward or to hold it relatively stationary while a number of stitches are taken to knot or tie the end of the seam.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple mechanism for adjusting and indicating the length of the stitches.

A still further object of the invention is to automatically lock the reversible stitch mechanism each time it is set for forward and backward stitching.

To these ends the invention consists, generally, in the constructions and combinations hereinafter described,and particularly pointed out in the claims. i

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation and partial section of a sewing-machine embodying my reversible stitch mechanism, which is here shown as set to take a forward stitch. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the lower part of the machine, a portion of the work-plate being broken away to show the mechanism arrangedbeneath the same. Fig. ,3 is a detail section on line a; w of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 4 is a detail side elevation showing the parts adjusted for making a backward stitch. Fig. 5 is a detail of the cam-piece by which the length of the stitch is adjusted.

In the drawings, 1 represents the needle and needle-bar; 2, the presser-foot; 3, the work-plate; 14, the frame of the machine; 4, the feed-dog; 5, the feed-dog carriage; 6, the feed-dog-carriage rod; 7 the driving-shaft of the machine, and 8 a rocking lever pivoted to the frame of the machine by the screw or stud 9 and provided at one end with a yoke 10, embracing an eccentric arranged on the drivingshaft 7. The other end of this rocking lever is connected by a pin or screw 11 to a link 12, the opposite end of said link being pivotally connected by a screw or pin 13 with the feeddog-carriage rod 6, which latter is connected by the pin 15 with the feed-dog carriage 5. By this connection the rocking lever 8 receives a vibratory motion through the yoke 10 from the eccentric on the driving-shaft'T. (See Fig. 1.) This vibratory motion is transmitted through the lever 8 and the link 12 to the end of the feed-dog-carriage rod 6. The feed-dogcarriage rod 6 is provided with a stud carrying a roller 37 (see Fig. 3,) and this roller engages an open-faced cam 18. By this means I change the vertical movement received through the link 12 and lever 8 from the eccentric on shaft 7 to a horizontal reciprocating or forward-and-back motion that is transmitted to the feed-dog carriage 5 and feed-dog 4. By making the angle of the open-faced cam 18 adjustable the stitch is made longer or shorter, or by bringing the cam to a vertical positionthe feed-dog will be stationary-that is, it will have no forward or backward movement.

The part represented at 19 is the feed-indicator and adjustment-piece. It is provided with a hollow shaft (see Fig. 3) which projects through the frame 14 of the machine and is secured, preferably, by a spring-washer 20 and a nut 21. Sufficient tension is placed on the washer 20 to enable the piece 19 to be freely swung on its center byits handle 19, while at the same time the adjustment-piece 19 will remain in any position in which it is set. On its upper edge the piece 19 has a broad face 22, (see Fig. 2,) marked on its upper side with numerals indicating the length of stitch at which it is set, which numerals show through a slot in the work-plate 3, (see Fig. 1,) as in the present well-known Willcox & Gibbs Automatic machines.

Beneath its broad face 22 the adjustmentpiece 19 has a long slot 23, removed from its center of rotation at one end and approaching it at the other. This cam-slot 23 engages a pin 24 on the end of one arm of a rocking lever 25, pivoted at 25 to the frame of the machine, the other end 26 of'said rocking lever being free. It follows then that when the handle of the adjustment-piece 19 is at its lowest point, as shown in the drawings, and the indicator shows twelve stitches to the inch the end 24 of the rocking lever 25 will be raised to its farthest point from the center, on which the piece 19 turns, and the point 26 of said rockinglever will be depressed. Swinging the handle 19 to its extreme in the opposite direction will cause the indicator to show thirty stitches to the inch, and the point 24 of the lever will be brought nearer the center of said adjustment-piece and the point 26 will be raised. The engagement of the pin or end 24 of the rocking lever 25 in the slot in the adjustment-piece 19 limits the extent of movement of said adjustment-piece. The openfaced cam 18 has a shaft 27 projecting centrally from its opposite or back side, which shaft fits into the hollow shaft, before referred to, of the feed-adjustment piece 19. On one side of its face said cam has an upwardly-projecting arm 28, to which one end of the link 30 is pivotally connected by the screw 29. The other end of said link 30 is pivotally connected by a pin or screw 31 to a disk 32 on the end of a rod 32, having a bearing 33, secured to the frame 14. The other end of the rod is provided with a head 34, which is located at one side and just beyond the edge of the workplate 3 for convenience in handling. On its upper side the link 30 has a double-inclined plane which is pressed upon by a spring 35, secured in the frame 14. The lower end of the link 30 rests on the end 26 of the feed-adjustment lever 25, which forms an adjustable stop for said link and controls the amount of its throw, for when the point 26 of the lever is depressed through the head 34 the link 30 can be given a greater throw than when the point 26 is raised. open-faced cam-piece 18 at a greater or less angle and the movement conveyedback to the feed-dog be increased or decreased. The pressure of the spring 35 on the rising incline of the link 30 forces its lower side against the point of the adjustment-lever at 26 and se curely locks said link in such position, and through the link connection with the openfaced cam 18 it necessarily holds said cam firmly at any desired angle, and the vertical movement of the end 13 of the feed-dog rod, through the roller connection with. said cam, is converted to a horizontal movement at its opposite end, which is conveyed through the feed-dog carriage to the feed-dog. The posi- Thus the link can set the tion of the parts described for making a forward stitch is shown in Fig. 1 and for making a backward stitch in Fig. 4. By bringing the spring 35 to the top of the double incline on the link 30, which the operator can easily determine by the tension on the head 34, the slot in the open-faced cam 18 will be in a vertical position and no movement of the feed-dog will follow except an up-and-down movement received from the eccentric on the driving-shaft of the machine on which the free end of said carriage rests. The spring 17 in the feed-dog carriage 5 by pressing at one end on said carriage and at its other on the pin 16 serves to prevent a rattling noise from lost motion on account of looseness in any of the driving parts. This spring may be made very light, as it is not required to give the backward movement to the feed-dog and its carriage, as in the well-known Willcox & Gibbs Automatic machine, both the forward and backward move ments inmy machine being occasioned by the positive engagement of both arms of the yoke 10 with both sides of the eccentric on the driving-shaft instead of engagement with one side only, as in the said Willcox & Gibbs machine.-

The looper 36 (see Fig. 2) I have described and claimed in my said pending application.

It is shaped to carry one side of the loop which 9 it is holding to the side and back of the needle when making a backward stitch, so that its hook will take a new loop from the needle and pass it through the old one held by the hook to make a stitch.

The operation of the parts described is as follows: Move the handle 19 until the figure on the indicator 22 shows through the opening in the work-plate the length of stitch desired. The spring-pressure on the top of the link 30 allows this link to yield to the movements of the point 26 of the adjustment-lever and to automatically adjust itself to a greater or less length of stitch. By turning the head 34 forward for a forward stitch and backward for a backward stitch the link 30 is moved forward or backward, and through its connection 29 with the open-faced cam 18 it sets said cam at the-desired angle to make the stitch required, while the pressure of the spring 35 on the reverse side of the inclined plane on the top of said link 30 holds the bottom side of said link against the point 26 of the adj ustmentlever 25 and securely locks said parts. Then by the revolution of the driving-shaft the eccentric thereon, through the rocking lever 8 and link 12, gives a vertical vibration equally above and below the center of the open-faced cam 18 to the feed-dog rod 6, which, aspreviously stated, engages said cam through a suitable stud arranged upon said rod and carrying a roller 37. The angle at which the cam 18 is set changes the vertical movement of the rod 6 at one end to a forward-and-backward movement at the other end, where said rod is pivotally connected to the feed-dog carriage. The forward-and-backward movement is assisted by the fact that above the pivotal point 15 the said carriage is supported by a stud 16, on which it is free to move only forward and backward. The free end of the feed-dog carriage 5 rests on the eccentric on the driving-shaft of the machine, by which the feed-dog it carries is raised above the workplate to move the work. The forward or backward movement of the dog then takes place, thus carrying the work beneath the presserfoot with it. The eccentric recedes and the feed-dog carriage follows it, owing to the action of the spring 17 pressing on the stud 16 and the connection of the rod 6 at 15 below the center on which the carriage swings. When the feed-dog has thus receded below the work-plate, it moves into position to again engage the work. The feed-dog receives all of its movements, up and down, back and forward, from a single eccentric on the drivingshaft of the machine and operates in the feeddog slot in the work-plate of the present machine without a'ny change when the openfaced cam 18 is pivoted on its center and the vertical movement of the end of the rod 6 is equally above and below said center.

The adjustable stop formed by the end of the lever 25, together with the link connected to the cam 18, forms an independently operable and adjustable limiting device for said cam. This limiting device is connected to and adjusted by the stitch-indicator, and it forms a means of regulating the stroke of the feed-dog, and consequently the length of the stitches, whether the machine is sewing forward or backward.

1 claim as my invention .1. 1nasewing-machinehavingits feed mechanism actuated by a single eccentric on the driving-shaft, the combination, with a feeddog carriage and feed-dog, of a reversible feedcontrolling cam, a gage, a stitch-indicator provided with a cam for adjusting said gage, and mechanism for changing the angle of said feedcontrolling cam and automatically holding the same with spring-pressure in any desired position determined by said indicator and gage to make interchangeably forward or backward stitches of equal length, substantially as described.

2. In a sewing-machine, the combination, with a feed-dog and feed-dog carriage, of a single eccentric on the driving-shaft of the machine for actuating all of the movements of' said feed-dog, means connecting said eccentric and said feed-dog carriage with a reversible cam for controlling the forward and backward movements of said feed-dog, an adjustable gage-point, and means held in yielding contact against said gage-point by spring-pressure, by which the angle of said cam can be changed for making either a forward or backward feed action of equal length without changing the position of said gage-point.

3. In a sewing-machine, the combination with a feed-dog and feed-dog carriage, of a reversible feed-controlling cam, and means connecting said carriage with said cam, a handcontrolled disk, a link pivoted at one end to said cam and at its other end to said disk and having two depressions on its upper edge with a swell between them, an adjustable gage, and a spring acting upon the upper edge of said link and causing said link as soon as its pivoted bearings have passed over their centers, either way, to descend against and be held by said adjustable gage-point, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a sewing-machine, the combination, with a feed-dog, of a feed-controlling cam, means connecting said feed-dog with said cam, a link having one of its ends pivotally con nected with said cam, a rotatable disk under the control of the operator to which the other end of the link is connected, said link having its upper edge formed with two depressions and an intermediate flat elevation or double inclined plane, a spring pressing upon the inclined. surface of said link and arranged to be directly over the angle of said inclined planes when the cam is in a vertical position, and an adjustable stop against which said link is pressed by said spring, substantially as described.

5. In asewing-machine havingits feed mechanism actuated by a single eccentric on the driving-shaft, the combination, with the feeddog and feed-dog carriage, of a reversible feed-controlling cam, means connecting said eccentric and said feed-dog carriage with said cam, a stitch-indicator, a single gage-point receiving adjustment from said indicator, which limits the means for adjusting the angle of the feed-cam to any desired length of stitch, but leaves said means free to change the feed action to either a forward or backward direction, substantially as described.

6. In a sewing-machine, the combination with a feed-dog, of an oscillatory feed-controlling cam, means for connecting said feed-dog and said cam, an independent oscillatory hearing, a link connecting said bearing with said cam for controlling its movements, a spring arranged to apply pressure on said link, and limiting devices for said cam to determine the amount and direction of motion conveyed to said feed-dog from the cam and thereby the direction and length of stitch, substantially as described.

7 In a sewing-machine, the combination, with the pivoted reciprocating feed-dog carriage 5 and feed-dog 4 carried thereby, of the driving-shaft provided with an eccentric 7, on which one end of the feed-dog carriage rests and by which it is raised and lowered, the

rocking lever 8 engaging said eccentric, the

rod 6 pivoted to said carriage, the link 12 connecting the lever 8 and the rod 6, the openfaced reversible cam 18 and the roll 37 engaging said cam, substantially as described.

8. In a sewing-machine, the combination, with the feed-dog carriage, feed-dog and operating-rod 6, of the feed-controlling cam 18, the link 30 pivotally connected at one end to said cam and at its other end to rotatable means for operating said link, the adjustable stitch-indicator 19 provided With a cam-slot 23 and the pivoted lever engaging said slot and having an adjustable point forming a stop for said link, substantially as described.

9. In a sewing-machine, the combination, With the pivoted reciprocating carriage, the feed-dog 4; arranged thereon and the operating-rod 6 pivotally connected to said carriage, of the driving-shaft provided With the eccentric 7 upon which the free end of said carriage is supported, the rocking lever 8 provided with a yoke 10 engaging saideccentric, the link 12 connecting the lever 8 and the rod 6, the reversible feed-controlling cam 18, the roll 37 secured to the end of the rod 6 and engaging said cam, and means for reversing the position of said cam, substantially as described.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 24th day of December, 1903.

JOHN BIGELOW. In presence of A. (J. PAUL, (J. G. HANSON.

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