US1257900A - Feeding mechanism. - Google Patents

Description

A. F. McCULLUM. FEEDING MECHENJSM. APPLICATiDN HLEDOCT- 16. I914- 1,257,900. v Patented Feb. 26,1918.

. mum's-sneer 2.

A. F. McCOLLUM. rzmmmicnmlsm. '-APPLICAHON FILED OCT. l5. I914.

Patented Febf26, 1918.

vqwaarfl Collam I A. F. m couum.

Patbnted Fb. 26,1918.

1 SHEETSSHEET 4,

A. F. McGOLLUM.

FEEDING MECHAMSM.

APPLICATION FILED ocT. us. 1914.

, Patented Feb.

mums-sum A. F. McCOLLUM.

FEEDING MEBHAN'SM. APPLICATION man OQT- 15. 1919' 1,257,900. Patented Feb. 26, 1918.

A. F. MCCULLUM. FEEDNG MECHAMSM.

mmcmou itLED on. :5, 9m

Patented Feb. 26, 1918.

1' SHEETS-SHEET I.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED F. MOCOLLUM, OF PiLOOMSBURG, PENNSYI VANIA, ASSIGINOR OF THREE- FIFTHS TO JAMES MAGEE, 21), OF BLOOMSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

FEEDING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 26, 1913.

Todzll whom 2'!) may concern:

Be it knownthat I, ALFRED F. McConing in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, have in- 'vented certain Improvements in Feeding Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

One object of my invention is to provide a sewing mechanism particularly designed to facilitate the seaming and binding of fabrics such, as rugs, carpets and curtains which are diflicult to handle and especially those of the type described and claimed in my Patents Nos. 1,049,119 -and 1,049,120, of December 31, 1912.

This object and other advantageous ends I attain as hereinafter set forth reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which, p

Figures 1 and 2 are respectively a side elevation and a plan of my invention;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevation of aportion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

' Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical SBCCIOII.

taken on the line d--a, Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an elevation showing aportion of my invention as applied to a sewing machine he'adi the latter being shown in dot and-dash lines;

Figs. (3, 7 and 8 are enlarged vertical sections taken on the line 6-5, Fig. 5,'show-.

ing several of the parts in certain of the positions which they occupy during the operation of the machine; and

Figs. 9 and 10 are perspective iews showing certain features 0 my invention.

In Figs. 1 to 4 'of the above drawings, the support or table for the fabrics to e sewed consists primarily of a frame I having two side memb rs 2 and? connected by transversely extending tie rods 4 and providing bearings for, a series of rollers 5. The side members 2 and 3 are inclined longitudinally as shown in Fig 1 and are supported by standards 6 each made in two sections 7 and 8 and adjustably secured togather by clamps'9.

The rollers 5 taper inwardly from each endand are of the smallest diameter at the middle. A guiding rail 10, which is designed to support the edge of the fabric, (see Fig. 9) is discontinued between suitable points 11 and 12 to provide room for a table 13 which forms a support for the sewing machine head 14 (see Figs. 1, 2 and an eccentric 20 operative within a stra nected by meaiis of 8').- This table is inclined at substantially the same angle as the side members, the series of rollers 5 ano rail 10 and forms the support for theedge of the fabric while it is being passed under the sewing machine head 14, bein hinged at 15 and 16 to the le 17 whic are adjustabl'y secured by bo ts 18 to feet resting upon a floor.

The sewing machine head may be of any suitable type and I have therefore only shown such part of the mechanism therein as cooperates with or forms a part of my invention; the mechanism for actuating the needle, presser foot, and shuttle being omitted for sake ,of,clearness. The feeding mechanism and the mechanism for varying the length of stitch is however illustrated, and consists of a shaft 19 carrying 21 slidable'between two arms '22 of a li ting or actuating lever 23. This lever is pivotally connected at 24 to one end of a link 25 whose opposite end is pivotally connected to one arm 26 of a bell-cranli lever-27 which is fulcrumed at 28-to the headof the machine (see Figs. 6, (and 82'. The pivotal oints of the lever 23, the ink 25 and the ell-crank lever 27 are so positioned that a rotary movement of the eccentric not only oscilla e's said first lever laterally as indicatcd y the double-headed arrow as but will also 've it an up and down movement because 0 v the swinging of the link 25 on the' pivot connecting it to the bell-crank lever.

The toothed fabric-feeding rack 30 is cona lever 31 toa shaft 32 rotatably mounted under the bed 33 of the machine head, there being on said shaft a crank or eccentric portion 32 on which is mounted an arm 29 pivotally connected to the lower end of the lever 23. With this arrangement of parts an up and down movement. of the lever 23 will impart a substantially horizontal reciprocating movement to the feeding rack 30, which at the same time in Fig. 7 the pivotally supported e'nd of the link will be raised so that when" "l'he eccentric 20 is rotated the path of move-i men t. of the pi vot point 24 is such that the vertical movement of the lever 23 is materially greater than when the bell-crank lever is in the position shown in Fig. 6. This increase in the throw of the lever 23 produces an increased movement of the feeding rack 30 and thereby tends to feed a reater amount of the fabric under the nee Is for each reciprocation than before the above adjustment.

For the purposes of drivin the machine an electric motor 38 is secure to the under 'side of the table rind drives a pulley 39 on the shaft 19 through the medium of belts 40 and 41 and a friction clutch 42, which in'the present instance consists of two disks :43 and 44 respectively connected by-safl-belts to said pulley 39: and to the motor. The disk 4-3 is mbved into and-out of'contact with the disk 44 by means of a. lever' 45 pivoted at, 46 to the under side of the table 13. This lever 45 is normally held in its u per position by a spring 46s9pured to sai table 18 and It is also connected by means of asprin 47 to u treadle 48 pivotally mounted on e legs '17 (Figs. 1, 3 and 4).

At one end the treadle a bracket 49 in which is a slot 50 for the reception ofa pin 53 projecting froma link 51 on achain52r- The upper end of said chain is secured to the lower end of the rod'54 slidable through the table 13 and having a compression spr ng 55 confined between said table and a nut 56 on said rod. The upper end of this latter is movabl connecte to a threaded arm 57 screwe into the arm 58 of thebell-crank lever 27. With this combination of arts,

9 after the treadle 48 has been moved ownwardly a certain distance the pin 53 will engage the upper end of the slot in the bracket 49 after which the continued downward movement of said treadlewill pull the chain downwardly and with it the rod 54 and arm 57 thereby turning the bell-crank lever 27 on its pivot throwing upwardly the arm 26 for the purpose previously noted.

The rugs or other fabrics, which are to be seamed or bound at the edges are first rolled as shown at a: in Fig. 9 and are then .placed' upon the rollers 5 at the left hand end of the machine, as shown in Fi ,1. These rollers 5 are freely rotatable an the to due to its own weight, moves downwar on the guideway, thus provided, to an past the sewing machine head where the o orator, guides the edge to be sewed under 't e sewmg needle. 1

In order to prevent the rug from moving downwardly when it is not desired as, for example when the machine is not running, a brake is provided which consists of a strap 58 having one end secured at 59 to the under portion of the rail 10 and extending alternately under and over a suitable number of the rollers (Figs. land 3). Its other end is secured at 60 to one arm 61 of a lever 62 pivoted on a'shaft 63 carried by the legs 17. The second arm 64 of thislever is connected by a link 65 to the treadlc 48, while a tension spring 66 extending between the floor and the arm 61 tends to keep the strap 58 taut and in contact with the rollers 5 as well as assists in keeping the treadle 48 normally raised. k

The table 13 "s so positioned that the operator may sit in a position indicated at X, Fig. 2, so as to face the sewing machine head 14. 1

Under conditions of use the motor 38 is started with the clutch disks 48 and 44 disengaged so that the sewin machine is not in action. The rolls an o fabric are then placed on the uppermost rollers 5 with their outer edges grresting on the top surface of the rail 10 ig. 9 After placing the ex: treme forward on of and edge under the needle of the sewing machine the operator presses downwardly on the treadle 48 thus releasing the brake by pulling down on the link 65 and arm 64 agamst the action of the spring 66, and allowing the roll of fabric to a move downwardl by ravity over the rollera lito the need e. is downward move-- ment of the tread'le also turns the lever 45' throughthe spring 47 and thereby brings the two clutch disks 43 and 44' into engagement to cause operation. of the sewingmachine which stitches the fabric as desired. Thechain 52 up to this time hasjnotbeen affected, owin tothe free movement of the pin 58 in the s otBO, and the rod 54 and arm 57 are kept in their uppermost positions by the action of the sprin crank lever is held in t e position shown in Fig. 6, to cause the sewing machine to form comparatively short stitches. The continued downward movement of the treadle 48 how: ever will bring the upper end of the extension 49 into en agement with the pin 53.01:

rod Mend arm 57 downwardlyyto cause 55 so that the belllengthening of the stitches. In view of the fact that the machine is running during this movement of the stitch varyin mechanism it is-obvious that an edge can bound and a seam'can be formed similar to that described and claimed in my 1,049,119, dated December 31, 1912.

It-will be further noted that in my present invention a single continued downward movement of the treadle 48 is made to perto wit, it releases the brakeon the rollers and thereby allows the fabric to automatically feed to the sewing machine; second, it starts the sewing machine; and third, it effects Patent, No. 1

' form three separate and distinct-operations; 129

variation m the length of the stitches proi duced. After the treadle 48 has been re leased by the operator it will be automatic lly raised by the springs 47 and 66, and

the latter of these will then automatically not to apply the brake. The spring 55 will move the rod 54 and bar 57 upwardly to again affect the shortening of the stitches and retain the actuatin position, while the spring 46" will tend to draw the friction clutch disk 43 out of engagement with the disk 4% and thereby stop the operation of the sewing machine.

A number of rolls of fabric such as rugs may be placed on the frame 1 at the same time so that it is possible for the operator to sew them successively without stopping the machine. If it be desired to apply a binding strip to the edges of the ru s, etc., they may be placed on the rollers on to end with but short spaces between them, and a continuous strip of binding can be sewed to two or more of them without stopping the machine, after which they may be separated by merely cutting the strip connecting their Ends. The

trated one form of stitch changing means it is to be understood that any ot er device having a. member movable into difl'erent positions to efiect changes in the lengths of the stitches may be employed withoutdepartmg from my invention.

I cluim: i

1-. The combination in a'sewing machine of a. stitch-changing device; driving mechanism; with a single member connected to sand device and .to the driving mechanism and operative to start the machine and change the length of the stitches.

2. The combination of a sewing machine including a stitch-changing device; means for operating the sewing machine; a'treadle for controlling said mean and connect1ons between the stitch-changing device and the treadle, capable of being actuated while the machine is in operation.

3. The combination of a sewing machine including a stitch-chang ng device; means for controlling the operation of the sewing machine; and a member connected to the machine controlling means and to the stitchchanging device for successively throw ng the machine into operation and changing the character of the stitches.

4. The combination in sewing mechanism of a sewing machine having n inclined lever in its normal angle of inclination of the supporting frame table; a guide rail inclined at substantially the angle of the table and extending in the line of the stitches formedb the machine; and an inclined series of ro lers extending ad acent the rail in position to uide a roll of material past the sewing mac mine at substantially the level of the table thereof.

The combination in sewing mechanism, including n sewing machine, of a supporting structure; work supporting rollers mounted thereon; a brake nlaccd to act on certain of the rollers; a controlling member; means for automatically applying the brake to the rollers; and brake releasing means connected to said controlling member.

6. The combination in sewing mechanism, including a sewing machine, of a supportin structure; work supporting rollers mounte thereon; means for controlling the o era-- tion of the sewing machine; a brake p need to act on certain of the rollers; a controlling member; means for automatically applying the brake; with means connecting the brake and machine controlling means to the controlling member whereby movement of the latter releases the brake and starts the machine.

7. The combination in sewing mechanism of a sewing machine having an inclined work table; a supportin structure; a series of 9 work supporting r0 lers inclined at substantially the angle of said table and mounted to guide a roll of material past the same; with means for adjusting the supportin structure to change the angle of the series 0 rollers relatjvelyvto that of the sewing machine table: i 7 r 8. The combination, insewing mechanism including a sewing machine having a table, of a supporting structure; an inclined series of work supportin rollers mounted to guide a roll of material longitudinally past the sewing machine at substantially the level of its table; and means for adjusting the suporting structure to change the angle of inclination of said series of rollers relatively to the sewing machine.

9. The combination in sewing mechanism, including a sewing machine having a work supporting table, of a supporting structure; a series of rollers thereon for supporting the body portion of a fabric; and a rail mounted to extend substantially within the plane of the table of the machine and of the series of rollers for supporting an edge of the fabric to guide it under the needle of the sewing machine.

10. The combination in sewing mechanism, including a sewing machine, of a supporting structure; a series of rollers thereon for sup 1 25 porting the body portion of a fabric; a rail for supporting an edge of the fabric to guide it under the needle of the sewing machine;

' a table for supporting the sewing machine;

and means for adjusting said table to bring releases the brake,

thebed of the sewing machine into the plane of the supporting surface of said rail. 1

11. The combination in sewing mechanism, including a sewing machine, of a supporting structure; a series of supporting rollers thereon having their axes in an inclined plane; a rail for supporting the edge of said fabric and extending in a plane parallel with that of said rollers; means for adjustin the angle of inclination of the series of rollers; a table for supporting the sewing machine; and means for adjusting said table to bring the bed of the sewing machine into the plane of the work-supporting surface of said rail.

12. The combination in sewing mechanism of a supporting structure; supporting rollers thereon; asewing machine including stitch-changin mechanism; driving means for said sewing-machine; a treadlc; a brake for the rollers; and means connecting said treadle with the brake, the stitch-changing devices and driving means so that a movement of the treadle in one direction releases the brake, throwia the actuating means into operation and gradually changes the charactor of the stitch produced. I

-13. The combination in sewin mechanism of a supporting structure; f ric sup-i portin rollers thereon having their axes in an inc med plane; asewing machine including'a stitch changin -device; means includin a rake for the rollers,- a trea 1e; means connecting the treadle with the brake, the stitch-changin device and the clutchso that a movement 0 the'treadle in one direction actu'ates the clutch to drive the machine and moves the stitchchanging device to gradually vary the characterof-the stitches. v

14. The combination of a supporting structure; supporting rollers havingtheir axes in an inclined p ane; a sewing machine including a stitch-changing device; means including a clutch for driving the machine; a brake for' the rollers; a treadle, means forconnecting the.treadle with the brake; means for automatically applyin the brake; a spring for automatically re easing the clutch; means for connecting said clutch with the treadle; and means connecting the stitch-changing device and the treadle, the arrangement of parts being such that movement of said treadle in one direction releases said brake, actuates said clutch to o ergte the machine and operates said stitch-c a ing device to vary the character of tge stitches.

15. The combination of a supportiiig' structure; su portin rollers aving their axes in an we mod p ane;ca se ng machine including a st1tch-chang1ng;.dev1ce; means the character a clutch for driving the sewin machine;

including clutch mechanism for driving the machine; a brake for the rollers; a treadle; means connecting the treadle with the brake; means forautomatically applying the brake; a spring for automatically releasing the clutch; resilient means connecting said clutch mechanism with the treadle; and means connecting the stitch-changing device and the treadle whereby movement of said treadlo in one direction releases said brake, actuates said clutch to drive the machine and operates said stitch-changing device to vary the character of the stitches.

16. The combination of a supporting structure; supporting rollers having their axes in an inclined p ane; a sewing machine including a stitch-changing device; means including clutch mechanism for driving the machine; a brake for means connecting the treadle with the brake; means for automatically applying the brake; a spring for automatically releasing the clutch; means connecting said clutch mechanism with the treadle; means connect,- ing the stitch-changing device and the treadle whereby movement of said treadle in one direction releases said brakeg-actuates said clutch to operate the mach-ineand opcrates said stitch-changing' devioe to vary of the stitches; and means for automatically returning the stitch-changing device'to its normal position.

17. The combination in sewing mechanism of a rail made in two portions spaced apart a sewing machine extending into the space between said rail portions with its table atthe level of the rail; and a series parallel to of rollers extending substantially the line of the rail with their uppermost portions immediately adjacent the plane of the sewing machine table, in position to guide a body of material thereby.

18. The combination of a rail formed in two portions spaced apart; a sewing machine having a table exthnding into the space between said portions; with a series of rollers tapering rom their ends toward their middle portions and extending. in a line past the table of the sewin -machine, said series of rollers, t being all inclined at an an le to permit movement of are of materia on the rollers past the machine unddr the action of cavity.

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

ALFRED F. MCCOLLUM.

Witnesses: I

Anons'ros B. COPPEB, Jos. H. Knrm.

e rail an the tablev the rollers; a treadle;

Images