US3361100A - Basting device for zig-zag type sewing machines - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 2, 1968 1 1 L. BONO 3,361,100

BASTING DEVICE FOR ZIG'ZAG TYPE SEWING MACHINES Filed Oct. 12, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 liq/I Q. w z 321511 22 1,. 1.3219 Q Q 22 T 3 0 1 FIG.4 21212025 212122, 212425 26 243123 FIG.3.

Jan. 2, 1968 L. BONO 3,361,100

Filed 001 12, 1965 BASTING DEVICE FOR ZIGZAG TYPE SEWING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.6

United States Patent Office 3,361,100 Patented Jan. 2, 1968 BASTING DEVICE FOR ZIG-ZAG TYPE SEWING MACHINES Luigi Bono, Pavia, Italy, assignor to Necchi Societa per Azioni, Pavia, Italy Filed Oct. 12, 1965, Ser. No. 495,228 Claims priority, application Italy, May 6, 1965, Patent 758,965 Claims. (Cl. 112-159) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sewing machine for sewing a zig-zag sewing pattern and including a means for transposing said machine into one adapted to sew basting stitches, said means including a member which is selectively shifta-ble into a position adjacent to one lateral axis of the needle whereby said member prevents the thread loop from forming in a plane perpendicular to the trajectory of a thread hooking device only when the needle is along said one axis, said member being shiftable to another position whereby it does not affect the thread loop formation when the needle is along either of its lateral axes.

The present invention relates to a device which is applicable to sewing machines of the type which are adapted to perform zig-zag sewing, said device making it possible for such machines to sew basting stitches.

Generally, the present invention functions in correlation to the transverse oscillatory movements of the needle bar in zig-zag machines to prevent the formation of the stitch while said needle bar is in one extreme lateral position while allowing the formation of the stitch while the needle bar is in its opposite lateral position.

Specifically, the present invention comprises a basting member which is slidable between two lateral positions which respectively correspond to the opposite lateral sewing positions of the needle bar. In one of its lateral positions, the basting member has no effect upon the sewing of stitches 'by the axially reciprocating needle, while in the other of its lateral positions, the basting member displaces the thread loop out of the path of the rotating hooking member so that the locking of the stitch does not occur.

In the case of a machine which employs an axial shuttle which, in addition to a usual oscillating hooking motion, also performs an axial translational motion in accordance with the needle lateral oscillations, the described purpose is achieved by means of a basting member which is located above the trajectory of the shuttle seizing point so that the basting member does not interfere with the movable shuttle parts which cooperate with the needle in the formation of stitches.

An object of the present invention is to provide a basting device which is adapted to perform basting stitching in cooperation with a laterally oscillatable needle and in cooperation with a hooking device, such as a rotating hook member or an oscillating shuttle, whether such hooking device rotates about a horizontal or vertical axis, and independently of whether such hooking device functions rotatively or axially relative to the needle.

A further object of this invention is to provide a basting device which is easily actuable between a non-operative or rest position at which it does not interfere with the normal zig-zag sewing of the machine, and an operative position at which said device functions to effect basting stitches.

A further object of this invention is to provide a basting device which is adapted to convert a conventional zigzag sewing machine to a machine for haste sewing.

Other objects will become apparent from a reading of the following detailed description which is referred to the accompanying drawings in which,

FIGURES 1 and 3, respectively, are vertical and plan views of the basting device of this invention in its rest position in a sewing machine which employs a rotary hook member;

FIGURES 2 and 4, respectively, are vertical and plan views of the device of FIGURES 1 and 3, in its operative position;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of a basting device applied to a sewing machine which employs an oscillating shuttle member; and

FIGURE 6 is a vertical side view of the device of FIG- URE 5.

Numeral 10 in the drawings (FIGURES 14) indicates a usual rotary hook which rotates about a horizontal axis and whose seizing point 19 cooperates with the vertically reciprocable needle 11 for the formation of stitches. Rotary hook 10 is located within a cavity in the sewing machine structure vertically beneath the needle 11. This cavity is upwardly covered by a needle plate 12 which acts as a support for the fabric work piece (not shown) which is fed under the needle 11. The needle plate 12 is provided with an elongated slot 13 through which the needle 11 may freely reciprocate and also laterally oscillate between lateral axis 17 and lateral axis 18, these axes representing the extreme lateral positions which the needle 11 alternately assumes during the normal zig-zag sewing procedure.

Needle plate 12 includes slots 14 within which members 15 are free to perform a fabric advancing motion to feed fabric under the needle in a direction perpendicular to the plane of FIGURES 1 and 2, that is, parallel to the plane of FIGURES 3 and 4. Members 15 are part of feed member 16 which is driven in a known manner (not shown) in order to advance, or feed, the fabric under the needle.

The normal formation of stitches is effected by virtue of the seizing point 19 of rotary hook 10, passing through the loop 20 (see FIGURE 1) in the sewing thread during the upward stroke of needle 11. Seizing point 19 thereby grips the thread loop and pulls it downwardly to effect a locked stitch. The passing of point 19 through loop 20 is normally assured because said loop 20 normally forms in a plane generally perpendicular to the rotary trajectory or point 19 (see FIGURE 3).

According to the present invention, the normal zigzag sewing cycle is converted to a basting cycle by alternately shifting the loop 20 out of the trajectory of point 19 so that said point 19 passes alongside the loop instead of passing through it. Specifically, this shifting of the loop 20 is effected by means of a basting member which comprises a configured plate member 23 which is slidable relative to plate 12 in a direction generally parallel to the lateral oscillations of needle 11, between the rest, inoperative, position of FIGURES 1 and'3 and the operative position of FIGURES 2 and 4. The basting member 23 is slidably attached to the underside of needle plate 12 by means of guide 22 which is secured to plate 12 by means of screws 21, member 23 being slidably supported and guided within an elongate groove 22 formed in guide 22. Screws 21 pass through appropriate holes 24 in guide 22 in order to secure said guide to the needle: plate.

The groove 22 is defined by spaced vertical side Walls 25 and 28 which respectively include opposed elongate slots 25'. Extending perpendicularly to groove 22' and through one slot 25', member 23 includes an extension 26 which is manually accessible and actuable so that member 23 may be shifted between the positions shown in 3 FIGURES 1 and 2 by virtue of the machine operator gripping extension 26.

Extending oppositely to extension 26, through the slot 25 in the vertical wall 28, is the extension 31} of member 23. Extension 30 includes, consecutively, a first portion perpendicular to groove 22, and a second portion parallel to said groove, and finally a tongue 31 perpendicular to groove 22'. The second portion includes an inner edge 32 which lies in a plane slightly spaced behind (relative to FIGURES l4) the rear surface of the needle 11 (see FIGURES 3 and 4). Stated otherwise, edge 32 is parallel to the plane in which needle 11 laterally oscillates.

Tongue 31 extends perpendicularly to edge 32 and lies in the same horizontal plane as said edge. The purpose of tongue 31 is to prevent the loop 20 from being entangled on extension 30 during the formation of a normal lock stitch, that is: when the seizing point 19 engages and pulls on the thread loop. If such entanglement were to occur, the thread would not travel upwardly to interlock with the bobbin thread (not shown).

Normal zig-zag sewing occurs with the basting member 23 in its rest position as shown in FIGURES 1 and 3. In this position, the needle 11 reciprocates alternately along the lateral axes 17 and 18 and the thread loop 20 forms, without any impediment, adjacent to tongue 31 and in a plane generally perpendicular to the trajectory of hook seizing point 19 so that said point assuredly passes through the thread loop 20, as is shown in FIG- URE 1.

In order to convert from normal zig-zag sewing to basting, the machine operator merely manually contacts extension 26 and slides the basting member 23 to the right, that is, to the position represented in FIGURES 2 and 4. The extent of this sliding movement to the right is limited by the length of slots 25. In the operative position of FIGURES 2 and 4, the edge 32 traverses the one lateral axis 17 of the needle but not the opposite lateral axis 18. Further, edge 32, as seen in FIGURE 2, extends in a plane above the upper limit of the trajectory of point 19 so as not to interfere in any way with the rotary motion of said point.

In the operative position of FIGURES 2 and 4, the needle 11 is free to reciprocate axially and to oscillate laterally between axes 17 and 18; however, while reciprocating along axis 17, as is represented in FIGURES 2 and 4, the needle grazes past edge 32 and said edge 32 forces the thread loop 20 to form parallelly to the rotary trajectory of seizing point 19 instead of perpendicularly thereto. It, therefore, results that the seizing point rotates past the thread loop 20 without passing through it, and this necessarily means that the sewing stitch is not formed.

On the other hand, when the needle shifts laterally to reciprocate along axis 18, the basting member 23 has absolutely no effect upon the normal forming of the sewing stitches. It is, therefore, seen that the basting member 23 prevents the formation of stitches only while the needle reciprocates along lateral axis 17.

Since the sewing needle can be adjusted to perform any desired sequence of reciprocations along the respective axes 17 and 18 through the conventional zig-zag sewing controls, it is seen that the length of the basting stitches can be varied simply by varying the number of needle strokes along axis 17 relative to axis 18.

From what has been explained heretofore it is seen that the edge 32 will displace the thread loop 20 regardless of the position in space of the seizing point, so that the edge 32 will be equally effective with a rotary hook which rotates about a vertical axis and whose seizing point circumscribes a horizontal trajectory rather than a vertical one as is represented in FIGURES l and 2.

The basting device of this invention is also applicable to sewing machines which employ an axially oscillating shuttle and wherein a zig-zag stitching pattern is realized through axially moving the shuttle in synchronism with the lateral shiftings of the sewing needle, in addition to the usual rotary oscillations of said shuttle about its rotational axis.

FIGURE 5 represents, respectively, in full and in dash lines the extreme opposite positions assumed by the needle and by the shuttle in correspondence to the lateral zigzag sewing positions.

FIGURE 6 shows the shuttle of FIGURE 5 as seen in a vertical side plane.

With reference to FIGURES 5 and 6, a shuttle housing 40 supports, in a known manner, the shuttle 41 so that the latter is free to oscillate about a rotational axis. Shuttle 41 includes a seizing point 42 adapted to pass through and to seize the thread loop 54. A cover ring 43 is secured on the shuttle housing 40 and serves to hold the shuttle 41 within an annular race 44 which is provided in said shuttle housing 40. The shuttle 41 is rotatively mounted within said race.

The basting device which is applied to the shuttle is based on the same inventive concept as that which is applicable to the aforedescribed rotary hook member.

With reference to FIGURES 5 and 6, the shuttle type basting device comprises a U-shaped plate member 45, one leg of which is slidably mounted within guide 46, which includes holed flanges 47 for securing said guide to the underside of a conventional needle plate by means of screws 48. Said one leg of member 45 includes an extension 50 which extends through elongate slot 49 formed in a wall of guide 46. Extension 50 is manually actuable to shift member 45 in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIGURE 5 and oppositely thereto. The position of member 45 as shown in FIGURE 5 corresponds to its operative position, while its rest (inoperative) position is realized by sliding member 45 to the left, in the direction of the arrow.

The other leg 51 of member 45 includes an edge 52 which is analogous to edge 32 of the basting member of FIGURES 1-4. In fact, when basting member 45 is in the basting position, edge 52, which lies above the trajectory scribed by seizing point 42, is grazed by the reciprocating needle 53, whereby the thread loop 54 is displaced out of the trajectory of point 42 so that the stitch is not formed.

The axial shifting of the needle 53 and the shuttle 41 from the solid line position to the dash line position of FIGURE 5, this shifting occurring in accordance with the normal zig-zag sewing cycle, moves the needle 53 away from edge 52, this being analogous to the situation which would exist in FIGURE 2 when the needle therein is along axis 18. In other words, in the dash line position of FIGURE 5, the lock stitch is formed without any impediment from the basting member 45, while in the solid line position of FIGURE 5 no lock stitch can be formed because edge 52 of basting member 45 prevents the thread loop 54 from forming perpendicularly to the seizing point 42 trajectory. By shifting the basting member 45 to the left from its position as presently shown in FIGURE 5, it becomes completely inoperative and lock stitches are formed in both the dash line and the solid line shuttle positions shown in FIGURE 5.

It is to be understood that the herein described preferred embodiment of a basting device as applied to two types of sewing machines is not intended to be limitative, but that it is only illustrative of the many possible realizations of the presently disclosed inventive concept. The scope of the invention, therefore, is intended to be limited only by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A sewing machine adapted to sew a zig-zag sewing pattern, including a sewing needle which is laterally shiftable between opposed lateral axes and which is axially reciprocable along either of said opposed lateral axes, and a thread hooking device movable transversely to and closely adjacent to one side of said needle, the improve ment comprising a basting device for adapting said machine to perform a basting type sewing, said device comprising a basting member slidable between operative and inoperative positions, in said inoperative position said basting member being spaced from both said axis and thereby being inoperative relative to the normal zig-zag sewing operations of said machine when the needle is along either of said axes, in said operative position said basting member having an edge thereof lying closely adjacent to said one side of said needle when said needle is along only one of said axes whereby said member prevents the thread loop from forming in a plane perpendicular to the trajectory of said hooking device when the needle is along said one axis.

2. The sewing machine of claim 1, wherein said one side of the sewing needle is the side on which the sewing thread loop normally forms in a plane generally transverse to the direction of the transverse movement of said hooking device, said basting member edge extending transversely to the plane in which said loop normally forms, whereby said thread loop is forced to form in a plane parallel to the transverse movement of said hooking device.

3. The sewing machine of claim 1, including a needle plate for supporting a fabric Work piece thereon between said needle and said hooking device, said basting member being slidably mounted On said needle plate for sliding movement in the same direciton as that in which said needle is laterally shiftable.

4. The sewing machine of claim 1, said hooking device comprising a continuously rotating rotary hook member, said basting member lying outside the circumferential trajectory of said hook member with said basting member in said operative position.

5. The sewing machine of claim 1, wherein said hooking device comprises an oscillatable and axially shiftable shuttle, said shuttle being axially shiftable in the same direction as and in correspondence to the lateral shifting of said needle.

6. The sewing machine of claim 5, wherein said basting member comprises a generally U-shaped plate member, a guide member, one leg of the U-shaped member being slidably mounted in said guide member and the other leg of said U-shaped member extending towards said needle, the end of of said other leg lying immediately adjacent to said needle whereby said needle grazes said end, said U- shaped member being slidably shiftable in said guide in a direction parallel to that in which said shuttle is axially shiftable.

7. The sewing machine of claim 3, said basting device comprising a guide secured to the underside of said needle plate, said guide providing an elongate groove extending in the same direction as that in which said needle is laterally shiftable, said basting member comprising a plate member having parallel, spaced apart legs, a first of said legs being slidably mounted in said guide groove, a second of said legs having an edge thereof which extends substantially transversely to the reciprocatory axes of said needle, hand contactable means on said basting member for urging said member to slide in said guide groove.

8. The sewing machine of claim 7, said edge extending in a direction parallel to the direction in which said needle is laterally shiftable.

9. The sewing machine of claim 7, said edge extending in a direction transverse to that in which said needle is laterally shiftable.

10. The sewing machine of claim 8, said second leg having a free end and said edge extending to said free end, said second leg also comprising a tongue extending substantially perpendicularly to said edge in a plane perpendicular to the reciprocatory axes of said needle from said second leg free end.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 479,369 7/ 1892' Kern 112-227 2,884,882; 5/1959 Donaldson 112- 154 RICHARD J. SCANLAN, JR., Primary Examiner.

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