US1984772A - Combined looper and loop cutting attachment for sewing machines - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 18, 1934. w, c, STEWART 1,984,772

COMBINED LOOPER AND LOOP CUTTING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed June 25, 1931 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

BY MGR ATTORNEY.

Dec. 18, 1934. w Q STEWART 1,984,772

COMBINED LAOOPER AND LOOP CUTTING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed June 23, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 W C. 575N452".

INVENTOR.

I BY ATTORNEY.

Dec. 18, 1934.- w. c. STEWART 1,984,772

COMBINED LOOPER AND LOOP CUTTING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed June 23, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 4s v 3 14/05761444/371 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Dec. 18, 1934. w. c. STEWART COMBINED LOOPER AND LOOP CUTTING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 23, 1951 M 6. 575mm INVENTOR BY M ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 18, 1934 PATENT OFFICE COMBINED LOOPER AND LOOP CUTTING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Walter C.Stewart, Gastonia, N. 0., assignor, by mesne assignments, to The Boysell Company, Gastonia, N.'C., a corporation of North Carolina Application June 23, 1931, Serial No. 546,381

- Claims. (c1. 112-79) This invention relates to a sewing machine attachment adapted to be attached to a conventional commercial sewing machine and to be operated thereby for forming tufted rugs and 5 comprises means for forming a plurality of alined loops on the lower side of a fabric and for severing said loops to form a tufted rug or similar textile article.

Heretofore, various types of machines have been provided both of the single needle type and multiple needle type for forming tufted and looped rugs; but such machines have been complicated and it is an object of this invention to provide a simple mechanism which may be built into a machine or which may be attached to a conventional commercial machine for operation thereby to cause such machine to form tufted rugs of a high quality at a minimum of expense.

It is an object of this invention to provide means adapted to be associated with a sewing machine for causing the sewing machine to form elongated loops on the lower side of a fabric and to sever said loops at the same operation in which they are formed so that a line of stitches will be placed in a piece of fabric andsevered on the upward travel of the needle -to form a row of stitches which when out, forms tufts on .the lower side of the fabric and by passing the fabric thru the machine several times, a plurality of said rows can be formed side by side in a well known manner to form a tufted rug of any peculiar design which may be desired.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an end elevation of the needle bar and needle head of a sewing machine and showing the lower framework of the machine in cross section, and showing the parts in the position they will assume when the needle is atits highest P int;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure l but showing the position of parts when the needle has reached its lowestpoint;

Figure 3 is a. view partially in cross section taken along the line 3-3 in Figure 6;

Figure 4 is another view partially in cross section and taken along the line 44 in Figure 6;

Figure 5 is a plan view taken along the line 55 in Figure 1, with the presser foot omitted but passing thru the needle;

Figure 6 is a plan view along the same line 55 in Figure 1, but showing a portion of the base plate of the sewing machine broken away;

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic view showing the severing operation of the loop;

Figure 8 'is a view showing a portion of the finished fabric.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates the conventional head of a sewing machine having the presser foot shaft 11 with the presser foot 12 pivotally secured thereonas at 13 and reference character 14 indicates the conventional needle bar of a sewing machine having the eyelet-15 thru which the thread supply is passed and a needle 16, said needle having grooves 17 in both-sides thereof in which the thread rests as it passes thru the fabric and the needle near its lower end is flattened as at 18 and along this flattened portion the looper is adapted to pass inthe looping operation.

A conventional base plate 20 is shown having a throat plate 21 with a slot 22 therein thru which the front portion of the needle passes and this throat plate has slots 23 and 24 therein thru which the feeder 25 projects having teeth thereon for feeding the fabric thru the machine. This feeder bar is rigidly mounted on a reciproeating bar 26 which is pivotally mounted as at 27 on stud bolt 2'? fixedly secured on oscillating shaft 29 for positively driving the feed bar and which is driven from the sewing machine by conventional means not shown. The free end of feed bar 26 is supported by a slide 30 mounted on stud bolt 31 in the free end of arm 32 mounted on shaft 33 and also oscillated by power derived from the sewing machine in a conventional manner not shown.

The feeder support bar 26 has secured thereto one end of a tension spring 34 and the other end of this tension spring is secured in any suitable manner such as around the drive shaft 29 for the feeder support barj The operation of these two oscillating shafts is to cause arm 32 to be raised while arm 28 is moving to the left in Figure 1 to cause the fabric to be fed thru the machine, whereas when arm 28 is moving to the right in Figure 1, arm 32 will be lowered to cause the teeth on the feeder 25 to fail to engage the fabric which is conventional. 0n the lower surface of the base plate is a downwardly projecting portion 35 which here ofore in thetype of machines shown has been employed for supporting the bobbin mechanism in the machine, but since no bobbin mechanism is necessary in the looper, this projection is usedas a support for'the looping mechanism which will be presently described.

The above described types are conventional in a machine, and a description and operation of thesame has been set forth to show their cooperation with the looping mechanism to be described.

The looping mechanism comprises a support 40 which is secured to projection 35 in an adjustable manner by means of said supports having arcuate slots 41 and 42 therein in which set screws 43 and 44 are placed, and these set screws threadedly engage suitable holes in projection 35 so that the position of said support can be adjusted. Said support also has adjustably mounted thereon a fulcrum member 45 which is slotted or forked at its upper end as at 46 which slot or fork 46 is penetrated by a set screw 4701, which is threadably embedded in support 40 andthe other end of this fulcrum support has a pin 47 projecting therefrom on which the free end of a part of the mechanism for cutting the loops has lodgement for operation thereon.

Pivotally mounted as at 48 on the lower end of support 40 is the looper arm 49 which projects upwardly in close proximity to the thread plate and has a horizontally disposed portion 51 and a downwardly projecting portion 52 which is beveled as at 53 to cause it to easily enter between the thread 54 and the needle to form a loop. Pivotally mounted as at 55 is a movable cutter 56 having cutting edge 5'7 adapted to have movement with relation to the lower edge of portion 51 of the looper and act in the manner as a pair of shears or scissors.

This cutter mechanism has a leaf spring 58 secured on pivot point 55 and presses against the end of the cutting portion 57 to cause the cutter to engage the edge of the looper when the cutter is moved with relation to the looper. Projecting downwardly from the pivot point said cutter has a leg 59 which is forked at its lower end as at 60 which fork is adapted to engage pin 4'7 in fulcrum support member 45 so that the cutting member will be operated when the looper is oscillated during the operation of the sewing machine.

Pivotally mounted on stud bolt 27 between arm 28 and feeder bar 26 is a member 60 which has a slot 61 therethru in which an adjusting screw 62 is mounted and engaging both sides of member 60 are the connecting rods 63 and 64 which are forked at the end connected to the member 60 and the adjusting screw 62 is adapted to penetrate these forks so that the working length of the distance between the stud bolts 27 and the pivotal point of connection of members 63 and. 64 and looper 49 can be adjusted. This .pivotal point indicated by reference character 66 is in the form of a bolt passing thru the ends of con ecting rods 63 and 64 and also 'thru looper mem er 49.

The upper end of the looper, designated by reference character 50 may be made all in one piece with portion 49 if desired but in the drawings, it is shown as a separate piece so that it can be made of a fine grade of cutting steel and is connected to the upper end of 49 by riveting or other suitable means such as shown by rivet 67.

In Figure 8 is shown a few stitches of a row of the finished work in which the fabric is indicated by reference character 70 and the loops are shown as being cut and of course each portion 71 is composed of two strands of the thread as the needle descends thru the hole and the loop is made and cut and the needle brings the strands of thread back thru the same hole, and then the feeder mechanism operates in a conventional manner to cause the needle to descend making another hole in the fabric and the looping and cutting operation is repeated thus forming the loops in a row.

When the needle is raised to its highest position the tip 52 of the looper'is moved to a position to the right of a vertical line drawn thru the needle in Figures 1 and 2 and the needle makes its downward travel. As the needle starts rising, the looper moves between the needle and the thread above the eye of the needle and travels forward and pushes the looped thread slightly backward on the looper where it is held as the needle rises, and then the needle and looper form another loop and the last loop pushes the first loop to a point as shown in Figure 7, and during the next travel the fork 60 resting on fulcrum pin 47 causes the cutter to open as the looper is moved toward the needle by the connecting rods 63 and 64, the forward movement of the looper pushing the first loop back into the path of the. cutter to insure that the cutter as it closes will sever the loop. With the looper advanced forwardly or to the right in Figures 1 and 2 to its full travel which is reached when the needle is raised to its highest position, as the needle starts descending the looper is moved backwardly or to the left in Figures-1 and 2 and this causes the cutter to close on the loop and cut the loop as it is pulled backwardly by the looper and the gripping of the loop by the cutter as the backward movement starts insures that the loop will not slip off the looper but will be gripped and cut by the cutter. There is always one un cut loop on 'the looper to keep the needle threaded and insure even length of tufts.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a .generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A tufting machine comprising a reciprocating needle and means for guiding a strand thereto, a work support, means for feeding the work thru the machine, a looper adapted to pass above the eye of the needle and between the needle and the strand carried by the needle, a throat plate for said machine, a feeder projecting thru the throat plate, means for actuating said feeder, and means connected to the feeder actuating means for actuating said looper.

2. In a sewing machine comprising a work support, a reciprocating needle, a throat plate, means for' feeding the work thru the sewing machine, a looper and cutter member mounted for oscillation in alinement with the row of stitches formed by the needle, and means connected to the work feeding means for oscillating said looper.

3. In a sewing machine having a frame, a I

reciprocating needle, a work support, means for feeding the work thru the sewing machine, a looper mounted for travel in alinement with the row of stitches, a pivoted cutting member mounted on said looper, means connecting said looper with thework feeding means for oscillation of said looper, means for slidably connecting one end of said cutter to the frame to cause said cutter to be opened and closed with relation to said looper by the oscillation of said looper.

4. A looper and cutter attachment for sewing machines, said sewing machine having a reciprocating needle, a throat plate, work feeding means, a base plate, a downwardly projecting portion on said base'plate, a support adjustably mounted on said projection, an oscillating looper and cutter mounted on said support, means connecting said looper and cutter to the work feeding means for oscillation of the looper and cutter, a pivot for one end of said cutter adjustably mounted on said support at one end thereof, one end of said cutter being pivotally mounted on said looper, the oscillation of said looper being adapted to open and close said cutter at predetermined times to receive and cut the loop formed by the looper.

5. In a sewing machine having a frame, a reciprocating needle, a Work support, means for feeding the work thru the sewing machine, a looper mounted for travel in alinement with the row of stitches, a pivoted cutting member mounted on said looper, means connecting said looper with the work feeding means, for oscillation of said looper, means for connecting one end of said cutter to the frame to cause said cutter to be opened and closed with relation to said looper by the oscillation of said looper.

WALTER C. STEWART.

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