Title:
Needle protector
United States Patent 3872810
Abstract:
A needle protector and guard for sewing machines arranged to receive the needle at the bottom of its stroke. The protector includes a generally U-shaped member designed to receive the needle between the upstanding arms thereof, while permitting the loopers of the machine to move thereover for proper looping and holding of the thread.
US Patent References:
/1057376.html
Drumheller - March 1913 - 1057376
Needle guard
Chalman - October 1922 - 1433872
/1057376.html
Drumheller - March 1913 - 1057376
Needle guard
Chalman - October 1922 - 1433872
Application Number:
05/404852
Publication Date:
03/25/1975
Filing Date:
10/10/1973
View Patent Images:
Export Citation:
Assignee:
Lees Manufacturing Company (Cannon Falls, MN)
Primary Class:
International Classes:
D05B55/06; D05B55/00; D05B51/00
Field of Search:
112/227,261,197,199
Primary Examiner:
Scanlan Jr., Richard J.
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
Cwayna, James R.
Claims:
What is claimed is
1. In a sewing machine provided with a needle, a pair of looping mechanisms, which looping mechanisms have loopers arranged on opposite sides of the needle and which are alternatively actuated to receive the thread loop from the needle, a needle protective device including:
2. The structure as set forth in claim 1 and said receiving area including said first laterally spaced, upwardly extending arm and a second upwardly extending arm, said second upwardly extending arm being attachable to said downwardly directed portion of said mounting arm.
3. The structure as set forth in claim 2 and said second arm being spaced from said first arm a dimension to permit said downwardly directed portion of said mounting arm to be received therebetween.
4. The structure as set forth in claim 1 and said downwardly directed portion of said mounting arm being smoothly contoured at the upper portion thereof to direct the needle into said receiving area should the needle contact the same on its downward stroke.
5. The structure set forth in claim 1 and said receiving area being open at the ends thereof.
1. In a sewing machine provided with a needle, a pair of looping mechanisms, which looping mechanisms have loopers arranged on opposite sides of the needle and which are alternatively actuated to receive the thread loop from the needle, a needle protective device including:
2. The structure as set forth in claim 1 and said receiving area including said first laterally spaced, upwardly extending arm and a second upwardly extending arm, said second upwardly extending arm being attachable to said downwardly directed portion of said mounting arm.
3. The structure as set forth in claim 2 and said second arm being spaced from said first arm a dimension to permit said downwardly directed portion of said mounting arm to be received therebetween.
4. The structure as set forth in claim 1 and said downwardly directed portion of said mounting arm being smoothly contoured at the upper portion thereof to direct the needle into said receiving area should the needle contact the same on its downward stroke.
5. The structure set forth in claim 1 and said receiving area being open at the ends thereof.
Description:
The use of needle guards for sewing machines in not necessarily totally new in the art. Most of these guards, however, do not totally protect the needle but rather are arranged on only one side thereof and this does not give the total protection that is required for the needle.
Applicant is acquainted with the commercial and industrial aspect of sewing materials and it is particularly in this field that such protection devices are of their greatest importance as the shut down of a machine due to needle breakage is very costly.
With applicant's concept, a protector or guard device is provided to receive the needle while allowing its normal rearward and forward shuttling motion and while permitting the normal operation of the loopers of the machine.
It is therefore an object of applicant's invention to provide a needle protector or guard device to receive a needle of a sewing machine therein at the lower extremity of its stroke.
It is a further object of applicant's invention to provide a needle protector or guard device that will receive a needle therein but will permit the normal movement of the needle.
It is still a further object of applicant's invention to provide a needle protector or guard device designed and arranged to permit the nomal operation of the loopers of the machine.
It is still a further object of applicant's invention to provide a needle guard for a sewing machine that due to its particular configuration will act as a guiding device for directing the needle into the protective area.
These and other objects and advantages of applicant's invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and in which:
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a typical sewing machine upon which the invention embodying the concepts of applicant's invention may be utilized:
FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken substantially along Line 2--2 of FIG. 1 showing the positioning of the protector device in conjunction with various other elements of the machine;
FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 2 and illustrating the various elements of the machine in a different position;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the protective device;
FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the protector and needle of the machine, the needle being in an approaching position;
FIG. 6 is a view similar to that of FIG. 5 and illustrating the needle in its downmost position;
FIG. 7 is a horizontal section taken substantially along Line 7--7 of FIG. 5;
FIG. 8 is a front elevation taken from FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a side elevation taken from FIG. 8; and,
FIG. 10 is a vertical section taken substantially along Line 10--10 of FIG. 9.
In accordance with the accompanying drawings, applicant's needle protector is designated 10 and the drawings illustrate its relation to the various operative portions of a sewing machine. A typical machine to which the protector may be attached is illustrated in FIG. 1 and is designated M. The protector or guard is mounted below the throat plate T of the machine and likewise underlies the trimmer hook H. The concept of applicant's guard 10 is to receive the needle N relatively close to and at the downstroke thereof. During the stroking of the needle, the thread loopers are operative and will move over and across the top of the guide. The operation of the loopers is to strip and hold the thread for the next downstroke of the needle and therefore these loopers must operate relatively close to the needle itself.
The normal operation of the needle is to move forwardly and backwardly on alternative strokes and therefore the guard must allow for this movement.
The guard 10 is illustrated in perspective form in FIG. 4. As illustrated therein, the guard 10 includes a mounting arm 11 having a generally downwardly directed connecting section 12, having a threaded passage 12a therethrough for connection to the needle receiving portion 13 by a threaded fastener 14. The mounting arm 11 is horizontally offset as at 15 to accomodate mounting of the same to the machine. A mounting slot 16 is provided in the rearward portion of the arm 11.
The needle receiving portion 13, includes a pair of upstanding arm elements 17, 18 and the connecting section 12 is received internally thereof and, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, the spacing between the connecting section 12 and the upstanding arm element 17 will permit the needle N to be receivied therebetween. The curvature of the connecting portion 12 is also designed to direct the needle N into the receiving area, should the same accidentally strike the same on the downstroke thereof.
It should be noted that the width of the connecting portion and the arm elements 17, 18 is such as to permit the normal oscillating movement of the needle N.
The particular shape of the guard or protector is particularly illustrated in FIGS. 7, 8, 9 and 10. As illustrated therein, the first upstanding section 18 is substantially rectangular in shape and extends downwardly to a generally normal connecting portion 20, which portion 20 is of sufficient length to receive the needle therein by providing proper spacing between the arms 17, 18.
The upstanding arm 17 is of a particular configuration which will particularly guide the needle N into the receiving area. A first inwardly and downwardly directed guide surface 21 is provided at the uppermost extremity of the arm 17 and extends from the exterior to the interior surface thereof. As illustrated in FIG. 10, this surface is generated from a decreased interior surface 22 of the arm 17, which decreased surface is provided by a pair of oppositely disposed upwardly and inwardly extending surfaces 23, 24 extending between the forward or inner surface of arm 17 to the exterior surface thereof. This entire surface formation then basically provides a generally pyramidal configuration with certain sides thereof being generally vertical while adjacent sides thereof, although being generally angular will be generated from a generally curvilinear surface. The entire concept of configuration is to provide a guiding, protective configuration for the needle and the shape of the particular surfaces will accomplish this desire.
The particular position and operation of the guard or protector 10 is illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. As illustrated therein, the needle will be received into the unit at the extremity of its downstroke and the loopers, as illustrated in FIG. 2 and 3 will be in position to operate thereover and thereabove.
With applicant's guard, the needle is protected at the extremity of the downstroke while still permitting the needle to move in its required directions to perform the sewing operation. The guard provided by applicant then provides a unique protective device which is designed to direct the needle into the protective area while still permitting the various machine elements to function in their normal manner.
Applicant is acquainted with the commercial and industrial aspect of sewing materials and it is particularly in this field that such protection devices are of their greatest importance as the shut down of a machine due to needle breakage is very costly.
With applicant's concept, a protector or guard device is provided to receive the needle while allowing its normal rearward and forward shuttling motion and while permitting the normal operation of the loopers of the machine.
It is therefore an object of applicant's invention to provide a needle protector or guard device to receive a needle of a sewing machine therein at the lower extremity of its stroke.
It is a further object of applicant's invention to provide a needle protector or guard device that will receive a needle therein but will permit the normal movement of the needle.
It is still a further object of applicant's invention to provide a needle protector or guard device designed and arranged to permit the nomal operation of the loopers of the machine.
It is still a further object of applicant's invention to provide a needle guard for a sewing machine that due to its particular configuration will act as a guiding device for directing the needle into the protective area.
These and other objects and advantages of applicant's invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and in which:
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a typical sewing machine upon which the invention embodying the concepts of applicant's invention may be utilized:
FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken substantially along Line 2--2 of FIG. 1 showing the positioning of the protector device in conjunction with various other elements of the machine;
FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 2 and illustrating the various elements of the machine in a different position;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the protective device;
FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the protector and needle of the machine, the needle being in an approaching position;
FIG. 6 is a view similar to that of FIG. 5 and illustrating the needle in its downmost position;
FIG. 7 is a horizontal section taken substantially along Line 7--7 of FIG. 5;
FIG. 8 is a front elevation taken from FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a side elevation taken from FIG. 8; and,
FIG. 10 is a vertical section taken substantially along Line 10--10 of FIG. 9.
In accordance with the accompanying drawings, applicant's needle protector is designated 10 and the drawings illustrate its relation to the various operative portions of a sewing machine. A typical machine to which the protector may be attached is illustrated in FIG. 1 and is designated M. The protector or guard is mounted below the throat plate T of the machine and likewise underlies the trimmer hook H. The concept of applicant's guard 10 is to receive the needle N relatively close to and at the downstroke thereof. During the stroking of the needle, the thread loopers are operative and will move over and across the top of the guide. The operation of the loopers is to strip and hold the thread for the next downstroke of the needle and therefore these loopers must operate relatively close to the needle itself.
The normal operation of the needle is to move forwardly and backwardly on alternative strokes and therefore the guard must allow for this movement.
The guard 10 is illustrated in perspective form in FIG. 4. As illustrated therein, the guard 10 includes a mounting arm 11 having a generally downwardly directed connecting section 12, having a threaded passage 12a therethrough for connection to the needle receiving portion 13 by a threaded fastener 14. The mounting arm 11 is horizontally offset as at 15 to accomodate mounting of the same to the machine. A mounting slot 16 is provided in the rearward portion of the arm 11.
The needle receiving portion 13, includes a pair of upstanding arm elements 17, 18 and the connecting section 12 is received internally thereof and, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, the spacing between the connecting section 12 and the upstanding arm element 17 will permit the needle N to be receivied therebetween. The curvature of the connecting portion 12 is also designed to direct the needle N into the receiving area, should the same accidentally strike the same on the downstroke thereof.
It should be noted that the width of the connecting portion and the arm elements 17, 18 is such as to permit the normal oscillating movement of the needle N.
The particular shape of the guard or protector is particularly illustrated in FIGS. 7, 8, 9 and 10. As illustrated therein, the first upstanding section 18 is substantially rectangular in shape and extends downwardly to a generally normal connecting portion 20, which portion 20 is of sufficient length to receive the needle therein by providing proper spacing between the arms 17, 18.
The upstanding arm 17 is of a particular configuration which will particularly guide the needle N into the receiving area. A first inwardly and downwardly directed guide surface 21 is provided at the uppermost extremity of the arm 17 and extends from the exterior to the interior surface thereof. As illustrated in FIG. 10, this surface is generated from a decreased interior surface 22 of the arm 17, which decreased surface is provided by a pair of oppositely disposed upwardly and inwardly extending surfaces 23, 24 extending between the forward or inner surface of arm 17 to the exterior surface thereof. This entire surface formation then basically provides a generally pyramidal configuration with certain sides thereof being generally vertical while adjacent sides thereof, although being generally angular will be generated from a generally curvilinear surface. The entire concept of configuration is to provide a guiding, protective configuration for the needle and the shape of the particular surfaces will accomplish this desire.
The particular position and operation of the guard or protector 10 is illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. As illustrated therein, the needle will be received into the unit at the extremity of its downstroke and the loopers, as illustrated in FIG. 2 and 3 will be in position to operate thereover and thereabove.
With applicant's guard, the needle is protected at the extremity of the downstroke while still permitting the needle to move in its required directions to perform the sewing operation. The guard provided by applicant then provides a unique protective device which is designed to direct the needle into the protective area while still permitting the various machine elements to function in their normal manner.