Button-sewing machine.

Application filed December 12,1905. Serial No. 291,451.

To all wham, it may concern:

_ Be it known that'I, Charles A. Dahl, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massa5 chusetts, have invented an Improvement in Button-Sewing Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing io like parts.

This invention relates to the class of machine for sewing on buttons substantially as . represented in United States Patent No.

336,881, dated February 23., 1886.

In accordance with my invention I have combined with the button-stitching mechanism means whereby it is possible to not only insure an elevated position for the hooked needle whenever the machine is stopped, but 20 also to enable the main shaft of the machine to be turned backwardly while the needle is in its elevated position, the backward movement of the shaft lifting the needle from stopped position to its highest point and at

5 th e sam e time moving the needle backwardly. Luring this rising and backward movement of the needle the delivery end of the raceway is also moved backwardly and diagonally outwardly from the path of the needle, so 30 that the operator, may have access to the parts at the lower end of the raceway and insure the proper position for the eye of the button that said button may be stitched to the, material.. The eye of the button having been placed in proper position at the delivery end of the raceway, the main shaft of the machine will be started forwardly, and immediately the raceway will be moved into its delivery. position and the needle moving doWn40 wardly in its descent will enter the eye of the button.

Figure 1 in side elevation represents, a sufficient portion of a button-stitching machine with.my improvements added.to enable my 45 invention to be understood. Fig. 2 is a detail of die cam employed for workin g theneedle and feed. Fig. 3 is a detail showin»· . the, delivery end of the raceway .and the hooked needle, a cast-off coacting therewith, 50 the needle entering the eye of a button, and the presser-foot and part of the work-support. Fig. 4 is a detail showing the upper end of the hopper and button-raceway. Fig. 4^a is a detail showing the lever L. ‘ Fig. 5 is a detail detached, showing the parts in the position .55 they will occupy when the needle is in.its upper or starting position, the machine being at rest. Fig. 6 is a view of the same parts, the operator having moved the dog to release the clutch and its pawl. Fig. 7 shows detached 60 the hub to be referred to, together with the dog pivoted thereto. Fig. 8 is a detail showing the main shaft in elevation, the beltwheel and the hand-wheel being in section.

Referring to the drawings, B represents a 65 work-supporting arm suitably sustained by a base part provided with bearings for a shaft R, provided with a series of cams to be described. E represents a neck or arm forming part of the framework; H, a carrier or sliding 70 frame having suitable bearings to sustain the needle-bar F and cast-off bar G. The rear or right-hand end of the carrier has connected thereto a. lever a, (see Fig. 2,) pivoted at a! and provided with a lever a², upon which 75 is mounted a roller a^s, said roller being acted upon by the surface a⁴.of. a cam fast on the shaft R to vary the movement of the. lever, and consequently the extent of sliding movement of the carrier H. ~ 80

The, lever a is provided with an adjusting device a⁵, shown as a screw that may be’ turned, the screw acting on the end of the lever a² and changing the normal position of the lever a to provide for spacing the but- 85 tons, a spring a⁴ acting to keep the roll a^s iii contact with its cam. The upper side of the arm E has connected therewith by bolts a^B a stand a⁷. The upper end of the stand (see Figs. 1 and 4) receives a rocker a^s, provided 90 with a stud u”, that is extended.through a hole in the stand and has applied to it a nut a¹⁰, a washer a¹² being interposed between the hut and the stand.

The rocker a⁸ receives a stud or bolt b, that 95 constitutes'a pivot for the button-raceway V, said raceway haying as. a part thereof a hopper δ² and a portion δ³, which receives any ustial member, as a brush, that insures the proper traveling of· the buttons thrown into 100 the hopper into the., raceway . to be taken from the lower or delivery end thereof, the heads of the buttons in traversing the raceway sliding over the face δ^χ of the raceway.

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The lower end of the raceway is shaped to sustain the blitton to be stitched to the material, and the eye of the button is permitted to extend outwardly from the path of the 5 needle, as shown in Fig. 3. The lower end of the raceway has a pivoted .gate 7, controlled by a spring surrounding- a stud 6, which also constitutes a pivot for the gate.

The needle-bar derives its movement io through, a lever J, pivoted at K and provided at its-end with a link T, the lower end of which is slotted to embrace the shaft R, said link having a roller or other stud that enters a cam-groove 21 (shown by dotted lines) in 15 one of the cams fast on tij.e shaft R.

The button-raceway has connected with it an arm c, slotted at c' to receive a clampingscrew c², carried by a depending stand c³, with which is joined at c⁴ a block </, provided 20 with an upright stud c®, a forked lever L . straddling said pin,' said forked, lever, common to United· States Patent No. 336,881, serving when the rod g, joined to the block c⁵, is moved reanvardly by. or through its con25 nection with the lever 9 to impart to the raceway an outward movement that the button at the end of the raceway and in the eye of which the needle stands may be detached from the raceway.

. 30 The presser-foot A in its operation is made to clamp the 'stock while the needle is pene• trating the same, it- having usual means for raising the same to unclamp the.stock while the needle therein feeds the; same over the 3.5 work-support.

The hooked needle will be supplied with, a thread, as provided for in said patents, by a thread-carrier located in the work-support, and the needle, after it has passed through 40 the eye of the .button and the material will draw a loop of thread up through the material and the eye of the button, when the needle will again descend outside the eye of the button and through the first loop and enter 45 the stock, and the needle will· then be moved laterally to feed the stock, and the next loop drawn up by the needle will be manipulated, as fully illustrated in Patent No. 336,881, which serves to cast the. loop over the head of 50 the button, the stitch being such as represented in United States Patent No. 268,370, dated November 28, 1882.

The parts so far described are common to and are fully described in United States Pat55 ent to Matmson, No. 268,369, dated November 28, 1882, and Nos. 336,880 and 336,881, dated February 23,. 1886, so that particular operation of the parts need not be herein further described, it being understood that the 6c needle-bar and its reciprocating movements actuates the cast-off, as fully provided for in said: patents, and that the needle feeds the stock.

The· invention to be herein claimed lies 65 more especially in provision for turning back wardly the main shaft of the machine after said shaft, has been automatically stopped with the needle out of the material, the needle having failed in its previous descent to enter the eye of'the button. With the ma- 70. chine stopped, as stated before, a skipped button may be supplied; but to do so it becomes necessary to turn the main shaft backwardly to raise the needle and move the same backwardly and at the same time to 75 move the lower end of the raceway backwardly and outwardly to thereby expose to the ready access of the operator the endmost button in the raceway, that said button may be properly located therein and its eye be 80 made to project properly from the raceway that it may be entered by the needle .when the main shaft of the machine is again started forwardly, which may be done either by hand or through the regular starting or power- 85 transmitting'devices. Prior to starting the main shaft of the machine after having turned the shaft backwardly and adjusted the button correctly in the lower end of the raceway the operator will raise the presser- 90 foot, engage the stock thereunder, and draw the same forwardly until the hole made by the needle in its last descent where it failed to enter the. eye of the button has been brought into the path of the needle. This provision 95 enables the needle when the machine is again started and the main shaft turned forwardly to not only pass through the eye of a button, but enter the same hole in the material.

The shaft R has screwed to it by a screw g wo a hub g', having a notch ld°. This hub has a hole that receives loosely a circular portion g³of a clutch dog or device g³, having a tailpiece g⁷, that at times engages one or the other of a series of pockets 3, (shown in Fig. 5 as six in 105 number,) cut in the inner side of a plate D’,bol ted to a clutch-pulley D, loose on shaft R and driven continuously during the regular operation of the machine through a belt thereon, that is driven in usual manner from a second belt- 110 pulley, (not shown,) adapted to be clutched to a power-driven shaft of any usual transmitter commonly employed to start and stop sewing-machines, it being understood th:, t when said clutch-pulley is unclutched from 115 said shaft its rotation will be stopped in usual manner. The hub g’ has a stud 40, provided with a hole in which, is secured one end of a spring h³, the free end of which enters a hole in the tailpiece g⁷ of the clutching de- 120 vice or dog, so that said spring acts normally to turn said clutching device in such direction as to cause the free end of the tailpiece to engage one of the pockets of the plate connected with the clutch-pulley. The hub has 125 a forwardly-projecting wing /, 'that is convexed at 10 to act against the part g³ of the clutch device or dog/.

The belt-pulley is loose· o,n and turns the shaft, only when the tailpiece g⁷ of the dogen- 130

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5° ters one of the pockets 3. On a stud ZU of tlie framework is pivoted a dog-holder A, will which is connected a link. A², leading to a treadle or other manually-controlled device, 5 .(not shown,') said link being surrounded by a suitable spring 14, that acts normally to put the dog-holder in the position Fig. 5, where said, dog-holder acts against the dog g² and retains the tailpiece thereof disengaged from 10 the pockets of the loose pulley I). The dogholder has a depending ear 20, on which is pivoted a pawl h⁹ of elbow shape, the short arm of said pawl having a pin over which is hooked one, end of a spring Zt⁸, the opposite 15 end of which, engages a pin 41 of the holder Zi, said spring acting normally, to keep the long end of said pawl borne toward the hub g'. When the operator discovers that the needle has failed to enter correctly the eye of a 20 button, she immediately releases the usual foot-treadle and permits the spring 14 to move the dog-holder into the position Fig. 5 to. stop the machine, when the free end of said dog-holder meets the dog g² and imme25 diately turns the latter, so that its tailpiece g⁷retires from one of the pockets 3, and imme-d.iately the pawl h⁹ is moved through the action of the spring Z₍^s to engage the notch A¹⁰ of the hub g’, which pre vents any rebounding of 30 said hub. While the pawl λ⁹ engages the notch λ¹⁰ of said hub the tendency of the spring U to act .an'd turn the tail end of the pawl upwardly to enter one of the pockets 3 in the loose puljey or belt wheel is overcome, and the hub is held firmly, against rotation bv the pawl Id.

After stopping the machine through the contact of the dog-holder with said dog the operator will stop the rotation of the said pulley by disconnecting or unclutching the sanie through the usual transmitter, leaving said pulley loose'on shaft R and capable of being turned backwardly thereon or in a direction opposite its regular direction of movement, which is designated by. the arrows 22.

When the machine has been stopped, as stated, the point of the ascending needle will be arrested in about the position shown in Fig. 3; but the button shown in Fig. 3 will not be there.

Having stopped the pulley D and also the shaft, as stated, the operator will put her foot on the usual treadle controlling the dogholder and will depress the treadle, turning said holder from the position Fig. 5 into the position Fig. 6, and as said, holder is so moved the pawl Zi“ will meet the pin 16, that acts as a fulcrum for said pawl and turns the pawl aside, 41s shown in Fig. 6, sufficiently to remove said pawl from the notch 10. ।

With the parts in the condition Fig. 6 the : operator may engage the hand-wheel R' and ; turn the main shaft R backwardly for a short , distance, which will move· the lever J and ] carrier II in such direction as to raise the ;

. needle-bar in. the carrier Π and slide said carrier, with the needle-bar and need Io, back, wardly. At the same time through the link g the lower end of the raceway will be moved backwardly and the lever L (see Figs. 1 and 70 • 4») will cause the lower end of the raceway to be moved outwardly, so pcsifioning the'delivery end of the raceway that the operator may have free access to the endmost button in the raceway that the eye of said button 75 may be so presented that it may be entered by the needle when the machine is again started, causing the first of the oncoming pockets of said pulley to act on the tailpiece g¹ of the clutch device to immediately start 80

I the shaft R forwardly,'which done the carrier II will be moved forwardly and. the needle-bar therein will be made to descend, and at this same time the lower or delivery end of the raceway will be moved inwardly and forwardly to place the eye of the button in. the path of the descending needle that said button may be sewed to the stock.

When the shaft R is being turned backwardly from the position. Fig. 6 by or through the hand-wheel preparatory to getting the endmost button of the raceway in position to be. sewed to the stock, the tailpiece g⁷ of the deg in engagement with a pocket 3 of the loose pulley 1) turns said loose pulley backwardly and the tailpiece keeps its engagement with said pocket, so that whenever the pulley D is again started forwardly by power it will act instantly to start the shaft R forwardly. While the parts are in the condition shown in Fig. 6, the operator, through the hand-wheel, may turn the main shaft·R both backwardly and forwardly, as may be desired, preparatory to starting the machine by power and making the pulley D effective as the driver for said shaft.

After the main shaft,.has been started forwardly, the button having been correctly placed, the needle will· enter the eye of the button and will secure the same to the material, and as many buttons may 'be set as may be necessary, one at each rotation of the main shaft, or so long as the operator maintains the dog-holder so that it does not arrest the dog.