Front roller feeder
AssigneeUnion Special Corporation
InventorsManfred Ackermann, Dale R. Carr, Larry D. Crisler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fabric feed mechanism that includes a forward feed roller located forward of the stitch forming area and a rear feed roller located to the rear of the stitch forming area. The drive to the forward and rear feed rollers is synchronized such that the fabric is fed to the stitch forming instruments in a relaxed and unstretched condition. There is a independently applied downward pressure to forward and rear feed rollers and the forward feed roller is raised along with the presser foot. The front feed roller has sections that are located on opposite sides of the presser foot toe to thus ensure that the top layer of fabric is fed under the presser foot rather than riding up the front roller.
Claims30
A sewing machine including a sewing head and a lower arm;
- a throat plate carried by said lower arm, said throat plate having a flat upper surface including a portion that has no apertures formed therethrough;
- stitch forming mechanism including reciprocating needles mounted on said sewing head;
- a presser foot carried by said sewing head;
- a main bracket mounted on said sewing head such that it can be moved toward and away from said throat plate;
- a rear roller shaft journaled on said main bracket;
- a rear feeder roller secured to said rear roller shaft and disposed above said portion of the throat plate that has no apertures formed therethrough and to the rear of said presser foot;
- a material folding device mounted on said lower arm forward of said throat plate, at a location relative to said stitch forming mechanism to provide desired margins between the folded edges and the stitch line, for folding material to be fed to said stitch forming mechanism;
- a front roller bracket connected to said sewing head;
- a front roller shaft journaled on said front roller bracket, a front feeder roller carried by said front roller bracket, said front feeder roller functioning to receive the folded material from the folding device, positively feed the folded material into the stitch forming mechanism such that the control of the margins is improved and the need for manually controlling the folded material is diminished;
- and
- driving mechanisms for positively driving said rear and front feeder rollers.
A sewing machine for producing the rows of stitches for a felled seam in folded material received from a folding device that is located to provide desired margins between the folded edges and the stitch line, including a sewing head and a lower arm;
- a throat plate carried by said lower arm;
- stitch forming mechanism including needles mounted on said sewing head;
- a presser foot carried by said sewing head;
- a main bracket mounted on said sewing head such that it can be moved toward and away from said throat plate;
- a rear roller shaft journaled on said main bracket;
- a rear feeder roller secured to said rear roller shaft and disposed above said throat plate and to the rear of said presser foot;
- a front roller bracket pivotally connected to said main bracket;
- a front roller shaft journaled on said front roller bracket, a front feeder roller carried by said front roller bracket, said front feed roller functioning to receive the folded material from the folding device, positively feed the folded material into the stitch forming mechanism such that the control of the margins is improved and the need for manually controlling the folded material is diminished;
- and
- driving mechanisms for said rear and front feeder rollers.
A sewing machine for producing the rows of stitches for a felled seam including a sewing head and a work supporting surface;
- stitch forming mechanism for forming a stitch in a stitch forming area, said stitch forming mechanism including needles mounted in said sewing head, a throat plate carried by said work supporting surface and a presser foot carried by said sewing head;
- a main roller puller bracket mounted for reciprocal motion on said sewing head, a rear roller puller rotatably mounted on said main roller puller bracket about a generally horizontal axis, at a location rearward of said stitch forming area, a front roller bracket pivotally mounted on said main roller puller bracket about said generally horizontal axis, said front roller bracket having a forward portion, a front roller rotatably mounted on the forward portion of said front roller bracket at a location forward of said stitch forming area, drive mechanism for said rear and front rollers operable to drive them in a direction to advance the work product along a line of feed from front to rear;
- said presser foot being located between said front roller and said rear roller puller;
- and
- lifting mechanisms for raising and lowering said main roller puller bracket and the forward portion of said front roller bracket toward and away from said work supporting surface.
The method of producing rows of stitches at the stitch forming area of a folded work product that has been folded to produce a felled seam comprising the steps of:
- (a) biasing a rear feed roller downwardly into contact with the upper surface of the work material rearward of the stitch forming area;
- (b) biasing a front feed roller downwardly into contact with the upper surface of the work material forward of the stitch forming area;
- (c) providing positive, continuous, uninterrupted drive directly to the rear and front feed rollers in a direction that will cause said front and rear feed rollers, respectfully, to pull and push the work material from and to the stitch forming area;
- and
- (d) guiding the edge of the folded work product such that the edge is maintained at a constant space from the rows of stitches and a consistent marginal edge is produced.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.