EP0426031B1

EP0426031B1 - Industrial sewing machine, sewing machine table and control pedal

Info

Publication number: EP0426031B1
Application number: EP90120590A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Willi Van Engeland
Original assignee: VAN ENGELAND MANAGEMENT BV
Current assignee: VAN ENGELAND MANAGEMENT BV
Priority date: 1989-10-26
Filing date: 1990-10-26
Publication date: 1995-03-08
Anticipated expiration: 2010-10-26
Also published as: DE69017588T2; ES2068966T3; NL8902658A; EP0426031A1; DE69017588D1; ATE119590T1; DK0426031T3

Abstract

The invention relates to industrial sewing work e.g. in a ready-made clothing workshop. For such an application the invention provides an industrial sewing system, comprising: an industrial sewing machine (1) provided with a motor, (2) particularly an electro-motor, said motor comprising an adjustable coupling for adjusting the operation speed of the sewing machine, a control pedal, (3) connected with the coupling by means of connecting means, (4) and a table (8) for supporting the sewing machine. Preferably the system is implemented such that the table comprises: a support structure, (5-13) a table top (8) supported by said support structure for supporting said sewing machine, height-adjusting means (11-12) for adjusting the height of the table top, and angle-adjusting means (22-23) for adjusting the angular position of said table top. s

Description

The invention relates to an industrial sewing system, e.g. in a ready-made clothing workshop, said system comprising:

an industrial sewing machine provided with a motor, particularly an electro-motor, said motor comprising an adjustable coupling for adjusting the operation speed of the sewing machine,
a control pedal, connected with the coupling by means of connecting means, and
a table for supporting the sewing machine, said table comprising:
a table top,
a support structure for supporting said table top,
height-adjusting means for adjusting the height of the table top, and
angle-adjusting means for adjusting the angular position of said table top.

US-S-2 644 414 discloses a sewing unit including a sewing machine, an individual drive therefor and a readily shiftable supporting structure. The sewing machine and its drive are mounted upon a pedestal or column extending upwardly from a large floor engaging base which provides a steady and sturdy support but is free to be shifted about to facilitate rearrangement of a series of machines forming a sewing line. In the known sewing unit the total height of the pedestal may be varied somewhat by adjusting the extent to which a column is inserted in a collar, said column being held by a series of clamping screws adapted to squeeze the split collar together around the column. So the known sewing unit suffers from the drawback that the range over which the heights can be varied is rather limited, and that variation of the range requires readjustment of a series of clamping screws.
DE-C-578 261 discloses a system comprising a table plate a and fixing device i, h upon which a sewing machine can be mounted for the purpose of reparation. A sewing machine can be moved together with the fixing device with respect to the table both in horizontal and vertical direction.
According to the invention there is provided and industrial sewing system in which the support structure comprises two legs each having an adjustable length and comprising two hollow leg portions which are relatively telescopically shiftable and can be locked in a chosen position, the lower leg portion can rest on the floor, if necessary by means of a foot, and the upper leg portion is coupled with the table top by means of coupling means, the height-adjusting means comprise driving means for relatively shifting said leg parts, and a connection tube extends between both legs, a driving rod extending through said tube, and being driveable at the one side by height-adjusting operating means present at the one leg and, at the other hand, can drive height-adjusting operating means present at the other leg. In this last connection it should be noted that the rotatable driveable coupling rod between both height-adjusting operating means can also be present at the upper side.
This sewing system provides the advantage over the one disclosed in US-A-2 644 414 in that the height of the table top can be varied over an appropriate range, rather than "varied somewhat" in a fast and convenient way. Moreover, the structure is stiffened by the connection tube, which may be of great importance, particularly in view of the large weight of industrial sewing machines.
A preferred embodiment of a system according to the invention is characterized in that the driving means comprise:

an operating member such as a hand-operable handle or a motor, and
a screw spindle and a nut cooperating therewith, the one of which is rigidly fixed to the one portion of a leg and the other is connected with the other portion of that leg in a rotational fashion, but locked for axial movement, and can be rotated by said operating member.

A simple embodiment of the system displaces the features in that the angle-adjusting means comprise:

a hinge
a slit hole having the shape of an arc of a circle concentric with said hinge, said hole cooperating with a locking screw, said slit hole and said locking screw being present in and connected with the support structure and/or the table top, respectively, for fixing the chosen angular position of the table top.

In a practical embodiment the system has the characterizing feature that the driving shaft carrying the handle is carried by a bearing at the table top, in such a way that the handle extends in outward direction relative thereto, and that the driving shaft is hingeable or flexible, e.g. a flexible shaft or a shaft having at least cardanic coupling.
In a certain embodiment the system has the feature that the adjusting pedal comprises a hingeable foot operating plate and a control arm, and that
the connection means comprise two bowden-cables that can be loaded by said control arm for tensile forces for increase in an increasing degree and in a decreasing degree, respectively, activating the coupling for increasing and decreasing respectively, the operating speed of the sewing machine.
Also the invention relates to a sewing machine table as specified above as a part of a system according to the invention.
Furthermore the invention relates to an operating pedal for an industrial sewing machine as specified above as a part of the system according to the invention.
Figures 1-4 enclosed herewith show several features and particulars of the system according to the invention.

Figure 1 shows an industrial sewing machine system in perspective view;
Figure 2 shows the sewing machine table according to Figure 1 in a perspective view partly broken-away;
Figure 3 shows a perspective view partly broken-away of the operating pedal;
Figure 4 shows the control pedal according to Figure 3 in another embodiment which is connected with the coupling between the motor and the sewing machine by means of bowden-cables.

Figure 1 shows an industrial sewing system, comprising:
an industrial sewing machine 1 provided with an electro-motor 2, said electro-motor comprising an adjustable coupling for adjusting the operating speed of the sewing machine 1,
an operable and controllable pedal 3 connected with said coupling by means of two bowden-cables 4, and
a table 5 for supporting the sewing machine 1.
The table 5 comprises:
two legs 6, 7,
a table top 8 carried by said legs for supporting the sewing machine 1,
height-adusting means to be specified herein below for adjusting the height of the table top 8, and
angle-adjusting means to be specified herein below for adjusting the angular position of the table top.
The legs 6, 7 each have an adjustable height and thereto comprise each:
two hollow leg parts 9, 10, 11 and 12 that can shift relative to each other and can be locked in a chosen position, the lower leg parts 9, 11 being adapted to rest on the floor by means of a foot 13, and the upper leg parts 10, 12 being coupled with the table top 8 by means of adjustable coupling means 14, and
driving means for relatively shifting the leg parts 9, 10; 11, 12, said driving means comprising:
a hand-operable handle 15, and
a screw spindle 16 and a nut 17 cooperating therewith, the nut 17 being rigidly coupled with the leg portion 11 (in this case for brevity's sake only the structure of leg 7 is described), in which the handle 15 can by means of a pinion system 8 bring the screw spindle 16 into rotation for height-adjustment of the table top. Thereto between both legs 6, 7 a connection tube 19 extends through which a rotatable driving rod 20 extends, which at the one side is driven by a pinion system 18 and at the other side drives the pinion system 21 present at a leg 6. Thus the height-adjusting means have one operating member in common, namely the handle 15.
The angle-adjusting means comprise:
a hinge 14 present at both sides of the table top, and
a slit hole 22 having the shape of an argue of a circle concentrically arranged relative to said hinge and cooperating with a locking screw 23, by means of which the table top can be fixed relative to the legs 6, 7 in a chosen angular position of the table top 8.
The driving shaft 24 carrying handle 15 is supported tiltably at the table top 8 by means of a bearing 25 and comprises a cardanic coupling 26.
The control pedal 3 according to Figure 3 comprises a foot 27 and a foot-operable plate 29 coupled therewith by means of hinges 28. The bowden-cables 4 mentioned already can be loaded on tensile forces by the control arm 30 arranged on plate 29 in an increasing and decreasing degree, respectively, due to which the coupling (not shown) forming part of motor 2 can be activated in a higher or lesser degree for increasing and decreasing respectively, the operating speed of the sewing machine at constant driving speed of the motor.
Figure 4 shows an operating pedal 31 in an alternative embodiment. The bowden-cables 4 in this structure are connected with a fixed sleeve 32 and a height-adjustable inner member 33, respectively, the height of which can vary as a reaction on the operation of the control pedal 31. The inner member 33 controls the coupling mentioned.

Claims

Industrial sewing system, comprising:
- an industrial sewing machine (1) provided with a motor (2), particularly an electro-motor (2), said motor (2) comprising an adjustable coupling for adjusting the operation speed of the sewing machine (1),

- a control pedal (3), connected with the coupling by means of connecting means (4), and

- a table (5) for supporting the sewing machine (1), said table comprising:

- a table top (8),

- a support structure for supporting said table top (8)

- height-adjusting means for adjusting the height of the table top (8), and

- angle-adjusting means (14, 22, 23) for adjusting the angular position of said table top characterized in that the support structure comprises two legs (6, 7) each having an adjustable length and comprising two hollow leg portions (9, 10, 11, 12) which are relatively telescopically shiftable and can be locked in a chosen position, the lower leg portion (9, 10) can rest on the floor, if necessary by means of a foot (13), and the upper leg portion (11, 12) is coupled with the table top (8) by means of coupling means,
the height-adjusting means comprise driving means (15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 26) for relatively shifting said leg parts (9, 10, 11, 12), and
a connection tube (19) extends between both legs, a driving rod (20) extending through said tube (19), and being driveable at the one side by height-adjusting operating means (15, 24, 26) present at the one leg and, at the other hand, can drive height-adjusting operating means (21) present at the other leg.
System according to claim 1, characterized in that the driving means comprise:
- an operating member such as a hand-operable handle (15) or a motor, and

- a screw spindle (16) and a nut (17) cooperating therewith, the one of which is rigidly fixed to the one portion of a leg and the other is connected with the other portion of that leg in a rotational fashion, but locked for axial movement, and can be rotated by said operating member (15).
System according to claim 1, characterized in that the angle-adjusting means comprise:
- a hinge (14),

- a slit hole (22) having the shape of an arc of a circle concentric with said hinge, said hole cooperating with a locking screw (23), said slit hole (22) and said locking screw (23) being present in and connected with the support structure and/or the table top (8), respectively, for fixing the chosen angular position of the table top (8).
System according to claim 1, characterized by an operating handle (15) coupled with a driving shaft (24) for driving the height-adjusting means, said driving shaft (24) being carried by a bearing (25) at the table top (8), in such a way that the handle (15) extends in outward direction relative thereto, and that the driving shaft (24) is hingeable or flexible, e.g. a flexible shaft or a shaft having at least one cardanic coupling (26).
System according to claim 1, characterized in that the control pedal (3) comprises a hingeable foot operating plate (29) and a control arm (30), and that
the connection means comprise two bowden-cables (4) that can be loaded by said control arm (30) for tensile forces for increase in an increasing degree and in a decreasing degree, respectively, activating the coupling for increasing and decreasing respectively, the operating speed of the sewing machine (1).