US3492960A - Presser foot for sewing concealed slide fasteners into garments or the like - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 3, 1970 YOSHINORI FUJISAKI 3,492,960

PRESSER FOOT FOR SEWING CONCEALED SLIDE FASTENERS INTO GARMENTS OR THE LIKE Filed March 10, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR YOSHINORI FUJISAKI Wa Wz ATTORNEYS 1970 YOSHINORI FUJISAKI 3,492,960

PRESSER FOOT FOR SEWING CUNCEALED SLIDE FASTENERS INTO GARMENTS OR THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 10, 1969 FIG. 3

FIG.4

INVENTOR YOSHINORI FUJISAKI ATTORNEYS 91w; aw

United States Patent PRESSER FOOT FOR SEWING CONCEALED SLIDE FASTENERS INTO GARMENTS OR THE LIKE Yoshinori Fujisaki, Kurobe-shi, Japan, assignor to Yoshida Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, Japan Filed Mar. 10, 1969, Ser. No. 805,449 Claims priority, application Japan, Mar. 16, 1968, 43/21,018 Int. Cl. Db 29/06 U.S. Cl. 112-235 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A presser foot for sewing tapes of a concealed slide fastener to a garment or the like having in the sole thereof laterally spaced side walls defining therebetween a pair of fastener element guide channels which are partially spacedly divided by a partition member projecting downwardly midway between said side walls. Each of the side walls has an outwardly curved convex inner face so that the element guide channels are widened toward the toe and heel ends of the foot with their narrowest portions at or adjacent a sewing needle guide hole provided in the toe end portion of the foot.

This invention relates to an improvement in a presser foot for sewing machines which is adapted to sew tapes of a concealed slide fastener into a garment or the like, whereby the fastener tapes may be advantageously sewn to the marginal portions of the garment.

Various types of presser feet have been heretofore devised and used for the purpose of stitching the tapes carrying interlocking elements of a concealed slide fastener to marginal portions of a garment. In all cases it is essential that such feet be constructed so as to draw a line of stitching as close as possible to the interlocking elements in order to conceal the fastener completely within a joint in the fabric of the garment simulating a real sewn seam when the joint is closed by a slider of the slide fastener. A presser foot in common use to this end is provided in the sole portion thereof with element guide channels or grooves arranged straight from the one end to the other of the foot. The drawback found in conventional feet having such straight element guide arrangement is that it is difficult, if not impossible, to guide the element-carrying tapes curvedly along a round marginal portion of a garment. I

This invention contemplates the provision of a presser foot for sewing machines which is capable of guiding the element-carrying tapes of the concealed slide fastener smoothly without restriction as to any contour of the marginal portions of the garment along which the tape is stitched.

More particularly, this invention has for its object the provision of a presser foot for sewing machines having in the sole thereof an element guide channel extending longitudinally throughout the entire length of the foot and capable of performing the function of guiding the element-carrying fastner tapes along a curved edge line of the garment to which the tape is being sewn as well as the function of a conventional presser foot with a straight element guide.

The foot has preferably twosymmetrical element guide channels one on each side of and adjacent a needle guide hole so that as soon as one-half of the fastener tapes is attached to the garment, one may proceed with the stitching of the other half without turning around the fastener.

The presser foot according to this invention comprises a foot having in the sole thereof downwardly projecting side walls defining therebetween a pair of element guide channels each extending over the entire length of the sole,

3,492,960 Patented Feb. 3, 1970 a shank extending upwardly from the heel of said foot, a partition means downwardly projecting between said side walls and spacedly dividing said element guide channels and a needle guide hole passing through said foot and partition means, each of said side walls having a flat bottom face and an outwardly curved convex inner face and said element guide channels being narrowest at or adjacent the needle guide hole.

The novel features of this invention will be best understood from the following description when taken together with the accompanying drawings where for purpose of illustration one preferred embodiment which this invention may assume in practice is shown.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the presser foot according to the present invention, showing the sole or reverse side of such foot;

FIG. 2 is a partially broken away plan view illustrating the manner in which the presser foot guides an elementcarrying fastener tape arcuately along a marginal portion of cloth;

FIG. 3 is a transverse cross-section taken along line AA of Fig. 2, showing position of a sewing needle relative to the foot and the slide fastener slidably guided therethrough; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing the manner in which the foot guides the element-carrying tape in alignment with a straight marginal line of cloth.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the presser foot generally designated at 1 may be retained in operative position on the sewing machine by means of a presser bar of conventional type.

The presser foot includes a foot 2 and a shank 3 extending upwardly from the heel of the foot 2. Preferably, the shank 3 is provided at its upper end portions with a means for attachment to the presser bar of the sewing machine. These portions of the shank 3 form no part of this invention and hence are not shown in the present drawings.

The foot 2 has in its sole laterally spaced side walls 4 and 5 defining therebetween a pair of element guide channels 6 and 7. In the toe end portion of the foot 2, the element guide channels 6 and 7 are spacedly divided by a partition member 8 downwardly projecting midway between the side walls 4 and 5. The side walls 4 and 5 have flat bottom faces 9 and 10 and convex inner faces 11 and 12 which are curved outwardly or flare apare from each other towards both toe and heel ends of the foot 2, as a result of which the element guide channels 6 and 7 are widened toward the ends of the foot 2 as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4. The partition member 8 is recessed to provide a space communicating with a needle guide hole 13 formed in the toe end portion of the foot 2.

The depth and width of the element guide channels 6 and 7 may be determined by the size of the slide fastener with which the foot is intended to be used. The element guide channels 6 and 7 have their narrowest portions 14 and 15 at or adjacent the needle guide hole 13. The distance between the partition member 8 and the side walls 4, 5 at these narrowest portions 14, 15 is substantially equal to the width of the element-carrying edge portion of the fastener tape, or more precisely to the width of the tape fabric including the fastener elements where the fastener has its elements secured on one side thereof, or to the width of the elements where the fastener has its elements secured astride of the tape edge and onto both sides of the tape as shown by way of an example in the accompanying drawings.

The height of the partition member 8 may also be varied depending upon the type of the slide fastener used. Where the elements passed through the guide channels 6 or 7 are carried on one side of the fastener tape, the partition member 8 may extend as far down as to the bottom plane of the side walls 4 and 5. However, if the foot is intended for use with a slide fastener carrying metal elements such as shown in the drawings, the partition member 8 should preferably be terminated short of the bottom plane of the side walls 4 and leaving thereunder a space for receiving therein projection 16 that are provided at the inner bottom ends of the fastening elements 17 so that these projections may not interfer with the side walls 4 and 5 pressing the tape 18 and associated cloth 19 against an advancing or feed mechanism (not shown) in a needle plate (not shown) on the sewing machine bed.

Now, reference is made particularly to FIGS. 2 and 4 wherein the fastener tape 18 is shownas being sewn to a piece of cloth 19. As already mentioned herein before, it is important to see that the line of stitching 20 runs as close as possible to the fastening elements 17 in order to conceal the elements 17 completely from external view when the sewn-in fastener is in closed disposition. The tape 18 and the cloth 19 are fed between the foot 2 and the needle plate on the sewing machine bed by means of an advancing mechanism projecting above the needle plate with the elements 17 passing through one of the element guide channels 6 and 7. In the operative disposition, the foot 2 has its partition 8 and needle guide hole 13 disposed invariably on the fastener tape 18, not

on the garment 19. The tape 18 is sewn to the garment 19 at the narrowest portion of the element guide channel 6 or 7 where the inner ends of the fastening elements 17 are brought into a position adjacent the needle hole 13 so that at all times the line of stitching 20 may be placed sufficiently close to the fastening elements 17 (FIG. 3).

The row of elements 17 on the sewn-in portion of the tape or those elements which have passed through the narrowest portion of the element guide channel are allowed to advance freely, without being obstructed by the side walls 4, 5, as they move through the widened end portion of the element guide channel. This is accomplished without having regard to the shape of the marginal portions of the cloth 19 to which the tape is sewn, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 4.

It will be understood from the foregoing that the presser foot according to this invention is simple in construction as a whole and no close tolerances are required for the curvature of the convexly curved inner faces of the side walls 4 and 5, except only for the minimum width of each element guide channel that should closely correspond to the width of the element-carrying edge portion of the fastener tape used.

While one embodiment which the present invention may assume in practice has been specifically described herein above, it will be understood that this invention is not limited to the specific construction described, and that various other forms may be devised.

What is claimed is:

1. A presser foot for sewing concealed slide fasteners into garments or the like comprising a foot having in the sole thereof downwardly projecting side walls each extending over the entire length of the sole, a shank extending upwardly from the heel of the foot, partition means downwardly projecting between said side walls and defining With said side Walls a pair of element guide channels, and a needle guide hole passing through said foot and partition means, each of said side walls having a flat bottom face and an outwardly curved convex inner face and said element guide channels being narrowest at or adjacent the needle guide hole.

2. A presser foot as defined in claim 1 wherein the narrowest portions of the element guide channels are substantially as wide as the element-carrying edge portion of a fastener tape.

3. A presser foot as defined in claim 1 wherein said downwardly projecting partition means terminates short of the bottom plane of said foot.

4. Apresser foot as defined in claim 1 wherein said side walls are symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal axis of the foot.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,909,136 10/1959 Dixon et a1. 112-235 2,950,696 8/1960 Miller 112-235 3,349,736 10/1967 Howell l12235 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner

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