Improvements in Sewing Machine Cabinets..
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Mar., 1898-Accepted, 7th May, 1898
[Communicated from abroad by THE. SINGER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, of New
York, in the United States of America, Sewing Machine Manufacturers.]
Improvements in Sewing Machine Cabinets..
I, WILLIAM HARVEY INSLEE, Manager of The Singer Manufacturing Company,
Kilbowie, Dumbartonshire, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly 'described and
ascertained in and by the following statement':-
This invention relates to that class of sewing machine stands or tables known as
"drop cabinets and beneath the tops of which. the machines are housed when not in
use, the principal object of the invention being to provide means to keep the
driving belt taut when the machine is lowered so that at such times the said belt will
be held in the grooves of the treadle-operated driving wheel and the machine driving
pulley, and it will thus be impossible for said belt to become accidentally displaced from
said wheel and pulley in the operation of lowering the machine to its inoperativé
position or raising it to its operative position.
In the drawings Figure 1 is a sectional side view of a sewing machine cabinet
embodying the invention. Figure 2 is a plan view of the same with the table-top
partly broken out.
A denotes the cabinet or stand which may be of any suitable general construction
but which is preferably provided in front, with horizontally swinging doors a which
will be closed when the machine is not in use but which will be opened or swung
aside so as to permit of convenient access to the treadle when the machine is to
be operated. The table top.a¹ is provided with an opening a closed by a sliding
cover a movable in a suitable guideway in the, left-hand outer portion of the
table-top and preferably provided at. its inner-end, with a spring-catch a.which
engages a slight recess in the underside of the table-top to hold said cover-in
place, when closed....
165
S..
The sewing machine Bis suitably mounted, on a support or platform. C. which
is of a proper width to close the opening 2, when the machine is raised to its
operative, position, said platform (which is preferably of wood) being attached to bars
of a metal bracket D. A¹ is a metal bracket attached to the inside of one of the
end boards of the cabinet and to which is pivoted a cross-shaft, E having arms e
jointed at their outer ends to the bracket D. Pivotally mounted in the bracket A¹-
Below the shaft E in a second shaft F surrounded by a torsional lifting spring f, said
shaft F, having an arm fl jointed.at its outer or forward end to a depending part of the
bracket D, and, said arm f, having a lug engaged by the extended end portion of
said spring, the, latter, being, sufficiently strong to about counter-balance the weight of
the machine, B and platform C. The, said arm. rests in a hook f³, secured to the
side of the cabinet when the machine.B is fully lowered.
.:
G is the treadle-operated or inain driving wheel between which and. the
driving pulley. b of the machine runs the driving belt g which passes through
holes or eyelets c in the platform. C and also through apertures or eyelets in the.
outer or free ends of tension arms & pivoted at their inner ends on a rod h¹ mounted in

page_text: a bracket H. fixed to the inside of the end of the cabinet. Surrounding the rod h¹ are
torsional springs h² the free ends of which engage the arms in a manner to tend to
force the same gently upward so that when the machine and platform are lowered the
said yielding or spring-acted arms will take up the slack of the driving belt g and hold
the said belt under a tension sufficient to prevent. the same from becoming accidentally
displaced either from the driving wheel G or the machine driving pulley b. When
the machine is being lowered the yielding tension arms h are pulled downward some-
what by the belt against the stress of the springs h².
When the machine B is raised to its operative position its support or platform C
rests at one end on a lug a fixed to the under side of the table top and at its other
on the stiff spring catch a' on the sliding cover a³, said catch being slidden beneath
the said platform after the latter has been fully lifted. When the said machine is
thus in its operative or raised position the tension arms are lifted by their springs h²
so that the driving belt g runs freely through the apertures or eyelets in the same
and also through the holes or eyelets c in the platform C.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. In a sewing machine drop-stand or cabinet, the combination with a sewing
machine, mounted to be raised and lowered, a main driving wheel and a belt
running from the latter to the driving pulley of the said machine, of a yielding or
spring-acted tension device engaging said belt and serving to keep said belt under
tension and to take up the slack thereof when the machine is lowered, and thus
prevent the accidental displacement of said belt from the said driving wheel or
pulley.
2. The combination with a sewing machine drop-stand or cabinet provided with a
driving wheel, a sewing machine having a driving pulley, means for raising and
lowering said machine and for supporting the same when raised or lowered, of a belt
connecting said driving wheel and pulley, and a yielding or spring-acted tension
device, for taking up the slack of said belt, and thus holding the same taut, when
the machine is lowered; whereby accidental displacement of said belt from said
driving wheel or pulley will be avoided.
3. The combination with a sewing machine stand or cabinet provided with a driving
wheel, a sewing machine provided with a driving pulley, a support or platform on
which said machine is mounted and which is provided with holes or eyelets, of a belt
connecting said driving wheel and pulley and passing through said holes or eyelets,
and yielding or spring-acted tension arms having holes or apertures in their free ends
through which said belt also passes and which serve to take up the slack of said belt
and hold the same taut when said machine is lowered.
4. The combination with the stand or cabinet A and its driving wheel G, of
the sewing machine B having the driving pulley b, the platform G having the
holes or eyelets c, the bracket D sustaining said platform, the shaft E having the
arms é jointed at their outer ends to said bracket, the shaft F having the arms f¹, a
counter-balancing spring f connected with said arm f¹, the pivoted tension arms h
having holes or apertures at their free ends, springs, as h², for pressing said arms
yieldingly upward, and a belt g connecting said driving wheel and pulley and passing
through the said holes or eyelets c in said platform and also through the holes or.
openings in said tension arms.
5. The combination with a sewing machine stand or cabinet having an opening in
its top and a sewing machine mounted to be raised and lowered through said opening,
of a sliding cover to close said opening when the machine is lowered, and which is
provided with a catch adapted to support one end of said machine when the latter is
lifted to its operative position, and a fixed lug or bracket beneath the table-top which
supports the other end of said machine when the latter is raised.
6. The combination with a sewing machine stand or cabinet, having an opening in
its top, and a sewing machine mounted to be raised and lowered through said

page_text: opening, of a sliding cover serving to close said opening when the machine is
lowered, and which cover is provided with a stiff spring catch adapted to hold
the said cover closed when the machine is lowered, and also adapted to support
one end of said machine when the latter is lifted to its operative position, and a
fixed lug or. bracket beneath the table top arranged to support the other end of
said machine when the latter is in its operative or raised position.
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,-
Chartered Patent Agents, 62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow,
Agent for the Applicant...