Work cabinet for sewing machine

Abstract

A work cabinet, for mounting a sewing machine in different work positions and for housing the machine when not being worked, provides a drop shelf interiorly of the cabinet below the top working surface thereof for lowering the machine into the interior of the cabinet. The drop shelf carries a mount for the machine, by means of linkage which permits raising and lowering of the machine to different work positions. Pivotally fulcrumed on the drop shelf is a lever having a work arm and a power-input arm, the former underlying the machine mount so as to raise and lower the sewing machine when power, usually manual, is applied to the latter. The cabinet is well adapted to open-arm types of sewing machines, and is provided with a removable insert for its apertured top wall as an extender for the limited work surface of such top wall in the work positions of the machine. The insert fits around the machine and closes the aperture provided in the top wall of the cabinet for enabling the machine to be lowered by means of the drop shelf.

We claim: 
     
       1. A sewing machine cabinet, comprising walls defining a housing for receiving and storing a sewing machine, said walls including an apertured top wall providing a top work surface for the cabinet; a drop shelf spaced below said top wall under the aperture thereof and hingedly attached to a wall of the cabinet; latch means for normally holding said shelf in a substantially horizontal position; a sewing machine mount normally resting on said shelf and adapted to receive a sewing machine; link means attaching said mount to the shelf so as to permit raising of the mount, and of a sewing machine mounted thereon, from a lowered work position to a raised work position and vice versa relative to said shelf; and pivotally mounted lever means for raising and lowering said mount, said aperture in the top wall being sufficiently large to accommodate the sewing machine in its work positions and during the dropping thereof into storage position within the cabinet and the raising thereof from said storage position into a work position. 
     
     
       2. A cabinet according to claim 1, wherein the walls include side walls, and the drop shelf is hingedly attached to one of the side walls. 
     
     
       3. A cabinet according to claim 1, wherein the link means comprises parallel motion mechanism. 
     
     
       4. A cabinet according to claim 1, wherein a removable insert is provided for the aperture of the top of the cabinet to fit around a sewing machine mounted on the sewing machine mount when the drop shelf is in its horizontal position, so as to supplement the top work surface of the cabinet. 
     
     
       5. A cabinet according to claim 1, wherein the lever means comprises a lever pivotally fulcrumed on the dropshelf and having a work arm underlying the sewing machine mount and a power-input arm underlying said shelf. 
     
     
       6. A cabinet according to claim 5, wherein the lever has an intermediate portion mounted in bearings on the drop shelf and serving as the fulcrum. 
     
     
       7. A cabinet according to claim 6, wherein the power-input arm of the lever has a substantially right-angle portion proximate the intermediate, fulcrum portion of the lever, that places the remainder of said power-input arm in substantially horizontal position beneath the drop shelf in the lowered position of the sewing machine mount, and wherein the said shelf is apertured to accommodate said right-angle portion as the lever is moved from one position to another. 
     
     
       8. A cabinet according to claim 7, wherein the free terminus of the work arm of the lever is substantially at right angles to the remainder of the work arm as support for the sewing machine mount. 
     
     
       9. A cabinet according to claim 8, wherein the free terminus of the power-input arm is substantially at right angles to the portion of said arm from which it extends, to provide a handle for manual operation of the lever. 
     
     
       10. A cabinet according to claim 9, wherein the lever is a metal rod bent to formation. .Iadd. 11. In combination, structure including an apertured work top for accommodating an open-arm type of sewing machine in both normal working position and open-arm working position; a movable, sewing machine mount disposed below the aperture of said work top so that a sewing machine mounted thereon may be placed in either normal or open-arm working position relative to said work top; link means attaching said mount to said structure so as to permit raising of the mount, and of a sewing machine mounted thereon, from a lowered work position to a raised work position and vice versa relative to said work top; and pivotally mounted lever means for raising and lowering said mount, and a sewing machine mounted thereon, to and from open-arm working position within said aperture, said lever means comprising a lever pivotally fulcrumed about an axis disposed below said mount and having a work arm underlying said mount in lifting position and a power-input arm underlying said link means for raising and lowering said work arm. .Iaddend..Iadd. 12. A combination in accordance with claim 11, wherein the structure includes a substantially horizontal supporting panel below the aperture of the work top and to which the link means are attached; and wherein the lever has an intermediate portion mounted in bearings on the supporting panel and serving as the fulcrum. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 13. A combination in accordance with claim 12, wherein the power-input arm of the lever has a substantially right-angle portion, proximate the fulcrum portion of the lever, that places the remainder of said power-input arm in substantially horizontal position beneath the supporting panel in the lowered position of the sewing machine mount, and wherein the said panel is apertured to accommodate said right-angle portion as the lever is moved from one 
     
     
        position to another. .Iaddend..Iadd. 14.  A combination in accordance with claim 13, wherein the free terminus of the work arm of the lever is substantially at right angles to the remainder of the work arm as support for the sewing machine mount. .Iaddend..Iadd. 15. A combination in accordance with claim 14, wherein the free terminus of the power-input arm is substantially at right angles to the portion of said arm from which it extends, to provide a handle for manual operation of the lever. .Iaddend..Iadd. 16. A combination in accordance with claim 15, wherein the lever is a metal rod bent to formation. .Iaddend.