Sewing machine control mechanism mounting plate

Claim 1

A sewing machine having a frame, a plurality of stitch forming instrumentalities, a manually actuatable control mechanism for influencing the operation of one of said plurality of stitch forming instrumentalities, and mounting means for removably attaching said control mechanism to said frame, wherein said mounting means comprises: a. a mounting plate rigidly fastened to said control mechanism; b. a constraining means for constraining movement of said plate to substantially a single predefined path relative to said frame including a slot in said plate and a pin in the frame for sliding engagement along the slot, the pin including a head with a diameter which is larger than the width of the slot except for an enlarged one end which is sufficiently large to allow the head to pass therethrough, and c. a locking means for affixing the plate to said frame including an enlarged diameter on the pin under the head and an end portion of said slot adapted to receive the enlarged diameter of the pin while excluding the head, and a spring about the pin for biasing the enlarged diameter into said adapted end portion of the slot and the head of the pin against the plate, the pin having a finger engageable end which is at the opposite end of the pin from the head and to which manual pressure can be applied to enable the plate to be connected to and disconnected from the frame.