Improvements in Hand Embroidering Machines.
Year: 1886

page_text: COMPLEIE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Hand Embroidering Machines.
I, CYRUS WEST FIELDS, of Wauseon, in the county of Fulton, in the State
of Ohio, one of the United States of America, mechanic, do hereby declare the
nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN HAND EMBROIDERING MACHINES,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The object of my invention is to provide a simple and cheap instrument,
machine or implement for mechanically and rapidly forming loops or pile upon
a canvas or other fabric or back by hand, said loops consisting of colored wool or
other suitable material either plain or adapted to form colored figures and designs,
provision being made to form the loops of uniform length and for regulating the
length of the stitch by previous adjustment.
I attain this object by the construction of the machine or implement hereinafter
described, or shown in the accompanying drawings.
Fig. T is an elevation partly in section of my improved hand embroidering
machine showing the needle threaded and inserted in the canvas or other back.
Fig. 2 is a similar elevation showing the looper inserted in the back also, the
needle retaining its former position therein.
Fig. 3 is a similar elevation showing the looper in the same position as in fig. 2
and the needle withdrawn clear of the canvas.
Fig. 4 is a portion of a similar elevation shewing needle and looper in the same
relative position as in fig. 3 but pressed forward preparatory to the needle
reentering the canvas to make a new stitch.
Fig. 5 is a similar elevation to the last but showing the needle inserted into the
canvas again commencing a new stitch.
Fig. 6 is a similar elevation showing the looper withdrawn from the formed
loop and the canvas, the implement being now in the same position as in fig. 1,
and a series of loops being shown as if a number of stitches had been made.
Fig. 7 is a cross section of the bars at line c, and
Fig. S is a perspective view of the upper parts of the bars.
The implement consists essentially of two bars rectangular in section each
provided with a suitable handle at the lower end, and with a clip embracing its
fellow to allow them to slide on each other freely. One of them, which I will
call the needle bar, has at its upper end and lineable with its inner face a flat
Din 1

page_text: needle having the eye near the point, and which is bent slightly backwards over
the end of the bar to form a line diverging from the line of the bar. This bar is
also provided with two loops or eyes to act as thread guides. The other bar
which I will call the looper bar, carries at its upper end and lineable with its
inner face the looper which consists of a stiff piece of steel somewhat narrower
than the needle, its upper end slightly concaved to retain a thread and pivoted at
its lower end in a latteral groove or recess in the bar; it is provided at its rear
with a pin upon which is made to impinge a flat spring secured at the back of the
bar so as to press the looper flush with the bar, a set screw in and near the end of
the bar limiting the rearward or lateral motion of the looper.
B and B respectively are the needle and looper bars provided with handles H
and H¹ of wood or other suitable material and with clips b and b¹, each embracing
the adjacent bar so as to allow it to slide on the other freely. The clip 6¹ secured
at the handle end runs in a race h in the opposite handle H and the length of the
stroke is limited by the length of the said race, the edge of the clip striking
against the shoulders forming the ends of the race and which shoulder may be
suitably strengthened for that purpose.
N is the flat needle set flush in the inner face of the needle bar B. and firmly
secured by a countersunk screw or in some other suitable manner. The eye ni is
near the point and the back of the needle is preferably rounded. The needle is
bent slightly back over the end of the bar so as to form a line, converging from
the line of the inner face of the bar and leaving a little space between the point
of the needle and the looper bar when the needle bar is drawn back. G G are
eyes acting as thread guides.
L is the looper consisting of a stiff and straight piece of flat steel or other
suitable material rounded at the back, somewhat narrower than the needle and
pivoted at its lower end by a pin or serew in a recess in the face of the looper
bar B¹ and flush with the latter. The recess is made as ample at the upper end
of the bar laterally as the size of the bar will admit. The looper is provided at
the rear with a pin projecting through the back of the bar B1 against which is
made to impinge the flat spring 11 secured at the back of the bar and adapted to
press the looper flush with the inner face of the bar B¹. The setscrew 11 is
placed near the upper end of the looper bar and protrudes in the recess for the
purpose of limiting the rearward or lateral motion of the looper. The looper is
concaved or hollowed out at the top end so as to readily retain a thread. Both
needle and looper need not necessarily be of flat section but may be of any
convenient section.
The implement operates by inserting the threaded needle in the canvas or other
back or fabric up to the shoulder formed by the end of the needle bar, then
pushing in the looper as far (which passes close along the needle) and withdrawing
the needle while the looper holds the loop extended. The needle being fully
withdrawn and the looper still in the fabric, the implement is pressed forward in
the direction in which the stitch is to be made, which is done by deflecting the
looper against the pressure of the spring 11 until the looper strikes the setscrew (111
which limits its deflection, the needle is then pushed forward and again enters the
fabric up to the shoulder when the looper is withdrawn clear of the back and
pushed forward again and thus reinserted in the new stitch or loop. By adjusting
the set screw the stitch may be made longer or shorter. The mode of operation
is fully illustrated in the drawings, figs. 1 to 6 showing the successive stages of the
stitch and the position of the implement in that stage.
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. A hand embroidering machine or implement to form loops or pile upon
canvas or other fabric or back consisting of two bars held slidingly to each other
by two clips one secured to each and embracing the other, and each provided with

page_text: a suitable handle, one carrying a needle firmly secured to the upper end and set
flush with the inner face and also carrying thread guides, the other carrying at
its upper end a looper pivoted in a recess allowing it to move rearwardly or
laterally within the bar, its lateral movement limited by the latteral depth of the
recess or by a set screw and pressed flush with the inner face of the looper bar by
a spring secured at the rear of the bar and impinging upon a pin on the looper.
2. The combination of the bars B B¹ held slidingly to each other by clips 6 b¹
and provided with handles H having a race h for one of the clips, the thread
guides G secured to the bar B the needle N firmly secured to and flush with the
inner face of the said bar, the looper L pivoted in a recess in the bar B and
provided with a pin projecting through the rear of the bar, the spring 1 set in
a. recess at the rear of the bar and impinging upon the pin to keep the looper
flush with the inner face of the bar and the set screw projecting in the recess
and limiting the lateral motion of the looper.
3. The combination of the looper bar B1 having a recess near its upper end,
the looper L pivoted in said recess flush with the inner surface of the bar, the
spring secured in a recess at the back of the bar and impinging upon a pin
on the looper to keep the same flush with the inner face of the bar, and the set
screw projecting in the recess and limiting the lateral motion of the looper.
4. The combination of the needle bar B having a clip b, and being held slidingly
by the clip b¹ running in a race h in the handle secured to said bar.
5. The combination of the needle bar B having a clip b and handle H, the
needle N firmly secured at the upper end of the bar and set flush with its inner
face and bent backward over the end of the bar to forin a converging line with
the inner face of the bar.
All substantially as shown and described and for the purpose set forth.