AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SEWING AND SEAMING HOSIERY
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SEWING AND SEAMING
HOSIERY." A communication from abroad by William Pearson, of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Machinist.
Sealed the 21st September 1875, and dated the 22nd March 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd March 1875.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SEWING And
SEAMING HOSIERY," a communication, to be as follows:-
According to this Invention detachable racks formed of grooved teeth
receive the loops forming the edges of the parts to be sewed, and are
propelled by an adjustable mechanism, so that the several loops of the

page_text: knitted fabric are looped together upon a thread operated by a vibrating
needle and looper knitting or sewing an elastic chain stitch through,
them. The mechanism by which this is effected may be stated concisely
as follows
.
as follows
The said Invention relates,-
First. To an adjustable feeding mechanism operating a rack bearing
grooved teeth, upon which the hosiery to be sewed is placed, so that
each loop is successively presented in the proper place to be caught by
the sewing needle.
Secondly. To an arrangement of mechanism by which the fulcrum of 1
the needle bar or lever is raised and lowered at each alternate stitch, and
the stitches are thus disposed alternately through and over the edges of
the parts forming the seam, and so twisted by the combined action of
the needle and looping hook as to render them much more secure from
ripping, and presenting a seam bearing a very close resemblance to the 1
body of the knitted fabric, and having a similar elasticity.
Thirdly. To the arrangement of the several parts of the machine, by
which I am enabled with a few working parts of strong and simple
construction, always open to inspection whilst in operation, and of casy
access for adjustment, to effect the operation of the several mechanisms
by whose combined action performs the sewing.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 22nd September 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-

page_text: trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SEWING AND SEAMING HOSIERY," a communication
to me from abroad by William Pearson, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
United States of America, Machinist, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings forming a part of this Specification :-
According to this Invention detachable racks formed of grooved teeth
receive the loops forming the edges of the parts to be sewed, and are
propelled by an adjustable mechanism, so that the several loops of the
knitted fabric are looped together upon a thread operated by a vibrating
needle and looper knitting or sewing an elastic chain stitch through
them. The mechanism by which this is effected may be stated concisely
as follows:-
:-

page_text: the needle and looping hook as to render them much more secure from
ripping, and presenting a seam bearing a very close resemblance to the
body of the knitted fabric, and having a similar elasticity.
Thirdly. To the arrangement of the several parts of the machine by
which I am enabled with a few working parts of strong and simple 5
construction, always open to inspection whilst in operation, and of casy
access for adjustment, to effect the operation of the several mechanisms
of which the combined action performs the sewing.

page_text: A reciprocating motion is imparted to the needle arm K by a con-
necting rod K' attached at its rear end to a lever K supported on a
fulcrum K on the frame C, and having a roller engaging in the
groove G¹ of the cam G, from which it receives motion.
In consequence of the form of the groove G¹ in the cam G the needle
arm K will through the rod K³ and lever K make two double strokes
for each revolution of the shaft A, and as the fulcrum bearing lever H
rises and falls once only during each rotation of the shaft A when the
screw H¹ rests on the cam G³ the needle K³ will pass back and forth at
each alternate stitch in a higher and lower plane.
A groove or guide L is formed in the bed M of the machine, open
at both ends, in which groove a bar N (shewn in detached section by
Figure 8) is fitted so that it may slide through preferably from left to
right of Figures 1 and 2.
Teeth N at regular distances are cut in the bar N, and equidistant
notches N2 are so made in the edge of the said bar that the distances
between the notches N° exactly coincide with the distances between the
rack teeth N¹.
Bent teeth N grooved on their upper surfaces are inserted in the
notches N2, and are held and clamped there by a plate N³ correspondingly
grooved on the upper and inner surfaces, and attached to the bar N by
screws N'. The bar N is moved or fed from left to right by a pawl O
engaging in the teeth N', and operated by a lever O¹ moved by a com-
pound cam O on the shaft A. The cam O³ is formed with recesses, in
which are fitted blocks Os and O*, held therein by screws O³ passing
through slotted holes into the cam O³. The blocks O³ and O' can be
adjusted so that the motion of the lever O' and pawl O may be changed
to suit rack teeth of different distances, and by so adjusting one of the
blocks O the cam O² only causes one motion of the lever O¹ and pawl O
at each rotation of the shaft A, so that rack N may be fed one tooth at
each alternate vibration of the needle arm K, or at every vibration of the
needle arm. The relative adjustment of the needle K² and the grooved
points N is such that the needle passes into the groove of each point,
and over the edge of the bar N.
The looper P, shown detached in Figures 6 and 7, consists of a pointed
blade having an opening or slot P', and a vertical cylindrical shaft P,

page_text: which is inserted in an opening in the lever P³, and vertically and
angularly held by a set screw P. The lever P is vibrated upon a
fulcrum P by a roller P on the upper side of the lever P engaging in
the groove G2 in the cam G, and makes two double vibrations during
cach rotation of the shaft A. A tongue P' is placed in the slot P¹ in the
looper P, with its free end towards the point of the looper, and the
opposite end bent to reach under the connecting rod K, and fastened to
the lever P.
The adjustment of looper P is such relatively to the sewing needle K²
that the looper passes so close to the needle when the needle is down
that it enters the loop formed in the sewing thread, and detains it
after the needle is withdrawn, and the tongue P³ is forced out of the
slot P¹ while the looper is in the loop of the needle thread, and opening
the loops permits the succeeding loop to pass through. The thread for
the sewing needle is passed through a tension clamp from a ball or spool
down to the eye of the needle K².
The same results may be effected by a machine of modified form, as
shewn in side clevation in Figure 9. The needle arm K' is operated by
crank W and connecting rod X, and the cam to operate the looper is
made single, and is upon the same shaft V as the crank W, whilst the
compound cam O and another cam are made single, and are mounted on
another shaft S driven by the toothed wheels T and U at one-half the
velocity of the shaft V, but this arrangement being more complete is less
desirable than that just described.
The operation of the said machine is as follows:-The loops which
form the edges of the fabric to be united are placed in pairs on the
points N³, and successively pass under the needle by the action of the
cam 0³, lever O¹, and pawl O engaging in the teeth N¹ of the rack N.
The feeding motion is intermittent, and when closing up seams should
preferably act but once to each rotation of the shaft A. During a half
rotation of the shaft A, when the bar N is at rest, the needle K² passes
a loop of thread through the loops of the fabric on the point N³, which
loop being caught by the looper P is held, and after the withdrawal of
the needle is stretched open by the tongue P, and during the next half
rotation of the shaft A, the needle arm fulcrum being raised by the
projection G³ of the cam G operating on the screw H¹, a loop of the
sewing thread is passed above loops of the fabric to. be united, and
through the loop then on the looper, thus making a chain stitch whose

page_text: loops alternately engage in those of the edges of the looped fabric,
forming a seam identical in construction with that generally practised in
uniting looped fabrics by a crochet needle of an elasticity similar to that
of the fabric itself.
When the said machine is to be used to bind over the edge of a fabric
the screw His retracted, and the blocks Os and O* on the cam are so
adjusted that the bar N is fed along one tooth at each half revolution, so
that a chain stitch is produced which at cach loop engages in a loop of
the edge of the knitted fabric.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. The cam G combined with the looper and needle operating
mechanism, as above set forth.
Second. The rack bar N combined with points N° and plate N³ con-
structed as and for the purpose described.
Third. The slotted looper P with a distending tongue P' in combina-
tion with the needle K², as above described.
Fourth. The compound adjustable cam 0³, lever O¹, pawl O, and
rack N, combined with the double cam G and adjustable screw H¹, to
change and control the stitch, as above set forth.
Fifth. The rack bar N provided with grooved carrying points and
combined with the sewing mechanism, so that it may enter and pass
through the machine and be discharged at the opposite end, as and for
the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
Witness,
HY. JA. NOONE.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)