IMPROVE- MENTS IN SEWING MACHINES, ALSO IN THE MODE OF AND IN THE MEANS FOR WINDING SPOOLS AND COPS FOR THE SAME, AND IN COP CASES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Anderson, Manager of the Singer Manufacturing
Company's Works, Glasgow, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SEWING MACHINES, ALSO IN THE MODE OF AND IN THE MEANS
FOR WINDING SPOOLS AND COPS FOR THE SAME, AND IN COP CASES."
ealed the 8th May 1877, and dated the 17th November 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Anderson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th November 1876.
ALEXANDER ANDERSON, Manager of the Singer Manufacturing Company's Works,
Glasgow, North Britain." IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES, ALSO IN THE
MODE OF AND IN THE MEANS FOR WINDING SPOOLS AND COPS FOR THE SAME,
AND IN COP CASES."
This Invention relates,-
Firstly. To a novel arrangement of feed mechanism to be applied to sewing
machines when desired for the purpose of giving a zig-zag feed to the work.
Secondly. To a novel, arrangement of plaiter to be called a kilt plaiter, which
without the operation of the machine being arrested will by a rapid intermittent
action lay folds of any desired width under the vertical sewing needle.
Thirdly. To means for connecting the fly or balance wheel of a sewing machine
with its shaft that will admit of its easy disengagement therefrom when the fly
wheel is required to be used for driving the spool winder.
Fourthly. To the winding of cops and bobbins for the shuttles of sewing
machines.
And, lastly. To improvements in cop cases.
In adapting the first head of this Invention to a machine which has an under
feed I cover the throat plate by a strip of metal to protect the work from the action
of the under feed, and I remove from the presser bar the ordinary presser foot. In
place of this presser foot. I apply to the bar a feeding and presser foot of peculiar
construction, the roughened surface of which is fitted in transverse slides on the
under face of the foot so that it may be free to move laterally thereon. The stem
of this presser foot slides freely in a bracket piece made fast to the ordinary presser
bar, and it rises and falls therewith. The feeding presser foot has however an in-
n

page_text: dependent vertical motion, and it is held down on the work by means of a coiled
spring.
In rear of the presser foot stém is a short horizontal axle which carries an arm
that is caused to bear against the stem and at the requisite moment tip it forward
and thus produce the forward feed motion. This short axle also carries a
stud through which a rocking motion is imparted to the arm by its being borne
against by a shoulder on a slotted rocking arm pivotted to the bracket before
mentioned.
Projecting into the slot of this rocking arm is a screw stud of the needle bar,
which stud by the vertical up-and-down motions of the needle bar will rock the
slotted arm, and through it the arm which gives the forward motion to the feeding
presser foot.
In order to give an endway motion to the sliding feeding plate before mentioned
the following contrivance is adopted-On the face of the bracket piece, and near its
lower end, a tipping plate is mounted. This plate carries at its upper end a pendent
switch which is held in position by a retaining spring secured to the bracket. The
tipping plate is made with two correspondingly inclined slots which severally receive
a pin or projection from a vertically sliding stop one on each side of the bracket, the
same being fitted therein to slide freely.
These stops are by means of their connection with the tipping plate alternately
thrust down so as to come in contact with an inclined shoulder of the feeding plate
at the time that the feed motion is taking place, and by intercepting the plate while
it is advancing to feed the work the plate will be thrust sideways in its slide and
caused to carry the work with it. Thus a zig-zag forward motion inclining alter-
nately to the right and to the left will be given to the work, while the needle
steadily maintains its position. The tipping of the plate to produce this irregular
motion is effected by means of a stud on the needle bar, which stud on the descent
of that bar passes under the tail of the switch, and in ascending bears against the
shoulder of the switch and thereby pushes the tipping plate, say, to the right when
the stop connected with the right side of the plate will be forced down into a
position for action on the feed plate; on the next descent of the needle the stud
will move down the switch on the side at which it last ascended, and again passing
under the tail of the switch will ascend on the opposite side of the switch, and by
acting on the shoulder of that side of the switch will tip the plate to the left hand
side. The right hand stop will by this movement be lifted and the left hand stop
depressed, and thus as the feed plate again advances that plate will be slidden
sideways carrying with it the cloth and making the zig-zag feed in the opposite
direction.
To obtain the return or back motion of the pressing and feeding foot the slotted
arm before mentioned is provided with a finger which is brought to bear upon a
stud projecting from the stem of the presser foot, and thereby to lift the presser foot
clear of the work and impart a return motion thereto after the needle has entered
the work.
My Improvements in plaiting machines may be thus described:-The plaiting or
folding blade of the improved plaiter is carried by a sliding bar that moves in
guides carried by a bracket piece that is affixed to the head of the sewing machine.
One of these guides is free to move vertically in the bracket piece to allow of the
bar which is furnished with ratchet teeth on its upper edge engaging with and
being released from a fixed and sliding pawle, the latter of which is carried by a
forked lever pivotted to the bracket piece and receiving a reciprocating motion
from the needle bar.
The sliding bar has an adjustable stop to determine the amount of endway motion
it shall receive, and by means of an india-rubber band or other spring it is con-
'nected to a stud pin on the bracket piece. This is to give the sliding bar a rapid
forward motion, and thereby to cause the plaiting or folding blade which it carries
to push forward a plait or fold of cloth while the feeding of the work is proceeding
or while the needle is at work.

page_text: A fixed spring on the bracket piece bears upon the rear end of the sliding bar,
and as its pressure increases with the recession of this bar under the action of the
moving pawle before mentioned it will press the bar down out of contact with the
pawles and thus leave the band or spring free to act as above mentioned. As the
sliding bar completes its forward motion an incline which it carries will come in
contact with a fixed incline on the bracket piece, and the bar will thus be lifted
into contact with the pawles.
I will now describe the third head of my Invention:-
The driving wheel or the fly wheel, which is cast with a driving pulley on its
hub, I lock to its shaft by means of a rocking catch or sliding bolt, or by a binding
pin borne endwise against the shaft. The rocking shaft I pivot to the hub of the
driving or fly wheel and form in a cap or collar on the end of the shaft two notches
for the catch to take into. One of these notches has an inclined side like the back
of a ratchet tooth, and into this notch takes that end of the catch which is formed
like a pawle. The other end of the catch carries a square bolt, and when dropped
into its square notch the fly wheel is made fast to its shaft which can then be turned
in either direction. When however the machine is being worked by an in-
experienced person the pawle end of the catch will be used in place of the
bolt as the means for locking the wheels to its shaft. In this case any attempt
to start the machine in the wrong direction will fail from the catch being
thereby released or disengaged from the shaft. When the catch is moved to its
intermediate position the wheel will be free on its shaft and may then be
driven to work a spool or cop winder without the sewing machanism being
put in motion. The catch will be retained in its several positions by means of
a spring provided for that purpose.
As a modification of this arrangement I mount the catch on a plate attached to
the shaft and notch the hub of the driving or fly wheel for the driving catch or
pawle to lock therein.
When using the sliding bolt for locking the fly wheel the bolt is fitted to and
across a plate on the end of the shaft, and the hub of the fly wheel is notched to
receive it.
If one of the notches into which the bolt takes is chamfered the bolt will act
precisely like the catch, releasing the fly wheel when turned in the wrong direction.
When this check against working the machine in the wrong direction is not
required the binding arrangement may be adopted. In this case a screw pin
carrying a cone is passed through the hub of the fly wheel parallel to its axis,
and a loose pin is dropped into a hole leading from the inside of the hub to
the hole that receives the screwed pin. By turning this screwed pin and bring-
ing its cone to bear upon the end of the loose pin that pin will be caused to bear
tightly upon the shaft and hold the fly wheel firmly thereto.
The fourth head of my Invention consists in improvements on the winder, for
which Letters Patent were granted to Messrs. Holt, Sutcliffe, and Fisher, dated
April 13th, 1876, No. 1574.
According to my arrangement instead of mounting the thread layer on the bell-
crank lever I fit the lever with an adjustable bowle to cause it to press upon
a rocking arm that has its fulcrum on the frame of the winder.
This arm I
fork at its upper end to receive the thread which it is to lay upon the rotating
spool or cop spindle. The thread layer has a spring which gives it a tendency
to move in one direction, and it is the pressure of the bowle of the bell-crank
lever which moves it in the opposite direction. This lever is itself operated by
the periphery of a rotating cam which receives rotary motion from the driving
pulley of the winder through worms and worm wheels. The spindle of the
driving pulley is fitted to receive as usual a bobbin holder, and it is also made
hollow to allow of a cop spindle being fitted therein when desired. I also fit
the heads of the winder to receive a cop case such as that to be presently
described, or in lieu thereof a shuttle, such case and shuttle being constructed
to admit of the cop spindle being passed through the same.
Thus the cop may be

page_text: wound either in the cop case or in the shuttle itself, in the latter case rendering th
insertion of cops by hand unnecessary.
in use.
My last improveinents have reference as before mentioned to cop cases, the object
being to provide a better means for their protection than the paper cases at present
One improvement consists in making the case of semicylindrical metal
shells which are hinged together to facilitate the opening and closing of the same.
A hole is made through the ends of the case to permit of the insertion of the cop
spindle when the case is taken to the cop winder for filling.
For protecting cops that are made in the ordinary manner upon the cop spindle I
propose to employ a case or covering formed of two paper discs or end pieces, which
are connected together by fine elastic cord. An clastic holder thus made may be
sprung on or over the cop and will serve to hold it firmly together until it is
required to be placed in the shuttle.
'
Another plan is to make the cop holder or case of a cylindrical coil of fine wire
into which the cop is to be slipped endwise, while in this case the cop may if
desirable be inserted in the shuttle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said Alexander Anderson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th May
1877.
ALEXANDER ANDERSON, Manager of the Singer Manufacturing Company's
Works, Glasgow, North Britain. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES, ALSO
IN THE MODE OF AND IN THE MEANS FOR WINDING SPOOLS AND COPS FOR THE
SAME, AND IN COP CASES."
This Invention relates,-
Firstly. To means for connecting the driving or fly wheel of a sewing machine
with its shaft that will admit of its easy disengagement therefrom when the fly
wheel is required to be used for driving the spool winder.
Secondly. To the winding of cops and bobbins for the shuttles of sewing
machines.
And, lastly. To improvements in cop cases.
The fly wheel, which is cast with a driving pulley on its hub, I lock to its shaft
by means of a rocking catch or a sliding bolt, or by a binding pin borne endwise
against the shaft.
In Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings these several modes of attaching the
fly or driving wheel to its shaft are illustrated.
Figure 1 is a side view of the driving wheel in place in the sewing machine,
showing also the catch or tumbler for locking the wheel to its shaft, and Figure 2 is
a vertical section of the same.
In these Figures A is the driving wheel and B the shaft on which it is loosely
mounted; bis a flanged extension or collar at the end of the shaft B, and C is the
catch or tumbler for connecting the wheel with its shaft. The catch or tumbler is
pivotted to the hub of the driving wheel A, and in the end of the shaft two notches
are cut for the catch to take into; one of these notches has an inclined side like the
back of a ratchet tooth and the other is cut square, as shewn best in the detached
view, Fig. 3. Into the notch 1, that end of the catch which is formed like a pawle
takes, and into the notch 2, the other end of the catch, which is formed with a
square bolt, is intended to drop. When the catch is dropped into its square notch,
(as shewn in the detached view, Fig. 4,) the fly wheel is made fast to its shaft, which
can then be turned in either direction. When however the machine is being worked
by an inexperienced person the pawle end of the catch will be used in place of the
bolt as the means for locking the wheel to its shaft, as shewn in Fig. 1. In this
case any attempt to start the machine in the wrong direction (that is, in the
direction of the arrow) will fail, from the catch being thereby released or disengaged

page_text: from the shaft. When the catch is moved to its intermediate position (as shewn at
Fig. 3) the wheel will be free on its shaft, and may then be driven to work a spool
or cop winder without the sewing mechanism being put in motion. The catch is
retained in its several positions by means of a cone-ended spring bolt c let into a
recess in the hub of the wheel A (as shewn in the sectional view, Fig. 5), which
bolt takes into one of a series of recesses drilled into the back of the catch, as
shewn in the inverted view of the catch, Fig. 6.
As a modification of this arrangement I mount the catch on a plate attached to
the shaft and notch the hub of the drying or fly wheel for the driving catch or
pawle to lock therein; this is shewn in the vertical section, Figure 7, and in the side
views, Figures 8 and 9.
In these Figures B is a flanged plate made fast to the driving shaft B by means
of a binding screw. The catch C, formed as before described, is connected by a
mill-headed screw and nut C¹ to the plate D, and it is retained in any desired
position by means of a pressure spring C affixed to the flange of the plate D and
taking into notches in the back of the catch. In the hub of the wheel A the
notches 1, 2, are cut (see Fig. 9) for the tumbler catch to enter and lock the driving
wheel to its shaft. The tipping of the catch to throw it into or out of gear is
effected by turning the milled headed screw C¹, which forms a fixed fulcrum for the
catch. Fig. 10 shews in section an arrangement for locking the driving wheel to
its shaft by means of a sliding bolt, and Figures 11, 12, 13, and 14, are detached
views of the locking parts. The driving shaft B is fitted with a cap piece B¹ which is
drilled transversely to receive a sliding bolt E; this cap piece B' enters a cylindrical
recess in the hub of the driving wheel A, and in the plane of the bolt E notches are
inade in the hub for the bolt to enter. The face of the cap piece is slotted to receive a
pin e which projects from the bolt E, to facilitate the movement of the same in its
slot. By chamfering off one side of these slots, as shewn in the detached views,
the bolt when shot will be able to disengage itself from the wheel when the machine
is turned in the wrong direction; to facilitate this disengaging action the locking
end of the bolt is chamfered, as shewn at Fig. 14.
To retain the bolt in the locking or unlocking position a pin recessed into the
driving shaft and having a coiled spring in its rear is provided to enter recesses in
the back of the bolt.
When a check against working the machine in the wrong direction is not required
the binding arrangement above mentioned may be adopted; this is illustrated in
the sectional view, Fig. 15. In this case a screwed pin F carrying a cone is passed
through the hub of the fly wheel A parallel to its axis, and a loose pin f is dropped
into a hole leading from the inside of the hub to the hole that receives the screwed
pin. By turning this screwed pin and bringing its cone to bear upon the end of
the loose pin that pin will be caused to bear tightly upon the shaft B and hold the
wheel firmly thereto.
The second head of the Invention consists in improvements in the cop winder
for which Letters Patent were granted to Messieurs Holt, Sutcliffe, and Fisher, dated
April thirteenth, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, No. 1574.
According to my arrangement instead of mounting the thread layer on the bell-
crank lever I fit the lever with an adjustable bowl, and cause it to press upon a
rocking arm that has its fulcrum on the frame of the winder. This arm I fork at
its upper end to receive the thread, which it is to lay upon the rotating, spool or
cop spindle. The thread layer has a spring which gives it a tendency to move in
one direction, and it is the pressure of the bowle of the bell-crank lever which inoves
it in the opposite direction. This lever is itself operated by the periphery of a
rotating cam which receives rotary motion from the driving pulley of the winder
through worms and worm wheels. The hollow axle of the driving pulley is fitted
to receive as usual a bobbin holder, and it is also made hollow to allow of a cop
spindle being fitted therein when desired. I also fit the heads of the winder to
receive a cop case such as that to be presently described, or in lieu thereof a shuttle,
such case and shuttle being constructed to admit of the cop spindle being passed

page_text: through the same; thus the cop may be wound either in the cop case or in the
shuttle itself, in the latter case rendering the insertion of the cops by hand
unnecessary.
In Sheet II. of the Drawings, Fig. 1 shews in back elevation, Fig. 2 in sectional
end view, and Fig. 3 in plan view my improved arrangement of cop winder.
In these Figures A is the main frame of the winder, consisting of a base and two
standards which carry hollow heads for the reception of the cop spindle B; C is
the driving pulley to the hollow axle of which the cop spindle is attached by means
of a bayonet joint. This hollow axle passes through the adjacent head of the
winder and carries a worm 1 which engages with a worm wheel 2 mounted on a
transverse shaft having its bearings in a bracket on the standard. Keyed to this
shaft is a worm 3 which gears into a worm wheel 4 carried by a shaft to which is
attached a cam D; this cam D serves by its rotation to rock the bell-crank lever E,
which has a vertical screw for its fulcrum and carries a bowle c. The rocking of this
bell-crank lever E in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 3, causes the thread layer F
which is pivotted to the base of the frame to move forward and lay the thread
upon the cop spindle. As the bell-crank lever is released from the pressure of the
cam a coiled spring connected with the thread layer F will move back the thread
layer in the opposite direction, and in this way the thread as it is wound on the cop
spindle will be laid evenly thereon.
When a cop has been formed it will be released from the winder by simply with-
drawing the cop spindle.
Fig. 4 shews the modification in the winder requisite for filling a bobbin with
thread. The bobbin spindle G is held between the heads of the winder, a conical
chuck a taking the place of the flat chuck in the former arrangement and the cop
spindle being withdrawn. By employing suitable chucks I am enabled to wind cops
in-the case or in the shuttle, as well as bobbins by the same winder. Fig. 5 shews
the arrangement necessary for winding the cop into the shuttle; in this instance
the shuttle case H is pierced at its opposite ends to allow the cop spindle to pass
through it and wind up the thread, as in the first example. By withdrawing the
spindle, as before explained, the shuttle with its cop will be released from the
winder.
My last improvements have reference, as before mentioned, to cop cases, the
object being to provide a better means for their protection than the paper cases at
present in use.
One improvement consists in making the case of two semi-cylindrical metal shells
which are hinged together to facilitate the opening and closing of the same. This
case is shewn in side and end views at Fig. 6. A. hole is made through the ends of
the case to permit of the insertion of the cop spindle when the case is taken to the
cop winder for filling, as explained with reference to Fig. 5.
For protecting cops that are made in the ordinary manner upon the top spindle I
propose to employ a case or covering formed of two paper discs or end pieces which
are connected together by fine elastic cord; Figures 7 shew in side and end views
this form of cop holder. An elastic holder thus formed may be sprung on or over
the cop, and will serve to hold it firmly together until the cop is required to be used
or the case may be placed with the cop in the shuttle.
Another plan is to make the cop holder or case of a cylindrical coil of fine wire,
as shewn at Fig. 8. Into this holder the cop is to be slipped endwise, and while in
this case the cop may if desired be inserted in the shuttle.
Having now described the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in Sewing
Machines, also in the Mode of and in the Means for Winding Spools and Cops for the
same, and in Cop Cases," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I
claim,―
First. The means of connecting the driving or fly wheel of the sewing machino
with the driving shaft, as and for the purpose above described.
Secondly. The improvement in spool winders above described.

page_text: Thirdly. The winding of cops directly into the shuttle or into the cop case or
holder, as above described.
Fourthly. The improvements in cop cases or holders, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Anderson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
ALEX ANDERSON. (L.S.)