Improvements in Plaiting Attachments for Sewing Machines.
Year: 1889

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Plaiting Attachments for Sewing Machines.
I ELI WILLIAM BROADBENT of No. 261 Broadway in the City and State of New
York, United States of America, Merchant's Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
One feature of my invention consists in a plaiting attachment for sewing machines,
comprising an obliquely moving knife or tongue, having a pivotal connection with
a lever by which the knife or tongue is operated. In conjunction with the knife or
tongue, is employed a bearing surface, against which, during the movement of the
knife or tongue in one direction, the latter will be forced by a spring on the lever.
When the knife or tongue is returning or moving in the other direction, a spring is
employed adapted to bear upon the knife or tongue, to force the latter away from the
material being operated upon.
Another feature of the invention consists in employing two sewing machines
operating in combination with each other, and plaiting attachments similar to that
just described, operated from said sewing machines. In this case, however, the
bearing surfaces referred to will have a reversed extension, so that the folds of the
plaits will be formed upon opposite sides of the goods.
Another feature of my invention consists in so combining the two sewing machines,
that they may both be operated from a single main shaft, transmitting motion to an
intermediate shaft. The intermediate shaft transmits motion to a third shaft. On
the intermediate shaft are arranged cams. On the third shaft are arranged bell
cranked levers. These bell crank levers derive motion from the cams, and carry the
knives or tongues previously referred to.
Another feature of my invention consists in so arranging said bell crank levers
upon the third named shaft, and in such relation to the cams, that one of the levers
will be loose on the shaft, and the cams will operate to cause a movement of the levers
alternately in the same direction.
Another feature of the invention consists in arranging the intermediate shaft, and
the third named shaft referred to, upon opposite sides of the machine.
In the accompanying drawings:
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of two sewing machines on a reduced scale, and showing
part of the mechanism embodied in my improvement.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the head portions of two sewing machines, showing my
improvement more in detail.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the head portion of the machine, to the left in Fig. 1,
and taken on the plane of the dotted line of said Figure.
Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the head
in Fig. 1.
portion of the machine, shown at the right
Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the plane of the line y y of the machine,
shown to the left in Fig. 2.
Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken on the plane z of the machine, to the right
in Fig. 2.
Fig. 7 is a face view, showing one side of plaiting done on the machine.
'
Fig. 8 is a sectional view, showing the form of the plaits as appearing upon
opposite sides of the plait, the sections being taken on the line 1, 1 and 2, 2
of Fig. 7.
.
Fg. 9 is a plan or top view of the machine shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 10 is a sectional elevation taken on the liness of Fig. 1, and looking toward
the machine, shown at the right in said Figure.

page_text: Fig. 11 is a sectional elevation taken on the line tt of Fig. 9, and looking in the
direction of the arrow, shown on the machine at the left of said Figure.
Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the Figures.
A designates the two frames of the machine. Each of these frames comprises an
upright portion a, and also, an upper arın a¹ and lower arm a². The machines are
supported upon base picces a*.
Both machines are driven from a common source, namely, from a pulley a³ mounted
upon a shaft a, journalled in suitable bearings in the machine, to the right of
Fig. 1. On the shaft is mounted a pinion a', which pinion gears with a gear
wheel as mounted on a shaft J, extending throughout the length of both machines,
and journalled in suitable hearings thereon. Upon the shaft J is another gear
wheel a³, which gear wheel meshes with a pinion a¹ on a shaft a", journalled in
suitable bearings in the machine, shown to the left of Fig. 1. Upon the shaft J
is also mounted a cam a¹³, which cam is adjacent to the machine, to the right of
Fig. 1. Upon the same shaft J, is also mounted another cam a¹³, adjacent to the
other machine.
14 al designate bell crank levers, one of the arms of which contact with the
cams a¹³ a respectively. The lever a has a sliding connection with a shaft a¹;
extending throughout the length of the machine, upon the side thereof opposite the
shaft J, and journalled in suitable bearings upon the frames of the machines. The
connection of the lever a4 with the shaft a, is made by means of a screw a20,
extending into a longitudinal slot a¹ in the shaft a¹. This connection admits of
the lever a turning with the shaft . The shaft a¹ is rocked by means of the
cam a¹³, and the arm of the lever a bearing thereon. When the shaft is rocked
in one direction by said cam, it is rocked in the other direction by means of a
spring a bearing, at one end, against the frame of the machine at the right, and
having its other end secured to said shaft. The arm a¹ is loose upon the shaft a¹6,
and has a spring a23 connected to it at one end, and bearing against the frame of the
machine, to the right, at the other end. One arm of the lever a bears against
the cam a, by which means the lever is rocked in one direction. It is rocked in the
other direction by means of the spring a³. The arrangement and formation of
the cams a a¹³, in the example of my improvement shown, is such, that the
levers a al are rocked alternately in the same direction.
BB designate needle bars deriving motion from cranks upon the shafts a all.
The arrangement of these cranks is such, that when one of the needle bars is rising,
the other is moving downwardly, so that the machines form stitches alternately.
These machines are designed to form plaiting such as is illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8,
that is to say, folds e are formed upon one side of the goods between two rows of
stitches ele, which folds extend in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 7, and other
folds are formed upon the same side of the goods, which extend in a direction
contrary to that of the arrow. The result is that approximately wedged shaped plaits
appear upon the goods, which plaits are folded in opposite directions. In order to
accomplish this, it is necessary that the tuck should be made by one of the attach-
ments from the upper side of the goods, and by the attachment of the other
machine from the lower side of the goods. This will be quite clear from examination
of Fig. 8.
I will first describe the attachment adapted to operate upon the under side of the
goods. This attachment is illustrated more clearly in Figs. 4 and 6. To the lever a
is secured a plate d, which plate is provided with a stem d', extending loosely through
an aperture in the lever a, so that it may rock therein. A spring d², connected at
one end to the stem d, and at the other to the lever a; operates to rock the plate d
in one direction. Pivotally connected to the plate d, is a knife or tongue d', which
knife or tongue is caused, by the spring a, to bear, at its outer or free end, against
the under side of an upwardly and angularly extending portion d upon a- presser
foot d. Adjacent to the knife or tongue, and extending in approximately. right
angles thereto, a spring, having its free end' turned somewhat. This spring is
secured to a work plate d'. In the side edge of the knife or tongue d³, adjacent to

page_text: When it
the spring d, is a notch d. When, by the rocking of the bell crank lever a, the
knife or tongue d³ is being moved inwardly, or toward the needle, to its farthest
position, the knife or tongue passes over the spring do, carrying with it the folded or
tucked material, and is maintained, by the spring against the incline d.
has reached its furthest inward position, the knife or tongue has been moved down-
wardly until it lies approximately flat against the surface of the work plate, and a lip
or extension upon the spring will then be sprung upwardly. by the spring,
through the notch in the knife or tongue. As the knife or tongue is moved
backwardly now by the lever, the knife or tongue rides under the spring for a
distance, thus preventing any drag of the knife or tongue upon the material, which
may tend to withdraw the latter from beneath the lever. A precisely similar
operation occurs with the attachment shown on the machine illustrated more
particularly to the left of Fig. 2, and in Figs. 3 and 5, except that the action of the
spring in this case, is such as to force the knife or tongue d³ downwardly
against the work plate. As this knife or tongue operates upon the upper side of
the goods, it will of course form the fold or tuck in a
reverse direction to that
of the other knife or tongue. In this instance, also, the spring is arranged so
that during the forward movement of the knife or tongue, the same will pass
under the spring, but during the rearward movement of the knife or tongue, it passes
over the spring.
It is desirable that the goods, as fed to the needles, should be stretched laterally
in order to effect more perfect and even plaiting; for this purpose, I cause the knives
or tongues d³, upon being fed forward, to swing upon the plates d, so that their
forward ends will be carried inwardly, or away from the fronts of the machine, as the
forward progression of the knives or tongues takes place. In the machine illustrated
to the right of Fig. 2, the attachment for which is illustrated more particularly in
Fig. 6, the knife or tongue is provided, upon its under side, with a pin.e, which
pin extends into a slot el formed in the work plate. This slot extends inwardly
at an angle, for a distance from the front of the work plate. Assuming that the
knife or tongue is in the position as shown in Fig. 6, when the tongue or knife
is moved inwardly, the pin e, acting in the slot e¹, causes the knife or tongue to
swing inwardly, and thus to stretch the goods toward the machine. The slot e
has a straight portion e² at its inner end, which, when the pin is travelling along,
will cause a straight forward motion of the knife or tongue. The operation in the
other machine is the same as that just described, except that the slot e¹ is formed in
the knife or tongue, and the pine is mounted upon an arm e³, in this instance,
above the spring do, and secured by the same means to the work plate.
I prefer that the inner ends of the knives or tongues shall be provided with teeth,
so that they will the more readily grasp the goods.
It will be observed that the knives or tongues d³, when being fed forward or
toward the needle, have an oblique movement away from each other.
The under surface of the portion d of the presser foot, co-operating with the
attachment shown in the machine to the right in Fig. 1, with the surface of the work
plate d', co-operating with the attachment shown to the left in Fig. 1, constitute, in
effect, bearing surfaces for the knives or tongues.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In an attachment for sewing machines, the combination of an obliquely moving
knife or tongue, a lever for operating said knife or tongue, and with which the latter
has a pivotal connection, a bearing surface, a spring on the lever for forcing the knife
or tongue against said bearing surface, and another spring adapted to bear upon said
knife or tongue, to force the latter away from the goods when moving in one direction,
substantially as specified.
2. The combination, with two sewing machines, of two knives or tongues, levers for
operating said knives or tongues, reversely extending bearing surfaces, springs on the

page_text: levers for forcing said knives or tongues against the bearing surfaces, and other
springs for moving the knives or tongues away from said bearing surfaces, when
moving in one direction, substantially as specified.
3. The combination, with two sewing machines, with two knives or tongues having
oblique movements in contrary directions, of levers for operating said knives. or
tongues, and with which the latter are pivotally connected, reversely extending
bearing surfaces, springs on the levers for forcing said knives or tongues against
the bearing surfaces, and other springs for moving the knives or tongues away from
said bearing surfaces, when moving in one direction, substantially as specified.
4. The combination, with two sewing machines, of a main shaft, a second shaft
deriving motion from said main shaft, a third shaft deriving motion from the second
named shaft, cams on said second shaft, a rock shaft, bell crank levers on said rock
shaft, having one of their arms bearing upon said cams, and plaiting knives or tongues
upen the other arms of said levers, substantially as specified.
5. The combination with two sewing machines, of a main shaft, a second shaft
deriving motion from the main shaft, a third shaft deriving motion from the second
named shaft, cams on said second named shaft, a rock shaft, bell crank levers mounted
on the rock shaft, one of which levers is loose on said shaft, and both of which have
arms bearing against said camins, said cams being so constructed and arranged, that
said levers will be operated alternately in the same direction, and plaiting knives or
tongues on the other arms of the levers, substantially as specified..
6. The combination with two sowing machines, of a main shaft, a second shaft
deriving motion from the main shaft, a third shaft deriving motion from the said
second shaft, cams on said second named shaft, a rock shaft, bell crank levers mounted
on said rock shaft, having arms bearing upon said cams, and plaiting knives or
tongues on the other arms of said levers, said second named shaft and the rock shaft
being arranged upon opposite sides of the machine, substantially as specified.
Dated this 12th day of February 1889
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.