IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY FOR UNITING PARTS OF HOSIERY AND THE LIKE
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd April 1880. A communication
from abroad by Bruno Rudoph, of Berlin, Germany.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltino, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY FOR
UNITING PARTS OF HOSIERY AND THE LIKE" [A communication from abroad by
Bruno Rudoph, of Berlin, Germany.]
This Invention relatos to improvements in sewing machines, by means of which
a so-called "whipped" or overedge seam will be produced in hosiery or the
like, and which is so arranged that any regular hosiery-work can be sewn together
by it; a "whipped" seam made by this machine does not take hold of or comprise
the whole mesh on the hosiery-work as hitherto, and thereby produce a thick seam,
but only the so-called half mesh (the working edge), therefore the seam is made so
smooth that in the finished article it is scarcely perceptible.
In a machine constructed according to this Invention a thread is employed, and
the said machine may be said to have four principal movements produced by
different mechanism, that is to say, the movement of the needle, the movement of
the looper, the movement of the loop-holder, and the movement of the feeding
mechanism. These movements take place either at the same time or successively.
In carrying the said Invention into practice, the machine is provided with a
main shaft or spindle, by means of which the parts are operated. The needle is
fixed in a holder connected with a sliding piece which is moved forward and
backward horizontally by an excentric working upon the said shaft. A spring is
provided which serves to hold and guide the thread, and is opened or closed by
means of a slightly tapered angle-piece in such a manner that the thread becomes
loose when the needle returns, and is afterwards held firmly again when it moves
forward.
The looper consists of a spirally shaped hook which revolves around a vertical
spindle. The latter may revolve in a stationary arm on the frame or standard of
the machine, and a toothed wheel is fixed on the spindle. A segment of a wheel is
fixed on a beut arm which turns around a bolt, one end of the arm fitting with a
roller into a groove in a disc. On causing the main shaft to revolve, the said bent

page_text: arm receives an intermittent horizontal swinging motion, whereby the looper is
moved in the same manner.
The motion of the loop-holder is vertical. The guide-rod for the same slides in
the aforesaid stationary arm, and is moved intermittently up and down by means
of another arm. The latter is guided by means of a roller in the groove of a disc
in such a manner that the loop-holder receives its correct motion as the main
shaft revolves.
The movement of the foed-appliance is intermittent, and is effected as follows,
that is to say-A disc is arranged to work in notches or openings in a wheel
which is keyed upon a spindle. This spindle is supported in the lower part of the 1
frame, and has on its opposite end a bevelled pinion which gears into a bevelled
wheel. The latter is fixed on a tube or sleeve, which has on its upper end a cup-
shaped disc, toothed or notched on its upper edge in such a manner that the
needle passes through one of the spaces between the teeth each time it makes a
forward and backward motion. This tube or sleeve turns freely on a fixed rod 1
which is scrowed into the base-plate of the machine. There is a second cup shaped
disc on another tube or sleeve, both constructed similarly to those above described,
and both tubes or sleeves are connected at their lower end by spurwheels in such a
manner that they revolve at the same speed and in opposite directions. The rod
around which the second tube revolves is attached to a strong jointed piece, and is 2
held by a spring in such a manner that the feed-discs are pressed firmly together.
In order to bring the material which is to be sewn between the discs, the latter
have to be moved apart; this is done by operating a lever against which the said
spring presses; this lever is connected by a link with a double-lever underneath
the table of the machine, and the last named lever can be moved by means of a
treadle. In order to limit the outward angular movement of the second tube or
sleeve, an arched piece is screwed firmly to the frame of the machine.
Instead of employing the toothed feed-discs above described, I may in some
cases make the discs without toothed edges; these discs have to feed in the hosiery
which has to be sewn without pressing the edges of the same together. This is 3
effected by springs, one of which is fixed on one of the feed disc-rods, and the other
on the other feed disc-rod, and consequently do not revolve with the said discs.
In cach of these springs there is a slot or gap which is on the same lovel as the line
of motion of the needle, and through which the latter passes. The mode of action
of this arrangement is the same as when the feed-discs are toothed or notched.
The sewing-thread may be guided in any desired manner.
3
The edges of regular hosiery-work have always a tendency to curl up, which
makes the sewing of them together very difficult, and hitherto this could only be
effected by joining the wholo meshes by the whip-stitch seam, and this seam was
very thick and unsightly; I therefore provide supplying mechanism whereby only 4
the so-called half-mesh is taken in sewing, so that the finished seam does not
project, and is scarcely discernible in the sewn article. This mechanism for
supplying the material to the feed discs is constructed and arranged as follows, that
is to say-A piece is fixed on the aforesaid stationary arm by means of screws, and
is provided with a spring. On the said piece is fixed a plate working on a joint, 4
and on this plate a peculiar rolling-off arrangement is situated, that is to say, on
each side of the said plate there is a bean-shaped piece arranged in such a manner
that between these pieces and the plate there is left a narrow slit almost of the
same thickness as the hosiery-work to be sewn; springs are provided on the inside
with curved shoulders, and these are likewise designed for unrolling the material.
The operation of this mechanism is as follows, that is to say:-
5
In commencing to work the said supplying apparatus or mechanism is brought
into a suitable position, and the hosiery work which has to be sewn together is
pushed into the slit between the said pieces and the plate. Tho outside ends are
pushed between the said springs, and then the apparatus is pushed so much round 5
its centre that the springs come close to the line of motion of the aforesaid feed-

page_text: discs, and thus both parts of the hosiery-work are griped and sewn. The bean-
shaped pieces thus unroll the edge of the hosiery work, and this process is
completed by the shoulders on the springs.
This mechanism or apparatus, together with the feed discs with toothed upper
edges, provides for an exact sewing of regular hosiery-work in such a manner that
only the so-called half-mesh is joined on the edge, and the finished seam does not
project, but remains on the same level with the surface of the hosiery-work.
The said improved machine may be worked either by means of a pulley, a
treadle arrangement, handles, or by the employment of a steam or other motor.