AN IMPROVED SEWING AND PLAITING OR QUILLING MACHINE
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th June 1880. A communication from
abroad by Heinrich Bukofzer, of Berlin, Prussia.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltino, Lake, and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED SEWING AND PLAITING OR
QUILLING MACHINE." [A communication from abroad by Heinrich Bukofzer, of
Berlin, Prussia.]
This Invention relates to a machine for automatically laying or forming quilling,
that is to say, making up materials of various kinds so as to form plaits or folds
therein, and chiefly designed to be used as frills, ruffies, or the like, in or upon
articles of clothing. The said machino in addition to laying the folds also stitches
through or sews the same. The object of the said Invention is attained by means
of the combination of a sewing machino of ordinary construction with a peculiar
apparatus for the laying of the folds; and as each of the latter must be held by a
stitch the feed of the sewing machine can be arranged to any desired length of
stitch.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I provide an excontric upon a spindle
at the lower part of the sewing machine to effect the forward and backward
movement of the feed-apparatus. A curved piece or framo carrying the feed
apparatus proper is always hold against the said excentric at one end, and is
provided with a set screw which can rest against the bottom plate of the sowing
machine. The longest stitch which the machine can make will consequently be
equal to the stroke of the aforesaid excentric, if the set-scrow is turned far enough
to touch its stop before the excentric has arrived at its lowest position, then the
said curved piece or frame cannot move farther back, and the stitch must
consequently be shorter.
The apparatus for laying the different folds consists chiefly of two knives of
steel plate which lie one over the other, each one being separately movable in pivots
and arranged to work in guides in the frame. These knives work intermittently,
that is to say, the upper one moves first a certain number of times to and fro, and
thus pushes the material which has to be quilled into a number of folds, while the
lower one romains stationary. Then the upper knifo rests and the same proceeding
is repented by the lower knife.

page_text: In order that the said knives shall at cach operation take proper hold of tho
muslin, lace, or other material, they have at their front end fine teeth or points, and
between these teeth a certain number of slits or apertures are arranged.
The movement of the knives is effected from a shaft, and by means of two
excentrics which are loose upon it. Between these excentrics a coupling is arranged 5
which can be moved by a ratchet arrangement in such a manner that either of the
excentrics can be turned by the rotation of their shaft, consequently only ono knife
is moved to and fro at the same time. Each of the knife-pivots has connected with
it a lover on which connecting links are fixed. These links slido and are held in
levers, each of which has a slot at one end, each of these lovers being fixed on a separate 1
spindle, the upper one of which is connected with one of the loose excentrics, and
the lower one with the other loose excentric, so that corresponding excentric rods
are movably held by these slotted levers. Consequently when the first named looso
excentric revolves with its shaft, the upper knife is moved to and fro by the upper
slotted lever oscillating its spindle. If the second loose excentric revolves with its 1
shaft, then the same movement will take place with the lower knife. This alternato
movement of the excentrics is effected by means of a peculiar coupling which is
situated between the loose excentrics on the shaft. This coupling device consists of
various parts, that is to say, 'there is a disc fixed on the shaft carrying the looso
excentrics in such a manner that it can neither turn nor shift thereon. A coupling
box is likewise fixed immovably on this shaft, and outside this box there is a collar
which is held so that it must turn with the coupling box and also the shaft, but
can be shifted on the coupling box. A horizontal pin is held on this collar by
means of a screw, and this screw can slide in holes in the fixed parts, namely, the
disc and box. A small spiral spring, which on one end presses against the box and
on the other side against the movable collar, keeps the pin which is firmly connected
to the latter constantly in gear with a corresponding notch in one of the loose
excentrics in such a manner that this excentric is driven round in this position, and
thus the lower knife is moved, by the aid of the ratchet arrangement hereinbefore
mentioned. A wedge-shaped lever is arranged between the fixed disc and movable
collar, whereby the latter can be shifted in the direction of the axis of the shaft.
By this means the pin which is connected with it is likewise moved sidewise, leaves
the notch in the excentric, and at the same time enters the notch in the other
excentric, whereby the latter, and thus also the upper knife, is brought into action
through the rotation of the shaft, while in the meantime the lower knife is at rest
as its oxcentric is out of gear. The above-mentioned ratchet-arrangement is
likewise driven from the shaft by means of another excentric which gives to a
spindle an oscillating to and fro movement, being by its rod connected to a lever
which for the purpose of adjustment is provided with a slot in which the excentric-
rod can be shifted up and down. The spindle lies underneath the shaft carrying
the loose excentrics, and transfers its oscillating movement to another lever on a
fixed spindle. This lever is by a link connected with a small crank which transfers
to this the oscillating movement of the oscillating spindle. At the end of this
thero is a movable pawl, and this catches in a ratchet wheel which can turn on an
axis. A cam is firmly connected to this ratchet wheel and turns with it, and this
cam has to bring a wedge-shaped lever in between the collar and disc of the coupling
and thus to start one of the knives. The number of teeth in the ratchet wheel
compared with the number of set offs or projections on the cam connected therewith
can be varied as desired, according to the number of folds required in the quilling.
This cam turns with the ratchet wheel at the same time and an equal number of
revolutions, so that the greater the number of teeth in the ratchet wheel to onc
stroke of the cam, the greater is the number of folds which are produced in the
quilling alternately by the upper and lower knife, for the reason that the lever at
definite intervals throws the sliding coupling into gear soon with the loose
excentrics.
The upper knife is on each side provided with a spring, which by means of the
link on the levers always seeks to push somewhat in a downward direction, while

page_text: the lower knife provided with a similar spring for the same reason always seeks to
push somewhat in an upward direction, whereby a secure grip of the quilling
material is secured at each operation.
In order to produce double quilling, the material employed will have to be pushed
through guide plates in between the knives, so that the upper knife grips it from
above and the lower knife from below. These guide-plates can be set according to
the width of the quilling required. By applying the sewing machine these quillings
thus laid can be stitched through at the same time, and they can either be used as
double quillings, or they can be cut asundor between the seams and used as singlo
ones. The whole machine is driven by a grooved pulley which drives the shaft on
which the loose excentrics are situated. The motion is transmitted by means of
toothed gearing to the sewing machine.
The number of stitches in relation to the folds laid for the quilling will be varied
according to this gearing. The number of folds in the quilling depends on tho
proportion of the teeth in the ratchet wheel hereinbefore montioned to the number
of set offs on the cam in connection therewith. The position of the folds to each
other depends on the position of the lovers or thrust rods in their respective alotted
lovers.
The quilling folds are not sharply pressed together as on the plaiting machines
now in use, but are made with gently curved edges.
Ordinary plaiting can also be effected by this machine without making any
alterations to it. For this purpose the pawl to the ratchet wheel is lifted up, and
then only one knife will work, either the lower one or the upper one, according to
the position of the ratchet arrangement. The plait thus produced shows the same
peculiarity in that it has no sharp edges, but all its folds leave the machine gently
rounded off. The said machine is therefore peculiarly adapted for ribbed or crimped
light materials, such as muslin, bobbin net, and the like, from which hitherto
quillings and plaitings could only be produced by hand.
Tho knives may be of different widths.