Improvements in Hem-stitch Sewing Machines.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Sept., 1894
Complata Carrifination Luft 4011
1005 haranted 27th lulu 180
Date of Application, 18th Sept., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 19th June, 1905 Accepted,
27th
July 1903
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Hem-stitch Sewing Machines.
I, ALEXANDER ANDERSON, Manager of The Singer Mauufacturing Company's
Works, Kilbowie, Dumbartonshire, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
(as communicated to me from abroad by Georg Neidlinger of 79 Admiralitätstrasse
Hamburg, in the Empire of Germany) to be as follows:-
This invention relates to sewing machines for hem-stitching fabrics in which
ornamental effects such as "spoking" are produced by leaving or drawing out a
number of weft threads from the fabric and subsequently binding or tieing the warp
threads in bundles with intervening open spaces by the needle thread of the sewing
machine or for producing imitations of such hem-stitching and the object of the
invention is to provide means for opening up or separating the warp threads into
bundles as the sewing proceeds in order that the needle may descend through the
spaces between the warps and ensure that the latter will be tied up in parallel lines
extending from edge to edge of the hem instead of being irregularly bound by the
descent of the needle between different warps in the adjoining edges of the bem
which has the effect of drawing some of the warp threads into angular lines from
one bundle at one edge of the hem to the adjacent bundle at the second edge of
the hem.
For the purpose of thus opening up the warp threads a conical pyramidal thorn
like spur or thread divider is carried in or under the bed plate and operated by the
mechanism of the sewing machine so that it rises from below and penetrating between
the warp threads separates them or divides off a bundle in advance of the needle
stitch so that the needle on its descent must pass into the empty space in forming
the thread loop that binds the bundle at the edge of the hem. This spur or divider
is carried by a spring secured to the bed plate or by other means permitting of its
upward and downward movement the spring being preferably arranged to keep the
spur or divider in its lower position or out of action, whilst it is raised up into action
at the proper times by means of a lever, extending under the spring or a tail piece
on the spur or divider, and carried at the end of a rock shaft having at its opposite
end a tail piece acted on by a cam on the feed operating shaft or other shaft of the
machine. A spring is provided to keep the lever from pressing up the spur or
divider excepting when acted on by the cam, and to provide for adjustment of the
extent of upward movement of the thread divider a screw secured by a locking nut
is fitted in the lever to bear on the under side of the spring or other support carrying
the divider.
In lieu of carrying the spur or thread divider on a separate support it may be
secured directly on the actuating lever. In that case the spur is formed with a
bent tail piece or flange having an oblong hole through which passes a screw
serving to bind it to the lever whilst another screw also passing through the lever
and bearing on the lower side of the spur piece is provided for adjusting the spur on
the lever.
Instead of carrying the actuating lever on a separate rock shaft it may be formed
or fixed on a sleeve fitted on the feed actuating shaft a tail piece being formed on
the sleeve and acted on by the cam to impart rocking movement at the proper times
to raise the spur or thread divider; and endwise movement may be imparted to the

page_text: sleeve and lever carrying the divider in order to open up the threads of the work
by means of a cam on the cam shaft or an inclined bracket piece on the under side
of the bed plate bearing on the tail piece, which latter may have a spring acting on
it in lieu of the spring which keeps the lever from rising when not acted on by
the cam.
The motions above described are adapted to the motions of the needle, the feed
and the other parts of the machine in such wise that the thorn-like spur or
thread divider penetrates in succession between two bundles of threads of one
edge of the hem and separates them at each time to such a distance that sufficient
room is given to the immediately following needle, which effects the well known
thread loops in co-operation with the pressure foot, feet, shuttle, &c. while the
material is fed on. While successively penetrating between the bundles of thread
along the one edge it also pushes at the same time the threads near the other
edge so much apart one from the other, that it thereby lays down a sure course
for itself along the other edge of the hem. Besides, its upper point does not
penetrate between the threads close to the edges, but rather more toward the
centre of the hem, so that the spur, while dividing the second hem edge, must
needs enter into the empty spaces produced by the stitching of the first hem edge.
The needle on the contrary with respect to the forming of the thread loops must
enter close along each hem edge between the threads and it therefore always
preserves the tendency to stitch in between wrong threads on the second hem edge,
although the thread bundles be sewn already on the first edge.
When the threads have been sewn into bundles on the one edge the material is
turned and the other hem edge is treated in the same way as the first when attention
must only be paid to the spur penetrating the first time in the right way between
the threads of the hem.
Dated this 17th day of September 1894.
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Chartered Patent Agent,
62 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agent.
I, ALEXANDER ANDERSON, Manager of The Singer Manufacturing Company's
Works, Kilbowie, Dumbartonshire, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to sewing machines for hemstitching fabrics in which
ornamental effects such as "spoking "are produced by leaving or drawing out a
number of weft threads from the fabric and subsequently binding or tieing the warp
threads in bundles with intervening open spaces by the needle thread of the sewing
machine or for producing initation of such hemstitching, and the object of the
invention is to provide means for opening up or separating the warp threads into
bundles as the sewing proceeds in order that the needle may descend through the
spaces between the warps and ensure that the latter will be tied up in parallel lines
extending from edge to edge of the hen instead of being irregularly bound by the
descent of the needle between different warps in the adjoining edges of the hem
which has the effect of drawing some of the warp threads into angular lines from
one bundle at one edge of the hem to the adjacent bundle at the edge of the hem.
For the purpose of thus opening up the warp threads a conical pyramidal thorn-
like spur or thread divider is carried in or under the bed or work plate and operated

page_text: by the mechanism of the sewing machine so that it rises from below and penetrating
between the warp threads separates them or divides off a bundle in advance of the
needle stitch so that the needle on its descent must pass into the empty space in
forming the thread loop that binds the bundle at the edge of the hem.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a sectional side view of a portion of a sewing machine, provided with
a laterally moving needle and having my invention applied thereto; and Fig. 2 is a
front end view of the same, with the work-plate in section.
Figs. 3 and 4 are views similar to Figures 1 and 2, but shewing the needle and
thread dividing spur in different positions than are shewn in Figures 1 and 2.
Figs. and 6 are detail views illustrating a part of the operating mechanism of
the thread dividing spur, said parts being shewn in each of these figures in somewhat
different positions.
Fig. 7 is a detail plan view of the thread dividing spur, its carrying arm and the
spring hinge connection of the latter with its support.
Figs. 8 and 9 are diagrammatic views to illustrate the work performed by means
of my invention; and
Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the imperfect work such as is liable
to be performed with the hem stitch devices heretofore in use.
Figs. 11 and 12 are views of modifications of details of the invention.
The spur or divider is attached to a plate b the latter being connected to a
spring c secured to a support or bar e beneath the bed or work. plate or by other
means permitting of its upward and downward movement the spring c being.
preferably arranged to keep the spur or divider a in its lower position or out
of action, whilst it is raised up into action at the proper times by means of a
lever d, extending under the plate or spring c or a tail piece on the spur or
divider, and carried at the end of a rock shafte having at its opposite end
a tail piece acted on by a cam g on the feed operating shaft for other shaft of
the machine. A spring i is provided to keep the lever d from pressing up the spur
or divider a excepting when acted on by the cam g; and to provide for adjustment
of the extent of upward movement or the timing of the operation of the thread
divider a a screw d¹ secured by a locking nut is fitted in the lever d to bear on the
under side of the plate b or other support carrying the divider. The operating
cam g is so arranged and timed relative to the movements of the feed and needle
that the thread dividing spur a will be beneath the throat plate when the material
is to be fed, but will be lifted, as denoted in Figures 3 and 4, so as to project above
the throat plate, to divide the threads of the open-work hem stitch to be made, just
before the needle descends; the spring hinge e serving to press the plate or arm b
and the thread dividing spur carried by the latter downward when the arm d
permits of such movements. The thread dividing spur a is preferably notched, as
more clearly shewn in Fig. 7, so that the needle may descend in close proximity to
the point thereof.
Fig. 8 illustrates the operation of my invention in making the first seam at one
side of that portion of the work from which the weft threads have been omitted
or withdrawn, the thread dividing spur a, operating in the manner hereinbefore
described, rising and forcing the threads apart, as illustrated in Fig. 8, as the work
progresses.
Fig. 9 illustrates the operation of making the seam at the second or last side of
the open-work hem, and owing to the fact that the thread dividing spur will rise in
the openings which have been made at the first operation it will necessarily follow
that the threads to be drawn together will be uniformly divided into groups, the
same threads being in every instance, pushed into the same group at both sides of
the open-work hem, as denoted at the lower part of Fig. 9, and imperfect work as
illustrated in Fig. 10, such as was likely to occur with the use of hem stitching
devices heretofore employed, will therefore be avoided.
In Fig. 9 the dot a denotes the position of the point of the spur a, and the dot y
denotes approximately the position of the needle when the latter descends at

page_text: the cage of the open-work hem to form the stitch which is to draw the thread into
groups.
In the modification illustrated by Figure 11 in lieu of carrying the
spur or thread
divider a on a separate support it may be secured directly on the actuating lever d.
In that case the spur a is formed with a bent tail piece or flange ; having an
oblong hole through which passes a screw k serving to bind it to the lever d
whilst another screw k also passing through the lever d and bearing on the lower
side of the spur piece j is provided for adjusting the spur a on the lever d.
As illustrated by Fig. 12 instead of carrying the actuating lever d on a separate
rock shaft it may be formed or fixed on a sleeve / fitted on the feed actuating shaft
a tail piece m on which is secured an adjustable piece n for regulating the extent
of upward movement of the spur a being formed on the sleeve land acted on by a
cam on the shuttle driving or other shaft to impart rocking movement at the
proper times to raise the spur or thread divider a. Endwise movement may be
imparted to the sleeve and lever d carrying the divider a in order to open up the
threads of the work by means of a cam on the cam shaft or an inclined bracket
piece on the underside of the bed plate bearing on the tail piece, which latter may
have a spring acting on it in lieu of the spring which keeps the lever from rising
when not acted on by the cam.
The motions above described are adapted to the motions of the needle, the feed
and the other parts of the machine in such wise that the thorn-like spur or thread
divider penetrates in succession between two bundles of threads of one edge of the
liem and separates them at each time to such a distance that sufficient room is given
to the immediately following needle, which effects the well known thread loops in
co-operation with the presser foot, feed, shuttle, &c. while the material is fed on.
While successively penetrating between the bundles of thread along the one edge
it also pushes at the same time the threads near the other edge so much apart one
from the other, that it thereby lays down a sure course for itself along the other
edge of the hem. Besides, its upper point does not penetrate between the threads
close to the edges, but rather more toward the centre of the hem, so that the spur,
while dividing the second hem edge, must needs enter into the empty spaces
produced by the stitching of the first hem edge. The needle on the contrary with
respect to the forming of the thread loops must enter close along each hem edge
between the threads and it therefore always preserves the tendency to stitch in
between wrong threads on the second hem edge, although the thread bundles be
sewn already on the first edge.
When the threads have been sewn into bundles on the one edge the material is
turned and the other hem edge treated in the same way as the first when attention
must only be paid to the spur penetrating the first time in the right way between
the threads of the hem.
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. The combination with a sewing machine of otherwise ordinary or suitable
construction, of a thread dividing spur arranged beneath the work-plate of the
machine and having its point adjacent to the line of descent of the needle, and
mechanism for imparting vertical movements to the said spur, substantially as and
for the purpose set forth.
2. The combination with a sewing machine of otherwise ordinary or suitable
construction, of the thread dividing spur a placed beneath the work-plate of the
machine, the plate 6 to which said spur is connected, the spring hinge c, a suitable
support to which said spring hinge is connected, the rock shatt e provided with the
arms d and h, the shaft provided with the cam g and the spring i serving to hold
the said arm in contact with the said cam g.
3. The combination with a sewing machine of otherwise ordinary or suitable
construction, of the thread dividing spur a placed beneath the work-plate of the

page_text: machine, the plate b to which said spur is connected, the spring hinge c, a suitable
support to which said spring is connected, the rock shaft e provided with the arms d
and h, an adjustable abutment or screw d¹ carried by the said arm d, the shaft f
provided with the cam g and the spring i serving to hold the said arm in contact
with the said cam g.
Dated this 17th day of June 1895.
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Chartered Patent Agent,
62 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agent for the Applicant.