Improvements in or relating to Button Sewing Mechanism in Sewing-machines.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Feb., 1889
Specification Accepted, 30th Mar., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Button Sewing Mechanism in
Sewing-machines.
I REGINALD HADDAN of the firm of Herbert & Co., Patent Agents of 18, Buckingham
Street, Strand W.C. London in the County of Middlesex Civil Engineer do hereby
declare the nature of this invention a communication to me from abroad by Felix
Engel, Engineer, of 21 Graskeller, Hamburg in the Empire of Germany, and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
The purpose of this invention is to simplify considerably and increase the working
capacity of the contrivances known heretofore for attaching buttons, so as to produce
apparatus of this kind, which shall be inexpensive, easly applied to the existing sewing
machines and of a practical value.
To this end the button is inserted into a sheath or holder, which has an edge or
flange projecting below, upon which the button rests. The sheath is open in front and
is movably secured to a metal plate by means of an arm, so that it may be lifted in
front upon insertion of the button, in order that the button may be easily put in and
the material adjusted exactly in the position where the button is to be sewn on without
altering the position of the button. The sheath which receives the button replaces
also the presser foot of the machine.
The improved mechanism is represented in the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 being
a side elevation (partly in section); Fig. 2 a plan and Fig. 3 an end elevation of a
machine provided with the improved mechanism. Fig. 4 is a detail view showing
the sheath which serves as a presser foot and for receiving the button in its raised
position.
A sliding-plate a guided between bars n n upon the table-plate of the machine carries
the sheath B. This sheath B consists of an arm c, which is hinged ate to the slide a, and
extends below the needle bar d and is there provided with an interchangeable holder i,
into which the button k to be sewn on is to be placed. The button is supported within
the holder by the projecting edge r, on the bottom of the holder i as shown in
Figs. 2, 3 and 4. The sheath B is pressed down upon the working-plate of the
machine by a cam lever g (Figs. 1, 2 and 3) whilst it is raised through influence of

page_text: the spring f, as soon as the cam lever is turned into the position shown in Fig. 4.
In this position a button can be easily placed upon edge r in the holder i of the sheath,
and the material a to which the button is to be sewn on can be easily adjusted under
the sheath whilst the same is still raised that part of the material where the button is
to be, being placed exactly underneath the holder i. This can be done quickly and
easily because the worker sees the button in front of him in the sheath. During this
arrangement and shifting of the material the button remains untouched.
The sheath B is then pressed down by turning down the cam lever g so that the
material is held down by the sheath B upon the working plate. The button lies in the
holder above x. The button is then held steady by means of a small forkshaped
tool, until the needle has made a stitch through the button, that is to say through one
of the holes therein. As soon as the needle is raised again, the slide a shifts forward.
This is done in a known manner by the turning of a cam disc or plate h on the
shaft w of the machine, said cam disc or plate moving to and fro a lever y pivoted at l.
The oscillations of the lever y are transfered to the slide a by the connecting-rod .
When the slide has moved forward, the needle penetrates the opposite hole of the
button that is to say pierces the button at a different place and makes a second stitch,
the slide a thereupon returns and puts the first stitching-place again underneath the
needle, so that in this manner a number of stitches are made, until the button is
sufficiently secured.
The holder i on the sheath B is interchangeable for different sizes of buttons. The
shifting of the sheath B can also be regulated for various sizes of buttons by displace-
ment of the connecting-rod z in the slot t of arm y..
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is :
In button sewing mechanism for sewing machines-a sheath B hinged or otherwise
attached to reciprocating slide a, said sheath carrying a holder i with projecting edge r
for holding and supporting the button to be sewn and arranged to be raised and
lowered and to serve also as a pressor-foot.
Dated Gifs 2 day of February 1009.
HERBERT & Co.,
18, Buckingham Street, Strand, London, W.C.,
Agents to Applicant.