IMPROVE- MENTS IN RUFFLES OR GATHERED FABRICS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THEIR MANUFACTURE
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in
the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of
Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN RUFFLES OR GATHERED FABRICS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED
IN THEIR MANUFACTURE."--A communication from abroad by George B.
Arnold and Alfred Arnold, both of the City, County, and State of New
York, in the United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 28th May 1860.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RUFFLES OR GATHERED FABRICS, AND IN THE APPARATUS
EMPLOYED IN THEIR MANUFACTURE," a communication from George B. Arnold
and Alfred Arnold, both of the City, County, and State of New York, in the
United States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain peculiar formations of ruffles, or flounces,
or gathered work, and to the construction and arrangement of mechanism to be
adapted to a sewing machine for the formation and fixing of such ruffles or
flounces.
The improved ruffles consist of two kinds, the one being a single ruffle, the

page_text: gathers in which are tightly retained and held together either by a chain or a
lock stitch, the threads being drawn into the gathers sufficiently tight to
prevent them from slipping or crowding when under the action of the presser
plate of the sewing machine.
The second improved ruffle consists of a fold gathered ruffle or Hounce, the
fold in this case and the gathers in both ruffles being produced by the same
mechanism, by which the gathers are firmly fixed relatively to each other, one
single line of machine stitches being employed in both cases. The cloth is
gathered and stitched, or fastened by the aid of a single feeding surface in
conjunction with a moveable separating plate, situate between the cloth to be
gathered and the fabric to which it is to be stitched and combined also with a
peculiar presser foot, having a projecting or inclined tooth on its under side,
which projection serves to hold back the sewed portion of the cloth whilst a
gather is being formed. The length of stitch is regulated in the production of
gathered work by suitably adjusting the position of the separating plate, or of
this plate and the presser foot in relation to the forward extremity of the path
traversed by the feeding surface.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th November 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RUFFLES OR GATHERED FABRICS, AND IN THE APPARATUS

page_text: "
EMPLOYED IN THEIR MANUFACTURE," a communication from abroad by George
B. Arnold and Alfred Arnold, both of the City, County, and State of
New York, in the United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:―
The said Invention relates to certain peculiar formations of ruffles, frills, and
flounces or gathered work, and to certain peculiar machinery for making
the same.
The gathered work, by which term I shall herein-after designate the ruffles,
frills, flounces, and gatherings capable of being made by this machinery
consists of a piece of fabric gathered in upon itself, and having its gatherings
firmly held by a single series of stitches. The stitch employed may be
either a chain stitch, a lock stitch, or any other stitch made by a sewing
machine.
The general arrangement of the mechanism for producing the gathered work
bears some resemblance to that for which Letters Patent were issued to me
on the Fifth day of March last (No. 600), differing mainly in these respects,
that a single roughened plate is employed as a feeder and gatherer; the plate
called a separator is made adjustable, and the presser foot is provided with an
inclined projection on its under side, which projection serves to hold the cloth
whilst a gather or fold is being formed. This peculiar apparatus is employed in
combination with a sewing machine. The length of stitch and the fulness of
gather are regulated by suitably adjusting the relative positions of the sepa-
rator, the presser foot, and the feeding surface, in the manner herein-after
more particularly described.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood,. I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.

page_text: Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a vertical section of the improved
mechanism above referred to with the feeder. depressed; Figure 2 is a corre-
sponding section with the feeder elevated; Figure 3 is a plan of the cloth
plate and adjustable separator, the latter being notched at its front edge to
admit of the passage of the needle; Figure 4 is a plan of the presser foot and
feeding surface on a large scale; and Figures 5, 6, and 7 are enlarged
Diagrams, showing the action of this mechanism when in operation.
A, in Figures 1 and 2, is the standard, or that portion of a sewing machine,
which supports the cloth plate B; C is the needle of that machine; D is the
driving or main shaft from which the various motions of the machine are
derived; E represents the feeder or feeding surface, which has a vertical as
well as a horizontal motion imparted to it by the eccentric pin or crank & in
the shaft D, such pin or crank working in a slot in the feeder, as shewn
clearly in Figures 1 and 2. I do not confine myself, however, to this
particular mode of imparting motion to the feeding surface (Figures 1 and 2).
e is a helical spring for throwing back the feeder again after it has been
pushed forward by the pin or crank d; F is the presser foot, which is of a
peculiar form, inasmuch as it bears upon its under surface an inclined pro-
jection f. which crosses it transversely, and is of greater width than the slot or
opening in the cloth plate. This presser foot is capable of being elevated and
depressed like an ordinary presser foot; G is the adjustable separator, which
consists of a plate of suitable thickness interposed between the presser foot
and a portion of the feeding surface; H is the adjusting cam, which regulates
the throw of the feeding surface, the motion of the latter being capable of
increase to a range considerably more than that which is usually required for
the length of the stitches.
When it is desired not merely to gather and stitch a piece of cloth upon
itself, but simultaneously to gather the cloth and attach it to another piece of
plain cloth or band, the cloth a to be gathered (colored red in the Drawings),
is placed under the presser foot F, and also under the separator G, so as to be
exposed to the whole action of the feeder E. The other piece of cloth or
band 6 (coloured blue), which remains plain, and to which the gathered cloth
is to be attached, is also placed under the presser foot F, but over the sepa-
rator G. The presser foot F is then lowered to its position in the usual
manner, and the mechanism is put in motion by rotating the driving shaft D.
The feeder E (Figures 5, 6, and 7), acted upon by the spring e (Figures 1
and 2), moves backward, rises, and takes hold of the cloth a, lying under the
separator G, as shewn in Figure 5, the cloth being as yet firmly held or
gripped between F aud G, whilst a fold or gather is formed in the lower picce

page_text: of cloth a, under G, by the forward movement of the feeding surface E in the
direction of the arrow, as shewn in Figure 6.) This fold or gather is carried
forward by and in front of the feeding surface, and on passing the front edge
of G, the feeder then acts upon both pieces of cloth simultaneously, and
at the same time slightly raises the presser foot F by moving under the pro-
jection f, without correspondingly raising the separator G. This elevation
of F, shown clearly in Figure 7, tends to release the upper piece of cloth,
which being no longer protected against the action of the feeder by the
separating plate G, is moved along with the fold formed in the lower cloth for
a sufficient distance to form a stitch. The gather or fold being now pressed
against the thread of the last stitch is, by the action of the needle, immediately
enclosed in the next stitch, which when drawn up with a sufficient tension,
holds it fast. The upper piece of cloth may be held back whilst a gather is
being formed in the lower piece of cloth by other means than by nipping it
between the plates F and G. Thus, for example, the cloth 6 may be gripped
between any other two surfaces than these, or it may be held upon a reel, and
the motion of the reel may be restrained by friction or otherwise, but I prefer
the means above described and illustrated by the Drawings. In order to
regulate the length of the stitches it is only necessary to change the position of
the plate G relatively to that of the presser foot and feeding surface, by turning
the regulating screw I backwards or forwards. The separator G is attached
to or forms a part of the lever K, which latter turns horizontally on a fulcruni
at L, as represented in Figure 3, and is controlled in position by the screw I.
In order to shorten the stitches the regulating screw I may be turned, so that
G is moved in the direction shewn by the arrow in Figure 8, or towards the
presser foot F, so as to lessen the extent to which the feeding surface E moves
under the direct pressure of the presser foot. To lengthen the stitches the
separator G is moved in the opposite direction. The fulness of the gathers
(the length of stitch being unaltered), may be regulated by simply changing
the amount of throw of the feeder A in the ordinary manner, that is to say, by
turning backwards or forwards the regulating cam H.
I will now describe the action of this mechanism in making gathered work,
which is simply gathered and stitched on itself without a band. The piece of
cloth to be operated on is placed between the feeding surface E and the
separator G, and the machine being set in motion in the ordinary way the
feeding surface acts upon the cloth, and by carrying it forward towards
the inclined projection of the presser foot forms the gather; which inclined
projection by pressing the cloth in part upon the cloth plate retains it during
the operation of gathering. The needle of the sewing machine duly supplied

page_text: with thread then descends and inserts a stitch through the gathered cloth,
whereupon the needle rises, and the feeding surface descends and moves back-
ward to begin again its action upon a fresh quantity of cloth. The feeding
forward of the gathered and stitched cloth is effected by the action of the
feeding surface in combination with the other parts of the mechanism.
If desired, this last-mentioned gathered work may be produced without the
separator G, in which case the under surface of the presser foot should be
perfectly plain and flat and should rest upon the feeder. Figures 8 and 9 are
enlarged diagrams of such an arrangement. F is the presser foot, with a flat
under surface; C is the needle; E, the feeding surface; M, a rotating hook,
which seizes the loop and forms a chain stitch; B is the cloth plate of the
machine; a is the cloth to be gathered, and c is the loop from which the
stitch is formed. In Figure 8, E has just commenced its forward movement
in the direction of the arrow, and in contact with the cloth a.
The gathered
and sewed portion of a is held back more or less by the loop c until the full
forward stroke of E has been accomplished, as shewn in Figure 9, whereupon
a new stitch is made, which on being tightly drawn up will hold and compress
the gather. In Figure 8 I have shown the position of the separator and the
projection on the under side of the presser foot when used, in dotted lines.
It is obvious that not only may textile fabrics of all kinds be operated upon
by this machinery, but that leather and other thin flexible articles may be
similarly treated.
The machine with these improvements attached may, if thought desirable,
be used for sewing a plain seam by bringing back the cam H, so that the
stitch may be made equal to the throw of the feeder E, and by placing both
pieces of cloth together under F and G. The separator must for this purpose
be so adjusted as to prevent the feeding surface striking the presser foot. The
separator will then act as the under surface of the ordinary presser foot. I do
not confine myself to the precise form, position, or motion of any of the parts
herein shown, as it is evident that several modifications thereof may be made
which will produce a similar result; for example, I have represented the
separator G as forming one extremity of a lever mounted on the cloth plate of
the machine, but in case these improvements are to be attached to a machine
to be used on a great variety of work, some of which may extend quite across
the whole surface of the cloth plate, the separator G may be easily connected
to some more convenient part of the machine, so as to admit of greater widths
of cloth being passed under it. In these ruffles or flounces the gathers are
firmly held by the stitches, and do not slip under the action of the machine.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,--
First, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of mechanism.
for producing ruffles, flounces, or gathered work, as herein-before described.
Second, the system or mode of gathering cloth, and of stitching the
gathers by machinery where a single feeding surface is employed, as herein-
before described.
Third, the combination of a separating plate, a single feeding surface, and a
presser foot with an inclined projection, in the manner and for the purpose
herein-before described.
Fourth, the production of gathered work in a sewing machine by the aid of
a feeding surface and presser foot, assisted by the drag of the loop, as herein-
before described and illustrated by Figures 8 and 9.
Fifth, the regulation of the length of the stitches in the production by
machinery of gathered work, by adjusting the position of the separating plate,
or the position of the separating plate and presser foot in relation to the
forward end of the feeding surface, as herein-before described.
Sixth, the application and use in a combined gathering and sewing machine
of a presser foot having an inclined projection, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of November, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)