Machine Manufacturers.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Dec., 1888
Specification Accepted, 5th Feb., 1889
[Communicated from abroad by THE SINGER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, of New York,
in the United States of America, Sewing Machine Manufacturers.]
I ALEXANDER ANDERSON, Manager of the Singer Manufacturing Company's Works,
Kilbowie, Dunbartonshire, 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 :-
My invention relates to that class of ruffling or gathering attachments for sewing
machines which are operated from the needle bar of the machine in such a manner
that the ruffling blade is advanced to make a gather as the needle rises and is
retracted for a fresh hold on the goods as the needle descends to sew the gather; the
object of my invention being to produce an attachment, of the class referred to, which
will be simple in construction, so that it may be made at little expense, and one in
which the parts are so arranged that the power is applied to the best advantage so
that there will be but little drag on the needle bar.
In carrying my Invention into effect 1 provide a pendulous blade-carrying arm and
pivot the same to a vertical standard which is preferably formed integral with a
presser foot to be attached to the presser bar of the machine, as is common with these
attachments. To an extension of the standard to which the blade carrying arm or
carrier is pivoted is also pivoted an operating lever forked at its free end to embrace
a screw or other projection on the needle har, said operating lever being connected
by a link with the blade-carrying arm in such a manner that the said link and the
rear portion of the said lever form a toggle. Regulating devices are provided
whereby more or less lost motion of the operating parts occurs so that the ruffling
blade may be given any desired throw.
In the accompanying drawings Figures 1 and 2 are elevations, with the parts in
different positions, of one modification of the improved ruffler. Figure 3 is a detail
perspective view of the blade carrying arın, the regulating lever carried thereby and

page_text: the ruffling blade, and figure 4 a plan view of the attachment partly in horizontal
section on line 4
4 figure 1.
Figure 5 is a plan view of another modification of the improved ruffler. Figure 6
is an outer side view thereof. Figures 7 and S are inner side views with the parts in
different positions. Figure 9 is a detail perspective view of the foot and supporting
frame of the attachment. Figure 10 is a detail view of a part of the shank of the
blade carrier and parts connected therewith. Figure 11 is a detail view of the
adjustable nut or stop on the blaile carrier. Figure 12 is a detail sectional view of
the slide connecting the blade carrier with its operating link. Figure 13 represents
a modification of the same. Figure 14 is a detail view of the separator plate and its
shank or holder.
In the modification represented at figures 1 to 4 of the drawings the frame work
of the attachment comprises an ordinary presser foot portion A adapted to be attached
to the presser bar of a sewing machine, and a standard a having an extension a¹;
an arm a², to which latter is secured the separator plaie being attached to or
formed integral with the said extension.
The operating lever C, e, which is forked at its free end to embrace a screw or
other projection in the needle bar, is pivoted at its front end to the extension a
of the standard a, and to the said lever, at d¹ (or rearward of its fulcrum)
is pivotally attached the link d having at its free end the pin . E is the
pendulous blade carrying arm pivoted at e to the standard a and having a horizontal
portion el at its lower end to which is attached the ruffling blade e². The arm E is
provided with a slot e3 which is entered by the pin d² on the link d, and to the said
arm E is pivoted, at, the regulating lever F having a lug which enters the said
slot e to be engaged by the said pin.
The lever F is of spring metal and is provided at its upper end with a lag f² to
engage the toothed portion e¹ of the arm E, the said lug being normally sprung into
engagement with the said toothed portion e. The lever F is also provided with a
finger piece to be pressed against to release the lug from engagement with the
toothed portion e' of the arm E when the said lever is to be adjusted.
By adjusting the lever F to the left (Figures 1, 2 and 3) the operative length of
the slot will be lessened so that the throw of the ruffling blade, with a given
movement of the operating lever, will be increased; and by adjusting the said lever
in the opposite direction, or to the right. (Figures 1, 2 and 3) the operative length of
the said slot will be increased so that the pin on the link d will have more or
less lost motion in the said slot and a lesser throw will consequently be given to the
arm E and the ruflling blade carried thereby.
It will be observed that the front portion e of the operating lever and the link d
form a toggle and when the operating lever is raised, as shown in Figure 1, these two
parts are in line with each other, and the ruffling blade is at its extreme forward
position; but when the operating lever is depressed, as in Figure 2, and the parts
of the toggle are out of line the ruffling blade is entirely retracted. As the needle
bar rises and raises the operating lever, the toggle is gradually straightened out, but
as the parts approach the position shown in Figure 1 the movement imparted to the
blade carrying arm becomes slower as the leverage of the toggle increases by the
straightening out of the two parts of the toggle so that at the time when the strain or
weight on the ruffling blade is the heaviest (owing to the approach to completion of
the gather being made) the leverage of the toggle is the greatest and thus the strain
or weight on the needle bar will be equalized and the operation of ruffling will be
felt as little as possible by the machine."
To afford a compact arrangement of the parts I prefer to provide the operating
lever with offsets or bends, at et, c, to give room for the link d and the blade carrying
arm E behind the said lever or between the latter and the standard a.
Referring to the modification of the invention represented at figures 5 to 14 of the
drawings the supporting frame of the attachment consists of a presser foot portion A
the shank or upright part of which is provided with a rearwardly extending arm a
having a guiding slot a' for the reception of the blade carrier operating slide D. Bis

page_text: the operating lever pivoted between its ends to the arm a rearward of the foot, the
rear arm of the said lever being connected by the link C with the said slide D.
E is the blade carrier guided in a groove a² in the foot A and e is the ruffling
blade attached to the front end of said carrier. The shank or rear portion of the
blade carrier passes loosely through a hole d in the slide D and is threaded for the
reception of the screw nuts or stops e¹ and e³ on opposite sides of the said slide. If
the said stops be so adjusted that the distance between them is only equal to the
diameter of the slide, of course the full throw of the slide will be imparted to the blade
carrier; but if the said stops be so adjusted that their distance apart
greater than
the diameter of the said slide there will be more or less lost motion between the latter
and the blade carrier and the throw of the said carrier and of the ruffling blade
attached thereto will be less than the throw of the slide, as will be obvious.
The nut or stop e' is intended, in use, to be fixed and the throw of the ruffling
blade will therefore be varied by adjusting the nut or stop e³ towards or from the
former stop, to cause more or less lost motion of the slide. To retain the stop nut e²
in any position to which it may be adjusted I preferably provide the said nut with one
or more peripheral notches e³ for the reception of a wire spring which is attached to
the carrier by the set screw e tapped in the stop nut el, the end of said spring
being received in a groove e in the rear end of the shank of said carrier, as shown in
Figure 10. The said spring is normally in engagement with the stop nut e but may
be released from the said nut, to permit the latter to be turned, by a slight pressure
of the finger of the operator.
The stop nute need not necessarily be provided with the notches e as the pressure
of the spring fagainst the roughened or milled periphery of the said nut will prevent
it from turning, although the notches, being more secure, are preferred. Instead of
the spring a pivoted locking latch (spring pressed or otherwise) to engage notches
in the periphery of an adjusting stop nut might be employed.
The slide D consists preferably of a stud d' formed with two shoulders, as shown
in Figure 12 a sleeve and an anti-friction roller ³, the holo d (through which the
blade carrier loosely passes) being made in the said sleeve. In assembling the parts
the sleeve is first slipped over the stud until the angular lip of the former engages
the larger shoulder of the latter; the anti-friction roller is next slipped into place
and the end of the stud is then inserted in a hole of the link and rivetted down
slightly to retain the link and stud together.
In the modified form of slide shown in figure 13 the sleeve is retained on the
stud by a small set screw & the point of which is received in an annular groove de
near the carrier end of the stud, the roller being between the shoulders near the
other end of the stud. In both of these forms of slides the roller d³ will have an easy
fit between the upper and lower walls of the guiding slot at of the ruffler frame and
thus lessen the friction between the said frame and the slide D.
Owing to the bend in the rear part of the shank or blade carrier E the hole a³ in
the foot A is made somewhat larger than the diameter of the said shank or carrier
to enable the latter to be gotten into place in assembling the parts of the attachment.
To retain the said shank or carrier in its guiding groove a² in the foot A the said foot
is provided with a transverse groove a' for the reception of the rear arm gl of the
holder G for the separator plate g. The said holder, which is merely a bent piece of
wire, is retained in place by a retaining screw tapped in the shank of the foot A the
said army of the lolder being provided with two small annular grooves g², g³, and a
flattened portion or groove g*.
When the separator plate is in working position the groove is beneath the head
of the screw and the holder G is thus secured in place; but as the said screw does
not tightly clamp the arm g¹ the holder may be turned around to the position shown
in Figure 8 to remove the separator plate from working position when it is desired to
use the ruffler for shirring. But before the said holder can be turned to the position
shown in Figure it is necessary to move it laterally far enough to enable the
separator plate to clear the blade carrier E, and this lateral movement of the said
holder is permitted by the flattened portion or groove on the army, the holder

page_text: being first partially turned to bring the said flattened portion opposite the screw h,
then moved laterally to bring the groove beneath the head of the said screw, and
then turned up to the position shown in Figure 8. Thus the separator plate may
be thrown out of or into working position without disconnecting its holder from
the attachment, and the annoyance and trouble which sometimes occurs from the loss
of parts which are removed in changing a ruffler from one kind of work to another
are avoided.
By reference to Figures 7 and 8 it will be seen that the link and the rear
portion of the operating lever B form a toggle-joint the two parts of which are
brought into line with each other, as shown in Figure 7, when the ruffling blade is in
its advanced position in making a gather, the said parts falling out of line, as shown
in Figure when the said blade is retracted, the said toggle being so connected
with the blade carrier as to operate the latter positively in both directions. This
arrangement of the toggle joint is particularly desirable for the reason that
the leverage of the toggle increases as the parts approach the position shown in
Figure 8 and this leverage or increased power is necessary when the gather is
approaching completion as at such time the strain on the ruffling blade in forcing
the gather under the presser foot is the greatest. It will be apparent that the above
described arrangement of the parts of the toggle joint is secured by employing, for
an operating lever, a lever of the first class (or a lever which has its pivotal point
or fulcrum between its ends) pivoting said lever rearward of the needle portion of
the attachment and connecting its rear arm with the blade carrier or the operating
slide for the latter by a link. This arrangement of parts locates the blade operating
devices rearward of the needle or the needle portion of the attachment and out of the
way of the operator.
The needle portion of the attachment is indicated by the needle hole a in the
presser foot and by the link by which the operating lever is to be connected
with the needle bar. Of course it will be understood that the operating lever
might be forked, as in the modification first described, instead of being provided
with the equally common link for connection with the needle bar.
It will be understood that when the rufter separator plate is adjusted to its
inoperative position, as in Figure 8, and the ruffer is to be used for shirring, a
separator plate, attached to the shuttle race slide work plate or throat plate will
be employed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me
I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a ruffling attachment for sewing machines, the combination with a ruffling
blade and its carrier, of a toggle consisting of two links or. parts arranged to
straighten out and force the said blade positively forward and to move the said
blade positively backward as the said parts fall out of line.
2. In a ruffling attachment for sewing machines, the combination with the
ruffling blade and its pendulous carrier, of a toggle connected with the blade carrier
to operate the same positively in both directions and means for actuating the toggle
from the needle bar of the machine.
3. In a ruthing attachment for sewing machines, the combination with the ruffling
blade and its carrier of a toggle both links or parts of which are arranged in front
of the needle, and an arm or lever to operate the said toggle from the needle bar,
said toggle being connected to said carrier to move the same positively in both
directions.
4. In a sewing machine ruffler the combination with the frame work thereof, having
a standard, of a pendulous blade carrying arm pivoted to the said standard, an
operating lever forked to embrace the needle bar, and a link pivotally attached to the
said lever rearward of the fulcrum of the latter and also connected with said arm,
the said link and the front portion of the said lever forming a toggle, to operate
substantially as set forth.

page_text: 5. In a sewing machine ruffler, the combination with the ruffling blade and its
carrying arm E provided with a slot of a toggle one part of which is provided with a
pin extending into said slot to move the said carrying arm positively in both directions,
and means for operating said toggle from the needle bar of the machine.
6. In a sewing machine ruller the combination with the standard a of the
pendulous blade carrying arm E pivoted to the said standard and provided with the
slot and the toothed portion e, the regulating lever F pivoted to the arm E and
having lugs ƒ", ƒ³, the operating lever C, &, and the link d having the pin d.
:
7. In a sewing machine ruffler the combination with the frame work thereof,
comprising the standard a, and the pendulous blade carrying arm arranged in front
of the said standard, of the operating lever having the bends or offsets c', c³, and the
link between the said lever and the said arm, as set forth.
8. In a sewing machine ruffler or ruffling attachment, the combination with a
supporting frame, a blade carrier and its attached ruffling blade, of an operating lever
pivoted between its ends to said frame rearward of the needle portion of the attach-
ment, and a link arranged rearward of said lever and connected with the latter and
the said blade carrier, whereby the said link and the rear arm of said lever will
form a toggle joint the parts of which are brought into line when the ruffing
blade is, advanced to complete a gather and which will fall out of line when the said
blade is retracted and thereby afford the greatest leverage when the strain is greatest
as set forth.
9. In a sewing machine ruffler, the combination with a supporting frame consisting
of a foot portion provided with a rearwardly extending arm having a guiding slot, of
a blade carrier provided with a ruffling blade, an operating lever pivoted between its
ends to said arm, a link rearward of said lever and a slide guided in said slot and
serving to operate said blade carrier.
10. In a sewing machine ruffler, the combination with a supporting frame having a
rearwardly extending arm provided with a guiding slot, of an operating lever pivoted
between its ends to said arm a link rearward of said lever, a blade carrier provided
at its forward end with a ruffling blade and at its rear end with two stops, and a slide
movable in said slot and extending between the said stops.
11. In a sewing machine ruffler, the combination with a supporting frame, a
ruffling blade, a blade carrier and operating mechanism for the said carrier, of.a screw
adjusted stop for governing the throw of the said carrier and blade, and a locking
device for holding the said screw adjusted stop in place.
12. In a sewing machine ruffler the combination with a supporting frame, a
ruffling blade, a blade carrier and operating mechanism for the latter, of a screw
adjusted stop on and movable lengthwise of the said carrier and serving to regulate
the throw thereof.
13. In a sewing machine ruffler the combination with a ruffling blade, of a blade
carrier having a portion of its shank screw threaded, an adjustable stop nut on said
shank, a locking device, as spring f, to engage said stop nut and hold it in place,
and means for operating said blade carrier.
14. In a sewing machine ruffler the combination with a ruffling blade, of a blade
carrier, having a portion of its shank screw threaded, operating mechanism for said
carrier, the stop nuts e¹, e², the latter provided with peripheral notches e³, the
spring to engage said notches and the set screw e*.
15. In a sewing machine ruffler, the combination with a supporting frame, a
ruffling blade and operating mechanism for the latter, of the separator plate, the bent
holder G for said plate, having the arm g' provided with the annular grooves g², g³,
and the flattened portion, and the set screw h.
16. In a sewing machine ruffler, the combination with the supporting frame
having the foot portion provided with the guiding groove a², of the blade carrier fitted
to slide in said groove the separator plate holder G having the arm gl above the said
carrier to hold the latter in said groove, the set screw to secure said holder in
place, and operating mechanism for said carrier.

page_text: 17. In a sewing machine ruffler, the combination with the supporting frame, the
blade carrier, the ruflling blade and the operating lever and link, of the slide D
consisting of the shouldered stud d' the sleeve having the hole d and the anti-
friction roller d³.
18. A sewing machine ruffler consisting of the combination of the supporting frame
comprising the foot portion A and the rearwardly extending arm a having the guiding
slot a', the operating lever B pivoted to said armi rearward of the said foot, the link
rearward of said lever, the slide D movable in said slot, the blade carrier F having
the ruffling blade e at its front end and screw threaded at its rear end, the stop
unts e, e, on the threaded part or shank of said carrier, the spring for retaining the
said stop nut in adjusted position, the set screw et, the separator plate g and the
holder G.
Dated this Twentyfourth day of December 1888