IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF RUCHED, KILTED, OR PLEATED FABRICS
Year: 1881

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LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF RUCHED, KILTED, OR
PLEATED FABRICS." A communication from abroad by Heinrich Bukofzer,
of Berlin, in the German Empire.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton. Abel at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd September 1881.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANU-
FACTURE OF RUCHED, KILTED, OR PLEATED FABRICS. [A communication from
abroad by Heinrich Bukofzer, of Berlin, in the German Empire.]
This Invention relates to an improved constrution of machinery for the
manufacture of ruched, kilted, or pleated fabrics, wherein the mechanism for
pleating or folding the fabric is combined with the mechanism for sewing the same
after being pleated or folded in such a manner that the pleating mechanism first
forms a number of pleats or folds in a length of fabric, the sewing mechanism being
stationary at the time, whereupon the pleating mechanism in its turn remains
stationary while the pleated fabric is being sewn.
The sewing mechanism employed for this purpose may consist of a sewing
machine of any suitable known construction, but by preference a machine is
employed having two needles moved simultaneously by one needle arm so as to form
two rows of stitching, the motion being derived by gearing from the main shaft
that drives the pleating mechanism, as will be presently described. The motion is
imparted to the one looper shaft which drives the second looper shaft by an inter-
mediate wheel, and which works the needle arın by an eccentric. The feed motion
is obtained by an eccentric or cam on the second looper shaft acting on an arm
pivotted on a rocking lever and adjustable thereon by means of a screw for

page_text: regulating the length of stitches, the rocking lever being in its turn pivotted to a
frame that carries the toothed feed plate and that slides to and fro with a fork on
a fixed pin, while the requisite up and down motion is imparted to it by another
eccentric on the looper shaft.
The pleating mechanism consists of two blades or knives with serrated front
edges by which they lay hold of the fabric to be pleated, the one knife being
situated above the other. Each knife is fixed with its rear end to a horizontal
spindle, which spindles slide to and fro with their ends in guides on the framing.
These spindles have arms, the ends of which enter slots in bars carried by levers on
shafts that receive a rocking motion by means of eccentrics on the driving shaft,
which rocking is imparted to the knife spindles through the slotted bars. The
arms of the knife spindles are acted on by springs so arranged as both to draw the
arms and consequently the knives back when they have been moved forward by
the slotted bars, and to lift the knife away from the pleat while it is receding,
thereby avoiding the tendency of the knife to draw the fabric back again out of
the pleat formed by its forward motion. The knives receive their pleating motion
alternately by the following arrangement :-For this purpose the discs of the
driving eccentrics are loose on the driving shaft, and are alternately geared there-
with by a sliding clutch on the shaft which is pressed in one direction by a spring,
and which is periodically slid in the contrary direction by the action of a rocking
lever actuated by a cam which causes the lever alternately to be pushed forward
so as to move the clutch in gear with the one eccentric, whereupon motion is
imparted to the one pleating knife, and to be withdrawn so as to allow the spring
to draw the clutch in gear with the other eccentric, and thus impart motion to the
second knife. The said cam is fixed to a ratchet wheel in gear with which is a
pawl pivotted to an arm loose on the cam spindle and receiving a rocking motion
by means of a connecting rod from a lever that is actuated by an eccentric on the
driving shaft; thus by means of this lever and the pawl the ratchet wheel and cam
receive an intermittent rotary motion, whereby the before described action of the
clutch lever is produced. The alternate motion of the knives takes place quicker
or slower according as the pawl is moved by the rocking lever over a greater or
less number of teeth of the ratchet wheel, and the regulation of this motion is
effected by means of a projecting pin on the connecting rod of the lever, which
pins comes in contact with a stud on an adjustable slide on the framing, so
that by moving this slide the extent of motion of the connecting rod and the
pawl-may-be-varied. The-slide-is-held-in-its-adjusted_position_by_a_setting
screw.
For regulating the extent of the feed motion of the pleating knives and
consequently the size of the pleats there are situated behind the sliding spindles
of the knives adjustable stops regulated by an adjusting frame and screw, so
as to determine the distance to which the knives are drawn back by their
springs.
For effecting the alternate motions of the pleating mechanism and of the sewing
mechanism before referred to, the following arrangements are employed :-The
driving pulley is loose upon the driving shaft and is combined with a clutch or
coupling which together with the pulley can be slid longitudinally on the shaft so
as either to gear with a disc on the shaft and thus impart motion to the pleating
mechanism, or to gear with a spur wheel also loose on the shaft and geared to the
sewing mechanism; thus according as the clutch is moved in one direction or the
other the pleating mechanism or the sewing mechanism is put in motion, the other
part being stationary. The motion for gearing with the driving shaft is effected
by a spring, while the contrary motion is effected by a lever having an incline
bearing against a roller on the clutch, which lever is carried by a spindle having
an arm that comes in contact with studs projecting from the face of the before
mentioned ratchet wheel of the pleating mechanism, whereby the spindle is
periodically rocked so as to cause its lever to move the clutch out of gear with the
driving shaft and in gear with the spur wheel. The lever is acted upon by a

page_text: spring tending to draw it out of gear with the clutch, and the clutch disc on the
driving shaft has a pin acting on an incline on the lever so as to move it and its
spindle laterally, in order to bring the arm out of gear with the studs on the
ratchet wheel, whereupon the spring will be free to draw the lever out of gear
with the clutch, thus allowing the latter to slide in gear with the driving shaft
again. The spindle is also acted on by a spring which moves it together with the
lever and arm back into their original position as soon as the above action is
completed. In order to arrest the motion of the pleating mechanism and the
sewing mechanism as soon as the clutch is thrown out of gear with the one or the
other, both parts are provided with serrated or frictional surfaces pressed upon by
fixed springs.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st March 1882.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex. IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANU-
FACTURE OF RUCHED, KILTED, OR PLEATED FABRICS." A communication from
abroad by Heinrich Bukofzer, of Berlin, in the German Empire.
This Invention relates to an improved construction of machinery for the
manufacture of ruched, kilted, or pleated fabrics, wherein the mechanism for
pleating or folding the fabric is combined with the mechanism for sewing the
same after being pleated or folded in such a manner that the pleating mechanism
first forms a number of pleats or folds in a length of fabric, the sewing mechanism
being stationary at the time, whereupon the pleating mechanism in its turn
remains stationary while the pleated fabric is being sewn.
The sewing mechanism employed for this purpose may consist of a sewing machine
of any suitable known construction, but by preference a machine is employed
having two needles moved simultaneously by one needle arm so as to form two
rows of stitching, the motion being derived by gearing from the main shaft that
drives the pleating mechanism, as will be presently described.
The accompanying Drawings shew this arrangement of machine. Fig. 1 shews
a plan, and Fig. 2 a side view of the complete machine; Fig. 3 shews a side view
of the pleating mechanism; Fig. 4, a section on line A, B, Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a plan of
the pleating gear to an enlarged scale; Fig. 6, a side view of the same; and
Figs. 7 to 13 shew detached details. The two metallic bars Z, Z1, are so connected
by a pine that they move up and down simultaneously, the motion being
imparted to the pin by the needle arm el actuated by the excentric C, which in its
turn receives motion from one of the looper shafts, and this is driven from the
pleating mechanism by toothed gearing Y, Z. The second looper shaft is driven
from the first by the wheels D, E, F, the intermediate wheel D serving to make
the two shafts revolve in the same direction, as shewn at Fig. 7. The feed motion
is obtained by an excentric or cam q₁-on-the-second-looper-shaft-acting_on_an
arm p pivotted at yll on a rocking lever m pivotted at 8", and adjustable
thereon by means of a screw n¹ for regulating the length of stitches, the rocking
lever being in its turn pivotted to a frame o¹ that carries the toothed feed plate,
and that slides to and fro with a fork on a fixed pin, while the requisite up and
down motion is imparted to it by another excentric on the looper shaft working in
a slot in o, as shewn at Fig. 4. The arm pis drawn backwards against the
screw by a spring oll so as to be held securely in whatever position it is
adjusted to, and the lever m" is kept up against the excentric q₁ by a spring acting
on the frame o₁111, as shewn at Fig. 4. Z, Fig. 2, is the presser bar, which is
raised and lowered by means of the lever n¹ and pin c¹; d, Fig. 2, is an
adjustable ring with screw for regulating the spring 6 that actuates the presser bar.
The other parts of the sewing machine may be of the same construction and
arrangement as ordinary sewing machines. The pleating mechanism shewn at
Figs. 3 and 4 consists of two blades el or knives with serrated front edges by
which they lay hold of the fabric to be pleated, the one knife e" being situated
above the other. Each knife is fixed with its rear end to a horizontal spindle
fn, which spindles slide to and fro with their ends in guides G on the framing.
The shafts o¹, 11, have respectively levers n¹, m', to which the excentric rods a, a¹,
on the driving shaft are connected, so that a rocking motion is thus imparted to
these shafts. Upon the shaft p¹ are fixed two levers 8', r, Fig. 2, to which are
pivotted two slotted bars v¹, w¹, and into the slots of these enter pins on the levers

page_text: ,, of the shaft f¹¹ of the knife e¹¹. Two springs 1, ¹, are connected to the
levers s¹, ¹, so that the upper knife is only moved forward by the pushing action
of the bars v', w', being drawn back again by the springs when the bars recede.
At the same time the springs tend to raise the knife upward, which is of importance
for the proper formation of the pleats, as the knife in receding rises away from the
material, and is thus prevented from dragging the pleats backwards. The lower
knife is actuated in a similar manner by the shaft o¹ by means of the levers t¹, q',
and slotted bars u¹, x, in the slots of which enter pins on the levers of the
shaft The springs ", ", in a similar manner to those ", k", both draw the
ebaft and knife backwards, and also move the latter downwards so as to
prevent it from dragging back the fabric. The excentrics a, a' receive their
motion alternately from the driving shaft K by the following mechanism :-The
excentric discs are loose on the shaft, and are geared thereto alternately by the
coupling q, which can slide upon but rotates with the shaft, as is drawn to the
left by the spring p. The coupling carries a pin, which when the coupling is
pushed over to the right by the lever d gears with the disc of the excentric a¹
so as to drive it, and consequently to operate the lower knife, while when the
lever d is out of action and the coupling is pushed over to the left by the spring p,
the pin gears with the excentric a so as to operate the upper knife e". The lever d
is actuated by the cam e so as to thrust between the disc u and coupling q,
thereby pushing the latter to the right as described, after which the lever is moved
back so as to allow the coupling to resume its former position. By the above
arrangement the action of the knives will take place alternately and inter-
mittently. The cam e is fixed to a ratchet wheel f, receiving a step by step
rotary motion by means of a pawl g, Fig. 1, on a jointed lever / connected to the
rocking arin m actuated by the excentric b on shaft K, so that according to the
extent of motion imparted to m the pawl g will move f through a distance of two
or more teeth, and the rotation of the cam e and motion of the lever d being thus
varied the speed with which the knives are moved will also be varied.
The
pawl b prevents any backward motion of the ratchet wheel. The extent of stroke
of the arm m, and consequently of the pawl g, is limited by the stud n on the
lever which strikes against a stud o on a slide A, Fig. 5, that is adjusted to any
desired position on the fixed bar 1, 2, by means of a pink, and is held there by
the setting screw a". For adjusting the extent of forward motion of the knives a
screw c¹¹ is made to press against a frame b pivotted on the spindle m", and
acting on the sliding pieces ain the guides G in such manner that the springs
acting on the knives cannot draw these back farther than the said sliding pieces
allow, by which means the width of the pleats to be formed can be regulated at
will, even while the machine is in action. g' and z¹, Fig. 1, are guides for the
fabric to be pleated, moveable upon the bar and serving to conduct the fabric
as regular and straight as possible between the knives. For causing the sewing
mechanism to operate while the pleating mechanism is standing still, and vice
versa, a special mechanism, shewn at Fig. 5, is arranged so as to cause automatically
either the shaft K or the wheels y, Z, to revolve. This mechanism consists of a
coupling w actuated by a lever c (Fig. 8) so as to gear either with the wheel y or
with the disc v, Fig. 5. For this purpose the gut pulley H, Fig. 1, is fixed to the
coupling w loose on the shaft K, while the disc is fixed on the shaft. The wheel y
is loose on the shaft K, and is only coupled intermittently with the pulley X. The
coupling w has a pin on its face, as shewn at Fig. 5, which in the one position
enters a hole in the disc and in the other position enters a hole in the wheel y.
The coupling wis pushed to the left by a spring so as to always tend to gear with
the disc v; for reversing its position the hooked shaped lever c on the shaft v",
Figs. 6, 8, and 13, is made to force it back by pressing against the roller g' (Figs. 1
and 8) thereon. By this action the sewing machine will be set in motion.
shaft carrying the lever c also has a lever i that is moved up and down by studs h
on the ratchet wheel f, and the to and fro motion thus imparted to lever c causes
it to operate the coupling was before described so as alternately to put the sewing
The

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mechanism and the pleating mechanism in motion. The backward motion of the
lever c and its shaft is effected by a spring h¹. The disc v fixed on shaft K has a
pin f that acts against an incline on the lever c when this is moved forward,
thereby causing it to push over the coupling was described. By this motion the
axis is also slid sideways somewhat, thereby bringing the lever c out of gear
with the pin h of the ratchet wheel f, so that the lever can then be drawn back
by its spring h. The action of the apparatus is as follows:-Assuming the
coupling w to be in the position shewn at Figs. 1 and 2, the pleating knives move
alternately and intermittently until by means of the pin of the ratchet wheel f
the lever c is caused to move over the coupling w, whereupon the shaft K will
remain stationary, while the coupling w gearing with the wheel y will cause this
to revolve with the gut pulley x, and will thereby put the sewing mechanism in
action. At the same time the lever c is caused by the pin f¹ to return to its
original position, so that on the further rotation of the ratchet wheel ƒ the same
movement, as first described, will take place. The spring d, Fig. 2, acts as a
brake to the wheel y, so that when the coupling is thrown out of gear its motion
is at once stopped. For the same purpose the spring s, Figs. 5 and 13, is arranged
to gear with the wheel t so as to arrest the motion of the shaft K. the moment it
is disengaged from the coupling.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I
claim,―
First. In pleating machines operating with reciprocating knives the use of the
slotted pushing bars v¹, u³, x¹, w', in combination with the framing b", caused to
actuate the sliding pieces all by means of the screw c¹¹ for the purpose of regu-
lating the stroke of the knives, substantially as described.
Second. The peculiar combination of mechanism for actuating the two pleating
knives, consisting of two excentrics a, a', loose on the driving shaft K, which are
alternately geared therewith by a coupling g acted upon by a lever d so as
alternately to produce an intermittent motion of the two knives.
Third. The construction of the ratchet wheel f having pins h, and combined
with cam e, and receiving motion by means of the lever 1, pawl g, and arm m,
substantially as and for the purposes described.
Fourth. The combination of the lever with pin o, arm 'm, excentric b, and
adjustable slide.A, whereby the pawl g is made to turn the ratchet wheel f_through_
a greater or less number of teeth, substantially as described.
Fifth. The herein described arrangement, whereby the movement of the coupling w
so as to gear alternately with the disc and the wheel y causes the pleating
mechanism to form a number of pleats, and then to remain stationary while the
sewing mechanism makes a number of stitches, and vice versa.
Sixth. The construction and mode of operation of the lever c with incline,
acted upon by pin f' so as to be moved laterally, thereby permitting it to be
drawn backwards by its spring h¹.
Seventh. The combined mechanism for pleating fabrics herein described with
reference to the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
CHAS. D. ABEL. (L.S.)