IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTON-HOLE ATTACHMENTS FOR SEWING. MACHINES
Year: 1885

page_text: We FRIEND WILLIAM SMITH, Jr and SAMUEL STUART WILLIAMSON, residing at
309 State Street, Bridgeport, in the County of Fairfield and State of Connecticut,
in the United States of America, Mechanica do hereby declare the nature of our
invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTON-HOLE ATTACHMENTS FOR SEWING.
MACHINES and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention relates to certain novel and useful improvements in button Hole
attachments for Sewing Machines and has for its object to provide such a machine
which shall have but one ratchet movement, whose feed mechanism is constantly
in gear and be entirely automatic and with these ends in view our invention
consists in the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter
fully explained and then specifically designated by the claims In order that those
skilled in the art to which our invention appertains may more fully understand its
construction and operation we will proceed to describe the same in detail referring
by letter to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification in
which
Fig. 1 is a perspective of our improvement connected with the needle bar of a
sewing machine.
Fig. 2 a perspective of the rear portion of the attachment the rack and holder
being removed and the feed bar broken away to clearly show the engagement of
the pawl and ratchet,
•
Fig. 3 a plan view the feed bar and parts carried thereby being removed.
Fig. 4 a central vertical section with the clamp in an elevated position.
Fig. 5 an enlarged inverted plan of the rack-holder showing three positions of.
the feed pinion and guide pin and
1
Fig. 6 an enlarged cross section through the nest of wheels. Figs 7 and 8,
illustrate a modified construction of rack and pinion operating devices.
A is the bed plate through which from underneath near its rear end passes the..
shouldered screw B countersunk so as to be flush with the bed plate. C is a wiper
llה...מ

page_text: wheel having an odd number of wipers or cams, placed upon the bed plate. Into
the centre of this wheel passes the threaded end of the screw B the shoulder of the
latter being set tightly against the bottom of the former, thus causing said screw to
turn with and from the journal bearing of said wiper wheel. D is a ratchet wheel
having twice as many teeth as there are cams on the wiper wheel. The ratchet
and cam wheels are riveted or otherwise concentrically secured together so that
their movements will be simultaneous E is a pinion which may be secured in any
manner to the centre of the ratchet. As shown this pinion is made of sufficient
length and driven or forced in an opening in the centre of the ratchet.
From the top of the pinion projects upward a pin F whose diameter is equal to
the diameter of the stock from which the teeth of said pinion project. The use of
this pin will hereafter be explained.
G is a lever pivoted by the screw H which passes through said lever and into the
bed plate as seen at Fig. 4. The inner end of this lever is forked having pallets a
which bear on diametrically opposite sides of the wiper wheel, see Figs 1 and 3 so
that it will be understood that at every intermittent revolution of the wiper wheel
the lever G will be caused to oscillate to or fro about its pivotal point. The outer
or free end of the oscillator G is slotted as seen at I and in this slot is fitted a
headed nut J into which runs the threaded end of the screw K L is the feed bar
whose forward or cloth-supporting end M rests upon the bed plate and is bent
upward at N to a sufficient height to extend backward parallel with the bed plato
and rest upon the ratchet wheel. O is an elongated opening or slot cut in the feed
bar through which passes the shank of the screw K having a shoulder which bears
against the washer P interposed between the oscillator and feed bar to give
steadiness to the latter is a slot in the rear end of the feed bar twice the width
of the diameter of the pinion which projects within it. Placed upon the feed bar
over the slot Q and secured thereto by the thumb screws c is a rack holder R. This
holder has a slot S extending throughout nearly its entire length the ends of the
slot being curved for the purpose presently explained, as may be readily seen by
reference to Figs 5 and 6. T is the rack which is secured to the holder so as to
project downward from the central portion of the slot the base or stock of the rack
extending slightly above the bottom of the slot so that a continuous groove is
formed around said base. The pinion E is adapted to engage with the rack and
the pin F projects upward within the grooves and acts as a guide to insure the
continuous engagement of said rack and pinion throughout the entire length of the
rack. U is a standard secured to the bed plate and having pivoted to its upper
portion a pawl lever V by means of screw W.
To the bottom or heel end of the lever U is secured an operating lock pawl X.
by means of a screw e which passes through said pawl and into the lever leaving
lost motion between said lever and screw. f is a coil spring interposed between
pawl X and lever V to keep the former in its normal position within the field of
the ratchet wheel. Y is the operating lever fulcrumed by the screw g to the
standard, the rear end of this lever forms a cam Z which impinges against and
operates the lever V in such a manner that regardless of the throw of the needle
bar, the lever V will be operated only a determined amount for instance, if the
outer end of the lever Y be carried below the horizontal thus throwing the inner
end upward, the part of the cam which is an arc described from the fulcrum of
said lever will come in contact with the lever V and cease to operate the same
irrespective of the amount of movement of the lever Y and likewise on the upper
movement of the operating lever, the cam will move downward, operating the
pawl-lever till the upper portion i of the cam comes in contact with the curve of
the lever V which is concentric with the fulcrum of the operating lever when the
cam will cease to operate the pawl lever as on the reverse stroke. The outer end
of the lever Y is bent at right angles to its length and forked at m so as to embrace
the needle clamp. screw and receive its motion therefrom. A' is a coil spring
attached to the standard and pawl lever for the purpose of keeping the latter in
L

page_text: constant contact with the pawl Z. B¹ is a spring click operating as a detent to the
ratchet. C¹ is an ordinary spring clamp whose rear end is bent downward and.
secured to the feed-bar by screws E is a post projecting upward from the clamp
and having pivoted thereto the Z shaped cam lever D₁ which operates to depress
the clamp as clearly shown at Fig. 1. The cloth-support M is slotted or out away
in the usual manner.
From the foregoing description the operation of our improvement will be as
follows:
The attachment is secured to the bed plate of the sewing machine by the pin 8
entering a hole in the throat plate and the screw t passing into said bed plate while
at the same time the forked end of the operating lever is placed around the needle
clamp screw. It will be seen that the movements of the needle bar will be imparted
to the operating lever and in turn through the cam Z to the pawl-lever causing the
pawl carried thereby to engage and operate the ratchet wheel intermittently This
pawl by its peculiar construction and relation to the ratchet wheel is disengaged
from the ratchet by the tooth succeeding that which had been operated upon and
after having turned said ratchet the desired distance, locks it as against any over-
throw, and as will be clearly understood this being the only ratchet movement and
in fact the only primary movement all others being derived therefrom there can be.
no overthrow in the machine. As the ratchet is revolved the pinion and cam wheel
secured thereto will also revolve, the latter operating the oscillator and the former
feeding the feed bar lengthwise in or out as the case may be. Oscillation is
imparted to the feed bar, to the oscillator through the screw K, so that at each up
and down movement of the needle bar, the feed bar and cloth support are moved
transversely first to one side and then to the other, and at the same time are fed
one step forward or backward as the case may be by the action of the pinion on
the rack. If the pinion be in engagement with the nigh side of the rack as seen
at Fig 5 the feed bar will be inoved outward until the end of the rack reaches the
pinion when the latter acting on the end tooth of the former will cause it and the
feed bar to which it is attached to cease their forward movement and move
transversely thereto during which time the fabric upon the cloth support is slowly
moved step by step underneath the needle to a different vertical plane, the oscillation
meantime causing the barring of the button hole. Now as the pinion continues to
revolve the opposite side of the rack will come into engagement therewith, thereby
causing the feed bar to travel backward, which movement will be continued
throughout the length of the rack when the latter will again be caused to move
sidewise and the remaining end of the button hole be barred as above explained.
During this operation of the pinion throughout the circuit of the rack the pin F
will travel in the continuous channel around the rack and thereby insure uniform
engagement between the said rack and pinion and at the same time prevent
lost notion or any unsteadiness in the vibration of the feed bar. We do not wish
to be confined to any particular style of cloth-clamp as this is immaterial also we
are enabled to use any ordinary pawl mechanism for rotating the ratchet wheel
step by step Different lengths of racks are used for different sizes of button.
holes.
We do not wish to confine ourselves to the exact style of rack shown as we can
with equal if not better facility use the rack shown at Fig 7. In this latter con-
struction the forward end A" of the rack may be adjusted in and out thereby
shortening or lengthening the rack; the rack holder R will be dispensed with and
in its stead what we term a rib holder will be used as shown at B¹¹ Fig. 8, the
location of the rib C is precisely the same as that of the vertical rack shown at
Fig. 5 and a channel D extends laterally along said rib for the same purpose as
the channel S In stitching button holes of different lengths the rack is adjusted
to the desired length and another rib holder carrying a rib of the necessary length
is-substituted or else the rib itself is made adjustable so as to be lengthened or
shortened.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is
1. In a button hole sewing attachment for sewing machines the combination
with a vertical rack secured to a feed bar adapted to be oscillated, of a pinion
stationary except as to revolution around its axis and adapted to mesh with said
rack and step by step operate laterally against every portion of the latter circum-
ferentially whereby the said bar is fed back and forth substantially as described.
2. In a button hole sewing attachment for sewing machines the rack by means
of which forward and backward motion is communicated to the feed bar constructed
and adapted to act as a templet for the button hole substantially as set forth.
3. In a button hole sewing attachment for sewing machines a wiper wheel,
ratchet wheel and pinion rigidly secured on the same short shaft (the number of
teeth in the ratchet being double the number of cams on the wiper wheel) in
combination with the pivoted oscillator embracing at its rear extremity the said
wiper wheel, means for turning the ratchet, the feed bar adjustably connected to the
oscillator and having attached thereto a vertical rack with which the pinion is
adapted to engage substantially as shown and described.
4. The combination of the operating lever, pawl lever, spring pawl attached to
the lower extremity of said pawl lever, ratchet wheel, pinion and wiper wheel
secured on the same short shaft, oscillator pivoted to the bed-plate and embracing
said wiper wheel, feed bar adjustably connected to the oscillator, rack attached to
the feed bar and engaging with said pinion, and means for clamping the goods at
the forward extremity of the feed bar substantially as specified.
5. In a button hole sewing attachment for sewing machines the combination
with a pinion capable of being revolved, of the vertically depending rack attached
to the feed bar and adapted to be engaged by the pinion, throughout its entire
circuit, whereby lengthwise forward and backward movement is imparted to the
feed bar substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
6. In a button hole attachment for sewing machines, the combination with a
ratchet wheel and a, wiper wheel both rigidly mounted on the same short shaft of
the oscillator pivoted to the bed plate and having its rear extremity forked and
embracing said wiper wheel and means for intermittently rotating said ratchet
whereby a positive vibration is imparted to the oscillator substantially as
set forth.
7. The combination with the pivoted lever Y adapted to be operated by the
needle bar of a sewing machine, of the pawl lever V spring actuated pawl X
pivoted to the lower extremity of the pawl lever, ratchet wheel D and wiper
wheel C secured on the same short shaft and the pivoted oscillator forked at the
rear end and embracing said wiper wheel substantially as shown and described.
8. In a button hole attachment for sewing machines the combination with the
feed bar carrying a vertically depending rack having a circumferential groove
around its base, of a pinion meshing with said rack and adapted to be revolved
intermittently and a guide pin projecting axially from said pinion within said
groove, whereby continuous engagement of the rack and pinion is insured
substantially as and for the purpose described.
9. The combination with the oscillator forked as described and the feed bar
carrying the vertically depending rack of the wiper wheel, ratchet wheel and pinion
all rigidly secured on the same short shaft and means for intermittently revolving
said ratchet wheel substantially as shown and described.
10. The feed bar having at one end the cloth clamp and at the other an adjust-
able rack and means for determining the various lengths of button holes
substantially as set forth.
11. In combination with an adjustable rack with which the pinion meshes, an
adjustable guide for the pinion constructed substantially as set forth.

page_text: 12. The adjustable rack arranged at the rear of the feed bar, in combination
with the rib holder carrying an adjustable rib having circumferential groove and
the pinion adapted to engage with said rack and held in such engagement and
properly guided by said rib and groove substantially as shown and set forth.
Dated this 7th dose of Anuil 1008