Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Mar., 1887.
Specification Accepted, 19th Apr., 1887.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to that class of fancy-stitch sewing machines in which the
work is fed horizontally in various directions to cause the stitches to be placed in
such positions as to ornament the work on which they are placed.
The invention has for its object to provide improved mechanism for feeding the
work horizontally in any direction required and it consists in the improvements
which I will now proceed to describe.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 represents a top view of a sewing machine having my improvements.
Figure 2 represents a section on line x, x Figure 1.
Figure 2 and Figure 2b represent detail views.
Figure 3 represents a front side elevation of the machine, the bed being shown
partly in section.
Figure 3 represents a rear view of a portion of the arm of the machine.
Figure 4 represents a section of line 2, Figure 3.
Figures 5 and 6 represent enlarged portions of Figure 4.
Figure 7 represents a top view of a machino having a pattern whoel instead of a
strip, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3.

page_text: Figure o represents a section on me y; y
Figure 9 represents a bottom view of a part of the machine.
Figure 10 represents a section on line w, w Figure 9.
Figure 11 represents a sample of the arrangement of stitches produced by a machine
organized as shown.
Figure 12 represents a pattern strip made in a flat piece.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the Figures.
a represents the bed of the machine, the needle bar, which is operated in the arm c,
and d (Figure 9) the shuttle, which is reciprocated in a race and co-operates with the
needle in forming the stitches in the usual manner.
When
e represents the top feed which is located over the throat plaie of the machine and
is movable horizontally in any direction thereon, and is also movable vertically to
cause it to alternately hold and release the work. The feed is preferably composed
of a ring 2 rigidly attached to an arm, hereinafter described, and a series of radial
feet or dogs 3, 3, 3, 3 pivotted to ears on said ring and connected by springs 4, which
have a tendency to draw the swinging ends of said dogs inwardly toward a common
centre. Said swinging ends are serrated or roughened to engage the work.
the feed is raised, the work engaging ends are drawn toward each other to a certain
extent by the springs, so that when the feed is depressed upon the work the logs
bearing thereupon will be forced outwardly and will thereby stretch the portion of the
work under the feed, which is arranged, so that the needle passes through the stretched
portion of the work. I find that by thus stretching the work the stitches are caused
to lie smoothly on even the thinest goods.
The arm supporting the feed is pivotted at g to the swinging end of another
lever h, which in turn is pivotted at i to a fixed stud on the bed of the machine, and is
provided at or near its swinging end with a stud or roller j, which bears against one
edge of a pattern & hereinafter described. The pattern & which I prefer to employ is
a strip of flexible sheet metal made either in the form of an endless band supported by
rollers 7, at opposite sides of the machine, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, or of a
flat piece as shown in Figure 12. The edges of the pattern are cut to control the
movements of the feed, as hereinafter described.
m represents a lever of bell crank form pivotted at n to a fixed stud on the bed of
the machine, and having at the end of one arm a stud o entering a slot p in the feed
carrying arm, and at the end of the other arm a stud or roller q, which bears against
one edge of the pattern k. Springs ", ", connected to a fixed studs on the bed a and
also connected respectively to the levers h and m exert a yielding pressure on said
lovers whereby their studs or rollers j, q are held in contact with the edges of the
pattern and caused to follow the undulations and inclines thereof, and thus oscillate
on their pivots. The oscillations thus imparted to the lever h cause it to reciprocato
the feed carrying arm with the feed in the direction of the length of said arm,
while the oscillations of the bell crank lever m cause the arm to oscillate and thus
move the feed substantially at right angles to the direction in which it is moved by
the lever h. It will be seen therefore that the feed is capable of a universal hori-
zontal movement, and that the machine may be caused to automatically grasp or
arrange the stitches formed by the needle and shuttle into any desired pattern or
design the form of the edges of the pattern determining the character of the design.
In Figures 1 and 12 I have shown the edges of the pattern adapted to produce
the "herring bone" stitch shown in Figure 11. A great variety of designs may be
produced by providing a different pattern for each design. When the pattern is
composed of a strip of metal, I provide it with a series of recesses or orifices a
formed in this case by striking up portions from the central portion of the strip and
formed to engage the teeth of a wheel b¹ which is affixed to a shaft c journalled
in bearings below the bed of the machine and projecting upwardly through an
opening in said bed the pattern strip or the operative part thereof being located
just over the bed.
The pattern is moved intermittently it being moved only while the needle is out of
the work, so that the feed will not be moved while the needle is in the work. Ou

page_text: the shaft e to which the tooth wheel is affixed is loosely mounted a segmental gear
to which is pivotted a dog held by a spring against the surface of a ratchet
which is affixed to the shaft c. A seginent gear jaffixed to the driving shaft
of the machine, is arranged to mesh with the loose segment gear fl once during each
rotation of the driving shaft, and thus partially rotate said loose gear, and through the
dog and ratchet partially rotate the tooth wheel & operating the pattern. When
the gears and are separated by the continuous rotation of the driving shaft k¹,
a spring,attached at one end to the loose segmental gear and at the other end
to the bed of the machine, draws the loose gear into position to again engage the
gear. The backward movement of the loose gear has no effect on the pattern,
because during said movement the dog gl slips backwardly on the ratchet.
A curved rib m² shown in dotted lines in Figures 5 and 6 attached to the loose
gear, is in frictional contact with a cam n' on the driving shaft, when the loose
gear is being moved backwardly by the spring 1, and thus retards said move-
ment making it gradual and preventing a concussion.
If desired, the pattern may be a wheel or cylinder 2 affixed to the shaft c¹, in
place of the above described toothed wheel which operates the pattern strip. The
operation of the pattern as a cylinder or wheel is exactly the same as above
described, it being rotated intermittently by the described mechanism. I prefer the
pattern made in a strip, however, as this form enables me to embody a greater
extent of pattern surface in one piece than would be practicable if the pattern were
a wheel, the diameter of the wheel being necessarily limited, while the strip may have
any length desired. The endless band form of the pattern is particularly advan-
tageous, because it enables a very long pattern to be conveniently disposed on the
machine;
and the pattern edges may be formed to produce a succession of different
stitches or designs, the change from one to another being automatic and requiring
no attention from the operator.
The portion of the work surrounding the needle is unsupported from above, so
that when the needle is rising, the work, particularly if thin and slazy, is liable to
yield or rise locally around and with the needle, and thus prevent the proper throwing
out of the needle loop for engagement by the shuttle, said loop being thrown out by
the friction of the work against the thread provided the work is prevented from
moving upwardly with the needle. To prevent the unsupported work from thus
rising, I provide a vertically reciprocating finger or stretcher of (Figures 9 and 10),
which rises through a hole in the throat plate in close proximity to the needle and
before the latter rises and presses upwardly against the work held by the feed, so
that said portion has no slack that can be further raised by the needle. The work
is thus caused to remain motionless around the needle, and thus create sufficient
friction on the thread to throw out the loop, and all liability of the machine skipping
or failing to make stitches is avoided.
The finger of is attached to a lever p¹, which is pivotted at one end to an ear gl
affixed to the bed a, and has a pin at its other end which enters a slot in an arm t¹
affixed to one end of a rock shaft u¹. Said rock shaft has an arm a¹ at its other end, which
arm is connected by a rod w¹ with the strap ¹ of an eccentric on the driving shaft .
The rock shaft u¹ is oscillated by the eccentric, and the slots, which is eccentric to
the axis of rotation of the rock shaft, alternately raises and lowers the end of the lever p¹
engaged therewith, as will be readily seen.
The feed e is raised and lowered, to enable it to alternately release and engage the
work, by a bar a adapted to rise and fall in the arm e like the presser bar of an
ordinary sewing machine, suitable mechanism being employed to operate said bar a².
The mechanism here shown consists of an elbow lever (Figures 3 and 8) a cam gå on
the driving shaft, said cam bearing against a roller on one arm of the lever e², a
lever, pivotted at ³ to the arm of the machine and connected at one end by a rod k³
with the other arm of the lever e², and an elbow lever pivotted at to the arm and
connected by a rod to the other end of the lever ³. The elbow lever has a slot n²
In one of its arms, which receives a stud o affixed to the feed raising and depressing
bar a², so that when the elbow lever is oscillated by the above described mechanism,

page_text: it raises and lowers the bar a² and the feed; said bar having an arm at its lower
end which has a pin 3 entering a slot in the feed carrying arm. Said mechanism is
so timed that the feed e is raised after the formation of each elongated stitch, the feed
being raised, then moved laterally in one direction, then depressed upon the work,
then moved laterally in another-direction to feed the work, then again raised and so
on, the direction of the said lateral movements being determined by the shape of the
pattern.
It will be observed that the described means for feeding the work in any desired
direction, so as to cause the formation of stitches of any desired length and direction,
may be applied to many of the sewing machines in general use with but slight changes
to adapt the machines to the improved feed mechanism. In the example shown, the
only changes required in the structure of the machine are the application of the shaft c¹
with the pattern operating wheel and the means for intermittingly operating said shaft
to the machine, the formation of an opening e¹ in the bed of the machine to enable the
pattern operating wheel to project above said bed, as shown in figures 1 and 2, the
removal of the ordinary presser foot and feed dog, and the application of the universal
feed, the levers that operate it and the work stretching device o and its operating
devices. This reorganization is mainly effected by removing old parts and substituting
the new for them; the chief mutilation or cutting of the machine being that involved
in making the opening e' in the bed. The expense therefore of fitting up or reorganizing
old machines to embody my invention therein will be small, while the simplicity
of the machine will enable it to be built new at a moderate expense as compared
with other fancy stitch machines capable of producing a like variety of designs or
stitches.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by my foreign
Correspondents I declare that what I claim is :—
First. In a sewing machine, the combination with the stitch forming mechanism, of
a top feed adapted to bear on the upper surface of the work, an arm supporting said
feed and movable horizontally in any direction, mechanism for alternately raising and
depressing said arm and feed, a movable pattern located over the bed of the machine
and having two guiding or stitch directing edges, mechanism to move said pattern
intermittingly, and devices through which a given series of movements are imparted
from the stitch directing edges of the pattern to the top feed, as set forth.
Second. The combination with the stitch forming mechanism, of a top feed adapted
to bear on the upper surface of the work, an arm supporting said feed and movable
horizontally in any direction, mechanism for raising and depressing said arm and feed,
a moveable pattern located over the bed of the machine and having two guiding
or stitch directing edges, mechanism to move said pattern intermittingly, and two
pivotted levers h, m connected as described with the feed carrying arm and bearing
against the two stitch directing edges of the pattern, as set forth.
Third. The stitch directing or guiding pattern composed of a flat strip or band
having its edges formed in accordance with the pattern to be produced, and provided
with teeth to engage corresponding teeth of an impelling device on a sewing machine,
combined with a toothed wheel formed to engage the teeth of the strip, and mechanism
for rotating said wheel, as set forth.
a
Fourth. The combination in a sewing machine, of the stitch forming mechanism,
top feed adapted to bear on the upper surface of the work, an arm f supporting said
feed and moveable horizontally in any direction, mechanism for raising and depressing
said arm and feed, a flat pattern strip having its edges formed in accordance with the
pattern to be produced and provided with teeth to engage an impelling device,
mechanism whereby said strip is moved forward intermittingly, and devices through
which a given series of movements are imparted from the stitch directing edges of the
pattern strip to the top feed, as set forth.
Fifth. The combination of the stitch forming mechanism, a top feed adapted to bear
on the upper surface of the work, an arm supporting said feed and movable

page_text: horizontally in any direction, mechanism for raising and depressing said arm and feed,
a flat endless flexible pattern strip or band having its edges formed in accordance with
the pattern to be produced and provided with teeth to engage an impelling device,
pulleys journalled on the machine to support said band, mechanism whereby the band
is moved step by step, and devices through which movements are imparted from the
stitch directing edges of the pattern band to the top feed as set forth.
Sixth. The top feed composed of the ring having a series of radial dogs pivotted to
it, said dogs being connected by springs whereby they are normally contracted or
drawn inwardly, combined with mechanism substantially as described for raising and
lowering said feed and for moving it horizontally, as set forth.
Seventh. The combination in a sewing machine, of the stitch forming mechanism,
the top feed composed of the ring and the radial spring contracted dogs, the mechanism
substantially as described for operating said top feed, and the work raising finger or
presser and mechanism to operate it, whereby that portion of the work that is stretched
by the depressed top feed is raised or stretched before the needle rises, as set forth.
Dated this 15h 1
1
HASELTINE LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London.
Agents for the Applicant.