Improvements in Sewing Machines.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Oct., 1898-Accepted, 28th Jan., 1899
Communicated from abroad by THE SINGER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, Of New York
United States of America, Sewing Machine Manufacturers.
Improvements in Sewing Machines.
I, JOHN KING MACDONALD, Manager of The Singer Manufacturing Company,
Kilbowie, Dumbartonshire, 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 :—
My invention has for its object to provide a sewing machine for binding hats or for
doing other work in the performance of which it is desirable that there should be an
unobstructed space beneath the work-support and also beneath the horizontal part of
the bracket arin of the machine, or the supporting arm at the forward end of which
the needle-bar is operatively mounted. To this end I have so constructed the head
or depending forward part of the bracket arm that it is adapted to serve as a work-
support beneath the top of which the shuttle or other loop-taking device co-operating
with the needle is placed, so that the hat or other article being bound or otherwise
worked on may be freely moved about beneath the work-support and bracket-arm as
the work is being performed. The work is preferably fed by the needle or some other
suitable feeding device operating from above the work-support.
In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a
sewing machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a front end view of the same
with the face-plate or cap of the head removed. Fig. 3 is a top view of the work-
support with the shuttle-operating shaft and depending head in horizontal section on
line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the work-support, to show the shuttle-
operating mechanism beneath the same, the bottom-plate being removed. Fig. 5 is
a detail view of the shuttle and Fig. 6 a section of the work-plate and its attached
parts on line 6-6 of Fig. 3.
A denotes the bracket-arın of the machine having a depending forward end portion
or "head" A¹ extended downward farther than usual and provided at its lower end
with a horizontal projecting part or ledge A2 extending beneath the needle to serve
as a work-support and as a receptacle for the shuttle or other loop-taking device
operatively mounted therein. B is the driving shaft of the machine journalled in
the upper part of the bracket arui and provided at its rear end with the usual fly-
and pulley-wheel B', said shaft carrying at its forward part the cylinder 6 having a
cam groove b¹. C is a vertical shuttle-operating rock-shaft journalled in the head
A¹ and provided at its upper end with an arm chaving a roller stud entering the cam
groove b¹, said shaft carrying at its lower end, beneath the work-support A, a toothed
sector c¹ meshing with the pinion on a short vertical shuttle-shaft d¹ having at

page_text: its upper end a shuttle-driver.d² for operating an oscillating discoidal shuttle 13
working in a suitable chamber in the work-support A².
At the extreme forward end of the driving shaft B is a cam 62 which carries a
crank-pin 3 working in a heart-came with which the needle-bar E, carrying the
needle e¹, is provided. The cam 2 is, or may be, formed integral with the
cylinder b.
The work is preferably fed by the needle, and to this end the needle-bar E and
the helper-bar or auxiliary presser-bar E¹ have their upper bearings in an oscillating
cheek-block a. F is the feed-lever having its fulcrum on the screw f and provided
at its upper end with a roller-stud f¹ held in contact with the periphery of the
cam 62 by a spring f2. The lever F carries at its lower end the swivel-block f3 which
embraces the needle and helper bars so that when the said lever is operated by the
cam b² said bars will be moved horizontally to feed the work, this horizontal move-
ment occurring, of course, when the needle is in its lowered position. The feed may
be regulated by the adjusting screw f' which serves as a back-stop for the needle-bar
under the influence of the spring f2.
G is the main presser-bar to the lower end of which the presser-foot g is attached
and which presser-bar is provided with a pin g², and the said pin is connected with
the helper-bar El by a lever g¹ having a slotted portion engaging said pin and also
having a cam-slot entered by a stud e² with which the needle-bar is provided, so that
the said presser-bar with its presser-foot g will be lifted when the feed occurs.
My improved machine, as herein shown, is constructed for binding hats and for
this purpose the work-plate a², which forms the top of the work-support, is preferably
provided at its outer end with a slightly raised portion or rib a³ having, forward of
the needle, a binding guide a made in the form of a small lip beneath which one
edge of the binding is passed on its way to the needle, the inner edge of the binding
being guided by the inner or vertical edge portion of said guide. The said work-
plate is also preferably provided with a curved work-guide formed as an upturned
lip on a plate ¹ adjustably secured to the work-plate by a screw 2. The said work-
plate serves as a cover for the shuttle-race and is therefore preferably pivoted on a
screw a so that it may be readily swung aside when access to the shuttle is desired,
said plate being held in working position by a spring catch aº.
Any suitable take-up and tension devices may be employed. The thread hole e³
near the top of the needle-bar E may serve as a take-up for the stitch-forming
mechanism herein shown and described.
I do not wish to be understood as limiting my invention to the details herein
shown, or to the particular form of stitch-forming or feeding mechanisms herein illus-
trated, (although an upper feed is preferred) as it will be obvious that such details
may be varied widely without departing from the spirit of my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In a sewing machine, the-combination--with a supporting-or-bracket-arm
having-a-depending front end portion or head provided-with-a-work-support-at-its
lower-end, of-a-stitch-forming mechanism comprising a needle and a co-operating
loop taking device, one of which elements of said stitch-forming mechanism is
located above-and-the-other-of which is located beneath the top-of-said-work-
support:
2. In--e--sewing-machine,-the-combination-with-a-supporting arm-having-a-de-
pending front-end-portion-or-head-provided at-its-lower-part-with-a-work-support,
a needle bar-operatively-mounted-in-caid-head, a leop-taking-device-operatively
mounted-beneath-the-top of said work support,-und-means-for operating-said-needle
bar-and-loop taking device.
2 In-a-sewing-machine,-the-combination with a supporting-arm-having--a-de-
pending-front-end portion or head provided-at-its-lower-part-with-a-work-support, a
needle-bar--operatively--mounted-in-said-head,-a-loop-taking-device--operatively

page_text: mounted-beneath the top-of-said-work-support,-means-for-operating-said-needle-har
and-loop-taking-device;-and-an-upper-feeding-device.
4. In-a-sewing machine, the--combination--with--n--supporting-arm--having--n
depending-front-end portion or head-provided-at its lower part with a work-support,
-needle-bur--operatively mounted-in said-hend, a loop taking-device-operatively
mounted-beneath the top of said-work-support;-and-means for operating-said-needle-
bar-and-loop taking device, said-work-support-being provided--with-binding and
work guides:
5. In a sewing machine; the combination with a supporting or bracket arm having
n-depending-front-end-portion-or-head-provided-at-its-lower-end with n-chambered
work-support, a-horizontal-driving--shaft-journalled-in-said arm, a vertical shuttle-
operating shaft journaled-in-said-depending-hend,-n-shuttle-loented-in-the-chamber
of said work support and operatively connected with said shuttle operating shaft,
e-needle-bar-operatively-mounted-in-said-head,-and-means for-actuating-said-needle
bar-and-shuttle-operating shaft.
6. In a sewing machine, the-combination-with-a-supporting or bracket-arm-having
n-depending-front-end-portion-or-head-provided-at--its lower-end-with-a-chambered
work-support-a-horizontal-driving-shaft-journalled-in-said-arm;-a-shuttle-operating
enm-nt the-forward-part-of-said-shaft, n-vertical shuttle-operating shaft, netunted-by
said-cam, journaled-in-said--depending head;-n-shuttle--located-in-the-chamber of
said work support and operatively connected with said shaft, n-needle-bar-operatively
mounted-in-snid-hend, and means-for-netuating-suid-needle bar.
The combination with the bracket-arm A having the depending head A¹
provided at its lower end with a chambered work-support A2, of the driving shaft B
journalled in the upper part of said arm and provided at its forward end with a
shuttle-operating cain, a needle-bar mounted in said head and operatively connected
with said shaft, the vertical shuttle-operating rock-shaft C operatively connected with
said cam and provided at its lower end with a toothed sector c¹ the shuttle-shaft d
journalled in said work-support and provided with the pinion 3, meshing with said
sector, and with a shuttle driver in the chamber of said work-support, and a discoidal
shuttle to be actuated by said driver.
Dated this 17th day of October 1898,
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,
Chartered Patent Agents,
62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agent for the Applicant.