Improvements in Sewing Machines.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 27th July, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 27th Apr., 1895-Accepted, 1st June, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Sewing Machines.
I, ALEXANDER ANDERSON, Manager of The Singer Manufacturing Company's
Works, Kilbowie, Dumbartonshire, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
(as communicated to me from abroad by The Singer Manufacturing Company, of
New York, in the United States of America, Sewing Machine Manufacturers) to
be as follows:-
This invention relates to sewing machines of the class known as gang-needle
machines in which a plurality of needles are used in conjunction with a plurality
of shuttles to simultaneously sew a number of rows of stitches.
The improved machine comprises the usual bed plate with overhanging arm
and mechanism for operating the needle bar and shuttle driver.
The bed plate of the machine is combined with a base piece or support to
which it is hinged or pivoted so that the machine can be supported thereon in
an upright or working position or turned back so as to be supported in an
angular position by bearings in the base to form an opening between said base
and the underside of the machine bed plate whereby access is obtained to the
shuttle race and shuttles from beneath said bed plate. The base piece is adapted
to be secured to a stand or table. The base is composed of a front and two
end portions in a single piece, having bearings or carrying pivot pins. A flange
is attached to the rear portion of the bed plate in order to form together with
the base piece an enclosure for all portions of the machine below the bed plate
when the machine is in working position.
A catch is attached to the base piece for engagement with the bed plate
or other part of the machine to hold it in the upright or working position.
This catch is preferably in the form of a sliding pin acted on by a spring and
provided with a knob by which it is withdrawn when the machine is to be
turned back.
The balance wheel on the main or driving shaft has a hole or recess in its
periphery with which engages a locking pin or bar on a movable lever jointed
to the side of the machine whereby the machine can be locked in correct position
for the insertion or removal of the shuttles when the pin is in engagement with
the recess in the balance wheel.
The machine is formed with a circular shuttle race grooved for a plurality
of shuttles. This race consists of a front section and a rear section the latter
being immovably fixed to the underside of the bed of the machine whilst the
front section is hinged to the rear section, a spring catch or like device being
attached to the front section and adapted for engagement with the rear section
to lock the two sections firmly together in working position when the front section
is closed.
The needle bar is adapted to carry a plurality of needles and a plurality
of independent tension devices are fitted on the machine head.
In order to
prevent entanglement of the several threads passing from the spools and tension

page_text: devices to said needles, a link take-up is provided having a plurality of thread
eyelets, a stationary thread guide being also provided with a plurality of thread
eyelets.
Dated this 26th day of July 1894.
CRUIKSHANK & FAIRWEATHER,
62, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agents.
Improvements in Sewing Maonines.
I, ALEXANDER ANDERSON, Manager of The Singer Manufacturing Company's
Works, Kilbowie, Dumbartonshire, 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 :-
This invention relates to sewing machines of the class known as gang-needle
machines in which a plurality of needles are used in conjunction with a plurality of
shuttles to simultaneously sew a number of rows of stitches.
The improved machine comprises the usual bed plate with overhanging arm and
mechanism for operating the needle bar and shuttle driver.
The bed plate of the machine is combined with a base piece or support to which
it is binged or pivoted so that the machine can be supported thereon in an upright
or working position or turned back so as to be supported in an angular position by
bearings in the base to form an opening between said base and the underside of the
machine bed plate whereby access is obtained to the shuttle race and shuttles from
beneath said bed plate. The base piece is adapted to be secured to a stand or
table. The base is composed of a front and two end portions in a single piece,
having hearings or carrying pivot pins. A flange is attached to the rear portion of
the bed plate in order to form together with the base piece an enclosure for all
portions of the machine below the bed plate when the machine is in working
position.
A catch is attached to the base piece for engagement with the bed plate
or other part of the machine to hold it in the upright or working position.
This catch is preferably in the form of a sliding pin acted on by a spring and
provided with a knob by which it is withdrawn when the machine is to be
turned back.
The balance wheel on the main or driving shaft has a hole or recess in its
periphery with which engages a locking pin or bar on a movable lever jointed to
the side of the machine whereby the machine cau be locked in correct position for
the insertion or removal of the shuttles when the pin is in engagement with the
recess in the balance wheel.
The machine is formed with a circular shuttle race grooved for a plurality of
shuttles. This race consists of a front section and a rear section the latter being
immovably fixed to the underside of the bed of the machine whilst the front
section is hinged to the rear section, a spring catch or like device being attached to
the front section and adapted for engagement with the rear section to lock the two
sections firmly together in working position when the front section is closed.
The needle bar is adapted to carry a plurality of needles and a plurality of
independent tension devices are fitted on the machine head. In order to prevent
entanglement of the several threads passing from the spools and tension devices_to
said needles, a link take-up is provided having a plurality of thread eyelers,
a stationary thread 'guide being also provided with a plurality of thread eyelets.

page_text: In the drawings
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my improved. machine. Fig. 2 is a front end view
thereof, with the face-plate removed, and Fig. 3 is a rear end view..
Fig. 4 is a cross section through the two part shuttle race.
Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are detail views of the shuttle race.
Fig. 8 is a plan view to show the housing base-piece and flange.
A denotes the bed-plate and B the bracket arm of my improved machine.
Fixed to the work-bench or table C is a base-piece D in which are mounted pins &
engaging lugs a depending from the bed-plate A, said pins thus serving as pivots
by means of which the said base-plate is hinged to said base-piece between the
front and rear sides of said bed-plate, and the machine is thus nearly balanced on
its pivots so that it may be easily turned over when access to the shuttles beneath.
the work-plate is desired. The base-piece D extends along the front of the bed-
plate A and partly across both ends thereof and overlaps a housing.flange-piece A'
fixed to or formed integral with said bed-plate and which housing flange extends
along the rear side of said bed-plate and partly across both ends thereof, said
flange and base-piece together forming a housing to enclose the mechanism beneath
the bed-plate and protect the same from dust and dirt. The hinged or pivoted
bed-plate A is locked to the base plate D by a spring-pressed locking-pin a
which is forced outward, as the bed-plate is turned down, by an inclined guard
plate a¹.
The shuttle race, which is provided with a series of grooves e for the reception
of a series of shuttles, consists of a fixed part E, rigidly attached to a lug or
hanger a depending from the bed-plate A, and a movable part E which is hinged
or pivoted at e to the lower rear portion of the said. fixed part of the said race so
that as the said hinged or movable part E' is turned down on its pivot e¹ it will
readily clear the shuttles which will be held by gravity in the fixed portion of the
race when the machine is turned over on its pivots in the position denoted by
dotted lines in Fig. 2. The part E' is carried by the bar E which may or may
not be integral with the said part El.
The hinged part E¹ of the shuttle-race is held in working position by a
spring-pressed locking-pin e mounted in said. hinged part, the inner or locking end
of said pin having an inclined face e to engage a similarly inclined face e of a
recess or groove formed in the fixed part E, and thus as said, pin is forced into
locking position by its spring e' it will have a wedging action to hold said hinged
part in rigid working position and thereby avoid any looseness or rattle thereof.
The two-part shuttle-race is divided centrally, or directly or nearly so beneath
the needles, at its inner or concave portion, and this construction, which is
preferred, is most suitable owing to the fact than the fixed portion of said race
is carried by a bed-plate which is hinged or pivoted between its front and rear
sides to the base-piece D so that when the machine is turned up or inclined, as
denoted in dotted lines, Fig. 2, the shuttles will rest by gravity on the fixed part
of the shuttle race.
When access to the shuttles is necessary and consequently when the hinged part
of the race is to be opened, it is desirable that the driving shaft of the machine
should be locked so that it cannot be turned to allow the shuttle driver to disturb
the shuttles, and to this end I provide a locking dog or latch F which is pivotally
mounted on a lug or bracket 6 at the rear end of the arm. B, the tooth f of Baid
locking dog being arranged to engage a hole or recess g formed for its reception in
the balance wheel G fixed to the driving shaft H journalled in the upper part of
the arm B. A spring f1 serves to hold the said locking dog F either in or out of
locking position. The bole or recess g is so arranged on the wheel G that when
the tooth of the locking dog is engaged therewith the needles will be raised and
the shuttle driver will be in proper position for the insertion or removal of the
shuttles.
Attached to the forward part of the arm B is a bracket. I having a curved bar i
on which are mounted the tension devices J, and extending upward from said har i

page_text: are two arms i¹ which support a curved bar L having a series of spool pins which
support the spools M, the said bracket L thus serving as a support for a series
of tension devices and spools for a multiple sewing machine.
A link take-up N is provided having a plurality of thread eyelets, a stationary
thread guide being also provided with a plurality of thread eyelets.
In the use of my machine, when access to the shuttle race is desired, for the
purpose of placing shuttles therein or removing them therefrom, the locking dog F
is turned up to bring its tooth f against the balance wheel G, and when the hole or
recess g in said wheel comes into register with the said tooth the latter is forced by
the spring finto said hole or recess, thus locking the driving shaft of the machine
with the needles raised and with the shuttle-driver in such position as to permit of
the insertion or removal of the shuttles. The machine is now turned over on its
pivots or hinges to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, and after the
spring-pressed locking-pin e has been withdrawn the hinged part E¹ of the shuttle
race is turned down as denoted by Figs. 5 and 6, and the shuttles may then be
inserted into or removed from the fixed part E of the shuttle race which now
lies over in such position that the shuttles will securely rest therein by gravity
until the shuttle race is again closed. The turned-up position of the machine
when the shuttles are to be inserted or removed insures convenient access to the
shuttle race when the latter is open and avoids the inconvenience of getting
access to the shuttles through an opening in the work-plate. When the machine
is turned over for access to the shuttle-race the inclined parts d' of the base
piece D and which are extended onward slightly beneath the 'extreme ends of
the bed-plate A serve as stops for said bed-plate to limit the tilting movement
of the machine on its hinges or pivots. To facilitate access to the shuttles the
base-piece D is recessed or cut away at d in front of the shuttle race.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. In a multiple sewing machine, the combination with a hinged or pivoted
bed-plate, of a two-part shuttle race adapted to receive a series of shuttles, one
part of said shuttle race being fixed relative to said bed-plate and the other part of
said shuttle race being pivoted or hinged to the fixed part thereof, and means for
locking said hinged part in working position.
2. In a multiple sewing machine, the combination with a bed-plate which is
hinged or pivoted between its front and rear sides, of a two-part shuttle race
adapted to receive a series of shuttles, one part of said shuttle race being fixed
relative to said bed-plate and the other part of said shuttle race being pivoted or
hinged to the fixed part thereof, and means for locking said hinged part in working
position.
3. In a multiple sewing machine, the combination with the base-piece D to be
fixed to the work-bench or table and the bed-plate A pivoted between its front
and rear sides to said base-piece and provided with the housing flange piece A¹
overlapped at the ends of the said bed-plate by said base-piece, of the shuttle race
consisting of the part E fixed relative to said bed-plate and the part E' hinged to
said part E, and the spring-pressed locking-pin e mounted in said part E, and
engaging a suitable recess in the said part E.
4. In a multiple sewing machine, the combination with the bed-plate thereof, of
a two-part shuttle race one part of which is fixed relative to said bed-plate and
provided with a groove or recess, and the other part of which is hinged to the said
fixed part and provided with a spring-pressed locking pin having an inclined face
to engage a face or wall of said groove or recess by a wedging action to hold said
hinged part steadily in working position.
5. In a multiple sewing machine, the combination with the base-piece D to be
fixed to a work-bench or table and having the inclined inwardly extending stop
portions or parts d³, of the bed-plate A pivoted between its front and rear sides to

page_text: said base-piece and having its extreme ends extended over said parts d², a two-part
shuttle race one part of which is fixed relative to said bed-plate and the other part
of which is pivoted to said fixed part, and a locking device for holding said hinged
part in working position.
Dated this 26th of April 1895.
CRUIKSHANK & FAIRWEATHER,
62, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agents.