Goods, and to Machines therefor.
Year: 1886

page_text: Goods, and to Machines therefor.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine Lake and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex do hereby declare the nature
of my invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates chiefly to sewing machines and particularly to those
designed and adapted for sewing hosiery and tubular or other knitted fabrics or
other goods either by a zig-zag lock stitch or otherwise.
It is well known that the edges of knitted goods, particularly the selvage
edges of regular made stockings always curl or fold up, and it is necessary to
remove the curl before those edges can be united or sewed.
Heretofore this has been done mainly on a class of machines known as looping
machines, and in using them the manipulations required for uncurling the edges of
the fabric and uniting or looping them together involve the expenditure of con-
siderable time, so much so, that the operation of uncurling and looping the edges
of knitted goods is a slow and tedious one and is therefore expensive.
Attempts have been made to uncurl and sew the edges of knitted goods by sewing
machines making a zig-zag stitch across the edges or seam sewed, but in these
machines, as the construction of that part of the presser foot and the cloth plate
designed to operate to remove the curl of the edges before being sewed is such that
it permits a slight recurling of the edges after being uncurled and before being
stitched, that it prevents backward movement or manipulation of the work or
fabric after the sewing is started, and that as the unseamed or body part of the
stocking or fabric cannot pass through the uncurling part of the machine, the seams
cannot be completed or fully sewed upon or by the machine but require finishing
by hand and these attempts have therefore in the main been deemed more or
less unsuccessful commercially.
One object of this invention is to produce a sewing machine which rapidly,
effectively and neatly sews the knitted fabric edges to be united or those forming a
seam from end to end of the latter, or fully and completely sews the seams from
end to end and admits of passing the body or unseamed part of the fabric through
the guiding and uncurling devices in order that the stitching or sewing may be
continued upon the body or unseamed part of the fabric adjoining or following,
D

page_text: the end of the seam, for fully tacking the ends of the threads and staying the ends
of the seam in or by the machine, whereby the sewing of the seam and the tacking
of the ends of the threads is completed by the machine and all manual finishing
or sewing of the seam and fastening the ends of its threads are avoided. This
machine is one in which the fabric can be moved or manipulated backward and
forward across the throat plate during sewing or previously thereto as occasion
or the sewing demands, and one in which the edges when the curl is taken out are
prevented from recurling before the edges are sewed.
A further object of the invention is to produce or make knitted goods, particularly
stockings, the seams of which are machine stitched or sewed from end to end and
the ends of the threads or stitches of the seams continued upon the body or
unseamed part of the stocking or fabric to fasten or tie said ends to the fabric and
strengthen the ends of the seams.
The said invention accordingly consists in the combination, construction and
Arrangement of parts as herein described, having reference particularly to a
yielding cloth plate for following the movements of the presser foot caused by the
movements of the feed bar; to a yielding cloth plate having a dividing or guide stud
in advance of the needle hole and a presser foot having at its front end diverging
arms or fingers, or made V-shaped at such end and located adjacent to the stud or
guide on the yielding cloth plate, so that this guide is in line with and near to the
meeting ends of the adjacent or inner edges of said diverging arms or the point of
the V, which yielding plate, its stud and presser foot arms or V-shaped front end
conjointly act to remove the curl of the edges of the knitted fabric, and keep them
uncurled until sewed, and yet admit of pulling the fabric backwardly and forwardly
across the throat-plate before and after the sewing is started, and also of passing
the body or unseamed part of the fabric beneath the presser foot to admit of fully.
sewing the seam from end to end and tacking the ends of the thread to stay the
end of the-seam upon that part of the body of the fabric in line with or adjacent
to the end of the seam before the fabric is removed from the machine; to a fixed
plate adjacent to the outer end of the yielding cloth plate, for preventing depres-
sion of the latter by the hands of the operater in manipulating the fabric during
sewing; to a presser foot having diverging or V-shaped arms on its front and rear
ends, those on its front end acting to assist in uncurling the edges before com-
mencing and during the sewing, while those on its rear end only assist in uncurling
the edges before the sewing is begun or the seam is started; to a presser foot
having a double lift, one being high enough to admit of removing the goods from
the machine and the other just high enough to permit the cloth plate to yield
sufficiently for passing the edges under the presser foot and to hold them while the
curl is being taken out of the edges at the beginning of the seam or preparatory to
starting the sewing; and; finally, to a vibrating needle operating by mechanism in
gear with the main or driving shaft of the machine.
In the accompanying drawings I have shown the improvements applied to a
Wheeler and Wilson boot and shoe sewing machine which has a four motion feed,
a vertically vibrating needle and a rotary hook and bobbin, but as it is obvious
that the improvements may be applied to other well known forms of sewing
machines I do not confine myself to any particular form of same.
In the said drawings,
Figure 1 is an elevation of a sewing machine for uniting or stitching the edges
of hosiery, knitted goods or other fabrics, embodying this invention.
Figure 2 is a perspective showing in detail the actuating mechanism for laterally
vibrating the needle to make a zig-zag stitch across the edges united.
Figure 3 is a broken elevation of the horn of the machine, and a central longi-
tudinal section of the fixed plate at the outer end of the horn, the yielding cloth
plate at the top of the horn and the presser foot, showing the fabric between the
presser foot and yielding plate.
C
Figure 4 is a like view of said parts, the section being taken through the line of
one of the feed bars..

page_text: пога
drawn to an enlarged scale.
Figure 6 is a like view showing part of a stocking or other fabric upon the end
of the horn and the manner in which the curl of the edges to be stitched pass by
the dividing stud or guide and beneath the presser foot for uncurling said edges
preparatory to sewing.
Figure 7 is a perspective view of the yielding cloth plate.
Figure 8 is a perspective view of the presser foot.
Figure 9 is an elevation of the front or sewing end of the machine shewing
different positions of the lifting lever for the presser foot, to either raise the latter
above the cloth plate the thickness of the stuff to be sewed or to depress it its
full limit.
Figures 10 and 11 are elevations shewing modified forms of lifting levers for the
presser-foot-rod.
Figure 12 is an elevation shewing part of the front end of the horn and a
modified form of yielding cloth plate.
t
Figure 13 is a section of similar parts of the horn and another modification of
yielding cloth plate, shewing the presser foot down upon the cloth plate.
Figure 14 is a plan of still another modification of yielding cloth plate shewing.
throat plate fixed to the horn.
Figure 15 is a transverse section of same, and
Figure 16 is a perspective view shewing a modification of cloth plate and presser
foot and horizontal needle opening in presser foot, for uncurling and horizontally
sewing through the lapped edges, or edges placed side by side in a vertical position,
of a knitted fabric, instead of overseaming said edges as provided for in the form
of machine shewn in the preceding figures.
Figure 17 is a side view of another like modification for uncurling and vertically
sewing through the lapped edges or edges placed side by side, of a knitted fabric.
Figure 18 is a perspective view of same shewing the uncurling of the selvage
edges, and
Figures 19 and 20 are elevations of stockings sewed in accordance with my
improvements.
A represents the horn or tubular sleeve of the machine, B the driving shaft,
C the feed; and D the operating lever for vertically vibrating the needle bar E.
The needle e is supported in a swinging block el pivoted at e³ to the lower end
of needle bar E; as more plainly shewn in Figure 2. Block e¹ is provided with
two fingers or a slotted lug e³ for the reception of a vertical rod e fastened to a
transverse sliding shaft or rod e having at its end e a pivotal or loose connection e
with a crank arm 68 secured on a longitudinal shaft e³.
The rod e and shaft e⁹ at its forward end are mounted in suitable bearings e¹o
see Figure 1 and shaft e³ at its other or rear end has a bearing e¹¹ suitably secured
to the machine and is provided with a vertically arranged socket e¹ through which
slides a rod es having at its lower end a connection e' with a crank arm e's
secured to a shaft e¹ suitably mounted in the base plate of the machine parallel
with the main or driving shaft B. The arm els is slotted as shown at e¹ for the
reception of the connection e" for rod e¹ and this connection has a set screw e¹8 for
varying the position of the connection e¹ in slot e¹ for a purpose hereinafter
described.
Shaft els is provided with another crank arm e¹ parallel with crank arm e¹³ and
connected at its upper end with sliding yoke f supported upon driving shaft B and
having at its end f' a vibrating switch finger f* which engages with the switch
cam f formed in or on the end of the cam b on shaft B which cam operates the
lever D for vertically vibrating the needle bar so that the rotary movement of
the cam b not only produces a vertical vibration of the needle but, through the
medium of the switch cam f' and finger f* the. yoke f is reciprocated transversely
across the driving shaft B, which movement oscillates shaft and this oscillation
through the medium of the crank arm e¹ and rod els communicates an oscillation

page_text: -
to shaft e, the rod e¹ sliding in socket e¹ during such oscillation. This movement
of shaft e in turn imparts a sliding or a to and fro movement to the shaft e and
rode and as the latter engages with the lugs or fingers e* of pivoted block &¹ it
and the needle are vibrated from side to side to cause the needle to make a zig-
zag stitch upon the fabric sewed.
By adjusting set screw e18 to move the connection e¹ up and down the crank
arm slot e¹ the degree of oscillation for shaft e may be varied as desired for
altering the extent of lateral vibration of the needle; and consequently, the width
of the zig-zag stitch across the edges or seams sewed in any fabric that may be
placed upon and fed through the machine.
-
To sew the curled edges of knitted goods it is necessary to first take out the
curl and keep them uncurled until sewed, to accomplish this result, I place a
spring or yielding cloth plate G upon the top of the horn A at its outer end which
plate has openings g for the ends of the feed bars C, a needle hole g¹ and in line
with the longitudinal centre of the needle hole and a short distance in advance of
it, a stud or guide g which tapers from its inner end and from its top to its
forward end, or, the latter preferably terminates in a point at its junction with
the cloth plate as more plainly shewn in Figure 7 and construct the pressure foot
as follows, its front end is made V shaped or has two diverging arms h h which
meet at slightly in advance of its needle hole h and this point or short slot h¹
is in line with the plate stud g² which is but a small distance in advance of said
point or slot as more plainly shown in Figure 5.
On each side of the point or alot h¹ the presser foot may be thickened up as
indicated at h³ for strengthening purposes and the rear end of said foot is also
preferably made V shape or has diverging or flaring arms has indicated in
Figures 5, 6 and 7. The stud g' on cloth plate G and the flaring front arms of
the presser foot conjointly act to take the curl out of the edges of the fabric to be
sewed, and as the plate G is yielding or flexible or its spring action is normally
upward or towards the presser foot, it follows, that the plate impinges, or has an
upward pressure against the presser foot at all times; consequently, when the feed
bars raise the presser foot on their lifting motion, the yielding plate follows the
presser foot and continues to clamp the fabric or its edges during such movement
and prevents recurling of the uncurled part of the edges before they are united or
sewed. The manner of passing the curled edges between the guide-stud g³ and
diverging arms h of the presser foot to take the curl out of said edges is fully
illustrated in Figure 6 wherein P represents the fabric p the seam that is partly
stitched or sewed and p¹ the curled edges to be united.
From which it will be noticed that the presser foot is wide enough to receive
or embrace the two edges to be sewed, that the selvage or curled edges incline
upwardly and are guided into the slot or point ¹ by the stud g' on the yielding
plate G.
The curl is removed when the edges pass beneath the meeting point or slot h¹
of the diverging arms of the presser foot, as these uncurled edges must remain
uncurled until fed from said point to the needle hole and sewed, the upward
pressure of the yielding plate G clamps them against the presser foot and prevents
recurling of same during the up and down movements of the presser foot and feed
bars that occur in the interval that the uncurled edges travel from point or slot h¹
to the needle hole, hence when said edges are sewed they are effectively united
from end to end of the seam and it is neat and regular.
As there is no pin or obstruction between the guide-stud g² and the presser-foot-
slot or point h¹ it is evident that the body or unseamed part of the fabric can be
fed to and under the presser foot after the seam is stitched and hence the sewing
can be continued onto the body part of the fabric adjoining or in line with the end
of the seam to fully and completely sew the seam, tack the ends of the threads
upon the body part of the fabric for staying the end of the seam before the fabric
is removed from the machine, thereby dispensing with all band finishing of the
seam and tacking or tying the ends of the threads..
1

page_text: In getting the edges ready to commence sewing at the beginning of the seam
the work is pushed or pulled backward and forward under the presser foot and
the V-shaped front end or flaring arms h* are used to assist in taking the curl out
of the edges at the beginning of the seam or at their starting point for the same,
one of the edges being manipulated at a time.
To admit of passing the edges under the presser foot and holding one of them
after its curl is taken out and in position for sewing while the other edge is to be
likewise manipulated the presser foot is adapted to lift slightly or to a height
sufficient to permit the plate G to yield and allow the edges to be passed between
the plate and presser foot and held by said plate as they are pulled backward and
forward under the presser foot to take out their curl and place them in position to
start the sewing.
The rear end arms h* of the presser foot therefore only assist in taking the curl
out of the edges preparatory to starting the sewing hence in some case especially
where there is little or no curl of the edges, the arms h may be dispensed with
and the front end of the presser foot made square or otherwise as desired. To
give the slight lift above described to the presser foot, the lifting lever 1 for the
presser foot rod L is made with a front and rear shoulder and respectively to
give to the rod a. double or two lifts, when lever is moved in the direction
indicated by arrow to the position shown in figure 1, the shoulder l¹ abuts
against the lifting spring m and raises the presser foot to its full limit away from
the yielding plate G for removal of the work, but when said lever is moved in the
direction of arrow y figure 9, to the position indicated by full lines of said figure
then the shoulder is in impingement with spring m and the presser foot is raised
only high enough to permit the fabric to pass between it and the yielding plate,
when lever is in position shown by dotted lines figure 9, the presser foot is down
upon the fabric or plate G.
With this form of lifting lever, it is moved in different directions to make the
two lifts of the presser foot, but if desired lever 7 may be made as indicated either
in figures 10 and 11, which move in the same direction to give the two lifts to the
presser foot.
At the front end of the horn a rigid table L¹ is secured which is in line with
yielding plate G for the purpose of preventing the hands of the operator while
manipulating the fabric as it is sewed, touching and depressing the yielding
plate G, thereby avoiding during the sewing of the seam the accidental depression.
of the said plate away from the presser foot and consequent recurling of the edges
of the fabric after they have been uncurled. The yielding plate G may be made of
spring metal as shown in figure 7, and screwed to the horn as illustrated, in
which case the throat plate forms part of or is integral with the yielding plate G.
If a fixed plate is desired as shown at G figures 14 and 15, the latter is secured
to the horn and the plate G is cut away as indicated at g³ to fit around the throat
plate.
1
Instead of providing a separate yielding cloth plate as above described the upper
part of the horn may be utilized for the cloth plate and be made to yield by
supporting it upon spring bearings a¹ as indicated in figure 13, or by hinging it to
the adjacent part of the horn and employing spring a for imparting an upwardly
acting pressure to said plate as indicated in figure 12.
From the foregoing it is evident that the edges of the knitted fabric or
stocking to be sewed may be easily inserted in the machine and in like manner
their curl taken out and placed and maintained in position for starting the
sewing, that the edges are clamped during the rising and falling motions of the
presser foot-that hence said edges cannot escape to recurl, that the seam is fully
and completely sewed from end to end and its end stayed by tacking the ends of
the thread upon the body or unseamed portions of the fabric adjacent to or in line
with the end of the seam, and from this it follows, that sewing of the curled edges
of knitted goods by the improved machines can be easily and quickly done so as

page_text: not only to enhance the quality of the same by making a better and stronger seam,
but also, decreasing the cost of finishing or sewing the goods.
Instead of overseaming the seam or selvage edges of the knitted fabric said
edges may be placed side by side so that the needle will pass through both as in
ordinary sewing.
•
In which case the needle may pass either horizontally or vertically through the
edge of the fabric as shown in figures 16 and 17 and 18 respectively.
:
In the former case the presser foot H is attached to a fixed spring bar H¹ having
tension devices H' to make its yielding adjustable and has a horizontally arranged
needle hole as shown in figure 16. The presser foot is bifurcated and fits over the
stud or guide g³ which in this case is continued through the presser foot and forms
a ridge which acts in conjunction with the presser foot to uncurl the selvage edges
and place them in a vertical position side by side for the passage of the needle to
effect the sewing as in ordinary seam sewing.
Any suitable form of operating mechanism for the needle may be used or any
of
the ordinary forms of a sewing machine turned up in a vertical position will sub-
serve the purpose, the shuttle or bobbin mechanism being located back of the
presser foot standard as indicated at H³ and the four motion feed bar above and'
passing through the presser foot.
In figs. 17 and 18, the yielding throat plate G is shown applied to an ordinary
vertically moving needle machine, to provide for correspondingly sewing selvage
edges of knitted goods placed side by side on a horizontally arranged table, in
which case the presser foot H and plate G have correspondingly shaped ends h for
uncurling and directing the edges of the fabric towards a vertically arranged flange
or ledge on the plate. Figures 19 and 20 show stockings the edges or seams of
which are overseamed and the stitching continued as indicated at z upon the body
or unseamed part of the stocking to tack the seam threads and to strengthen ends
of the seam in accordance with this invention, and the same may be done for the
seams of any knitted fabric.
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 correspondent I declare that what I claim is :-
First In a sewing machine, the combination of a vertically reciprocating needle
bar having operating lever, a driving shaft having cam b for actuating said lever
and having in its side a switch-cam, a block pivoted to the needle bar and carrying
the needle and mechanism substantially as shown and described between said
switch-cam and pivoted-block for vibrating the needle laterally as it is vertically.
reciprocated as set forth.
Second-The combination of vertically vibrating needle bar E, block e¹
pivoted to said needle bar, vibrating bars et eo oscillating shaft e³, sliding bar e¹³,
shaft having crank arms e1, e19, yoke f, switch finger f", switch cam f³ and
driving shaft B, arranged for operation substantially as shown and described.
Third: The combination of vertically vibrating needle bar E, block e¹ pivoted
to said needle bar, vibrating bars e' e, arranged at right angles to one another,
oscillating shafte having socket e sliding bar els having set screw 18 shaft ele
having crank arm el- provided with alot e and crank arm e¹ yoke f having
vibrating switch finger f³, switch-cam f³ and driving shaft B, substantially as
shown and described.
Fourth-In a sewing machine the combination with a vertically sliding or
moving presser foot of a yielding plate G having an upward pressure against the
presser foot and adapted to follow the movements of the presser foot, substantially
as and for the purpose set forth.
Fifth In a sewing machine the combination with a presser foot of the yielding
plate G, substantially as set forth.
Sixth-In a sewing machine, a presser foot having a double lift and a yielding
plate G sūbstantially as shown and described,

page_text: Seventh-In a sewing machine, the combination of a laterally vibrating
needle; a presser foot, and a yielding cloth plate substantially as shown and
described.
Eighth In a sewing machine, the combination with a presser foot of a yielding
cloth plate having at its forward end a guide stud, substantially as set forth.
Ninth The combination of cloth plate G having stud g³, and a presser foot
having front diverging arms meeting in a slot or point in advance of the needle
hole in said foot and in line with said stud, substantially as set forth.
Tenth In a sewing machine, the combination of a presser foot having
outwardly diverging arms h meeting in a slot or point h¹ in advance of the needle
hole and a yielding plate G substantially as, and for the purpose, set forth.
Eleventh-In a sewing machine, a presser foot having outwardly diverging or
V-shaped arms or fingers at its front and rear ends in combination with yielding
plate G, substantially as set forth.
Twelfth The combination of a presser foot having flaring arms at its front end
which meet in a slot or point in advance of the needle hole, a yielding cloth plate
having a stud in line with said slot or point, and a double lift for the presser foot,
as and for the purpose, set forth.
Thirteenth In a sewing machine, the combination of a presser foot having
flaring arms at its front end, a yielding cloth plate having an upwardly projecting
stud in the line of the centre line between said flaring arms, and a rigid table in
advance of the cloth plate, as set forth.
Fourteenth-In a sewing machine, the combination of the horn or plate A
rigid table L, yielding cloth plate G having stud g³ and presser foot H having
V-shaped front end, substantially as, and for the purpose, set forth.
Fifteenth-In a sewing machine for knitted fabrics, the combination of a
presser foot, yielding throat plate and devices upon said foot and plate for removing
the curl from the edges of the fabric and admit of sewing the body or unseamed
part of the fabric after the edges are sewed, substantially as described.
Sixteenth :-A presser foot having V-shaped front and rear ends, a two lift lever
for said presser foot, a yielding cloth plate having a stud g³ and a rigid table
substantially as shown and described.
Seventeenth -A sewing machine having a four motion feed, a presser foot
yielding cloth plate, and devices upon said foot and plate for removing the curl
from the edges of fabrics and clamping said edges to prevent recurling during the
up and down motions of the feed and presser foot, as set forth.
Eighteenth: A sewing machine for sewing the seams of knitted fabrics, having
presser foot and devices for uncurling the edges of the seams in advance of or
as they are stitched, which devices are arranged to permit of continuing the
stitching upon the body of the fabric after the seam is fully stitched substantially
as shown and described.
Nineteenth-A sewing machine having devices substantially as shown in either
figures 1, 16 and 17 for uncurling the edges of the seams of knitted fabrics sub-
stantially as set forth.
Twentieth-A knitted stocking or fabric having its seams uncurled and
stitched by a sewing machine and the line of stitching continued onto the body of
the fabric beyond one or both ends of the seams, substantially as shown and
described.
Twenty-first: A stocking having sewing machine stitched seams as described.