Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Aug., 1898-Accepted, 14th Jan., 1899
A communication from abroad by GEORGE E. WARREN, of Boston, in the State of
Massachusetts, one of the United States of America, Engineer.
I, ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES, of 55 and 56, Chancery Lane, in the County of
London, Chartered Patent Agent, 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:-
-
The present invention relates generally to improvements in lock stitch sewing
machines and more particularly to such types of lock stitch machines as are
adapted to stitch the welt to the lasted upper and insole of a welted boot or shoe,
or the upper to the insole of a turn boot or shoe, the former type of machines
being known in the trade as welt sewing machines, and the latter type as a turn
sewing machine.
In attempting to adapt lock stitch mechanism to the peculiar conditions to
which a welt or turn sewing machine must be adapted great difficulty has been
experienced in securing a tight seam, and in so far as I am advised of the art of
manufacturing shoes, while the outsole is now almost universally stitched to the
welt. by means of lock stitch mechanism, chain stitch machines are generally, if
not universally, used to secure the welt to the lasted upper and insole in a welted
shoe, and the upper to the outsole in a turn shoe.
It is well known to persons skilled in the art that to form a satisfactory lock
stitch inseam in a welted shoe, or lock stitch seam in a turn shoe, it is necessary that
the upper and welt in the former type of shoe should be drawn tightly together
and firmly against the between substances, and that the lock should be positioned
in the between substances near the base of the channel. In the case of a turn
shoe the upper must be drawn firmly against the between substances and the lock
similarly positioned.
In most forms of lock stitch welt or turn machines proposed in the prior art
and known to me, the needle enters from the welt side of the work, penetrating
the welt first, and then the upper and between substances, and emerging into the
channel. Lock stitch turn sewing machines have also, so far as I am at present
advised of the art, been commonly similarly arranged, the needle entering from
the upper side of the work, first piercing the upper, and then the between sub-
stances, and emerging in the channel.
It is evident that in a machine involving the arrangement of stitch forming
mechanism above suggested, the bight of shuttle thread must be drawn by the
supply thread through the welt and upper, in the case of a welted shoe, and
through the upper in the case of a turn shoe into and almost through the between
substances, to properly position the lock, and that while so drawn, the lock or
bight of the supply thread renders through the bight of the shuttle thread with
which it is engaged, and the bight of shuttle thread renders more or less through
the bight of the supply thread, a feature which, as is well known to persons

page_text: skilled in the art, materially impedes the successful operation of the machine, it
being a well known fact that the rendering of thread about thread is to be avoided
in all types of sewing machines, particularly in those in which a wax thread is
used.
It will be further noted that in sewing with machines of this class the amount
of the supply thread used in making a stitch, as compared with the amount of
shuttle thread, is relatively small, in making a stitch of average length in stock
of average thickness the amount of supply thread used being in practice a little
more than one fourth the amount of the shuttle thread. This feature, besides
occasioning more or less inconvenience, owing to the frequent necessity of re-
newing the bobbin, subjects the supply thread to an undue abrasion and wear,
which tends to materially weaken the same, so that if a heavy tension is run,
such as is required to secure a tight seam in many kinds of stock, the machine
will break the thread frequently, causing great delay and inconvenience and
rendering the work insecure and imperfect. The wear upon the supply thread
referred to will be perhaps better understood by taking into consideration the
fact, that, in machines arranged as above stated, every portion of the supply
thread must be drawn back and forth through the material many times, in prac-
tice twenty to thirty times, before it is brought to its final position in the seam.
I am aware that the objections above noted have been partially obviated by
arranging the needle to enter the work from the channel side, thus increasing the
amount of supply thread entering into such stitch, but in such machines as here-"
tofore constructed and known to me, the take up is relied upon entirely to set the
stitch, and the pull of the thread while setting the stitch being by this arrange-
ment brought against the between substances tends to spread the seam; as it
commonly is termed, particularly when the insole is soft or spongy.
In the present invention I have arranged the needle to enter the work from the
channel side, thus increasing the amount of supply thread used in a given stitch,
practically reversing the proportions of shuttle and supply thread as before stated.
I have also so timed and arranged the take up and shuttle, that the supply
thread is drawn up by the take up to bring the bight of shuttle thread into the
channel, and said bight is drawn into the between substances and the stitch given
its final set, by the shuttle, I have also provided a tension controlling device which
releases the tension during a portion of the thread pulling operation of the
shuttle, so that it can draw freely from the supply end, and restores the tension
before the shuttle has completed its pull, enabling the shuttle to set the stitch
and accurately position the lock. It will be noted that by arranging the shuttle
to set the stitch, and the needle to enter from the channel side of the work, I
secure the advantage not only of using a relatively large amount of supply thread,
but also of having the final pull which sets the stitch brought against the welt,
and thereby bringing the welt and upper tightly together and firmly against the
between substances.
I have also provided a thread hook arranged to control the direction of the pull
of the thread from the between substances, and a novel arrangement of the awl
which has no lateral movement except when out of the material.
The present invention therefore consists of the features above set forth and
their combination with each other and with associated parts of a lock stitch sewing
machine, as hereinafter more fully described in this specification and defined in
the claims.
A preferred form of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying
drawings in which,
Figure 1 is a side view looking toward the left of a lock stitch welt machine
embodying the same.
Figure 2 is a rear elevation,
Figure 3 is a side elevation looking toward the right,
Figure 4 is a top plan view,

page_text: Figure 5 is a detached view of channel guide showing the thread hook for
controlling the direction of the pull of the thread from between substances.
Figure 6 is a partial side elevation illustrating the take up mechanism.
Figure 7 is a detail of tension locking device,
Figures 8, 9 and 10 are diagramatic views illustrating the formation of the
stitch...
Referring to the drawings H represents a frame suitable to support the working
parts of the machine, and which may be conveniently mounted upon a suitable
pedestal (not shown) as usual in this class of machines.
In suitable bearings in the frame H is mounted the main shaft A of the
machine, driven by a suitable pulley A6, and carrying the cam disks A', A3, A3, A4,
upon which are formed suitable cams for actuating the several parts as herein-
after described.
The machine of the drawings comprises a needle e, mounted in a needle
segment e¹, and actuated by the cam A, by means of the lever e³ and connecting
link, the arrangement being the usual arrangement in this class of machines
and forming no part of the present invention. In connection with the needle is
provided a needle guide e, which is of the usual form, mounted to oscillate con-
centrically with the needle segment, and kept in proper relation to the needle by
the usual mechanism, not fully illustrated in the drawings, for the reason that
the same is well known to anyone of average skill in the art.
Said machine also comprises a feed point shown at a, which is mounted upon a
swinging arm a¹, secured to the stud a³, mounted to rotate in suitable bearings
in a bracket a³, projected from the feed slide f. To the stud is secured a
segmental gear, which meshes with a segmental gear on the lever a, fulcrumed
on a stud 6, supported by a fixed part of frame H, and carrying on its rear end
a cam roll a, engaging a cam groove as in the side face of the disk A¹ The feed
point thus is given a lateral movement with the feed slide and a movement
towards and from the work.
The shuttle is shown at s and is arranged to have an oscillating movement and
a lateral or sidewise movement, being actuated in its oscillating movement by a
suitable shuttle driver actuated by the gear s', which meshes with the gear s2,
which in turn meshes with the segmental gear 3, carried by the swinging lever s4,
which is actuated by a groove in side face of the cam disk A3; the sidewise
movement above referred to is imparted to the shuttle, by means of a lever s
which is actuated by the peripheral cam groove s in the disk A3, and actuates a
slide s from which projects the bracket 58 in which is formed the shuttle race,
the position of the slides and form and arrangement of the bracket 8 being such
that the shuttles is brought on the channel side of the work and in proper
co-relation to the needle which enters from such side.
I desire to say in this connection that with slight changes in form and arrange-
ment of details required by changed position of the shuttle, the shuttle actuating
mechanism above referred to may be of any usual construction. The shuttle,
however, has an important function in my present machine due to its changed
position and co-relation in operation to other parts which it does not have in any
prior machine and which will be hereinafter more fully described.
The awl in my present machine is represented at h, and, while it is mounted
upon an extension of the bracket a², and is moved laterally with the feed slide f,
has no feeding function, acting simply as a puncturing instrument. its lateral
movement being timed to occur while the awl is clear of the material.
As shown the awl is mounted upon a swinging lever h¹, mounted upon a stud h²,
having suitable bearings in a forward extension of the bracket a², which as before
stated is projected from the slide f. The stud 2 carries a segmental gear 13,
which meshes with a segmental gear formed upon the lever h, intermediately
fulcrumed on the stud as hereinbefore referred to, and actuated by a cam groove
in the side face of the disk A²,

page_text: The feed slide f is actuated by a lever f¹, fulcrumed at its lower end upon the
frame H, and in the front of which is formed a longitudinal slot (see dotted lines
Fig. 1) which is engaged by a block f3 on the slide f. The block f³ is secured
to said slide, preferably, by means of a bolt f which projects through a slot or
elongated port hole in said slide, and by means of which the block f³ may be
moved towards or away from the fulcrum of the lever f¹ to vary the length of
movement of the slide f.
The lever f carries a truck or cam roll f³, which engages a peripheral cam
path f5 in the disk A¹.
The machine of the drawings also embodies a thread finger or thread arm g and
suitable mechanism for actuating the same, but I desire to say that such parts
and their co-relative functions are so well known in the prior art that further
description thereof and of their actuating mechanism is regarded as unnecessary
herein, said parts being employed in the machine of the drawings to perform their
usual functions in the usual manner and forming no part of the present invention.
The machine of the drawings also embodies a take up mechanism illustrated
in detail in Figure 6, which, however, is broadly speaking the compound take
up of the prior art, and for which of itself I make no claim of invention.
The specific form illustrated comprises a swing lever v, dependant from a
shaft B, intermediately carrying a cam roll (not shown) which engages a cam
path (not shown) in the side face of the disk A¹. The lower end of lever vis
connected by a link v¹, with a sliding rack 3 mounted to reciprocate longitudi-
nally in a suitable guideway in the frame H, or in a box or bracket 3 secured
thereto. The rack carries a thread truck 24, and meshes with a gear which
is mounted on the box or bracket 3, and meshes with a rack 6 also mounted and
free to reciprocate in a guideway in the box or bracket 3.
The rack carries a thread truck 27, and the arrangement is such that a
swinging motion of the lever » advances one truck and retracts the other. The
lead of the thread is from the tension over the front of truck v and the back of
truck and thence forward to the looper.
The tension mechanism illustrated in the drawing is described as follows:-
In an upright n, forming part of the frame H, at the back of machine is fixed
a short horizontal shaft or stud n³, upon which is loosely mounted the thread
truck n around which the supply thread leads from the wax pot to the take up.
Upon the stud n is mounted a sleeve n³, which is free to slide along the stud n¹
and carries at opposite ends the disks n¹ and n³, the disk n being faced with felt
or suitable material and arranged to bear against the side face of the thread
truck na to control its rotation. The disk n is normally forced against the
truck by a coiled spring no which is coiled about the stud n¹ and bears at one
end against the disk n and at its opposite end against an adjusting nut n
threaded upon the end of the stud n¹. In the machine of the drawings the thread
truck is arranged to be positively locked from rotation during the operation
of the take up and provision is made to relieve the same from the pressure of the
friction disk n while the shuttle is performing the entire portion of its thread
pulling movement, to allow the thread to run freely from the supply side, the
disk being thereafter and before the shuttle has completed its thread pulling
movement allowed to engage the truck n under the normal pressure of the
spring ns. The mechanism for positively locking the truck 2 consists of a
ratchet disk n carried by the truck n³, which is engaged by a pawl n³, carried by
one arm of bell crank lever 10, fulcrummed at upon a stud 13 carried in a
bearing upon the upright .
The opposite end of the bell crank lever carries a cam roll n¹³, normally held in
contact with the periphery of the cam disk A2, by a suitable spring n¹, one end
of which is secured to the bell crank lever 10 and the other to a fixed part of the
frame H. The periphery cam on the disk A³ above referred to is so formed that
the pawl n is held out of engagement with the ratchet disk ns except while the

page_text: take up is acting and during the operation of the take up the pawl n³ is brought
into engagement with the ratchet disk 8 and positively restrains the truck n
from rotation, thereby practically preventing any drawing off or "stealing" of
the supply thread by the take un.
The mechanism for releasing the tension is described as follows:-
A lever o is fulcrumed at its lower end at o¹ on a fixed portion of the frame H
and above its fulcrum carries a yoke o² (see dotted lines in Fig. 3) which embraces
the sleeve n³, between the disks n and n5, the yoke o² and sleeve n³ having squared
bearing surfaces which prevent any rotation of the sleeve and disks. The lever o
is provided at its upper end with a sleeve, which receives the stem or shank o³ of
a roll carrier in which is mounted the cam roll o, which is held in contact with
a cam formed on the side of the disk A2, by means of the spring no, which bears
against the disk n5 as before described.
The stem o³ of the roll carrier is adjustably held in the sleeve at the upper end
of lever o, by means of the set screws 05. The cam against which the roll o' bears
as above stated, is so timed that while the shuttle is accomplishing the earlier
portion of its loop drawing movement before referred to as thread pulling move-
ment, the lever o is actuated to force the sleeve n³ away from the thread truck n²
relieving the pressure of the friction disk n' thereon and allowing the thread to
run freely from the supply end until the shuttle has reached a point in its thread
pulling movement at which the rest of such movement is sufficient to properly
position the lock and set the stitch, at which time the lever o is released and the
spring n allowed to force the friction disk n against the side face of the truck n²
to again put the supply thread under tension.
The welt guide or back gage is shown at c, and may be and conveniently is
arranged to be yieldingly held in its advanced position and suitable locking
devices are employed therewith to lock it in this advanced position at the time the
stitch is being set.
The machine of the drawings is also provided with a channel guide b, which
as shown is secured to a fixed portion of the frame H, in such position that its
lower or working end will properly engage the channel in the insole to guide the
work to the stitch forming mechanism. The channel guide b (see Fig. 5) is
provided with a thread hook b¹ which as shown is located near the working end
of said guide, on the needle side of said guide and projected toward the needle.
The function of the thread hook b¹ is to engage the thread as it leads from the
work to the hook of the shuttle and to control the direction of the pull of
the supply thread while drawn by the shuttle and prevent it from lifting on the
between substances as hereinafter described, and I desire to say that I consider
such device however formed and wherever located provided it performs the
function above stated, to be clearly within the scope of the present invention.
The formation of the stitch by the mechanisms hereinbefore described in so far
as the same involves any novel features is described as follows:-
The needle enters the work from the channel side and when it has reached its
advanced position, the looper acts to throw a bight of the supply thread into the
hook of the needle, which retracts to draw said loop through the material, the
thread arm giving up its thread to the retracting needle in the usual manner.
While the needle is being retracted the shuttle is moved towards the plane of
oscillation of the needle and when the needle has reached its retracted position
completing its loop drawing movement, the hook of the shuttle engages the loop
of thread drawn up by the needle and such loop is thrown over the shuttle by the
oscillation thereof (the tension release operating as hereinafter described) and
engages a bight of shuttle thread to form the lock, as soon as the bight of supply
thread has reached a position to be drawn off the shuttle, the take up commences
to act, the thread being at this time held at the supply end by the positively
locked thread truck of the tension device, and draws down the loop of supply
thread until the lock is brought into the channel but not into its final position

page_text: in the between substances, the thread being in substantially the position indicated
in Fig. 8. The needle then again pierces the material and is retracted bringing
up another loop of the supply thread, which is engaged. by. the hook of the shuttle
as before described, the shuttle then commences to.oscillate and as its. hook
carrying the loop of supply thread is turned away from the between substances
draws out said loop the tension having been released as before described, during
the earlier portion of such thread pulling movement, to allow the, thread. to. draw
off freely from the supply end, and when the shuttle in its oscillation has reached
substantially the position shown in Fig. 9, the loop of thread at this time having
been drawn out to nearly a sufficient length to pass. around the shuttle the tension
is restored and the remaining pull of the shuttle upon the supply thread acts to
draw the lock into position in the between substances and to finally, set the stitch.
It will be noted that in forming the stitch as before described, each lock is set
or brought to its final position by a tightening of the supply thread through-the
necdle puncture which is to receive the next adjacent lock, a feature which in so
far as I am advised of the state of the art is broadly novel and I consider that
any mechanism for securing such a result as clearly within the scope of the
present invention.
It will be further noted in connection with the foregoing description, that while
the loop of supply thread is being drawn up by the shuttle to set the stitch as
before described, said loop is engaged by the thread hook and the line of pull
deflected so as to be substantially parallel with the face of the sole, thereby.pre-
venting the thread from what is commonly termed lifting on the between
substances, in other words, exerting a pull which tends to tear up the between
substances from the sole... The operation of the awl has already been sufficiently
described, its function being simply to puncture the work for the passage of the
needle.
The awl is mounted upon the feed slide and given its lateral movement for the
purpose of removing it at times from the path of movement of other parts of t the
machine. The construction and timing of the several cams and the construction
and arrangement of the intermediate connections whereby several of the operating
parts are actuated by said cams has been herein fully illustrated and described
but all such omissions can be readily supplied by a mechanic of average skill in
the art who without the exercise of more than ordinary skill could readily con-
struct and operate a machine embodying the present invention.
'
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is-
1. In a lock stitch shoe sewing machine, the combination with the needle, of a
shuttle and take-up, and connected mechanism for actuating the same, to cause
the take-up to take up the loop of supply thread as it is given up by the shuttle
to bring the lock substantially up to the material, and the shuttle to position the
lock in the needle puncture by tightening the loop of supply thread drawn by the
needle through the next succeeding puncture, substantially as described.
2. In a lock stitch shoe sewing machine, the combination with a curved needle,
arranged to enter the work from the channel side of a shuttle and take-up, and
connected mechanisms for actuating the same to cause. the take-up to take up the
loop of supply thread as it is given up by the shuttle to bring the lock substan-
tially into the channel, and the shuttle to position the lock in the needle puncture
by tightening the loop of supply thread drawn by the needle through the next
succeeding puncture, substantially as described.
3. In a lock stitch shoe sewing machine, the combination with a curved needle,
of a shuttle arranged to have a thread pulling movement, a tension device and
mechanism for controlling the same formed and arranged to release the tension
during the earlier portion of the thread pulling movement of the shuttle, and to

page_text: renew the tension before the shuttle has completed said movement, substantially
as described.
4. In a lock stitch shoe sewing machine, the combination with a curved needle,
and shuttle having a thread pulling movement, of a thread hook arranged to
engage the loop of supply thread between the work and the shuttle and control
the direction of the strain exerted through said loop on the work, substantially as
described.
5. In a lock stitch shoe sewing machine, the combination with a curved needle
and shuttle, of a channel guide provided with a thread hook arranged to engage
the loop of supply thread between the work and the shuttle, substantially as
described.
6. The combination with associated parts of a shoe sewing machine, of a
puncturing awl movable laterally and toward and from the work, and connected
mechanism for actuating said awl timed and arranged to cause the awl to enter
the work and be retracted therefrom without change in its plane of movement, and
to accomplish its lateral movement while out of the material, substantially as
described.
Dated the 27th day of August 1898.
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55/56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.