Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Jan., 1897-Accepted, 3rd Apr., 1897
I, WILLIAM HARVEY INSLEE, Manager of The Singer Manufacturing
Company, Kilbowie, Dumbartonshire, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion 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:-
My invention relates to carpet sewing machines of the class adapted to travel
upon the edges of the carpets, the latter being suspended in a vertical position ;
and the object of my invention is to provide means whereby a carpet sewing
machine, of the class referred to, may be driven by an electric motor mounted upon
the machine, and whereby the flexible conductors conveying the electrical current
to and from said motor may be properly controlled so as to be out of the way of
the operator. To this end the conductor, which is of duplex character, so as to
carry the current to and from the motor, is controlled by a take-up device which
will automatically hold the same with a slight tension sufficient to prevent the
conductor from falling down in the way of the operator. This take-up device
consists preferably of a reel or small drum around which the conductor is wound
and with which an ordinary volute spring is connected in such a way as to permit
the conductor to be fed out under slight tension, the spring-acted reel or drum
serving to automatically wind up the slack when the machine is travelling toward
the drum. The bracket in which the drum is mounted is preferably utilized as a
conducting medium so that the wires conveying the current from the source of the
electricity may be connected thereto in any suitable manner, as by binding screws.
Instead of using a spring-controlled drum for taking up the slack of the conductor,
a weight may be utilized for the same purpose, if desired.
In the accompanying drawings
Fig. 1 is a general view to illustrate my invention by connection with a carpet
sewing machine which rides upon a suspended carpet in a well-known manner.
Fig. 2 is a detail view of the machine and its suspending device..
Fig. 3 is a detail view, in cross section, of the track on which the travelling
carriage or trolley moves and
Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are detail views of the spring-controlled drum which winds up
the slack of the conductor.
A denotes a section of carpet held in a suitable stretching frame B and partly
sustained by suspending devices C and being held stretched taut by suitable
E denotes a carpet
longitudinally holding devices D, in a well known manner.
sewing machine of well-known form adapted to ride upon the edges of the stretched
carpets, the machine being fed along by the action of the feeding devices forming
part of the mechanism of the machine. These carpet sewing machines have
usually been driven by a crank turned by the operator, which is somewhat difficult
and laborious, but the machine herein shown is provided with an electric motor F
of that well-known form in which the armature wheel surrounds the wheel magnet,
the said wheel being utilized directly as the driving wheel from which power may
be conveyed. G denotes a belt conveying motion from a pulley f on the rotating

page_text: armature wheel to the pulley H which drives the sewing machine, the latter being
suspended from a travelling carriage or trolley I running upon a suitable track J.
A spiral spring L, the elasticity of which will permit the sewing machine to follow
any irregularities caused by sagging of the suspended carpet, preferably forms the
connection, or a part thereof, between the sewing machine and the travelling
carriage or trolley, this elastic connection taking a part of the weight of the
machine and its motor so as partly to relieve the carpet from the weight thereof.
N denotes the flexible conductor which may be made in duplex form and which
is preferably wound into a single cord or strand, said conductor serving to convey
the electrical current to and from the motor F. The conductor N extends from a
reel or drum K, around which it is wound, and the said drum is provided with
a volute spring L' housed in a suitable box n, the said spring being so connected
to the drum as to wind up the conductor N with a slight tension when the sewing
machine travels towards the drum, but which will permit the said conductor to be
unwound from the drum when the sewing machine is travelling away from the
same. The drum K is mounted in a suitable bracket M preferably formed of a
.metal frame suitable to serve as a conductor, and to the said frame the wires i
and ', conveying the electrical current from a suitable source of electricity X and
to and from the motor, are attached in any proper manner, as by binding screws.
A small switch m preferably forms part of the connection between the binding
post m³, which is insulated from the frame M and the hub m² with which the
conductor wound upon the reel has a suitable electric connection, as more clearly
shown in Fig. 5, the current passing from the conductor on the reel or drum
through the frame and outward through the conductor ¹. If desired the current
may be shut off by swinging the switch m out of contact with the hub m² of the
drum or reel. This will open the circuit, owing to the insulation of the post m¹
from the frame M from which post the current passes to the hub m³ through the
"switch m when the circuit is closed.
In Fig. 4 the drum K is shown in full lines as being about midway of the length
of the sections of carpet to be sewed, so that the conductor will be drawn off from
said reel about equally when the machine is at the ends of a section of carpet, but
instead of locating the said drum centrally over the carpet it may be located at one
end of the frame B, as shown at K¹ in dotted lines, Fig. 1.
Instead of using a spring-controlled reel for taking up the slack of the conductor
the same result may be effected by means of a weight K³, as shown in dotted lines
in Fig. 1, the said weight being attached to a pulley block a while one end of the
conductor is secured to a contact piece a² from which the conductor runs around
the pulley in the pulley block a, and thence over the pulley a¹ to the sewing
machine, the weight, in this instance, serving as a take-up device instead of the
spring-acted reel or drum first described.
The electric motor F is suitably mounted at the lower part of the frame of the
suspended travelling sewing machine E and by its weight serves to steady and
counterbalance the said machine, as the latter runs along the edges of the carpets
which are supported edgewise vertically, the said motor being thus incorporated
' with the said sewing machine and forming a part thereof.
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. The combination with means for supporting long sections of fabrics edge-wise
vertically, of a travelling sewing machine adapted to be fed along on said fabrics,
and provided with an electric motor operatively connected with the driving shaft of
the said machine, a track or support parallel with the said fabrics, a trolley or
carriage travelling on said track or support, an elastic connection between said
trolley or carriage and said travelling sewing machine, a conductor having suitable
electrical connections with said motor, and a take-up device to control the slack of
said conductor.

page_text: 2. The combination with means for supporting long sections of fabrics in an
edgewise vertical position, of a travelling sewing machine provided with a feeding
mechanism for moving the same along on said fabric edges, an electric motor
forming part of said sewing machine and operatively connected with the driving
shaft thereof, said motor being mounted at the lower part of the frame of said
machine, and thus serving not only as a driving medium therefor, but serving also
to counterbalance the same in its vertical position, and a flexible conductor having
suitable electrical connections with said motor, and a take-up device to control the
slack of said conductor and thereby keep the same out of the way of the
operator.
Dated this 18th day of January 11.
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,
Chartered Patent Agents,
62 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agent for the Applicant.