IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR SEWING THE SEAMS OF LOOPED FABRICS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Loughborough Park,
Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINES FOR SEWING THE SEAMS OF LOOPED FABRICS."-A com-
munication from abroad by Edward Elisha Kilbourn, residing at New
Brunswick, in the State of New Jersey, United States of America.
Sealed the 5th May 1868, and dated the 11th November 1867.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 11th November 1867, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, BE IT KNOWN
that I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in
the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR SEWING THE SEAMS OF LOOPED FABRICS," (a
communication to me from abroad by Edward Elisha Kilbourn, a person
resident at New Brunswick, in the State of New Jersey, United States of
America), and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly

page_text: described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, in which Figure 1
represents a plan of a machine embodying the Invention; Figure 2
represents a front elevation of the same; Figure 3 represents an end view
of the same; Figure 4 represents a vertical transverse section of the same
at the line x, x, of Figure 2, and Figures 5 and 6 represent fragmentary
parts of the machine denoted by the same letters as the corresponding
parts in the other Figures; Figures 7 to 10 inclusive represent views of a
modification of the machine. The object of the machine, which constitutes
the subject matter of this Patent, is to form the seam which connects the two
selvage edges of pieces of knitted or looped fabrics, such for example as the
leg seams of a pair of knitted drawers. In doing this work the needle must
be passed through the loops of the edges. Previous to this Invention this
work was done principally by hand, and as it is practically impossible to draw
each stitch of the seam by hand to precisely the same degree of tightness or
to give the proper elasticity to the seam the work was quite irregular. A
machine was long since contrived for connecting pieces of ribbed fabric to
pieces of plain fabric, but the difficulties attending its employment have been
such as to prevent it from coming into general use. In that machine the
work is supported upon a series of points secured to a disk which is caused
to rotate past a reciprocating needle.
In the present machine a straight supporting plate fitted with a series of
points on which the work is set up is used, and the seaming mechanism is
secured to a carriage which is caused to move progressively along the
stationary supporting plate as the stitches are formed. The Invention
therefore consists of certain novel combinations of devices for the
purpose of
producing the seam in looped fabrics, one of the distinguishing characteristics
of some of which combinations is the straight supporting plate fitted with a
supporting point for every loop of fabric through which the needle is to be
passed in forming the seam. The accompanying Drawings represent a
machine in which the improvements are embodied. In it the supporting
plate A is secured to a frame B which also sustains the other parts of the
machine. This supporting plate is fitted with a row of points e set at suitable
distances apart for holding the stitches or loops at the selvage edges of the
pieces of knitted work, and each point is grooved in order to facilitate the
passage of the point of the needle into the loop. The seam is formed by a
needle and a looper, both of which are carried along the supporting plate by
a carriage C which is supported upon and guided by a slotted shaft D and a
feed screw E, that are arranged to turn in suitable boxes formed in the end

page_text: plates b, b, of the frame B. The needle a is secured to a needle arm F
which is constructed to vibrate upon a stud G secured to the carriage and
the needle is curved, is eye-pointed, and has grooves in its sides to receive and
protect the thread. The needle is caused to enter the fabric and withdraw
from it by means of a cam grooved in the head of a cam H that is secured
to a sleeve J which is mounted upon the shaft D and is connected with it by
a feather c sliding in the slot of the shaft, so that the cam may slide along the
shaft with the carriage, but is compelled to turn with the shaft. This sleeve
has two journals which turn in boxes m, m, secured to the carriage and have
collars n which bear against the inner faces of these boxes so that the cam
block is always held in the same position relatively to the carriage and its
appurtenances however the two may be moved along the row of supporting
points A, e, e. The looper has a head suitable for catching and holding
the loop of thread carried through the fabric by the needle. This looper is
secured to a looper arm K which is constructed to both vibrate and slide
upon a stud I secured to the carriage, so that a compound movement may
be imparted to it which causes it to enter the loop of needle thread on the
concave side of the needle by moving crosswise thereto and to pull it from
the work as the needle withdraws, then to move towards the work as the
needle returns and to present the loop for the entrance of the needle, and
finally to withdraw from the loop by passing across the convex side of the
needle previous to entering the new loop carried by the needle. This com-
pound movement is effected by the concurrent operation of a cam groove d
formed in the barrel of the cam H and a cam grade de formed at one of the
ends thereof; the former operating to move the looper crosswise to the needle,
and the latter to move it towards and
operates upon an arm 9 secured to a
looper stud I and has the looper arm K
operates to rock the looper arm in one
to rock it in the opposite direction as the form of the cam grade permits.
The cam groove d' operates upon the looper arm through the intervention of
a pin i projecting from a hub N which is fitted upon the sleeve h between the
hub of the looper arm K and the hub of the cam arm g. This hub N is
prevented from rocking with the looper sleeve h by means of a pin j wbich
passes through an opening in the sleeve into a longitudinal slot in the stud I
which permits the sleeve to slide freely along it without rocking. The object
of this contrivance is to prevent the pin i from changing its radial position
relatively to the cam groove d by rocking. In order that there may be no
back lash a spring P is provided to keep the pin i in constant contact with
from the work. The cam grade d
sleeve h which turns freely upon the
secured to it, the cam grade d thus
direction, and a spring L is provided

page_text: the driving side of the cam groove d'. The looper, the needle, and the cam
and its connections that operate both constitute the seaming mechanism of the
machine, and as they are all connected with the carriage C they operate in
the same manner relatively to each other in whatever position the carriage
may be placed. In order that the carriage may be moved along the work it
is provided with a section of a nut R which is constructed to slide towards
and from the screw E in a socket in the carriage, and is held in engagement
with the threads of the feed screw E by means of a spring G, so that the
turning of the screw moves the carriage along the row of points e, e, c.
This screw is turned by means of cog wheels S, S', which connect it with the
cam shaft D, and the cog wheel S¹ on the screw head is double the size of
that upon the cam shaft D, so that the screw revolves but once for two
revolutions of the cam shaft. This arrangement is advantageous because it
permits the screw to be made of coarser pitch than would be necessary if the
screw turned with the same speed as the cam shaft. The pitch of the screw
is equal to double the distance between the centres of the supporting points,
so that every complete revolution of the cam shaft D and corresponding
half revolution of the feed screw E places the needle at a new supporting
point. The screw turns continuously while the needle should remain
stationary until it withdraws from the stitch it has entered. In order to
cause it to remain at rest notwithstanding the continuous turning of the feed
screw, the screw is caused to move endwise in its bearings at the time the
needle is in the work by means of inclines t, t, formed upon cam collars U
secured to the frame of the machine, the inclination of the collars being the
same as the pitch of the screw, so that the screw is moved endwise in one
direction just as fast as it tends to move the carriage in the opposite direction,
hence as the one movement counterbalances the other the carriage and needle
remain for the time stationary. The cam collars act upon pins V secured to
the feed screw and the inclined grades t for counterbalancing the feed motion
alternate with reversed grades t¹ for moving the screw endwise in the same
direction as the screw moves the carriage; so that when the needle is not
in the work the carriage is moved by the conjoined action of the screw and
cam grades. In seaming the selvage edges of knitted goods it is customary
to make each stitch through the loops of the fabric; this mode of proceeding
does not give the seam sufficient elasticity for many purposes. In order to
form a seam with the requisite elasticity the stitches are made alternately
through the loops and over them; and in order that the stitches may be so
alternately made by the present machine the cam grooves and cam grade for
operating the needle and looper are so formed as to operate them twice for

page_text: each revolution of the cam shaft D, the journals of the sleeve also which turn
in the boxes m of the carriage are eccentric, and the boxes are constructed to
slide horizontally in their seats in the carriage. Hence when the cam sleeve
is turned by the cam shaft its eccentric journals cause the carriage to rock
upon the feed screw as an axis, and the eccentricity is sufficient to raise the
needle above the edge of the fabric, so that each alternate stitch is formed
over the two edges of the fabric which are supported upon the row of
points e, e, e. In forming the stitches over the edges it is expedient to carry
the needle and looper a greater distance in the direction of the feed than the
length of the feed, and then to carry them back to that supporting point
at which the next through stitch is to be formed. The effect of such
lateral movement is to cause the thread proceeding from the needle eye to
the last stitch to diverge to a greater extent from the needle when the looper
moves to take it, consequently such movement insures the proper action of
the looper. This movement to and fro is readily effected in this machine by
giving the requisite form for that purpose to the inclined grades of the cam
collars U, U, which effect the endwise movement of the feed screw.
The
machine is conveniently driven by a belt applied to a belt pulley W that is
made fast to the cam shaft D. A loose pulley W₁ is mounted upon the
same shaft to receive the belt when the machine is to be stopped, and the
belt is guided upon one or other pulley by a belt shipper X. The stock Y
of this belt shipper is arranged to slide longitudinally in standards Z, Z,
erected upon the frame of the machine, it has a notch near one end so as to
engage when depressed with one side of one of the standards Z', and when it
is so engaged the prongs of the belt shipper guide the belt on the fast pulley.
A spring O is provided to move the belt shipper and transfer the belt to the
loose pulley whenever the notch of the stock is disengaged from the
standard Z. In order that the machine may be stopped automatically when
the seam is sewed, a pin k is secured to the carriage in a proper position to
act upon the under inclined side of a hanger that projects down from the
stock of the belt shipper, hence when the carriage reaches the end of its track
this pin is forced against the inclined side of the hanger by the movement of
the carriage and raising the stock disengages the notch and permits the
spring O to shift the belt to the loose pulley whereupon the machine stops.
In order that the nut section R may be readily disengaged from the feed
screw to permit the carriage to be quickly moved back to its starting point
previous to commencing a new seam, a lever p is provided to disengage the
section of the nut R from the feed screw, whereupon the carriage may be
slid along the screw and cam shaft to its starting point, after which the

page_text: 8
nut is permitted to be re-engaged with the feed screw by the spring Q. The
row of supporting points is made long enough to hold the edges to be seamed
together without stopping the machine, and in practice it is expedient to
make it long enough to support the leg of a pair of drawers, so that the whole
seam may be formed without stopping to shift the work. The distance
between the end plates of the frame and the lengths of the feed screw and
cam shaft must then be sufficient to permit the needle to be moved with the
carriage from end to end of the row of supporting points. The spool of
thread may be conveniently supported upon a spool standard r secured to the
carriage; the requisite tension may be imparted to the thread by a spring borne
against the head of the spool by an adjusting nut, and the slack formed in
sewing may be taken up and given back as required by means of a spring s
having an eye at its lower end through which the thread is passed on its
way to the needle. This spring operates in connection with a pair of bars u, u,
across which the thread is extended; the thread is guided to the needle by a
thread guide consisting of a hole z drilled in the end of the needle arm; any
suitable thread tension and take up may be used in place of those above
described. The work to be seamed is set up upon the supporting points of the
supporting plate A in the same manner as knitted work is set up upon the
needles of the knitting machine, there being a point for every loop through
which the needle is to be passed at the place of such passage, and these
peculiarities of the supporting plate distinguish it from the old baster plates
which were used in early sewing machines for the purpose of holding the
fabric to be sewed and which had needle points arranged at intervals to hold
the work without reference to the passage of the needle. If all the stitches
are to be made through the loops of the fabric the cam grooves and grade
should be arranged to operate the needle and loaper, but once for each
revolution the journals of the cam sleeve should be cylindrical instead of
eccentric and the grades of the cam collars U, U, must be changed, so that
they will impart the required movement to the carriage, or in place of
altering the cam grooves the feed screw may be arranged to feed the carriage
along twice as fast as it is in the machine represented in the Drawings. In
place of rocking the needle carriage so as to make the alternate stitches over
the edge of the fabric, and of moving the carriage to and fro for the purpose
of making the over stitch at a slight distance laterally from the preceeding
through stitch, the elastic seam may be produced by making the alternate
stitches between the through stitches and without raising the seaming
mechanism for the purpose. In this case the journals of the cam sleeve are
made cylindrical instead of eccentric so that the carriage is not rocked and

page_text: the grades of the cam collars are so formed as to compensate the action of
the feed screw while the needle is advancing and retreating past the plane of
the fabric and to give the carriage at other times the whole effect of the
movement of the feed screw the alternate operations of the needle will then
remain between the supporting points. The cams, grooves, and grade for
operating the needle and looper will in this case operate in the same manner
as when the alternate stitches are made over the edge of the fabric, in both
cases the seaming mechanism is combined with half as many supporting
points as there are stitches made; and this feature of the Invention may be
applied to the old seaming machines having a series of supporting points
secured to a disk. A modification of the machine above described is
represented in part in Figures 7 to 10 of the Drawings; in this modification
the carriage C of the machine is composed mainly of a tubular rock shaft E¹,
and two arms C2, C3, the former holding the stud G of the needle arm F and
the latter the stud I of the looper arm K. This carriage is constructed to
vibrate in bearings 1, 1, in a sliding carriage C₁ which slides upon the
frame B of the machine to which the supporting plate A is secured as in the
machine first described. The axis of the bearings of the sliding carriage is
concentric with the screw shaft E which operates upon one or more sectional
nuts set into sockets formed in the tubular rock shaft E¹ of the carriage.
The cam block H is secured to a tubular shaft J which slides upon the
slotting shaft D as in the previous machine, and the carriage is caused to
vibrate by means of a cam m¹ which is secured to this tubular cam shaft J
and which operates upon two bearings m², m³, secured to one of the arms (C³)
of the carriage. This cam has two concentric portions a, a, and 62, 63, so
that the carriage when vibrated downwards is held stationary while the
needle is in the loop of the fabric, hence the needle does not tend to distort
the loop, and this machine is well adapted for seaming fine work. As it is
desirable that the cam block H should follow approximately the movements
of the needle arm and looper arm in their vibrations with the carriage, the
cam block H is set eccentrically to the axis of the journals 1,, of the
tubular cam shaft J, so that the cam block vibrates as well as the carriage
and as nearly coincidently with the carriage as the difference between the
form of the cam m³ and an excentric of the same throw will permit. The
cam groove d in this modified machine operates as in the preceeding one
upon a pin i represented in dotted lines, but the pin instead of being secured
to a hub between the looper arm and cam arm is held by an arm N¹ which
vibrates upon a stud I, and the extremity of this arm is received between

page_text: the shoulders of the hub of the looper arm K and cam arm 9. In both the
machines thus described a looper is used in connection with the needle to
form a chain stitch, but the Invention is not limited to the employment of
such an instrument because an eye-pointed looper or a shuttle such as are
used in sewing machines may be applied to the carriage in place of the looper
described, suitable appliances being employed to hold them and to impart the
proper motions to whichever be applied from the cam block on the cam
shaft, and in case of such use the eye-pointed looper or the shuttle (which-
ever be used) will form a member of the seaming mechanism and will
co-operate with the needle in place of the looper previously described and
the seaming mechanism will form a two-thread stitch. Those parts of the
second machine before described which are not represented in the Drawings
Figures 7 to 10 inclusive, are constructed in the same manner as the corre-
sponding parts of the machine first described.
What is claimed as the Invention to be secured by Letters Patent is,―
1st. The combination in a seaming machine of the following devices, viz*:—
The seaming mechanism, straight supporting plate, and feed screw, all
operating in the combination substantially as set forth.
2nd. Also the combination in a seaming machine of the devices recited
in the preceding claim with cam collars operating upon the feed screw sub-
stantially as set forth.
3rd. Also the combination in a seaming machine of the needle, the looper,
the cam that operates them, the carriage and the mechanism for causing the
carriage and its appurtenances to vibrate, all these devices operating in the
combination substantially as set forth.
4th. Also the combination in a seaming machine of a series of points for
holding the loops of fabric to be traversed by the needle with the reciprocating
needle and the looper and with a cam so formed as to cause the looper after
the passage of the needle through a loop of the fabric to be seamed to take
the loop of needle thread at one side of the needle and withdraw from it
at the opposite side thereof, all operating in the combination substantially
as set forth.
5th. Also the combination in a seaming machine of the devices recited in
the first claim with a section of a nut that can be disengaged from the feed
screw to permit the carriage to be moved quickly back to its starting point,
all said devices operating in the combination substantially as set forth.
6th. Also the combination in a seaming machine of the seaming mechanism
with a supporting plate provided with half as many supporting points as the

page_text: number of stitches made by the seaming mechanism, so that the stitches are
made in regular succession through the loops of the fabric and out of them
substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Second day of November, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
GEO. T. BOUSFIELD. (L.s.)