IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES FOR STITCHING SACKS, BAGS, CARPETS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Howard Pratt Garland, of San Francisco, in the
County of San Francisco, and State of California, one of the United
States of America, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES FOR STITCHING SACKS, BAGS, CARPETS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE
PURPOSES."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Howard Pratt Garland, at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 21st January 1875, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HOWARD
PRATT GARLAND, of San Francisco, in the County of San Francisco, and
State of California, one of the United States of America, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES FOR STITCHING SACKS, BAGS, CARPETS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE
PURPOSES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my

page_text: executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for
the same, and have made solemn Declaration that I am the true and
first inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Howard Pratt Garland, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
scal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to improved means for operating spiral
needles in sewing machines for sewing sacks or bags and the like, and it
consists mainly in the employment of friction rollers for actuating the
needle, the spirals of the needle being scrrated or notched on their
edges so as to engage the rollers, also to notched discs which are
revolved by the spirals of the needle as it is turned, and to other details
of construction and operation herein-after set forth.
Referring to the accompanying Drawing for a more complete
explanation of my Invention, Figure 1 is a plan with case containing
one of the friction rollers thrown back; Figure 2 is a front clevation.
In the open bed of the frame A are placed friction rollers B, B,
composed of elastic or a semi-elastic material such as gutta percha, or
vulcanized india-rubber, yet I do not confine myself to any particular
substance for the construction of these rollers, but prefer a semi-elastic
material, yet wood will answer a very good purpose. These rollers arc
placed about one half of an inch apart and their ends are provided with
gears C, C, which mesh into each other. A slotted plate D partially
covers these rollers, the opening being sufficient to receive the needle in
which it is dropped.
To the end of the machine is attached a slotted guide E under which
the end of the sack to be stitched is placed. The inner end of the guide
forms a case or spindle E' around which the point of the needle turns, it
being prevented from moving longitudinally or outward by means of the
collar E³. The outer edge of the spirals of the needle are serrated or
notched, so that the beards or corrugations will engage the friction
rollers and the needle be rotated, as otherwise the spirals of the needle
might slip on the rollers unless great pressure was brought to bear on
the top roller, in which case more power would be necessary to drive the
_needle. In front of the needle is placed a series of notched discs F, they

page_text: overlap each other slightly from end to end, and are kept in place by
pins a, a, and the flat raised plate G ; these discs or plates are caused to
turn by the action of the spirals of the needle making progress in new
notches at each revolution of the needle. The main object of these discs.
is to prevent the edges of the sack from being carried down, and impodo
the action of the needle as it makes the perforations in the cloth.
An oblong case H open at the bottom is hinged to the rear of the
frame in which a friction roller I operates. This roller is brought down
upon the needle when the machine is in operation, and the frame con-
taining it kept in position by means of the spiral springs J engaging
the curved arms J' of the frame. A lever or screw clamp may be
substituted for these springs to obtain sufficient or the required pressure
to drive the needle. The end of this roller is provided with a toothed
gear K which meshes into spur K¹, by means of which motion is com-
municated to it and the two friction rollers B, B, beneath. Thus it will
be seen that when the case H containing the roller I is in position over
the needle, and power is applied to the crank or pulley L, the needle is
revolved in the slot of the bed plate by the combined action of the three
friction rollers which engage the notches on the spirals.
It should here be observed that the needle may be constructed
tapering from the heel to the point, which would prevent it from moving
longitudinally in the slotted case, when pressure from the rollers were
brought to bear upon it.
A sliding guide M provided with a forked end for carrying the thread
moves along the rod N from the point to the heel of the needle, the
forked end being placed on the spirals at the point of the needle, and the
thread having first been passed through a hole in the end of the guide,
and confined in the eye of the needle, the thread following the retaining
groove in the spirals.
In operating my machine the edge or seam of the cloth to be stitched
or sewed is placed under the guide E, and power applied to the machine
so as to cause the needle to be turned toward the operator, when the
needle will commence to sew from its heel or when the needle has passed
its length through the cloth, and the thread has slipped from the groove
in the coil at its heel, and continue its operation until the end of the
sack is reached, or the thread is all removed from the retaining coils,

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when it will be necessary to thread the needle again, yet the needle will
sew three times its length without rethreading.
It should here be observed that in this my present device no reverse
motion of the needle is necessary in order to tighten up the stitch.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention what I
claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,--
1st. Means for operating a spiral needle consisting of the friction
roller B, B, I, and the roughened or notched edges of the spirals of the
needle, substantially as herein set forth and specified.
2d. The notched discs F operated by the spirals of the needle, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose specified.
3rd. The oblong case H containing the friction roller I made
adjustable by hinging to the frame of the machine and held in position
by the springs J or their equivalents, substantially in the manner as
herein set forth and specified.
4th. The movable thread guide provided with a hole or opening 6,
and forked end when actuated by the spirals of the needle, substantially
as herein specified and set forth.
5th. The stationary slotted guide E provided with the collar E³,
against which the point of the needle acts to prevent it from moving or a
creeping forward, as specified and set forth.
Dated this Tenth day of December. A. D. 1874.