Improvements in Wax-thread Sewing Machines.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Dec., 1889-Accepted, 1st Feb., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by GEORGE AMBORN, Junior, of 27, Grove_Street,
Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States of America, Manufacturer.]
Improvements in Wax-thread Sewing Machines.
I HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 :-
My said improvements relate to that variety of wax thread sewing machines in
which two vibrating arms co-operate for delivering the thread to a hook needle, one
of said arms having a thread eye, and the other being a controlling arm vibrating in
a plane below the eye, for aiding in drawing down the thread and presenting it to
the hook of the needle, and then in gradually releasing the thread, as the needle
retires into the leather which is being stitched.
.
The earliest and most common form of thread eye arm known to me, has a
flattened round end in which the thread eye is located, and under all circumstances
the thread lies below the arm and eye, in its path to the needle, whether said path
be direct, or by way of the co-operating controlling arm.
With this form of eye
arm, the rounded portion at the end beyond the eye, when in operation on certain
kinds of work frequently strikes and defaces adjacent leather surfaces; as, for
instance, the uppers of shoes mounted on lasts, while stitching uppers to soles.
Another variety of eye arm, has a finger, and is in fact a forked arm, and in this
form, the eye portion of the arm is flattened, and the thread, as with the earlier form
of arm, passes always wholly below the arm at the eye, and when the thread is pre-
sented to the hook of the needle, its path lies beneath the eye, thence over the delicate
projecting tip of the finger, thence around the thread controlling arm, and thence to
the last formed stitch in the leather, and the hook of the needle engages with that
portion of the thread, which is carried by the eye arm, between its eye, and its finger,
but the tip of the finger, is quite liable to override the thread, resulting in failure of
delivery to the needle. The said forked thread arms, involve great nicety in con-
struction, are comparatively expensive, and more or less liable to breakage or injury
at the small tip of the finger, and in setting them in a machine for service, much care
and skill is required; and although such forked arms have much greater practical
value than the preceding simple eye arms, they are liable to occasional failure in the
performance of their duties.
I have now devised a thread eye arm, which is nearly as simple in construction, and
nearly as inexpensive, as the original plain eye arm, and it is free from the liabilities
of injury and breakage incident to the forked arms, and one which can be set with
less skill and greater facility, and also operated with a minimum liability of failure in
service.
My said novel thread eye arm, differs from all others known to me, in that it has
at its end, directly beyond the eye, a thread seat or face, across which the thread is
carried laterally by the thread controlling arm, and therefore said eye arm is one
which during its presentation of thread to a hook needle, wholly at the rear, or
one side of, that portion or "bight" of thread, which extends from the thread arm
eye, to the thread controlling arm.
My said improvements have been devised by me with special reference to their use
upon Lock Stitch wax thread sewing machines, and I have illustrated my invention
as applied to such Campbell Machine as are described in British Letters Patent No. 262
dated 19th January 1882.

page_text: To particularly describe my invention, I will refer to the accompanying drawings,
in which
Figure 1, illustrates a Campbell wax thread lock-stitch or shuttle machine, with my
improvements applied thereto, it being understood that the hook needle, in said
machine is circularly reciprocated.
Figure 2, illustrates in side view, that portion of the machine in which the thread
eye arm is located, my improved eye arm being shewn applied thereto.
Figure 3, illustrates in plan view the bracket on which the eye arm carrier is
supported and operated.
Figure 4 illustrates my improved thread eye arm in its preferred form, in side
view, and on a scale very much larger than the arm is ever made for actual use, in
order to better illustrate its peculiar construction.
Figures 5 and 6, illustrate the same, respectively in edge and end view.
Figure 7, illustrates the arm in end view, with thread passing through the eye in a
straight but slightly inclined line as during the tightening of a stitch.
Figure 8 is a similar view of said arm, with the thread passing through the eye, and
thence horizontally across the end of the arm, as when the thread is under the
control of the vibrating thread controlling arm.
Figure 9 illustrates in side elevation (and on a smaller scale) the thread eye arm,
and the thread controlling arm in position, as when delivering thread to the hook of
the needle.
Figure 10, illustrates the same parts in plan view, and in position, as when thread
is being delivered to the hook of the needle.
Figure 11, illustrates the two arms in position, after the needle has carried down the
thread, and just after the latter has been released by the controlling arm.
Figure 12, illustrates the two arms in position, just before the next rise of the
needle, the thread eye arm being then in its most rearward position.
Figure 13, illustrates said arms, as when the needle is ascending, the thread con-
trolling arm having been swung around for picking up the thread, and the thread
eye arm being just ready to advance and resume the position shown in Figure 10,
with the thread in the seat, across the end of the eye arm.
Figures 14, 15 and 16, illustrate my novel thread arm in a modified form, respec-
tively in top, side, and bottom views, the same being shown much larger than the
arm is ever made.
Figures 17 and 18, illustrate said arm in end view, one figure showing thread
passing in a right line through the eye, as during the tightening of a stitch, the
other showing the thread carried laterally across the thread face, as when about to be
delivered to the hook of a needle.
Figure 19 illustrates in side view an arched shuttle rail and its plate detached from
beneath the arched work plate and disclosing the guide bearing for the needle bar, its
cross head and the link by which it is coupled to its operating lever.
Figure 20 is a side view of the needle bar and its cross head.
Figures 21 and 22 illustrate sections of the parts shown in Figure 19 respectively
on lines x and y.
The hook needle A as devised and organized by me in a Campbell machine, is
circularly reciprocated as well as having the usual longitudinal movements as will
be hereinafter more particularly referred to and described but it is to be understood
that my present improvements are in part applicable to machines in which the needle
is not circularly reciprocated, and even to chain stitch machines.
The thread controlling arm B has and needs, as heretofore, only a swinging movement,
so that its tip will describe the arc of a circle illustrated in Figures 11 and 13. The
thread eye arm C is reciprocated toward and from the needle, its carrier a being guided
in a slot a¹ in the bracket b, said slot being so curved or inclined, as to cause the arm
while moving bodily toward and from the needle, to travel in a path slightly curved or
inclined sidewise, as indicated by the contour of said slot a', and the relative positions
of the carrier a in Figures 11 and 12.

page_text: The head of the thread eye arm C is flattened, and it is provided with an elongated
or oval eye c which has its longest diameter crosswise of the flattened head. The outer
end of this arm is substantially vertical but slightly concaved as at c¹ and this end
surface, constitutes a thread face, or a thread seat, which is directly beyond the eye
and closely adjacent thereto. When this arm is mounted for service in its carrier a
upon the pendant stem or spindle, the flattened head is set angularly or, in other words,
the flat end is inclined slightly from a vertical line, the lower corner or edge being
slightly nearer the needle (when delivering thread thereto) than the upper corner or
edge so that when the eye arm moves backwardly and the controlling arm B, engages
with the thread and carries it laterally, the portion of thread immediately below the
eye will easily slip upward over or around the lower corner, and occupy the thread
face or seat cas illustrated in Figure 8 but when free from the controlling arm and
under strain, as during the tightening of the stitch, the thread occupies a straight line
in its passage through the eye, as shown in Figure 7, the eye being oval or elongated
in form, simply because the flat head of the arm is inclined to the path of the thread
although the outer straight side of the eye, somewhat facilitates the slipping of the
thread over the lower corner of the arm. The carrier a is reciprocated by means of
the link d, and slide e, the latter being as usual actuated through the rod e¹ by a suit-
able cam in the head of the machine.
Now referring to Figures 9 and 10 it will be understood that denotes the bight
of thread presented to the hook of the needle A, and that the thread end fl leads
from the source of supply and also that the thread end 2 extends from the last
made stitch in the fabric to the controlling arm B, between which and the thread
seat at the outer end of the thread eye arm C, the bight of thread f is tightly
drawn for presentation to the hook of the needle. In this machine, the partial
rotation of the needle enables its hook to receive the thread with a minimum advance
of the thread eye arm, but if the needle, as in some machines; has no circular
movement so as to turn the hook toward the eye arm, the latter needs only to be
proportionately farther advanced. This Figure 10 clearly illustrates the presence of
the thread beyond the eye of the arm C and it will be seen that the end of this arm
cannot possibly strike the surface of a shoe "upper" during the operation of sole
stitching because the thread will be always interposed between the end of the arm
and the "upper."
In Figure 11, the thread controlling arm B is shown after it has been swung
around to release the thread during the descent of the needle, the eye arm C still
occupying the position as in Figure 10, where it remains during the taking up of
the thread for tightening a stitch as after the passage of the shuttle.
In Figure 12 the thread controlling arm B is shown to be still occupying the
position shown in Figure 11, but the eye arm C has been carried rearward and, side-
wise (see slot a¹ of Figure 3) so that when the controlling arm B is next swung, as
shown in Figure 13, it will pick up the thread below the eye arm, and then resume
the position shown in Figure 10, the eye arm C, being then ready to be moved
forward and laterally into the position shown in Figure 10, and it will be seen that
during its forward movement, the eye arm pushes the thread toward the needle, and
is always wholly at the rear of the thread which passes across the thread seat c¹
directly in front of the eye, and the hook of the needle has presented to it, a portion
of thread which extends in a straight line, from the outer end of the eye arm, to the
controlling arm. With an eye arm of the ordinary form, the thread would lie
closely against the rear side of the eye, and the outer end of the arm would project
far beyond the thread; and with a forked eye arm, the finger of the fork has first
to pick up the thread between the eye, and the controlling arm during the forward
movement of the thread eye arm, and when it reaches its most forward position,
the sharp tip of said finger projects beyond the thread toward, and is sometimes
liable to engage with, and deface, the "upper" of a shoe; and so also with the
forked arms, the portion of the arm which is directly beyond the eye, is wholly
in advance of the thread, and this portion is also liable to strike and deface a shoe
" upper."

page_text: My eye thread arm, may be somewhat varied in its form, without departing from
my invention, as, for instance, as shown in Figures 14 to 18 inclusive. The eye
arm C¹, here shown, has a thread eye c², which is round instead of oval, because
this arm at its head, is flat on top, and is cut away on its underside, so that the
thread can pass downward through the eye, as in the ordinary form of eye thread
arm. At the one side of the eye, there is beneath the head, a depending flange c³,
and at the outer end of the head or arm, the concave thread face c¹, is as before
described. It will be readily seen, that the thread during the tightening of a stitch
will stand free in the eye, as shown in Figure 17, and that when the thread below the
eye is engaged by a controlling arm, the latter will carry that portion of the
thread into a horizontal position, and cause it to slip upward and take a turn across,
and to occupy the thread seat or face c¹, at the end of the arm as is clearly shown in
Figure 18.
Now referring to Figures 19 to 22 inclusive, I will explain the means, by which the
hook needle A, is circularly reciprocated. The segmental shuttle rail plate D, is sub-
stantially as in the well known Campbell Machines, the path of the needle bar A¹,
being through the middle of the arched shuttle rail D'. The cross head g, is located
near the lower end of the needle bar, the latter at that point being reduced in diameter,
so as to rotatively occupy its bearing within the cross head, the latter being
cylindrical for more than 180°, and to that extent, of the same external diameter as
the needle bar, so that both will fit and smoothly slide in the vertical guide bearing g',
said bearing being slotted, as at 92, for a portion of its length, to accommodate the
protruding portion of the cross-head which is squared up at its sides, so as to accurately
fit said slot, and be free to slide therein. The link 93, is coupled to the usual needle
driving lever, not here shown. Below the cross-head, there is a rotative sleeve h, and
nuts, ², are tapped to the screw threaded lower end of the needle bar, each nut
having one set of squared-up wrench faces, but they are otherwise cylindrical, and
serve as guides in the bearing g', for the lower end of the needle bar, below the cross
head. As thus constructed, it will be seen, that while the needle bar and needle may
be readily reciprocated longitudinally, the bar is also circularly reciprocated, because
it is spirally slotted as at i the slot or groove being V-shaped, and occupied by the
V-shaped tip of a transverse pin k, which is rendered longitudinally adjustable by
means of a forcing screw k¹, and it is firmly locked against rotation, by a clamp
screw. It will be understood, that when the needle is at its lowest position, with
its hook below the tip of the arched shuttle rail, the hook stands cross wise of the rail,
so as to properly present the loop of thread for the passage of the shuttle, but when
the needle rises again, to receive another loop of thread, it is caused to turn its hook
around sidewise, toward the thread arms to better enable it to receive thread from
them. The best results will accrue from the use of my eye thread arm, with a
circularly reciprocated needle, because then, the eye arm can perform its full duty with
a minimum liability of its end to cross the stitch line, but said thread arm with its
thread seat at its outer end beyond its eye, is far more desirable and effective, than eye
arms of the ordinary form when used with needles which have no rotary movement,
because with my eye arm the thread is always interposed between its outer end, and a
shoe "upper," and hence the arm need never strike against an
upper."
<
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion 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 wax thread sewing machine, the combination of a hook needle, a
vibrating thread controlling arm and a thread eye arm, provided at its outer end
beyond its eye, with a thread seat or face, substantially as described, whereby the con-
trolling arm, in engaging with the thread below the eye arm, causes a portion of the
thread to lie laterally across the end of said arm beyond its eye, and to occupy said
thread seat, during the presentation of thread to the hook of the needle.
Second. In a wax thread machine, the combination of a hook needle which is
circularly and longitudinally reciprocated, a vibrating thread controlling arm, and a

page_text: thread eye arm which has at its outer end, and directly beyond its eye, a thread seat
or face, substantially as described, whereby the hook of the needle, is turned toward
the two arms, and thread delivered thereto, in a straight line extending from the outer
end of the eye arm, to the controlling arm.
Third. The thread delivering arm, having an eye for the passage of thread to a hook
needle, and also having a thread seat at, and across its outer end, directly beyond its
eye, substantially as described, whereby when the thread below the eye is drawn taut
laterally, and in one direction, it will slip to, and occupy said seat, across the end of
the arm.
1
. 2011 1
December 188a
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.