Iм- PROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hiram Plummer, of Brooklyn, in the State of
New York, United States of America, for the Invention of “Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hiram Plummer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th January 1870.
I, HIRAM PLUMMER, of Brooklyn, in the State of New York, United
States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS. IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This machine is devised with special reference to sewing straw and
other braids for bonnets, hats, and the like.
The first feature of the said Invention relates to mechanism that.
presents the braid or fabric in a crimped or folded condition to the
needle, the said folder being a finger that lies over the edge of the
two or more thicknesses-of-material, and is moved to carry a fold of the
fabric bodily down into a groove or opening in the bed.

page_text: The second feature of this Invention is an eye-pointed needle that
passes through the said fold coming out at the same surface of the fabric
as that at which it entered, the said needle reciprocating below and
parallel to the bed upon which the fabric is placed. The thread carried
through the fold of the fabric is concatenated by looping, or a shuttle
thread passed through the loop of needle thread, the needle draws back out
of the fabric, the folder rises, the fabric is fed along, the folder descends,
and the needle again goes through the fold as before. The aforesaid
folding finger, the bar carrying the reciprocating eye-pointed needle,
and the shuttle or looping device for the thread are operated from one
prime moving shaft below the bed through the agency of cams, cranks,
or other mechanism usual in sewing machines.
The third feature of this Invention relates to the feeding mechanism;
this operates in the direction of the needle's length. In some classes of
goods it is preferable to use a point that is raised to penetrate the fabric,
then moved to feed and withdrawn and returned to the place of beginning,
but usually in sewing braids it is important to hold the material between
two surfaces so as to keep the two thicknesses properly in position
relatively to each other. I therefore make a feed that is composed of
two plates connected and moving together, and provided with a spring
to press the plates towards each other to hold and clamp the fabric, and
while the needle is in the fabric this clamp is moved back, sliding over
the fabric, and when the needle is out of the cloth or fabric, that and
the two clamping plates are moved along together to feed the fabric for
the next stitch, the clamping plates holding the fabric between them
by the yielding pressure.
In sewing braid the two plates forming the feeding device are made
with guides for the edges of the braid and the sewed material. And in
sewing up the crown of a hat a pin may be made use of, passing through
the centre of the coil of braid and through slots in the feeding plate and
bed of the machine, so that the parts swing on this pin in performing
the circular sewing.
In ordinary sewing machines the two plates forming the feeding clamp
are connected together by a spring arm or frame, so as to give the space
necessary for introducing cloth or fabric.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters, Patent'
filed by the said Hiram Plummer in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th June 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HIRAM
PLUMMER, of Brooklyn, in the State of New York, United States of
America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Hiram Plummer, Her special licence that I, the said
Hiram Plummer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Hiram Plummer, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Hiram Plummer, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same. was
to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW: YE, that I, the said Hiram Plummer, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):
Fig. 1 is a plan of the machine; Fig. 2 is a vertical section near the
needle bar; and Fig. 3 is a view endwise of the main shaft. The same
letters denote corresponding parts.
This machine is devised with special reference to sewing straw and
other braids for bonnets, hats, &c., but may be used for other kinds of
sewing

page_text: The first feature of the Invention relates to mechanism that presents
the braid or fabric in a crimped or folded condition to the needle.
The second feature consists in a needle that reciprocates beneath the
bed in a line parallel or nearly so to the movement of the feed, the
sewing being performed by the eye-pointed needle that passes through
the crimp or fold of the fabric and carries a thread that is concatenated
with a second or shuttle thread.
The third feature of the Invention relates to the feeding mechanism
that is formed of two plates that grasp the material to be sewed and
move forward carrying it along, and then move backwards sliding over
the material though still grasping it, the material being held stationary
by the needle and folder while the feeding mechanism is moving
backwards.
The bed a of the machine is of suitable size and shape, and carries
the main driving shaft 6 that is to be actuated by suitable power and
and communicates motion to the other parts of the machine; the cam c
moves the needle bar d and needle, the cam e moves the feeding
mechanism, the cam f actuates the crimping device, and the crank g
gives motion to the shuttle; these parts are to be properly shaped and
timed, as will be understood by competent workmen, so as to give the
movements necessary for effecting the sewing by the parts and in
the manner hereafter set forth. The bed of the machine has an opening
in it for the folding or crimping mechanism, which consists of a jaw
or frame h moved upon the fulcrum 2 by a roller 3 in the cam f; the
lifter 4 raises the fabric out of the slot in the bed a, and on the reverse
movement of the jaw the folder 5 presses the fabric down into the
slot in the bed. The extent of movement is regulated by an adjusting
screw rod 6 that brings the folder 5 nearer to or further from the
actuating roller 3, so that the fabric is pressed down into the bed
more or less, and the folder 5 is also movable vertically in the jaw h
to adjust the parts. The folder 5 has a notch in its lower edge, see
Fig. 10, on line with the needle and widened towards the needle, so
that the point enters freely. The two or more thicknesses of fabric
are pressed down by the folder 5 into the slot in the bed a, see Fig. 2,
and at that moment the eye-pointed needle is projected and passes
through one part of the folded braid or fabric, coming out between the
fold and within the notch in the folder 5. If the folder is raised just
as the needle point perforates one side of the fold the stitch will show
.

page_text: but little on one side of the fabric, but if the folder is in such a postion
that the needle travels through that notch before the folder is lifted
from the fabric the stitch will show of a greater length upon the upper
surface of the material. The thread passes from the spool k and tension
clamp 7 through the eyes 8 and 9 to the needle, and the shuttle l'is
passed through the loop of needle thread that is formed as the needle
commences to draw back. The shuttle is moved at the proper time by
the shuttle driver ♬ and a crank pin ², and the usual cover is provided
for the shuttle raceway at the level of the surface of the bed a. The
slack loop of thread is drawn back by the eye 8 and lever 10 that
receives motion from the needle bar d as it reciprocates, and the eye 8
of this lever 10 having a greater movement than the needle allows
sufficient thread to the needle as it passes through the fabric and
prevents the thread being broken by the tension that would be required
to draw thread off the spool while the needle is through the fabric.
The character of stitch that is made by this mode of sewing is illustrated
in Fig. 4. The needle reciprocating below the bed upon which the
needle rests, and parallel or nearly so to the surface of that bed, passes
through the fold or crimp of the fabric and comes out on the same
surface of the fabric at which it entered, hence a double thread will
remain in the hole made by the needle, and the sewing will be of
that strong but elastic character so necessary in sewing straw goods,
braids, &c. for hats and bonnets, and the stitch can be made to show
more or less on the outside of the fabric according to the adjustment
by the screw 6. Instead of the shuttle shown the loop of needle
thread might be held by a hook and the needle pass through the loop
to make a stitch, such as shown in Fig. 5. The mechanism for feeding
the fabric or material to be sewed might consist of a point forced up
into the fabric, then moved along to feed the same and drawn down and
returned to the point of beginning, but I prefer to use two. clamping
plates or surfaces n.and o brought together by a spring p or yielding
pressure.

page_text: P
that rises up through the bed a to meet the surface o forms one part of
the feeding clamp, and the two portions moving together carry the
fabric along to feed the same when the needle is out of the cloth;
when the needle is in the fabric the clamps n, o, are moved back and
slide upon the fabric above and below it. A loose ring & may be.
employed around the portion n of the feeding clamp, as seen in
Figs. 8 and 9, to facilitate the turning of the fabric, and the arm forms
The feeding
the spring to keep the surface o towards the surface n.
clamps n, o, Figs. 1, 2, 3, operate substantially as before named, but
are adapted to the presentation of strips or braid to the sewing
mechanism. The plate n is fitted to slide parallel to the needle and
is guided by the screw 17 and slides 18, 18; the feed movement is given
to this plate by the stud 19 on the lever t moved by the cam e, and this
· stud 19 may be placed nearer to or further from the fulcrum of the
levert so as to increase or lessen the feeding movement. Upon this
feed plate n is a secondary plate u fitted in slides 20, 20, so as to be
adjusted by the screw v for bringing the end 21 of said plate ụ into the
proper position relatively to the needle, as this end 21 forms a gauge for the
edge of the braid that passes between the plate n and clamp o at this place.
The clamp o is made with a vertical stud o¹ carrying a cam 23 and lever
that act to raise the clamp o against the action of the spring p for
liberating the fabric between n and o. The edge of the hat or bonnet
upon which the braid is being sewed lies above the plate o against an
adjustable gauge w, the position of which may be varied by the screw 24
so as to regulate the point of sewing relatively to the edge of the fabric,
as illustrated by the heavy dotted lines in Fig. 1, wherein two pieces
of braid are represented as being sewed together. When the round
crown of the hat is being sewed the operator guides the same by the
finger placed in the center, and a pin might be introduced through this
into a slot. When the side crown is being sewed the hat will be wrong
side out and is to be turned previously to sewing the brim.
What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-
First. The combination of a reciprocating perforating needle with the
folder 5 constructed and operating substantially as described and
shuttle or its equivalent, for the purposes and as set forth.
Second. A feeding mechanism acting in the direction of the needle's
length in combination with a folder and reciprocating perforating needle,
substantially as specified.

page_text: Third. A perforating needle, reciprocating in a plane parallel to that
on which the fabric to be sewed is placed in combination with a shuttle
moved in a raceway in the bed and with mechanism for presenting
the material to the needle in a folded condition, substantially as set
forth.
Fourth. The feeding mechanism constructed and operating sub-
stantially as herein specified to move the material along between two
clamping surfaces, and which surfaces are moved back over such
material while the same is held by the needle, as set forth..
In witness whereof, I, the said Hiram Plummer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of June, A.D. One thousand
eight hundred and seventy.
Witnesses,
CHAS. H. SMITH,
121, Nassau St.,
New York.
GEO. D. WALKER,
121, Nassau St.,
New York.
HIRAM PLUMMER. (L.S.)