IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jules Etienne - Péchard
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th November 1883.
JULES ETIENNE PÉCHARD of Paris in the Republic of France "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SEWING MACHINES"
"
i
r
In sewing machines, it is generally necessary that the position and attitude of
one side of the needle relatively to the shuttle or hook which enters the loop of the
needle thread; should be accurately adjusted to the path of the shuttle or hook,
and it is difficult, when needles of various sizes are used, to obtain this adjustment.
My invention relates to a construction and arrangement of needle and its holder
whereby this adjustment is rendered certain, whatever be the size of needle
employed in the machine. For this purpose, I make all the needles of the machine,
whatever be the size- of their shanks, with heads of the same diameter, of
cylindrical form with part flattened on one side, which corresponds with the side
of the needle at which the shuttle or hook acts. The circular section of the needle
shank, whether large or small, is made always tangential to this flat part of the
head; so that one side of the needle shank is always in a vertical line with the flat
side of the head. I bore in the end of the stem which forms the needle holder a
round hole of the same diameter as the needle head, and then I slot the stem
transversely and insert in it a plate which, when in position, presents in the hole
bored for the needle head a flat face corresponding with the flat part of the head.
I surround the end of the stem with a ring provided with a setting screw, by
screwing up which, the needle head is firmly held in the slotted stem. The ring
keeps in position the plate that is inserted in the slot, this plate being made with
projecting shoulders which rest on the ring. The ring may also have attached to
it a thread guide projecting at its side or below it. For fixing a needle, it is only
necessary to slacken the setting screw of the ring, to insert the head of the needle
into the hole of the stem, and then to screw up the setting screw, the needle being
thus firmly gripped, with the flat side of its head against the plate, so that the true
position and attitude of its shank are determined. To prevent the ring from
slipping off the stem, when the setting screw is slackened, a small screw-is inserted
transversely into the stem through a free hole of the ring.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Jules Etienne Péchard in the Patent Office on the 12th May 1884.
"IMPROVEMENTS
JULES ETIENNE PÉCHARD of Paris in the Republic of France
IN SEWING MACHINES".
In sewing machines, whether for lock stitch, chain stitch or for other kinds of 5
stitch, it is of great importance that the side of the needle at which the loop is
engaged by the shuttle, hook, or other organ, should maintain a constant position
relatively to the movement of that organ, notwithstanding that needles of various
sizes may be used in the machine. My invention relates to a construction of the
needle and its holder whereby the accuracy of position of the loop side of the
needle is ensured, and facility is given for removing or inserting needles of various
sizes without varying this position as I will explain referring to the accompanying
figures which are drawn to enlarged scales in order to shew details more
clearly.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section, Fig. 2 is a side elevation and Fig. 3 is a sectional
plan of the needle holder, and Figs. 4 and 5 are front and side views of the plate
fitted therein, these five figures being drawn to a scale of about 4 times the
natural size. Fig. 6 is a plan of the needle head, shewing, the relative positions of
sections of needles of various sizes; this figure being drawn to a scale of about
16 times the natural size.
The stem A of the needle holder is at its lower end turned to fit a ring B, and
has a hole C the size of the needle head bored up its centre, it is also slotted across
to receive a flat plate D which trespasses on a segment of the circular hole C and
has a little side play in the slot between the two limbs ff of the stem. The
ring B to which may be attached a thread guide 6 is held on the stem A by a
screw b which passes through a free hole in the ring and is screwed into one of
the limbs f. The ring B is furnished with a setting screw E, by screwing up which
the limbs ff of the stem are forced towards each other so as to pinch the parts
between them like the jaws of a vice. The plate D is made with two projecting
shoulders d d which, lodging on the upper edge of the ring B, prevent the plate D
from dropping out of the slot. The head of the needle, as shewn in Fig. 6, is
cylindrical with a segment cut off one side so as to present a flat face C¹. Needles
of various sizes are made with heads which are all of the same size, and with their
shanks eccentric to the head, but all tangential to the plane of the flat side C¹, as
indicated by the several dotted circles in Fig. 6, each of those circles representing
the section of a needle shank. Whatever therefore be the size of needle thus
constructed its one side, at which the thread loop is acted on, is in vertical line
with the face C¹.
On slackening the screw E the head of the needle can be inserted into the hole C
of the stem until it butts against the top of the hole as shewn in Fig. 1, and then
by screwing up the screw E the needle becomes firmly gripped, the flat side of its
head lying against the face of the plate D.
Having thus described the nature of my invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I claim :
First. The use of a sewing machine needle having its head in form of a cylinde
with a segment cut off so as to present a flat side, and having the circula
section of its shank tangential to the plane of the flat side of its head
substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

page_text: Second. For the purpose of holding a sewing machine needle having a head in
form of a cylinder with a segment cut off so as to present a flat side, the
combination of the stem A of the holder having its end turned, bored and
transversely slotted, with the shouldered plate D, the ring B and setting
screw E substantially as herein described.
In Witness whereof I the said Jules Etienne Péchard have hereunto set my
hand and seal this tenth day of May in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and eighty four.
JULES ETIENNE PÉCHARD (L.S.)