IMPROVEMENTS IN GATHERING, RUPPLING, OR PLAITING APPARATUS FOR SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GATHERING, RUPPLING, OR PLAITING
APPARATUS FOR SEWING MACHINES."-A communication from abroad by
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 26th June 1872.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for “ IMPROVEMENTS IN GATHERing, Ruffling,
OR PLAITING APPARATUS FOR SEWING MACHINES," a communication, to be as
follows:-
The nature of this Invention consists in the construction and arrange-
ment of gathering, ruffling, or plaiting attachments for sewing machines,
as herein-after fully set forth.

page_text: on
The bed plate of the said attachments have their edges turned up to
form guides, between which a sliding piece moves. This slide has pins
in its edges which move in slots on the turned-up edges of the bed plate.
An arm projects from one side of the slide through a slot in the edge,
and to the outer end of this arm is attached a spring. This spring has
a slot in the end to pass the needle. The point of the spring is curved
upward to catch the upper piece of goods and gather the same. At the
rear end
the upper
side of the slide are upward projecting flanges
between which is placed the lower end of a second arm, projecting from
a shaft or pivot, having its bearings in the turned-up edges of the bed
plate. Another longer arın is attached to the same shaft or pivot, and
its outer or front end is operated upon by the needle bar.
A spring
surrounds the said shaft or pivot, and bears against the under side of
the said long arm to raise the same. A screw passing through the rear
flange and bearing against the second arm on its rear side regulates the
movement of the slide, and hence also the length of the gather.
In a modification of this Invention the sliding plate is not guided in
its movement by turned-up edges on the bed plate, but by set screws
passing through slots in the sliding plate into the bed plate. The end
of the long arm which operates the attachment is forked to pass over the
needle screw, causing it to be carried up and down with the motion of
the needle bar. A part of this arm extends into a slotted piece attached
to the sliding plate. The gather or ruffling is regulated in length by
means of a bent lever pivoted on the sliding plate, one end of which
lever passes under the slotted plate. The other end of the said lever is
moved either to the right or left, and held at any point desired by a
small projection on its under side fitting into notches or recesses made in
the upper face of the sliding plate. To the bed plate is secured an arm
which passes above the sliding plate at or near its front end, and has a
spring attached to its outer end. This spring is directly above the first-
mentioned spring, having its forward end slotted and bent or curved
slightly downward to prevent the gather from sliding back when the
spring moves backward. The materials to be gathered pass between the
two springs.
°
With some machines it has been found impracticable to attach the
arm or lever which operates the attachment by means of its forked end
to the needle screw. To avoid this difficulty I attach a pitman or rod to
the and of the coid lacor a
and the outer end of the said nitman is

page_text: provided with an eyelet or hole to fit over the needle screw.
Over the
upper stationary spring and attached to the arm supporting the same is
a false foot, made clastic. It is provided with a needle hole, and on the
under side, across and in front of the said hole, is a groove or hollow.
When the attachment is on the sewing machine the presser foot of the
machine presses down upon the false spring foot, and as the lower
movable spring is moving forward the said spring pushes the gather into
the groove, where it is held by the upper stationary spring, while the
movable spring moves back again. The false foot also serves as a guide
in placing the attachment on the machine.
A
If it is desired to cause the gatherer to skip a certain number of
stitches before operating to push forward the cloth I use the following
contrivances:-Upon the same pivot as the operating arm is carried a
loose ratchet wheel. A pawl is also carried upon the said arm, so that
each time the same rises the ratchet is carried forward therewith.
second pawl is pivoted to the standard on which the said arm is pivoted,
and acts as a stop to prevent the downward motion of the operating arm.
This latter pawl is held in place by a spring, and may be thrown out of
gear. Upon the face of the ratchet wheel I cut a series of notches, and
to the vertical arm of the operating lever is pivoted another lever whose
upper extremity is pressed against the face of the ratchet wheel and
held in the said notches by a spring. These notches are made with an
inclined side, so that a continued motion of the wheel throws the end of
the lever out upon the face. A raised ledge or projection upon the
sliding plate is arranged to stand in the path of the last-mentioned lever
when the operating arm is moved, and the upper extremity of the said
lever is in one of the notches.
For each stitch of the machine the ratchet wheel is moved forward
one tooth.
When it has been moved forward four teeth the end of the
said lever drops into one of the notches, and in the return motion of the
operating arm the said lever engages the projection and moves forward.
the sliding plate which operates the spring and causes a plait or gather
to be formed on the cloth. The next downward motion of the arm
carries back the sliding plate. The same motion operates to further turn
the ratchet and disengage the lever from the notch. When it is desired
to gather or ruffle with this machine it is only necessary to throw the
first pawl out of gear. The lever will then remain in the notch, and
the sliding plate will be operated at every stitch. A slotted plate with

page_text: a guard at the end is attached to the bed plate by a bolt and thumb
nut. This may be thrown in or out at pleasure, serving to align the
edge of the fabric to be stitched to the ruffler. The aforesaid attachment
may be secured in the place of the presser foot or to the head of the
machine.
In the above described apparatus it will be observed that the motion
is communicated from the needle bar, but an attachment, operating on
the same principle, may be constructed to receive its motion from the
feed of the machine. In this modification the bed plate has a recess in
its under side for the operating mechanism, or two plates are secured,
one on top of the other, and the lower plate cut cut to form the desired
recess. This plate is secured to the bed plate by the gauge screw, and.
covers the feed of the machine. In the recess is a sliding plate or bar,
provided with a downwardly projecting steel point, which when the plate
is adjusted on the bed plate of the machine is to fit directly against the
feed bar of the machine, so that when the said feed bar is in motion it
will carry forward with it the said plate or bar. This plate or bar is
moved backward again when the feed bar moves back by a spring. From
the aforesaid sliding plate an arm extends along the under side of the
bed plate, passes up through an elongated slot, and is curved over, and
has a spring attached to its front end. This spring is directly in the
rear of the needle hole in the bed plate, and moves with the sliding plate
in the direction of the said hole. A stationary spring, with or without a
false foot, may also be used with this spring, as above set forth. In a
slot in the bed plate is a feed bar, which is operated by the motion of
the sliding plate, a projection on the said sliding plate striking the rear
end of the feed bar at its forward movement, while the said feed bar is
moved backward again by a spring. The movement of this feed bar is
regulated by a sliding bar.;
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 3
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th December 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting..
3

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert
Lake, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GATHERING, RUFFLING, OR PLAITING APPARATUS FOR
SEWING MACHINES,” a communication to me from abroad by Allen
Johnston, of Ottumwa, Iowa, United States of America, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 accom-
panying Drawing forming a part of this Specification :--
The nature of my Invention consists in the construction and arrange-
ment of gathering, ruffling, or plaiting attachments for sewing machines
as will be herein-after more fully set forth,
In Figure 1 of the annexed Drawing A represents the bed plate of my
attachment, having its edges a, a, turned up to form guides, between
which the sliding piece B moves. This slide has pins i, i, in its edges
which move in slots on the turned up edges a, a, of the bed plate. An
arm & projects from one side of the slide B, through a slot in the edge a,
and to the outer end of this arm is attached a spring C. This spring C
has a slot in the end to pass the needle, the point of the spring being so
'

page_text: curved upward as to catch the upper piece of goods, gathering the same.
At the rear end on the upper side of the slide B are upward projecting
flanges e, e, between which is placed the lower end of an arm & pro-
jecting from a shaft or pivot, having its bearings in the turned up
edges a, a, of the bed plate A.
Another longer arm D is attached to the same shaft or pivot and its
outer or front end is operated upon by the needle bar.
A spring surrounds the said shaft or pivot and bears against the
under side of the arm D to raise the same up.
The piece to be ruffled is placed above the spring C, while, the other
piece is placed underneath said spring. When the ruffler is attached to
the machine the needle bar carries down with it the bar D which draws
back the spring C, the goods being held by the presser foot, and at the
upward motion of the needle bar the spring catches and ruffles it. The
spring being turned up will more readily catch and move the goods
forward. A screw passing through the rear flange e, and bearing
against the arm d on its rear side, regulates the movement of the slide B,
and hence also the length of the gather.
In Figure 2, A is the bed plate; B, the sliding plate; and C the
spring having a turned up slotted point and operating in precisely the
same manner as described in Figure 1. The sliding plate B is however
not guided in its movement by turned-up edges on the bed plate, but by
set screws passing through slots in the sliding plate into the bed plate.
D is the bent arm for operating the attachment, said arm being pivoted
to the inner side of a turned up car or flange at or near the end of the
bed plate A. The end of the arm D is forked as shown to pass over the
needle screw, causing it to be carried up and down with the motion of
the needle bar; dis the smaller part of said arm, which part extends
into a slotted piece m attached to the sliding plate B. The movement
of the plate B and consequently also of the gather or ruffling is
regulated in length by means of a bent lever G pivoted on the sliding
plate, one end of which lever passes under the slotted plate m. The
other end of the lever G is moved either to the right or left and held at
any point desired by means of a small projection on its under side, fitting
into notches or recesses made in the upper face of the sliding plate B.
To the bed plate A is secured an arm H which passes above the sliding
plate B at or near its front end and has a spring I attached to its outer

page_text: end. This spring is directly above the spring C, having its forward end
slotted and bent or curved slightly downward to prevent the gather from
sliding back when the spring C moves backward. The goods to be
gathered passes between the two springs.
With some machines it has been found impracticable to attach the
arm or lever D by means of its forked end to the needle screw on
account of the stroke of the needle bar being either too long or too short
to properly move the sliding plate. To avoid this difficulty I attach a
pitman J, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, to the end of the lever or arm D,
and the outer end of said pitman is provided with an eyelet or hole to
go over the needle screw. Thus the motion is communicated from the
needle bar through the pitman to the lever and the gathering or ruffling
attachment. Over the upper stationary spring I, and attached to the
arm I supporting the same is a false foot K, made in such a manner as
to have clasticity or spring to it. It is provided with a needle hole, and
on the under side across and in front of said hole is a groove or hollow
When the attachment is on the sewing machine, the presser foot of
the machine presses down upon the false spring foot K, and as the lower
movable spring is moving forward, said spring pushes the gather into
the groove n, where it is held by the upper stationary spring while the
movable spring goes back again. The false foot also serves as a guide in
placing the attachment on the machine as it has to be just right or the
needle will not pass through the hole in the false foot. In Figure 5 I
have shown a bottom view of the stationary spring and the false foot.
If it is desired to cause the gatherer to skip a certain number of stitches
before operating to push forward the cloth I use an additional device
shown in Figures 6, 7, and 8, and described as follows:-
n.
Upon the same pivot as the arm D is carried a loose ratchet wheel L.
A pawl p is carried upon the arm D, so that each time said arm rises the
ratchet is carried forward in motion therewith. A second pawl is
pivoted to the standard on which the arin D is pivoted, and acts as a
stop to prevent the down motion of the arm D from operating to return
the ratchet. This latter pawl is held in place by a spring t, and may be
thrown out of gear, as seen at Figure 7 in dotted lines. Upon the face
of the ratchet wheel I, is cut a scries of notches 8, 8, more or less in
number, as the case may be, and to the vertical arm of the lever D is
pivoted a lever M, its upper extremity pressed against the face of the
ratchet wheel by means of a spring, and held into the notches 8.

page_text: .
These notches are made with an inclined side like the teeth of a ratchet,
so that a continued motion of the wheel throws the end of the lever out
upon the face. A raised ledge or projection N upon the sliding plate B
is so arranged as to stand in the path of the lever M when the arm D is
moved, and the upper extremity of the lever M is in one of the notches s.
Now the teeth of the ratchet each stand for one stitch of the machine,
that is to say, for each stitch of the machine the ratchet wheel is moved
forward one tooth. When it has been moved forward four teeth the end
of the lever M drops into one of the notches s, and in the return motion
of the arm D the said lever engages the projection N, and moves forward
the sliding plate B, which operates the spring C and causes a plait or
gather to be formed on the cloth. The next down motion of the arm
carries back the sliding plate by means of the bent lever G, the same as
above described. The same motion operates to further turn the ratchet
and disengage the lever M from the notch s. The interval between the
plaits may be made any number of stitches desired by arranging the
ratchet wheel so that a greater or less number of teeth shall intervene
between the notches 8. When it is desired to gather or ruffle with this
machine, or in other words to cause the spring to push forward the cloth
at every stitch, it is only necessary to throw the pawl out of gear into
the position shown in dotted lines at Figure 7. The lever M will now
remain in the notch 8, and the sliding plate will be operated at every
stitch. O is a slotted plate, with a guard w at the end, and attached to
the bed plate A by means of a fixed bolt and thumb nut *.
This may
be thrown in or out at pleasure, serving to align the edge of the fabric to
be stitched to the ruffler, and to prevent the same from drawing to one
side or the other. The foregoing attachment may be attached in place
of the presser foot or to the head of the machine.
In the above attachment or attachments it will be noticed that the
motion is communicated from the needle bar, but an attachment ope-
rating substantially on the same principle may be constructed to receive
its motion from the feed of the machine to which it is attached. Such
an attachment I have represented in Figures. 9, 10, 11, and 12, in
which A' represents the bed plate, having a suitable recess in its under
side for the operating mechanism, or two plates, one on top of the
other, and the lower plate cut out so as to form the desired recess. This
plate is secured to the bed plate of the machine by the gauge screw
passing through a hole a¹ in the same, and said plate covers the feed of

page_text: the machine. In the recess formed on the under side of the plate A' is
a sliding plate or bar B', provided with a downwardly projecting steel
point, which when the plate is adjusted on the bed plate of the
machine, is to fit directly in front of and against the feed bar of the
machine, so that when said feed bar is in motion it will carry forward
with it the plate or bar B'. This plate or bar is moved backward again
when the feed bar moves back by a spring d¹ pressing against the pro-
jection ', as shown in Figure 9. From the plate B' an arm C¹ extends.
along the under side of the plate A¹ for a short distance, then passes up.
through an elongated slot e¹ in the same, and is curved over and has a
spring D' attached to its front end. This spring is directly in rear of
the needle hole on the plate A³, and moves with the sliding plate B¹
in the direction of said hole in the same manner and for the same
purpose as above described. A stationary spring with or without a false
foot may also be used with the spring D¹, as above set forth.
In a slot in the plate A' surrounding the needle hole f¹ is a feed bar h¹,
which is operated by the motion of the sliding plate B', a projection k¹
on said sliding plate striking the rear end of the feed bar at its forward
movement, while said feed bar is moved backward again by a spring m¹.
The amount of the movement of the feed bar is regulated by the
sliding bar E', which has a projection n¹ extending upward through an
elongated slot in the plate A', so that the said sliding bar may be moved
from the top.
In the gathering or ruffling attachments heretofore used the motion
has always been communicated from or through the needle bar, neces-
sitating the employment of complicated machinery or devices, but by
using the feed of the machine as the motive power for the attachment it
can be made very simple and of small compass.
Having thus fully described my Invention, what I claim as new and
desire to secure by Letters Patent is,―
1st. A sliding plate B, provided with a spring C, and operated by an
arm D from the needle bar of a sewing machine, substantially as and for
the purposes herein set forth.
2nd. The combination of the sliding plate B, having spring C and
flanges e, e, the arms D, d, and spring f, all constructed and arranged
substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

page_text: 3rd. In combination with the sliding plate B, flanges e, e, and arm d,
the screw h, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
4th. The stationary spring I, having its outer end slotted and turned
downward, and placed above the reciprocating spring C, substantially as
and for the purposes herein set forth.
5th. The adjusting lever G, pivoted on the sliding plate B, and
arranged to operate with the slotted piece m and arm d, substantially as
and for the purposes herein set forth.
6th. The combination of the bed plate A, slide B, spring C, arms D, d,
spring f, and screw h, all constructed and arranged substantially as and 1
for the purposes herein set forth.
7th. The combination of the bed plate A, sliding plate B, with
spring C, levers D and G, arm H, and spring I, all constructed and
arranged to operate substantially as and for the purposes hercin set
forth.
8th. In combination with the arm or lever for operating a gathering
attachment for sewing machines, I claim a pitman J, to form the con-
nection between said arm or lever and the needle bar of the sewing
machine, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
1
9th. The false foot K, provided with a needle hole and a groove n on 2
its under side, and arranged and operating with the springs C and I,
substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
10th. In combination with a plaiting or gathering mechanism I claim
a ratchet device arranged upon the vibrating arm of such mechanism,
substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
11th. The ratchet wheel L, provided with the notches 8, 8, in com-
bination with the lever M, all constructed and arranged substantially as
and for the purposes hercin set forth.
12th. The combination of the arm D, ratchet wheel L, pawls p, r,
lever M, and sliding plate B, substantially as and for the purposes herein
set forth.
13th. A gathering or ruffling attachment for sewing machines when
operated by the feed of the machine to which it is attached, substantially
as herein set forth.
2
5

page_text: 14th. The sliding plate B', with arm C³, one or more springs D', and
projection placed in a recess on the under side of the plate A', and
so arranged on the bed plate of the machine that the projection b¹ will be
in front of and against the feed bar, all substantially as and for the
purposes herein set forth.
15th. The auxiliary feed bar h¹, operated by means of the sliding
plate B from the regular feed bar of the machine, substantially as and
for the purposes herein set forth.
16th. The combination of the plate A', sliding plate B', with arm C¹
and one or more springs D', feed bar h³, projection 6', springs d', m³, and
regulator E', all constructed and arranged to operate substantially as and
for the purpose herein set forth.