Improvements in Sewing and Embroidering Machines.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 14th July, 1887.
Specification Accepted. 30th Aug., 1887.
Improvements in Sewing and Embroidering Machines.
I, WILHELM VON PITTLER, Engineer, of Gohlis Leipzig, in the Kingdom of
Saxony, 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 :-
The present invention relates to a machine chiefly intended for the manufacture of
various kinds of embroidery, but applicable also as a sewing machine. The principal
feature of novelty consists in a peculiar driving mechanism, adapted to be set in
motion by the foot, without requiring a stand such as is usually employed in sewing
machines for this purpose.
The machine has no table, but can be screwed on to any ordinary table. It com-
prises chiefly a frame (A) which encloses the driving mechanism; a pair of shafts (B
and C) serving to set in motion the needle bar (D), the presser foot (E) and the
shuttle (F); and the driving mechanism, of which several modifications are shown in
the drawings.
Fig. 1, is a side elevation of the entire machine after removal of the cover plate.
Fig. 2, a front elevation after removal of the cover plate.
Fig. 3, a partial front elevation with the cover plate.
Fig. 4, shows the rear part of the machine with the mechanism for driving the
shuttle arbor (C).
Figs. 5 to 14 are detail views and sections of the driving mechanism, in various
forms.
Figs. 15 and 16 show an appliance for slackening the upper thread.
Figs. 17 and 18, illustrate the method of driving the shuttle arbor (C) by means of
excentric wheels.
Figs. 19 and 20 represent a modification of the appliance for slackening the upper
thread.
Fig. 21 is a front elevation of the mechanism for lifting the presser foot.
The driving mechanism represented by Figs. 1, 5 and 6, comprises a fly wheel
shaft a, a fly wheel b, to which is secured a ratchet wheel a driving sleeve d
carrying a pawl e and a spring e acting on the pawl; a pulley f mounted on a
Price 11d.l

page_text: shaft, a helical spring 7 and a driving string h, the latter being attached at one
end to the pulley f, passed several times around the sleeve d and allowed to hang
down from the same, terminating at the other end with a loop adapted to receive the
foot of the operator.
The machine is worked as follows:
If the operator draws down the string attached to the ulley f, he thereby winds
up the spring g one end of which is attached to the shaft and the other to the
machine frame. At the same time the string passing several times around the sleeve d
is drawn tight on the sleeve and imparts a rotary motion to the same.
In con-
sequence of this, the pawl e secured in the interior of the sleeve d takes into the
ratchet wheel c, thereby imparting rotary motion to the fly wheel shaft a which
actuates the needle, the presser foot and the shuttle.
As soon as the operator releases the driving string h, the latter is drawn back by
the helical spring g and wound upon the pulley as before.
By thus drawing back the string, the latter is slackened on the sleeve d, and the
latter stops, while the fly-wheel shaft continues to revolve owing to the inertia of the
fly-wheel, until it receives a fresh impulse in the same direction by a fresh tightening
of the driving string h, a continuous motion of the fly-wheel shaft being thus
obtained.
In Figs. 7, 8 and 9, this driving mechanism is modified as follows:
Instead of the pawl e and spring e¹ situated on the sleeve d, the sleeve i has
several longitudinal slots, and the fly-wheel strap has instead of the ratchet wheel ca
collar c¹.
If now the string his drawn (the said string being applied in the same manner as
described above) it compresses the slotted sleeve i, causing the latter to clip
tightly the collar c of the fly-wheel shaft a and to communicate its rotary motion to
the same.
Figs. 10 and 11, illustrate another modification.
The arrangement of the driving mechanism is similar to that of the preceding
example, but instead of the pawl e, the driving sleeve d has in the present case an
excentrically mounted short friction lever e which, (on the sleeve d being turned by
the string) presses against the collar c² of the fly-wheel shaft a and produces sufficient
friction to ensure that the shaft a will turn round with the lever e². If the string h
is released, the friction between the lever c² and the fly wheel shaft ceases, and the
latter is allowed to turn alone.
Figs. 12, 13, and 14 show another modification, in which the pulley and spring g
are omitted, the driving string h being attached directly to the driving sleeve d. For
this purpose the sleeve d has a cap d' containing a flat spiral spring m which is
attached with one end to the bearing of the shaft a and with the other end to the
cap
a.
By pulling the string which in this arrangement is also wound several times
around the sleeve d, the sleeve is turned on its axis and thereby the spiral spring
wound up.
If now the string be released, the spring m turns the sleeve d in the
opposite direction, whereby the string is again wound up, after which the operation
may commence anew.
The sleeve d may be made to act on the fly-wheel shaft a by any of the methods or
devices described above.
In the machine represented by Fig. 1, motion is transmitted from the fly-wheel
shaft a upon the sewing mechanism by means of spur wheels k and 1 (acting on the
needle shaft B) and a connecting rod n toothed at one end, the rod n receiving its
motion from the spur wheel and gearing into a toothed pinion or sector o mounted
excentrically on the shuttle arbor (, thereby imparting to the arbor C a slow initial
motion (corresponding to the commencement of the formation of the loop) and a
quick end motion (corresponding to the second half or end part of the formation of
the loop).
As illustrated by Figs. 17 and 18, (Sheet 11) the shuttle arbor C, may be driven
from the shaft B by a system of three excentrically mounted spur wheels G, H, J,

page_text: adapted to produce a periodical motion of the shuttle arbor in such a manner, that
during the formation of the loop the shuttle moves at first slowly and afterwards more
rapidly, the first half of the formation of the loop thus corresponding to a slow, and
the second half to a quick motion of the shuttle.
The needle bar D is set in motion from the needle shaft B by means of a crank or
cam as usual in sewing machines. The device for imparting motion to the presser
foot F is, however, somewhat peculiar, as shown by Fig. 3. It consists of a lever p
mounted on the presser foot E, above the machine head and forming a combination of
a lever and a cam p³ (see also Fig. 2).
By the operation of the needle bar D, (when the lever p is in the position of
Fig. 3) the lever p will be raised, thereby lifting the presser foot E which carries the
fulcrum of the lever p. The cam p² rests upon a correspondingly curved plate p*
fixed to the top of the machine head.
For embroidery, the lever P
is placed into the position of Fig. 3, so as to lift the
needle bar E when required, but for sewing, the lever p is turned back into the position
represented by Fig. 2, where it is not influenced by the needle bar, but may be used in
the ordinary way.
The extremity of the lever p has a perforation pl, through which passes the thread
on its way from the spool to the tension disc, the object being to slacken the thread as
it comes from the spool. The presser foot serves also for transporting or feeding the
cloth, for which purpose it receives a lateral motion from the cam g, and is subsequently
brought back into its normal position by a helical spring r.
In order to produce with this machine the finest kind of embroidery, a special
thread tension apparatus has been designed.
This apparatus comprises a pin v fastened to the spring u (Figs. 15 and 16) and
carrying the tension disc v. The free end of the pin is provided with a screw thread
and a nut for regulating the pressure of a helical spring wo acting on the tension
disc v¹.
A button a fixed on the needle shaft B serves to lift the spring u, thereby slackening
the discs (that is to say diminishing the pressure between the same).
Owing to the pressure of the spring w, the slackening, however, is not complete,
but can be regulated as desired.
The same effect may also be obtained by the arrangement shown in Figs. 19 and 20,
(sheet III), where the slackening is produced by a cam K adapted to lift the
needle bar.
In this case the discs v¹ are also mounted on a pin v and held together by a spring w
regulated by a nut, while the pin is connected with a spring u, attached to the
casing or frame of the machine, and adapted to be placed higher or lower by means
of a set screw y. This spring u is actuated by the pin z of a second spring L
exactly in the same manner, as in the previous example the spring u is actuated by
the button x, as soon as the spring L moves sideways under the pressure of cam K.
Fig. 21 illustrates another method of lifting the pressure foot by the needle bar.
In this case the pressure foot is lifted by means of an angular lever M actuated
by the up and down motion of the pin N fastened on the needle bar. By coming
in contact at the required time with the pin O attached to the presser foot, the
lever M lifts the presser foot.
These two mechanisms may be applied to the machine illustrated by Fig. 1, but
also to any other kind of sewing machines, for which reason I have shown the
slackening device as applied to a Singer machine and the device for lifting the
presser foot as applied to a shuttle machine.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare, that what I claim is:
1, In sewing machines, a driving mechanism, characterised by the feature, that a
sleeve (d) carrying a pawl (e) is set in rotary motion by pulling a string (h) coiled
several times around the said sleeve and attached to a pulley (f) the motion of the

page_text: sleeve being transmitted by means of the said pawl to the fly wheel shaft which in its
turn drives the sewing mechanism.
2, The combination of the fly wheel shaft. (a), with a slotted sleeve (i) and a
string (h) coiled round the sleeve, the said sleeve being adapted to be compressed
by a pull on the string, and thereby to clip the shaft (a) so as to impart motion to
the same.
3, The combination of the fly wheel shaft (a) with a sleeve (d) carrying a pawl (e³)
and with a string (h), the said pawl being applied excentrically and adapted to
communicate motion to the shaft (a) by friction, when the sleeve is turned by means
of a string.
4, Mechanism for imparting rotary motion to the fly-wheel shaft (a), comprising
a sleeve (d) with pawl (c), a driving string (h) attached directly to the said sleeve, and
a spiral spring (m), the latter being laid into the said sleeve (d) and adapted to turn
it backward, for the re-winding of the string.
5, Mechanism for producing a slow initial motion and rapid end-motion of the
shuttle arbor (C), comprising either a toothed connecting rod (n) driven from the
needle shaft, and an excentric spur wheel (o), or three excentrically mounted spur
wheels (G H and J).
6, Mechanism for operating the presser foot (E) directly from the needle bar,
chiefly comprising a lever (p) situated above the machine frame and having a
perforated extremity (p³) for the purpose of slackening the spool thread during the
process of embroidering, the said lever being adapted to be set out of action when
using the machine for sewing.
7, Mechanism for operating the presser foot (E) from the needle bar (D), comprising
an angular lever (M) and pins (O, N), one of which is fastened to the needle bar, and
the other to the presser foot.
8, A duplex tension apparatus for the upper thread, characterised by the feature,
that the stronger spring (u) is temporarily slackened, while the weaker spring (w)
remains in action.
The whole substantially as described and illustrated.