IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO MACHINES FOR SEWING CARPETS
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 31st October 1883. Communicated
to him from abroad by Albert Neustadt of San Francisco, California, United
States of America.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake and C° Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO MACHINES
FOR SEWING CARPETS [A communication to him from abroad by Albert Neustadt
of San Francisco, California, United States of America,]
"
This invention relates to machines for sewing the seams of carpets and is
designed to provide certain improvements in that class of carpet sewing machines
described in the specification of former Letters Patent dated 6th June A.D. 1879
N® 2250.
The present invention has for its chief object to provide improved devices for
holding the edges of the carpet as it is being sewn and for causing the entire
machine to travel along the carpet in the manner necessary for permitting the
stitches to be made in a proper manner to form the seam. Heretofore this has
been effected by means of two roughened or serrated wheels or rollers so arranged
as to press the carpet between them, to hold it firmly whilst the stitch is being
made, and to feed the machine along intermittently to place it in proper position
for the sewing of the successive stitches.
According to the present invention this operation is effected by a four-motion
feeding device constructed and arranged as follows, that is to say, I provide two
rectangular pieces hereinafter called the feed-plates which are connected at one end
by two curved pieces which together are in the form of an inverted U. These
pieces are pivotted together at their upper part in such a manner that they can
rock slightly on the pivot to permit the aforesaid feed-plates to open and close as
hereinafter described. The said feed-plates are arranged beneath a flat arm
forming a portion of the framework of the machine and the upper part of the
U shaped piece is carried upward over this arm, the latter being cut out for a short
distance on each side to form a guide for this piece, and the former having a slot
in each side of its inner face to admit a portion of the said arm. By this
arrangement the feed plates with the U shaped piece connecting them, are capable
of reciprocal motion for a short distance along the arm. Guide pieces are secured

page_text: on the upper face of the latter and the upper parts of the U-shaped piece slide
within and are retained in place by the same. The two feed-plates are parallel to
each other and at a sufficient distance apart to admit the two edges of the pieces of
carpet to be sewn together, and in operation these plates and the arm above them
form a saddle which is placed over the carpet edges The two feed plates are
furnished with sharp studs or points at their free end, these points being designed
to secure a hold upon the carpet when the said plates converge upon the latter in
the operation of the machine."
The outer one of the two feed plates is provided with a slot through which the
needle works horizontally when the machine is in operation. Springs may be
arranged within the feed plates to cause the latter to open outward when the
pressure of two external arms hereinafter described is removed, or the plates may be
made sufficiently elastic for this purpose.
The to and fro or reciprocating motion of the feed plates is obtained by means of
a cam upon the main shaft which can operates a jointed lever one arm of which is
secured to one of the said feed plates The latter are caused to converge by two
compressing arms each having a small roller at its free end, which rollers run upon
the exterior of the said feed plates. These arms lie in a horizontal position parallel
with the feed plates for a short distance and are each connected or in one piece
with a vertical post rising above the frame just beyond the free ends of the feed
plates. These posts or pillars have bearings in the frame of the machine and are
caused to have a partial to and fro rotation in the following manner, that is to say
on the head or upper end of each pust there is a curved cam to one of which a
spring arm is connected which extends rearwardly and has at its free end a
projection or stud which alternately falls into and is pressed out from two
depressions or recesses in a cam or boss on the main shaft As the latter is rotated
by means of the crank handle the arm has imparted to it a lateral oscillation so
that the two posts are caused to partially rotate in opposite directions and the feed
plates are thereby alternately caused to converge and to open thus alternately
pressing and releasing the carpet. The arm is so made as to form a spring in order
that it may yield should there be any thick or uneven part in the carpet and thus
prevent injurious strain upon the inchine.
The to and fro motion of the feed plates causes the machine to be moved along
over the edge of the carpet by an intermittent motion, that is to say, when the ends
of the feed arms converge and clamp the carpet between them the forward motion
is arrested, the needle enters the carpet and the stitch is made, then the needle
recedes, the feed plates open, and the machine is advanced to the proper position for
the next stitch, and so on.
The said machine is provided with a fly wheel, a handle, mechanism for operating
the needle, a tension or take up device, and other parts as heretofore.
•
A further object of the present invention is to provide means for suspending the
machine in such a manner that it may travel along the carpet as above set forth
but will not fall when released by the attendant. For this purpose I provide a
wire which is stretched tight at a suitable distance above the carpet. The machine
is secured to another wire or a cord or chain, which has at its other end a grooved
roller which fits over the first named wire so as to be capable of travelling along
the same.
At a convenient part of the vertical wire or cord I insert a spring of
any suitable kind so that wlien the sewing machine is required to be used it may
be grasped by the attendant and caused to sew the carpet as above explained, but
will, when released, bo lifted by the spring above the carpet and remain there until
again required.