Improvements in Devices for Guiding Welts in Sewing Machines.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Oct., 1891-Accepted, 27th Feb., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Devices for Guiding Welts in Sewing Machines.
communication from THE MERRICK SEWING MACHINE COMPANY, of 100,
Lincoln Street, Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, United States of
America.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and .6, Bank Street,
Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster, and 323, High Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
ion and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
nd ascertained in and by the following statement :—
This invention relates to devices for guiding the thin strips known as welts,
which are interposed between two parts of a boot or shoe upper or like article and
are secured to said parts by the stitches which unite one part to the other, the welt
being thus incorporated in the boot or shoe upper with one edge presented at the
exterior thereof.
The invention has for its object to provide a simple and efficient welt guide
dapted to conform to the varying thickness of the parts between which the welt is
inserted, and it consists in the improved construction which I will now proceed to
lescribe.
Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this Specification,
Figure 1 represents an end view of the improved welt guide showing its position.
with relation to the throat plate and stitch forming devices of a sewing machine.
Fig. 2 represents a top view of the same.
Fig. 3 represents a side view of the welt guide detached from the machine.
Fig. 4 represents a section on line 4, 4, Fig. 2.
Fig. 5 represents a section on line 5 5 Fig. 3.
Fig. 6 represents a top view of a portion of the welt guide.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.
In the drawings-
Said
a represents a plate or shank which is formed to rest on the bed plate 6 of a
sewing machine and is attached thereto by screws c. On one end of said plate is
formed a curved flange or work guge, d, having in its lower portion a slot e.
flange is formed to present an abrupt salient curve at d' (Fig. 2) which is adjacent
to the point where the needle passes through the needle hole fl in the throat
plate, the form of the flange being such that the work can turn horizontally on
the curve d¹ in either direction.
represents an arm which is connected at one end by pivots h h with an
adjustable slide i on the plate a. The other end of said arm projects through the
slot e in the flange d and is adapted to rise and fall in said slot so that it can
approach or recede from the throat plate f. The swinging end of the arm g is
constructed to guide the welt j between the edges of the two parts k k of the boot
or shoe upper at the point where the needle penetrates said parts. To this end
the swinging end of the arm g is provided with a curved welt receiving slot or
way (Fig. 5), one end of which is at the rear side of the flange or work gage d,
while the other is at the opposite side of the said work gage and close to the path
of the needle, the last mentioned end being preferably provided with a recess y to
partially receive the needle. Said slot or way is curved so that it gives the welt a
gradual curvature and presents it to the work in the proper position, as shown in
Fig. 2. The portion of the arm g which contains the slot is composed of very
thin plates or pieces of metal, so that the thickness of the slotted or welt guiding
end of the arm is reduced to the minimum to permit the easy insertion of said end
8

page_text: between the pieces kk. The plate composing the upper side of the slot is
preferably cut away at t (Fig. 6) to form a spring tongue u bearing with a yielding
pressure on the welt to prevent its too easy movement through the slot 8, said cut
enabling a pin or other pointed instrument to be inserted in the slots to facilitate
the original insertion of the welt therein.
It will be seen that the pivotal connection of the arm g to its support and the
arm receiving slot e in the work gage d enable the welt to rise and fall and thus
accommodate itself to the thickness of the piece k between it and the throat plate.
This provision for the vertical movement or adjustment of the welt is an important
feature of the invention, because it enables the welt to automatically conform to
the thickness of the pieces to which it is attached.
The arm g is shown as pivotally attached to a slide which is adjustably secured
to the plate a by means of a screw o passing through a slot p in said slide. The
arm g is thus enabled to be adjusted so as to project more or less from the outer
side of the gage d, and thus insert the welt more or less deeply between the edges
of the pieces kk.
To facilitate the insertion of the welt between the two pieces k k and to prevent
the bottom piece k from standing at such an elevation between the needle and the
front of the machine as to be in the way of the welt guide my correspondent bevels
or inclines the throat plate from the needle hole to the forward edge of the throat
plate and correspondingly bevels the bed b from the same point to its forward edge,
so that both the throat plate and the bed present a downward inclination from the
needle hole forward, as shown in Figures 1 and 4. This form of the throat plate
and bed enables the under piece k to incline downwardly so that the portion of said
piece forward of the needle hole does not bear on nor in any way obstruct the welt
guide and welt. This is a feature of some importance, particularly when the work
is turned in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. In this event, if the
portion of the under piece forward of the needle hole were as high as it is at the
point where the stitches are formed, the said under piece would obstruct or be in
the way of the welt guide.
The rear limit of the bevelled portion of the bed is preferably along the line z z,
Fig. 2, all parts of the bed between said line and the front edge of the bed being
inclined downwardly.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a welt guide, a supporting plate adapted to be attached to the bed of a
sewing machine and provided with a work gage d having a slot e, combined with an
arm connected at one end with said supporting plate so that its other end can swing
vertically, said swinging end having a curved welt guiding slot or ways and
extending through the slot e, as set forth.
2. In a welt guide, the combination of a supporting plate adapted to be attached
to the bed of a sewing machine and provided with a slotted work gage d, a slide i
adjustably secured to said plate, and an arm pivoted at one end to said slide and
having at its other end a welt guiding slot or way, said arm passing through the
slot in the work gage, as set forth.
3. The combination of the throat plate and bed plate inclined downwardly from
the needle hole toward the front of the bed plate, and the welt guide comprising a
supporting plate attached to the bed and provided with a slotted work gage, and
a pivoted welt guiding arm projecting through the slotted work gage over the
inclined portion of the throat plate, as set forth.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.