Cloth Feeder for Sewing Machines for Producing Ornamental Stitches.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Apr., 1896-Accepted, 12th Sept., 1896
[Communicated from abroad by THE SINGER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, of
Hamburg, in the Empire of Germany, Sewing Machine Manufacturers.]
Cloth Feeder for Sewing Machines for Producing Ornamental
Stitches.
I, WILLIAM HARVEY INSLEE, Manager of The Singer Manufacturing
Company, Kilbowie, Dumbartonshire, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to
me, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This invention relates to a cloth feeder for sewing machines the feed being
arranged to receive by special devices suitable motions adapted to produce
ornamental stitches, that is to say, seams or stitches, names, figures and the like,
running in graceful curves.
For this purpose the cloth is moved beneath the needle in any desired direction
which may be done directly by hand or more advantageously by the cloth feeder
itself. In the latter case the cloth feeder must receive proper movements according
to the will of the operator.
For carrying the invention into practice an oblique crank is used to which a
rotary motion may be applied by the hand of the attendant while an up-and-down
motion is applied to the crank by the machine, so as to impart a circular or
gyratory and displacing or reciprocating movement to a plate mounted on the said
oblique crank; these combined motions of the plate being transmitted to the cloth
feeder by means of suitable lever connections.
The improved arrangement is shown in Figures 1 to 8 of the accompanying
drawings as applied to a Singer sewing machine; Figures 9 to 13 represent a
modification.
According to the arrangement shown by Figures 1 to 8 the cloth feeder a is
carried by an arm b attached to the shaft c, Figs. 1, 6 and 7. The shaft c being
journalled in the arms d' of a second shaft d supported by ears or lugs & extending
downwardly from the work plate of the sewing machine. In the direction of the
centre line of the shaft c there is arranged in similar arms d of the shaft d a third
shaft cl having a laterally extending flat arm e the free end of which is designed
to perform only horizontal movements.
and
The arm or plate e embraces by means of a suitable slot or perforation an oblique
crank, the upper journal of which is mounted in the base-plate of the machine
and the lower journal in a rotary socket gl of a transverse bar or bridge g beneath
the base-plate in such a manner that the said oblique crank shaft may slide up
down in its bearings. The lower journal of the oblique crank is provided with an
annular groove in which glides the pin of a lever ' fixed on a shaft h deriving
its motion from the main shaft of the sewing machine.
The operation of the mechanism above described is as follows:-
The lever i suspended and actuated from a crank on the main shaft in the arm
of the sewing machine imparts to a crank or lever arin on the shaft h and thus
to the lever arm regular up and down or rocking movements so that the oblique
crank piece f is displaced alternately upward and downward. At the same time
the crank piece is revolved by the cranked handle g whose object is to direct
the crank piece so that the plate or arme may by the action of the crank piece
upon it be displaced in any desired direction. Accordingly oscillatory and axial

page_text: motions are imparted to the shaft c' which are transmitted to the shafts d and c as
rocking and displacing movements, for which purpose the longer shaft d is adapted
to slightly glide in its bearings. Finally the shaft c imparts to the cloth feeder a
reciprocating and up and down motions by means of a cam c² acting upon a roller
carried by an arm projecting from the shaft c or in any other well known
manner; the needle plate k, Fig. 8, being provided with suitable passages, to
allow of the feeder a having the requisite movements.
The modification of the invention illustrated by Figures 9 to 13, differs from
the above described arrangement in that the shaft d carrying the cloth feeder arm b
is not connected with the plate e as in Figs. 1 to 8, but is provided with a cranked
part e to which the plate e is attached as shewn at Figures 9 to 13, these forming
a socket for a ball e in which the crank f moves. The up and down movement of
the crank is effected in the same manner as above by means of a shaft h and a
lever arm sliding with its free end in an annular groove f.
The crank is revolved by a cranked handle 92 so that the cranked part e¹ is
displaced axially as well as oscillated about the axis of the shaft d in order to
control the direction of the movements which the crank imparts to the cloth feeder,
the shaft d being adapted to rock and to glide in its bearings for the above
purpose.
By the aid of the crank f provided with the surrounding or embracing plate e it
thus becomes possible to produce by the aid of few and simple means a device
which operates the cloth feeder in any direction. The object of the cranked
handle is to direct the crank piece f and leave it in any position so that by the up
and down movement of the crank piece the desired direction of feed is obtained.
An axial motion may be imparted to the shaft d as shewn by the arrow, Fig. 12,
for any length of time, and consequently a movement in the same direction will be
given to the plate e by leaving the crank in the position shewn by Figs. 9, 10 and 12,
or a rocking motion may be given to the shaft d by turning the crank piece f
to the position shewn by Figs. 11, 12^, and 13, the movement of the plate e being
in a direction at right angles to that shewn at Figs. 9, 10 and 12. It is obvious
that the crank piece f may be set at any angle to the positions shewn by Fig. 12
or 12 and that consequently feeding movements may be imparted to the plate e in
any direction by the up and down motion of the crank piece f, the vertical motion
of the cloth feeder being obtained by the action of a cam upon the feeder arm b
as shewn and described with reference to Figures 1 to 8, said arm being jointed to
a crank d on the shaft d as shewn at Figure 12", Sheet 1 of the drawings.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what L
claim is :-
1. A cloth feeder for sewing machines which is operated in order to produce
ornamental stitches by means of an oblique crank, to which latter is imparted
besides a rotatory motion effected by a cranked handle also a reciprocating motion
in axial direction produced by the main shaft of the machine.
2. A cloth feeder of the class referred to in Claim 1, in which the transmitting
of the crank motion to the shaft c of the cloth feeder is effected by the aid of a
plate e embracing the said oblique crank and being connected with the shaft of the
cloth feeder by intermediate levers d' and auxiliary shafts c', d.
3. A cloth feeder of the class referred to in Claim 2, in which the plate
embracing the oblique crank is mounted directly upon the shaft d of the cloth
feeder.
Dated this 17th day of April 1896.
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Chartered Patent Agent,
62 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agent for the Applicant.