IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTON HOLE SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Simmons, of Garden Row, Blackfriars, in the
County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTON
HOLE SEWING MACHINES."
1
Sealed the 29th August 1879, and dated the 12th March 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Simmons at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th March 1879.
FREDERICK SIMMONS, of Garden Row, Blackfriars, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer. IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTON HOLE SEWING MACHINES."
"
This Invention relates to improvements in button hole sewing machines and has
reference to an Invention for which I obtained Letters Patent, dated June 8th,
1878, No. 2302. The improvements for which I now apply for Letters Patent
relate more particularly to those parts of my machine which are connected with the
presser foot clamp for holding the work, and to the gear which gives the cross
stitch and barring motion in my old machine.
In carrying out my improvements, the presser foot clamp instead of being
mounted on slides attached to the head of the machine is now attached to and forms
part of an arni secured to a slide which works in guides in the bed of the machine.
Underneath this slide is another slide, also mounted in guides and which carries the
work under the needle in the sense longitudinally of the button hole. The several
motions are imparted to these slides by means of cams, some of which are for the
purpose of superseding the use of the tappet cam and saddle piece, described in my
previous Patent, No. 230278, and which parts were for the purpose of giving the
proper length of stitch and bar to the button hole. I now employ a compound
geared cam consisting of a groove and face cam combined, and which is mounted
loosely on a rocking lever having its fulcrum on a stud' axle or short shaft placed at
the rear of the machine. Mounted on this stud axle or shaft but turning loosely
thereon is an intermediate spur wheel which imparts motion to the compound
geared cam from gearing keyed on the driving shaft of the machine. The various
motions of the compound cam are transmitted to the top slide and presser foot
clamp by means of an intermediate reciprocating sliding bar or rod furnished with
a bowl or cam follower which takes into the cam groove in the compound geared

page_text: cam.
As the compound cam revolves it will therefore cause the top slide and clamp
to have a longitudinal reciprocating motion and thus give the proper length of
stitch to both sides of the button hole. In order to give the barring motion and
throwing over motion to the top slide an inclined stop and cam are secured to the
main cam shaft of the machine. The inclined stop causes the barring motion to be
given to the top slide by bringing its inclined surface against the cam periphery of
the compound cam and thereby causes the compound cam to give double the throw
to the top slide for the space of two or more stitches. As soon as the barring
stitches have been completed the cam on the cam shaft which is connected to the
stop will push over the rocking lever upon which the compound cam is mounted,
thereby causing the compound cam to push the 'top slide over and thus bring the.
other side of the button hole under the needle in order to be stitched. The com-
pound cam is kept in constant contact with the cam on the cam shaft by means of a
spring. The bottom slide is caused to slide in the sense of the length of the button
hole by the same apparatus, as was described in my previous Patent, No. 230278,
viz., a right and left handed screw cam, the only difference being that the slide is,
in the apparatus herein described, placed horizontally instead of vertically, as was
the case in my previous Patent.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Frederick Simmons in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th
September 1879.
FREDERICK SIMMONS, of Garden Row, Blackfriars, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BUTTON HOLE SEWING MACHINES."
This Invention relates to improvements in button hole sewing machines and has
reference more particularly to the Invention for which I obtained Letters Patent,
dated June 8th, 1878, No. 2302. The improvements relate chiefly to the parts of
my machine which are in connection with the presser foot clamp and the apparatus
for giving the length of stitch and barring motion to the work.
In the accompanying Drawing, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine
embodying my improvements, the hand wheel, and needle and shuttle cams being
removed for the purpose of shewing more clearly the new parts of the machine;
Figure 2 is a plan of the machine; and Figure 3 an end elevation looking towards
the machine from the right hand side. Figures 4, 5, and 6 are detail views, to
which I shall presently refer more particularly.
In carrying out my improvements the presser foot clamp A is attached to and
forms part of an arm B which is secured to a sliding plate C working in V guides
in a slide C¹ which is placed beneath and at right angles to it. This slide C' works
in V guides in the bed of the machine and moves the work under the needle in the
sense longitudinally of the button hole. Reciprocating and longitudinal move-
ments are imparted to these slides by means of cams which are placed to the right
of the machine. The feed or advancing motion is given by the right and left
handed screw cam D which is mounted on the cam shaft E of the machine, and
which, through an arm or lever F which is secured by a thumb screw to the top
slide C, gives the slide C the necessary intermittent advancing or retrograde move-
ment. This is best shewn in Figures 1 and 2. The screw cam D and its functions
are perfectly described in my previous Patent above referred to. The stitch and
barring motions are derived in an entirely novel manner from apparatus which is
intended to supersede the use of the tappet cain and saddle piece referred to in my
previous Patent. At the right hand side of the machine is a short shaft or stud
axle G, on which is mounted a rock lever H which supports a compound geared
cam I. On its rear side this compound geared cam is grooved, as may be seen by
reference to Figure 5, in which the grooved side is turned round to shew the groove.
Supported in guides on the bed of the machine is a connecting rod I', one extremity
of which is furnished with a bowl which takes into the groove in the cam I, whilo
its other extremity is firmly secured to the lower slide C. Rotary motion is com-
municated to the compound cam I from the driving shaft of the machine by means
of spur pinions i, i, as may be seen by reference to Figure 4. It will readily be
understood by reference to the Drawings that as the cam I rotates so a longitudinal
reciprocating motion will be imparted through the medium of the rod I¹ to the
lower slide C, and the work will be moved backwards and forwards under the
needle to enable this latter to make the necessary stitches down the sides of the
button hole. The barring and throwing over motions are obtained by means of
apparatus I am now about to describe, reference being had more particularly to
Figure 4. Pivotted to the bed of the machine and rising vertically therefrom is a
short rocking lever J, the upper end of which is furnished with a double inclined
stop which bears against the periphery of a double edge cam K keyed on the cam
shaft of the machine. The edge of the compound cam I is caused to bear against
the rear side of the rock lever J by means of a coil spring I², Figure 2, which is
attached at one of its ends to the upper extremity of the rock lever H, and at its
other end to a projection on the frame of the machine. Now the gradual rotation
of the edge cam K will bring its upper fall k opposite the inclined stop on the rock

page_text: lever J, when this latter will be forced to drop over the fall ¹ by the action of
the spring I³ on the rock lever H. This action of the double edge cam K will cause
the compound cam I to give a double throw to the slide C¹, one half of the throw
being equal to the difference in the diameters of the two halves of the groove of the
cam I, and the other half of the throw being equal to the difference in the diameters
of the two halves of the periphery of the cam I. This double throw of the slide C'
will last sufficiently long to enable the needle to make the two or three stitches
which form the bars at the two extremities of the button holes, or as many stitches
as are equal to the difference of space between the two falls k and on the upper
and lower peripheries of the double cam K. As soon as the required number of
stitches to form the bar are made, the stop on the rock lever J will drop over the
second fall of the double cam, and the compound cam I dropping over it will
cause the other side of the button hole to be brought under the action of the needle
to be stitched. As the cam shaft continues rotating the action of the falls k and k'
of the cam K will be reversed and the stop lever J together with the compound
cam I will be pushed back to their original positions, and a new button hole may
be commenced.
Figures 1 and 2 shew a means of pivotting the slides and table to admit of these
latter rocking sufficiently to allow them to adjust themselves to the various thick-
nesses of work which it may be found desirable to put into the machine in order to
make button holes.
The double edge cam K and the double inclined stop lever may be made single
or not, as desired.
The other parts of the machine differ in no essential particular from those
described in my previous Patent before referred to.
Having now described 'the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in Button
Hole Sewing Machines," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I
claim,―
The combination of the presser foot clamp A, arm B, and slides C and C¹ with 3
the screw cam D for the purpose herein explained.
The device for obtaining the stitch, barring motion, and throwing over
motion as herein described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Simmons, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 12th day of September 1879.
TR ЯTIMMONS
F. SIMMOND.
SH
(i.s.)