Improvements in Welting Attachments for Sewing Machines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Apr., 1897--Accepted, 3rd July, 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Welting Attachments for Sewing Machines.
We, The SINGER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, Sewing Machine Manufacturers,
Kilbowie, Dumbartonshire, and PHILIP SHATFORD, Sewing Machine Expert with
said Company, 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:-
-
This Invention relates to welting attachments for sewing machines for use in
sewing welts in leather bags, portmanteaux, carriage cushions and the like, and
it has for its object to provide a welt holder of improved construction and adapted
to accommodate itself to varying thicknesses of welt and to yield and open up
when desired to permit of removal and replacement of the welt. In conjunction
with this welt holder an adjustable guide is provided for positioning the edges
of the welt and controlling the latter in the eye of the welt holder. Another
guide, adjustable independently of the welt holder guide, is provided to align the
edges of the several plies of leather or fabric.and is formed with an inclined horn
to keep the upper ply of the leather or other seam below the range of the presser
foot. The Invention also comprises an improved construction of picked-up stitch
piesser foot having upon its toe a downwardly projecting spur, which, as the
work is fed forward in the sewing operation, is adapted to drop into the hole last
made by the necdie and thus mark the work or give a rounded finish to the goods
in the line of stitching whilst also serving to hold the work in place and prevent
it slipping from under the pressure foot. This pressure foot is carried by and made
laterally adjustable upon a vibrating presser bar which latter is also provided with
means for adjusting the extent of movement in the line of the stitching to suit
variations of the feed so that the spur upon the foot may be caused to drop into
the needle hole whatever may be the length of stitch.
In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the Invention Figure 1 is a
side elevation of part of a sewing machine of well-known construction shewing
the improved welting attachment fitted thereto. Figure 2 is an end view of the
same, Figure 3 is a plan of the work plate of the machine and of the welting
attachment secured in working position. Figure 4 is a sectional elevation of
the presser bracket with the presser bar and foot, and Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8 are
detached views of the several parts of the attachment.
The improved welt holder is composed of a plate A held flat at one end upon the
work plate B of the machine and having its other end bowed or doubled over to
form an elongated open eye through which the doubled strip of leather or fabric,
with or without the central cord or other core commonly placed within the doubled
welt strip, is entered and passes between the under and upper plies of leather
fabric to which i is sewn in the stitching operation. A portion of the plate
doubled to form the eye a extends back on to or laps the flap portion of the plate
A and leaves an open slit as shewn particularly at Figs. 1 and 8 through which
the strip forming the welt may be withdrawn and replaced. The welt holder A
is secured to an adjustable guide plate E fitted upon the work plate and herein-
after particularly described, the welt holder being adjustably secured thereon

page_text: by means of a binding screw a¹ the screwed stem of which passes through a slot a²
in the flat plate of the holder, the said slot allowing for adjustment of the welt
holding eye a across the line of stitching. For the purpose of pressing the welt
up into the eye of the welt holder and keeping the edges thereof more or less
nearly in line with the needle, a positioning guide is provided, said guide being
composed of a small plate C shewn particularly at Figs. 7 and 8 secured to the
welt holder plate A by a screw c passing through a slot c¹ in the guide whose free
end is T-shaped at to form a flat face which bears against the edges of the
doubled strip forming the welt. The slot c¹ in the plate C allows of adjustment
of the latter across the line of stitching so that the guiding edge c² may serve to
more or less narrow the open end of the welt holding eye to suit varying sizes of
welt that may be used. The eye a of the welt holder is or may be tapered or made
slightly narrower towards the end in proximity to the sewing needle 1) to facilitate
the doubling or closing of the welt strip over the core within it.
Under the welt holding plate A is secured to the work plate B the adjustable
guide plate E shewn in detail at Figures 5 and 6 having at its end a thickened
portion with a vertical face e'to serve as a guide for the edges of the goods passing
under the needle, the said guide being formed with an upwardly bent and inclined
horn E which serves to guide the top ply of the material and lay it down below
the range of the presser foot F. This guide plate E is formed with a slot e² and
is secured by a binding screw el passing through it into the work plate below:
and by reason of the welt holder being secured to said guide plate a space is left
between the underside of the welt holder and the work plate in order to permit of
the passage of the under ply of the seam. In order that the two binding screws a¹
and e¹ may serve to secure both the welt holder A and guide E whilst permitting
of their independent adjustment, the slots a2 and 2 are made one vertically over
and in line with the other and the screw a serves to hold both at one end of the
slots whilst the head of the screw el passes down through a widened part of the
slot in the welt holder A and binds only the plate E whilst preventing oscillating
movement of the welt holder A.
The presser foot F is formed with a spur f at its toe part, said spur serving to
hold the work under the foot and being adapted to enter the needle hole formed in
the goods and press down and mark the goods in the line of the stitching. To
insure that the spur f may be brought into the line of stitching the shank F' of
the presser foot is secured to the presser bar G by means of a binding screw g¹
passing through a slot fin said shank the slot allowing of lateral adjustment.
The foot is of the class known as a picked-up stitch presser foot carried by a
vibrating presser har G, and has a forward movement imparted to it by the feeding.
of the goods, is lifted free thereof by an upward movement of the presser bar, then
moves back and descends on to the work, the spur on its toe dropping into the
hole last made by the needle. To insure that the spur may always drop into the
needle hole when the length of stitch is varied, the backward traverse of the
foot is limited by an adjustable stop which may be set when adjusting the feed
to vary the length of stitch. This adjustable stop consists of a screw H shewn
particularly at Fig. 4 passed through a hole tapped in the presser bar G so that
its point rests on a stop piece on the presser bracket I when the presser bar G
brings back the foot after its forward movement with the feed. By loosening a
lock nut on the screw H and turning the latter more or less the limit of back-
ward movement of the presser bar G may be adjusted so that the spur f onthe foot F
will be brought to a point the length of a single stitch in front of the needle
whatever may be the length of stitch determined on.
In the operation of the machine the edges of the leather or fabric between
which the welt is to be formed and sewn are placed one under and the other over
the welt holder A, the strip of leather or fabric to form the welt being doubled and
entered into the eye a. The two edges of the doubled welt strip are guided into
the welt holder by the edge of the positioning guide C, and the four edges of
the seam are guided under the needle by the edge e of the guide E whose inclined

page_text: horn E lays down the upper ply of the goods as the whole passes under the needle D
and presser foot F. As the stitching proceeds and the work is fed forward
by the feed dog the presser G is carried forward, rises and descends as is usual with
a vibrating presser bar, and the spur f drops into each needle hole and marks the
work. Should occasion arise to remove the goods from the machine after the
sewing operation has begun the welt strip is drawn sideways through the open slit
in the side of the welt holder eye a; and it may be again entered therethrough
and the work replaced exactly in position for resuming the stitching operation.
For that purpose the eye a and overlapping portion of the welt holder is made of
thin steel or other resilient or yielding material, and is bowed as shown in the
drawings, the open form of eye a also accommodating itself to varying thick-
nesses of welt and of the cord or other core sewn into the welt.
The welt holder is adjusted so close to the needle that the latter serves as a pivot
on which to turn corners, and thus the machine is well adapted for sewing welts
ia making up leather bags and like goods.
The presser bar G having the means described for adjusting its backward
traverse and carrying a foot F with the marking spur f upon its toe may be used
independently of the welting attachment in sewing machines for sewing leather
goods such as harness straps which it is desirable should have a rounded finish
imparted to the lines of stitching such as is obtainable by the use of the presser foot
above described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:
:-
1. In a sewing machine a welting attachment composed of a slotted plate
adapted to be adjustably secured at one end to the work plate of the machine and
having its opposite end bowed or doubled to form an open eye for guiding the
welt strip substantially as described.
2. In a sewing machine a welting attachment composed of a welt holding plate
having an open bowed guiding eye in combination with a positioning guide blade
adjustably secured thereto substantially as described.
3. In a sewing machine the combination of the welt holder A having an open
bowed guiding eye, a positioning guide Cadjustably secured thereto, and the guide E
having the inclined work-laying horn, the several guides being adjustable in
relation to each other and to the line of stitching substantially as described.
4. In a sewing machine the combination of a welting attachment and a vibrat-
ing presser bar having a presser foot adjustably secured thereto, the latter having
a marking and holding spur on its toe, an adjusting screw being provided to limit
the traverse of the presser bar within the presser bracket substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather, Chartered Patent Agents.
62 Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agent for the Applicants.