Improvements in Sewing Machines.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Mar., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 13th Dec., 1893-Accepted, 3rd Feb., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Sewing Machines.
I, AUGUSTIN AVRIAL of 16 Rue Drouot, Paris, France, Manufacturer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
My invention has reference to sewing machines and it chiefly consists in the
combination with the ordinary mechanism for effecting the sewing operation of
apparatus or means for imparting and transmitting motion whereby the driving
shaft is actuated by means of a rack or toothed bar worked in the one direction
by hand, foot or otherwise and moved in the other direction by the expansion of a
spring or elastic body which is compressed by the previous part of the motion of
the rack. My invention comprises other improvements which are hereinafter
described.
I will proceed to describe the construction of a machine in which my improvements
are embodied.
The machine comprises a vertical cylinder or box with apertures at bottom and
top to give passage to a rack or toothed bar. In the lower part of the cylinder is
a spiral spring resting at bottom upon a shoulder in the box and bearing at top
against a disc or washer fixed on the rack. The rack gears with a toothed collar
loosely mounted on the shaft which works the sewing devices and which also
through the intermediation of bevel gearing drives the shaft that actuates the feed
mechanism. On the first of these shafts, which is hereinafter called the driving
shaft, is keyed a fly wheel which not only serves to regulate the motion of the
machine but can also be worked by hand. The rack has a knob or handle at top
to enable it to be worked by hand, and also a loop or ring at bottom which is
connected by a strap to a pedal to enable the rack to be worked by the foot.
When the rack is worked it imparts rotary motion to the toothed collar and the
direction of this motion will vary according to whether the rack is rising or
descending. The toothed collar being mounted loosely on the driving shaft does
not impart any motion directly thereto but the shaft receives motion from the
collar through the intermediation of a disc or piece which is fixed on the shaft and
which by a sort of clutch arrangement is connected with and disconnected from the
collar according to the direction in which the latter is turning. For this purpose
the disc has in its periphery a notch or recess which is deeper at one end than at
the other so that at the one end a roller, pin or wedge which is placed in the notch
can move easily while at the other end it cannot move. The toothed collar con-
stitutes a box to receive the disc and roller so that in certain positions there will
be perfect contact and adhesion between the collar and disc, and the one will be
drawn into the movement of the other if, by means of (for example) a small spring,
this contact is maintained. Suppose now that by the action of the rack the collar
turns in the direction which will move the roller against the small spring and
compress this spring it will disengage the disc from contact with the roller seeing
that the roller will be free to move in the cavity in which it is lodged. If on the
other hand the collar is caused to turn in the reverse direction it will tend to move
the roller towards the shallow end of the notch, the small spring will keep it in
place and the result will be that the disc, collar and roller will become fixed
together and consequently the driven shaft will be driven. In practice this
clutching or fixing together of the disc and collar will take place during the descent
of the rack and the release or disconnection during the ascent, when the fly wheel
will continue the rotation which it can easily do.

page_text: Another feature of my machine is a device or means for giving the necessary
tension to the thread. It consists of a reel support composed of a plate or disc to
the upper part of which is fixed a sheath formed of spring blades upon which the
reel is placed. This sheath holds the reel so that it can only turn with the plate.
The plate rests on an independent washer or bed of felt or other material which
can be pressed as desired with more or less pressure against the plate by means of
a spring plate acted upon by a regulating screw so as to form a sort of brake. The
sheath and its plate are mounted loosely on a fixed rod, so that when the reel is
acted upon by the thread it turns more or less freely according to the tension of the
spring plate. In this way the thread cannot get slack and form loops or knobs.
Instead of employing a spiral spring to raise the rack as above described I can
employ a spring plate or any other suitable form of spring acting in a similar way
or I can employ an elastic block or body.
In one modification I employ a coiled spring constituting a spring barrel which
can be combined with a clutch arrangement such as that above described or with
an arrangement in which the fly wheel only serves to get over the dead points and
the driving shaft is driven by a toothed collar analogous to that already described
but having a pawl or engaging apparatus acting in the reverse direction to that of
the collar so that while the rack is descending the two springs are compressed and
the collar drives, while in the ascent the two springs expand, return the rack to its
initial position and the driving is effected by a collar placed in a second box similar
to the box containing the toothed collar and its spring barrel.
Dated this 22nd day of March 1893.
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agent.
Improvements in Sewing Machines.
I, AUGUSTIN AVRIAL of 16 Rue Drouot, Paris, France, Manufacturer, 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 :-
My invention has reference to sewing machines and it chiefly consists in the
combination with the ordinary mechanism for effecting the sewing operation of
apparatus or means for imparting and transmitting motion whereby the driving
shaft is actuated by means of a rack or toothed bar worked in the one direction by
hand, foot, or otherwise, and moved in the other direction by the expansion of a
spring or elastic body which is compressed by the previous part of the motion of
the rack. My invention comprises other improvements which are hereinafter
described.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a front elevation partly in section and
Figure 2 a plan of a sewing machine in which my improvements are embodied.
Figures 3 and 4 are respectively a sectional elevation and a side view partly in
section illustrating a modification.
Figures 5 and 6 are respectively a horizontal section and a vertical section of
one part of the machine.
The machine comprises a cylinder or box A with cover a and apertures a¹ all at
bottom and top to give passage to a rack or toothed bar B. In the lower part of
the cylinder is a spiral spring Cresting at bottom upon a shoulder E in the
box A and bearing at top against a disc or washer D fixed on the rack. The
rack gears with a toothed collar F loosely mounted on the shaft G which
works the sewing devices O and which also, through the intermediation of
bevel gearing H H', drives the shaft G' that actuates the feed mechanism.

page_text: The shuttle driver is worked by the forked lever L which is worked by the
excentric L'. On the shaft G is keyed a fly wheel J which not only serves to
regulate the motion of the machine but can also be worked by hand. The rack
has a knob or handle P at top to enable it to be worked by hand, and also a loop
or ring K at bottom which is connected by a strap to a pedal to enable the rack to
be worked by the foot. When the rack is worked it imparts rotary motion to the
toothed collar F and the direction of this motion will vary according to whether
the rack is rising or descending. The toothed collar F being mounted loosely on
the shaft G does not impart any motion directly thereto but the shaft receives
motion from the collar through the intermediation of a disc or piece F¹ (see Figure 5)
which is fixed on the shaft G and which by a sort of clutch arrangement is
connected with and disconnected from the collar F according to the direction in
which the latter is turning. For this purpose the disc F' has in its periphery a
notch or recess which is deeper at one end than at the other (see Figure 6) so
that at the one end (say the right hand) a roller, pin or wedge g which is placed in
the notch can move easily while at the other end (the left hand) it cannot move.
The toothed collar F constitutes a box to receive the disc F¹ and roller,
g so that in
certain positions there will be perfect contact and adhesion between the collar F
and disc F' and the one will be drawn into the movement of the other if by means
of (for example) a small spring g' this contact is maintained. Suppose now that by
the action of the rack B the collar F turns in the direction of the arrow X
(Figure 6) it will move the roller g against the spring g' and compress this spring
and it will disengage the disc F' from contact with the roller g seeing that the
roller will be free to move in the cavity in which it is lodged. If on the other hand
the collar F is caused to turn in the direction of the arrow X' it will tend to move
the roller g towards the shallow end of the notch f₁, the spring g' will keep it in
place and the result will be that the disc F1, collar F and roller g will become fixed
together and consequently the shaft G will be driven. In practice this clutching
or fixing together of the disc F' and collar F will take place during the descent of
the rack B and the release or disconnection during the ascent, when the fly wheel J
will continue the rotation which it can easily do. On starting, the pedal is therefore
always pushed downwards.
Instead of employing a spiral spring C to raise the rack as above described I can
employ a spring plate or any other suitable form of spring acting in a similar way
or I can employ an elastic block or body which is compressed during the first part
of the motion of the apparatus and becomes distended during the second part.
In the modification shown in Figures 3 and 4 I employ in place of the spiral
spring C Figure 1 a coiled spring C¹one end of which is attached to a box Z and
the other end to an extension of the collar F. This is combined with a clutch
arrangement such as that above described and shown in Figures 5 and 6; but the
apparatus represented in Figures 3 and 4 works in a rather different way; in
Figure 1 the power comes into play only during the downward motion of the
rack B as the fly wheel J drives the mechanism in the upward motion; but in
Figs. 3 & 4 the fly wheel J only serves to get over the dead points and the lower
shaft G' is driven in the upward movement by a toothed collar in the box Z¹
analogous to the collar. F already described but having a clutch arrangement acting
in the reverse direction to that of the collar F so that while the rack B is descending
the two springs C¹ in the boxes Z and Z' respectively are put in tension and the
collar F drives, while in the ascent the two springs expand, return the rack to its
initial position and the driving is effected by the collar in the second box Z'.
Another feature of my machine is a device or means for giving the necessary
tension to the thread. It is represented in Figure 1 and consists of a reel support
composed of a plate or disc M to the upper part of which is fixed a sheath m
formed of spring blades upon which the reel is placed. This sheath holds the reel
so that it can only turn with the plate. The plate rests on an independent washer
or bed S of felt or other material which can be pressed as desired with more or less
force against the plate by means of a spring plate R acted upon by a regulating

page_text: '
screw V so as to form a sort of brake. The sheath m and its plate M are mounted
on a fixed rod T and are held down by the head of this rod, so that when the reel
is acted upon by the thread it turns more or less freely according to the tension of
the spring plate R. In this way the thread cannot get slack and form loops or
knots.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the. same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a sewing machine, the combination with the ordinary mechanism for
effecting the sewing operation of means for imparting and transmitting motion in
which the driving shaft is actuated by means of a rack or toothed bar worked in
the one direction by hand, foot or otherwise and moved in the other direction by
the expansion of a spring or elastic body which is compressed by the previous part
of the motion of the rack, substantially as herein before described and represented
in the accompanying drawings.
2. In a sewing machine, the clutch or engaging and disengaging apparatus
herein before described comprising a box forming part of the device to which the
first motion is imparted, a disc or piece fixed on the shaft that works the sewing
devices the said disc or piece having a notch or recess in its periphery, a roller, pin
or wedge which becomes displaced in the said notch. in the one direction or the
other according to the direction of the movement of the said box, and a spring
operating in connection with the said roller, pin or wedge, all substantially as
herein before described and represented in the accompanying drawings.
3. Constructing driving mechanism for sewing machiues substantially as herein-
before described and represented in the accompanying drawings.
4. In a sewing machine, a device for giving tension to the thread, comprising a
reel support adapted to prevent the reel from turning independently, a washer or
bed of felt or other material upon which the reel support rests, and means of bringing
a regulated or controlling pressure upon the said washer so as to cause it to press
with more or less force against the reel support and thereby regulate the tension of
the thread substantially as hereinbefore described and represented in the accom-
panying drawings.
Dated this 13th day of December 1893.
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agent.