IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES to be as follows:-
Year: 1885

page_text: I, JOHN FORBES, of Brooklyn, New York, United States of America, Book-
keeper, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES to be as follows:-
"
My invention relates to sewing-machines, and is chiefly designed to provide for
enabling such machines to do that class of work known as hem-stitching.
My said invention comprises various improvements hereinafter set forth.
In sewing machines heretofore generally used for this purpose, the work is moved
backwards and forwards, and the needle, in addition to its longitudinal movement,
has imparted to it a lateral to-and-fro movement to effect the requisite crossing
of the stitches. Therefore it has been necessary to specially construct such
machines.
One object of my present invention is to provide means whereby sewing-machines,
in which the needle and needle-bar have the usual longitudinal movement, can be
readily adapted for hem-stitching. For this purpose, provide means whereby a
lateral to-and-fro movement will be imparted to the work in addition to the usual
backward and forward movements, so that, in the operation of the machine, the
work will be moved first forward and to one side, then backward, and then forward
and to the other side.
An important feature of my said invention is the connection of the presser and
the feeder or feed-bar in such a manner that they will move together. This part
of my invention is applicable to sewing-machines for various purposes.
I connect the said presser and feeder by suitable mechanism with the driving
shaft of the machine in such a manner that, in the operation of the said machine,
they will be caused to grip and release the work at the proper times to ensure the
feeding thereof, and to impart the requisite movements to the work. For this
purpose I, in some cases, employ a cam or series of cams fixed upon a shaft
connected by suitable gearing with the driving shaft. These cams are arranged
to operate in combination with a yoke suitably attached to the presser and feeder.
My said Invention is conveniently and advantageously carried into practice as
follows, viz: The feeder or feed-bar is formed with a longitudinal slot and is
fitted to slide to and fro upon a block which is pivotted to a plate. This block
serves as a fulcrum or pivot around or about which the said feed-bar is oscillated
by the said cam. The said plate is fitted with a capability of to-and-fro movement

page_text: in a groove or channel in a plate firmly attached to the base-plate a short distance
beneath the same; the said movable plate is secured to the fixed plate by means
of a screw passing through a slot in the latter, so that the movable plate can be
adjusted to increase or diminish the backward and forward feed movements. The
slot in the feed-bar permits the movement thereof to impart the requisite lateral
movement.to the work.
The presser is pivotted to a bracket rigidly attached to the feed bar and is acted
upon by a spring which tends to hold its extremity in contact with that of the
feeder so that the work will be gripped between them. The said presser has a tail
or extension which is arranged to be acted upon by a stud or projection upon one
of the gear wheels, or by a cam provided for the purpose, so that the extremity of
the presser will be lifted from that of the feeder, when the said presser and feeder
require to be moved without the work.
The presser is provided with two prongs or arms which are capable of vertical
adjustment so that they will exert equal pressure upon the single and the folded
parts of the work.
I do not, however, confine myself to the form of construction above described,
as various modifications can be made therein without departing from the nature of
my invention.

page_text: Improvements in Sewing Machines.
I JOHN FORBES of the City of Brooklyn in the County of Kings and State of
New York in the United States of America, Bookkeeper, do hereby declare the
nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES" and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
The object of my invention is to produce hemstitching by means of a Sewing
Machine whereof the needle and also the shuttle or other mechanism employed
for interlacing the threads (of which the stitch is composed) have the same
movements only as those required for producing a seam, and it consists essentially
in alterations in the feed mechanism whereby the cloth or fabric to be stitched
has imparted to it (relatively to the simple longitudinal motion of an ordinary
Sewing Machine needle, to and fro, through the fabric) the obliquely forward and
directly backward movements by which I produce the hem stitch.
For this purpose I employ a feed cam carried by a horizontal toothed wheel
revolving on a stud firmly secured to the bed plate of the machine and gearing
with another toothed wheel of one third its size made fast on the shaft by which
it is driven. The needle and shuttle or other equivalent mechanism are actuated
by the ordinary arrangements. The feed cam, therefore, makes but one revolution
for every three stitch producing movements of the needle and its connections. The
feed cam is composed of four leaves in different planes of revolution each leaf being
furnished with a projection or projections and thereby operating on a side of the
yoke of a yoke bar which in some machines, as for example the Singer "New
Family" Machine, I connect by means of a transverse lever with the feed bar
while in some other machines, as for example the Wheeler and Wilson "No 10,"
I employ the yoke bar also as a feed bar and make it carry the feed dog and
presser hereinafter mentioned. The sides of the yoke also are in different planes
so as to correspond with the leaves of the feed cam. The yoke-bar is slotted to
receive a guide block working on a pivot so that it may be moved longitudinally
on the guide block and may at the same time be turned on the pivot. One leaf
of the feed cam, having two projections, operates on the side of the yoke in the
same plane in order to produce the forward movements of the feed bar or yoke
bar; another leaf, also having two projections, operates, in a different plane, on the
opposite side and corresponding plane of the yoke and produces the backward
movements of the feed bar or yoke bar, and the two remaining leaves, each having
one projection, act on the sides in corresponding planes respectively and at right
angles with the sides before mentioned and give to 'the yoke bar, simultaneously
with the forward movements, the lateral movements now usually imparted to the
needle for the purpose of forming the hemstitch. The presser is separate from the
feed. rack and is attached directly to and carried by and with the feed bar or yoke
bar instead of being fitted to the head of the machine as is now practised, where
independent of the feed rack. This presser consists of a lever which is pivoted to
the feed bar or yoke bar by a fulcrum pin and projects upwards from said bar

page_text: through an opening in the bedplate. A spring attached to the feed bar or yoke
bar presses upon the presser and maintains a tendency to exert a constant pressure
of its foot upon the feed dog for the purpose of clamping the cloth between it and
the presser foot. The part of the presser which lies beneath the bedplate extends
back to the toothed wheel carrying the feed cam before described, and is actuated
by another cam upon the same wheel so that the presser foot on the opposite end.
of the presser is raised from the feed dog at proper intervals as hereinafter
mentioned. This presser can also be raised at the will of the operator by a small
cam-lever pivoted to the feed bar or yoke bar, at the opening of the bed plate
above referred to, to permit of the introduction of the cloth between the presser
foot and the feed dog.
The operation of the feed mechanism I have described produces a series of
movements of the cloth which, in conjunction with the needle (moving in the
'ordinary longitudinal direction and without any lateral direction) and the shuttle
or its equivalent mechanism, effectuate the desired hemstitch. Supposing the
needle in an ordinarily constructed machine to have been passed through the hem
of the cloth and returned from it (having then completed a stitch) the first
movement of the cloth (actuated by the feed cam as herein before described) will
be an advance laterally to the right and will bring the single ply of the cloth
under the needle. After making a stitch at the point last indicated the move-
ment of the cloth will be a step directly backwards when the needle will again
pass through the single ply of the cloth making a second stitch and the next
movement of the cloth will be forward and laterally to the left, bringing the hem
of the cloth once more under the needle where a third stitch will then be made,
completing the series and forming the desired hemstitch. During the series of
movements just described the cloth is held firmly and continuously between the
presser foot and the feed dog and is so carried by them through such movements.
While the needle is in the cloth at the last of the three stitches above described
the presser foot is raised by the single cam before mentioned at the opposite end
of the presser and the combined presser and feed bar or the presser and yoke bar
make a direct backward movement (the cloth being released by the presser foot
and held in position by the needle only) so as to take a fresh hold of the cloth
preparatory to a repetition of the series.
The next movement of the cloth will bring the single ply again under the
needle and, as the second stitch of each series will be effected at the point at which
the first stitch of the previous series was completed, the needle passes twice
through each perforation in the single ply of the cloth and the perforations are
enlarged by the tightening of the thread. The mechanism I have described is
such as I may employ with slight modifications in various other machines.
I have also to mention that a modification of my arrangements might be made
'so as to cause the first movement of the cloth as above described to be an advance
laterally to the left and its third movement as above described to be forward and
laterally to the right and I do not therefore confine myself to the arrangements
bereinbefore set forth.
And in order that my said invention may be more fully understood I shall now
proceed to describe the drawings upon the sheet hereunto annexed, the same letters
of reference indicating the same or corresponding parts throughout all the figures
upon such sheet.
Fig. L. is a front elevation, partly in section, of a Singer "New Family" Sewing
Machine having my invention applied, and shewing the feed cam, the yoke bar and
yoke, the combined presser and feed bar and the cam lever for raising the presser ;
besides other ordinary parts of the machine.
Fig. II. is an inverted plan of the same shewing the feed cam, the yoke bar and
yoke, the feed bar, part of the presser underneath the machine and the transverse
lever connecting the feed bar and yoke bar; besides other ordinary parts.
Fig. III, is a front view of the combined feed bar and presser detached,

page_text: Figs. IV and V are inverted plans (V being partly in section) on a larger scale
than Figs. I and II of the feed cam and yoke bar for actuating the feed bar.
Fig. VI is a diagram of a piece of cloth shewing the stitches.
Figs. VII, VIII, IX and X are separate diagrams on a larger scale than Figs. IV
and V of the several leaves of the feed cam, showing the position occupied by each
leaf at the time of the withdrawal of the needle preparatory to the beginning of
the series of stitches herein before described.
A is the feed cam having four leaves, 1, 1, 1, 1, in different planes of revolution
and carried by a horizontal toothed wheel, B, revolving upon a stud, C, secured to
the bedplate of the machine. Dis the smaller toothed wheel gearing with and
making three revolutions for each revolution of B and driven by the upright
shaft E F is the yoke of a slotted yoke bar G. K is the guide block fitted in the
yoke bar thereof and turning on the pivot L which is arranged so that the guide
block and pivot may be moved along the bedplate of the machine in order to vary
the length of the stitch. M is the transverse bar connecting the yoke bar, G, with
the feed bar, N, which has the ordinary rough surfaced feed dog, O, securely
fastened to it. P. is the presser pivoted at R to the feed bar, N, and passing
through an opening in the bedplate of the machine. S is the spring which
maintains a constant downward pressure of the presser foot, T, upon the feed
dog O. V is the single cam on the toothed wheel, B, which raises the presser, P,
from the feed dog between each series of three stitches which form the hemstitch.
W is the cloth or fabric.
a, b, c, d, e and f are the projections on the leaves of the feed cam, A, for
producing the various combined movements of the feed bar and the presser, as
next hereinafter described. The hem of the cloth being under the needle (as before
supposed, after the completion of a stitch) the cam in its revolution will bring the
projection c of the leaf into operation on the corresponding plane of the yoke
producing the forward movement to which movement the projection e of the leaf l³,
acting simultaneously, gives a lateral direction to the right and brings the single
ply of the cloth under the needle, the projections 6 and f, on the leaves l¹ and l
respectively, at the same time moving out of contact with the corresponding planes
of the yoke so as to permit of the movement above mentioned for the production
of this diagonal stitch. After the completion of the stitch the further revolution of
the cam brings the projection a of the leaf into operation on a corresponding
plane of the yoke and moves the cloth directly backward, the single ply being still
under the needle-The second stitch of the series being effected at this point, the
continuing revolution of the cam brings the projection & of the leaf l into action
and produces another forward movement to which the projection f of the leaf l,
acting simultaneously, gives a lateral direction to the left, shifting the hem of the
cloth so as to be again under the needle-as soon as the needle has entered the
cloth at this point and the cloth is retained in position by it, the cam V actuates
the presser to lift the presser foot; T, from the feed dog, O, and release the cloth and
the projection b of the leaf coming into operation on a corresponding plane of the
yoke effects the second backward movement of the combined feed bar and presser
independently of the cloth and the presser foot and feed dog thereupon take a
fresh grasp of the cloth preparatory to the commencement of a new series of the
hemstitch producing movements when the third stitch of the series is completed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The use in sewing machines of a compound feed cam arranged with pro-
jections in different planes so as to impart variable motion by contact with
corresponding planes in a compound yoke or fork, constructed and employed
substantially in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore described and shewn
in the drawings hereunto annexed.

page_text: 2. The use in Sewing Machines of a compound feed cam arranged with pro-
jections in different planes so as to produce two oblique forward movements and
two direct backward movements of the feed bar during three operations of the
needle and constructed and employed substantially in the manner and for the
purposes hereinbefore described and set forth in the drawings hereunto annexed:
3. The use in Sewing Machines of a combined feed bar and presser actuated by
a compound feed cam arranged with projections in different planes and constructed
and employed substantially in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore
described and shewn in the drawings hereunto annexed.
4. The use in Sewing Machines of a combined feed bar and presser constructed
and employed substantially in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore
described and shewn in the drawings hereunto annexed.
5. The use in Sewing Machines of a cam for lifting the presser of the combined
feed bar and presser at necessary times constructed and employed substantially in
the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore described and shewn in the drawings
hereunto annexed.
6. The use in Sewing Machines of a presser arranged with a spring substantially
in the manner and for the purposes herein before described and shewn in the
drawings hereunto annexed, and
7. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting my improved
automatic hem stitching machinery constructed and employed substantially in the
manner and for the purposes herein before described and set forth and illustrated in
the drawings hereunto annexed.