Ornamental Stitches and for other Purposes.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 7th June, 1887
Complete Left, 7th Mar., 1888
Complete Accepted, 1st June, 1888
Ornamental Stitches and for other Purposes.
I WILLIAM EDWIN HICKLING of 58 Laurel Road Leicester in the County of
Leicester, Accountant do hereby declare the nature of this invention for "AN
IMPROVED ATTACHMENT TO SEWING MACHINES FOR MAKING ORNAMENTAL STITCHES
AND OTHER PURPOSES," and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The improvement relates to new arrangements for the purpose of guiding certain
threads and leading them into such positions in relation to the needles while sewing
that the result will be the production of a fancy or ornamental pattern on the face of
the work sewn.
I do this by means of guides, which either oscillate on a centre or
work in slides, and which are actuated either singly or in pairs or other sets of
numbers, by means of cams driven either from the needle bar, or from other moving
part of the sewing machine to which the apparatus is attached-The frame or case
which carries the guides and the machinery actuating them may be attached to the
head of the sewing machine in any convenient position.
For ornamental stitching a greater number of patterns of stitches may be made by
using two or more needles in the sewing machine than when one needle only is used,
as the threads forming the ornamental stitch can be carried across either part of the
distance covered by the needles, or the whole distance thus making the ornamental
stitching wider than when only one needle is used.
By means of using various cams to actuate the guides, the ornamental threads can
be crossed and intertwined with the stitching threads in such a manner as to make an
infinite variety of patterns. For example :-by using two guides for the ornamental
threads, the said threads might be crossed between each stitch taken by the needles,
or between every alternate stitch; or one thread might cross between each stitch, and
the other between each alternate stitch, or in any other order as may be desired
according to the pattern wanted to be made.
In practice I find the following to be a successful method of carrying out the
invention:-To the arm of the sewing machine, on the side facing the person operating
the machine, I affix a piece of metal having a hinge joint to which is jointed
another plate of metal, for convenience two or three inches square according to the

page_text: size of the sewing machine to which it is fixed, this plate when in work stands on a
plane parallel with the needle bar and at right angles to the feed-This plate when not
in use, or when it is necessary to get at the needles may be moved out of the way by
means of the hinge before mentioned-This plate forms the base plate or main frame
of the attachment-About the centre of the plate I bore a hole in which I fit a spindle,
and on the end of the spindle nearest the operator I place the cam, or cams. The
spindle is made to revolve by means of a ratchet wheel keyed or otherwise fixed on
that portion of it which projects on the opposite side of the plate from the cam-The
ratchet wheel is made to revolve by means of an arm carrying a ratchet, which arm
is driven by means of a connecting rod from the needle bar. I make the guides for
carrying the ornamental threads in the shape of the letter L inverted having one
arm very much longer than the other-These guides are made to move on a centre
pin passing through a hole at the angle, (somewhat similar to a bell crank lever).
The ends of the long armis pass down in front of the needles of the sewing machine
and are provided with eyes or holes through which the threads are carried to the long
arms. At the end of the short arm is a link connected with a pin on a slide which
moves vertically up and down as it is driven by means of the cam. The connexion
between the slide and the cam is made by means of a lever which works from a centre
on the right hand side of the plate, and engages with a pin in the slide which carries
the links at the other end. About the middle of the length of this lover is a roller
and stud which is in contact with and is actuated by the cam-In some cases I make
each guide or some one or other of them carry two threads by means of which other
varieties of patterns are made.
It will be seen by this description that the ornamental work is done entirely on the
face of the work, and these ornamental threads may be thrown over the top of a cord
or braid passing between the needles, thus giving a very bold appearance to the work
-Or by so laying the edge of the material sewn, in contact with a cord or braid, the
needles, when two are used, will one of them stitch the fabric & the other the cord,
thus joining them together with the ornamental threads-Or if the edge of the material
is so placed as to pass between the needles while stitching the ornamental threads will
be thrown round the edge thus making an ornamental edge or finish-Or two pieces
of material laid edge to edge & passed through the machine may be perfectly sewn
together making an ornamental join without the material overlapping.
Dated this 6th day of June 1887.

page_text: Ornamental Stitches and for other Purposes.
I, WILLIAM EDWIN HICKLING of 58 Laurel Road, Leicester, in the County of
Leicester, Accountant, 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:-
The improvement relates to new arrangements for the purpose of guiding certain
threads and leading them into such positions in relation to the needles while sewing
that the result will be the production of a fancy or ornamental pattern on the face of
the work sewn.
I do this by means of guides which either oscillate on a centre or
work in slides and which are actuated either singly or in pairs or other sets of
numbers by means of cams driven either from the needle bar or from other moving
part of the sewing machine to which the apparatus is attached. The frame or case
which carries the guides and the machinery actuating them may be attached to the
head of the sewing machine in any convenient position.
For ornamental stitching a greater variety of patterns of stitches may be made by
using two or more needles in the sewing machine than when one needle only is used;
as the threads forming the ornamental stitch can be carried. across either part of the
distance covered by the needles or the whole distance, thus making the ornamental
stitching wider than when only one needle is used.
By means of using various cams to actuate the guides the ornamental threads can
be crossed and intertwined with the stitching threads in such a manner as to make an
infinite variety of patterns. For example:-by using two guides for the ornamental
threads, the said threads might be crossed between each stitch taken by the needles,
or between every alternate stitch; or one thread might cross between each stitch,
and the other between each alternate stitch, or in any other order as may be desired
according to the pattern wanted to be made.
In practice I find the following to be a successful method of carrying out the
invention.
To the arm of the sewing machine on the side facing the person operating the
machine, I affix a piece of metal having a hinge joint to which is jointed another plate
of metal for convenience two or three inches square according to the size of the
sewing machine to which it is fixed this plate when in work stands in a plane parallel
with the needle bar and at right angles to the feed. This plate when not in use or
when it is necessary to get at the needles may be moved out of the way by means of
the hinge before mentioned.
This plate forms the base plate or main frame of the attachment. About the centre
of the plate I bore a hole in which I fit a spindle, and on the end of the spindle nearest
the operator I place the cam or cams. The spindle is made to revolve by means of
a. ratchet wheel keyed or otherwise fixed on that portion of it which projects on the

page_text: .
opposite side of the plate from the cam. The ratchet wheel is made to revolve by
means of an arm carrying a ratchet, which arm is driven by means of a connecting
rod from the needle bar. I make the guides for carrying the ornamental threads in
the form of a lever, having one arm very much longer than the other. The ends of
the long arms pass down in front of the needles of the sewing machine, and are
provided with eyes or holes through which the thread is carried to the end of the
long arms. At the end of the short arm is a link which is driven by means of
the cam.
In some cases, I make each guide or some one or other of them carry two or more
threads by means of which other varieties of patterns are made. It will be seen by this
description that the ornamental work is done entirely on the face of the work, and
these ornamental threads may be thrown over the top of a cord or braid passing
between the needles thus giving a very bold appearance to the work or by so laying
the edge of the material sewn in contact with a cord or braid the needles, when two
are used, will one of them stitch the fabric and the other the cord thus joining them
together with the ornamental threads. Or if the edge of the material is so placed as
to pass between the two needles while stitching the ornamental threads will be thrown
around the edge thus making an ornamental edging or finish: or two pieces of
material laid edge to edge and passed through the machine may be perfectly sewn
together making an ornamental join without the material overlapping.
In order that ny said invention may be more fully understood and readily carried
into effect I will proceed to describe the drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan of an attachment constructed according to this invention.
Figure 2 is an end elevation, and
Figure 3 is a side elevation.
In these figures so much of the sewing machine is shown as is necessary to explain
the invention.
A is the arm of the sewing machine, the attachment is hinged to the plate a which
is fastened to the arm A by the screws a¹ a¹ as is clearly shown in figures 1 and 3.
B is the needle bar. In the machine shown it carries three needles (see figure 3) but
the number may be varied. C is the presser foot. The machine is of ordinary
construction and needs no further description. b is the plate which forms the frame
of the attachment, it is hinged to the plate a as shown.
In figures 2 and 3 the plate is hidden by the cover plates c, c, but in figures 4 and 5
which are similar views with the cover plates removed, it is clearly seen.
Figure 6 is a back elevation of the attachment removed from the machine, and
Figures 7 are separate views of some of the parts. d is a spindle which passes
through a hole in the plate b, the mechanism of the attachment is carried on this
spindle and is secured by washers d'd' and screws d³ ³ at the ends of the spindle, as
is shown in figure 4. At the side of the plate b nearest to the operator there are two
cams e and which are shewn separately at Figures 8 and 9.
In this apparatus these cams consist of mere eccentrics and this is the arrangement
I prefer to employ on account of its simplicity, but other forms may be used. In the
drawings these eccentrics are shown set at right angles to each other, but by slacking
the screw d³ they are freed and can be set at any other angle to each other, and again
secured in the desired position by tightening the screw d³. In this way a multitude
of different effects can be obtained. These eccentrics are encircled by straps 9, 9, one
of which is shown separately in figures 10. These straps are pinned at g¹g to the tops
of the thread guides hh pivoted at ¹ whose lower bars are perforated with a number
of holes through which the ornamenting threads are led. When other shaped cams
are used they are, connected to the arms h by links or other means. The spindle dat
its end away from the operator carries a ratchet which is driven by a pawl k
fixed to an arm or plate to which the lower end of the rod 2 is pivoted by means of
a screw at k³. The plate k¹ is provided with two or more holes for the screw k³ to

page_text: enter, as is shown in figures 6 and 7 and the throw of the ratchet is varied according
to which hole is used. In this way the rate of oscillation of the thread guides / can
be varied relatively to that of the needle bar and other variations can be obtained by
substituting ratchets with more or less teeth. The upper end of the rod is fixed to
the projection B' at the upper end of the needle bar B by means of a screw 1, as shown
in figures 1, 2 and 3. The plate is therefore oscillated for every oscillation of the
needle bar, and the spindle d is turned one or more teeth of the ratchet according to
the point of attachment of the rod ² to the plate . The top of the attachment
carries a number of bobbins m carrying the ornamenting threads four are shown but
the number may be varied. These threads are led through the staples o, attached to the
cover plates and then to. the eyes nn upon take up springs, thence again through
the eyes o¹ o, and holes pp to eyes qq on the guides and thence through one or other
of the holes 2 on the lower bar of the guide.
Different results are obtained according to which hole 2 is employed. Figures 11,
12, 13 and 14 are diagram views illustrating this. In these figures the thread guide is
shown as making a complete oscillation to and fro for each eight stitches of the needles,
but as before explained, this can be varied.
In figure 11 the thread is led through the left hand end hole of the thread guide
which is shown at the extreme left of its throw, its limit at the other side being shown
in dotted lines. The result is that the ornamenting thread only comes across the path
of the left hand needle and is caught by it one stitch out of each eight; for the other
seven it remains on the left hand side of the needle.
In figure 12 a similar diagram is shown where the ornamenting thread passes
through the 3rd hole from the left, the result being that it is now caught by two needles
being to the right of the middle needle one stitch out of eight and to the right of the
left hand needle 3 stitches out of eight.
In figure 13 the thread is threaded through the 5th hole from the left and is caught
by all three needles being to the right of the right hand needle one stitch out of 8 to
the right of the middle needle 3 stitches out of 8 and to the right of the left hand
needle 3 out of eight.
In figure 14 the thread passes through the 7th hole from the left and crosses all tho
needles being to the right of the right hand needle two stitches out of 8 to the right
of the middle needle 4 stitches out of 8 and to the right of the left hand need lo
6 stitches out of 8.
It will be observed that the four ornamenting threads shown in these four figures
can be used together which gives the effect produced by superimposing the four
diagrams. At the same time also similar effects are produced by the threads on the
other arm and the motion of this arm relatively to that of the other can be varied by
shifting the eccentrics e and upon the spindle, so that the two arms can oscillate
together, or their oscillations can be exactly alternate or anything between the two.
It will thus be seen that with the attachment shown in the drawings a vast variety of
ornamental stitches can be obtained. This number can however be still further
increased, if desired, by replacing the eccentrics e and by differently shaped cams
which may be driven independently of each other by which means the arms can be
made to oscillate at different speeds or can each be made to dwell relatively to one
another at any desired points and so on. It will be understood that the ornamenting
threads may be of different colors by interchanging which other variations are
produced.
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. An attachment for a sewing machine with two or more needles consisting of a
thread guide or thread guides so constructed or driven that the ornamenting threads
can at will be carried either across part or the whole of the space between the two
outer needles substantially as described.
2. An attachment for a sewing machine with two or more needles consisting of a

page_text: thread guide or thread guides so constructed or driven that the ornamenting threads
can at will be carried either across part or the whole of the space between the outer
needles and the rates of oscillation of the guides relatively to that of the needles be
varied substantially as described.
3. An attachment for a sewing machine with two or more needles consisting of a
thread guide or thread guides each provided with two or more eyes so situated that the
ornamenting threads can be carried either across part or the whole of the space
between the two outer needles substantially as described.
4. An attachment for a sewing machine with two or more needles consisting of two
or more thread guides cach provided with two or more eyes and mechanism for
oscillating the guides separately or in sets at rates which can be varied relatively to
that of the needles substantially as described.
5. Connecting an embroidery attachment to a sewing machine by a hinge joint so
that it can be turned back out of the way substantially as described.
6. My improved attachment for sewing machines substantially as described.
Dated this 7th day of March 1888.
CARPMAEL & Co.,
Agents.