Improvements in Machines for Crocheting the Edges of Textile and other Fabrics.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 4th July, 1894 -Accepted, 22nd Sept., 1894-
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Crocheting the Edges of Textile
and other Fabrics.
1.JULIUS KÖHLER, of Limbach, Saxony, Germany, Sewing Machine Maker,
lo 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 :—
In crocheting the edges of cloth by means of crocheting machines a self acting
needle has heretofore been used in addition to an eyed needle. Owing however to
the tongue of the latter having to move backwards and forwards at every stitch
and to its being necessarily fine these needles wear so rapidly as to soon become
useless and this prevents the machines being driven fast.
To obviate this inconvenience and thereby to augment the productive capacity
of the machine I use an eyed needle working in combination with an ordinary
crochet needle aud I give to the latter the same rotatory motion as when used in
crocheting by hand. This rotatory motion is produced by the means hereinafter
described with reference to the accompanying drawings of which
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation and Figure 2 a plan view as seen from below of
an edge crocheting machine.
Figures 3 to 8 show the sequence of the crocheting operations.
On the driving shaft a (mounted in bearings a' a³) are two excentrics 6 d. The
excentric actuates a lever c¹ having its fulcrum at c and carrying a sleeve c³.
Rotatable in the sleeve c³ is mounted the long boss of a pinion f provided with a
collar for preventing displacement end wise. The hollow boss of the pinion f
receives a bar 9 in which is mounted the crochet needle h. The bar g rotates with
and can slide endwise in the hollow boss of the pinion but to prevent its
independent rotation therein it is provided with a stud which engages in a slot f
in the interior of the boss of the pinion.
Engaging with the pinion is a toothed arc eat the front end of the lever e¹ e*
having its fulcrum at e. At the other end of the said lever is an antifriction
bowl which takes against the periphery of the excentric or cam d. The rotatory
motion thus obtained enables an ordinary crochet needle to be used as hereinafter
described.
The to and fro motion of the bar is effected by the lever m mounted in a ball
or universal bearing m' and operated by the excentric on the second motion
shaft k. The latter runs in bearings and by means of the bevel wheels i it
is driven twice as fast as the driving shaft a. On the latter shaft is an excentric n
which actuates in the usual manner a lever p for giving an up and down motion to
the needle bar and the eyed needle o and also an excentric q for driving the feed
motion. By the means above described at each up and down motion of the eyed
needle o the crochet needle h is caused to sink and rise by the excentric b, to
rotate or oscillate forwards and backwards about its axis by the excentric d and to
slide forward twice by the action of the excentric and in consequence of these
combined motions the crocheting takes place in the following manner-
Assuming the crochet needle h Figure 3 to stand above the edge of the cloth
and to already have a loop r on the crochet needle h the eyed needle o begins to
sink while the crochet needle h retreats and takes with it the new thread in the
form of a loops which is drawn through the old loop r (Figures 4 and 8). To
enable this to be effected the crochet needle h is rotated until its point is in the
direction of the loop r. The shank of the crochet needle keeps the new loop
spread so that it is drawn through the old loop r without seizing it. During its

page_text: progress while drawing the loop the crochet needle sinks (Figure 5) and while the
eyed needle is at its lowest point it passes the latter and rotates through an angle
of 90° thus coming into the position shown in Figure 6 ready for seizing the new
thread. The eyed needle o then begins to rise so that the thread t forms a curve
which is thereupon seized by the crochet needle and drawn as a loop through the
previously formed loops (Figure 7). The loop shaving been pulled by the
further progress of the crochet needle and the eyed needle having meanwhile
risen the cloth advances and the same operations are gone through the result being
a crocheted edge as shown in plan in Figure 8. stare successive stitches or
loops formed in the cloth. The cloth is fed at the left of the eyed needle so that
the edge to be crocheted is at the right and the projecting guard plate on the table
of the machine is therefore not in the way.
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 1
claim is.-
1. A crocheting machine for edging textile or other fabrics substantially as
herein before set forth and described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
2. In a crocheting machine for operating on the edges of textile or other fabrics
the combination of an eyed needle and a crochet needle having reciprocating
motions backwards and forwards upwards and downwards and about its axis
substantially as and for the purpose herein before set forth and described.
3. In a crocheting machine for operating on the edges of textile or other fabrics
the means herein before described and shown in the accompanying drawings for
imparting to an ordinary crochet needle reciprocating and rotary motions (similar
to hand crocheting) for seizing and interlacing the loops.
Dated 3rd day of July 1894.
E. T. WHITELOW, A.M. Inst. C.E.,
70, Deansgate, Manchester, Agent for the Applicant.