IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES, AND IN CHANNELING AND BEVELING MACHINES CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Curtis, of Boston, in the County of
Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, United States of America, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES, AND IN
CHANNELING AND BEVELING MACHINES CONNECTED THEREWITH.”
-A com-
munication from John Ross, residing at Philadelphia, in the County
of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, United States of
America
"
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Frederick Curtis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 27th June 1873, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
CURTIS, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts,
United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS

page_text: THERE WITH," and have petitioned Her most Excellent Majesty Queen
Victoria, to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn
Declaration that it is a communication to me from John Ross, resident
at Philadelphia, in the County of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania,
United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick Curtis, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention to be as follows:-
-
This Invention relates, first, to the combination and arrangement of
the feed bar, foot rest, vertical presser foot, and an oblique presser foot 1
in a sewing machine, as herein-after fully described.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved machine; Figure 2 is a
like view taken from the opposite side of the machine; Figure 3 is a
front elevation of the machine; Figure 4 is an isometrical view of the
feed bar D, combined rest and channel opener E, and the sole guide G; :
Figure 5 is a like view of the combined upper presser foot I and
auxiliary guide e in combination with their stock K; Figure 6 is a like
view of the oblique presser foot I' and stock M.
A is the bed plate of the machine, and B a standard at the front of
the same provided with the needle bar C and feed bar D, which carries :
the combined rest and channel opener E which forms a single piece, and
the sole guide G which is attached to the lever H. The said bar and
parts attached are shown in detail in Figure 4. These improvements
are connected with a wax thread sewing machine. The feed bar D
receives its reciprocating movements from a rock shaft near the bed
plate of the machine, a long vertical arm at the rear end of the shaft
being operated upon at its upper end by a cam on the driving shaft of
said machine, and the front end of the rock shaft has a short vertical
arm, the upper end of which has a joint connection with the bar D.
The needle remains in the shoe to prevent its backward movement after a
the presser feet have been withdrawn from it, and they and the feed bar
and rest return to their back position for feeding the shoe forward, the
operator steadying the shoe to retain it in its normal position until the
presser feet are brought to bear upon it. The movements of the awl,
needle, and presser feet are as usual in wax thread machines. The shoe
is supported by the under rest E, which enters the channel and serves
as an opener. The guide G is brought against the bevel of the shoe

page_text: sole, as represented in Figure 2, the lever to which it is attached lying
in the fork a of the plate b. When the shoc is to be removed and.
another placed in position for sewing, the guide G is turned away from
the sole by the operator taking hold of the handle c of the lever and
lifting it out of its fixed position and then turning it backward, the lever
swinging on the screw d.
The other parts of the machine which will now be described are-
connected with the head picce A'. There is an upper presser foot I
which presses on the turned-over edge of the upper, and keeps it down.
on the sole while the awl passes through it, as seen in Figures 1 and 2..
The foot has a bevel e which serves as an auxiliary guide to the guide G,,
by pressing upon the bevel of the sole while the presser foot I. bears
upon the square edge, thus preventing backward movement of the edge,
of the sole, and holding the sole steady during the sewing operation..
The presser foot is connected with the plate J hinged at one end to tho.
stock K, which has a vertical and horizontal adjustment on the bar L..
The plate J has a horizontal adjustment by means of the screw f which
passes through the stock K, whereby the presser foot is accurately.
adjusted in relation to the upper. The plate is kept out from the stock
by means of a spring. The stock K and parts attached are shown in.
detail in Figure 5. There is an oblique presser foot I¹ which projects
from the lower end of the bar L', the said bar being connected with tho
stock M, shown in detail in Figure 6. The said stock is hung on the
screw 7, as seen in Figures 1 and 2, and is capable of adjustment-to
bring the presser foot to the upper and in proper position with the bevel
guido e by means of the vertical set screw i.. There is a wire spring N
attached to the upper end of the stock to keep it up against the screw.
The bar L' is provided with a spring N¹, which bears against its
adjustable arm j. O is a lever hung on the screw K¹, as seen in
Figure 1. The lower end of the lever is placed under the arm, and by.
the action of the lever O¹ the presser foot is lifted for the removal of the
shoe or for placing another one in position. R is a lever, seen. in
Figure 2, which is hung on the fulcrum pin l, and having its front end
under the pin m which projects from one side of the upper presser foot,
bar L, and Q is a lever hung on the pin n and having a cam o, which,
as the front end of the lever is raised actuates the lever R for elevating
the upper presser foot bar for removing the foot from the shoe wlien
required. This foot presses upon the upper and tends to press the

page_text: -
channel upon the rest E, and the bevel of the sole against the sole
guide G, so as to keep the shoe steady as it is fed forward and sewed.
Figure 1' is a side view of the machine, embodying the second portion
of this Invention; Figure 2¹ is a section through A, B, Figure 1',
showing that part of the machine which is on the right of the line A, B,
Figure 3 shows the method of fastening the knives. C is the housing
of the machine, which is provided with openings through which the
frames a, a¹ are passed. Each frame has two bearings 6, 6¹, and b¹, b¹,
through which the shafts c and c¹ pass. The upper frame a¹ may be
moved longitudinally to some extent, but can be fastened in any position
to which it is brought by means of set screws d, d. The lower frame a
is connected with the housing by a pin e around which it can freely
swing, its motion being limited by the extent of the opening in the right
side of the housing C through which it passes. The shafts c and c¹
revolve in opposite directions, the motion being imparted by means of
spur wheels ff', which receive their motion by means of the crank g
fastened to the pinion h, both revolving loosely on the stud i fastened
into the housing C. The shaft c¹ carries on its opposite end a blank
wheel j, and the shaft c is on the right end provided with a disk k, the
periphery of which is serrated or notched. The latter is forced toward
the blank wheel j by a helical spring coiled loosely around the bolt m,
the upper end of which screws into the bearing b, and the lower end is
provided with a hook for a purpose hereafter to be described. The
force with which the spring presses the disk k upward is regulated by
the thumb nut n, which, when screwed downward on the bolt m
increases the tension of the spring, and if screwed upward relieves it.
The channeling knife o, Figures 1 and 2, is held in place by the cap v
and screw w, and may be adjusted vertically by loosening the screw w,
moving the knife as desired, and then fastening the screw again. By
this
process, the depth of the channel cut into the leather is regulated.
The beveling knife x, Figure 1', is adjusted horizontally, for the purpose
of varying the distance between the bevel and channel in precisely the
same manner, namely, by sliding the knife, after loosening the cap p
and screw, and then fastening them again. By this means the
distance between the bevel and channel in the sole can be adjusted.
l
For the purpose of varying the depth of the bevel a means has been
Lavalina Inila
voutinal dimnation

page_text: as follows:-The bar q, to the right extremity of which the knife x is
attached, is hinged to the housing C at s. The spring & connected with
the bar q by the pin u pulls the bar upward against the end of the
regulating screw y which passes through the nut z on the housing C;
therefore by screwing the screw up or down the position of the bar q
and knife is regulated. Thus far the depth of the channel, the
distance between bevel and channel, and the depth of the bevel are.
enabled to be regulated, so that the method of varying the distance of
the bevel and channel from the edge of the channel remains to be
described. The leather in passing through the machine is kept firmly
against the edge guide 6", and by moving the latter horizontally a
greater or lesser distance from the knives
accomplished.
x and o the
purpose is
In this Invention the trouble of having two pieces to move is
overcome by casting or otherwise fastening permanently the edge
guide 6" to the beaming 6' of the shaft c¹ to which the blank wheel is
fastened, so that the relative position of the edge guide and blank wheel
is never disturbed. All that is to be done then in setting the edge
guide is to unscrew the screw d to move the upper frame a with all that
is fastened thereto horizontally until the edge guide comes to the desired
position. The screw d is then again screwed up, and the machine is
ready for operation.
The fastening of the knives is shown in Figure 3', where v is a loose
cap provided with a groove o¹, slightly less in depth than the knife
is in width, so that after introducing the knife into the groove, the cap
on being screwed against the support 3 will hold the knife tightly.
The leather in going through the machine passes over the support 1,
which is simply a piece of sheet steel or other similarly elastic material
fastened to the bearing 6 by means of a screw 2. The disk k in drawing
the leather over the support 1 sinks to a greater or lesser extent into
the leather according to its degree of hardness. As long as the leather
is tolerably hard the disk sinks into it very little, and the support 1 does
not approach the blank wheel j so near as to cause any considerable
friction on the leather; but when the leather is soft the disk penetrates
it deeply, and the support 1 comes so near to the blank wheel j that a
solid, unyielding support would occasion so much friction as to make the

page_text: machine practically useless; but by making it elastic, as shown in
Figure 2', no such excessive friction is produced.
In withose whomeof T the coid Exodovick Curtis have hereunto set.
machine practically useless; but by making it elastic, as shown in
Figure 2', no such excessive friction is produced.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Curtis, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of June 1873.