Improvements in Mechanism for Operating the Cloth Feeding Bar of Sewing Machines.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 19th Mar., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Mechanism for Operating the Cloth Feeding Bar
of Sewing Machines.
1, WILLIAM JAMES STEWART, Machinist, of No. 681, Burling Street, in Chicago,
County of Cook, and State of Illinois, United States of America, do hereby
declare the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This invention relates to the mechanism for operating the cloth feeding bar of
sewing machines, and more particularly to that type of such feeding mechanisms in
which a gyratory operating shaft or lever is arranged beneath the bed of the
machine, with its forward end fulcrumed in a suitable bearing on said bed at a
point forward of the feed bar, and with its rear end connected by link connections
with an operating eccentric on the driving shaft of the machine, so as to receive a
gyratory motion therefrom. Such gyratory operating shaft or lever having
intermediate connections to the sewing machine feed bar, so as to impart the
requisite forward and back as well as the up and down movement to such feed bar.
And the object of the present improvement is to provide a novel, simple and
effective structural arrangement and combination of the parts of such type of feed
mechanisms whereby the same are rendered very efficient in operation as well as
cheap and durable in construction, all as will hereinafter more fully appear and be
more particularly pointed out in the claim.
I attain such object by the construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in
the accompanying drawings, in which :
Figure 1, is a bottom plan of a sewing machine, illustrating my present
improvement.
Figure 2, a transverse section at line x-x, Figure 1, illustrating the shuttle and
feed operating eccentric and their connections.
Figure 3, an enlarged detail longitudinal sectional elevation at line x¹-x³,
Figure 1.
Figure 4, an enlarged transverse sectional elevation at line x-x, Figure 3.
Similar numerals of reference indicate like parts in the several views.
As represented in the drawings the general arrangement of the feed operating
mechanism, etc., will be substantially the same as that used in the present type of
feeding mechanisms for sewing machines.
Referring to such drawings, 1, represents the cloth feeding bar which in the
construction shown, is guided in a slot or groove in the guide post 2, that
projects downwardly from the under surface of the bed 3 of the machine. Such
feed bar being fulcrumed by an elongated horizontal slot in its forward end upon
a cross pin 4, of the guide post 2, so as to have a horizontal reciprocating movement
at its forward end, while its rear end is left free to move back and forth as well as
up and down in the operation of the machine.
5, is the gyratory operating shaft or lever pivoted at a point forward of the
feed bar 1, in a pendant post on the under side of the bed of the machine,
the rear end of such shaft being free to gyrate.

page_text: 7, is an operating link connection, the upper end of which is provided with
an eccentric yoke that embraces the operating eccentric 8 on the driving shaft 9
of the machine, while the lower end of such link connection is formed with a
tubular eye that engages the spherically formed rear end of the gyratory shaft
or operating lever 5.
10, is an adjustable sliding block adapted to move in a vertical guide slot 11, in
the vertical portion of the machine arm, and be held to its required adjustment by
a thumb or set screw 12.
13, is the pivot link connecting the adjustable block 10, to the operating link
connection 7, the connection to the said block 10 being by means of a pivot pin, and
to the link 7 by means of a sleeve 14 adapted to slide thereon.
In the present construction, the circle of gyration of the lower end of the link
connection 7 in a vertical plane, will remain constant regardless of the adjustment
of the pivot link 13, and consequently the up and down movement of the feed bar 1,
will remain constant; the gyration of the lower end of the operating
link connection, 7 in a horizontal plane, varies with the adjustment of
the pivot link 13 and its carrying block 10, increasing as such parts are adjusted
upward towards the operating eccentric 8, and decreasing as such parts are
adjusted downwardly away from the eccentric, and accordingly the forward and
backward movements of the cloth feeding bar 1, can be adjusted to suit any required
length of stitch without effecting the constant up and down movement of such
feeding bar.
The novelty of the present improvement consists in operating the cloth feeding
bar, in its forward and backward movements in a direct manner by the engagement
of the gyratory operating shaft 5 in a vertical recess 15 in the said bar, the up and
down movement being imparted to such cloth feeding bar through the
instrumentality of a projection or headed stud 16 that extends forwardly from the
cloth feeding bar, with its headed portion adapted to bear against the gyratory
operating shaft 5, as shown, or in any other usual manner.
With this improved construction the long movement in a horizontal plane, and
the comparatively short up and down movement in a vertical plane requisite in sewing
machine feed mechanisms, is attained in a very cheap, simple and effective
manner.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :—
A. feeding mechanism for sewing machines, comprising in combination, the
cloth feeding bar 1, fulcrumed to the bed of the machine and guided thereon, and
provided with a vertical recess 15 and a forwardly extending projection 16, or its
equivalent, a gyratory operating shaft 5, journalled on the bed of the machine at
a point forward of the feed bar, and adapted to engage the recess 15, and stud 16,
and means for imparting a gyratory motion to the rear end of the shaft 5.
Dated this 4th day of January 1898.
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
Agents to Applicant, 18, Buckingham Street, Strand, London, W.C.