Improvements in Sewing Machines for Use in the Manufacture of Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1899

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by JOSEPH ELI BERTRAND, of 196, Summer Street,
Boston, Massuchusetts, United States of America, Machinist.]
Improvements in Sewing Machines for Use in the Manufacture of
Boots and Shoes.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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:
My invention relates to lock stitch waxed thread sewing machines, is an
improvement upon the invention shown and described in prior Patent No. 263
of 1899 and it consists in certain novel features of construction, arrangement,
and combination of parts which will be readily understood by reference to the
description of the accompanying drawings, and to the claims hereto appended,
and in which my invention is clearly pointed out.
Figure 1 of the drawings is a plan of the head of a machine embodying my
invention.
Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same.
Figure 3 is an elevation of the same looking at the left hand side of Figure 2,
with the fly or hand wheel cut away.
Figure 4 is a sectional elevation, the cutting plane being on line, a on
Figure 2.
Figure 5 is a sectional rear elevation of the shuttle-race and the mechanism
for revolving the shuttle.
Figure 6 is a vertical transverse section of said shuttle race, the cutting plane
being on line y, y on Figure 5.
Figure 7 is a front end view of the shuttle driving shaft and the spiral gear
formed thereon.
Figure 8 is a rear elevation of the shuttle driver.
Figure 9 is a partial elevation of the thread controlling mechanism.
Figure 10 is a sectional plan of the same.
Figure 11 is an elevation of the vertically movable sheave and its carrier to
be adjustably mounted in a bearing in the rear extension of the awl operating
lever.
Figure 12 is an enlarged sectional view of the ratchetted thread guiding
sheave.
Figure 13 is a front elevation of the shuttle, its raceway, and portions of the
work support, presser-foot looper and thread finger with the shuttle in the
position it occupies at the end of each complete revolution.
Figure 14 represents a side elevation of the cams, levers, links and shuttle
operating crank shaft in the position they occupy when the shuttle is in the
position shown in Figure 13.
Figure 15 is a front elevation of the same parts that are shown in Figure 13

page_text: but showing the shuttle in the position of its intermediate stand-still during
which the stitch is set, and
Figure 16 is a side elevation of the same parts that are shown in Figure 14
with the several parts in the positions they occupy when the shuttle is in
the position shown in Figure 15.
Figure 17 is an elevation of the needle segment, the lever and cam for
operating the same, the needle guide, and the inner gear segments for operating
the same.
Figure 18 is an elevation of the head of the machine looking at the right
hand side of Figure 2.
Figure 19 is an elevation of the looper, its lever, the cams for operating the
same, and the cam-trucks acted upon by said cams.
Figures 5 to 16 inclusive are drawn to an enlarged scale.
In the drawings A is the base plate of the frame of the machine, provided
with the two upwardly projecting plate like standards A1 and A2, and firmly
secured to a suitable supporting column B, of any suitable construction.
The base plate A has set therein the columns A3 and A', in bearings in the
upper end of which is mounted the shaft C, having fixed thereon between the
said bearings the three cam dises C¹, C and C3, and said shaft has secured
thereto, outside of the column A³, the driving wheel C, all constructed, arranged
and operating in a well known manner.
The standard A¹ has formed integral therewith the laterally projecting
branch A5, in the upper side of which is formed a suitable guideway parallel to
the axis of the shaft C, in which is movably mounted, the feed slide 1) provided
at its inner end with the pendent arm I carrying at its lower end the awl
segment D2, with the teeth of which the gear segment b, on the front end of the
lever D³, engages to impart an oscillating motion to the segment 12 and the
awl a as said lever is vibrated by the action of the cam path 6' upon a truck
mounted at a², all as shown and described in said prior patent.
The feed slide D has an intermittent reciprocation imparted thereto, to feed
the work, by the action of the cam path e in the periphery of the disc (³, upon
a truck carried by the rear end of the lever C³, fulcrumed at c¹ and provided
with a longitudinal slot in which is adjustably mounted a pin c³, the lower
end of which enters a block set in a slot in a plate firmly secured to said feed
slide, at right angles thereto, said pin and block being adjusted by means of
the lever c, to vary the feed and regulate the length of the stitch, in a well
known manner.
On the front face of the pendent arm D¹ is mounted so as to be movable
vertically thereon the plate d, to the lower end of which is secured the presser
foot, and has set in its upper end a stud upon which is mounted the block
which is engaged by the forked front end of the lever E, fulcrumed at e upon
the inner end of the feed slide D, and carrying at its rear end the truck e' which
is acted upon by the face cam e, formed upon the periphery of the cam disc (³,
to force the presser foot downward upon the work, said presser foot being raised
by the re-action of the spring ³.
E is the work support, F is its pivoted carrier, E³ is the thread controlling
reciprocating bar connected to and movable endwise by the carrying movement
of the work support when work of varying thickness is fed between the presser
foot and work support.
Fis the locking lever shown only in dotted lines in Figure 3 but is con-
structed, arranged and operated precisely as in said prior patent, except that
the arrangement of the spring for holding its rear arm or the truck carried
thereby in contact with the cam is somewhat differently arranged, as a matter
of convenience only, by placing the spring below the pin h, connecting its
end directly to said lever F, and its upper end to the rod, which is threaded
to receive the nut g.
The standard A2 has secured therein, in axial line with the stud upon which

page_text: the awl segment is mounted, the stud a³ upon which are mounted, so as to be
revoluble thereon, the needle segment D, and the needle guide j¹.
The needle segment D has firmly clamped thereto the curved barbed needle k,
and is engaged by the teeth of the gear segment formed on the front end of the
lever H fulcrumed at h on the stand H, and provided with a truck which is
acted upon by the path in the side of the cam disc C¹ to impart the necessary
reciprocating movements to the needle, as shown in Figure 17.
The needle guide is constructed and operated as in said prior patent, motion
being imparted thereto from the cam surface m on the periphery of the cam
disc C, the lever m², shaft m and suitable segments as shown and described in
said prior patent.
The standard A2 has set therein the forked headed stud I, so as to be movable
about its axis, and has pivoted in said forked head, the lever I', carrying at its
front end the looper n, and at its rear end the cam trucks n¹ and n² arranged
with their axes at right angles to each other, the former of which enters and is
acted upon by the path in the outer side of the cam disc C, and the latter is
acted upon by the side face cam n formed upon the same side of said cam disc C³,
said truck being held in contact with said face cam by the tension of the
spring o, connected at one end to the rear end of the extension arm 12 of said
lever and at its other end to a fixed portion of the machine as shown in
Figure 3.
Jis a bracket bolted to the underside of the flange of the column B, and
projecting to the rear therefrom, to serve as a support for the wax-pot, which,
with the rear portion of said bracket, is not shown.
A smaller bracket J¹ is bolted to the bracket J and has mounted therein the
spindle upon which is mounted the tension wheel J2, the presser disc o³, the
spring of and the spring compressing or adjusting nut o³, all of well known
construction.
K is a lever fulcrumed upon the same stud jupon which the lever D³ is
mounted, but upon the opposite side of the stand H to said lever D³, and has
a vibratory motion imparted thereto by the action of the face cam g formed on
the hub of the cam disc C2 upon a truck carried by the forward end of said
lever and the tension of the spring, said spring and cam and the front arm
of said lever being shown in dotted lines in Figure 4.
The rear end of said lever K has secured thereto the plate which when
depressed serves as a brake shoe, to press upon the thread 2 within the groove
of the tension wheel to prevent thread being drawn therefrom when the shuttle
is passing through the loop, and when the stitch is being set.
The lever D which operates the awl segment has a short rearwardly projecting
arm in the rear end of which is adjustably secured the pendent thread engaging
arm r.
So far as now described the machine is constructed, arranged and operates
the same as in said prior patent.
The thread controlling devices at the rear of the machine are somewhat
modified in construction and operation to render them more effective as follows:
The pendent rod r is provided at its lower end with the enlarged forked por-
tion r, and has mounted between its two arms the anti-friction sheaver, the
groove in which engages the thread when the rear end of the lever D³ is
depressed, the lower end of each arm of said fork being provided with an
inwardly projecting lug or shoulder with its inner face inclined outward as
shown, which serves to guide the thread to the sheave, and prevent all possibility
of the thread getting between said sheave and its supporting arms.
In the machine described in said prior patent, the bar E³ was provided with
a rearward extension formed integral therewith or firmly secured thereto, upon
the rear end of which was mounted a thread guiding sheave which was moved
toward and from the tension wheel according as the thickness of the sole, fed
between the presser foot and the work support varied, and caused a movement

page_text: of the work support and its carrier at the same time that the thread measuring
finger descended between said sheave and the tension wheel to draw from said
tension wheel the requisite amount of thread for the next stitch, said thread
guiding sheave being prevented from being rotated backward by a ratchet and
pawl.
While in principle this device was correct, it has been found that it does not
deliver quite the requisite amount of thread, and to obviate this objection I
mount upon the hub of the stand H, in which is set the stud j, the triangular
arm L having set in its rear end the stud upon which is mounted the sheave
having a Y-shaped groove, the inner portion of which has parallel sides, the
distance between which is not greater than the diameter of the thread to be
used.
The sheave has formed upon its periphery, at one side of its groove, a series
of ratchet teeth, with which the pawl engages to prevent backward rotation
of said sheave when the sheave descends upon the thread and depresses it
between said sheave and the tension wheel.
L' is a link pivoted at one end to the lower corner of the triangular arm L,
and at its other end to the bar E³, as shown in Figures 9 and 10.
M is the shuttle of circular form and provided with a loop engaging hook,
and constructed and arranged to be intermittently rotated, always in the same
direction, and is mounted in a suitable raceway M' which is firmly secured in
a fixed position to the upper portions of the standards A and A2 with its front
face inclined to a perpendicular, and has formed in its front side a chamber M²
the enclosing side walls of which extend around about four fifths, more or less,
of a complete circle, being open at the bottom, and provided with the inwardly
projecting lips which with the cap segment embrace the outwardly projecting
lipt of the shuttle as shown in Figures 4 and 6.
The shuttle race M' has a closed back wall in which is a bearing for one end
of the shuttle driving shaft t, the other bearing for which is formed in a boss
or stand formed upon or secured to the inner side of the standard A2, and has
formed thereon a spiral gear pinion, the teeth of which are arranged at an
angle of 45 degrees to the axis of said pinion, said raceway being counterbored
at the rear to receive one-half the length of said spiral pinion p, as shown in
Figures 4 and 5.
Said raceway also has formed upon its rear face a boss ¹ semi-circular in
cross section and extending from its right hand end, as seen in rear elevation
in Figure 5, nearly to the centre of the raceway as shown.
In the boss p is formed a bearing for the shaft 2 which has formed integral
therewith the crank p³, and has firmly secured upon its other end, by a suitable
key and keyway and the screw 4, the spiral pinion to match the pinion p, a
suitable semi-circular chamber being formed in the back of said raceway to
receive one-half of the pinion p, as shown in Figure 6.
C is a cam disc mounted on the shaft C in near proximity to the column A³,
and having formed in the side thereof, next to said column, the cam path s
which engages the cam truck s¹ mounted on a stud in the side of the lever 0,
fulcrumed at 2 to the forwardly projecting bracket A4 formed in one piece
with the column A³, and connected at its upper end by the link N to the upper
end of the arm N¹, mounted at its lower end upon the pin 26 of the crank p³,
all as shown in Figure 3, partly in dotted lines.
The opposite side of the disc C has formed therein the cam path N2, shown
only in dotted lines in Figures 3, 14 and 16.
The column A³ is also provided with a rearwardly and upwardly projecting
bracket or arm A to the rear end of which is pivoted the lever O¹ connected at
its front end to the arm N and provided with a cam truck 3 which enters, and
is acted upon by said path N2, to vibrate said lever 0¹ in a direction substan-
tially at right angles to the movements of the lever 0, or in other words, to
move the front end of said level O¹ in an are of a circle the chord of which is

page_text: substantially vertical, while the upper end of the lever O is moved in an arc
of a circle the chord of which is substantially horizontal.
By this combination and arrangement of the cam paths s and N2 the levers O
and 0, the link N, arm N', the crank 23, shafts and t, and the pair of
spiral gear pinions and 2, and a shuttle carrier suitably connected to the
front of the shaft t', a complete revolution of the shuttle always in the same
direction is produced during about one-half of each revolution of the cam
shaft C, with a stand still for said shuttle during the remainder of each revolution.
The shuttle M is provided with the usual circular chamber to receive a cap
or bobbin, and is so constructed and arranged that the point of its hook shall
intersect the path of movement of the needle, and enter and pass through the
loop of thread held by the barb of the needle when said needle is at the extreme
of its upward and backward movement, without the aid of other loop opener,
substantially as described in said prior patent.
The thread finger, the ear formed on the base A, the lever R pivoted
thereto, the plate 4, the thread guiding sheaves 3, 4, 5, and 6, the link 2, the
lever R and cam path, are all constructed, arranged and operate precisely as
in said prior patent, except that the sheave 3 is mounted upon a fixed stud
instead of on a yielding one.
The thread 2 after leaving the wax-pot (not shown) passes to and once around
the tension wheel J thence to and once around the sheaver, thence over the
sheave 3, thence under the sheave 5, over the sheave 4 under the sheave 6, then
through the eye of the looper and thence to the work as shown by the dotted
lines 2 in Figures 3 and 4.
The operation of my invention is as follows:
The several parts of the machine being in the positions shown in Figures 1,
2, 3, 4, 13, and 14, if the cam shaft C is revolved in the direction indicated by
the arrows Zon Figures 3, 14, and 16, the first thirty-five degrees of the revolu-
tion of the cam shaft C causes the upper end of the lever O to be moved to the
extreme of its rearward movement, which movement acting through the link N
causes the upper end of the arm N¹ to be moved toward the rear, moving about
its pivotal connection to the front end of the lever O¹, which at the same time
is moved downward, by the action of the campath N2 upon the truck 3, which
downward movement of the front end of the lever 0¹ continues until the shaft C
has moved through about twenty-five degrees of its revolution, at which time
it has reached the limit of its downward movement and it remains in a state of
rest during the next thirty-five degrees of the movement of the shaft C, during
the last twenty-five degrees of which, the upper end of the lever 0, with the
link N and the upper end of the arm N is being moved towards the front,
moving the arm N around its pivotal connection to the lever O', which forward
movement of the upper end of the lever 0, the link N, and the upper end of
the arm N', continues until the shaft C has moved through about seventy-five
degrees of a revolution from the starting point, during the last twenty-five
degrees of which the front end of the lever is being moved upward.
The combined movements of the levers ) and 0¹ above described, acting upon
the arm N pivoted to the crank causes said crank and its shaft to be con-
stantly moved about their common axis in the direction indicated by the arrow
on Figures 14 and 16, thereby moving the shuttle about its axis in the direction
indicated by the arrow on Figure 13 and causing its hook to enter and open the
loop held by the needle.
From the time when the shaft C has moved through approximately ninety
degrees until it has moved one hundred and five degrees from the starting
point no movement of either lever 0 or 0 takes place, because both trucks si
and rest upon portions of their respective cam paths that are concentric to
the axis of the shaft C, and as a consequence the motion of the shuttle is
arrested in the position shown in Figure 15 after completing approximately
two hundred and eighty degrees of a revolution, for a sufficient length of time

page_text: for the stitch to be set by the sudden downward movement of the take-up
lever R, during which setting of the stitch the shuttle thread is drawn from the
shuttle bobbin in a straight line from the delivery orifice through the guiding
eyes as shown in Figure 15.
During the next seventeen degrees of the motion of the shaft C, the lever (1
is moved to the extreme of its upward movement, and the upper end of the
lever is moved toward the rear and continues to move in the same direction
until the shaft Chas moved through approximately one hundred and seventy-
five degrees of a revolution from the starting point when the shuttle has made
a complete revolution and its motion is arrested in the position shown in
Figure 13, in which position it remains during the balance of the revolution
of the shaft C, during which stand still of said shuttle the needle descends
through the work, the looper is moved around the needle to lay the thread into
the barb of the needle, the needle is moved upward drawing the loop of thread
through the work into the position shown in Figure 13, when the shuttle is
again revolved in the same direction and again passes through the loop of thread
held by the barb of the needle.
The operation of the thread measuring device will be readily understood
from the description herein before given without further explanation.
The operation of all the other parts of the invention are substantially as
described in said prior patent.
The advantages of using an intermittently revolving shuttle, all the move-
ments of which are in the same direction, over an oscillating shuttle, is less
wear and tear of the machine because of avoiding the reversing of the shuttle
motion, and consequently less momentum to be overcome, whereby the machine
may be run more rapidly and at the same time with less noise, and less vibration
of the parts.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is;
--
1st. In a lock stitch waxed thread sewing machine, the combination of a
work support; a curved barbed needle arranged to enter the work from above;
a revolving discoidal shuttle arranged above the work support; and provided
with a loop engaging hook arranged to intersect the path of the needle and
engage and pass through the loop of thread held by the needle when in its
uppermost position.
2nd. In a lock stitch waxed thread sewing machine, the combination of a
work support; a curved barbed needle arranged to enter the work from above;
a revolving discoidal shuttle arranged above the work support with its axis
inclined to a horizontal and provided with a loop engaging hook arranged to
intersect the path of the needle, and means for intermittently revolving said
shuttle always in the same direction, with a stand still at the end of each
revolution.
3rd. In a lock stitch waxed thread sewing machine, the combination of a
work support; a curved barbed needle arranged to enter the work from above;
means for imparting to said needle an intermittent reciprocation with a stand
still at the end of each stroke; a revolving discoidal shuttle provided with a
loop engaging hook and mounted in a suitable raceway above said work support,
with the point of its hook in position to intersect the path of the needle, and to
enter and pass through the loop of thread held by the needle when in its most
retracted position; and means for imparting to said shuttle intermittent revolu-
tions always in the same direction with a stand still after each revolution.
4th. In a lock stitch waxed thread sewing machine, the combination of a
work support; a curved barbed needle arranged to enter the work from above:
means for imparting to said needle an intermittent reciprocation with a stand
still at the end of each stroke: a revolving discoidal shuttle provided with a

page_text: loop engaging hook and mounted in a suitable raceway above the work support
with its plane of revolution at right angles to the plane of movement of said
needle and with its hook in position to intersect the path of the needle; and
means for imparting to said shuttle intermittent revolutions always in the same
direction with a stand still at the end of each revolution, and a shorter stand
still intermediate of the two ends of each revolution.
5th. In a lock stitch waxed thread sewing machine, the combination of a
work support; a curved barbed needle arranged to enter the work from above;
means for imparting to said needle downward and upward strokes each complete
in a single movement with a stand still at the end of each stroke; a fixed race-
way located above the work support; a discoidal shuttle mounted in said race-
way and arranged to be intermittently revolved, always in the same direction,
in a plane at right angles to the plane of reciprocation of the needle and with
the point of its hook in position to intersect the path of the needle; the shuttle
driving shaft in axial line with said shuttle; shuttle driver connected to the
front end of said shaft; the shaft 22 arranged with its axis at right angles to
the vertical plane in which lies the axis of said shaft t' and provided on its outer
end with the crank 3; the spiral pinions and 75, secured to and revolving
respectively with the shafts t, and 22; the cam paths and N2; the levers O
and O' acted upon and vibrated by said paths s and N2 respectively; the arm N¹
pivoted at its lower end to the crank ; the link N connecting the upper ends
of the lever and the arm N¹, the front end of the lever O' being pivoted to the
arm N between its two ends substantially as described.
6th. In a lock stitch waxed thread sewing machine, the combination of a
work support; a curved barbed needle arranged to enter the work from above;
a curved awl arranged to enter the work from below; an awl feeding mechanism;
a looper for delivering the thread to the barb of the needle; an intermittently
revolving cycloidal shuttle arranged above the work support with its axis
inclined to a horizontal and its hook in position to intersect the path of the
needle and means for imparting to said shuttle a complete revolution in a
plane at right angles to the plane of reciprocation of the needle during approxi-
mately one-half of each revolution of the cam shaft and a stand still during the
other half of each revolution of said cam shaft, with a shorter stand still of said
shuttle when it has made about three-fourths of its revolution.
7th. In a lock stitch waxed thread sewing machine, the combination with a
stitch forming mechanism of a yielding work support; the bar E³ connected
thereto and movable thereby; means for locking said bar and work support; a
frictional tension wheel; the pivoted arm L; the link L', connecting the arm L
and bar E; the thread guiding sheave having formed in its periphery a
Y-shaped groove and a series of ratchet teeth; the pawl; and the vertically
movable thread depressing sheave 2.
:
8th. In a lock stitch waxed thread sewing machine, the combination with a
stitch forming mechanism of a yielding work support; the bar E³ connected
thereto and movable thereby means for locking said bar and work support; a
frictional tension wheel; a brake shoe for intermittently clamping the thread
on said tension wheel; the pivoted arm L; the link L' connecting said arm L
and the bar E³; a thread guiding sheave mounted on said arm L in near
proximity to said tension wheel but between it and the work support, and pro-
vided with a Y shaped peripheral groove and freely revoluble in a forward
direction; means for locking said sheave against backward movement; a verti-
cally movable thread depressing anti-friction sheave; a forked housing for said
sheave, the lower end of each fork of which is provided with an inwardly pro-
jecting guard lug as set forth.
9th. In a lock stitch waxed thread sewing machine, the combination of a
yielding work support; means for locking said work support; a fric-
tional tension wheel; a brake shoe to engage the thread on said
tension wheel; means for intermittently vibrating said brake shoe; a

page_text: pivoted arm arranged between the tension wheel and the work support
with its movable end in near proximity to said tension wheel; a thread guiding
sheave mounted upon the rear end of said pivoted arm, and having a Y shaped
peripheral groove; means for preventing a backward revolution of said sheave;
an intermittent vertically movable thread engaging sheave arranged between
said tension wheel and thread guiding sheave; and means connecting said
pivoted sheave carrying arm and the work support, whereby a downward move-
ment of said work support will cause an upward movement of said thread
guiding sheave.
Dated this 2nd day of March 1899
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.