Improvements in Universal Feed Sewing Machines.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 7th May, 1887
Complete Left, 24th Aug., 1887
Complete Accepted, 27th Sept., 1887
Improvements in Universal Feed Sewing Machines.
We, WILLIAM JONES, of the firm of Jones & Co. of Guide Bridge, near Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Sewing Machine Manufacturers, and JAMES LOUGHLIN of
120 Church Road, Higher Tranmere, Birkenhead, in the County of Chester Machinist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said invention, to be as follows :-
In one well known arrangement of universal feed sewing machine the presser feed
bar or foot (hereinafter called the presser feed bar) and inclined feed lever, acting
laterally thereon, are fitted and carried in two rings connected together by a bar
forming a carrier (hereinafter called the carrier) which is arranged in the end of the
arm of the frame of the machine for the needle bar and feed mechanism so as to be
partly rotated to and fro round the needle bar.
The feeding movement is effected by a cone that can slide up and down upon the
needle bar which cone is acted upon by the end of a lever having motion from the
feeding cam.
The said cone acts upon the said inclined feed lever (jointed to the bar connecting
the two rings of the said carrier) to cause it to give the lateral movements to the
presser feed bar.
There is another cam that actuates a lever the end of which is arranged to act
upon the upper end of the presser feed bar, and this lever forces this bar down, at the
right time, to give the vertical movements and allows a spring to lift it after each
feeding movement.
In the arrangement of mechanism above described the presser feed bar can only be
partly rotated round the needle bar.
The object of our invention is to modify the arrangement of mechanism above

page_text: described so that the presser feed bar can be rotated entirely round the needle bar and
our invention consists in an improved combination and arrangement of mechanism
namely.
The said cone which slides upon the needle bar, has a large disc or partial disc
formed on or attached to it of the same diameter as the rings forming the ends of the
said carrier of the presser feed bar, and the end of the lever actuated by the feeding
cam for lifting the cone, is a ring or partial ring which encircles the said carrier, the
disc of the said cone resting upon the said ring on the end of the feeding lever.
This arrangement allows the presser feed bar to be rotated within the said ring on
the end of the feeding lever.
There is a spring for lifting the presser feed bar which is attached at one end to
the said carrier and at the other end to the presser feed bar to pull it in an oblique
direction so as to both lift the presser feed bar and move it back laterally.
The thread instead of passing outside the "head" or arm for the needle bar and
feed mechanism (as in the ordinary arrangement first described) passes down through
a hole or hollow in the needle bar, so that the feeding mechanism can thus be entirely
rotated round the needle bar without coming in the way of the feeding lever or needle
thread.

page_text: Improvements in Universal Feed Sewing Machines.
We WILLIAM JONES of the firm of Jones & Co. of Guide Bridge, near Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Sewing Machine Manufacturers, and JAMES LOUGHLIN,
of 120 Church Road, Higher Tranmere, Birkenhead, in the County of Chester,
Machinist, 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 :-
In one well known arrangement of universal feed sewing machine the presser feed
bar or foot (hereinafter called the presser feed bar) and inclined feed lever, acting
laterally thereon, are fitted and carried in two rings connected together by a bar
forming a carrier (hereinafter called the carrier) which is arranged in the end of the
arm of the frame of the machine for the needle bar and feed mechanism so as to be
partly rotated to and fro round the needle bar.
The feeding movement is effected by a cone that can slide up and down upon the
needle bar which cone is acted upon by the end of a lever having motion from the
feeding cam.
The said cone acts upon the said inclined feed lever, (jointed to the bar connecting
the two rings of, the said carrier) to cause it, to give the lateral movements to the
presser feed bar.
'
There is another cam that actuates a lever the end of which is arranged to act upon
the upper end of the presser feed bar, and this lever forces this bar down, at the right
time, to give the vertical movements and allows a spring to lift it after each feeding
movement.
In the arrangement of mechanism above described the presser feed bar can only be
partly rotated round the needle bar.
The object of our invention is to modify the arrangement of mechanism above
described so that the presser feed bar can be rotated entirely round the needle bar
and our invention consists in an improved combination and arrangement of mechanism
namely.
The said cone which slides upon the needle bar, has a large disc or partial disc
formed on or attached to it, of the same diameter or nearly so as the rings forming
the ends of the said carrier of the presser feed bar and the end of the lever, actuated
by the feeding cam for lifting the cone is a ring or partial ring which encircles the

page_text: sand carrier, the disc or the said cone resting upon the said ring on the end of the
feeding lever.
This arrangement allows the presser feed bar to be rotated within the said ring on
the end of the feeding lever.
There is a spring for lifting the presser feed bar which is attached at one end to the.
said carrier and at the other end to the presser feed bar to pull it in an oblique direc-
tion so as to both lift the presser feed bar and move it back laterally.
The thread instead of passing outside the "head" or arm for the needle bar and
feed mechanism (as in the ordinary arrangement first described) passes down through
a hole or hollow in the needle bar, so that the feeding mechanism can thus be entirely
rotated round the needle bar, without coming in the way of the feeding lever or
needle thread.
Fig. 1 is an elevation looking at that side of the machine upon which the hand
driving wheel is placed.
Fig. 2 is an elevation of the opposite side of the machine to that shown by fig. 1,
the band driving wheel and end bearing of the shaft being supposed away and the
shaft being in section.
Fig. 3 is an elevation looking at the needle end of the machine, at a right angle to
figs. 1 and 2, with part of the end of the arm which carries the needle and feed
mechanism shown in section and with the cap (a³) seen in fig. 1 removed, to more
clearly show the interior mechanism, and fig. 4 is a plan section below the line A, fig. 1,
showing some of the parts in the end of the said arm carrying the needle and feed
mechanism.
a is the frame part of the machine, a' is the arm from it carrying the needle and
feed mechanism.
a² is the arm attached to the frame a carrying the oscillating shuttle mechanism
which is of well known construction.
b is the driving shaft in suitable bearings on the framing, b¹ is the pulley for rotating
the shaft by an endless band, when driven by power or by treadle mechanism.
62 is the hand driving wheel on the other end of the driving shaft b which wheel
has the cam grooves formed in it, for actuating the needle slide and oscillating shuttle,
and the shaft b has also upon it the two cams for operating the feeding mechanism.
The can and rod f¹ having the toothed rack for giving oscillations to the shuttle
is shown in fig. 1, the cam f is also shown in fig. 2.
The cam c and lever c¹ having its fulcrum at c for operating the needle slide bar is
also shown in figs. 1 and 2.
The cam d for applying and removing pressure from the presser feed bar is shown
in figs. 1, 2 and 3, the cam acting through the lever d' having its fulcrum at d².
The cam e for giving the feeding movements, and the lever e¹ having its fulcrum
ate through which the cam e acts as shown in figs. 1, 2 and 3.
There is a slot in the end of the lever c¹ for a bowl free on a pin in the upper end
of the needle slide bar c³.
On the end of the lever d' is formed a ring d³ the underside of which presses upon
the upper end of the presser feed bar, and there is a milled headed screw nut d* that
screws upon a screw d³ passing through a hole in the lever d' the lower end of this
screw, having a hook or eye for one end of an helical spring d' the other end of which
is attached to a pin projecting from the arm a¹, see fig. 2.-This spring de gives the
required pressure for holding down the fabric being sewn and feeding it along.
The pressure of the spring do is taken off when the presser foot is to move back for
the next stitch by the cam d and lever d¹.
The pressure of the spring de upon the presser feed bar is removed and prevented
from acting by the cam lever d' which has its fulcrum on the arm at ds and acts
against a pin d in the lever d¹. The cam lever d' is shown in fig. 2 in the position in
which it takes the pressure off the presser feed bar which is shown lifted.
The parts hereinbefore referred to by letters of reference are ordinary parts
used in this class of sewing machine. 9 are two rings or discs connected by and solid
with a bar g¹ herein before termed the carrier.

page_text: The rings or discs g have flanges on their outer edges and they fit in the bored out
part of the arm a' and are held therein when the cap a³ is secured by the screws a so
as to be rotated entirely round the needle bar c³ by the handle g² attached to the lower
ring g.
The discs g have each a hole through their axes which holes form the bearing and
guides through which the needle bar 3 slides up and down.
On the needle bar a cone et is fitted which cone is secured in or forms part of a
disc or partial disc e*.
The cone e¹ can move freely up and down the needle slide c³, and it is pushed down
by an helical spring e surrounding the needle slide 3 and abutting against the under
side of the upper ring or disc g at the upper end and against the upper face of the
disce attached to the cone e' at the lower end.
Under the cone disc c there is a ring e³ with a gap in it that forms the end of the
feeding lever el and thus the feeding lever e¹ lifts the disc e and cone e* against the
action of the spring e.
The presser feed bar h is forked at its upper end and through the fork a pin passes,
which pin his inserted and secured in a slot in the upper ring 9.
h¹
This pin guides the upper end of the presser feed bar h, forms its fulcrum of
oscillation and prevents it from twisting.
There is a notch or slot cut in each ring g of the carrier and in the disc e in which
slots in the carrier 9 the presser feed bar h fits and is guided so as to be free to
slide up and down and move at its lower end to and from the needle slide c³.
At the upper part of the presser feed bar h there is a projection on the bar g¹ of
the carrier to which the upper end of a lever h³ is jointed at h³, the lower end of the
lever is inclined to correspond to that of the cone e*, this lever h³ coming between
the cone e and the presser feed bar h.
One end of an helical spring h* is attached to an hook secured in the underside of
the upper ring 9 and the other end of the spring is secured to an eye on the side of
the presser feed bar h, and the diagonal position of this spring tends to lift the
presser feed bar h and keep its upper end against the ring d³, and also to draw the
presser feed bar laterally towards the cone and thus constantly presses the inclined
end of the lever h² against the cone so that when the latter is lifted to produce the
feeding movement the lever hand presser feed bar h is forced outwards together
against the action of the spring *, and when the cone descends by permission of the
came acting through the lever e¹ and ring e³ and action of the spring e, the spring h*
draws the presser feed bar h towards the needle slide c³, this latter action takes place
when the pressure of the spring de is taken off the presser feed bar by the cam d.
The length of feed is varied by means of the adjusting screw e' which brings the
part on its end more or less near the cam e for giving the feeding movement―This
arrangement for varying the length of the feed is the ordinary one for this class of
sewing machines.
The spring e forces down the disc e* and thus that end of the lever e' until when in
its lowest position it rests against a pin a' in the arm a¹ or until the lower end of this
cone crests against the upper face of the lower ring g of the carrier and the feed
varies in length in consequence of the lever being lifted to a greater or less extent
from this pin stop.
It will now be clearly understood that with the arrangement described the feed can
take place in a direction from the needle slide c³ and all round it.
The needle thread. passes from a spool i as shown in peculiar dotted line between
tension discs j of ordinary construction, through the eye, curl or hook j¹ of a slack
thread tension spring of ordinary arrangement, through an eye or curl fixed in the
lever c', then through an eye j³ on the cap a³.
The thread when required may be brought in contact with a sponge containing
lubricant and held in a cup carried on a stem j adjustable in a hole formed in a
projection from the cap a³ and secured by a screw which is an ordinary arrangement
in this class of machine.
The thread
then passes through a space between a spring e secured to the upper

page_text: end of the needle slide ea and the side of the needle slide, which spring covers a small
pulley for the thread to pass over (see fig. 3) then enters a hole c in the side of the
needle slide c3 which is hollow or tubular and then leaves the hollow of the needle
slide bar from a hole at the lower end of the needle slide and on one side of the
needle, then, passes to the eye of the needle and then to the fabric to interlock with
the shuttle thread.
The thread is or may be drawn or pushed through the hollow of the needle slide by
an elastic wire instrument, which we prefer to form with a hook at one end.
The wire is inserted up the hollow of the needle slide the thread is then placed in
the hook on its end and is drawn through the tubular needle slide by pulling down
the wire.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is
'
1. The combination and arrangement of the needle and feed mechanism, on the end
of the arm (a) carrying the needle and feed mechanism substantially as herein before
described and illustrated by. the drawings.
2. The combination and arrangement of the mechanism for actuating the needle
and feeding the fabric being sewn, substantially as hereinbefore described and
illustrated by the drawings.
Dated this Twenty third day of Anonat 1887
PETER J. LIVSEY,
Agent.