AN IMPROVED ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Skelton Harrison, of Philadelphia, Stato
of Pennsylvania, United States of America, and temporarily of
Albemarie Street, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES."-A communication
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Skelton Harrison
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 26th August 1872.
I, THOMAS SKELTON HARRISON, of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania,
United States of America, and temporarily of Albemarle Street, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to combine in one simple practicable
instrument devices which will fold, hem, and bind in many different

page_text: ways, and to adapt such instrument at the same time to the manufacture
of French folds in two, three, or more parts. To accomplish this object
I employ the device which I will now proceed more particularly to
describe.
In carrying out the Invention I first cut from sheet metal or other
equivalent material a plate A, of the form shown in Figure 1 of the
accompanying Drawing, and next bend the lateral edges or points
inward to form check guides. The plate receives a second bend along
the dotted lines, shown in Figure 1, and a third and last bend along the
central longitudinal line to reduce it to the finished form exhibited in
Figure 2, in which the scrolls or bent edges arc of peculiar shape and
proceed from a double curve to a simple U or V shape. Hitherto the
edges of guides designed for analogous use have had a double curve their
whole length which is objectionable in view of the liability of choking
the passage at scams, thereby stretching the bias binding strip, which as
is well known has a tendency to contract or draw together the bound
edge of the cloth after being stitched. The U or V shaped end or point
of the guide retains the compressed form given to the fabric by the
double scrolls, and also brings the hemmed edges into still closer contact,
i.c., into shape for delivery to the presser foot of the sewing machine.
This compressing of the folded edges is essential since the presser foot
tends to throw the upper hem from under the needle. The slits i, i, in
the guide allow the escape of the folded or selvedge edges of binding
which are held in place or controlled by the hooks C, C, Figures 6 and 7,
but these slits may be dispensed with. The guide thus formed is soldered
to the edge of a supporting plate B, Figures 6 and 7, hercin-after
described, and the adjustable hooks C are connected with it and plate B
by means of a set screw, as shown in the said Figures. The hooks are
located in recesses a cut in the guide A, so that they form adjustable
continuations of the scrolls, hemmers, or guides. These hooks are used
for drawing the folded edge of the fabric in against the back, thereby
lessening the size of the hems and bindings, and they can be adjusted at
will to produce such effect to any desired degree.
These hemmer hooks in conjunction with the double scroll guide A
are arranged or particularly adapted to produce what is known as the
French fold. This fold is an article of dress trimming which is made by
cutting strips from cloth on a bias edge and folding or turning over
each edge of the same, and again folding it upon itself in such a way

page_text: that one of the turned edges shall project beyond the other. By
adjusting one of the hemmer hooks 0, 0, so as to project beyond the
other a bias strip passed through the guide will appear as a French
fold.
L
Figure 3 represents a device E intended for lining or stuffing a bias
binding or fold, or for holding a braid in place when being applied to
the edge of a fabric. The lining passes through the opening m, and the
strip to form the outside through the opening n. The position of device E-
with relation to the guide A is shown in Figure 2. It performs its work
in a remarkably neat and effective manner.
Figure 4 shows a device F, designed to be used as a partition between
the scroll hemmers, so that one can be used independently of the other:
It is applied in lieu of device E. In practical operation the fabric to be
hemmed rests against the dividing or partition plate, which acts as a
presser at the small end of the guide to hold the hem firmly in place.
It is attached to the guide by a hook or other suitable means.
convenience I prefer to connect the devices E and F, as illustrated in
Figure 4.
For
Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8 show a simplified form of the attachment.
Figure 5 represents the plate A cut out to form the guide, as before;
Figure ‍6 a front view, and Figure 7 a plan of the finished guide attached.
to its supporting plate B, which is of peculiar construction; Figure 8 is
a cross section of the guide on 1-1, Figure 7. The plate cut to the
shape shown in Figure 5 is first bent at the sides to form the two scrolls,
and then to the finished form shown in Figures 6, 7, and 8. It is
soldered to the edge of a spring plate B, which is rivetted to the top.
side of an open guage plate o, which is fastened to the bed of a sewing
machine by means of a cross bar and thumbscrew; the object of the
open plate being to admit of the attachment being readily applied to
almost any sewing machine, the spring plate B allowing work of any
thickness to pass-readily under the attachment. P, P, are guides for the
bindings and strips. The adjustable hemmer hooks C are the same as
before. q is an ear formed near the point of the guide to prevent the
work rising and escaping from under the needle.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Skelton Harrison in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 26th February 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
SKELTON HARRISON, of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, United
States of America, and temporarily of Albemarle Street, in the County
of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in 1
the thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Skelton Harrison,
Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Skelton Harrison, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Skelton Harrison, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at 1
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "AN IMPROVED ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES," a communication
to me from abroad by J. W. Hoyer, of Philadelphia, aforesaid, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Skelton
Harrison, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what 2
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Skelton Harrison, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same 3
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):

page_text: ways, and to adapt such instrument at the same time to the production
of French folds, in two, three or more parts. To accomplish this
object I employ the device which I will now proceed more particularly
to describe.
Figure 1 represents the plate cut out to form the guide; Figure 2
represents the first bend in making the guide; Figure 3 represents the
second bend in making the guide; Figures 4, 5, and 6, represent cross
sections of the guide taken on the lines x, x, y, y, and s, s, respectively
of Figure 3.
In carrying out the Invention I first cut from sheet metal or other
equivalent material a plate A of the form shown in Figure 1, and next
bend the lateral edges or points inward to form check guides e, e, as
shown in Figure 2. The plate receives a second bend along the dotted
lines shown in Figure 1, and a third and last bend along the central
longitudinal line to reduce it to the finished form exhibited in Figure 3.
The cross sectional viows shown in Figures 4, 5, and 6, represent the
peculiar form of the scrolls or bent edges of the same, which proceed
from a double curve to a simple U or V shape. Hitherto the edges of
guides designed for analogous use have had a double curve their whole
length, which is objectionable in view of the liability of choking the
passage at seams, thereby stretching the bias binding strip, which as is
well known has a tendency to contract or draw together the bound edge
of the cloth after being stitched. The U or V shaped end or point of
the guide retains the compressed form given to the fabric by the double
scrolls, and also brings the hemmed edges into still closer contact, i.e.,
into shape for delivery to the presser foot of the sewing machine. This
compressing of the folded edges is essential, since the presser foot tends
to throw the upper hem from under the needle. The slits i, i, in the
guide allow the escape of the folded or selvedge edges of binding, which
are held in place or controlled by the hooks C, C, Figures 7, 11,
and 12, but these slits may be dispensed with. The guide thus formed
is soldered to the edge of a supporting plate B, Figures 11 and 12,
herein-after described, and the adjustable hooks C are connected
with it and plate B by means of a set screw b. Said hooks are

page_text: "
shown separately in Figure 7 and are located in recesses a cut in the
guide A, so that they form adjustable continuations of the scrolls,
hemmers, or guides. These hooks are used for drawing the folded edge
of the fabric in against the back, thereby lessening the size of the hems
and bindings, and they can be adjusted at will to produce such effect to
any desired degree.
These hemmer hooks in conjunction with the double scroll guide A
are arranged or particularly adapted to produce what is known as
the French fold. This fold is an article of dress trimming which
is made by cutting strips from cloth on a bias edge and folding or
turning over each edge of the same and again folding it upon itself
in such a way that one of the turned edges shall project beyond the
other. By adjusting one of the hemmer hooks C, C, so as to project
beyond the other, a bias strip passed through the guide will appear as a
French fold.
Figure 9 represents a device E intended for lining or stuffing a bias
binding or fold, or for holding a braid in place when being applied to
the edge of the fabric. The lining passes through the opening m, and the
strip to form the outside through the opening n. The position of
device E with relation to the guide A is shown in Figure 3. It performs
its work in a remarkably neat and effective manner.
Figure 8 shows a device F designed to be used as a partition between
the scroll hemmers, so that one can be used independently of the other.
It is applied in lieu of device E.
In practical operation the fabric to be hemmed rests against the
dividing or partition plate, which acts as a presser at the small end of
the guide to hold the hem firmly in place. It is attached to the guide
by a hook or other suitable means. For convenience I prefer to connect
the devices E and F, as illustrated in Figure 8.
Figures 10, 11, 12, and 13, show a simplified form of the attachment. ;
Figure 10 represents the plate cut out to form the guide as before;
Figure 11 a front view, and Figure 12 a plan of the finished guide
attached to its supporting plate, which is of peculiar construction;
Figure 13 is a cross section of the guide on 1-1, Figure 12.
The plate cut to the shape shown in Figure 10 is first bent at the side
to form the two scrolls, but without the check guides e, c, shown in

page_text: Figure 2, and then to the finished form shown in Figures 11, 12, and 13.
It is soldered to the edge of a spring plate B, which is rivetted to the
top side of an open gauge plate D, which is fastened to the bed of a
sewing machine by means of a cross bar and thumbscrew, the object of
the open plate being to admit of the attachment being readily applied to
almost any sewing machine, the spring plate B allowing work of any
thickness to pass readily under the attachment. p, p, are guides for the
bindings and strips. The adjustable hemmer hooks C are the same as
before. q is an ear formed near the point of the guide to prevent the
work rising and escaping from under the needle.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to
be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. The combination of the adjustable hemmer hooks C, O, with the
double hemmer guide A, for the purposes and in the manner substantially
as specified.
2ndly. The combination of the attachment F constructed as described
with the double scroll hemmer A, substantially as shown and described
for the purpose specified.
3rdly. The combination of the device E constructed as shown with the
double scroll hemming guide A, substantially as specified.
"
4thly. The improved double guide or hemmer A, having the points or
check guides e, e, at the larger end, and with its inner edges nearly or
quite straight and parallel to the back of the guide and thence to the
smaller or U shaped end, as shown and described, to operate as specified.
I also claim the modified form of the attachment in which the points or
check guides e, e, are omitted as shown and described.
5thly. Attaching the spring plate B on which the double hemmer
guide A is supported to the top side of the gauge plate, substantially
as herein set forth, to allow the guide to rise above the cloth plate of the
machine, for the purpose specified.
6thly. The gauge plate D, made in the form of an open square or
oblong for the purpose specified, when combined with a double hemmer
guide, constructed as herein described.
-

page_text: 7thly. The straps or guides p, p, substantially as described and shown,
combined with the double hemmer guido A, as and for the purpose sot
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Skelton Harrison, have
hercunto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-fourth day of t
February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-three.
THOMAS S. HARRISON. (L.S.)
THOMAS S. HARRISON. (L.S.)