Improvements in Sewing Machines, chiefly Designed for use in the Manufacture of Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 1st June, 1897
Complete Specification Left, 26th Feb., 1898-Accepted, 1st June, 1898
[Communicated from abroad by CAMPBELL MACHINE COMPANY, of Pawtucket,
Rhode Island, United States of America, Manufacturers.]
Improvements in Sewing Machines, chiefly Designed 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 to be as follows:-
My invention relates to certain improvements in lock stitch sewing machines,
more especially such as are used in making boots and shoes and other heavy work,
such as sewing leather.
One feature of my invention is placing both the curved hook needle and the
rotary or oscillating shuttle crosswise of the line of feed; or more practically
speaking crosswise of the work, so that a sole for example, when presented to the
machine shall be crosswise of both needle and shuttle, and both needle and shuttle
edgewise to the sole. This feature of my invention is especially applicable to
sewing shoes, because of the curve of the shank, but is generally applicable for
the reason that the operation of the shuttle is much better than heretofore.
This may be done by using a curved hook needle in a holder whose axis is sub-
stantially parallel with the line of feed, and which is oscillated to move the needle
in a plane crosswise of the sole, and a shuttle whose axis is also substantially
parallel with the line of feed, but slightly inclined to the axis of the needle liolder,
so that the plane of the shuttle will be also crosswise of the sole, but slightly
inclined to the plane in which the needle moves. Or it may be done by using
both needle holder and shuttle in the same plane, and moving the shuttle after
its nose has entered the loop to get the shuttle out of the way of the needle; and
this is the better way of embodying this feature of my invention, in some cases";
for it enables the machine to be run faster.
In fact while these two ways are one invention so far as concerns getting the
curved hook needle and the shuttle edgewise to the sole, which is an improvement
of great importance especially in shoe work, yet moving the shuttle into place to
take the loop from the curved hook needle, and then moving it out of the way of
the needle after it has taken the loop is a distinct feature of the invention and of
general importance for the reason that it enables the machine to be run faster,
and also because this movement of the shuttle out of the way of the needle may
be utilized to pull off thread from the bobbin of the shuttle and thus leave the
This
shuttle thread slack when the take up operates to tighten the needle thread.
feature of the invention is, therefore, a discoidal shuttle whose race can be moved
to enable the shuttle to take the loop from the curved hook needle, and then, be
moved sidewise to get out of the way of the needle, or to do that and also pull off
thread from the bobbin.
A third feature of the invention relates to supplying slack shuttle thread to
relieve the take up of the strain of pulling off thread from the shuttle, or through
the shuttle thread tension: This is effected by means of a hook which catches and
releases the shuttle thread when moved about the delivery. eye of the shuttle, which

page_text: hook during part of its motion about the eye forms a bight in the shuttle thread
between the delivery eye and the work and then sheds or drops that bight, which
leaves the shuttle thread slack during the first part of the stitch tightening stroke
of the take up or other means for tightening the needle thread; but during the
last portion of the stitch tightening stroke of the take up the needle thread,
having taken up the slack shuttle thread, pulls off a small portion of shuttle thread
through tue shuttle tension, just as the stitch is set. The same result may be
produced by moving the shuttle out of the way of the needle after the nose of the
shuttle has entered the loop of needle thread but that, as stated above, is only one
of the advantages due to the second feature of the invention; and for that reason
it is specified that the combination of the thread catching and releasing hook is
the third feature of the invention, and make the “shugging shuttle," as it is called
in the trade, a distinct feature, because of its more general importance.
When the shuttle is moved only far enough to get out of the way of the needle
the pull on the shuttle thread due to that motion of the shuttle is so slight that it
may be disregarded; and a fourth feature of the invention is the combination of
such a shuttle with a take up and mechanism to cause the take up to dwell at the
end of its stitch tightening stroke, and while the shuttle is moved to draw off
shuttle thread from the bobbin and through the shuttle tension for the next
stitch; that is the tread is pulled off from the bobbin of the shuttle by the bodily
motion of the shuttle and the strain on the shuttle thread when thus pulled off
is resisted by the tightened needle thread, the take up dwelling to hold the needle
thread taut while the shuttle is moved to pull off thread from its bobbin. In this
case the effect is, as before, to furnish slack shuttle thread, and thereby relieve
the strain on the take up until the stitch is set; but just as the stitch is set the
take up pulls off a very short length of shuttle thread, as the stitch setting stroke
of the take up takes place when the needle thread is locked, or held by a thread
brake which prevents the rendering of the needle thread through it, and the shuttle
tension must therefore, not be so heavy as to prevent the rendering of the shuttle
thread through as the take up completes its stitch setting stroke.
To still further relieve the take up from strain is the fifth feature of the inven-
tion; and this is effected by locking the shuttle thread when the take up is about
to complete its stitch setting stroke, so that the stitch is set against an unyielding
shuttle thread, the needle thread, of course, rendering; and this feature of the
invention is wholly new, for heretofore in all lock stitch sewing machines either
both shuttle and needle threads rendered as the stitch was set, the proper setting
of the stitch being due to the proper adjustment of both needle thread tension and
shuttle thread tension; or else the shuttle thread alone rendered, the needle thread
being locked, and the proper setting of the stitch was due to the proper adjustment
of the stroke of the take up. But in machines embodying the fifth feature of the
invention the shuttle thread is locked or unyielding at the moment the stitch is
set, and the needle thread yields at that moment, for the stroke of the take up
must necessarily be a little in excess of that required to set the stitch when the
shuttle thread is locked; and the proper setting of the stitch is due not to
the relative adjustment of tensions nor to the proper adjustment of the stroke of the
take up, but to the fact that the shuttle thread is locked, or cannot yield, when the
take up is about completing its stitch setting stroke, so that only the proper length
of thread can be given up by the shuttle. Owing to constructional reasons there
are objections to applying an intermittent locking device to the shuttle which
shall leave the take up free to pull off shuttle thread without material strain on
the needle thread until the take up is about to complete its stitch setting stroke
but shall lock the shuttle thread at the moment it must be locked; and it is, there-
fore, more practical to embody the fifth feature of the invention by using a heavy
tension on the shuttle thread, so heavy that the shuttle thread is practically
unyielding as soon as its slack has been taken up by tightening the needle thread;
and when the stitch has thus been set against the locked or unyielding needle
thread to pull off the proper length of thread from the shuttle, proper appliances

page_text: being used, of course, to prevent the pulling of the shuttle thread through the
heavy tension from unsetting the stitch, as by locking the needle thread while the
shuttle thread pull off operates.
Consequently the best form of machine for embodying the fifth feature of the
invention, is a shuttle with a very heavy tension, a thread arm or finger which
makes a bight in the shuttle thread and then drops that bight to give a sufficient
length of slack shuttle thread for the next stitch, and means to lock the needle
thread, or hold it from yielding while the thread arm operates to pull off thread
from the shuttle. In this form of the invention, the take up operates to tighten
the needle thread and set the stitch, the shuttle thread being locked or unyielding
when the stitch is set, and the take up having a stroke slightly in excess of that
required to set the stitch so that the needle thread yields slightly through its
tension after the stitch is set. The pull off arm then operates and the needle thread
is locked so that it cannot yield under the strain on the shuttle thread as the pull
off arm operates to pull shuttle thread through the heavy tension, that is the pull
off arm operates on the shuttle thread while the needle thread is so locked, and
pulls off the proper length of shuttle thread for the next stitch. The needle draws
a new loop of needle thread through the, work, the shuttle passes through that loop
and the take up operates to tighten the needle threads and set the stitch. During
the stitch tightening stroke of the take up the thread pulled off from the shuttle
by the arm is tightened, and part of it pulled into the work about the needle
thread, to locate the lock, as it is called, but no shuttle thread is pulled through
the heavy tension of the shuttle. The advantages of this fifth feature of the inven-
tion are that the strain on the take up may be reduced to the minimum, the lock
located with great uniformity, and the tightness of the stitch regulated by vary-
ing the tension of the needle thread; moreover all need of any nice adjustment of
the shuttle thread tension is done away with, for it is immaterial how the shuttle
thread tension may vary, so long as it is heavy enough to lock the shuttle thread
or prevent it from yielding under the pull of the needle thread.
When the shuttle passes through the loop of needle thread it strains the needle
thread from one needle hole to the next succeeding needle hole, and this in some
classes of work sinks the needle thread too much in the surface of the work. The
sixth feature of my invention is a thread arm which after furnishing slack thread
for the needle remains between the needle thread and the work while the shuttle
passes through the loop of needle thread and thereby prevents the needle thread
from being sunk into the surface of the work by the strain of the shuttle in
passing through the loop. This arm for furnishing slack thread to the needle is
well known but heretofore it has dropped the needle thread as soon as the needle
hook with the thread in it was embedded in the work; but in this feature of the
invention the arm dwells between the needle thread and the work until the needle
has drawn a new loop and the shuttle has distended that loop; when the arm is
withdrawn and the stitch set; the new result being that the needle thread is not
unduly embedded in the surface of the work between the needle holes. .
Dated this 1st dow of June 1897
Improvements in Sewing Machines, chiefly Designed for use in the
Manufacture of Boots and Shoes.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseline, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the

page_text: 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: -
The invention relates to certain improvements in lock stitch sewing machines,
and more especially to such machines as are used in sewing boots and shoes and
other heavy work.
The first feature of the invention consists in placing both the curved hook needle
and the rotary or oscillating shuttle crosswise of the line of feed; or, more properly
speaking, crosswise of the work; so that a sole for example, when presented to the
machine, shall be crosswise of both the needle and the shuttle, and both the needle
and the shuttle edgewise to the sole.
The second feature of the invention consists of a discoidal shuttle, whose nose
can be moved to enable the shuttle to take the loop from the hooked needle,
and then be moved endwise to get out of the way of the needle; or to do that and
also pull off thread from the bobbin.
A third feature of the invention relates to supplying slack shuttle thread, to
relieve the take up of the strain of pulling off thread from the shuttle, or through
the shuttle thread tension.
A fourth feature of the invention is the combination with a discoidal shuttle
and its race, of mechanism to cause the race to move, and thus pull off thread
from the bobbin; and mechanism to cause the take up to dwell while the shuttle
race is so moved.
The fifth feature of the invention is the combination of a shuttle with a very
heavy tension, a finger which pulls off thread from the shuttle; and means to
intermittently lock the needle thread while the pull off finger operates:
The sixth feature of the invention is a thread arm, which after furnishing slack
thread for the needle; remains between the needle thread and the work, while
the shuttle passes through the loop of needle thread.
In the drawings:
Figure 1 is a side elevation, and
Figure 2 a front elevation of a sewing machine of the class to which the inven-
tion relates;
Figure 1 is a side elevation of mechanism controlling the thread arm;
Figure 1 is a section on line B-B of Figure 1^;
Figures 2 and 2ª are side and front elevations of mechanism controlling the
thread eye;
Figures to 16 inclusive are diagrams showing the relative position of some of
the parts during the formation of a stitch;
Figure 17 is a side elevation of a modified form of a shuttle and its race way;
Figure 18 is a front elevation of the same;
Figure 19 is a section on line 19-19 of Figure 18;
Figure 20 is a like view to Figure 17, showing the parts in a different position;
Figures 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 are elevations of a shuttle embodying another
feature of the invention and showing the shuttle in different positions occupied
during the formation of a stitch ;
Figures 26 and 27 are details of the shuttle pull off finger shown in
Figure 21-25;
Figure 28 is a section on line 28-28 of Fig. 27;
Figure 29 is a side elevation of so much of a sewing machine as is necessary to
illustrate another feature of the invention;
Figure 30 is a front elevation showing the position of the pull off finger;
Figure 31 is a section through the shuttle.
The class of machines to which the invention relates is too well known to
require a detailed description; and is made up of a discoidal shuttle A, a curved
hooked needle B, an awl B4, a thread eye B2, which carries and delivers thread to
a thread arm F, and thence to the needle B, which thread arm retains the thread,
and gives it up to the needle as the needle draws the loop; a take up to tighten
the stitch, made up of a series of stationary pulleys d', and a series of movable
f

page_text: pulleys ds, all organized to cause the thread eye B³ to deliver thread to thread arm
and to the needle, and to cause the needle to thus draw a loop of thread through
the work M, through which loop the shuttle passes, and which loop is tightened
about the shuttle thread by the take up.
The first feature of the invention is best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in which A is
the shuttle, and B the needle, the shuttle and needle are both arranged crosswise
of the line of work; with their axes substantially parallel to the line of feed.
The shuttle A is actuated in its race by shuttle driver a, mounted on shaft a¹,
provided with a pinion a² which meshes with a segment a³, carried at one end of
lever a, the other end of which engages a cam a³, on a cam disc a, fast to driving
shaft C. The needle B is mounted in a needle carrier 6 which is provided with
teeth engaging with a rack b', which is secured to lever 63 actuated by the ordinary
cam roll carried by the lever 62 and the cam groove in a'. This placing of the
shuttle and needle crosswise of the work is the first feature of the invention; and
is especially applicable to a machine used for sewing shoes, because of the curve
of the shank, and in Figures 17, 18, 19 and 20, a modified form of this feature of
the invention is shown. In these figures the shuttle A and needle B are actuated
as above described but the axis of the shuttle is slightly inclined to the axis of
the needle holder, so that the plane of the shuttle will be always crosswise of the
work, but slightly inclined to the plane in which the needle moves as will be
clear from lines x- and y-y in Fig. 18.
The second feature of the invention is best shown in Figures 1 and 2, and the
diagrams in Figs. 3 to 16 inclusive. In these figures the shuttle A is mounted in
a shuttle holder A¹ Figs. 1, 17, 18, 19 and 20 which is mounted on slide as moved in
ways by the cam roll a which moves in the cam slot al in disc a on shaft C. The cam
slot a moves the shuttle holder towards and from the path of needle, its movement
being so timed that the shuttle is moved towards the needle B and takes the loop r
from the needle as the needle makes its loop drawing stroke, and after the shuttle
has taken the loop, it is so timed to move away again and at the same time rotated
and passes through the loop, and this discoidal shuttle mounted in a movable
holder and means to move the movable holder towards and from the path of
the needle is the second feature of the invention. This moving of the shuttle
holder towards and from the path of the needle is of great importance for the
reason that it enables the machine to be run faster and also because the movement
of the shuttle holder may be utilized to pull off thread from the bobbin and thus
have slack thread when the take up operates to tighten the needle thread.
In Figures 21 to 28 inclusive there is shown another means of pulling off slack
thread from the bobbin. This consists of a shuttle A provided with a delivery
eye d coincident with the axis of the shuttle and a thread finger d so placed with
relation to the eye d that as the shuttle revolves in its holder the finger will
engage the shuttle thread and form a slack which slack falls off the hook as shown
in the drawings, and this combination of a shuttle with a finger which moves
around the delivery eye of the shuttle to catch and form a bight of shuttle thread,
and which releases that bight by its movement about the eye, is the third feature
of the invention.
As explained above, the shuttle holder A¹ is given a movement away from the
path of movement of the needle and when it is desired to utilize this movement to
draw off thread from the bobbin, it is necessary to have the needle thread held in
some way, and for this purpose there is shown in Fig. 29, a cam groove a¹ in the
cam disc a13, which operates the take up lever D, and which is so timed, that when
the shuttle holder is being moved, as described above, the take up is caused to
dwell and hold the needle thread taut, and this.combination of a shuttle holder
which moves the pull off thread, and a take up and mechanism to cause it to
dwell while the shuttle holder is being moved, is the fourth feature of the
invention.
In Figures 29, 30 and 31 there is shown another means of pulling off thread
from the shuttle which consists of an auxiliary finger A' which is mounted on

page_text: lever a which is operated by cam a¹5 on the cam disc a¹³, which lever is held
against the said cam by spring a¹6 as will be clear from Fig. 29.
In order that the stitch may be set against an unyielding shuttle thread, the
shuttle A in Fig. 31, is provided with a tension H which is strong enough to hold
the shuttle thread against the pull of the take up but which will yield when the the
thread is pulled by finger A2, but in order that the stitch last set may not be
pulled out of place, there is provided an intermittent locking device for the needle
thread which consists of the tension da, around which the thread passes in the
ordinary way, a ratchet wheel d³ on the said tension device and a pawl d, operated
by a cam on the disc a against which it is held by spring do, the cam d³
being so placed with relation to the cam a, that the nawl d is caused to engage
the ratchet 3 just before and during the stroke of the pull off finger A², and to
thus lock the needle thread against the pull of the finger A².
This combination of a shuttle provided with a tension device strong enough to
hold the shuttle thread against the pull of the take up, with a pull off finger to
pull the shuttle thread through the said tension device, and means to lock the
needle thread while the said pull off finger operates, is the fifth feature of the
invention.
The sixth feature of the invention relates to the thread arm, and is best shown
in Figs. 1 and 1", and in the diagrams in Figs. 3 to 16 inclusive; in which, the
thread arm F is mounted in bracket f, fast to segment f¹; which segment meshes
with rack f, operated by lever f³, and cam f, on disc a¹3; which cam causes the
thread arm to dwell in the loop of thread, and between the thread and the work,
while the shuttle is passing through the loop of thread delivered by the needle:
and a thread arm which both provides slack thread for the needle, and also dwells
between the loop of thread and the work, while the shuttle is passing through the
loop of needle thread, is the sixth feature of the invention; and is designed to
protect the work from being cut by the thread while the shuttle is elongating the
The operation and position of the thread arm F during the various stages
of the formation of the stitch, will be clearly seen in diagrams Figures 3 to 16.
The operation of the machine shown in the drawings need not be explained as
it is a machine of a well known type and differs only in the respects and details
set forth in this specification.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is:-
First: In a lock stitch sewing machine; the combination of a needle holder and
a curved hooked needle on an axis approximately parallel to the line of feed;
means to oscillate the needle on that axis; a discoidal shuttle on an axis approxi-
mately parallel with the line of feed; a shuttle holder for the shuttle; and means
to move the shuttle in the holder on a plane crosswise of the line of feed.
Second: In a lock-stitch sewing-machine; the combination of a needle-holder
and a curved hook-needle, on an axis approximately parallel with the line of feed;
so that the plane in which the curved hook-needle moves is crosswise of the line
of feed; means to oscillate the curved hook-needle in that plane; a discoidal
shuttle on an axis approximately parallel with the line of feed but slightly inclined
to the axis about which the curved hook-needle moves; a shuttle-race for the
shuttle; and means to move the shuttle in its race in a plane crosswise of the line
of feed, but slightly inclined to the plane in which the curved hook-needle moves;
all substantially as described.
Third: In a sewing-machine a hook-needle; a shuttle-race; a shuttle in that
race; and mechanism to rotate the shuttle in the race, and to move the race to
bring the shuttle into the plane of the path of movement of the needle; in order
that the nose of the shuttle may enter the loop of thread drawn out by the needle;
and to move the race out of the plane of the path of movement of the needle in

page_text: order that the shuttle may pass through the loop without interfering with the
needle, all substantially as described.
Fourth In combination with a discoidal shuttle; a thread catching and releas-
ing hook to form a bight in the shuttle-thread between the delivery-eye of the
shuttle and the work, and to shed the said bight, and means to revolve the said
hook about the delivery-eye of the shuttle; substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
Fifth In a sewing machine; the combination of a shuttle; its holder;
mechanism for moving the shuttle in its holder to cause it to pass through the loop
of needle thread; a take up, and means for actuating it to first draw up the loop
of needle thread around the shuttle thread, and then dwell; and mechanism for
moving the shuttle holder to draw thread from the shuttle while the takeup dwells.
Sixth: In a lock stitch sewing machine; a shuttle; a tension for the shuttle
thread to hold it against the pull of the take up; a finger to pull off thread from
the shuttle against the force of the shuttle tension; a take up operating on the
needle thread; and means for locking the needle thread when the pull of finger
operates on the shuttle thread, substantially as described.
Seventh: In a sewing machine; the combination of a hook needle; shuttle;
thread eye; thread arm, and actuating mechanism for the thread arm, which
causes it to deliver the thread to the needle when the needle descends, but to stay
between the needle thread and the work, while the shuttle is elongating the loop
of needle thread, and to then return to its place for the next operation.
Dated this 26th day of February 1898.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.