Improvements in Hemstitch Sewing Machines.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Dec., 1896-Accepted, 27th Mar., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Hemstitch Sewing Machines.
1, WILLIAM JOHN MACKENZIE, of The Demesnes, Waringstown, Co. Down,
Linen Merchant and Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be perforined, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to machines for doing open work hemstitching on hand-
kerchiefs and other articles.
The object of the invention is to provide a simple attachment, which can be
fitted on a Wheeler & Wilson or other well known style of sewing machine,
whereby the threads of the fabric can be opened out between the stitches so as to
produce open work hemstitching.
With this invention it is not necessary, as usual, before commencing the
hemstitching, to pull a number of threads out of the fabric.
And in order that my said invention may be properly understood I have hereunto
appended two explanatory sheets of drawings, whereon,
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a Wheeler & Wilson machine with the head thereof
shown in section.
Figs. 2, 3 & 4 are detail views.
Fig. 5 is a view of the inside of the face plate.
Figs. 6 & 7 are detail views.
In carrying out my invention I clamp to the ordinary laterally movable needle
bar a of, say, a Wheeler & Wilson hemstitching machine, a stud b which projects
into a hole c¹ made in a spreader bar c which latter is preferably of square section.
This bar, which has a spreader or reliever needle d adjustably secured to its lower
end by means of a collar d' and pinching screw d, is capable of sliding up and
down in a guide block e secured, by means of screws f, to the face plate g of the
machine. The guide block e has a cover plate el secured to it by screws eas
shown clearly at Fig. 5 and a slot e is cut in this plate (as shown at Figs. 1 and 5)
to guide and limit the movement of the stud b as it rises and falls with the needle
bar a.
is the usual needle, the usual connecting rod, j the usual quadrant and k the
usual driving wheel of the machine.
It will be seen that the lower end of the spreader needle d is thickened and
tapered so as to form a sort of spear point which makes a wide hole in the
cloth.
Fig. 2 is a side view of the spreader bar c, Fig. 3 is a front view showing the
bar e fitted in the guide block e from which the cover plate e' has been removed,
Fig. 4 is a side view of the bar c and its guide block e, Fig. 6 shows the needle h
and spreader needle d closed, and Fig. 7 shows the needle h and spreader needle d
opened or moved apart from one another. The needle h moves away from the
spreader needle d when they are both up out of the cloth.
With this invention, each time the needle bar a rises up out of the cloth the
spreader bar c is raised up with it by means of the stud b on the bar a, and,
likewise, each time the needle bar a moves down to penetrate the cloth the bar ó
also moves with it. As the spreader needle d is longer than the needle h it follows
that it first penetrates the cloth, and, owing to the spear head I, presses back or
opens out the threads to such an extent as to produce an open work stitch.
When

page_text: the bar a is moved laterally by means of the quadrant j and connecting rod i the
bar c does not move with it but remains in its place the stud b merely moving in
the hole c' in the bar c.
The head I, which is straight at one side and tapered at the other as clearly
shown at Figs. 6 and 7, tends to throw the threads towards the hem when piercing
the cloth.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
consider novel and desire to claim is :--
1. An attachment for sewing machines for spreading or opening the threads of
the cloth consisting of a vertically moving bar provided with a spreading needle at
its lower end and sliding in a guide said bar being operated from the ordinary
needle bar of the machine substantially as herein before set forth.
2. The arrangement and combination of the parts of the attachment substantially
as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings annexed.
Dated this 22nd day of December 1896.
H. D. FITZPATRICK,
70 Wellington Street, Glasgow, Agent.