Improvements in Machines for Ornamental Sewing.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Feb., 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Ornamental Sewing.
I, THOMAS RICHARD SHILLITO, of 89 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention, a communication to me from abroad
by the Fabrik für Spezialnähmaschinen Actien Gesellschaft (Patente Julius
Gutmann) of Zurich, Switzerland, to be as follows:
The known ornamental stitch and festoon stitch sewing machines operate with
hook needles two of which, each with a thread, are passed through the fabric. A
thread feeder or finger places a third thread in front of the needles which then
ascend and this action is repeated. In practice the hook needles are not suitable,
the sewing threads not having a sure guidance in the formation of the loops, the
threads being liable to slide away from the hooks, and the tambour stitching
wanting in durability and quality.
The object of this invention is the application to the above class of sewing
machines of the following improvements:-There are provided two eye needles
and a shuttle which is operated from the cam groove of a roller, carried on the
main spindle underneath the machine table plate, through a bell crank lever
Oscillating upon the machine frame and taking into the cam groove by a friction
roller carried on its lower end; the shuttle which moves in a slide way and the
needles being so arranged together that shortly before the descent of the two
needles a thread feeder or finger lays on an additional thread. The needles then
pass through this under thread and upon their ascent form with the same and the
thread of the needles the known lock stitch noose.
The automatic movement of the fabric holder carriage for forming the festoon
is accomplished by mechanism comprising a double lever mounted to oscillate at
the back end of the machine frame and having its lower end attached. by a screw
and slot to the rear end of a connecting rod the forward end of which is connected
to a lever carrying a friction roller. The latter is. pressed by a spiral spring
against a cam having combined with it a ratchet toothed disc, set in rotation by
means of a pawl operated from the cam through lever connections. When the
roller lever is slid rearwardly by the projections on the cam or roller so also is the
connecting rod whilst the spiral spring tends to resist this movement. The move-
ment of the connecting rod in both directions, in agreement with the rotation of
the cam communicated by the pawl and ratchet mechanism, is transmitted to the
oscillating double lever mounted at the back of the machine frame, and from the
upper forked end of the latter to a rod extending to the machine head where it
engages with a rod connecting with the fabric carriage. In this way the fabric is
moved alternately in the one and the other direction so as to form the two halves

page_text: of the festoon. The oscillating double lever is divided and by taking out the con-
necting screw may be put out of operation and then the upper rod extending to
the machine head as aforesaid may be operated by hand from a crank handle.
A mechanism operating automatically is provided for cutting through the fabric
upon each descent of the needles and according as the fabric travels and to the
form of the sewn festoon. It consists of a horizontal spindle located at the level
of the machine arm and extending nearly to the machine head where it carries
a cam. In the rotation of the spindle, driven from the mechanism of the machine,
the cam operates a horizontal double oscillating lever mounted on the machine armi
one end of said lever being kept pressed against the cam by a spring and the other 1
end fork shaped engaging the upper end of a vertical rod guided in the machine
head and having attached to it at its lower extremity a knife. Each time the
needles make a stitch the knife is pressed down and cuts off the fabric.
13"
.
Improvements in machines for ornamental Dow
I, THOMAS RICHARD SHILLITO, of 89 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention, a communication to me from abroad
by the Fabrik für Spezialnähmaschinen Actien Gesellschaft (Patente Julius
Gutmann) of Zurich, Switzerland, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
-
This invention relates to the crank action of ornamental stitch and festoon stitch
sewing machines. The movement of the fabric holder thereby produced is in
known machines transmitted to the needles by means of a hand crank whilst in
this invention there is an automatic as well as a hand action, which presents the
advantage that in ornamental sewing greater deviations or changes may be made
without renouncing the absolutely regular festoon of the automatic action. If for
instance a festoon is to be made between any other ornamenal sewing the operation
is performed partly by the automatic action and partly by means of the hand
crank, the one method being at any time exchangeable for the other.
In the accompanying drawing the invention is shewn in different views, and
also some detail parts of the same.
1 is the driving spindle from which through cam 2 the needle motion is
obtained in a known manner.
The machine works in the manner that the needles fasten the thread laid down
by the thread feeder whilst a carriage moves the fabric now in one and now in the
other direction. Such transition of the carriage has hitherto been accomplished
through a rod turned by the hand crank during the working of the machine but
with this invention the same may be done automatically as well as by hand.
The fabric holder carriage (Figs. 2, 3) is driven from the spindle 10 through
cams 23, 24, fixed thereon. The carriage foot or fabric presser 17 is seated on a
ring 18 carried by the rod 19. The latter is pivotted at its upper between lugs
provided on the head 20, whilst this is seated on the pivot 21 so that the rod 19
can strike out on both sides. The pivot 21 is fixed in the slide 22 sliding in a
groove provided in the machine head and raised by means of a cam 23 fixed on the
..I.

page_text: spindle 10. In this way the fabric presser of the carriage is lifted from the fabric
to, perform its forward movement and before its return the cam 24 on the
spindle 10 serves to press the fabric presser or foot of the carriage upon the fabric
and to bring about said return movement, for which purpose the cam operates
the slide 25 mounted in the frame. Upon the lower end of the slide 25 is seated
a fork 26 serving to carry a sleeve 27 which latter is provided at its upper part
with a groove for the engagement of the fork. The sleeve 27 encircles and is dis-
placeable up and down upon; a rod 28 carried inside the machine head and said
sleeve has jointed to it at eyes 28* an arm 29 which is so formed that when the
sleeve is, by the cam 24 and slide 25, moved downward over the rod 28, said arm 29
connected to the sleeve strikes outwards on an inclined surface 30 on the rod 28.
As now the arm 29 becomes fixed in a slot 31 of the disc seated in the ring 18 and
is moved away from the rod 28 which is also seated in this disc, said ring is moved
outwards and with it the fabric presser 17 attached to it. On the rod 28 within
the machine head are provided teeth 32 which are engaged by a rack 33 so that
when this is slid forward or backward the rod 28 is turned and therewith the
sleeve 27 with its arm 29, and the rod 19 will therefore be moved on different sides
according to the different turning movements, whilst it turns once on its pivot on
the head 20 and once on the pivot 21 so that according as the rack 33 turns the
rod 28, the carriage will move the fabric to the one or the other side and in this
way the two different halves of the festoon are produced.
Up to this point the machine parts are known and are only cited to make the
invention clear. The improvements of this invention are shewn applied to such a
festoon sewing machine. They comprise an arrangement by which the rod 33,
which hitherto it has been the custom to operate only by means of a crank 58 and
toothed wheel 59 in order to form the festoon, may also be operated automatically.
In this arrangement a double lever 37 is mounted to oscillate on the machine
frame (Figs. 1, 4) and is connected to the rod 38 by means of a slot and screw, and
a ratchet wheel 39 is attached to the cam 40 against which latter bears the
roller 43 of a lever 42 mounted to oscillate on the frame 4.1.
The ratchet wheel is set in rotation by pawl 44 and lever 45 which is drawn by
the spiral spring 46 against the end of the cam roller 47 which is there furnished
with raised parts 47. In this, the lever 42 is moved backwards by the curved
paths of the cam 40 and therewith also the rod 38 whilst the spiral spring 48 on
rack rod 33 (Fig 1) resists this movement which from the rod 38 is communicated
to the lever 37 and this latter by a fork 49 at its upper end reciprocates the rod 33.
The rod 37 is divided and can be disconnected by removing the retaining
screw 57 which engages in and fixes the slotted end of one rod part to the screw
tapped end of the other part, so that when desired the rod 33 may be operated
from the hand crank 58.
60 is a bracket fixed to the machine frame and having a slot through which a
stud fixed in the rack rod 33 projects and is engaged in the fork 49 of the divided
lever 37, and so long as this latter forms a rigid whole the travel of the fabric takes
place automatically, but when divided or disconnected the hand crank can be used
for this purpose.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of said invention,
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:-
1. In ornamental stitch or festoon stitch sewing machines or machines for
ornamental sewing, an arrangement for automatically operating the fabric holder
carriage in which arrangement a cam disc reciprocates through a lever and con-
necting rod or equivalent mechanism a lever loosely connected with the rack
rod 33 which connects with the fabric holder carriage and operates the same, sub-
stantially as described and shewn.
2. In a sewing machine of the kind referred to in claim 1, the construction of

page_text: the lever which connects with the rack rod 33, in two parts adapted to be con-
nected to, and disconnected from, one another for the purpose of being able to
operate the fabric holder carriage by hand as well as automatically, substantially
as described and shewn.
Dated this lat'day of November 1897.
THOMAS R. SHILLITO,
89 Chancery Lane, London, W.C.