IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING AND EMBROIDERING MACHINES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of No. 11, Wellington Street,
Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING AND EMBROIDERING MACHINES." A communi-
cation from abroad by Emile Cornely, of Paris, France.
Sealed the 21st December 1877, and dated the 27th June 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Gedge at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th June 1877.
WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING AND EMBROIDERING
MACHINES." A communication from abroad by Emile Cornely, of Paris, France.
The object of my present Invention is to produce several parallel rows of sewing
or embroidering seams by means of a certain number of needle hooks, and by one
single thread only.
The several Figures on the accompanying Sheet of Drawing represent the different
positions of the various-mechanical devices. which are necessary to produce said
embroidering seams, three needles only being shown to explain my Invention.
A represents the needle hooks; they are secured to the one common needle bar of
any sewing or embroidering machine, and their books are parallel and of the same
height.
B represents the cloth plate of the machine, in which the three holes 2, 3, and 4,
Figure 9, are made for the passage of the needles, said holes being united to one
another by means of slots a and b for the passage of the threads.
C represents a thread carrier which has an alternate oscillating motion around
the needles, and lays its thread against them above their hooks, so that the latter can
take hold of the threads upon their upward motion and draw the loops above the
cloth.
D and E represent two studs which have a small upward and downward motion;
their operation is herein-after described.

page_text: G represents small blades which have a horizontal reciprocating motion, and which
are pushed between the needles to produce the necessary slack thread and to secure
the taking of said thread by the hooks A.
The operation of the said devices above described is as follows:-When the needles
A. have arrived at their lowest position (represented at Figure 1), the studs D and E
are in their highest position, their points entering slightly into corresponding cavities
on the lower face of the cloth.plate. The thread being secured to the preceding
stitch in the cloth at 1, the thread carrier C makes half a turn, and lays the thread
around the stud D against the needles A, and around the stud E as represented,
Figures 1 and 2, the blades G now advance towards the needles, and as soon as
their edges come in line with them, the studs D and E descend and release the thread
which was laid around them; the blades G in advancing further push the slack
thread in between the needles A (as represented, Figures 3 and 4).
As the needles A rise, their hooks take the thread, and the blades G recede (as
shown, Figures 5. and 6), and cach needle carries its slack thread above the cloth
and forms a loop (see Figures 7 and 8).
The feed of the cloth now takes place, and the needles in their downward motion
deposit the loops upon the cloth and descend through them to repeat the precceding
operation, and upon rising again they bring up another series of loops through the
preceeding ones, thereby producing a series of parallel chain stitches which, being
formed from one and the same single thread, are necessarily interlaced together,
forming a united embroidery through their entire width.
The number of needles to be employed may be varied according to the nature of
the work.
E
The operation of the needles; studs D, E, and thread carrièr C may be performed
by any known mechanical devices such as are employed upon sewing or embroidering
machines, and equally well with the ordinary or with the universal feed motion for
curved lines. My Invention therefore consists in the production of several parallel
rows of sewing or embroidering seams by means of a single thread and of several
needles which are secured upon the same needle bar.
Also in the combination with several needles secured upon the same needle bar of
the studs D, E, and the thread carrier C, for producing several parallel rows of
sewing or embroidering seams.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th
December 1877.
WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING AND EMBROIDERING
MACHINES." A communication from abroad by Emile Cornely, of Paris, France.
The object of this Invention is to produce several parallel sewing or embroidering
seams by means of a certain number of needle hooks, and by means of one single
thread only. The needle hooks which I employ on this machine are those employed
on embroidering machines, and which are represented on the Drawings at A, Figures
4; and S.
.
In the Drawings, Figures 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, Sheet 1, represent elevations of the different
positions of the hooks and other parts which produce my new stitch; Figures - 2, 3,
and 7, respresent horizontal views thereof. ·
On Sheet 2 Figure 10 represents an elevation of the entire machine, and the
other Figures represent detached views, hereafter to be referred to.
A, Sheet 1, represents the needle hooks; they are secured to the needle bars c; f,'d
(Sheet 2), and their hooks are all set in the same direction and on the same level.
B represents the cloth plate of the machine, in which the holes 2, 3, and 4,
shown in a horizontal view, Fig. 9, are made for the passage of the needles, said
holes being united to each other by means of the slots a, b, for the passage of the
threads.
C represents a thread carrier which operates in a circular oscillating motion
around the needle hooks, and lays its thread against them above their hooks so that
the latter can take hold of the thread upon their upward motion and draw the loops
above the cloth.
D and E are two studs which have an up-and-downward motion, and the operation
of which will be herein-after described.
G represents small blades which have an horizontal reciprocating motion and
which are pushed between the needles to produce the necessary slack thread, and to
secure the taking of said thread by the hooks A.
H and I are two springs which are attached to the lower side of the cloth plate B
by means of screws, and the operation of which will be herein-after described.
The operations of the several devices above described are as follows:-When the
needles A have arrived at their lowest positions, represented in Fig. 1, the studs D
and E are in their highest positions, their points entering slightly cavities in the
cloth plate B. The thread being secured to the preceding stitch in the cloth at I,
the thread carrier C commences its turning motion from the left to the right, and
lays the thread around the studs D, then between the spring Hand the plate B, then
against the needle hooks B, then between the spring I and the plate B, and finally
around the stud E, as represented, Figs. 1 and 2. The blades G now advance towards
the needles, and after they have entered between them sufficiently to tighten the
thread, the studs D, E, descend and release their loops, the blades G continue their
movement, and thus push the thread between the hooks, as shown in Fig. 3. The
thread which is thus pushed between the needles is furnished partly by the
lengths 1, 5, 6, 7, which were held by the stud D, Fig. 2, and partly by the spool
thread from the end 8. The remaining portion of the slack thread from stud D is
pressed by the spring H against the plate B, and is held in the position shown Fig. 3,
to be employed for what will be required when the needles arrive above the cloth.
The needle hooks continue their upward notion to the position shown in Figure 5,
and when their hooks are on the point of rising above the upper edge of the blades G,
the loops formed by said blades are drawn upward and into the cloth.
4
Upon rising further the needle hooks arrive at their highest position, represented
in Figures 6, 7, and 8, and during said movement the slack thread which was thus

page_text: far held by the spring H, as shown in Figures 3 and 5, is furnished to the hook
so as to supply the portion 9 and 10, Figure 7. The distances of the studs D, E,
from the needles are calculated so as to supply the quantity of thread necessary for
the proper production of the chain stitch:
The needles upon rising above the cloth plate, each one draws up a well-formed
loop, as shown in Figures 6 and 8; the feed of the machine now takes place, and
after the cloth has advanced the length of the stitch the needles commence their
downward motion, deposit their loops upon the cloth, and passing through said
loops and through the cloth they arrive at their lowest positions. During said
operation the studs D and E have again risen to their highest positions, and the
thread 11, 12, Figures 3 and 6, is drawn behind the stud E. The thread carrier C
now begins its return motion from the right to the left, laying its thread first between
the spring I and plate B, then around the stud E, then against the needle
hooks A, and repeating the same operation as described, above the hooks, draw up a
series of loops through the preceeding stitches, and thus produces a series of parallel
chain stitches, which, being formed from one and the same single thread, are
necessarily interlaced together, forming a united embroidery through their entire
width:
The numbers of needles to be employed may be varied according to the nature of
the work which may be required.
The operations of the needles, studs, and thread carriers above described, may be
executed by any known mechanical devices which are employed upon sewing or
embroidering machines.
I will hereby describe the mechanisms which I employ-I employ the
embroidering machine known as the "Bonnaz" embroidering machine, which by
means of its universal feed can also be employed to a certain extent in combination
with several needles to feed the material in different directions. As the said
machine is fully known, I will only describe those parts which are modified
thereon so as to impart the proper motions to the stitching mechanism above
described:
The three needle hooks are screwed into three separate thin needle bars e, f, d,
Sheet 2, which are secured within an auxiliary needle bar holder K, Figures 10, 18,
19, 20, the tubular part of which g extends into the tube L of the machine, and is
secured therein by means of a thumbscrew h. Each of the needle bars is secured
within the part K by separate thumbscrews x, y, z, and can be raised or lowered
independently of the other, or they can be all moved together by means of the
sleeve K. The nipple M, Figures 10, 15, 16, 21, is equally provided with three holes
for the passage of the three needles, and is secured to the nipple tube N by means
of a screw nut v. The nipple tube is provided with a tongue which fits into the
notch of the nipple, so that the position of the three holes will always be in line
with those in the needle plate.
P represents the main shaft of the machine; it is provided with a screw gear m
which drives a horizontal screw wheel Q; the diameters of the two gears are such
that the wheel m makes two revolutions to one revolution of the wheel Q. The
wheel drives shaft R, crank S, pitman T, and rack U, represented in a detached
view, Figure 11: The rack U drives pinions o and p, upon which latter is
secured the thread carrier C. The pinion p and thread carrier C are represented in
a very enlarged view on Fig. 3, Sheet 1; the oscillating turning motion is thus
imparted to said thread carriers.
The movement of the blades G is effected in the following manner:-The link v,
Figure 11, is pivoted to the pinion o by means of the crank pin n, and the bar W
which slides within a groove in the bed plate of the machine is pivoted to the
link V by means of a pin k; thus when the pinion o turns, à reciprocating rectilineal
motion is imparted to the bar W and to the blades G which are secured to it.
It remains to describe the mechanism by which the studs D and E are actuated.
An excentric on the main shaft of the machine drives the pitman X which operates
the lever Y pivoted at g to the frame, and the short arm of which imparts a

page_text: horizontal reciprocating motion to the connection rod Z; the latter actuates the
lever 1, Figs. 10 and 12, which is pivoted at S to the frame of the machine, and tlie
short arm of which operates the shaft t of pinion p, being linked thereto at . The
two studs D and E are secured to the upper end of said vertical shaft t, which
thus obtains an up-and-downward motion such as is required for their proper
operation.
By reference to Fig. 3, it will be observed that the studs D, E, are not in the
centre of the wheel p, this is for the purpose of supplying an additional slack
thread by the return motion of the thread carrier C, equal to the length of the
stitch.
When two needles only, are employed, the machine may work on certain class of
goods without the studs, D, E, but the stitch will not be as regular, as the thread is
liable to break, and the tension will not be a regular one; still the principle of this
Invention of producing several seams with several needles, and one single thread
only, remains the same, as the blade or blades G are indispensable; in that case one
single blade G only will work between two needles.
Figure 13 shows a mechanism for working the thread carrier C and the blades G
by means of one pinion only instead of two. The rack U, which is operated by
means of the pitman T from crank S, imparts an oscillating motion to pinion o,
to which the bar A¹ of the thread carrier C is pivoted at 20. The other end of the
bar A is pivoted to the lever B' which oscillates on its fulcrum C; thus by the
oscillation of pinion o, the thread carrier C performs a curved oscillation around
the needles and studs D, E. The bar A¹ of the blades G is connected with the
pinion o by means of a link V, similar to the one above described.
In Figure 14 I have represented another arrangement for working the blades G.
The pinion o which receives its oscillating motion from rack U is provided with a
cam 21, which works against a cam face 22 on rod W, and thus operates the latter
and its blades G forward and backward; the employment of a cam 21 for driving
the blades G has the advantage of timing their movement with the other parts of
the machine in a more accurate manner than can be done by circular or crank
motions; as a matter of course, an excentric pin on pinion o, working in a cam groove
of the rod W, will produce the same result. -
In Figures 24, 25, 26, and 27 I have represented a modification of the blades G,
the object of which is to keep the thread of the loops always tightened as soon as
the hooks A have taken hold of them; for this purpose the front edge of the
blades G is not straight as represented on Sheet 1, but is provided with a
projection ¹.
When the blades G advance to push the thread in between the hooks A, the
thread remains below the projection ; as the hooks A rise, the blades G at a
certain moment commence their return motion, which is timed in such a manner
that the length of the loops 40, 41, remains the same in all positions, and cannot
escape from the blades G until the hooks A have arrived at a sufficient height above
the cloth plate and within the nipple, so that the thread cannot escape from their
hooks. This portion is shown in 27, where the blades G have returned so far as to
be on the point of releasing their loops. The hooks A after this continue their
upward motion to the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 27. The thread
being retained as described between the hooks A and the projections Z¹ of the
blades G, a more perfect and sure operation of the machine is obtained.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention communi-
cated to me as aforesaid, and in what manner the same is or may be performed, I
claim as secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent,-
Firstly. The production of several parallel rows of sewing or embroidering seams
by means of a single thread, and several needles working simultaneously together,
as above described.
Secondly. I also claim in combination with the several hook needles above
described with studs D and E, the blades G, and the thread carrier C, for producing
several parallel rows of sewing or embroidering seams, as described.

page_text: Thirdly. I also claim the combination of two needles only with one single
blade G for producing two rows of parallel seams without the employment of the
studs D, E.
Fourthly. I also claim the mechanical combination above described for operating
the blades G, studs D, E, and thread carrier C, substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said. William Edward Gedge, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
WE CEDCE (TO)
W. E. CEDGE.
(IS.)