IMPROVEMENTS IN EMBROIDER- ING ATTACHMENTS FOR SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Downing, of 8, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN EMBROIDER-
ING ATTACHMENTS FOR SEWING MACHINES." A communication from abroad
by George E. Hart, of the City of Newark, State of New Jersey, United States
of Amering
Sealed the 12th July 1878, and dated the 23rd January 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Downing at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd January 878.
GEORGE DOWNING, of 8, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, in the County of Mid-
dlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN EMBROIDERING ATTACHMENTS FOR SEWING MACHINES.".
A communication from abroad by George E. Hart, of the City of Newark, State of
New Jersey, United States of America.
This Invention has for its object an improved embroidering attachment for sewing
machines, whereby the operator can by the simple working of any sewing machine
not only sew, but at the same time by the use of this Invention make and secure
to the material worked upon a braid more or less handsome according to the article
used for the manufacture of the braid; thus, silk, cotton, thread, or any other
suitable material may be employed, depending on the taste of the users.
One of the principal characteristics of this Invention is the manner in which a
reciprocal rotating motion is imparted to a ring-shaped looper carrier surrounded by
a stationary hub or presser foot, which may in one form of this Invention take the
place of the ordinary presser foot. This motion is obtained from the ordinary rise

page_text: and fall of the needle bar of any sewing machine when at work, and is imparted in
the following manner :-A flat shaft of steel or other suitable material is twisted so
as to form a long pitched screw, the upper end of which with its bearings is
attached to the stationary arm of the sewing machine, while the lower end with its
bearings is attached and forms part of the presser foot. To this end of the shaft is
attached such proportioned gear that when the shaft revolves the requisite recipro-
cating rotary motion will be given to the looper carrier.
To secure the necessary motion of the shaft an arm forked at its outer ends is
fastened on the needle bar at right angles to the axis of the shaft, and between
these forked ends is placed the long pitched screw shaft. It will now be seen that
when the needle bar descends, the forked arm having no motion but that of the
needle bar will travel down the screw thread of the shaft, and cause it to revolve,
thus imparting the required motion to the gear wheels that are firmly secured to
the lower end of the shaft, and which in their turn will impart the rotating motion
to the looper carrier.
When the needle bar ascends the direction of the rotary motion will be reversed,
and the looper carrier will return to its original position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said George Downing in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th July
1878.
GEORGE DOWNING, of 8, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, in the County of Mid-
dlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN EMBROIDERING ATTACHMENTS FOR SEWING MACHINES."
A communication from abroad by George E. Hart, of the City of Newark, State of
New Jersey, United States of America.
This Invention has for its object an improved form of embroidering attachments
for sewing machines, whereby the operator can by the simple working of any sewing
machine not only sew, but at the same time by the use of this Invention make and
secure to the material worked upon a braid more or less handsome, according to the
skill and taste of the operator and the quality of the material used for the manu-
facture of the braid.
One of the principal characteristics of this Invention is the mechanism by which
a positive reciprocal rotating motion is imparted to a ring-shaped looper carrier
surrounded by a stationary hub or presser foot, which may take the place of the
ordinary presser foot. This motion is obtained from the ordinary rise and fall of
the needle bar of any sewing machine when at work.
To better and more clearly explain how this reciprocal rotating motion is obtained
reference is made to the accompanying Drawings, in which the same letters of

page_text: reference represent the same parts of the Invention throughout all the Figures
thereof.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the attachment embodying this Invention; Figure 2
is a vertical central section of the same.
Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the same, with the base plate removed, and exposing to
view the interior mechanism.
Fig. 4 is a plan of the forked arm G, seen in Figs. 1 and 2..
Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the lower part of Fig. 2.
And Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9, detailed views of the laying hub and looper carrier.
The entire mechanism whereby the braid making and embroidering is accom-
plished is combined with and carried by what is known as the presser foot of a
sewing machine, and is therefore adapted to be employed in the sewing machines
now in general use.
A represents a presser foot, in which is placed the devices whose special office is
to throw the braid making and embroidering thread so as to form with it the
desired stitch. One form of the same is here represented, consisting of a fixed
laying hub B and rotary_reciprocating looper carrier C, being the same in form and
operation as shewn in Her Majesty's Letters Patent, bearing date the 30th day of
November 1876, and No. 4641, and for the construction and operation of said hub
and looper carrier reference is made to said Patent. D and E are two gears, as shewn
in Figures 3 and 5, the former being on an annulus surrounding and formed on or
secured to the carrier C, Fig. 8, and the latter a toothed wheel or disc secured
on the shaft F; this shaft F is arranged to rotate in proper bearings, the lower one
being in the horizontal part c of the presser foot, as shown in Fig. 5, while the
upper one is in the bracket c¹ or arm secured to the upright part c² of said foot.
The shaft F is formed of a flat bar, which is twisted as shown on the Drawings,
thus forming long pitched screw. G is an arm to be secured upon the needle bar,
a section of which is shown at d in Fig. 2. This arm is forked at its outer ends,
as shewn in the plan, Fig. 4, the forked ends e, e¹, being adapted to fit loosely on
either side of the shaft F, and to slide up and down the same over the twist or
screw, thereby imparting to it the necessary reciprocating rotating motion as the
needle bar rises and descends in the act of sewing. By these means the looper
carrier C, Figure 8, has given to it the required reciprocating rotary motion, the
same being communicated to it from the shaft F through the two gear wheels E, D.
The several parts are so proportioned and adapted that the precise motion is given
to the looper carrier that is required, and this any competent mechanic will know
how to accomplish. The necessary cessation of motion of the looper carrier, after
being rotated by the upward movement of the needle bar, and before it commences
its reverse rotation, is accomplished by leaving a portion of the shaft F plain at its
upper end, as at f, in Fig. 2.
In place of the twisted or scrèw shaft F and forked arm G, if preferred, the shaft
may be a cylinder having a spiral groove or slot with a pin in the arm G working
in said slot or groove. The advantage of my improvements are obvious; the devices
have a positive motion, are simple and not liable to get out of order in use, and
they give the opportunity of making the presser foot quite thin, thereby enabling
the operator to plainly see his work.
I do not claim as my Invention the hub B or the looper carrier C, nor do I claim
the combination of these devices with the presser foot, the same being now in use.
In fact I do not intend to confine myself to this special mechanism for making the
braid or embroidering stitches, as my Invention relates especially to the devices
described, whereby motion is communicated to the braid making and embroidering
mechanism, and the construction of such devices with such mechanism in the presser
foot of a sewing machine, substantially as set forth.
Having thus described my Invention, and the manner in which the same may be
advantageously employed, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

page_text: the combination with braid making and embroidering mechanism in the presser
foot of a sewing machine of the shaft F, forked arm G, and gear wheels D and E,
or their evident equivalents, as and for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Downing, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-eight.
GEO. DOWNING. (L.S.)