IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM TO BE USED AS AN ATTACHMENT TO A SEWING MACHINE FOR HEMMING, CREASING, BINDING, · BANDING, FOLD-MAKING, CORBING, and Quilting
Year: 1872

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM TO BE USED AS AN
ATTACHMENT TO A SEWING MACHINE FOR HEMMING, CREASING, BINDING,
· BANDING, FOLD-MAKING, CORBING, and Quilting.” - A communication
from abroad by Philip Grosfeld; William Alfred Bennett, and
Albro Brichard Carman, all of the City and State of New York,
United States of America:
-
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 24th September 1872, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 24th September 1872, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton' Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MECHANISM TO BE USED AS AN ATTACHMENT TO A SEWING MACHINE' FOR

page_text: HEMMING, CREASING, BINDING, BANDING, FOLD-MAKING, CORDING, AND QUILTING,”
and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and
have made solemn Declaration that it has been communicated to me
from abroad by Philip Grosfeld, William Alfred Bennett, and Albro t
Brichard Carman, all of the City and State of New York, United States
of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and 1
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing forming a
part of this Specification:-
This Invention relates to a device which when attached to a sewing
machine can be used with great advantage for making hems of various
width, for creasing, for binding, and for banding, with a plain or with a
bias band for making millinery folds, for cording, and for quilting. The
said device. consists essentially of an arm carrying a piece of sheet metal
curled up to form a rounded back, an open central mouth and two
folding lips, one on cach side of the mouth; the said folding lips are:
made cither with or without or one with and the other without a return
bend, and the said arm is provided with a slot for the purpose of
attaching the same to a sewing machine in the required position in such
a manner that the above-named operations of making hems, creasing,
binding, banding, fold-making, cording, and quilting, can be performed
with ease and rapidity. The cord guide or the guide for the binding
material consists cither of a tube attached to one of the folding lips, or
of a hole made in the back of the folding head. The slotted arm is
provided with a graduated gauge which serves to determine the width of
a hem, or the position of a band or fold on a skirt or other garment.
The outer end of the slotted arm is bent at right angles to form a
guide for determining the distance and direction of seams in quilting.

page_text: The remaining Figures show samples of the work which can be pro-
duced by means of the said attachment, and also the manner of securing
the said attachment to a sewing machine.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawing...
A, A A°, designate the folding heads, each of which is made of a
piece of sheet metal curled to form a closed back a, an open mouth 6,
and two folding lips c. By referring to Figure 1 it will be noticed that
the lips c of the folding head A* are provided with return bends & which
are not shown in the folding lips of the head A, and furthermore, the
folding head A° shown in Figure 13 is provided with lips, one of which
is provided with a return bend, while the other is not.
The said folding heads are attached each to a slotted arm B, which is
secured by means of a set screw e to a hanger O, of such a construction
that the same. can be conveniently fastened to a sewing machine,
bringing the heads in the proper position in front of the needlo and-
above the cloth plate of the machine. The bracket used by preference
for this purpose is shown in Figures 15 and 16. It consists of a screw
clamp H, from which rises a standard D¹; the latter carries a bracket E,
having a shoulder at each end to receive one end of a plate G from
which projects' the hanger C. On the lower end of this hanger is
secured the slotted arm B, which carries one or more of the folding
heads A, A, or Aº.
The clamp H is so constructed that it can be readily attached to any
sewing machine, but instead of using the said clamp the hanger C may
be so constructed that it can be secured to the guide of the needle slide,
or to any other portion of a sewing machine above the cloth plate, the
object of this hanger being to retain the braider or other attachment in
the proper position without obstructing the cloth plate. With the
slotted arm B is combined a graduated gauge D which is held in position
by the set screw e.
:
If desired either two of the folding heads A, A*, A°, may be attached
to one slotted arm B at its opposite ends, or they may be secured each
to a separate arm. With one of the lips c of the head A is combined a
cord guide f. This cord guide may be combined with either of the
folding heads, and may be made in the shape of a small tube as shewn
in Figure 8; or a simple hole in the back of the folding head- (see

page_text: z
Figure 14) may serve as the guide for the cord or for a braid, and two
such holes or guides may be applied to the same folding head so that
such head will serve for cording and binding in one operation.
The several operations which may be performed with the folding
head A, are illustrated in Figures 3 to 8 inclusive.
Figure 3 represents the position of the fabric in forming a narrow_
hem g. In the bight of the fabric may be introduced a cord which is
fed in through the cord guide.
Figure 4 shows a wide hem h, produced by the folding head A, the
width of the hem being determined by the gauge D.
Figure 5 illustrates the operation of binding, the band i used for
binding being passed through the head with its edges projecting into
the bights of the folding lips, while the material to which the binding is
to be attached extends into the mouth 6 of the head A. A cord may
also be introduced into the bight of the binding.
Figure 6 illustrates the operation of producing a millinery fold, a
band or strip being passed through the folding head, and sewed down
upon a skirt or other garment, having a bight k whose extent is deter-
mined by the gauge D. This fold is finished by turning over the loop j,
and sewing it down, as shewn in Figure 6*.
Figure 7 illustrates the operation of securing a plain band 6 upon a
skirt or other garment, the band being passed through the folding head
first on one edge, and then on the other. Figure 7* shows the band
complete.
:
Figure 8 illustrates another method of producing a band of two pieces
or strips of material.
Figure 9 illustrates the operation of binding with a bias band m, the
said bias band being made to pass through the folding head Aª, which
being provided with return bends dat its folding lips turns the edges of
the band under, as shewn, while the fabric to which the band is to be
attached extends into the mouth 6 of the head A*.
Figure 10 illustrates the operation of attaching a bias band n to a
skirt or other fabric.
Figure 11 illustrates the operation of making a millinery fold o.

page_text: Figure 12 illustrates the operation of producing a bias band p, and
sewing the same upon a skirt or other garment, the width of the said
band being determined by the gauge .D.
The gauge D is turned down at right angles to form a lip o* (see
Figure 1), and by bringing this lip to bear on the surface of the material
the distance of succeeding seams can be determined, and the seams may
be readily made parallel to each other, which is of importance in quilting.
From the above illustrations the various operations to be performed by
means of the above described attachment will be readily understood, and
since most of these operations have heretofore been produced by hand
much time and labor will be saved by using the said attachment.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated tó
me by my foreign correspondents, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,―
First. The folding head A, A*, or A°, formed with a closed back a,
folding lips c, and an intermediate open mouth b, in combination with a
slotted arm B, and with a supporting bracket C, substantially as
described.
Second. The cord guide f, or equivalent contrivance in combination
with the folding head A, A*, or A°, slotted arm B, and supporting
bracket C, substantially as set forth.
Third. The gauge D, provided with a guiding lip o*, in combination
with a slotted arm B, and supporting bracket C, substantially as
described.
Witness,
W. J. LOWE.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)