An Improved Lock-stitch Sewing Machine.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Sept., 1897-Accepted, 27th Aug., 1898
[Communicated from abroad by CORRADINO PETRINI and RUGGIERO PETRINI, both
of Chieti, and EMILIO CATENACCI, of Milan, all in the Kingdom of Italy.]
An Improved Lock-stitch Sewing Machine.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following specification:-
This invention relates to a lock-stitch sewing machine, in which the stitch or
seam respectively is not, as in previous machines, formed by means of a movable
shuttle, but on the contrary the formation of a stitch is effected by a loop taker
while the shuttle with its shuttle carrier remains stationary.
The improved machine is distinguished by the simplified construction of the
working parts as well as by its great efficiency and comparatively noiseless action.
The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which
Figure 1 represents the uncovered face of the needle bar casing showing the
mechanism for driving the needle-bar, the presser-foot and the feed bar.
Figure 2 is a section on line b-c of the needle-casing, represented in Figure 1,
the said section terminating behind the casing in direction of the longitudinal
axis of the machine-arm.
Figures 3, 4 and 5 represent the relative positions of the presser foot and of the
feed bar after each consecutive quarter turn of the driving-eccentric.
Figure 6 shows the driving mechanism for the loop taker and the stationary
shuttle with the shuttle carrier.
Figures 7 and 8 show the operating plate; Figure 7 representing the shuttle
carrier with the shuttle in working position and Figure 8 the same in the
position in which the shuttle can be taken out.
Figure 9 is a view of the shuttle carrier seen from below.
Figures 10, 11 and 12 represent the needle bar in various positions;
Figures 13 and 14 show the stationary shuttle in plan and elevation respectively,
with the loop taker in various positions.
Figure 15 is a similar view showing the loop taker in another position.
Figure 16 represents the relative positions occupied by the pin driving the needle
bar and the loop taker: also the relative positions occupied by the eccentric
operating the presser foot and feed bar.
Figure 17 is a section on line f-g, of Figure 18;
Figures 18, 19, and 21 represent the stationary shuttle in plan and front and
side elevation, respectively.
Figure 20 shows the spool located in the shuttle.
Figures 22, 23, 24 are a plan and a front and side elevation, respectively, of the
loop taker and its fastening pivot;
Figures 25, 26, 27 are a plan and a front and side elevation of the shuttle
carrier;
Figures 28 and 29 are detail views of the mechanism actuating the presser foot
and the feed bar.

page_text: Referring to Figures 1 and 2, designates the needle bar constructed in form
of a slide cam, the guide slot 2 of which for guiding the pin 23 is made of
a particular shape so as to allow the needle, suitably fixed to the end of the
needle bar 1, to execute a corresponding movement; 3 is the presser foot, consisting
of a rail, at the end of which the known stuff retaining device is mounted. This
presser foot is by means of the U shaped piece 21 Figure 29 pivotally connected
with the feed bar 4 in such a manner that the pivot of the feed bar is located in
the slot 21 of the U shaped piece 21. Between the two arms of the U shaped
piece works an eccentric 17, with which another eccentric 18 (mounted so as to
follow the former at an angle of 90 degrees) is rigidly connected.
The eccentric 17 serves to impart to the U shaped piece 21 an oscillating
movement. Thus the presser foot 3 connected therewith, and the feed bar 4 receive
a vertical reciprocating movement, so that at each half revolution executed by
the said eccentric, the presser foot descends and the feed bar ascends, whilst at
the following half revolution the reverse movement takes place.
The eccentric 18 serves to impart to the feed bar the required lateral movement
as is necessitated in order to obtain the length of the stitch, which is regulated
by the stitch regulator 5.
The spring S, which is arranged in the bar casing and connected with the feed-
bar maintains the said bar in continuous contact with the eccentric 18 producing
its movement, and the spring t fixed to the presser foot, draws the latter and the
feed bar 4, connected with the presser foot by means of the U shaped piece 21,
down upon the work plate 20.
6 is the stationary shuttle resting in the particular shuttle carrier 7, which lattor,
through the medium of the sliding plate 19 rigidly connected therewith, can be
slid underneath the work plate 20. The shuttle 6 presents a novel and altogether
particular shape; seen from above it has the shape of a heart and is constructed
in form of a plate shaped body.
At the side of the shuttle 6, upon which works the loop taker 8, two projecting
edges 6" 6" for guiding the same are provided. In the hollow of the shuttle
the spool 6° is located. The spool has no special threading device; the tension
of the thread is regulated by means of a spiral spring 6d fixed by a screw, and a
special cover for the shuttle is not provided.
The loop taker 8 has an arm 8 and a pin 8b, by means of which the same is
pivotally connected at the end of the arm 13, from whence the oscillating move-
ment of the loop taker is derived. Above the loop taker a guide pin 8° is arranged
which slides in the guide groove 8d Figures 7 and 8 provided in the work plate 20.
The loop taker 8 receives its movement from the crank shaft 9 which is located
in the arm of the machine; the said shaft also imparts movement to the needle
bar the presser foot, the feed bar and the take-up 12, the three first mentioned of
which are actuated by means of the crank disc 22, pin 23 or the two eccen-
trics 17, 18 (Figures 1, 2 and 28) respectively, keyed on said shaft. The take up 12
receives a corresponding movement from the cam 11.
The shaft 9 is driven by a hand wheel or the like mounted on the outer
extremity of the machine arm. In the widened portion of the machine arm, near
the externally mounted hand wheel is arranged the cranked part of the shaft 9.
By means of the crank pin 10 of the crank shaft 9 the angular arm or lever 13, 14
for the loop taker 8 is set in motion through the medium of the forked guide 15, 16,
the intermediate space of which is occupied by the said crank pin 10. The fork
proper or portions 15 and 16 are mounted at the one end of the rail 14* arranged
rectangularly to the arm 14, and the extremity of said rail receives an adjustable
bearing-pin or pivot 24. The angular arm or lever 13, 14 is adapted to pivot on
the machine frame owing to the arrangement of the adjustable pins or pivots 24, 25.
The stitch regulator 5 is provided with a screw threaded pin, which through the
medium of its knob, is moved upwards to the extent required in order to obtain
the proper length of the stitch, so that by moving the knob upwards, the length
of the stitch is increased whereas by moving it down, the stitch is diminished in

page_text: length. The machine, moreover, is provided in the known manner with a tension
device and a presser foot lever 3 for lifting the presser foot 3.
The positions represented in Figures 1, 34 and 5, illustrate the method, in
which the needle bar, the presser-foot and the feed bar move, or in other words
the positions which the mechine occupies after each consecutive quarter turn
of the shaft 9.
Starting from the position represented in Figure 1, following the direction
indicated by the arrow, the crank disc 22 with the crank pin 23 causes the needle
to execute its complete down movement and to subsequently re-ascend to the
extent of 2 millimetres, so as to form the loop. The presser foot remains stationary
during this movement, and the feed bar has descended upon the stuff (Figure 3).
While the loop is being formed, the crank pin 10 of the crank shaft so steers the
angular arm or lever 13, 14 for the loop taker, that the said loop taker 8 is dis-
placed from its initial position and brought into the position represented in
Figure 13.
On effecting a further quarter turn, the needle bar with the needle abruptly
ascends; the loop taker catches the thread and passes the same along the curved
surface of the stationary shuttle in such a manner, that the one portion of the
loop slides along over the shuttle whilst the other portion of the loop is passed
along underneath the shuttle. The presser foot 3 meanwhile is lifted, whilst the
feed bar 4 remains lowered.
As will be seen from Figure 16 the crank pin 23 upon the disc 22 is set at such
an angle relatively to the crank pin 10 of the crank shaft, that, starting from the
position represented in Figure 1, at the completion of one half turn by the pin 23,
the loop taker 8 has completed its whole forward movement (Figure 15). As the
loop taker now slides along over the nose formed at the front extremity of the
shuttle it leaves the thread behind; the tension device then stretches the thread
and causes the same to pass round the shuttle and subsequently over a curved or
inclined surface r Figs. 14 and 15.
After a three quarter turn has been completed, the presser foot 3 re-descends.
Simultaneously the eccentric 18 acts upon the feed bar 4 and displaces the same to
such an extent as corresponds to the desired length of the stitch. Meantime the
needle re-descends, and the stuff displaced by the feed bar stops the thread of the
shuttle and enables the needle thread to freely slide around said shuttle. To
allow of the thread running and stopping spontaneously a slit, forming a con-
tinuation of the needle eye, is provided on the work plate 20.
After the shaft 9 has effected a complete revolution, the feed bar, which at the
commencement of the last quarter turn is no longer acted upon by the eccentric 18,
has again arrived in the position, indicated in Figure 1.
The needle employed in this machine is shorter than those used in any other
lock stitch sewing machines; the same being so fixed to the needle bar, as to
present its groove forward and so that the needle eye takes up a position, in which
the threading has to take place in the longitudinal direction of the machine or
machine arm respectively. Contrary to what is the case with previous machines,
in which the thread is introduced by using the left hand, the threading operation
in this machine takes place with the right hand, whereby the thread can be
introduced in a far more convenient and easy manner. Moreover, with this
machine, the manipulation of taking out the shuttle or the spool from the right
hand side is more practical and simple, whilst the manipulation of removing and
re-inserting the spool in ordinary machines is inconvenient and awkward and
requires more time. The arrangement may, however, be such that the removing
manipulation can take place from the left hand side.
The machine is worked in the ordinary manner. The spool is provided with
thread and placed in the shuttle. Subsequently the cotton-reel is placed on the
rod mounted upon the machine arm and the thread is stretched between the
thread-guides and the tension devices and passed on to the needle.
The machine can be worked with all the auxiliary apparatus, just as in

page_text: previous machines, and being provided with as simple and solid machine parts as
possible for actuating the needle bar, the presser foot and so forth, the same may
also be driven by a gas, steam or other motor, without the regularity and
quality of the stitch being in any way impaired or the mechanism injured.
Moreover, owing to the employment of a stationary shuttle and shuttle-carrier,
this improved machine admits of being applied to a rougher type of work and to
serve for use in the manufacture of boots and shoes.
Of course in the constructional example set forth in the body of this specifica-
tion any other driving mechanisms may be employed instead of that indicated
therein.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion 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. A lock stitch sewing machine; its characteristic feature being a stationary
shuttle; the double stitch being formed by the co-operation of the needle of the
loop taker sliding along the stationary shuttle, and of the tension device.
2. In a lock stitch sewing machine, as ascertained in the first claim, the device
for moving the needle bar by means of a crank disc in such a manner that the
crank pin is set at a certain angle relatively to the driving pin for the actuation
of the loop taker, and relatively to the eccentrics serving for the actuation of the
presser foot and of the feed bar, for the purpose of allowing of the formation of
a double stitch,
3. In a lock stitch sewing machine as ascertained in the first claim, the arrange-
ment of a presser foot and cloth shifter in such a manner that both are pivotally
connected with each other by a U shaped piece; the up and down movement of
said two parts being effected by an eccentric or like mechanism working between
the arms of the U shaped piece, whilst the lateral displacement of the feed bar
is effected by a second eccentric, which may be rigidly connected with the first
mentioned eccentric.
4. In a lock stitch sewing machine, as ascertained in the first claim, the
device for actuating the loop taker 8; the characteristic feature being an angular
arm or lever 13, 14 which receives its oscillating movement from the shaft 9
through the medium of a crank, eccentric or the like; the rotatably located and
guided loop taker 8 being arranged on the extremity of the oscillating horizontal
arm 13.
5. In a lock stitch sewing machine, as ascertained in the first claim, the arrange-
ment of the stationary shuttle of particular shape, which shuttle is located in a
certain position in the shuttle carrier in such a manner that the loop caught by
the loop taker can be passed around the said shuttle.
6. In a lock stitch sewing machine as ascertained in the first claim, the arrange-
ment of a stitch regulator, its characteristic feature being an adjustable plate so
acting upon the movement of the feed bar that by moving the plate upwards a
long stitch is formed, whereas by moving the same downwards a short stitch
is obtained.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.