ATTACHMENTS OR APPARATUS FOR SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nahum Salamon, of No. 8, Ludgate Street, in the
City of London, Machine Factor, for the Invention of "ATTACHMENTS OR
APPARATUS FOR SEWING MACHINES."-A communication from abroad by
Amasa B. Howe, of New York.
Sealed the 18th February 1862, and dated the 21st August 1861..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nahum Salamon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
August 1861.
I, NAHUM SALAMON, of No. 8, Ludgate Street, in the City of London,
Machine Factor, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"ATTACHMENTS OR APPARATUS FOR SEWING MACHINES," which has been commu-
nicated to me from abroad by Amasa B. Howe, of New York, to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to a series of improvements comprised in certain
attachments or apparatus and parts applicable to various descriptions of sewing
machines which are now in use or are described in Royal Letters Patent here-
tofore granted, and by the application of which Invention the usefulness and
efficiency of such sewing machines is increased, and consists, firstly, of a con-
trivance for producing a sewed frill or ruffle in the ordinary operation of
sewing two pieces of cloth together in any suitable sewing machine (having an
usual feed-motion presser and feeding apparatus as already publicly used), by
automatically holding by means of a clamp or similar contrivance one of the
two pieces of cloth or material to be sewn together, so that it shall be supplied
to the ordinary feeding along of the machine at a different tension from the
other, and by reason of the two pieces being at different tensions supplied to
the ordinary feed of the machine, the looser or slacker of the two pieces is

page_text: gathered into folds or plants, and the two pieces are sewn together in a frill or
ruffle.
I am aware that the sewing of cloths singly and together into ruffles or frills
has been practised for some years in sewing machines by several methods, as
by sewing with two threads having different tensions on the sewing threads, by
manipulating the sewing as it passes under the machine, and, more recently, by a
double or compound feed, or again, by a modification of the presser in connection
with an apparatus for alternately holding and releasing one of the pieces being
sewn.
But by these last the machine is further complicated, and at the same time
disabled from performing the regular feeding along of regular plain machine
sewing until realtered, whereas by my Invention, the frilling or ruffling is
effected by the separate application of my attachment in the form of a simple
clamp, which can be attached to or removed from the machine at pleasure and
with great facility, my apparatus being infinitely more simple, more readily
applied, or disconnected, while the ordinary feeding along of the material being
sewn is continued by the machine as before. The result too is more uniform
in effect and appearance than by the methods of sewing frills first before men-
tioned, while my contrivance or apparatus is totally different in principle and
application from either of the preceding.
My Invention, by its facility of application, its simplicity, and by its con-
sequent requirement of less mechanical skill, enables, as I believe, a larger
class of operatives to apply themselves to this description of sewing, and to
avail as well of a larger range of sewing machines being readily applicable to
wheel-feed shuttle sewing machines, to which I believe the more complicated
methods before mentioned to be unsuitable; poor seamstresses and sewers who
own their sewing machines may be enabled to apply the machines they already
possess to this sort of work, & increase their compensation by this simple and
efficient Invention.
Secondly, of a contrivance for automatically creasing in uniform regulated
distances, in advance of the sewing, the next line of sewing to be followed in
folding and tucking, so that the folds or tucks or plaits can be sewn at ascer-
tained and exact distances, without requiring the previous preparation by hand,
which has heretofore required much labor and time; and thus by my Inven-
tion a given amount of work can be more expeditiously and with greater
nicety and uniformity executed. This is effected by an apparatus which is
attached to the machine, adjustible to the desired distance, so as at each
stroke of the needle bar to strike a crease mark upon the material being sewn,
aud thereby indicate the precise line of the next seam to be taken.

page_text: Lastly, of a modification of the last-mentioned contrivance, by which the
attachment is arranged so as to be applied to quilting and similar work, by
marking with a chalk or other suitable substance upon the material being
quilted or sewn, so as to indicate precisely the next line of quilting or sewing
desired to be followed by the machine, and thus secure more positive uni-
formity in the repetition of the work, with a saving of time and labor. ·
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Nahum Salamon in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st February 1862.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, NAHUM
SALAMON, of No. 8, Ludgate Street, in the City of London, Machine Factor,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Nahum Salamon, Her special licence that I, the said Nahum Salamon,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Nahum Salamon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "ATTACHMENTS OR
APPARATUS FOR SEWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Nahum Salamon, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in- what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and inmediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Nahum Salamon, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement:
The said Invention (as communicated to me) consists of certain attachments
which can be applied to sewing machines already in use, and by which the
usefulness of such machines is much increased and their application to various

page_text: classes of work extended, and comprises, first, a contrivance which can be
readily adapted and attached to any suitable sewing machine of the construc-
tion already well known and publicly used. By means of this contrivance two
pieces of cloth (or material suitable for ruffling, are caused to be supplied to
the ordinary feeding-along apparatus of the sewing machine at different ten-
sions while being sewn together. This is effected by passing one of the two
pieces through a clamp or its equivalent, by which it is automatically held
against the feed traction of the sewing machine more tightly than the other
piece, which other piece by reason of being permitted to run more freely and
loosely, is by the ordinary unaltered feed movement of the sewing machine
gathered into folds or plaits while being sewn upon, or to the more tightly held
piece, and in such manner that it forms and is automatically sewn into a frill
or ruffle; the piece is passed through the clamp, and the tension applied-to
it before the cloth arrives to the feeding gear of the sewing machine, which
may at will be allowed to continue its ordinary operation by merely releasing
the tension of the clamp.
Secondly, of a contrivance for automatically creasing or marking in regu-
lated uniform distances, in advance of the sewing, the next line of sewing to be
followed, which is especially useful in folding and tucking by machine sewing,
as by it the folds and tucks or plaits can be sewn at exact distances in pre-
cisely, the same repetition, without requiring the previous preparation by hand
heretofore necessary, whereby it saves much labour and time. Sewing of this
description can be more expeditiously and at the same time with more precise
uniformity and greater nicety effected by means of this apparatus, which is
attached to the sewing machine, and adjusted so as at each stroke of the needle
bar to strike a crease or mark at the desired distance upon the material being
sewn, and thereby indicate the precise line of the next seam to be taken.
And, lastly, a modification of the last-mentioned contrivance, according to
which the attachment is arranged so as to be applied to quilting and similar
work, by marking with a piece of chalk or other suitable substance upon the
material being sewn, so as to indicate precisely the next line of sewing to be
followed, and thus secure more positive uniformity in the repetition of the
work, and with less time and labour than heretofore.
In order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now pro-
ceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I refer to
the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the same
letters and reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures. All the Drawings are half size, except Figs. 11, 12, and 13, which
are full size.

page_text: Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a side elevation of the upper front por-
tion of a sewing machine with the fold-creasing attachment applied; this.
attachment can be readily modified so as to be adapted to the peculiar shapes:
of most of the various sewing machines at present best known.
For the purpose of my illustration the familiar figure of the celebrated and
universally known "Howe sewing machine "has been selected, but this Inven-:
tion may with like facility be applied to other sewing machines by a person
properly skilled.
As the functions and operation of the sewing machine itself will be imme-
diately recognized by all acquainted with this branch of machinery, I shall
confine my description to the parts and functions of my attachments. These
are wholly operated by the ordinary motion of the sewing machine.
,"
In Figure 1, A represents what I call the "holder," which may be of any
suitable shape to adapt it to the contour and arrangement of such descriptions
of machines as it may be desired to apply this Invention to, other than the one
here selected for illustration, which will be recognized as the Howe "platform"
machine. The holder A is firmly attached in any suitable manner to the table
on which the platform machine rests. To its upper end is attached the
"crease plate" B, having on its surface several crease "points" C, C. The
"crease plate" is fixed to the "holder" by a set screw through a slot, which
slot allows the "crease plate" to slide forward and back, so that the "points"
upon it can be adjusted at the distance required for the width of the tuck,
after which the "plate" can be firmly set by tightening the screw D, Figure 2.
The "creaser "E is made with a slit G, Fig. 1, which is of proper dimen-
sion to shut over and act upon one of the "points" on the "crease plate"
B, Fig. 2; the "creaser" may be made of various materials, and in various
shapes, so that it duly performs its office. I have selected and prefer light
spring steel in the shape shewn herein, and which I denominate a "spring
creaser." This "spring creaser" is attached by a screw and nut H, Fig. 4;
to the frame I, Fig. 3, passing through the aperture J, Fig. 1, so that the
"creaser" may be moved back and forth on the frame I, and adjusted to the
desired distance to correspond with the "point" on which it is intended to
operate. The frame I, to which the creaser is attached, is itself attached to
the needle arm (in any suitable manner), or to the needle bar, so that the
frame I shall be horizontal when the needle arm is down at the bottom of its
throw. It is shewn in Figure 1 attached by the nut K to the needle bark of
the machine.
Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5, shew in detail the separate parts here referred to.
Figure 3 represents the frame I, top view;. Figure 4, the spring creaser,

page_text: end view; Figure 5, the same, adapted to carry a piece of chalk or crayon C.
Figure 2, the crease plate B, top view, with the holder A. Figure 11 repre-
sents the under side; Figure 12, the upper side of the single ruffles produced;
Figure 13 represents the under side of the double ruffle or frill produced by
applying the tension to the centre of the top strip of cloth, instead of at the
edge as in Figure 11.
In Figure 1, the crease plate B is shewn as resting upon the machine plat-
form, but in work it should be adjusted so as to be, say, about a quarter of an
inch above the platform or bed plate, (or a sufficient space according to the
material being sewn, to admit the tucked work to pass freely between it and
the platform, as the unfinished material passes over, that is, above the points.
to be creased for the succeeding tuck.
The holder A should be firmly affixed to the table or other supporter of the
sewing machine. I use either a plate and thumb screw, or a socket or bed
plate and slide, in which the holder may be adjusted and set by screws or nuts,
according to the style of the sewing machine to which it is to be attached.
The "crease frame" I, Fig. I., being adjustable, may be set up or down, i. e.,
either higher or lower, to make either a heavy or light crease as the nature of
the material may require.
When set in operation, the holder being properly fixed, and the crease
plate adjusted so as to bring one of the points C, C, at the distance from the
needle required for the width of the tuck to be made, the creaser E, Fig. 1,
should be adjusted so as to fall directly over that "point," so that the split in
the creaser will act perfectly upon the point.
If guages are used, the work may be removed without disturbing the guage,
by loosening the thumb screw at the table, and withdrawing the holder.
For quilting and similar work, remove the creaser E, Figure 4, and substi-
tute the marker Fig. 5 in its place, and dispense with the crease plate B,
which will not then be wanted.
Figure 6 represents the instrument which I call the "ruffler " or "friller," as
attached to and in operation in connection with the Howe "platform "machine;
like the before-described contrivance it can be variously modified so as to be
adapted to various other sewing machines; the present illustration exbibits its
adaptation to "the Howe machine." Figure 7 is a plan or top view of the
"ruffler" attached to the usual shuttle-race slidef of the Howe machine.
Figure 8 represents the "ruffler" detached, a top view. The "ruffler"
consists of two plates or pieces a, b, Figure 10, which by a set screw d and
spring e are pressed together with more or less force, and which I call the
clamp, and according to the pressure upon the clamp exerted by the spring

page_text: the piece of material being sewn, which is passed through the clamp, is held
with greater or less firmness against the traction of the feeding surface; there
is a space between the under side of the clamp and the platform, to allow the
other piece being sewn to pass freely between them. Two pieces or strips of
cloth (or other material) are passed together through the feeding gear of the
sewing machine, that is to say, between the presser foot and the feed grip,
and so long as thus passed, the ordinary sewing of the machine will be
effected, but directly the piece next the pressing surface (in my illus-
tration) is passed through the clamp with proper tension it becomes thereby
retarded, so that it passes through the feed gear more slowly than the other
piece (in my illustration the under one in red), which being thereby advanced
more freely and faster, yet to the same stitches, is necessarily gathered into
folds or plaits, which by the needle and thread passing through them become
sewed upon or on to the tighter cloth or material in a ruffle or frill; the
fulness of the ruffle can be regulated by the degree of tension applied to the
clamp by the spring and screw in connection with the length of the throw.
given for the stitch advance of the feed motion, a long stitch and rigid tension
will give greater fulness, and vice versa. The sewing of the ruffles represented
in Figures 11, 12, and 13 is indicated by the lines m, n. Figure 6 shews the
ruffler in operation; the two cloths are shewn, the upper by blue, the under by
red, the latter passing freely without tension to the feed, the upper passing
between the plates of the clamp at a certain tension and from the "ruffler,"
both passing together under the presser between it and the grip feed which
lays directly hold upon the free or loose piece, and moves it along with it to
the extent of its throw, but the upper or tightly held piece being restrained by
the tension advances less, the larger surface of the looser piece is gathered
upon the face of the tighter, and the descending needle with its thread sews
the former thus gathered upon the other and a sewed ruffle is formed. In
Figures 11 and 12 these colors are reversed, the upper cloth being shewn red
and the under one blue. In Figures 8 & 7, top view, f represents the shuttle
slide, to which the ruffler is attached by two screws; the ruffler has two
slots s, s, allowing it to be adjusted backward or forward; the top plate a nearly
conceals the under plate b, which appears in this view only at the corners ;
between these two the cloth to be tightened is passed, and the nut & turned
down upon the spring e, to the degree of tension required; g, Fig. 7, represents
the other shuttle slide; h, Fig. 7, the presser foot, shewing a part of the feed
wheel surface, by which the relative position of the ruffler is at once seen.
Fig. 9 represents the clamp compressed closely by the spring e and screw d.
The feature of this contrivance is its simplicity, and that it applies the tension

page_text: and operates upon the material being sewn before it arrives beneath the
presser foot, so that the entire surface and grip, and consequently the force of
the feed gear of the sewing machine, is left free to apply itself to the material
being sewn.
I am aware that the sewing of fabrics either singly or two together
into ruffles or frills has been practised for some time in machines by several
methods, as, for instance, by sewing with two threads having different
tensions on the sewing threads, and more recently by a double or compound
feed, or again by a modification of the presser foot in connection with
an apparatus for alternately holding and releasing one of the pieces being
But by these last the machine is further complicated, and at the same
time disabled from performing the regular feeding along for machine sewing
until realtered.
sewn.
By my Invention the frilling or ruffling is effected by the separate appli-
cation of my attachment, which is far more simple and more readily applied
or detached, while the ordinary feeding along of the material being sewn is
continued by the machine as before.
My Invention by its simplicity and facility of application, and by its require-
ment of less mechanical-skill,-enables, as I believe, a larger class of operatives
to apply themselves to this description of sewing, and to avail as well of-a
larger range of sewing machines; being readily applicable to wheel-feed
shuttle sewing machines, to which I believe the more complicated methods
referred to, to be unsuitable; I claim the making of sewed frills or ruffles by
machine sewing, by applying different tensions to two pieces of cloth to be sewn
together by means of a clamp or its equivalent upon the principal, or in the
manner and for the purposes herein mentioned and described; and the employ-
ment of apparatus upon the like principle, or in, the manner herein described, for
automatically creasing or marking out the sewing in connection with machine
sewing, for the purposes herein mentioned; and I claim the general con-
'struction and arrangement of the apparatus and contrivances comprised
in my Invention, as shewn and described and for the purposes mentioned herein.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nahum Salamon, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
N. SALAMON. (L.S.)