Improvements in Button Hole Sewing Machines.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 19th June, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 20th Feb., 1895-Accepted, 4th May, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Button Hole Sewing Machines.
We, HOPE STREET FACTORY LIMITED of Hope Street, Belfast, and JoHN
LAIRD of 4 Hibernia Place, Lisburn Road, Belfast Engineer, in the employ of
the said company, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
These improvements are specially applicable in connection with the lockstitch
motion and have for their object to simplify the construction and to improve the
work so as to produce a good button hole with straight cross over bar at each end
by automatic means.
The needle bar is operated in any ordinary and suitable manner from a shaft in
the arm of the machine. On this shaft is also fixed a cam with a groove of two
convolutions whereby it operates a lever once there and back for two revolutions
of the shaft. This lever which we call the main lever is adjustable for altering
the stroke of a sliding bar under the bed plate of the machine, said bar being
operated by the lever. This sliding bar passes freely through a lug on the
underside of the side slide which latter works on the top of the bedplate and serves
to give the cloth plate the side motion that is to say for the length of stitch along
the two sides of the button hole. From the main lever we also operate an
adjustable spring pawl which nets upon a pawl wheel on a feed spindle. On the
latter is fixed a groove cam which by a lever operates the cross slide for moving
the cloth plate the lengths of the button hole; by an adjusting appliance on this
lever the length of the travel is regulated. The feed spindle is provided with a
band wheel and with a spring clip brake to keep the spindle from rotating in the
intervals when the pawl is not acting. On the same spindle and it may be against
the can we fix a stop piece the ends of which alternately come in contact with lugs
on the side slide, one end of the stop piece effecting the travel of the cloth plate
along one side of the button hole and the other end of the stop piece that of the
other side. The lugs or stops on the side slide are adjustable according to the
space that is to be left between the two rows of stitches.
The aforesaid sliding bar is in the middle where it passes through the lug on
the underside of the side slide of enlarged diameter and the bar is on each side
provided with a washer which by a helical spring is pressed against the one side or
the other of the enlarged part, set collars with set screws being provided for
adjusting the tension of these springs. The aforesaid stop piece on the feed
spindle alternately cuts off the half of the full length of stroke of the sliding bar,
so that the side slide only travels the length of the other half, but in the intervals

page_text: on the main lever B' operates against the end M7 of a bar M when the part M² is
raised fair with the projection 13. The bar M has its fulerun pin M on a bar N
which can slide in guides on the side of the arm of the machine at the head end.
The pin O, fixed in the arm of the machine and passing through a square slot M³
in the bar M guides the latter somewhat in its movements but with a little play in
both directions. When the projection B on the main lever 13 comes against the
end M of the sliding bar M, the latter and the sliding bar N are by the cam B
pushed to the front of the machine.
To raise the end M2 of the bar M into the position for being operated by the
cam B the lift cam 11 (Figure 74) once in every revolution of the feed spindle G¹
comes against a lever having its fulcrum at P². The lever Pt is by a link Q
connected to the lever R on a rocking spindle or weigh shaft which also carries
a lover R. The latter is by slot and pin connected to the bar M. The spring Q'
is connected to the link Q and to the bed plate and serves to keep the lever P
against the lift eam L'.
The sliding bar N is continued in front into a downwardly extending bar N
which engages with a fork S' on the socket S that can turn freely between a
collar K and a collar K** on the entter bar K, Figure 3, and turns the said
socket round so far that the lug S' comes under the block A' and above the
block A. These blocks are fixed on the needle bar A so that in the descent of
the latter the block A' comes against the lug S' and carries the cutter bar K³
down and the cutter K cnts the button hole slit in the material. In the return or
upstroke of the needle bar A the block A un it comes in contact with the lug S'
and carries the cutter bar up to its former or starting position wherein it is held by
the fork S' resting on the pin N in the bar N until the next cutting operation
takes place. The spring returns the sliding bar N into its normal position.
The cutter bar Kis guided vertically at the lower end in the socket T and at the
upper end in the socket T'. The upper end of the cutter bar K is provided with a
longitudinal featherway K with which engages the feather K on the head of the
machine for guiding the cutter K necurately while cutting.
x
The presser foot U is hinged at one end at U₁ and can be raised by means of a
trendle connected by a rod to one end of the lever V, the other end of which takes
under a staple U2 on the presser foot U.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inveu-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is
1. In a buttonhole sewing machine: a switch cam on the needle bar driving spindle
which rotates in the upper part of the machine, in combination with a main lever the
upper end of which engages with the switch cani, a feed spindle, a pawl wheel thereon,
a pawl operated from the main lever for propelling the pawl wheel, frictional
means for holding the latter during the return stroke of the pawl, a groove cam on
the feed spindle, a lever engaging therewith, the cloth clamp reciprocated Interally
thereby, a sliding bar arranged under the bedplate and reciprocated by the lower
part of the main lever, the side slide, and elastic connections between the sliding
har and the side slide for the purpose for effecting the feed of the latter at about
half the length of stitch along the sides of the buttonhole and the full length of
stitch for barring at the ends, substantially as set forth.
2. In a buttonhole sewing machine: a switch cam on the needle bar driving
spindle and a main lever B engaging with the cam and provided with adjustable
or shifting fulcrum for altering the length of stitch, in combination with the sliding
bar C with enlarged part C, the washers CC, springs C Cand abutments CC
the side slide E' with lug E between the washers C and with stops E and E**, the.
feed spindle G¹, the pawl wheel G thereon, a pawl gearing with said wheel and
operated from the main lever, a friction brake for holding the pawl wheel and
spindle G during the return stroke of the pawl, and the lug on the feed spindle
which lug while the barring stiches are being made is free of the stops E' and Ex

page_text: and allows the side slide E' to have its full stroke but which comes with its edge
against the said stops and limits the stroke of the said slide and thus shortens the
stitches made along the sides of the buttonhole substantially as set forth.
3. In a buttonhole sewing machine: a switch cam on the needle bar driving
spindle and a main lever B' engaging therewith, in combination with the lever F,
the adjustable feed pawl F operated thereby, the pawl wheel G, the feed spindle G
on which it is fixed, a groove cam thereon for operating the cross slide G, and
an adjustable brake on said spindle for holding it during the return stroke of the
pawl substantially as set forth.
4. In a buttonhole sewing machine: a switch cam on the needle bar driving
spindle and a main lever B₁ engaging with the cam and provided with adjustable-
or shifting fulcrum, in combination with the feed spindle, a pawl wheel thercon,
pawl gear for operating said pawl wheel and feed spindle from the main lever, an
adjustable spring clip brake on the feed spindle for holding it during the return
stroke of the pawl, a groove cam G on the feed spindle, a lever G³ engaging with the
cam, the cross slide G with the cloth plate E, and an adjustable connection between
the lever G³ and the cross slide whereby the cloth plate is moved back and forth
the length of a buttonhole substantially as set forth.
5. In a button-hole sewing machine: the needle bar A with means for working
it up and down, the collars A and A' thereon, in combination with a bar K³ which
is guided vertically in the frame and so as not to turn in its guides and is
provided with a knife for cutting the button-hole, collars K* and K** thereon, a
socket S free to turn on the bar K³ between the collars thereon, and means for
turning the socket round automatically once during each button-hole sewing
operation, so that its part S' comes under the collar A on the needle bar and the
latter in its descent carries down the cutter bar and the cutter pierces a hole in
the material, whereupon the needle bar in its ascent raises the cutter bar by the
part S coming against the collar A on the needle bar, and the socket S S² is
turned back and held up in that position, substantially as set forth.
6. In a button-hole sewing machine: the feed spindle G with means for stepwise
rotating it and a brake for holding it in the intervals, in combination with a lift
cam LL' on the feed spindle, a lever P, a link Q connected thereto, a lever R con-
nected to said link, a lever R³, a rocking spindle or weigh shaft R' which carries said
two levers, a bar M, the end M' of which, once during each buttonhole sewing
operation, is raised by the lift cam, the main lever B with the projection B', the
switch cam B with which the main lever B¹ engages, the sliding bar N connected
to the bar M, the spring N¹ connected to the bar N and to the arm of the
machine, the cutter bar K with swivelling socket S and collars K* and K**, and
the needle bar A with collars A and A', all so arranged that when the part S² of
the socket is, by the lift cam L I, and the aforesaid connections between it and the
socket turned in under the collar A, the cutter bar is caused to be depressed
so that the cutter pierces a hole in the material, whereupon the cutter bar is
raised again by the collar A coming against the part S of the socket S and the
latter is turned back and the cutter bar held in the raised position, substantially as
set forth.
7. A button-hole sewing machine consisting of the following main operating
parts which are arranged in connection with a bed plate and an arm framing thereon
viz. a driving spindle rotating in the arm framing, the needle bar driven thereby, a
spindle below the bed plate also driven thereby and fitted with stitch forming
devices operating with the needle, suitable tension devices, needle plate and presser
foot, a switch cam on the driving spindle, a main lever engaging therewith, a
sliding bar arranged below the bed plate and reciprocated by the main lever, the
cloth plate with side slide, elastic connections between the sliding bar and the side
slide, a feed spindle driven by pawl gear from the main lever a cam thereon and
fixed stops for shortening the stroke of the cloth plate while the stitches are made
along cach side of the button-hole, a groove cam on the feed spindle, a cross slide
on the cloth plate, a lever mounted on adjustable fulcrum and meshing with sail

page_text: groove cam and connected to the cross slide for operating it and feeding the cloth
along the length of a buttonhole and back, a lift cam on the feed spindle, a lever
on the arm framing operated thereby once in every button-hole sewing operation
so as to raise it into contact with the main lever, a bar connected to the
said lever and adapted to slide along the arm framing and provided with a
prolongation going down on the head of the arm framing, a cutter har on the
head adapted to work parallel with the needle bar, a socket swivelling on the
cutter bar between an upper and a lower collar thereon and provided with a
fork which engages with the aforesaid down-going prolongation of the sliding bar on
the arm framing, an upper and a lower collar on the needle bar between which said
socket when turned is inade to engage, whereby the needle bar depresses the cutter
bar and the cutter thereon cuts the button-hole slit and then raises it, and a pin
on the prolongation of the sliding bar for the fork of the socket to rest on
substantially as described.
8. The button-hole sewing machine shewn on the drawing.
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.