Improvements in Sewing Machines.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Sept., 1894-Accepted, 3rd Nov., 1894
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM MANNING HOUSE, of 162, West 93rd
Street, New York City, in the State of New York, United States of
America, Merchant.]
Improvements in Sewing Machines.
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
statement :-
The object of this improvement is to provide for a dwell at a given point in the
feed of a fabric being sewed to allow of some special operation. This will be
useful for example, in sewing a buttonhole, to facilitate the making of barring
stitches.
I will describe a machine embodying my improvement and then point out the
novel features in the claims.
In the accompanying drawing, I have chosen to illustrate my improvement in
connection with a buttonhole sewing machine.
Figure 1 is a top view of a mechanism comprising parts embodying my
improvement.
Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same taken on the plane of the line 2-2,
Fig. 1.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of a toothed sector.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of a feed wheel.
Figure 5 is a perspective view of a plate combined with the feed wheel.
Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.
A designates a work clamp for receiving, holding and feeding the fabric in
which the buttonhole is to be worked. It is attached to a vibrating plate C
having a grooved extension C¹ into which the shank of the work clamp is fitted.
A lever imparts the to and fro or vibrating movement to the work clamp for
producing the movement necessary for the depth and edge stitches. A crank B,
connected by a link B¹ with the shank of the work clamp produces the feed
movement of the work clamp in the direction of the length of the buttonhole.
G designates the feed disk, having adjustably connected to it the crank B by
which the feed lengthwise of the buttonhole is produced. It is made in the form
of a gear wheel.
With it engages a smaller gear wheel or pinion G', formed
integral with, or affixed to a stud 9 extended upwardly through a bracket g' affixed
to the vibrating plate C. A screw 92 extending down through the top of the
bracket engages with a tapped hole in the stud, and a leather washer y³ arranged
between the head of the screw and the bracket, produces friction, so as to preclude
the pinion from moving readily.
The pinion G' is provided with a bifurcated arm g' embracing a pin h extending
from the upper surface of the feed wheel H, which may be made in the form of a
ratchet wheel.
The feed wheel H is journalled upon a stud e' rising from the vibrating plate C.
This may be formed with or affixed to the vibrating plate so as to be non-rotary.
It is tubular in form. The feed wheel is provided with a long, downwardly
extending hub ' that surrounds the stud c'. Fitted to rotate about the hub A¹ of
the feed wheel is a toothed sector 1, having an armi upon which is pivotally
supported a propelling device which as the feed wheel is made in the form of a
.

page_text: ratchet wheel, is made in the form of a pawl that engages with the ratchet teeth
of the feed wheel, it being held in action with the said teeth by means of a spring.
This sector engages with a quadrant arm J.
An oscillating lever J' is fulcrumed to a pin j' fitted to a bracket and pivotally
connected at one end by a screw to the vibrating plate.
The bracket is fitted to a slide-way j and may be adjusted lengthwise of the
slide-way by means of a screw j for the purpose of changing the position of the
fulcrum of the lever J' so as to vary the spacing between stitches.
The toothed sector I, is shown as having a hub which extends downwardly
with the hub of the feed wheel H into a groove formed in the vibrating plate C,
around the stud c'.
K designates a plate combined with the feed wheel. It is provided with a
downwardly extending stud k which fits the interior of the stud c' of the vibrating
plate. This plate may be made in disk shape. It is provided at one point with.
shoulders or projections, which may consist of the ends of a peripheral notch k',
into which the pin h of the feed wheel H projects, and it has a downwardly
extending segment shaped bracket 2 which overlaps the periphery of the feed
wheel H. A screw ³ extends upwardly into the stud k of the plate K; a washer k
of leather or other suitable material being interposed between the head of the
screw and the under side of the vibrating plate C for the purpose of producing
friction, sufficient to preclude the plate K from turning loosely.
To avoid any misapprehension, I will add that this friction is to hold the plate
stationary at all times except when it is moved by the pin h of the feed wheel H,
or by the feed pawl i².
The purpose of the friction on the pinion G' is to prevent backlash.
. It will be seen that the feed wheel H, the toothed sector I, and the plate K
are concentrically arranged, but that they are all arranged eccentrically to the
pinion G'.
The function of the piate K is to render the pawl inert periodically, so far as
regards imparting motion to the feed wheel, and as this is accomplished by moving
the pawl into a position where it cannot reach the ratchet teeth of the feed wheel,
it is obvious that the plate K is in function, a pawl lifter, or a pawl interceptor or a
pawl stop, in the sense that it stops the only motion for which the pawl is desirable.
Obviously, if the pawl were made wider, the ratchet teeth of the plate K need not
be made with a flange; in any case, however, they ought to project outwardly
beyond the teeth of the feed wheel.
In the operation of the machine after the feed pawl has passed the teeth of the
plate K; and then begins co-acting with the teeth of the feed wheel, the plate K
will be held stationary by the friction provided in the manner heretofore described,
until the pin h co-acts with the shoulders or projections of the peripheral notch of
the plate K, whereupon the plate will be carried forward to be properly presented
for another operation.
Obviously, the toothed part of the plate K might readily be made adjustable
in length to lift. or intercept or stop the feed pawl for a longer or shorter time. A
simple way of doing this would be to form it of two overlapping sections and fasten
one to the other by a screw through a circular slot in one..
As already implied, I am unwilling to be limited to the use of a feed wheel
having ratchet teeth and a pawl co-acting with the ratchet teeth, as my improve-
ment is applicable to a feed wheel constructed and combined with a feeding
device to be actuated by frictional engagement; it being with such modification
only necessary to use my lifter, interceptor or stop in connection with the device
for imparting motion to the feed wheel.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
:-
1. In a sewing machine the combination of a food heal
a sunnlementary plate

page_text: moved at times by said feed wheel, and a device for imparting motion at times to
the feed wheel and at other times to the supplementary plate independently of the
feed wheel, substantially as specified.
2. In a sewing machine, the combination of a feed wheel, a supplementary plate
moved at times by said feed wheel, a device for imparting motion at times to the
feed wheel and at other times to the supplementary plate independently of the feed
wheel, the means for producing friction to hold the supplementary plate in position
except when it is positively actuated either by the feed wheel or by the feed device,
substantially as specified.
3. In a sewing machine the combination of a feed wheel provided with ratchet
teeth, a pawl for actuating said feed wheel, a supplementary plate mounted upon a
support enabling it to move with said feed wheel, and a pin or projection on the
feed wheel for imparting motion to the supplementary plate, said supplementary
plate being provided with ratchet teeth which, when the said plate is carried into
a certain position, will engage the said pawl so that the latter thereafter will, for
a time, impart motion to the supplementary plate, leaving the feed wheel idle
meanwhile, substantially as specified.
Dated thin orth 1
£ Cantambon 1904
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.