IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to. Nahum Salamon, of Holborn Viaduct, in the City of
London, Sewing Machino Factor, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES." A commuincation from abroad by Laurent Pierre Manquet,
of Lyons, in the Republic of France.
Sealed the 2nd April 1878, and dated the 31st December 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nahum Salamon at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 31st December 1877.
NAHUM SALAMON, of Holborn Viaduct, in the City of London, Sewing Machine
Factor. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES." [A communication from abroad
by Laurent Pierre Manquet, of Lyons, in the Republic of France.]
This Invention relates to an arrangement of mechanism for sewing straw plait
into the form of hats, caps, and other articles. It is well known that in sewing
straw plait it is considered necessary to keep the sewing thread as much at the
back of the work as possible. To provide for this it is now proposed to feed the
work up to the vertical sewing needle by short and long steps alternately, and to
make the short stitch lie on the face of the work, and the long stitch at the back
thereof; this alternating long and short feed is produced by means of a suitably cut
cam, one rotation of which will give two forward motions to the feed dog.
The needle employed in this machine is of a peculiar form; it works in con-
nection with a whirl, that is to say, it fetches up the thread from below the table
of the machine, and for this purpose is provided with a hook; standing opposite to
this hook (which is near the point of the needle) is a second hook, which is intended
at a certain part of the operation of sewing to retain the loop brought up by the
lower hook, and carry it down through the work after the short feed has taken
place.
To enable the needle to retain its loop an elastic finger is employed above the
table, which finger, before the needle descends to pierce the work (immediately after
the short feed), bears against the loop and holds it at tension under the upper hook

page_text: of the needle. The needle then passing through the work carries with it the loop,
and a loopor having a reciprocating axial motion enters the loop, releases it from
the needle, and allows the needle to rise free of the thread. When the needle has
risen up above the table, the longer feed takes place, the looper meanwhile holding
the loop, and thereby extending the loop. At the next descent of the needle it will
pass through this open loop, take another loop from the whorl, and draw the same up
through the work to form therewith a second short stitch. As the needle rises the
looper will tip and disengage itself from the loop which it held, which loop will be
then drawn tight to form a long under stitch by means of the vertical pull of the
needle; a second short feed will then take place, and the action of the machine will
proceed as before.
It will be obvious that any ordinary form of whorl will suffice to lay the thread
on to the hook of the needle, but I prefer to use a peculiar construction of whorl,
which offers great facility for threading up. This whorl, which is pierced at its centre
to permit of the needle plunging into it, has a vertical thread guide formed by a
slot in its periphery. The entrance for the thread to this guide is by a lateral
under cut extension of the lower end of the slot, the under cut portion taking an
upward curved form; this curved extension of the guide reaches back to meet a
horizontal saw cut made near the upper end of the whorl, and forming a guide for
retaining the thread within the whorl during its rapid axial motions; the whorl it
will be understood must be so timed with respect to the motions of the needle as
that it will lay a thread in the hook twice only for every three downward move-
ments of the needle.
In working with this machine, supposing it is required to form a hat with a plait,
the operation commences at the centre of the crown, shaping that part by hand, and
securing it by sewing until a sufficient diameter of sewing plait is formed to enable
the machine to proceed at its ordinary pace. The length of plait to be sewed is
then laid in a guide, which conducts it to the table, where it is made to butt against
a fixed guide, which guages its position with respect to the work. A rebate is made
in the side of the presser foot to form a gauge for the work as it is sewn, and on the
relative adjustment of these two gauges depends the amount of lap to be given to
the plait.
The table is fitted with a hinged portion to receive the work, and hold it either
horizontally or at an incline.
Supposing the required diameter of crown to have been sewn, the operator will
let down this hinged portion of the table to an inclined position, and the work
proceeding as before, the angle will be turned, and the sides of the hat will be com-
menced. If desired this hinged portion may be dropped down to the vertical, and
retained in that position until a further deviation in the form of the work is required,
say, to shape the brim. The table is then again to be raised to facilitate the
shaping of the brim.
It will be understood that as the feed is required in a circular direction, the action
of the feeding dog must be somewhat assisted by the operator.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Nahum Salamon'in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 29th
June 1878.
**
NAHUM SALAMON, of Holborn Viaduct, in the City of London, Sewing Machine
Factor. IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES." A communication from abroad
by Laurent Pierre Manquet, of Lyons, in the Republic of France.
This Invention relates to an arrangement of mechanism for sewing straw plait
into the form of hats, caps, and other articles. It is well known that in sewing
straw plait it is considered necessary to keep the sewing thread as much at the
back of the work as possible. To provide for this it is now proposed to feed
the work up to the vortical sewing needle by short and long steps alternately,
and to make the short stitch lie on the face of the work, and the long stitch at
the back thereof. This alternating long and short feed is produced by means of a
suitably cut cam, one rotation of which will give two forward motions to the feed
dog.
The needle employed in this machine is of a peculiar form, it works in con-
nection with a whorl, that is to say, it fetches up the thread from below the table
of the machine, and for this purpose is provided with a hook; standing opposite to
this hook (which is near the point of the needle) is a second hook, which is intended
at a certain part of the operation of sewing to retain the loop brought up by
the lower hook, and carry it down through the work after the short feed has taken
place.
To enable the needle to retain its loop, an elastic finger is employed above the
table, which finger before the needle descends to pierce the work (immediately after
the short feed) bears against the loop and holds it at tension under the upper
book of the needle. The needle then passing through the work, carries with it the
loop, and the looper having a reciprocating axial motion enters the loop, releases it
from the needle, and allows the needle to rise free of the thread. When the needle
has risen up above the table, the longer feed takes place, the looper meanwhile
holding the loop, and thereby extending the loop. At its next descent the needle
will pass through this open loop, take another loop from the whorl, and
draw the same up through the work to form therewith a second short stitch. As
the needle rises the looper will tip and disengage itself from the loop which it held,
which loop will then be drawn tight to form a long under stitch by means of the
vertical pull of the needle. A second short feed will then take place, and the action
of the machine will proceed as before.
In the accompanying Drawings,-
Figure is a side elevation of the improved sewing machine; Figure 2 is a front
clevation of the same; and Figure 3 is an inverted plan view shewing the cams and
other mechanism for driving the sewing instruments.
Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7 are views illustrating the progress of the work and the
various positions taken up by the sewing instruments to produce a short and a long
stitch.
Figure 8 is a partial plan view of the machine for illustrating the action of the
elastic finger which takes up the slack of the needle thread.
In Figures 1 and 2 A is the table of the machine; B, the bracket arm standing
up from the table and carrying the guide box C as usual. In this guide box slides
the needle bar D, which receives an up-and-down motion from a crank lever D¹,
having its fulcrum in the bracket arm B, and carrying at its lower end a bowle which
enters a groove in the cam D2 on the driving shaft E, which shaft is provided with
a belt pulley and fly wheel E'; F is the presser, working as usual in the guide
box C, and holding down, by means of a coiled spring, the work on the throat,

page_text: plate A¹.
This
The needle bar D carries a needle d of peculiar construction.
needle is shown detached at Figure 2ª. It has near its point a hook like the
ordinary crochet needle, but above this hook and standing opposite thereto is a
second hook, into which the thread brought up from below the work by the lower
hook is caught, in order that it may carry down the loop through the work for the
purpose hereafter more fully explained.
The stem of the needle & is chamferred a little above the upper hook and in a
vertical plane at right angles to the hook to permit of the looper, hereafter described,
taking hold of the needle thread and drawing it free of the needle. This needle
receives its thread from a whorl & situated below the table, and receiving a recipro-
cating axial motion for the purpose of presenting the thread to the needle and
laying it in the crochet hook thereof. The whole G is mounted in a forked bracket
A bolted to a pendent piece A³ forming part of the casting of the table. Within
this fork is a spur pinion g which is keyed to the spindle of the whorl. In gear
with this pinion is a sector rack g' formed on a rock lever G¹ which is pivotted to
the under side of the pendant piece A³. The tail end of this rock lever G' is slotted
to receive a coupling pin carried by a bell-crank lever G2, which has for its fulcrum
a stud fixed to the under side of the table. The free end of this bell-crank lever G³
carries a bowle which works in the groove of a cam G³ keyed to the driving
shaft E.
By the rotation therefore of this shaft a reciprocating axial motion will be given
to the whorl G, that motion being so timed that the whorl will lay its thread in the
hook of the needle at every second descent of the needle. Supposing the needle d
to have received its thread from the whorl, the continued rotation of the shaft E
will cause the needle cam D2 to raise the needle up out of the work into the position
shewn at Figure 2.
While the needle is completing its upward motion, the instrument which I have
called an elastic finger will advance up to the thread held at tension by the needle,
pass under the point of the needle, and, as the needle again descends, will take up
the slack thus formed, and holding the thread at tension, will force it under the
upper hook of the needle in order that the needle may carry the thread down through
the work, and thereby form a short stitch on the face of the work. This elastic
finger consists of a wire h (see Figure 8) which is held fast in a clamp at the end
of an oscillating slide H which is connected with a coupling pin to a rock lever H'
pivoted to the under side of the table A. This rock lever carries at its free end a
bowle that enters a groove in a cam H keyed to the driving shaft E, and receives a
reciprocating motion from the rotation of that cam. In the slide H is a curved
sloth, through which projects a pin 2 made fast to the table A. As therefore the
rock lever His vibrated, it will give not merely a to-and-fro endway motion to the
slide H, but also a lateral motion, the use of which will be presently understood.
The slide H is fitted with a slotted bent guide h³, through which passes the end of
the elastic finger h; this guide serves to sustain the finger h at times under the drag
of the thread, and yet allow of its yielding vertically to the variable tension of the
thread.
It will now be understood that, supposing the cams D2 and H2 to be properly
timed relatively to each other, the finger will as the needle rises pass under it,
take up the slack of the thread, and hold it, as already explained, until the needle
has descended into the work. The elastic finger will then retire clear of the thread,
and will regain its normal position at the opposite side of the needle so soon as the
needle rises to allow of its passing under it.
When the needle descends to carry down the thread which lies under its upper
hook the looper I will come into action. This looper, the construction of which is
clearly shewn at Figures 1 and 2, consists of a reciprocating finger, whose office is
to take hold of the thread carried down by the needle, open out the loop, and at
the same time relieve the needle d of the thread. The looper will hold open the

page_text: loop of the thread, which is now pendent from the hook, until the needle has risen
out of the work (to enable the feed motion to take place), and has again descended
to take a fresh loop of thread from the whorl, and risen with it into the work.
The needle in its descent to take the second loop from the whorl passes through
the loop held open by the looper, and on rising it draws the second loop through
the first loop, which being now caught by the thread is released from the looper,
and is then free to be drawn into a tight stitch at the back of the work.
The looper I is mounted on a spindle I', which has its bearings in the bracket
piece A³, and in a socket attached thereto. This spindle at the rear end carries a
pinion i, which gears into a segment rack carried by a rock lever I', having for its
fulcrum a stud pin projecting from the bracket piece A³. The free end of the rock
lever carries a bowle which enters the groove of a cam I³, forming part of the cam
H2, the cam being so shaped (see Figure 2) as to produce the axial motions of the
looper above indicated.
The relative motions of the sewing instruments will be more clearly explained
when Figures 4 to 7 inclusive are severally referred to; but, before entering into
this explanation, I will describe the feed motion by which I am enabled to obtain
short and long stitches alternately, the short stitches being on the face and the long
stitches at the back of the work.
The feed dog is shewn at K as carried by a slide K, which is supported at one
end by a guide pin, and its other end rests upon the cam K2, which is a double-
acting lifting cam, and is keyed to the shaft E. Adjacent to this cam is a double-
acting cam K³, which serves to propel the feeding dog, giving it two feed motions
for every rotation of the driving shaft E.
The slide K¹ has a pendent extension, which is forced up towards the cam K*
under the pressure of a coiled spring. The cam K³ is so cut as to give to the slide
K', and the feeding dog which it carries, a short and a long traverse alternately,
and thus the work is fed so as to produce alternately a short and a long stitch.
The length of these stitches is regulated by an adjustable stop piece K*, the
advance of which towards the slide will limit, as is well understood, the action of
the feeding cam K³.
In working with this machine, supposing it is required to form a hat with straw
plait, the operation commences at the centre of the crown by shaping that part by
hand, and securing it by sewing until a sufficient diameter of sewing plait is formed
to enable the machine to proceed at its ordinary pace. The length of plait to be
sewn is then laid in a guide L (see Figure 8) attached to the table, which guide
conducts it to the throat plate, where it is made to butt against a fixed guide L¹,
which gauges its position with respect to the sewn portion of the work. A rebate
is made in the under side of the presser foot to form a guide for the work as it is
sewn, and on the adjustment of these two guides depends the amount of lap to be
given to the plait.
The table may be fitted, if desired, with a hinged plate M (see Figures 9 and 10)
to receive the work, and hold it either horizontally or at an incline. Supposing
the required diameter of crown to have been sewn, the operator will let down this
hinged portion of the table from the horizontal to an inclined position, and the
work proceeding as before, the angle will be turned, and the sides of the hat will be
commenced.
If desired this hinged portion may be dropped down to the vertical, as indicated
by the dotted lines in Figure 10, and retained in that position until a further
deviation in the form of the work is required, say, to shape the brim. The table is
then again to be raised to facilitate the shaping of the brim.
The hinged piece M is fitted with a segment-shaped bar M', which slides through
a slot in a fixed bracket M. A binding screw m in the slotted end of the bracket
by being made to press against the segment bar, will secure the hinged plate M in
any desired position.

page_text: I will now explain more in detail the action of the sewing mechanism. Figure 2
shows the parts in the position which they assume, when a loop has been fetched
up from the whorl G, by the needle d, and drawn out to its full extent. At this
timo, the elastic figure h has advanced up to the needle thread, and is about to press
it outwards, so as to get the thread on the next descent of the needle under the
upper hook of that needle. To do this, the elastic finger h, while the needle is
descending, passes under it, and takes up the position shown at Figure 4. At the
same time, a short feed of the work will take place. As the needle descends, the
thread being held at tension by the finger, will slide free of the lower hook, and be
caught by the upper hook of the needle. The needle still continuing its descent,
will carry down the thread through the work, thereby forming a short stitch on the
face of the work with the doubled thread. The looper I will now advance, enter
between the thread and the needle stem, as shown at Figure 5, and draw the thread
out of the range of the needle. The needle will then rise out of the work, and the
looper making some two-thirds of a rotation, will take the position shown at Figure 6,
thereby opening out the loop, and holding it in a position for the needle on its next
descent to pass down through it. This opening out of the loop is assisted by the
feed of the work, to produce a longer stitch, which takes place prior to the next
descent of the needle. When this second feed has been effected, the needle will pass
down through the work, through the open loop, and present its lower hook to the
whorl, as shown at Figure 7. At this moment, the whorl will receive an axial
motion, and lay its thread into the needle hook. The needle will then rise, drawing
its thread through the open loop still held by the looper, and carry its thread up
through the work. A reverse axial motion being now given to the looper, it will
free itself from the loop, and allow that loop to be taken up by the pull of the
needle, and drawn into a tight long stitch at the back of the work. The working
parts will then be in the position shown at Figure 2, ready for a repetition of the
movements above detailed.
The whorl G, although acting in a manner precisely similar to the whorls in com-
mon use, differs greatly in its construction, as it offers a very facile means of thread-
ing up.
This whorl is pierced at its centre, and has a vertical thread guide formed
by a slot in its periphery, which slot extends externally by an under cut groove
which takes an upward curved form, as shown best at Figure 1.
This curved ex-
tension of the guide reaches back to meet a horizontal saw or cut made near the
upper end of the whorl, and forming a guide for retaining the thread within the
whorl during its rapid axial motions. This whorl receives its thread from a bobbin,
and its motions are so timed that it will lay its thread in the hook of the needle
only at every second downward descent of the needle.
It should be remarked that as the feed is required in a circular direction, the
action of the feeding dog must be somewhat assisted by the operator.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improvements in sewing
machines as communicated to me from abroad, and explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent, I claim,-
1st. The means above described, whereby straw plait may be sewn with alter-
nately long and short stitches, the short stitches being on the face, and the long
stitches at the back of the fabric.
2ndly. The construction of double hooked needle above described, and its use in
combination with the elastic finger for shifting the needle thread from one hook to
the other, as and for the purpose above set forth.
3rdly. In combination with the double hooked needle, the looper I for taking the
thread from the needle and opening out the loop, as and for the purpose above set
forth.
4thly. The construction of whorl G above described, whereby the threading up of
that instrument is greatly facilitated.

page_text: 5thly. The application to the table of the sewing machine of the hinged plate M
and its accessories for facilitating the manipulation of the work.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nahum Salamon, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
NAHUM SALAMON. (LS.)