Improvements in Boot and Shoe-sewing Machines.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 11th May, 1894--Accepted, 30th June, 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Boot and Shoe-sewing Machines.
I, HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of the Firm of Herbert Haddan & Co., of
18 Buckingham Street, Strand, W.C., London, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention, a communication to me from abroad by The
Goodyear Shoe Machinery Company, of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of
America, and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention is an improvement upon shoe-sewing machines employing an
auxiliary take-up for the thread, and substantially such as shown and described in
United States Patent. No. 412,704, dated October 8, 1889.
This invention relates more particularly to a retarding device for the auxiliary
take-up, which retarding device becomes active during only a portion of the
movement of the auxiliary take-up in one direction, for a purpose as will be
described.
In the machine shown and described in the Patent referred to, the auxiliary
take-up is carried upward on the movement of the main take-up by the wax thread,
and its upward movement is limited or arrested by a stationary portion of the
machine constituting a stop therefor. The auxiliary take-up in its upward
movement is brought to a sudden stop by the contact of the auxiliary take-up
against its stop and the thread, at the time the auxiliary take-up meets the said
stop, is placed under more or less severe tension, which is apt to strain and break
the thread..
This invention has for its object to relieve the thread from strain due to a sudden
shock or stopping of the movement of the auxiliary take-up, and the said object is
accomplished by providing a retarding or cushioning device which is acted upon
by the auxiliary take-up toward the end of its upward movement, and which device
offers a resistance to the upward movement of the auxiliary take-up sufficient to
prevent the auxiliary take-up being brought in contact with its stop, with a sudden
blow, the cushioning device being forced backward so as to permit the auxiliary
take-up to be finally brought in contact with the said stop. By this construction
the tension on the thread is gradually increased after the cushioning device begins
to act, so that by the time the auxiliary take-up engages with the fixed stop on the
frame, the tension on the thread will be almost at the tension required to be given
by the main take-up, and therefore, the main take-up will act to set the stitch
without producing any sudden jar on the thread. The cushioning device is
preferably made as a plunger or piston extended through a suitable hole in that
portion of the frame-work which constitutes the stop for the auxiliary take-up, and
the said plunger or piston is normally forced forward so as to project beyond the
solid portion of the machine and into the path of movement of the auxiliary
take-up, by a spring or other suitable means. These and other features will be
pointed out in the claims at the end of this Specification.
Figure 1 represents in elevation partially broken out, a sufficient portion of a
shoe-sewing machine embodying this present invention, the main take-up and the
auxiliary take-up being shown in their lower position, and the cushioning device
being shown extended into the path of movement of the auxiliary take-up.
Figure 2 represents the take-ups in their raised positions with the cushioning
device forced back and the auxiliary take-up seated against its stop.
The shoe-sewing machine, with which this invention is illustrated, is and may be
substantially the same as that shown in the Patent referred to, the looper B*, the

page_text: take-up b³, provided with the roller 6³, the stud c³ upon which is loosely mounted
an auxiliary take-up 65 provided with a roller 3 and notched or cut away to leave
the projections 4, 5, are and may be the same as that shown in the Patent referred
to, wherein the same parts are designated by like letters. In the present instance,
the auxiliary take-up is moved from its raised position, shown in Fig. 2, to its
lower position shown in Fig. 1, by means of the bent spring a, (this being the
usual means of operating anxiliary take-ups) having one end secured to the
projection 4, and its other end fastened to a fixed or solid portion a¹ of the frame-
work, the said spring corresponding to the spring marked 7 in the said Patent.
The fixed or solid portion a' of the frame-work forms a stop with which co-operates.
the projection 4 of the auxiliary take-up and which stop serves to limit the upward
movement of the said auxiliary take-up.
In the upward movement of the take-ups, the thread is placed under tension, and
if the auxiliary take-up is brought up against the frame, or against an adjustable
stud affixed thereto, as has heretofore been the practice, the thread, when under
tension is apt to be strained and broken by the sudden stopping of the auxiliary
take-up in its upward movement. To avoid this, the auxiliary take-up is provided
with a cushioning device located normally in its path of movement and adapted to
be engaged by the said auxiliary take-up toward the end of its upward movement
and before the said auxiliary take-up is brought in contact with its stop.
The cushioning device may and preferably will be made as herein shown, it
consisting of a plunger d extended through a suitable hole or cylinder in the
portion a' of the frame-work, and provided at its rear end with means to arrest its
forward movement, it being herein shown as provided with an enlargement or
head d². The plunger d is made of sufficient length to be projected beyond the
front end of its cylinder and into the path of movement of the projection or
arm 4 of the auxiliary take-up, as shown in Fig. 1, which may and preferably will
be accomplished as herein shown by means of a spring d³ having one end 10 fixed
to the piston head and its other end 12 fastened to a stud d³ fixed in the frame-
work of the machine.
The take-up may be moved after the manner shown in the Patent referred to,
and in operation it will be noticed, that the projection or arm 4 of the auxiliary
take-up is brought in contact with the plunger d, which is forced backward into its
cylinder or hole against the action of the spring d³, until the projection 4 meets
the portion a¹ of the frame-work which forms the stop by which the upward
movement of the auxiliary take-up is arrested. The spring actuated plunger d
resists the movement of the auxiliary take-up, so that the latter is seated or
brought in contact with the stop a' gradually and without shock, and the tension
on the thread, which passes over the auxiliary take-up, is gradually increased
almost to the degree required, before the main take-up acts, and thereby the thread
is relieved from sudden jars and breaking of the same avoided.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a shoe-sewing machine, the combination with a main take-up an auxiliary
take-up, and a stop to arrest or limit the movement of the said auxiliary take-up,
of a cushioning device normally extended beyond the stop into the path of
movement of the auxiliary take-up and resisting the movement of the auxiliary
take-up before the engagement of the latter with its stop, substantially as
described.
2. In a shoe-sewing machine, the combination with a main take-up, an auxiliary
take-up, and a stop to arrest or limit the movement of the said auxiliary take-up,
of a cushioning device, consisting of a spring actuated plunger or rod normally
extended beyond the said stop but moved backward by the auxiliary take-up to
permit the latter to be gradually arrested in its movement, substantially as
described.

page_text: 3. In a shoe-sewing machine, the combination with the main take-up 62, and the
auxiliary take-up 65, of the stop a' for the said auxiliary take-up provided with a
hole or cylinder, the rod or plunger d norinally extended through said hole or
cylinder into the path of movement of the auxiliary take-up, and means to act on
the said rod or plunger to resist the movement of the piston by the auxiliary
take-up substantially as described.