AN EMBROIDERING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Philip Syng Justice, of No. 27, Southampton Buildings, in
the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN EMBROIDERING
ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES." A communication from abroad by
Amasa Mason, of the State and City of New York, United States of
America.
.
Sealed the 6th February 1877, and dated the 30th November 1876.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Philip Syng Justice at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th November 1876.
PHILIP SYNG JUSTICE, of No. 27, Southampton Buildings, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer. "AN EMBROIDERING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES."
A communication from abroad by Amasa Mason, of the State and City of New
York, United States of America.
In the accompanying Drawings is shewn in Figure 1 a perspective view of a
sewing machine with my Invention adjusted to it in operative position.
Figure 2, a perspective view shewing the Invention attached to the presser bar,
and connected with the needle bar.
Figure 3, a sectional elevation of the device; Figure 4, a front elevation of the
same.
Figure 5, a plan of the foot piece; Figure 6, a similar view.showing the looping
hook in a different position.
Figure 7, a perspective view of the loop laying hub; Figuro 8, a plan of the same.
Figure 9, a perspective view of the rotating looping hook carrier; Figure 10, a
plan of the same.
Figure 11, a perspective top view and a sectional view of the returned double
spiral spring; Figure 12, a bottom view of the same.
Figure 13, plan views of the spool holding clamp and tension device.
Figure 14, an adaptation of the device to a squared presser bar; Figure 15, a
plan of the same.
Figure 16, an adaptation of the device to a bifurcated presser foot; Figure 17,
a plan of the same detached from the presser foot.
Figure 18, a sectional elevation on line g, g, Figure 16, looking towards the rear.
Figure 19, a dovice adapted for attachment to the end of a presser bar.
Figure 20, a modification of the device in which the looping hook carrier is pro--
Price Gd.]

page_text: vided with a scroll spring; Fig, 21, a plan of the same; Figure 22, a sectional
elevation of the same.
Figure 23, a modification in which the spring seated looping hook runs on a
suspended curved guide bar; and Figure 24, an enlarged sectional elevation on
line 7, 7, Figure 5, looking towards the front.
This Invention consists in an attachment for sewing machines, the function of
which is in connection with the spring devices of such machines to produce an
ornamental pattern upon the surface of a fabric.
The principal characteristic of the Invention is a rotating loop forming mechanism
operated by the needle bar, but it embodies details of construction and com-
bination of elements too fully herein-after pointed out to need a preliminary
description.
The essential parts of the loop forming mechanism are a stationary loop laying
hub, around which rotates a spring seated looping hook carrier. The loop laying
hub His a short cylinder, preferably made of steel, the upper end of which is cut
away on one side, so as to form an abrupt shoulder 1 and a hooked projection 4,
leaving on the other side a ledge 3, whose exterior surface is cut out to form a
channel 2. The body of this hub is contracted to form a shoulder S, and its lower
end is reduced and formed into a collet, as at 15.
The looping hook carrier C is also of cylindrical form, and has its upper end cut
away to form the looping hook 5, which is bent slightly towards the centre. The
lower portion of this carrier is contracted to form a neck 16, Fig. 24, which con-
struction provides an interior annular shoulder 17 and an exterior annular recess 6,
and the body portion is cut out to form a channel n. These devices are secured in
a holder, the foot piece of which is provided with a circular recess and an opening
to receive them. The looping hook carrier C is placed into the recess in the foot F
being seated therein upon its bottom end, while its lower edge or that portion of
its exterior surface, which is below the channel n, bears against the upper edge of
the recess in the foot F. It is securely held in place by means of the loop carrying
hub II, which inserted through the said carrier C is fastened to the foot F by the
collet 15, which is turned outward so as to embrace the walls of the opening in the
foot. The shoulder S of the hub H is thus secured in a position directly over the
shoulder 17 of the carrier C, and prevents its rising out of its scat in the foot F'.
The said carrier is thus seated, so as to be capable of revolving freely upon this
hub as a centre, being supported between its shoulder S and the side and bottom
walls of the recess in the foot F. The neck 10 of the carrier is surrounded by a spiral
spring, which having one end attached to the carrier, as at i, Fig. 24, and the other
attached to the foot piece, as at c, may be wound up upon said neck, which thus acts
as a drum to receive it, and the annular recess 6 provided between said neck or
drum and the walls of the foot piece is of dimensions sufficient to permit the con-
traction and expansion of the spring as it is wound upon and unwound from the
neck 16. The foot piece F carrying the parts constituting this loop forming
mechanism is provided with a suitable means for attaching it to the presser bar 1 of
a sewing machine, and the device thus constructed and attached constitutes a sub-
stitute for the presser foot of a sewing machine, so far as the pressing function of
the foot is concerned. A propelling cord c is fastend to the looping hook carrier C,
being passed through a suitable eye, and knotted on the inside, as at ; it is bent
once around the carrier C, lying in its exterior channel n, and thence passes around
a pulley O hung on a stud or in bearings on the side of the shank S. This cord is
provided with a short spiral spring for a purpose yet to be explained, said spring
being attached to a hook . When this cord is drawn so as to rotate the carrier
its effect will be to wind up the spring 7 upon the neck or drum 16, and when
the cord is released the resiliency of the spring will cause it to expand and rotate
the carrier in the reverse direction.
In operating this device the presser foot of a sewing machine is removed, and
my device attached in its place, as seen in Figure 1, it being so adjusted that the
needle N will play directly through the hub H. The propelling cord e is then hung

page_text: to the needle bar B by means of the hook h, and the pattern thread t is drawn
from a supply spool P, threaded through the guide eye 8 in the shank S, and
drawn through the hub H. The machine is then ready to run, as in the operation
of ordinary machine sewing, the result of which will be the production upon the
fabric of an embroidered pattern as b, the formation of which will be presently
described.
As the supply spool P must be provided with a means for attaching it to sewing
machines as now constructed, and its pattern thread furnished with a tension inde-
pendent of that provided for the sewing thread 14, a combined tension device and
spool holder has been devised as an indispendable adjunct of this embroidering
attachment. This is shown in Figure 13, where a wire is bent to form two parallel
arms v and w, between which it is bent in an opposito direction to form a shank x,
which terminates in a spiral coil or eye m. The arm wreceives the spool, and the
arm v carries two discs d and placed loosely thereon, and held in position by
rubber or leather washers 21 and 22. These discs are pressed together by a spiral
spring 23, which abuts against the washer 21 and the disc d. To increase the
frictional contact of these discs, and consequently the tension which they will apply
to the pattern thread t when passed between them, the power of the spring may
be increased by forcing the discs d, r, towards the shoulder 24 of the arm v, and
advancing the washer 22 to hold them in that position, which movement will com-
press the spring 23, and of course increase its power. The eye formed by the
spiral m is adapted to be slipped over any stud or spindle projecting from the.
machine, such as 32 or 33, shown in Figure 1, and by pressing the arms v, w,
towards each other this spiral m will be so distended as to increase the circum-
ference of the opening through it, as in Figure 13, when it may be readily slipped
over the stud or spindle, and when released it will contract so as to tightly embrace
the spindle, and be thereby securely held in place.
As seen in Fig. 2 each loop of the pattern thread is held upon the fabric by
the sewing thread 14, which passes through each eye formed by said loop. As tho
needle rises it draws the sewing thread 14 up with it, stretching the same taut
behind the pattern thread. In this upward movement of the needle its bar B
draws upon the propelling cord c, and thus rotates the looping hook carrier C in
the direction shown in Fig. 5. When the carrier C has reached the limit of its
rotation in that direction the further upward movement of the needle bar distends
the spiral spring u with which the cord c is provided. In this rotation of the
looping hook 5 it engages the pattern thread t, and carries it against the stop
hook 4, laying it, as the said looping hook rides over the upper surface of the
ledge 3, in the channel 2, and partially around the laying hub H. When the
looping hook 5 has reached the position shown in Figure 5 the needle N will have
reached the limit of its upward movement, and the pattern thread will then be
distended in the form of a large loop, which, beginning with the point of its attach-
ment to the fabric, extends around the stop hook 4, and lies for a distance equal to
about one-half of a circle in the channel 2 of the laying hub H, emerging from
which it is stretched from the forming hook 5 diametrically over the laying hub,
and through the guide eye 8, but passes in front of the sewing thread 14 (see Fig. 2).
In this position of the devices the looping hook will draw the pattern thread
taut, and the sewing thread will be stretched from the stitch forming point in tho
cloth through the needle eye, and by its tension device will also be held taut.
The feed of the cloth in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2, is accomplished whilo
the needle is near its highest position, which movement draws the sewing thread 14
into the rearward position therein shown. As the needle begins its descent the
spring whose coils have been stretched apart in the upward stroke of the needlo
bar recovers itself before the spring 7 imparts rotary movement to the hook carrier,
for the reason that the said spring u has the greatest power and hence will recover
its normal condition before the weaker spring 7 can act. The result produced by
this operation of the spring is that the looping hook 5 will stand in the position
shown in Fig. 5 until the needle point has descended far enough to be in front of

page_text: the pattern thread, as in Figure 2. This accomplished, the carrier spring 7 comes
into operation and rotates the looping hook carrier c backward, carrying its hook
to the position shown in Fig. 6, thus leaving the loop of pattern thread stationary
and supported by the ledge 3 of the laying hub H, and by the needle as in Fig. 21.
The loop remains thus suspended until the sewing thread, where it passes into the
needle eye, bears upon the pattern thread, and drawing the loop off from the ledge 3
deposits it within the laying hub upon the surface of the fabric, as in Fig. 6,
where it rests while the sewing thread is carried below the fabric in the process of
forming the sewing stitch, during which time both the pattern and sewing threads
are slack. At the moment when the needle rises both threads are again stretched
tant and the looping hook begins its rotary movement to form a new loop, as before
described. In laying this new loop, the one last formed, which lies loosely within
the laying hub, is drawn up or contracted, so that it will snugly embrace the
sewing thread, which stretched taut at this period of the operation acts as a pivot
guiding this movement of it. The slack of the loop is thus drawn up tightly about
the needle for the reason that the resistance of the pattern thread is greater than
that offered by the loop, but when the loop has been drawn up tight its resistance
overcomes the pattern thread tension, and the hook 5 then draws off from the spool
the length of pattern thread necessary to form the new loop. At the next down-
ward movement of the needle the sewing thread will form a new stitch, which
stitch it will be observed embraces and fastens down the bend of the pattern loop
just formed.
As the mechanism is in the position shown in Fig. 5 the supply end of the
pattern thread is supported upon the raised ledge 13 of the loop laying hub H,
which ledge is constructed with an inclined surface 12 gently rising from the
hook 5, so that as the carrier is rotated back to re-engage said thread its inclined
surface will raise the thread upwards, so that it will be supported on the ledge 13
which will ride smoothly under it until the thread drops down before the hook
when it is ready to be again engaged and formed into a loop. The pattern thus
produced is a succession of cycloidal curves, the dimensions of which may be
governed by varying the tension upon the pattern thread or changing the cloth
feed or both. By diminishing the tension upon the pattern thread an enlarged
pattern loop or cycloidal curve is produced, and by diminishing the cloth feed the
bends of the loops are brought close together and vice versa. When, however, the
tension on the pattern thread is slackened the needle will draw it forward to a
slight degree in its descent to contract and fasten a formed loop upon the cloth,
which is not the case when the tension is strong. The spiral spring attached
to the propelling cord c, in addition to its function herein-before described, affords
an elastic connection between the positively moving needle bar and the rotating
carrier C, so that the former shall not by any sudden movement or by the extent
of its throw cause the said cord to be broken.
The holder or foot F, shown in Figures 14 and 15, is of a form adapted to
machines provided with a rectangular presser bar 1, upon the end of which a
socket 41 is arranged to slide so as to embrace the set screw 42, which turned
up to place securely holds it in position.
In Figure 19 the shank S has a simple angular arm through which the set
screw 42 projects into the end of the presser bar I.
In Figures 2, 20, and 233, the shank S of the holder or foot has a set collar 30,
held by a set screw 29, as in Figure 2.
In Figures 16, 17, and 18, is illustrated a form of presser foot adapted to receive
a plate which slides into its bifurcated foot piece F.
My Invention is adapted to such a foot piece by having its rotating carrier C,
hub H, guiding eye 8, and pulley O, all mounted upon a plate D constructed to slide
into its bifurcated end. This plate D is provided with bevelled channels 10 in its
sides, which channels fit correspondingly formed ways on the inner faces of the
arms of the bifurcated presser foot. The plate D is thus securely held in the foot
piece and prevented from being displaced by the movements of the machine..

page_text: The Drawings thus represent my attachment as adapted to the principal classes of
sewing machines now found in the market, and it is obvious from the modifications,
of it herein illustrated that it may be constructed so as to be attached to any sewing
machine. Since this.device is applied to the presser foot and rests upon the cloth,
at the seam forming point, it is obvious that it is desirable to reduce its surface.
area to the minimum dimensions, that a view of the operation of forming each
stitch of the embroidered pattern or seam may not be unnecessarily obstructed,,
and in order that the looping hook carrier may make nearly a complete revolution
at each impulse given to it by the needle bar through the cord c, it is also necessary.
that the annular recess which contains the spring 7 shall be large enough for the
spring to be wound up on the barrel 16, and when unwound to expand without
obstruction.
In the form of spring shown in Figure 22, which is a flat, spiral, or scroll spring,.
seven coils of wire (four only being shown) have been found necessary to produce
the required retracting power. The use of this form of a spring therefore requires
a considerable spreading of the foot piece, as seen in Figures 20, 21, and 22, to
provide a recess large enough to permit its proper operation. To avoid this,
objectionable feature I have devised a spring which while possessed of great power
occupies but a small space. It consists of a double series of coils made from a single
piece of wire bent to form an interior pile of coils, upon which an exterior pile of
coils is wound, the said coils lying close to each other in all of their movements, as
seen in Figs. 3 and 24, the former showing the spring wound upon the barrel 16,
and the latter showing it unwound or distended. The projecting end of the inner
coil is fastened to the carrier at i, and the projecting end from the outer coil is
fastened to the foot at e, as is seen in Figure 24.
A further modification of this device is shown in Figure 23, wherein the looping.
hook 5 is made to run on a suspended curved guide bar 46 attached by its ends to
the shank S. It is rotated around the hub H in one direction by the propelling.
cord c which runs in a channel in the outer edge of said hub and passes through an
eye 47, thence up to the needle bar as in the other forms. In this movement the
hook compresses the spring 48 upon the guide bar 46, and when the tension of tho
propelling cord c is released this spring forces the hook back to its starting point..
In this instance the pattern thread is governed by an elongated guide 49.
The foregoing description has been limited to a looping hook carrier when
actuated in that direction contrary to the motion imparted by the cord and pulley
by means of a spring coiled about its base or neck, but it is apparent that the said
actuating spring may be otherwise located as upon the rear side of the shank S,
and its power be transmitted to the carrier O by a cord connecting it therewith.
In this construction the form of the spring may also be changed, any of the known
forms being equally well adapted to accomplish the desired result.
Thus far this description has also been confined to the manipulation of a single
pattern thread. A plurality of such pattern threads may be supplied from a
number of spools P, and such threads passed in a bundle through the guide eye 8,
and operated upon by the looping hook in the same manner as has been described
with reference to the single pattern thread. The pattern produced will then have
its loops formed of many threads lying side by side. The number of the threads
and their size and color will vary the embroidered pattern in bulk, appearance, and
finish.
What therefore I claim is,
1. A thread looping hook adapted to be positively rotated in one direction by the
vibrating needle bar and a cord and pulley, and to be retracted by a spring, sub-
stantially as described.
2. A rotating spring seated thread looping hook, substantially as described.
3. The combination of a rotating spring seated thread looping hook with a
stationary laying hub, substantially as described.
4. The combination of a looping hook carrier, a stationary laying hub, and a

page_text: coiled spring attached to and rotating the carrier. upon said hub, substantially as
described.
5. The combination of a stationary laying hub, a rotating looping hook carrier,
a coiled spring actuating the latter, and a recessed foot piece or support, sub-
stantially as described.
6. The combination of the stationary laying hub, the rotating looping hook
carrier, coiled actuating spring, and propelling cord, substantially as described.
7. The loop laying hub constructed with a hook projection 4 and a channel 2 for
supporting the pattern thread, substantially as described.
8. The combination of the rotating looping hook with the stationary laying hub,
the construction being substantially as described, whereby the said hook is made
to ride upon the ledge 3 of the hub and thus prevents the pattern thread from
slipping backward, substantially as described.
9. As an article of manufacture an embroidering attachment, consisting of a
holder adapted to be attached to the presser bar or foot of a sewing machine, and
supporting a stationary loop laying hub, a spring seated looping hook, a propelling
cord, and its guides, substantially as described.
10. A plate, as D, having mounted upon it the stationary laying hub, looping
hook carrier and its actuating mechanisins, and adapted to be inserted into a
bifurcated presser foot, substantially as described.
11. The returned double spiral spring, Figs. 11 and 12, constructed substantially
as described.
12. In combination with the propelling cord of a rotating thread carrying device
the compensating spring u, substantially as described.
13. The carrier C having its ledge 13 constructed with a hook and an inclined
plane 12 extending up to the ledge, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
14. A combined spool holder and tension device consisting of the arms v, w, the
former carrying the discs d, r, washers 21, 22, and spring 23, and the latter adapted
to support a spool, substantially as described."
15. A spool holding or tension arm provided with a shank having an eye formed
of spiral coils, adapted to be expanded to receive a supporting spindle, and con-
structed to clamp the same, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Philip Syng Justice, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
PHILIP S. JUSTICE. (L.S.)