Improvements in Sewing Machines.
Year: 1891

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by THE SINGER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, of
New York, in the United States of America, Sewing Machine Manufacturers.]
Improvements in Sewing Machines.
I, ALEXANDER ANDERSON, Manager of The Singer Manufacturing Company's
Works, Kilbowie, Dumbartonshire, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :--
This invention relates to sewing machines and comprises improvements in the
pressers or presser bars and in the feed mechanism thereof.
The first part of my invention relates to sewing machine pressers and more
particularly to that class thereof made in the form of rollers and carried by
suitable brackets attached to the presser bars. These roller pressers are usually
arranged to bear on the work close to the needles.
They are therefore in the way of the operator when it is necessary to thread
the needles, and it has accordingly heretofore been customary to render them
removable from their working position adjacent to the needles by attaching them
to hinged or pivoted arms. This construction is, however, somewhat cumbersome,
besides being expensive to make, and the object of my present invention is to
provide a simpler and less expensive device which will render the pressers
conveniently removable from their working positions and readily returnable
thereto.
This object I accomplish by so mounting the presser bar that it is free to slide
through the lifting bracket and by attaching to said bar a collar having a spring
or yielding connection with said lifting bracket, the spring having a tendency to
draw said collar and bracket together, but permitting of their slight separation,
when necessary. The adjacent faces of the bracket and collar are provided with
interlocking lugs and notches to hold the bar and presser securely in place when
in working position, but when the lugs are disengaged from the notches by forcing
the lifted presser slightly downward (thus lowering the presser bar and its
attached collar,) the presser bar will be free to be partially rotated to permit the
presser to be turned aside out of the way.
In Sheet 1 of the accompanying drawings
Fig. 1 is a front view of the head of a sewing machine embodying this part of
my invention the cap or face plate thereof being removed.
Fig. 2 is a side view of the same.
Figs. 3 and 4 are detail views shewing the lifting bracket and collar in vertical
section.
,t..
Fig. 5 is a plan view of the collar, with the presser bar in section, and
Fig. 6 is a plan view of the lifting bracket and its guides, also with the presser
bar in section.
A denotes a portion of the bracket arm of a sewing machine, B the needle bar
and C the presser bar, the latter being provided at its lower end with an arm or
O bracket e carrying a roller presser c'.
To the presser bar is attached, as by a set screw d¹ a collar d the said collar
being provided at its top with two diametrically opposite locking lugs & prefer-
ably made tapering, as shewn. D is the ordinary lifting lever arranged to engage
an arm e' of the lifting bracket e said bracket having, as herein shewn a second
5 or guiding arme entering a groove formed in a projection a on the inside of the
head. The bracket e is provided on its lower face with notches of proper form
and size to receive the lugs d' of the collar d and with a projection e* which serves

page_text: as stop to limit the torsional or turning movement of the collar and its attached
presser bar.
To the bracket e is attached, by a screw f a flat spring g having an inclined
portion g' bearing against the lower edge of a flattened part of the collar d:
the extreme lower end of said spring being inturned to form the hook or pro-
jection and said spring forming a yielding connection between said bracket and
collar. F is the usual spring for holding down the presser.
The operation of my invention is as follows:- -When the presser is raised from
the work by the lifter, as shewn in Fig. 1, the operator, by bearing down slightly
on the presser, will disengage the lugs of the collar from the notches in the
lower face of the bracket e, and the presser may then be turned outward to the
position denoted in dotted lines in Fig. 1 leaving free access to the needle or
needles, the spring g yielding slightly to permit of this operation and the hook or
projection thereof serving as a stop to prevent the presser from being lowered
far enough to come in contact with the work, while the projection & serves as a
stop to limit the turning movement of the presser bar. To return the parts to
their operative positions the presser is merely swung inward to its place and as
soon as the lugs of the collar come into register with the notches in the
bracket e the inclined part g¹ of the spring g bearing on the lower edge of the
flattened face of the collar, forces the collar upward into its locking position.
As the bracket e is loose on the presser bar the lifter D would fail to lift said
bar but for the spring 9 which forms a connection between said bracket and the
collar d attached to said bar: and the stress of the pressure spring F, bearing on
the loose bracket e, is imparted to said bar through said bracket and the attached
collar d.
I have herein shewn my invention in connection with two needles and a diagonally
arranged roller presser to be used with the diagonal feed hereinafter described,
but it will be understood that the same is applicable to any forms of roller presser
machines or to machines having ordinary presser feet when it may be desirable
to render them capable of being turned aside from the needles.
The second part of my invention relates to a diagonal feed such as is shewn in
the Specification of Letters Patent No. 7689 of 1890, and which is especially
designed to be used in connection with two needles to form two rows of closely
placed stitches; the object of my invention being to provide a feeding mechanism,
of the class referred to, which may be more cheaply constructed than that shown
by the said Specification, which will work with less friction, and which will be
equally effective in operation.
To this end the feed dog, which moves in a diagonal slot in the throat plate, as
in the Specification referred to, is rigidly attached to the feed bar and the latter
is so mounted on the arms of its operating rock-shafts that it will be free to move
laterally on said arms as it is reciprocated back and forth, thus accommodating
itself to the diagonal movements of the feed dog.
In Sheet 2 of the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a partial end view, with the work plate in section, of a sewing machine
with my invention applied thereto.
Fig. 2 is a partial plan view, with a portion of the bed-plate broken away, of
the same, and
Fig. 3 is a partial rear side view, or from the left of Figures 1 and 2.
A denotes the work-plate of the machine B a portion of the head of the over-
hanging bracket arm, Ĉ the needle bar, c the needles carried thereby, D the presser
bar and d the diagonally placed roller presser, these parts being the same as in
the machine shewn by the Patent above referred to.
Beneath the work-plate are mounted the feed-operating rock-shafts E and F,
the former having the arm e provided with a pin e entering a slot 9 in the forward
end of the feed-bar G and serving to raise and lower said bar, and the rock-shaft F,
which moves the feed bar horizontally, having arms provided with pins fl
entering ears y¹ formed in the shaft g at the rear end of the feed bar; all of these

page_text: parts last described as also the oscillating shuttle h being constructed and operating
as in the well-known "Singer" machine with the exception that in said machine
no provision is made for lateral movements of the feed bar.
The throat-plate I is provided with a slot i, for the reception of the needles c
and with a diagonal feed slot, in which works the diagonally arranged feed dog g
rigidly attached to the feed bar G by screw of entering its shank. The diagonally
arranged roller presser d bears on said feed dog.
The space between the arms of the rock-shaft F is somewhat greater than
the length of the shaft of the feed bar, so that the latter will be free to move
laterally, (as it is moved back and forth by the rocking movements of the shaft F)
on the pins fpassing loosely through the ears g' of the feed bar, the pin e' carried
by the arme of the lifting rock-shaft being of sufficient length so that as the feed
bar moves away from said arm it will not lose engagement with said pin as will
be understood by reference to Fig. 2.
From the foregoing it will be apparent that as the feed bar is reciprocated back
and forth the diagonal guiding slot in the throat plate in which the feed dog fits
closely laterally will cause the diagonal feed dog working therein to follow its
direction, and as the feed bar thus moves back and forth in making its feeding and
return movements, it will also reciprocate laterally on the pins el and f¹, with but
little friction, this construction requiring but little change in the machine as
ordinarily made.
The needles care placed directly one behind the other in a line transverse of
the machine or in the plane in which the shuttle h oscillates, so that the loops of
both needles are readily taken by the shuttle; and as the work is fed diagonally
to the needles two lines of closely placed stitches are formed, as is desirable in
much work in ladies shoes and boots.
"
The terms "diagonal," and "diagonally arranged" as herein used will therefore
be understood to mean diagonal or diagonally arranged relative to a line or plane
directly transverse of the machine, and the term "laterally as herein employed
in connection with the feed bar and feed dog will be understood to mean laterally
of these parts, or in other words having reference to a plane at right angles or
approximately so to their longitudinal or feeding movements.
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,
I declare that what I claim is :-
:--
1. In a sewing machine, the combination with a presser foot lifter, and a presser
carrying bar, having a collar attached thereto, and a lifting bracket, loose thereon;
the adjacent faces of said collar and bracket having interlocking lugs and notches,
of a spring forming a yielding connection between said bracket and collar.
2. In a sewing machine, the combination with a presser foot lifter and a presser
bar carrying a roller presser and having a collar d' attached thereto and provided
with lugs d, of a lifting bracket e loose on said bar and provided with notches to
receive said lugs, and with a stop e, and the spring g attached to said bracket
and forming a yielding connection between the latter and said collar.
3. In a sewing machine, the combination, with a presser foot lifter and a presser
bar carrying a roller presser and having a collar d'attached thereto and provided
with lugs d², and a flattened part ³, of a lifting bracket e loose on said bar and
provided with notches to receive said lugs, and with a stop e, and the spring g
attached to said bracket and forming a yielding connection between the latter
and said collar, said spring having the inclined portion g' and the inturned hook or
projection g
4. In a sewing machine, the combination with a throat-plate, provided with a
diagonal feed slot, of a diagonally arranged feed dog fitting closely laterally in
said slot, a laterally movable reciprocating feed bar to which said dog is rigidly
attached and means for operating said feed bar.
5. In a sewing machine, the combination with a throat plate provided with a

page_text: diagonal feed slot, of a diagonally arranged. feed dog working in said slot, a feed
bar to which said dog is rigidly attached, and feed-operating rock-shafts having
pins or supports on which said feed bar is loosely mounted and on which it moves
laterally as it is reciprocated back and forth in its feeding and return movements.
Dated this Twelfth day of October 1891.
!
CRUIKSHANK & FAIRWEATHER,
62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agents.