IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Frederick Simmons at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st November 1882.
FREDERICK SIMMONS, of Garden Row, Blackfriars Road, in the County of
Surrey, Machinist, "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES"
This invention relates to improvements in that class of Sewing machines, in
which the head carrying the needle bar is caused to slide in a direction at right
angles to the feed, for the purpose of giving a cross stitch when required, as for
example in" Hemstitching machines"; the object being to simplify the construction
of the machine by diminishing the number of working parts: to be able in a
simple and efficient manner to adjust the length of the cross stitch; and, if desired,
to be able to use the machine for ordinary sewing without removing any of the
working parts, as has been the case heretofore in this class of machine
In adapting this invention to an ordinary hem stitching machine, I fit to the
back of the sliding head a slotted block in such a manner that while it shall be
sufficiently rigid as to forin a part of the sliding head, it will be capable of turning
on a pivot pin. This pin is furnished at its front end with a small hand lever,
and passing through the sliding head is secured centrally in the slotted block.
A pin on one arm of a rock lever takes into the slotted black while the
extremity of the other arm works in a cam groove formed in the face of a toothed
wheel. This wheel also carries a hem stitch feed cam and is mounted loosely on
the main driving shaft, receiving motion through suitable gearing from an inter-
mediate shaft and making one revolution only to three of the driving shaft.
Firmly secured to this shaft is a second cam, so cut that it will through a lever
and rock shaft communicate the motion necessary for the feed when the machine
is required to do ordinary sewing. A second lever on the same rock-shaft bears
on the hem stitch cam.
It is only necessary (when the machine is required for ordinary sewing) to move
the slotted block to a vertical position, so that the pin of the rock lever will
move up and down in the slot without moving the sliding head, and to slack back
n set screw or similar device in the end of the lever bearing on the bem stitch cam,
tightening up that in the end of the lever bearing on the ordinary sewing cam.

page_text: When it is desired to use the hem stitch this operation is reversed and the slotted
block is turned by means of the hand lever until the slot is slightly inclined, when
the pin on the rock lever will ride up and down the inclined sides of the slot and
so move the sliding head backwards and forwards. The length of the cross stitch
is determined by the amount of incline given to the slot.
As a modification of the above arrangement I may form the two stitch cams on
the same toothed wheel, which in this case will be furnished with a set screw or
similar device for securing the same to the shaft when the cam for ordinary sewing
is required to be used, at tho same time the gear for driving the hem stitch cam
will be rendered inoperative.
In this arrangement I use one lever only on the rock shaft, furnished with
separate set screws or similar devices to bring either cam into action as desired.