An Improved Hollow Hem Sewing Machine.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 2nd Oct.,
1890
1007
2007
Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 2nd Oct., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 10th June, 1897 Accepted, 21st Aug., 1907
Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 2nd Oct., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 10th June, 1897 Accepted, 21st Aug., 1807
An Improved Hollow Hem Sewing Machine.
I, EMANUEL MEYER-NAGELI of Herisau in the Republic of Switzerland
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The hollow hem sewing machine which forms the object of the present invention
works with a fixed piercer and two movable needles which are mounted on each
side of the piercer and movable in the same succession with it, in such a way that
by means of a suitable device they may be placed convergent against both sides of
the piercer according to their respective operating positions or may be placed
parallel to the piercer.
This machine in its general construction is similar to an ordinary longitudinal
shuttle sewing machine the shuttles of which are moved in the same direction.
In its function as a hollow hem sewing machine it works in the ordinary manner.
Between each two successive forward movements of the material, that is to say
in one phase of working of the machine, there occur three successive thrusts, two
with the needles resting on the piercer for the purpose of forming the inner seam-
binding before or after the movement of the material, and one thrust with the
needles standing apart, (that is to say parallel with the piercer) for the purpose
of producing the side stitches, which latter thrust occurs, as regards one movement
of the material, in due course between every two thrusts with the needles resting
against the piercer. The method of tying the needle threads with the shuttle is
that generally customary for hollow hems. On the upward movement of the
needles the needle threads are drawn into loops through which the shuttles pass,
and by means of a suitable recess in the separating wall between the shuttle races,
one needle with its thread is turned to one shuttle, that is to say comes with its
thread loop in the race of one shuttle, and the other needle brings its thread loop
to the other shuttle, so that the respective thread may work with each shuttle.
The needle bar is provided at its lower end with a cross piece projecting to both
sides, and having a piercer mounted in its centre, and two needles are movably
attached to each side of the piercer by being mounted on levers pivotted on pins
on the ends of the crosspiece. At the sides of the needle-bar over the said levers,
sheet springs are arranged, which act on these levers in such a way that the needles
are pressed with their points against the piercer, or rather are held resting on the

page_text: same. The piercer has a lance or spear like point with recesses on each side in
which the points of the needles may rest. The needles, as already shown have
the aforesaid position during two thrusts of one working phase of the machine,
namely, when stitching before and after the movement of the material, when the
inner seam is formed. The needles are opened, that is to say are placed parallel
to the piercer, for the formation of the side stitches, by means of a bar descending
at a given time and engaging with its conical foot-piece between pins on the needle
levers, thus forcing these latter outward and thereby drawing the needles away
from the piercer point in such a way that when the side projections of the conical
foot come to rest on the shoulders, the needles stand in a parallel position to the
piercer. This bar during the thrusting with closed needles is fixed in an elevated
position against the pressure of a spring by means of a lever catch which is mounted
on a transverse spindle and which engages beneath a projection on the bar, so that
the needle levers being free from the conical foot and under the pressure of the
springs can cause the needles to rest convergent on the piercer point. In order
to render a thrust possible with the needles removed from, i. e., parallel to the
piercer, the lever catch or locking piece is moved sideways out of the reach of the
projection on the bar, whereby, in consequence of the pressure of the bar spring,
the bar in the position in which its conical foot engages between the pins on the
needle levers can make a movement downward together with the needle bar so that
the needles are held in the parallel position during the thrust. In each upward
movement of the needle-bar, the needle separating har is somewhat raised by the
pins on the needle levers which encounter projections on the conical foot, so that
at a given time when the lever catch is drawn away sideways, the projection on
the needle separating har stands somewhat over the lever catch or locking piece,
thus allowing the latter to move freely to one side. The guiding, that is to say
the sideways movement of the lever catch or locking piece (which stands under
the pressure of a torsion spring, mounted on the shaft of the catch and resting on
the one side against a pin on the locking piece, and on the other side against the
arm of the machine) is effected by means of a toothed wheel or disc operated from
the main shaft and having a side pin which at a given time encounters a finger
mounted on the shaft of the catch causing the said shaft to be revolved and thereby
the lever catch or locking piece to be held out of the way or track of the pro-
jection on the needle separating bar, so that the bar may move downwards with
the needle-bar. When the pin has passed the finger and the bar again moves
upward with the needle-bar, the projection on passing the lever catch will force
it sideways, which lever catch however will then immediately return beneath the
projection on the reversal of the movement of the needle-bar and the needle
separating bar, so that then for the next movement, that is to say during the next
two thrusts the needle separating bar will be fixed in its elevated position, and
the needles will remain resting on the piercer.
The movement of the shuttles takes place in the ordinary manner by means
of a crank and connecting rod mounted on a vertical shaft driven from the main
shaft by means of bevel gearing which connecting rod engaging a cross-piece con-
necting the shuttle carriers, effects simultaneously an equal rectilinear movement
of the carriers and the shuttles in the shuttle races.
The arrangement for moving the material is also operated in the ordinary
manner by means of shifting mechanisms operated from the main shaft, which
mechanisms after each third thrust effect a shifting or pushing forward of the
material. It may also be mentioned that in order to allow of the present machine
being also used as a double thread sewing machine, holes, are provided on the
toothed disc for screwing in pins, which then form with the before mentioned pin
an equilateral triangle on the toothed disc so that for each thrust the locking piece
is released from the projection on the needle separating bar and thus the latter
remains continually in the position in which it holds the needles apart, and may
share in the up and down movement of the needle-bar at each stitch, so that the
machine works constantly with parallel needles. In this case the piercer must

page_text: of course be first removed as it is then entirely superfluous and would only act
deleteriously.
Dated this 1st day of October 1896.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Patent Agents for the Applicant.
An Improved Hollow Hem Sewing Machine.
I, EMANUEL MEYER-NAGELI of Herisau in the Republic of Switzerland
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
The hollow hem sewing machine which forms the object of the present invention
works with a fixed piercer and two movable needles which are mounted on each
side of the piercer and movable in the same succession with it, in such a way that
by means of a suitable device they may be placed convergent against both sides of
the piercer according to their respective operating positions or may be placed
parallel to the piercer.
In the accompanying drawings a form of construction of such a sewing machine
is shown,
Figure 1 being a front view;
Figure 2, a side view;
Figure 3, a vertical section on the line r of Figure 1;
Figure 4, a detail view showing a part of the shuttle race and the feed;"
Figures 5 and 6 show the needles in their two operating positions, parallel to
the piercer and converging against the same respectively.
This machine is in its general construction similar to an ordinary longitudinal
shuttle sewing machine the shuttles of which are moved in the same direction.
In its function as a hollow hem sewing machine, it works in the ordinary manner.
Between each two successive forward movements of the material, that is to say
in one phase of working of the machine, there occur three successive thrusts, two
with the needles resting on the piercer for the purpose of forming the inner seam-
binding before or after the movement of the material, and one thrust with the
needles standing apart, (that is to say parallel with the piercer) for the purpose
of producing the side stitches, which latter thrust occurs as regards one movement
of the material, in due course between every two thrusts with the needles resting
against the piercer. The method of locking the needle threads with the shuttle
is that generally customary for hollow hems. On the upward movement of the
needle the needle threads are drawn into loops through which the shuttle passes
and by means of a suitable recess in the separating wall between the shuttle races,
one needle with its thread is turned to one shuttle, that is to say comes with its
thread loop in the race of one shuttle, and the other needle brings its thread loop
to the other shuttle, so that the respective thread may work with each shuttle.
The needle bar A has at its lower end a crosspiece a (Figure 6) projecting to both
sides, and having a piercer b mounted in its centre, whilst two needles a¹ a² are
movably attached to each side of the piercer by being mounted on levers a³ a¹
pivoted on pins a on the ends of the crosspiece. At the sides of the needle bar
over the levers a³ a sheet springs f are arranged, which act on these levers in
such a way that the needles are pressed with their points against the piercer or
rather are held resting on the same in the position shown in Figure 6. The
piercer has a lance or spear-like point with recesses on each side in which the

page_text: points of the needles may rest. The needles, as already shown, have the aforesaid
position during two thrusts of one working phase of the machine, namely when
stitching before and after the movement of the material, when the inner seam is
formed. The needles are opened, that is to say are placed parallel to the piercer,
for the formation of the side stitches, by means of a bar C descending at a given
time and acting with its conical foot-piece c between pins as a on the levers a³ a
forcing these latter outward and thus drawing the needles away from the piercer
point in such a way that when the side projections c of the conical foot come to
rest on the shoulders, the needles stand in a parallel position to the piercer as shown
in Figure 5. This bar C during the thrusting with closed needles is fixed in an
elevated position against the pressure of a spring f¹ by means of a lever catch d
which is mounted on a transverse spindle d and which engages beneath a pro-
jection on the bar C, so that the needle levers being free from the conical foot c
and under the pressure of the springs f can cause the needles to rest convergent
on the piercer point. In order to render a thrust possible with the needles removed
from, that is parallel to the piercer, the lever catch or locking piece is moved
sideways out of the reach of the projection c, whereby, in consequence of the
pressure of the spring f¹, the bar C in the position shown in Figure 5 (conical
foot c between the pins as a) can make a movement downwards together with the
needle bar so that the needles are held in the parallel position during the thrust.
In each upward movement of the needle bar the bar C is somewhat raised by the
pins a5 a6 which encounter projections c on the conical foot e so that at a given
time when the lever catch is drawn away sideways, the projection on the bar C
stands somewhat over the lever catch or locking piece thus allowing the latter to
move freely to one side. The improvement, that is to say the sideways movement
of the lever catch or locking piece d' (which stands under the pressure of a torsion
spring, mounted on the shaft d and resting on the one side against a pin do of
the locking piece and on the other side against the arm of the machine) is effected
by means of a toothed wheels operated from the main shaft w and having a side
pin s¹ Fig. 4 which at a given time encounters a finger 2 mounted on the shaft d
causing the shaft d to be revolved and thereby the lever catch or locking piece d¹ to
be held out of the way or track of the projection c³ so that the bar C may move
downwards with the needle bar A. When the pin s¹ has passed the finger d² and
the bar C again moves upward with the needle bar A, the projection c² on passing
the lever catch d¹ will force it sideways, which lever catch however will then
immediately return beneath the projection on the reversal of the movement of the
needle bar and the bar C, so that then for the next movement, that is to say during
the next two thrusts the bar C will be fixed in its elevated position, and the needles
will remain resting on the piercer.
The movement of the shuttles S S¹ takes place in the ordinary manner by means
of a crank and connecting rod k¹, mounted on a vertical shaft w driven from the
main shaft w by means of bevel gearing r r', which connecting rod engaging a
cross-piece connecting the shuttle carriers, effects simultaneously an equal recti-
linear movement of the carriers and the shuttles in the shuttle races.
The arrangement for moving the material is also operated in the ordinary
manner by means of shifting mechanisms operated from the main shaft w, which
mechanisms after each third thrust effect a shifting or pushing forward of the
material. It may also be mentioned that in order to allow of the present machine
being also used as a double thread sewing machine, holes are provided on the
toothed disc s for screwing in pins which then form with the pin s an equilateral
triangle on the toothed disc s so that for each thrust the locking piece is released
from the projection on the bar C and thus the latter remains continually in the
position shown in Figure 5, and may share in the up and down movement of the
needle bar at each stitch, so that the machine works constantly with parallel
needles. In this case the piercer 6 must of course be first removed as it is then
entirely superfluous and would only act deleteriously,

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. A hollow hem sewing machine characterised by a fixed piercer, on both sides
of which and in the same row movable needles are arranged, which needles rest
against the piercer for the purpose of forming the inner seam stitch (piercing
before and after the movement of the material) and may be adjusted parallel to the
piercer for the purpose of producing the outer side stitches.
2. In a hollow hem sewing machine according to Claim 1, a bar (C) vertically
movable parallel with the needle bar, and having a conical foot (c) which, for the
purpose of causing the needles to assume a parallel position, can pass between pins
mounted on needle levers, and thereby force the levers apart against the pressure
of springs (f) or rather move them sideways.
3. In a hollow hem sewing machine according to Claims 1 and 2, a pivoted
oscillating catch piece () for arresting the bar (C) during the piercing by the
needles resting on the piercer, which (catch piece) standing under the pressure
of a spring (f) passes into the track or way of a projection (2) mounted on the
bar (C) and can thereby fix the bar in a raised position in such a way that the
needle levers, free from the conical foot (c), hold the needles pressed on the piercer.
4. In a hollow hem sewing machine according to Claims 1, 2 and 3, a device for
releasing the lever catch (d) for stitching with the needles parallel, consisting
of a disc (s) capable of being driven from the shaft (c) and having a side pin (s),
and a finger (a) provided on the spindle () of the lever catch which at a given
time is so operated by the pin that the lever catch is moved sideways out of the
way of the projection.
Dated this 9th day of June 1897
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.