AN IMPROVED RUFFLE AND SEWING MACHINE FOR PRODUCING THE SAME, APPLICABLE ALSO TO ORDINARY STITCHING
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT. to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of
Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
RUFFLE AND SEWING MACHINE FOR PRODUCING THE SAME, APPLICABLE ALSO TO
ORDINARY STITCHING."-A communication from abroad by George B.
Arnold and Abbey H. Price, both of the City of New York, in the
United States of America.
Scaled the 10th August 1860, and dated the 5th March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th March 1860.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IM-
PROVED RUFFLE AND SEWING MACHINE FOR PRODUCING THE SAME, APPLICABLE ALSO TO
ORDINARY STITCHING," a communication from abroad by George B. Arnold and
Abbey H. Price, both of the City of New York, in the United States of
America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved ruffle, which differs from all ruffles

page_text: hitherto known, inasmuch as it is made by a single series of stitches instead of
two series, and is more regular and uniform in its appearance. The improve-
ments in producing this ruffle consist in the use of a double and peculiarly
constructed mechanism for feeding or moving forward the cloth in a sewing
machine. In the manufacture of many garments, such as ladies' and children's
dresses and under garments, and gentlemen's shirts and drawers, it is necessary
to gather up one piece of cloth in small even folds or corrugations, and sew
it to another piece of cloth not so gathered. Up to the present time the
gathered cloth has never been folded and secured to the other piece by means
of one and the same series of stitches.
According to this Invention it is proposed to take two pieces of cloth of
unequal length and place their edges together, with the longer piece at the
bottom, when, by running these through the improved machine, the bottom
cloth is not only gathered to any desired degree, but the two pieces are simul-
taneously sewn together. The feeding mechanism for effecting the operation
above described is made in two distinct parts, so constructed and operated that
the gatherer takes hold of and moves the cloth up to the needle, leaving
it immediately after the stitch is formed, or at the point where it is formed;
and the feeder, properly so called, takes hold of and feeds the cloth after the
seam is made. The fulness of the gathers is regulated by varying the relative
throw of the two feeders. A guard piece is placed between the two pieces of
cloth, and stands over that portion of the under piece which is directly
operated upon by the gatherer. An eccentric pin is employed for adjusting
the heights of the feeders in relation to each other, and a cutting edge is fitted
into the machine, that the thread or threads may be guaged and cut off to
release the work, and to leave a proper length on the machine; the edge of
such cutter or knife being properly shielded to prevent anything but the
threads from being cut or injured.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and
of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "AN IMPROVED RUFFLĘ AND SEWING MACHINE FOR PRODUCING THE SAME,
APPLICABLE ALSO TO ORDINARY STITCHING," a communication from abroad by
George B. Arnold and Abbey H. Price, both of the City of New York, in the
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Henry Johnson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
scal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to an improved ruffle, frill, or gathered fabric, and
to the machinery for making the same; which ruffle, frill, or gathered fabric
differs from all others hitherto made, inasmuch as a single series of stitches
firmly holds the gathers together and attaches them to an ungathered fabric,
such as a dress or a strip of cloth, instead of requiring a second series of
stitches to attach them to the ungathered fabric. At the same time the ruffle
made according to this Invention is more regular and uniform in its appearance.
According to this Invention it is proposed to place two pieces of fabric
upon or against each other, and to pass them through the combined machinery.
One of these pieces is thereby gathered, and immediately thereupon sewed to
or upon the other piece.
The apparatus used in producing this ruffle or gathered fabric, consists of a
peculiar mechanism for gathering and feeding, or moving forward, one of the

page_text: fabrics operated upon, which peculiar mechanism is used in combination with a
sewing machine, the latter being modified to receive the additional mechanism.
The feeding mechanism of the combined machinery is formed of two distinct
parts. One of these parts, which may be termed the gatherer, performs the
operation of gathering one of the two pieces of cloth, and at the same time
moves it forward to the place where it is brought into contact with the other
piece of cloth. At this place the two pieces are sewed together by the
operation of the sewing mechanism of the sewing machine, and the united
fabrics are then moved forward by the second part of the feeding mechanism
which belongs to the sewing machine. The fulness of the gathering is
regulated by varying the relative throw of these two parts of the feeding
mechanism, as will be hereafter more particularly explained. The action of
the gatherer is assisted by a metal plate (herein-after called the separator)
which performs the double office of retaining the under piece of cloth in
contact with the roughened surface of the gatherer in the process of gathering
and of keeping the two pieces of cloth apart until brought into contact at the
proper place for the purpose of being united. It is obvious that not only may
textile fabrics of all kinds be operated upon by this machinery, but that leather
and other thin flexible articles may be similarly treated.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Sheet of Drawings represents a transverse
section of the improved ruflle, frill, or gathered fabric attached to a strip of
plain fabric; Figure 2 is a similar section, with the ruflle, frill, or gathered
fabric turned over for use; Figure 3 is an enlarged longitudinal section of
Figure 1, shewing the arrangement of the gathered and ungathered fabrics.
The stitch employed in carrying out this Invention may be a single thread
chain stitch (see Figure 3) or a double thread lock stitch, or any other suitable
kind of stitch. The kind of stitch will of course depend on the kind of sewing
machine employed.
Figure 4 is a vertical section of the mechanism for producing the improved
ruflle, shewing a sufficient portion of a sewing machine to illustrate its opera-
tion; Figure 5 is a plan of the same with the cloth plate I removed; Figure 6
is similar to Figure 4, with the parts in a different position; and Figure 7 is
a plan view of the cloth plate I, with the metal plate or separator P.

page_text: In Figures 1, 2, and 3, U represents a piece of gathered fabric in contact
with V, a piece of plain or gathered fabric; and X, X, in Figure 3 are the
stitches passing through both fabrics holding the folds or gathers, and attaching
the gathered to the ungathered fabric V, whilst the fabrics U and V are being
sewed together they are placed in the position shewn in Figure 1. The
ruffle or gathered fabric U should afterwards be turned, each as shewn in
Figure 2, or if found desirable, the edge of the ungathered fabric V may be
folded before passing through the machine, as shewn in Figure 2, the stitches
in that case being made to pass through both thicknesses of V.
In making a ruffle or gathering according to the methods hitherto practised
great irregularity of the plaits or gathers was unavoidable, from the fact that
the gathering thread could not, with any ordinary amount of care, be made to
act equally upon all parts of the fabric. To obviate this difficulty in part, it is
customary to "whip" or "scratch" the plaits or gathers with a sharp instru-
ment, so as to form a fold at or near the proper point. This process is tedious
and tends to injure the fabric. In this. Invention, no such operation is
necessary.
In producing this improved ruffle or gathered fabric, the mechanism
represented in Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7 may be employed, of which mechanism.
the following is a description:-A is the standard or that portion of a sewing
machine which supports the cloth plate I; N is the needle, and C the shaft,
from which the various motions of the machine are derived; C is an eccentric
pin or crank in the end of the shaft C', which gives motion to the feeding
mechanism, and to which is attached the looping hook, when the sewing
machine employed has such a looping hook; B. is. a slide so attached to the
standard A by the pin EL, that it is free to move thereon in the direction of its
length, and also to turn around the pin H. There is an opening or slot made
through B, in which the eccentric pin rotates. This opening is of a width
which nearly fits the eccentric pin C, but its length is such that C can under
certain circumstances play thereon, giving the slide B.but little or no motion
in the direction of its length. The other end of B is hollow and a spiral
spring (Figure 5) is inserted therein, which presses against the pin II, and
tends to force B towards the eccentric pin C, and keep the latter in contact
with the end O of the opening or slot. A cam L affixed to or supported by
the standard A regulates the extent of longitudinal motion to which B can be
subjected. To the slide B is attached a roughened or serrated plate G, which
passes through an opening in the cloth plate I at a point in front of the
needle N, when the slide B is raised by the eccentric pin C. The serrated

page_text: plate G then moves forward, carrying along with it the cloth placed thereon to
the full extent of the motion of B. By the side of the slide B I place a
somewhat similar slide F, turning also upon the pin H, and so attached to B
by the pin F, as to be capable of moving in the direction of its length, but to
a smaller extent than B. In all other directions its motions are controlled by
those of the slide B. This slide E is actuated in one direction by the pin or
projection D, formed on the slide B, and in the other by a spiral spring e
(Figures 4 and 5), and the amount of its motion is regulated by the cam M
attached to its end by the pin m. The pin F, which passes through a slot in
the slide E, is made eccentric at the part where it enters the slido B, as
represented in Figures 4 and 5, the object of which will be shewn hereafter.
To the slide, E, I attach another roughened or serrated feeding bar J, which
projects through a slot in the cloth plate I on the side of the needle opposite
to the feeder G, and thus feeding bar J takes hold of the fabrics after they
have been sewed together, and draws them along. As the eccentric pin C
revolves in the direction of the arrow from the position shewn in Figure 4, both
feeders are lowered from contact with the cloth, and they follow the eccentric by
the force of the springs band e, until the cam M strikes the pin E, when the
slide E remains stationary, and the slide B moves on until it strikes the cam L.
If then the eccentric pin C has not finished its stroke, it moves on independently
of B, and raises both the roughened surfaces C and J into contact with the
cloth until in its return motion it strikes the end o of the slot, in which it
works, and forces the slide B along, carrying with it the cloth to be gathered.
When by the motion of B the pin D which is fixed therein strikes the slide E,
the latter is carried with B until the end of the stroke and the parts are again
in the position shewn in Figure 4. Upon the upper surface of the cloth plate I,
a plate P (Figure 7) is secured at one end by the screw Q, the other end of
which plate lies upon or over the gathering feeder G, as shewn in Figures 4
and 6; R is the usual spring pad or presser foot for holding the fabrics down
as they are fed through the machine.
The operation of this machine is as follows:-When a piece of cloth is to
be gathered and sewed to another piece of plain cloth, the cam M is so turned
as to give to the slide E a shorter throw than that of the side B, and the cloth to
be gathered is placed between the separator and the gatherer, whilst the other
piece of cloth lies upon the separator, and is subjected to the operation of the
feeding mechanism of the sewing machine alone. The result of this is that
the gatherer G takes hold only of the under piece of cloth which is pressed
against it by the separator P, and moves it forward for a certain distance

page_text: before the feeder J at the other side of the needle begins to move, thus a gather
or plait is made in the under piece of cloth, and this plait is thereupon
penetrated by the needle and secured by the thread to the plain piece of cloth;
after this, the stud or pin D strikes against the slide E, and the feeder J is
thereupon moved forward, carrying the plait or gather away from the needle
and tightening the stitch. Since the two pieces of cloth come into contact
between the presser foot and the feeder J, after they have passed the separator
they will move forward together, the stroke of the feeder J regulating the
length of stitch, whilst the excess of motion of the gatherer G determines tho
amount of gather put into the lower piece of cloth. It will be seen that the
separator P prevents the upper piece of cloth being acted on by the gatherer.
In Figures 4 and 6 of the Drawings, the under or gathered piece of cloth is
represented by a red line, and the upper or ungathered piece by a blue line.
It may be necessary in some cases, to vary the height of the feeders J and G
relatively to each other, in order that they may bear equally upon the material.
This is readily accomplished by turning the pin F, which by its eccentricity
will raise or lower the feeder J, as required. By increasing the travel or throw
of the slide B, whilst the travel of the slide E remains the same, the fulness
of the gathers can be increased at pleasure, and by diminishing the travel
of E whilst the travel of B remains the same, a similar effect is produced. In
the first case the stitches remain unaltered, whilst in the latter case the stitches
are shortened in proportion as the gathers become more full. Either of these
modes of operating may be adopted, or both may be combined by dividing the
change between the two cams Land M, and turning one cam a little in one
direction, and the other cam a little in the other direction, a perfect control of
the operation being maintained by these cams, so that the fulness of the
gathers may be varied indefinitely whilst the work is going on.
It is often desirable to vary the gathers in the same piece of goods for the
sake of producing a better effect, and it is very frequently necessary to do so
towards the end of a piece of work, in order to make the ends of the two pieces
of cloth pass under the needle at the same time, and thus coincide in position
when sewed together.
The mechanism above described is also applicable to the making of gathered
work of all kinds, which is not attached at the time of the making thereof to
another piece of fabric, but is simply gathered on itself, the plaits or folds
being firmly secured by means of a single series of stitches. In this case, the
single piece of fabric to be gathered is placed on the two feeding surfaces, and
beneath the separator as well as the presser foot. Motion being communi-

page_text: cated to the combined mechanism in the ordinary way, the fabric will be
thereupon gathered on itself and securely stitched, so that the plaits or folds
will not slip along the thread, but be tightly held together.
When it is desired to use the machine for ordinary or ungathered work, the
separator P should be removed and the cams L and M should be so adjusted
as to give to the gatherer G and feeder J an equal amount of throw.
It will be quite evident that two or more pieces of fabric may be simul-
taneously gathered by means of the mechanism herein-before described, and at
the same time secured to a piece of plain fabric. In this case the several
picces of fabric to be gathered must be laid one upon another, and placed
between the gather and the separator.
I do not confine myself to the use of one stitch to each fold or plait, as more
or fewer may be used in some cases without affecting the character of the
Invention, neither do I coufine myself to the precise combination of machinery
herein described, since various modifications may be made therein with a
sinilar result.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said.
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hercin-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the production by machinery of ruffles, frills, and gathered work, and
the simultaneous attachment of the same to a plain fabric by means of a single
series of stitches, which serve both to confine and stitch the gathers, and also
to secure one fabric to the other.
Second, the production by machinery at one operation of gathered work,
which is simply gathered and secured on itself by stitches.
Third, the combination of mechanism for forming rulles, plaits or gathers,
with the mechanism of a sewing machine for the purpose of simultaneously
gathering fabrics and attaching the same by stitches to another fabric, or for
the purpose of making gathered work, which is simply gathered and secured
on itself at one operation.
Fourth, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of mechan-
ism for producing gathered work in sewing machines, as herein-before
described.
Fifth, the application and use to and in sewing machines of two feeding
surfaces, one thereof for producing gathers, and the other for moving onward
the fabric as fast as it is stitched.

page_text: Sixth, the system or mode of regulating the fulness of the gathers in gathered
work produced by machinery, by varying the relative throw of the feeding and
gathering surfaces, as herein-before described.
Seventh, the application and use of a guard piece, dividing plate, or separator,
for the purpose and in manner herein-before described.
Eighth, the application and use in combination with the feeding and gather-
ing mechanism of means for adjusting the relative heights of such mechanism,
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)