245,194. Hammond, F. M. Sept. 30, 1924. Tufting-machines. - A machine for making wigs and the like comprises a hooked needle, a loop enlarger, and a draw rod, and is particularly applicable to making partings in wigs. A piece of silk is sewn over hair already knotted to a base fabric and the hairs are drawn one by one in staggered rows through the silk. Hair-drawing mechanism. A framework 1 - - 4 carries an axle 5 which carries on radial arms a gear wheel 6 driven from a shaft 44, Figs. 1 and 2, and a tube 7 which houses the hair-drawing mechanism. A head-block 55 is mounted to rock on two axes 70, 76 at right-angles. The wheel 6 carries a cam-wheel 42 which actuates a lever 47 pivoted at 46, Fig. 4. A link 49 which is pivoted to the lever 47 by a pin 50, variably positioned in a slot 51 by a slotted lever 52, rocks a shaft 48. When the cam 42 is forcing the lever 47 outwards, the pressure thereon rocks the shaft 5 sufficiently to raise a presser foot 21, Fig. 5, mounted on the tube 7, from the block. At this time a needle 36 and a loop-enlarger 33 are in the position shewn in Fig. 6 but without thread thereon. A roller 37, which is one of a set of rollers 37 - - 40, Fig. 4, a number of which are spaced round the wheel. 6, now acts on a cam 29 mounted on a cam carriage 26. The cam-carriage 26 is carried by arms 27 pivoted to the tube 7 and actuates through a slotted lever 24, Fig. 4, the needle-arm 14 which is constrained to move in the plane of the needle-point about its pivot 15. The roller 37 shifts the carriage 26 inwards, thus drawing back the needle, and then the roller 38 engages a cam 31 on a lever 30 pivoted to the carriage and through a bell-crank 35 swings back the loop-enlarger 33 which is mounted on a shaft 34. The lever 47 is now engaging a point of the cam 42 so that the shaft 5 rocks back and the presser-foot engages the work. One of a series of cams 16 which is radially adjacent the rollers 37 - - 40 next forces up a rod 10, Fig. 5, and so forces down a rod 11 to which it is connected by a lever 9. The rods 10, 11 are slidingly mounted in tubes 12, 13 on the tube 7 and the needle-bar 14 is pivoted to the rod 11, so that the needle is pressed down on the work. The roller 39 now engages in turn the cams 28, 29 on the carriage 26 and the needle is thus forced forward through the work and then drawn back to a further extent than before bringing with it a loop of hair. The needle is immediately raised by a spring 18 round the rod 11 as the cam 16 passes the rod 12 and is also thrust forward by the roller 40 engaging the cam 29. During this ascending movement, the roller 38 engages a cam 32 on the lever 30 and swings the loop-enlarger to the position shown in Fig. 6, entering the loop in its path. The draw rod 41, Figs. 4 and 6, then engages in the enlarged loop and draws the hair out. If the hair is too long for the draw-rod to deal with an auxiliary cam-operated wire may be used. Step-by-step forward longitudinal feed. The block 55 is rocked about its axis 70 by a rod 71 connected thereto by an arm 72 slidingly pivoted to a slider 74 on the block. A rod 87, Fig. 8, is reciprocated by a link-connection 89 to a crank on the shaft 48 against a spring 90, to rock a plate 85 pivoted on a screwed rod 82, so that a pawl 83 on the plate intermittently rotates a ratchet 84 on the rod 82. The rod 82 works in a nut-arm 80 of the rod 71 and thus feeds it forward intermittently. A stepped plate 91 is mounted on a bell-crank pivoted at 92, and its position is varied by the engagement of a cam 93 on the bell-crank with the arm 80, so as to vary the idle movement of the plate 85 and therefore the inward movement of the lever 47 and the feed. In a modification, the arm 80, Fig. 10, carries a halt-nnt normally pressed upon the screw 82 by a spring 171 acted on by a pivoted plate 167, carrying a weight 168. Return longitudinal feed. Slide rods 96, 97, Figs. 2 and 8, are connected by a spring 98 and a loop 134. The feed of the rod 71 acts through a block 102 thereon and a lever 101, Fig. 8, to shift the rod 96 to the right, Fig. 2, against a spring 99 until a cam 100 on the rod 96 actuates a lever 103 to remove a pin 105 thereon from engagement with the rod 97. The rod 97 snaps to the right and in doing so (a) it rocks a bellcrank 107 so as to raise the thread-drawing mechanism from the work, (b) a collar 116 on the rod 97 rocks a lever 117, Fig. 8, on its pivot 118 so that an arm 119 thereof disengages a return-motion-preventing pin from the ratchet 84, and so as to rock an arm 124, Fig. 9, through a spring-controlled link 123. A gap in the arm 124 engages a crank 127, which is mounted on a cam-disc 126 loose on the shaft 82 and is rocked normally by a pin 128 on the plate 85, to so position the disc 126 that it holds the pawl 83 out of action, (c) the collar 116 rocks a bell-crank 130, Fig. 8, to clutch together through a spring, a lav-shaft 132 and shafts 133 which rotate the rod 82 to return the rod 71 to its initial position. Near the end of its traverse, the arm 80 rides over a cam 115 on an arm 114 of a lever 110, Fig. 2, a pin 112 on which has been engaging a notch 113 on the rod 97 and is now disengaged. The rod 97 snaps to the left under the influence of the weight of the thread-drawing mechanism and the spring 99. The shaft 133 is thereby declutched, the presser-foot again engages the work, and the pawl -and-ratchet mechanism returns to working position. Lateral feed. A counterweight 77, Fig. 1, causes the frame 75 to rest on a vertical screw 78, which works in the hub of a gear-wheel 79, held stationary by a pawl 135, Fig. 8. A ratchet 136 on the screw rod is actuated by a pawl mounted on a rod 137, in a slot 138 in which a crank-pin 139 on the shaft 40 oscillates. A platelever 140 pivoted at 141 is normally prevented from closing the slot 136 by a stop 143, which can be rotated by a frame lever 144, pivoted at 145, to bring a flat thereon opposite the lever 140. When the arm 80 is being returned it forces aside a double cam-lever 148, 146 which oscillates the lever 144 to rock the stop 143. The lever 144 is held to the left by a catch 151 thereon engaging a lug 152 on the base 1. A spring- pressed lever 154 pivoted on the lever 144 carries a pin 153 normally held by a catch 155 on a lever 156. The arm 80 next oscillates the lever 156 to free the lever 154, which pushes forward the plate 140 when the pin 139 reaches the bottom of the slot 138. A nose 142 on the plate 140 engages the pin 139 so that the next reciprocation thereof is communicated to the rod 137. An arm 158 unlatches the catch 151 and allows the lever 144 to return by spring action, the consequential rocking of the stop 143 shifting the plate 140 from the slot 138. The return motion of the rod 137 actuates the ratchet 136, to tilt the block 55 for the next row of hair. To reverse the feed, the pawl 135 is raised and the wheel 79 turned b hand. The length of feed is governed by the plate 91 and this can be adjusted by means of a three-armed lever 159 pivoted on the rod 137. The arms are of different height and during the idle movement thereof the arm set parallel with the rod actuates a lever system 161, 163 to rock the plate 91 to the required position. In the modification, Fig. 10, at the end of forward feed a cam 172 raises the lever 101 to relieve the axial pressure between the screw and the half-nut, and a cam 169 on the rod 71 tips the plate 167 over to raise the nut from the screw. The return feed then takes place under the influence of the weight 77, Fig. 1, during one oscillation of the shaft 48, the parts 117 - - 119 123 - - 133 being unnecessary. A cam 170 tips the plate 167 to re-engage the nut. In this modification, the parts 154 - - 157 also are unnecessary.