814,247. Sewing machines. CASCELLOID Ltd. July 27, 1956 [Aug. 15, 1955], No. 23430/55. Class 112 [Also in Groups IX, XIV, XV and XXIV] Tufting, multi-needle machines, feed by needles, embroidery. In a method of tufting a foundation sheet 90, with hair, e.g. for a doll's head or a wig, a running strand 86 of hair is passed through a feeder 74 which is so moved as to engage the strand with the hook of a hooked needle 77 pushed through the foundation sheet, the needle then draws the strand in a bight through the sheet, and a slotted rotary guide disc 52, through which the needle has passed, withdraws the strand from the supply source and moves it into engagement with a knife blade 57, As shown, three hooked needles 77 are mounted in a block 78 carried by a needle bar 76, and each needle 77 is flanked by a pair of cast-off needles 81 the latter being mounted on a block 80 carried by a cast-off bar 79. Bars 76 and 79 are operated in a vertical plane to perform an elliptical movement, as at 82, both sets of needles being movable through slots provided in a work-supporting plate 83, while needles 77 are movable to a higher level to project above the work. From the position shown in Fig. 10, the needles move to the left to feed the work 90, the needles 77 then retract to carry a respective bight of the strand 86 through the bight 93 of the previously formed tuft, bight 93 having been retained by the needles 81. All the needles then retract to free bight 93, and the subsequent movement of the needles to the right serves to carry the fresh bight to the position for engagement with the next-formed bight. An auxiliary shaft 43, driven by gearing 41, 42 from a main shaft 3, has interposed therein a flexible coupling 49 and is connected by reduction gearing, contained in a casing 46, to a vertical shaft 50. A block 51, fixed to the latter, carries the horizontal guide disc 52 which is recessed in its periphery to provide spaced leaves 53. The latter are formed with aligned arcuate slots 54 through which the needles 77 pass, and the trailing edges of which move the successive sections of strand 86 against the knife 57. The latter is positioned between the leaves 53 and is carried at one end of a cranked rod 56, the other end of which is journalled at 55 on block 51. Rod 56 passes slidably through a cylindrical block 58, and a rod 59, which is also slidable in block 58, is pivoted at its inner end to the machine frame about a vertical axis, as at 60. Rod 59 may be fixed, at pivot 60, in adjusted radial position to vary the position of knife 57 in accordance with the length of tuft required. It is stated that the effective length of slots 54 may be varied by means of a capstan in the form of a spider disposed between the leaves 53 and rotatable relatively to the latter, and that adjustment required to produce tufts of different lengths during operation of the machine may be controlled, e.g., from a pattern drum. The feeder 74, which carries out a uniplanar, elliptical movement, as at 75, around the needles 77, is carried by an arm 73 fixed to a block 67 journalled on a pin 68 projecting from a yoke 69 which is journalled on a fixed horizontal spindle 70. Block 67 is also pivotally connected about a horizontal axis by pins 66 to a yoke 65 carried by the strap 64 of an eccentric 63 on the main shaft 3. It is stated that the feeder may, alternatively, have simple rectilinear motion, the thread-engaging movement being slow and the return movement being fast. For this purpose the feeder is mounted in a slideway operated by an arm provided with a pin movable in a slot following a chord in a disc secured to the drive shaft for the guide. Presser bars, periodic control; presser feet. The presser foot 33, which is of U- shape and is formed in its lower, workengaging limb with slots 34 for the passage of the needles 77, is fixed by its upper limb to the presser bar 29. The latter, which is biased downwardly by a leaf spring 32, carries a sleeve 28 in screw-threaded engagement therewith, the sleeve being thereby longitudinally adjustable on the presser bar. A lug projecting from sleeve 28 overlies a lug 25 projecting from one end of a shaft 20 adapted to be rocked by means of a yoke 19 and pitman 18 from an eccentric 17 on shaft 3. The presser foot is thereby lifted at each feeding stroke of the needles. A clamp 35, adjustably fixable to the presser bar, carries a pin 36 which overlies one end of a lever 38 pivoted at 39, the other end of lever 38 being connected by a link 40 to a treadle. Starting and stopping. A collar 4, fixed to shaft 3, is integral with a ring 5 formed with a hollow conical surface 6 engagable with a conical surface 7 provided integral with the driving pulley 9 slidable on shaft 3. One arm 14 of a bell-crank lever pivoted at 12 is connected to a treadle, operation of which urges the other arm 11 against pulley 9 to engage surface 7 with surface 6 for driving shaft 3. On release of the treadle, said surfaces separate, when a stud 15, carried by an arm 11, urges a pivoted brake block 16 against the rim of collar 4. Specification 717,292 is referred to.