US1341769A

US1341769A - Method of making triple seams

Info

Publication number: US1341769A
Application number: US300322A
Authority: US
Inventors: Albert H Weis
Original assignee: METROPOLITAN SEWING MACHINE CO
Current assignee: METROPOLITAN SEWING MACHINE CO; METROPOLITAN SEWING MACHINE Corp
Priority date: 1918-07-30
Filing date: 1919-05-28
Publication date: 1920-06-01
Anticipated expiration: 1937-06-01

Description

A. WEIS. METHOD 0F MAKING TR|PLE SEAMS.

- APPLICATION FILED MAY 28, 1919- 1,341,769. Patented June 1, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET A. H. WEIS.

METHOD 0F MAKING-TRIPLESEAMS. APPLICATION FILED III/w28, 1919.

mm@ l I PIIBDIQIIIM I, 192m 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. H. WEIS.

METHOD QF MAKING TRIPLE SEANIS.

APPLICATION FILED MAYZB. 1919.

1,341,769. I Patented June 1, 1920. I I 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- IN V EN IOR.

A. H. WEIS.

METHOD 0I: MAKING TRIPLE SEAMS. APPLICATION FILED MAY 28. 1919.

Patented me 1, 1920.,

l 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

ALBERT H. WEIS, OF NYACK, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 METROPOLITAN SEWING vMACHINE CORPORATION, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

METHOD OF MAKING TRIPLE SEAMS.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 1, 1929.

Original application led July 30, 1918, Serial No. 24T/,383. Divided and this application led May 2S, 1919. Serial No. 300,322.

To all 'whom t may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT H. 7131s, a citizen of the United States, residing at Nyack, in the county of Rockland and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Making Triple Scams, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the formation of triple seams in wearing apparel, the object of the invention being to provide an improved method of making a triplev seam, in which the work is first folded so that there is a space between the folded or bent portion and the main body of the goods, which folded portion is then trimmed to the left of the line of stitches and such trimmed edge then flattened or bent downward and clamped upon a tongue or former and then bent or folded under or infolded whereby an improved triple seam is obtained consisting of three plies of material when the seam is formed from a single layer of work, or of six plies of material when the seam is formed from two superposed layers of work in an expeditious manner.

his application is a division of my contcmporaneously pending application, Serial No. @t-383, filed July 80, 1918, which shows a machine particularly well adapted for carrying out the steps of .this improved method.

ln the drawings accompanying and forming a art of this specification, and which illustrate one form of machine which, as hereinbefore stated, is particularly well adapted to carry out the improved steps of this method, Figure 1 is a front view showing a portion of a sewing machine with my improvements applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a loft hand end view of what is shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 53 is a top plan view of the seam forming mechanism shown in Fig. 2, the section being taken on the line 3 8 Fig. 2 with the needle bar omitted clearly to show the parts ofthe presser foot at the stitching po sition; Fig. t is a perspective view of the guide bracket for the presser foot, infolder and gripper: Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the gripper; Fig. G is a sectional view of the actuating Arnife clamp, the section being taken oni/the line G-G of Fig. 7; Fig. 7 is a side view of the actuating trimmer knife, its lever and holding bracket and connections;

partly folded; Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 10 showing the goods completely folded; Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the stationary knife carried by the presser foot; Flg.- 13 is a perspective view of the presser foot; F igpld is a perspective view of the presser foot tongue; Fig. 15 is a perspective view of the auxiliary presser foot; Fig. 16 is a fragmentary view lof the cloth gripper actuating means; Figs. 17 to 22 are perspective views of a single ply of material illustrating this improved method, Fig. 17 illustrating the commencement of the first fold or that condition of the work as it enters the folder; Fig. 18 illustrates the completion as it were, of-the first fold by the folder with the U-shaped space between the folded portion and the body of the work, in which condition itis ready for the trimming step, which is shown as already started; Fig. 19 illustrates the condition of the work after the gripper has acted upon the work and the infolder has commenced its action; Fig. 20 illustrates the work after it is further infolded; Fig. 21 illustrates a further infolding of the work anjd the commencement of the stitching operation; and Fig. 22 illustrates the triple seam or fold after the completion of the stitching operation.

Similaicharacters of reference indicate corresponding parts ,in the several gures of the drawings.

Generally the base plate 1 of the machine carries the vertical arm 2, and the gooseneck or overhanging portion which carries the needle bar bearings. The needle lever et operates on a stud 5 and may be actuated by the usual hand-wheel and eccentric connection (not shown). The main shaft 6 operates in the bearings 7 and 8 and any of the well known feeding mechanisms may be employed. rlhe feeding mechanism shown is generally indicated by 9 and is of the well known Metropolitan construction, such as shown for instance in any of Patents No. 933,408 dated September 7,1909, No. 1,016,599, -dated February 6, 1912 and lot f No. 1,026,839, dated May 21, 1912, granted to John P. Veis, and a detail description is therefore deemed unnecessary. The presser foot bar 10 operates in a bearing 11. The needle bar 12 operates in a bearing 3 and is provided with the usual clamp nut 13 and needle 14. The needle mechanism will have the usual reciprocating motion imparted thereto by the needle lever 4 or any other of the well known means for operating the same. Coperating with the needle 14 is a looper 15 to properly form the stitches. The looper is reciprocated by a rod 16 which is connected as at 17 to the end 18 of the needle lever 4 for reciprocating the looper into and out of the needleloops. The stitch mechanism is also of the well known Metropolitan construction, such as shown for instance in any of Patents No. 933,408, dated September 7, 1909, No. 1,016,590, dated February 6, 1912 and No. 1,026,839, dated May 21, 1912, granted to John P. lVeis.

In the present machine a guide bushing 20 is carried by the presser foot bar bearing 11. This bushing is provided with an enlarged portion 21, (see Figs. 1 and 2) and this enlarged portion projects laterally to the right andis provided with a groove 22, registering with a tongue 23 on the gooseneck, and which prevents axial movement of the bushing 20 in the bearing 11, and is also provided with a downwardly projecting rectangular portion 24 for the purpose of guiding and giving lateral rigidity to the presser foot and its mechanism. The presser foot bar 10 is provided with a screw threaded end, which is secured in the threaded hole 25 of a guide bracket 26 (see Fig. 4) and this bracket is bifurcated as at 27 to receive the rectangular guide portion 24 -and the walls thereof 28 and 29 are tapped as at 30 to receive adjusting screws and lock nuts 31 (see Fig. 3). These screws have conical points which are seated in guide plates 32. These guide plates slide up and down against the front and rear walls of the rectangular portion 24 and afford a means of adjusting the guide bracket 26 with respect to the presser foot bar 10 so as to properly aline the presser foot and its other parts with the needle. This arrangement also provides means for taking up wear or overcoming lost motion, and facilitates the manufacture of the parts. The bracket 26 is provided with a bearing 33 extending from front to rear for the infolder rock shaft 34. Adjacent to the front end of this bearing and spaced therefrom is a projecting portion 35 which is tapped at 36 to receive a shoulder screw 37 upon which is pivotally mounted the seam gripper 38. This seam gripper has a rearwardly projecting reduced portion 40 of concave or convex cross section. The concaved portion co-acts with the presser foot tongue and the convexed portion co-acts with the infolder. The front end of the gripper is rounded out at 41 to facilitate the entrance of the seams. The neck portion 42 is arranged to permit the guide wall 43 carried by the feed dog 44 to operate therein. A stud 45 carried by the gripper is drilled at 46 to receive one end of a spring 47 the other end of which is secured to a post 48 secured to the machine base 1 (see Fig. 1). This spring gives movement to the gripper in one direction. The presser foot 49 (see Fig. 13) comprises a right angled portion 86, a feeding portion 50 having a circular cut-out portion at 51 wherein the infolder operates, a reduced portion 52 wherein the stationary knife 53 (see Fig. 12) is seated and held by screws 54, passing through slots 55 into the tapped holes 56. Adjacent to the knife seat is a vertical slot 57 wherein the movable knife 58 operates. This slot has inclined walls 59 and 60 and an outside wall 61. The front of the foot is rounded at 62 and has a flattened top 63, tapped at 64 to receive screws which fasten the tongue 66 (see Fig. 14) to the presserv foot. The end 67 of this tongue is bent downward so as to lie close to the thin portion 68 of the presser foot in front of the needle position indicated by 69. The front overlapping portion 70 of this presser foot tongue is bent at an angle as at 71 to the main portion of the tongue 72 so as to facilitate folding of the goods as it passes into the machine. The presser foot has a vertical slot 73 at the rear, the opposed walls of which are drilled as at 74 to receive a pin 75 (see Fig. 2) passing through slots 76 of the auxiliary presser foot 77 (see Fig. 15). This auxiliary presser foot has an upturned toe 78 and a shank portion 79. The width and shape of the shank portion is such as to fit into the slot 73 to permit rocking and vertical movement of the auxiliary presser foot therein. The object of this foot is to feed the chain of stitches from the machine when there is no work under the foot and to prevent the main portion of the foot acting upon the chain of stitches or along the line of seam which would have a tendency to cnt the more delicate fabrics and the stitching thereof when the machine is operated at speed. To maintain the proper coperation of this auxiliary foot with the main feed 1 have provided a spring 80 (see Figs. 1 and 2) which rests in a groove 81 of the guide bracket 26 and is adjustably secured therein by a screw 82. This spring is provided with one or more coils 83 and its free end 84 rests upon the top wall 85 of the auxiliary foot, and this top wall is arranged parallel to the bottom of the presser foot so that the spring resting upon the same tends to hold it in parallel relation to the feed surface. Vhen any lirregularities pass under it is capable of rocking motion to accommodate such conditions and the pressure of this foot is dependent upon the tension of the spring and the adjustment of the foot with relation to the main foot.

It may appear that the foot would be necessary to compensate for the seam thicknesses on account of the seam being three times the thickness of the main portion of the goods, but such is not the case. When the triple seam is properly formed the gripper and infolder acting upon it close to the needle insure the feeding of the seam smoothly through the machine without di'liiculty. )While the auxiliary foot assists slightly in feeding the goods, the proper formation of the seam and feeding of it through the machine is not dependent thereon, but as before stated the auxiliary foot is very desirable in feeding the chain of stitches and to prevent the same from being cut by the feed under the pressure of the main foot. )Vithout the auxiliary foot it is desirable to either groove the feed or provide a slight groove in the presser foot. One right angled wall portion 86 of the presser foot 49 clamps against the face 87 of the bracket 26 and is attached thereto by the screw 88 (see Fig. 3) passing into the tapped hole 89 (see Fig. 4), while the other wall 90 is clamped against the face 91 of the bracket 26 by a screw 92 and the tapped hole 93. IThis bracket 26 is provided with an adjusting screw 94 tapped into the top corner thereof so that it will overlap the unction of the right angled portions to form a slight vertical adjustment of the presser foot with respect to the bracket. That is to say the screw, when properly adjusted, insures that the cut-out portion 51 of the presser foot is in proper working relation with the end of the infolder and it is important that such adjustment be maintained. )Vhen the presser foot is removed and replaced this adjusting screw facilitates the resetting of it. 1t also aids greatly in getting the close adjustnient between these parts for the different thicknesses or kinds of fabrics. The infolder mechanism comprises the rod 95 connected at 96 to the needle lever 18 by a ball and socket joint. The other end 97 is connected by a similar joint to the arm 98 of the infolder 99. This arm 98 is provided with a hub for the rock shaft 34 to which is secured a curved infolding end 100 having teeth 101 so as to co-act with the goods and project it under the tongue 66. rlhe rear end of the rock shaft 34 is reduced in diameter. and threaded at 102. A spring washer 103 is carried by the reduced end of the shaft abutting against a shoulder thereof. A forked actuating member 104 straddles the reduced end of the shaft and co-acts with the spring washer on one side and a nut 105 on the other so as to regulate and control the end play of the shaft. This fork. 104 terminates in an enlarged portion 106 which is screwed to the side of the feed bar so as to partake of its regular feeding movements. By this connection with the feed bar the shaft 34 is given an endwisemovement in the bearing 33 of the bracket 26 and by reason of the infolders connection with the needle lever through the rod 95 it is given a rocking or swinging movement transverse to the line of feed so that the end 101 of the infolder acting in the recess or cut-out portion 51 of the presser foot moves upward, downward and inwardly so as to take the end of the goods under in the formation of the seam and when in this position push and feed the goods directly to the needle. )Vhen the needle penetrates the goods the infolder withdraws from the seam instantly. As it is withdrawing therefrom the gripper or clamping member 38 grips the goods upon the presser foot tongue 66 so as to securely hold it and prevent it withdrawing with the action of the infolder.

The actuating means for the cloth gripper comprise a member 107 (see Fig. 16) carrying a pad 108 comprised of resilient material, such as leather or fiber, which may coact with the stud 45 to rock the gripper on the shoulder screw 37. The actuating member comprises the clamp 109 adjustably secured at 110 to the looper rod joint 111 which is carried by the shoulder'screw 112 carried bv the looper rocker and actuated by the rod 16, the movement and relation of the parts being such that the looper rod moves a considerable distance before the member 107 contacts with the stud 45 to actuate the cloth gripper. In other words adjustment is provided so that the time and extent of movement of the cloth gripper may be regulated by the means shown.

The usual feed dog 44carries a side plate or wall 43 which extends through the throat plate 113 sufficiently above` the top of the feed dog to limit the lateral movement of the goods in the formation of the seam While the infolder is acting thereon. It will be understood that the distance this side plate is adjusted from the needle determines the width of the seam produced by the machine and if it be desirable to make a wider seam it is necessary to shift the side plate to suit, as it is always desirable to have the stitching as near the left hand edge of the same as is possible and yet have the needle penetrate the several folds of cloth. Of course the seam can be widened to the left without changing the plate 43 but in that event the left hand edge of the folded portion of the seam will project a corresponding amount from the line of the stitching.

The throat plate 113 is carried and supported by the usual cloth plate 114 which may be cut away or reduced at the right of the stitching position to facilitate the threading, oiling, and adjusting of the machine.

. An edge guide or half turn hemmer is secured to the cloth plate at 115 and by means of elongated slots this half turn hemmer may be adjustable laterally. Such hemmer comprises an overhanging portion 116 so as to give the initial fold to the goods as indicated by 117 (see Fig. 3). The overhanging portion 116 may overlap the front end of the presser foot so as to control the initial fold of the goods and properly present it to the trimmer and the overlapped portion of the presser foot tongue is located underneath but slightly in advance of the overhanging portion of the half turn hemmer. This prevents the goods from folding or curling and presents the edges of the goods to the knives in a flat condition. The trimming mechanism consists of an eccentric 118 carried by the main shaft and operates the connection 119. This connection extends downwardly and connects with a piston 120 which is pivotally connected at 121 to an arm 122 (see Fig. 7) of the trimmer lever 123, pivoted at 124 to the trimmer bracket 125 for rocking movements thereon. The piston may be connected and disconnected from the connection 119 by a latch 126 which is also pivoted at 121 and has a hooked end 127 (see Fig. 2) hooking over a pin (not shown) carried a f an adjustable collar 129 clamped on the connection 119 by a clamp screw 130. The trimmer bracket 125 carries pins 131 at each side thereof, said pins coacting with the latches 132, pivotally secured at 133 to the side walls of the trimmer bracket 134 for connecting and disconnecting the trimmer frame tothe trimmer bracket. The lateral position of the trimmer frame with respect to the trimmer bracket is controlled by an adjustable` gage plate 135 (see Fig. l) which is secured to the trimmer bracket. The trimmer lever 123 extends upwardly and inwardly having a curved portion 13G and a lateral curved portion 137 (see Figs. 2 and 3) terminating at its end in a knife seat 138 to receive the shank 139 of a knife 58. To facilitate the clamping of this knife shank 1 have provided a swinging clamp 140 (see Fig. 6) pivoted at 141 to the lever. The knife is clamped in position by a screw 142 and may be adjusted vertically therein. This knife is provided with a beveled cutting edge 143 arranged at an angle to the plane of the knife so that the point 144 is always in co-active relation with the vertical wall 145 of the stationary knife 53. The cutting edge of the stationary knife is represented by 146. The trimmer lever 123 may be adjusted laterally to and from the stationary knife 53 by means of a screw bushing 147 and a lock nut 148 for securing it in position. This bushing pontacts with the hub 149 of the trimmer ever.

From the foregoing it will be seen that in this machine for forming and stitching triple seams the trimming mechanism may be readily detached from the machine and replaced by the simple manipulation of the latches for clamping it in position, the removal of which facilitates greatly the adjusting and caring for of the machine, and at times it may be desirable to substitute one trimmer for another and by the arrangement shown the trimming mechanism as well as the gripper and infolder and needle are in close proximity to one another, which is highly essential for the rapid handling and convenient control of the work. The location and disposal of the various parts are such as to not interfere in any way with the hands of the operator in the` manipulation of the work to and from the stitching mechanism.

It will be observed that by menas of the present improvement the first fold is one in which the folded portion is held in substantial parallelism with the body of the fabric or work while the infold is one in which a part of this fold is laid between the first fold and the fabric or body of the work and therefore the terms folding and in-- folding are intended to mean this form of folding. Y

The machine herein Vdescribed is an improvement in part upon that shown and described in the Hughes Patents Nos. 1,075,422 and 1,232,315 for triple seam sewing machines, in both of which machines however, the trimming mechanism cut to the right of the stitch line, which resulted in certain disadvantages.

The practical experience gained by the use of the Hughes inventions in the trade has led to the present machine and in consequence a much superior mechanism is hereby produced which is much simpler in construction, more durable in operation, easier for the operator to handle, and is capable of handling a wider range and variety of work. The present machine provides a very compact, highly perfected mechanism for making triple seams capable, because of its compact arrangement, of use for such work as setting sleeves in shirtwaists as well as setting the yoke pieces in shirtwaists and night gowns, the portions of which may comprise heavy embroidered sections with the resultant seams and at each side of which clusters of gathers made by ruffling and tucks may be formed as well as the seaming of sleeves of house dresses and tub dresses wherein the cuff portions are doubled upon themselves making the seams very bulky and diflicult to handle.

In order to accomplish the foregoing character of work, a very flexible mecha- -nism is necessary to accommodate these varying thicknesses of materials so as to uniformly fold the same and properly stitch it in a uniform manner. Some of the kinds of work outlined above were difficult to handle with the mechanism shown in the Hughes patents because of the long presser foot necessary to that construction and also because of the location of the trimming mechanism disposed at some distance from the needle, while the infolders and gripper parts were so arranged that the heavy seams at times would clog at the needle and damaged and defective work result. 'This clogging would also cause skipping of the stitches and breaking of the parts. This isl entirely overcome in the present machine, as it will be observed that I have eliminated many parts including the guidesand certain portions of the presser foot, greatly shortening its length and width, eliminati-ng entirely the top feed mechanism and portions of the yoke for the top feed infolder and certain mechanism as used in connection with the seam clamp or gripper, as well as many parts connected with the trimming` mechanism with the result that a much lighter construction capable of higher speed and greater flexibility is obtained.

In the Hughes Patent No. 1,075,422 the structure was as follows: A long, wide feed and presser foot were used. The vertically cutting trimmer knives were arranged adjacent to the front of the presser foot and remote from the needle, such trimmer knives being located well to the right of the stitching line so that the material to be seamed was pushed along the' edge thereof,- the edges then passed to a scroll folder or guide which turned the cut edge up and over the top of the presser foot. The lateral pusher then acted upon the folded edge to further push it to the left and a gripper coacting therewith to press -the edge downward to present it to the in-folder which folded such lateral projecting edge under from the left to the right where such edge was fed underneath the rear of the presser foot at the stitching position.

In the Iughes Patent No. 1,232,315 the structure was as follows: In front of the presser foot were located edge formers to give the -initial fold to the material as it passed underneatl'i the upturned front end of the presser foot which was also of considerable length and. width. In this machine the trimmer was located so als to cut in a horizontal plane, therefore it was necessary to make the initial fold in the goods in such way that the goods would be fed into the machine with its edges to be cut in a vertical plane or at right angles to the main portion of the goods as it was fed by the presser foot and feed. This trimmer was also located remote from the needle, substantially one inch therefrom, to give working space for the seam gripper and the infolder. The cut edge as it passed from the trimming knives was folded laterally by the seam gripper and such laterally projecting portion was in turn folded under by the infolder over the top of the presser foot and underneath the spring tongue where it was guided to the needle and from thence it was fed underneath the top feed foot and carried from the machine. In that machine the top feed foot acted as a puller while the infolder acted as a pusher, the infolder acting upon the seam above the foot and the back top pulling feed acting upon theA seam along one side of the foot in the rear of the needle, while the main feed acted upon the goods under the foot to feed the work through the machine.

In the present machine, I do not employ a top pull feed and the present machine consists of a simple guide attached to the cloth plate in front of the presser foot to give the initial half turn fold to the goods so that the edge thereof will feed over the front of the presser foot and the front guiding portion of the 'presser' foot tongue. l A Vertical trimming mechanism, located to cut at the left of the needle line is arranged very close to the needle and co-acts with a knife carried by the presser foot. This trimmer cuts the irregular edge from the goods and deflects it to the left of the line of stitching, while the cutter tends to force the cut edge downward into a slot in the footwherein the top knife operates. Such cut edge is then fed to the gripper which tends to further force the cut edge downward on the -presser foot tongue so that such ycut edge projecting at the left of the needle is acted upon by the infolder to fold it under the presser foot tongue and feed it by a pushing yaction in the direction of the line of feed close to the needle so that a very narrow, uniform edge may be produced and so that the folded edge will be accurately stitched even when feeding very bunchy or irregular portions ofthe work, such as seams, tucks or embroidered portions. After the same is stitched it is fed along underneath the auxiliary foot as it passes from the machine.

Some of the advantages of the present machine are:

The presser foot is of smaller size and weight, and is so shaped as to coperate with the various elements in the formation of the triple seams; a veryl small and durable trimming mechanism is used, the stationary knife acting as a defiector for the trimmings, while the actuating knife not only cuts, but is a depressing or folding member and assists in the folding ofthe seams. The presser foot tongue being made of flexible material is arranged so as to act as a guide to the untrimmed edges of the work while the rear portion of the tongue which projects close to the needle acts` as a guide for the trimmed edges of the work so as to guide it uniformly to the needle. The seam clampingmember is flexibly connected to the other parts of the machine so that it may have a rising and falling movement with the presser foot and a variable gripping motion, such motion being imparted thereto by a portion of the looper mechanism and in such a manner that there is an extended dwell of the gripping member upon the work, its action being such that it is released from the work only while the feeding of the work takes place, while the flexible control thereof is such as to enable the gripper` to accommodate itself to varying thicknesses of seams. The seam infolder is located and mounted at the right of the needle line a suitable distance above the cloth plate line so that its movement will be such as to properly cooperate with the presser foot and the tongue carried thereby as well as to co-act with the seam clamper and to have longitudinal movements in contrast to the rocking movement transverse to the line of seam, its organization being such that the rising and falling -movements of the infolder are the same as that of the presser foot so that the transverse movements thereof will not be changed by such vertical rising and falling movements. The feed dog is also reduced in size to correspond with the presser foot and this also results in an improved action upon the work, especially in feeding curved seams with either inside or outside curves. shortening of the feed and foot greatly facilitates the ending up of a circular .seam such as sewing the sleeves in to garments wherein the beginning of the seam must feed through the rear of the foot around to and into the front of the stitching position to have the seam uniform from end-to end.

The presser foot is rigidly supported yet easily disconnected from its holding member. Means are provided to support it rigidly so that there will be no lateral swing thereof. This is very important because one of the trimmer knives is carried by the foot while the other is carried by the trimmer frame located and supported independently of the presser foot. To accomplish the required rigidity the machine frame is provided with a bushing carrying a lateral, downwardly projecting guide portion which co-acts with the presser foot and infolding mechanism in such a way as to permit it to The have vertical rise and fall movements, yet be held rigidly against side movement under the thrust caused by the actuation of the infolder, seam gripper and trimming members.

Une of the advantages of trimming or cutting to the left of the stitch line is that it provides a sufficient margin in the goods for the turned-under or infolded portion of the seam and while a sufficient margin .was provided in the two prior Hughes machines this necessitated the raising of the trimming mechanism a considerable distance above the top surface of the throat plate, which had the great disadvantage of allowing the work to twist and form wrinkles. Moreover, it also resulted in other objections to the cutting of the seams because the upstanding portion of the goods was not under the control of the feeding mechanism, as it was passed through the machine, but projected beyond the feed and foot so that it was very difficult to stitch slimsy or light weight materials in those prior Hughes machines. Moreover those prior machines were not capable of sewing seams on a radius or curled portions of seams, such as concaved or convexed seams, as for instance the sewing in of sleeves and the like because of this location of the trimmer above the plate and its location at such a great distance in advance of the needle.

The present machine however, not only avoids this disadvantage, but the mechanism is of such flexibility that the machine can work on goods in which there is a seam because the flexibility of this mechanism lends itself to the varying thicknesses of the work.

.ln the present machine, as hereinbefore stated, it will be observed in conclusion, that in carrying out this improved method the work, whether it consists of one layer or two or more layers of material, is first bent or folded into a hook-shaped or U-shaped condition with the folded portion in substantial parallelism with the work, z'. e. it is folded so that there is a space between the folded or bent portion and the main body of the goods, and after this first folding the edges of this bent 'or folded portion are trimmed to the left of the line of stitches and then the so folded and trimmed edges are flattened or bent downward and clamped in the present instance over a tongue or former and then the so-folded and clamped edge is then bent or folded or infolded as it were under the previously folded portion. It will be observed that as the infolding means is shiftable or movable transversely of the line of feed and also in the line of feed it may be properly said that the previously folded and trimmed edge is subjected to a moving pressure or a pressure which moves transversely of the line of feed and also in the line of feed.

The various details may be more or less changed Without departing from the spirit or scope of the present improvement.

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of making a triple seam, which consists in first folding the edge of the Work in substantial parallelism With the body of the Work, then after such folding trimming such folded edge, then infolding such trimmed edge by subjecting it to a movable pressure, and then stitching the seam.

2. The method of making a triple seam, which consists in first, folding the edge of the Work into substantial parallelism with the main body of the Work With a space therebetween, then after such folding trimming the folded edge to the left of the line of stitches, then gripping the so trimmed edge, then infolding the gripped edge, and then stitching the seam.

3. The method of making a triple seam, which consists in first folding the edge of the Work into substantial parallelism With the body of the Work, then trimming the folded edge to the left of the line of stitches, then subjecting the so folded edge to pressure moving transversely of the line of feed to infold such trimmed edge, and then stitching the seam.

4:. The method of making a triple seam, which consists in first folding the edge of the work into substantial parallelism with the body of the Work, then trimming such folded edge, then infolding such trimmed edge by subjecting the so folded edge to pressure and moving said pressure in the line of feed thereby to assist in feeding the work, and then stitching the seam 5. The method of making a triple seam, which consists in first folding the edge of the Work into substantial parallelism With the body of the Work With a space therebetween, then trimming the folded edge to the left of the line of stitches, then gripping the so trimmed edge, then infolding the gripped edge by subjecting the edge to transverse pressure and simultaneously shifting such pressure in the line of feed to assist in feeding Vthe Work, and then stitching the seam.

6. rlhe method of making a triple seam, which consists in first folding an edge of the Workinto substantial parallelism With the body of the Work With a space therebetween, then trimming such folded edge after it is folded and to the left of the line of stitches, and then infolding such trimmed edge by subjecting it to a transversely mov.- able pressure and simultaneously shifting such pressure in the line of feed thereby to assist in feeding the Work, and then stitching the infolded seam.

7. The method of making a triple seam, which consists in first folding the edge of the Work into substantial parallelism with the body of the Work, then after such folding trimming the folded edge, then subjecting the so folded edge to pressure movable transversely of the line of feed to infold such trimmed edge, and then stitch-4 ing the seam.

8. The method of making a triple seam, which consists in first folding the edge of 'the Work into substantial parallelism With the body of the Work, then after such folding trimming the folded edge, then subjecting the so folded edge to pressure movable transversely of the line of feed to infold such trimmed edge and simultaneously shifting such pressure in the line of 'feed to assist in feeding the Work, and then stitching the seam.

Signed at city and county of New York and State of New York, this 27th day of May, 1919.

ALBERT H. WEIS.