US14475A - Improvement in sewing-machines - Google Patents

Description

I. M. SINGER. w g Machine.

No; 14,475. Patented March 13. 1856.

Z v 'Invflvr UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

lSAAC M. SINGER, OF NEYV YORK, N. Y.-

. IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 1 1,475, dated March 18, 185th placed; and Fig. 2, a vertical section taken at the line A a of Fig. 1., g

The same letters indicate like parts in both the figures.

My invention relates to an improi' ement in the feeding-motion of sewing-machines, by

which the cloth or other substance to be sewed is held in a distended condition or in a crimped condition while being sewed, so that when sewed it may be stretched without straining the seam, or by which the material can be made shorter by the seam or gathered up, as it is sometimes technically termed; and to-this end my said invention consists in combining in one sewing-machine two feeding-wheels or equivalents therefor moving'with differential velocities-that is, the one forward: of the needle-moving [faster over agreater space-or slower over a less space than the one back of the needle-that is, the forward one moving faster or slower than the rear one, so that the cloth or other substance to be sewed shall be distended or gathered or puckered up where the seam isbeing formed.

' The accompanying drawings. represent so much of one of the well-known sewingqna chines as is deemed necessary to a clear comprehension of my said improvement; and in the said drawings (4 represents the table 0 which the cloth to be sewed is placed, with the usual aperture, b, in which the eye-pointed needle 0 works to penetrate the cloth and form the stitches, whetherin connection with a;shuttle oranyof' the known instruments for that purpose. The machine is also provided with theusual feeding-wheel, d, and pressure pade on the lower; end of a sliding bar, f, which is forced down by a spring, g, to press the cloth onto the periphery of the feed wheeh; All. these parts, together with the mechanism for operating the needle, the shuttle, or other con;

caten'ating instrument, and Yfor operating the lever II, which communicates the intermittent feeding motion to the feed-wheel, are well known and do not require to be described, as

they may be-constructed' in any suitable man- ,ner known to persons skilled in sewmg-Jnachines; but the vertical plane of the axis of the feeding-wheel (Z should-be placed forward of the needle; and back of the needle there is a second wfeeding-whecl, d, constructed and mounted inthe samemanner as the otheljand to the pressure-pad e is attached a spring-p e, which extends over the second feed-wheel,

d, to press the cloth onto the periphery thereo so tliat the cloth or other-substance to be sewed is gripped and held "by the twofeed wheels and pressure-pads, one forward and the other back of the needle, and-as the second-- pressure-pad, e, is in itself a spring, either of the pads can yield independently of the other to adapt themselves to varying thicknesses of.

cloth or other substance. N ow, as the object I is either to distend or pucker up the clothbetween the two feeding-wheels, so that after the seam has been completed in the former case the cloth may be stretched without straining the thread or threads forming the seam, and

in the, latter the cloth may be gathered up and made shorter by the scam, the two feedingwheels are moved with different velocities.

This is effected by having a spur-wheel, a, on each of the feed-wheels, and these two spur wheels engage another wheel, j, which turns on the fulcrum-pin k of the lever h,which carries a spring-ratchet hand, Z, that engages the cogs of the wheels j, so that as the lever'is vibrated in the usual manner an intermittent motion is imparted 'to the wheel j, and thence vto the two feed-wheels in the same direction;

and hence it will be seen that if the spur-wheel i on the feed-wheel a be of less diameter than the one on the feed-wheel d, the periphery of the. feed-wheel (2' will travel faster than the periphery of the deed-wheel d, and hence that the cloth wiill be distended between the two feed-wheels while the seam isbeingformed; but if the wheel '2' on the feed-wheel dbe smallertha n the one on the cod-wheel d,- then the rear feed-wheel will travelwith the greatest velocity, and'hence the cloth will be puck-' eredupbetweenthe two fced-wheels where the seam is being formed. By simply shittingthe'ftwo feedwheels with their spur-wheels, or

v shifting thespur-wheels or the feed-wheels, the

so that the axis one or the other of the two specified effects can be produced at pleasure; The differential motion of the two feed-wh'e'ls may be varied at pleasure to any degree desired by substituting wheels of suitable diameter.

To accommodate the shifting of the wneels 2' i on the feed-wheels and make the wheelj engage both, the fulcrum-pin k is attached to a plate, m, secured to the frame by a screw, 11-, passing through an elongated'slot in the plate, of the wheel may be shifted at pleasure. r

Instead of the wheel j, which engages the two wheels 2' z, to operate the two feed-wheels, there may be one lever and ratchet-or equivalent therefor for each feed-wheel, and each lever connected with an arm, 0, of the rockshaft p by a link, q, withan adjustable nut, so

. that the relative motions of ,the 'two feedwheels may be varied in any degree and at all times; but for the general purposes of sewing the kinds of seams to which my improve- I ment is applicable, :1 determined and fixed differential motion is the one best adapted.

It will be obvious to the mechanician that many equvialent devices may be. substituted for those I have above described without changing the principle of my invention; and it will also be obvious that my invention is equally applicable to other modes of feeding as well as to'the feed-wheels, and therefore I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the use of feeding-wheels or to the modes described o imparting the differential motions.

\Vhat I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is.. k

The method, substantially as herein described, of distending or gathering up the cloth or other substance, where the needle operates upon itto form the seam, by combining in a sewing-machine two distinct feeding-wheels or their equivalents moving with a difi'erential motion, substantially as described.

ISAAC M. SINGER. \Vitnesses:

\VJI'. H. BISHOP, CHAS. A. \VILsoN.

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