USRE278E - Improvement in sewing-machines - Google Patents

Description

UNITED y STATES isAAcM. s iNeEn, or NEW YORK, n. v.l

lIINIPROVEIVIENT yIN slawlNe-MAolmuEs.

Specilication forming part of Letters Patent N0. 8,294, dated August lf2, 1851; Reissue No. 27S, (lated October 3, 1854.

To all whom, it may concern:

Beit known that LisnAc M. SINGER, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Sewing Scams in Cloth and other Substances; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact defront of the machine; and Fig. 6, a section of feed-motion.`

rlhe same letters indicate like parts in allz the figures.

The first part method of drawing the stitch by the shuttle;

and it consists in giving to the shuttle, after the needle has been dn wn out of the loop, av slight additional forward movement as the neel, die is completing its upward movement andat the time the feed motionis given to the cloth, by means of which there are three pulls given simultaueonsly-viz., the upward pull of the l needle on the needle-thread, the feed motion ofthe cloth in 011e direction, and of the shuttle in the opposite direction-so that the t'wo threads are drawn together to draw the stitch tight.

rIhe second part of my invention relates to the method of controlling the thread during f the motion of the needle by meansfof a frie` tion-pad, which mak es a slight pressure on the thread between the guide and the cloth. The i' thread from the friction-bobbin passes th rough a gu-ide connected with the needle-carrier, so thaty as the needle rises the, threads shall be drawn tight to form the stitch, and from this it follows that as the needle descends, and with it the guide, the thread will form a loop yabove the cloth, which is liable to be caught or to be f cut by the needle. WVith the view to obviate this in a previous invention made by me,-Ir` carried the thread through aspring-gnide, the 1 .tension of which took up the slack as the neecf my inventionrelates to the dle descended, and although this answered the not sufficient friction presented to the thread yby the cloth the moment the needle began to rise, the tension of the spring drew out the loop, so that the shuttle failed to pass through the loop, particularly when working rapidly, in which case the rebound of the spring was very apt to draw out theloop. The defects of the spring-guide are, however, entirely ob? viated by the employment vof a frictioirpad, which, being inert, presents sufficient resistance to the thread, as the needle descends, to prevent the making of slack above the cloth, and yet not sufficient to prevent the needle loop below, and when the needle rises there is Vno tendency to draw o ut the'loop, the frictionpad simply holding the thread in place.

IThe third part of my invention consists in placing the friction-bobbin, from which the thread is drawn by the needle, on an adjustable arm attached to the frame, so that its angle relatively to the guide on the Vneedle-carrier, or the equivalent therefor, through which the thread passes, 'can be changed at will, so that by' changing the position of the arm the motion of the needle-carrier will draw out more or less thread, as may be required. In some machinesheretofore made the bobbin was cartion ofthe needle had to be determined by the length of thread required to formthe loop,

this range of motion was unnecessarily long for Y allother purposes but by placing the bobbin on an adjustable arm, and thence carrying a thread through a guide on the carrier or the equivalent therefor, by simply shifting the position of the bobbin the length of the thread for forming the loop can be either longer or shorter than the range of motion of the needle. In this way I am enabled to construct cient to form the stitch, and then regulate the the position of the bobbin.

The last part of my invention relates to the method of feeding the cloth during the operation of sewing to determine the length of the stitches. Heretofore the cloth has either been -slipped onto teeth arranged in a bar on the pepurpose to a certain extent, yet if there wereV from drawing the thread through to make the .ried by lthe needle-carrier, and hence the mo which was objectionable, as in many instances the machine with a range of motion j ust suiiilength of thread at pleasure for the loop by` riphery of a feeding-wheel, which is objectionable for the reason that the cloth is pinnedby the numerous pins, and there was great difficulty of turning the cloth to sew curved seams when thus held by pins; and other machines have been made with a spring pressure-pad, making pressure on the cloth or other substance to be sewed to hold it to the surface of a carriage moving with the cloth, and to which the feed motion is imparted; but this is def ective, for the reason that it does not admit of turning the cloth during the operation of sewing, and therefore such a machine is ill adapted to the sewing of curved or angular seams. To

obviate these objections the nature of this part of vmy said invention consists in moving the elothto space stitches in a sewing-machine by the f ri ction-surface of theperiph cry of a wheel, or any mechanical equivalent for such surface, when combined with a spring plate or pad,

whichpresses the cloth or other substance against such feeding-surface to make the required friction, while at the saine time the said plate or pad, by itsyieldingproperly, can

adapt itself to any varying thickness arising from imperfect weaving, or spinning, or seams. By this means the clothris onlyv held at one part of its length and for a short distance, and that in immediate proximity to the needle, so that the operative can readily turn it during the operation of sewing, and 'thus give any direction to the seam.

ln the accompanying drawings, a represents the frame, and b the straight needle on the lower end of the carrier, The thread c comes f1 om a bobbin, d, which tu-rns on a stud, c, and held by friction in any desired manner to preL` vent it from turning freely. From `this bobbin the thread vpasses through a guide, f, attached to and moving with the needlecarrier, and thence it passes through the eye of the needlev some distance above the point. The stud c, on which the bobbin turns, is on the ,outer end of an arm, g, secured by a screw, h,

to the frame, so that the bobbin can be elevated or Adepressed to any extent required. Ylf the bobbin be elevated to the position represented by dotted lines t, the end of the thread f being held by the cloth, it willbe seen that the length of thread drawn from the bobbin to make the loop for the passage of the shuttle will be equal to the range of motion ofthe needle, and, if depressed to the position represented by the dotted lines .7', that the length drawn from thebobbin will be double the range of motion' of the needle, and that this quantity will vary as the bobbin is either elevated or depressed. In this way, whatever `may be the range of motion of the needle, .the

length of thread for the loop for various qualities of-sewin g can be vv aried at pleasure Vby si1nply, shifting the position of the bobbin.

The cloth to be sewed is placed on the table of `the frame and resting on the periphery of the feeding-wheel lt', and pressed thereto byl a plate, Z, on the end of a sliding bar, m, which is forced down by a helical spring, a. Instead 2` Y 2te of armingY the periphery of the feed-wheel with pins, as heretofore, a fine thread is cut thereon, or, instead of threads, fine parallel grooves can be cut; but in either case the threads or iillets between the grooves are brought to a sharp edge, and if made of east`- iron, the edges, by the'breaking of the metal, will become'slightly serrated, but if made of wrought-iron, they should be slightly serrated by any appropriate instrument. When ythe cloth. is pressed against this surface so grooved and serrated, a sufficient hold is taken of the surface of the cloth to move it forward without slipping, and without the necessity of pi ercing the cloth, and therefore the attendant can turn the cloth as may be desired to sew curved seams, which could not be done conveniently knuckle is obtained from a cam, o, on the cam' shaft s, which at every revolution acts on an arm, t, of a rock-shaft, u, which carries another arm, o, connected by a link, ai, with the lever p, and provided with adjusting-nuts. There is a spring, x, which bears on the arm p of the' lever p,to force back the said arm and knuckle when the cam has passed, that the knuckle may take a new hold on the periphery of the wheel. As there are no teeth on the periphery of the wheel, and the knuckle acts on it simi-y ply by the' bite of the surface, it will/ be perceived'that any desired motion can be given to the wheel by simply regulating the play of the lever. y The play of the lever is regulated by the length of the link which connects it with the arm o of the rocker, the interposed spring answering the purpose of carrying back the arm and the rocker. i

The shuttle a is semi-cylindrical, with the forward end pointed and the back end rounded. f I

It slides in a groove, b', on the table of the frame, and is embraced betweenv the ends of a driver, cthat is, one end of the driver rests against the back end of theA shuttle, and the other end ofthe driver against a shoulder formed by cutting out a part of the conical part of the forward end of the shuttle. The shuttle should have sufficient play between the ends of the driver for the free passage of Aa thread between it and a driver at one end when the two are in contact withV the other, and vice versa. n

The driver is attachedv to and operated by a carriage, d, adapted to slide in appropriate ways, e e, in the frame, and this carriage is formed with a cam-groove, f, in which fits and runs a crank-pin, g', of a wheel, la, on the cam-shaft. The form of the cam-groove f is 'to carry the thread Ithrough the cloth, and as the needle rises, forming the thread below the cloth into a loop, the shuttle moves forward by the passage of the crank-pin in the direction of the arrow from the point 2 to 3 in the cam-groove, thus causing the shuttle to enter the loop, the thread passing between the point of the shuttle and the forward end of the driver. rIhe shuttle is then brought to a state ot' rest by the continued motion of the crankpin in a return direction in the cam-groove from the point 3 to 4, where it is concentric with the crank. Frein the point 4 to 5 the groove runs a little within the circle to give a slight back motion to the shuttle driver, that the thread may pass between the back end of the shuttle and the driver as'the needle rises to draw the stitch, and then from 5 to 6, the groove runs a little ont of the circle to force the shuttle forward to draw the shuttle-thread at the same time that the feed motion is'given to the clothin the opposite direction and while the needle completes its upward motion, thus drawing the two threads simultaneously to complete and draw the stitch tight on both faces of the cloth. The motions above described are then repeated i'or another stitch. The thread,as it passes from the loop or guide fon the `needle-carrier to the needle, passes n under a spring-pad, j', attached to the frame, which pad makes a gentle pressure on it, so that as the needle descends to carry the thread through the cloth the slack formed by the descent ofthe needleshall be all above this pad, instead of being just above the cloth, where it would be liable to tangle or to be eut by the needle, and besides this the holding of the thread by the friction-pad during the descent ofthe needle is necessary to insure the carrying of the thread through the cloth in the same position relatively to the needle, and thus insure the laying of the stitches in the same'line.

I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the special construction and arrangements hereinabove specified, but claim the right to modify them, so long as I attain the same ends by equivalent means.

What I claim as' my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent7 isy l. Giving to the shuttle an additional forward movement' after it has been stopped to close the loop, as described, for the purpose of drawing the stitch tight when such an additional movement is given at and in combination with the feed motionof the cloth in the i two threads shall be drawn tight at thel same described, when this is combined with the carrying of the said 'thread through an eye or guide attached to and moving with the needlecarrier, as described, or the equivalent therefor, whereby any desired length of thread can begi-ven for the formation of the loop without varying the range of motion of the needle, as described. l

4f. In a'sewing-machine, feeding athe cloth or other substance to determine the space between the stitches by the friction of the surface of the periphery of the feed-wheel, or any equivalent feeding surface, substantially as speciiied, in combination with a spring pressnre plate or pad, which grips the cloth or other substance against such feeding-surface, substantially as specified, and for the 'purpose set forth. f

ISAAC M. SINGER.

Titnessesz y XVM.` H. Brsiror, 'ANDR Ew DE' LAcnY.

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