USRE414E - Improvement in sewing-machines - Google Patents

Description

' Sewing Ji -2 71i 11 444 Bez'ssu 27w 2/856;

' the following speci scription thereof.

scription of an entire the machine herein described.

'ous sewing-machines had been invented and methods for feedi and for supporting moved at interv lathe other class of machinery the material or some equivalent thereof secured -machines of later date thi UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT- IN'S Specification forming partof Letters Patent No. 7,7

January 39-, 1856; Reissue No.

To all whom, it may concern Be it known that I, ALLEN B.= WILsoN, of Waterbury, New Haven county, State of Connecticut, formerly of Pittsfield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, have invented ceitain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Sewing Seams; and I do hereby declare that fication, taken in connection with the drawings, is a full, clear, and exact de- These drawings exhibit my invention as applied to a machine invented by myself, as it is more easy to exemplify by means of a demachine; but I wishit' to be distinctly understood that my improvements and invention ,as set forth and claimed in this patent are applicable to sewing-mar, chines of various classes, and differing in form,- and arrangement from each other and from In. the drawings, Figure 1 is a' perspective View of the machine from the upperside thereof. Fig. 2 is a plan of the bottom of the machine. Fi'g. 3 is a vertical section through the machine in the plane of the needle-carrier. Fig. 4 is adetailed'view of the operativemechanism of the needle.

The same letters refer to the same parts in all the figures.

Previous to the date of .my invention numer- I put in operation having two distinct classes of g the material to be sewed, it while passing through the machinery. 'In' the first class the article to. be sewed was supported upon a" horizontal table, and was by the hand of an operator als under the needle, no meomatic feed being provided.

chanical or ant ps or pins to a mov-. ing plate, technically called a baster-plate,' which also. supported or carried thematerial, and was by ameohanieal connection with other parts of the machine moved along step by step at properintc 'vals. In some of these s baster took the chain, thus obvig back the bastarhad been sewed. chinery the cloth,

to be seamed was by means of clam shape of an endless band or ating the necessity of runnin late after a certain length ii. ,the former; of ma attached to and sup EWINGQMACHINES.

76, dated November 1-2, 1850; Reissue No. 345, dated 414, dated December 9, 1856.

being supported bya table, could be turned and twisted at will to sew crooked seams, but the regularity of stitch depended solely upon the skill of the operator. In the latter class the feed was as regnl make it; but as the cloth or other material was ported by the baster-plate which carried it, straightseams only, or those of moderate and tolerabl could be sewed.

N ow, the object of the first part of my invention is to unite theadvantages of these two methods to obtain in, one machine the regularity of feed of the latter class and the capacity of sewing irregularlycurved, seams found in the former class. The'nature of the first part of my invention therefore consists in combining a needle and shuttle or their equivalents to make stitches with a table to support the material, and an automatic feed apparatus which will move the cloth without supporting it, and to'which the cloth is not attached, the w in the mannerhereinafter the cloth is fed regularly,

uniform length are being supported on a table or platform, and not confined to the feed apparatus by pins or clamps, may be turned and twisted in the feed ing mechanism, so as to sewirregularlv-curved seams.

Prior tothc date of my invention shuttles of sewing-machines were driven by. a sort of picker-stafi', as in ordinary power-looms, so that the shuttles were fairly thrown through a loop, or else they were caused to travel in their race by means of an arm moving with the shuttle, and connected at two points to it in such'wise that oneconneetion was broken before the shuttle entered a loop, while the o'therremained fast, and the former connection became fast. again before the second reached the top,when it in turn was detached until its point of attachment to the shut-tle had passed by the so that stitches of thread, this attachment and'reattachment being effected by cams and springs. The former method was uncertain, as the shuttle passed the loops at different periods of the a'ction of the needle when the machine was driven at varying velocities. The, second method was complex and liable to get out of order, and both were comparatively expenslve,

ar as machinery could T re ular curvatures. 5 a

hole substantially set forth, whereby;

produced,while the cloth,

The objectof the second part of my invenonly onejaw can touch the shuttle at anylone tion is to drive sewing-machine shuttles by apparatus which shall follow their motions, or nearly so, as in the second method, while it is even less complex andexpensive than the first methpd noted; and the nature of the second part of my invention consists in driving a sewing-machine shuttle by means of ayoke or pair of j aws coincident with each other in their motion, and nearly coincident with. the motion of the shuttle, which is so shaped that a greater or less part of it is embraced-by the jaws, being held thereto by the shuttle-race,in

which it travels.

' In the drawings is represented'a shuttle-- machine with a bed-plate, a a, which serves to hold together all the parts, and at the same time serves as a table or platform for 'sustaiir ing and supporting the material to be sewed.

This platform hasattached to it proper jour nal-boxes'b b, in which is secured a shaft; 0, provided at one end with a crank andfiy-wheel, and also'with a pin-wheel, d, and a cam, f, the former communicating motion to the needle,

the latter to the shuttle and feed-motions.

The wheel d has projecting from its face two small pins, d d", which act alternately upon .This needle is curved, is provided with an eye near its point, and is also slightly grooved on its convex side, so asto guide the thread.

Upon the bed-plate is mounted a standard,

6, supporting an axis, (1, upon which'is mounted a bobbin, e containing thread, whose end is carried under aguide, a, afterward through a hole in a take-up and let-off spring, d", then' th rough an aperture on the needle-carrier, and finally through the eye of the needle itself. As the driving-shaft revolves, the needle re.- c'iprocates, passing back and forth through the material to be sewed.

The cam f, before referred to, has formed on its surface a grooved track or pinway, f, in which rests a pin, f projecting from asmall lever, f, pivoted at f under the bed-plate of the machine. This track is so formed as to alternately move and stop the lever f so that it vibrates in one direction when the needleis in the cloth, then pauses while the needle is out of the cloth, returns in the opposite di-' ,shuttle are in such relation to each other that motion when the needle is again passed instant of. time. The shuttleis pointed at bothends in the present instance, and pro; vided with an ordinary thread-bobbin, and a guide or eye through which the thread passes- In the action of the machine,'while the needle is still in the cloth and a loop of thread jipartiallyopen,' the shuttle approaches this loop wit-hthe arm of the jaw farthest from the loop in contact with the shuttle and driving it,- whilethe other jaw is out of contact and permits the shuttle to pass on one side of the loop-thread while the jaw pursues its course on the other.- The jaws continue to travel and the shuttle to pass through the loop until the thread reaches the hindermost and driving jaw, when it slips out between that jaw,

and the shuttle. The stitchis now drawn up, the needle enters thecloth again, the yoke or aws vibratea short-distance until the j aw'that was in contact becomes free and thatwhich was disengaged takes hold, and the same opera- Upon the platform or bed-platen is located a sliding bar, h, having a roughened surface on its upper side, near one of itsends. It is pressed in the direction 'of the arrow :0 by a spring, h, secured to the bed-plate, the length of throw of this spring being limited by the head h of a screw, h, which passes through a projection, h, on the sliding bar, and may be screwed to a greater or less extent into the bedplate at h To this sliding bar, and below the bed-plate, is fastened-a foot or cross, h, upon whose faceact-vibrating toes J1? h, forming part of thelever f. As this lever vibrates, its toes, acting upon the foot alternately, will move the sliding bar in a direction opposite to that of arrow as, and the spring h will return the bar in the opposite direction as soon as the toes permit. Thissliding bar will therefore reciprocate to and fro once during each stroke of the needle, the extent of its motion being governed by the setscrow h". Upon this sliding or reciprocating surface the cloth 'or material to be sowed is laid, and it is clear would, if this were the whole of the contrivancc, be but slightly affected by its vibrations. In order, therefore, to move the cloth, there is applied to the surface before described another surface, I, mounted upon a spring.- lever, l, pivoted at m, and provided with a handle, it, the whole constituting a species of clamp-jaw, by which the'cloth or material to be sowed is, during the action of the machine, held upon the roughened surface before described. The surface I is mounted upon a spring, in order that the surfaccsmnv grasp between them dif- Ierent thicknesses of material, and also in or- I points i'reely to enter a loop of thread, and alder that the roughened surface may more read ily move in one direction without moving the cloth.

In the operation of the machine the cloth or material to be sewed is laid upon the platform or supporting-table andbed-plate a, with a portion of it lying over the lower roughened fcedingclamp, and is held at rest by its friction on the table or platform and by the needle which rests in the cloth, while the lower surface moves in the direction of armw m,- but when the needle has risen free from the cloth, the lower surface moves in the opposite direction and draws with it the clotl1,which is held in. firm contact with its roughened end by means of the comparatively smooth upper surfa ce. In orderto make this operation certain, the' lower surface should be roughened by small teeth, like saw-teeth, which, whenmoved in one direction, slip under withoutmoving the cloth, but when moved in the other-direction catch the material. on their points and force it to travel with them. I

Now, it will be perceived that the stitches formed will be of regular length under any given adjustment of the machine, as that regularity depends upon mechanical accuracy of construction, and also that the cloth or matc rial, to be sewed, being held up and supported by a tackle, can betwisted and turned thereon to sew curved seams, as it is not attached to or supported by the feeding apparatus, as was the case in'thc former machines, but is merely grasped in a small portion otitssurface by the feeding clamps or jaws. It also is evident that my method of driving a shuttle is simple,

inexpensive, not liable to derangement, and,"

moreover, is superior to any pickerstafl arrangement, as the motion of the shuttle will properly coincide with that of the needle under varying velocities of the machine.

The form or precise construction of my supporting-table is unimportant, so long as it supports cloth in such manner that it may be stitched by the joint action of a needle and shuttle, or their equivalents, and at the same time presents the cloth properly to the action of the feeding-surfaces"and permits of such a turn material regularly, and does not require the cloth to be attached to it by pins or their equivalents, while it at the same time-permits the cloth to be turned and twisted irrespectire of the line of motion of the feeding mcchanism. The precise shape of my shuttle and its containing yoke or jaws is also imma rial, so long as the latteralternately, during the action of the machine, come in contact with and drive the former, permitting the shuttlelowing that throw]. to slip out, practically unimpeded, between the driving-j aw and the shuttle itself, and so long as these jaws havcamotion nearly coincident with each other and with the shuttle which they drive, both in the efiztent' of their travel and in the periods at which they commence to more or pause or return again, the distinction in mechanical effect between" my jaws and the old picker- ,staffs being that the former push the shuttle along, following it up in its passage, while the lowing the shuttle through out the extent of its path.- The former in their action tr. vel, passing by and beyond the loop or the place where it is formed, and then returning again --past that spot, while the latter complete their whole 'motion onone side of the loop only, and never pass the loop or the place where it is formed. Each piclcenstafi vibrates nearly up to the loop, and then stops and returns. The precise position of the shuttle in reference to the loop at any period of the action of the machine is in my machinedependent upon the mechanical construction of the parts of the machine, and is not effected practically by the velocity at-which the machine is driven; but when picker-staffs are used and the shuttle is thrown by a blow whose force depends not only upon the distance through which the staif travels, but also upon its velocity, then the precise time at which a vshuttle shall. enter a loop or leave it varies not only with the ve locity of the machine, but also with the varying weights of the shuttle, as it happens to contain a greater or less weight of thread. Such awant of precision in the motion of the shuttle is found to be injurious in machinery so nice in its operation and delicate in construction asa sewing-machine.

The method of passing the shuttle through. the loops first from the right and then from the left has a tendency to set the two threads in such relation to each other in the finished stitch that it is less liable to rip than when the shuttle enters from one side only, as is usual. It also diminishes the. number of motions required for the promotion of a single stitch, and the double-pointed shuttle is a necessary adjunct in a machine where the shut tle-thre'ad is thus passed through the needle thread.

"It'is-hardly necessary to state that the diffcrent features of my invention maybe used separately from each otherwith good effect in connection with sewing-machines diflering in construction and operation f om that herein described.

Having thus described my claim as .of'my own iiwentioi 1. The combination, in a single machine, of these three iollowing elements, namely: a ta iprovements, I

bin or platform to supportthe material to be sowed, holding it for the action of the needle, and presenting it properly to the grasp of the feeding apparatus, a sewing mechanism latter strike it a blow and throw it without fol- 4 proper, consistingof a needle and shuttle, or their equivalents, and a mechanical. feed automatic, and causing the cloth to progress regularly, to which the cloth is not attached, and so grasping the cloth that it may be turned and twisted by the hand of an operator, such twisting not interfering with the regular progression of the cloth, and the whole being constructed and acting together and in combination with each other substantially in the manner and for the purposes herein specified.

2. Moving a shuttle so shaped and held. by its race that jaws may embrace it by means of two jaws which are alternately in contact with the shuttle, and are constructed and move substantially in the manner. herein set forth, making and breakingtheir contact without any aid from ealns or springs, or the equivalents of such devices.

3. A double-pointed shuttle, substantially such as is hereinspecified, in combination with jaws for driving it, substantially such as are described, whereby the shuttle may be thrown alternately from opposite directions through loops without practically disturbing the loopthread.

Intestimouy whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name, at the city of New Yorlgon the 17th day of September, A; D. 1356.

ALLEN B. \VILSON.

In presence of- ALLAN MnLvi'Lm-i, M. B. ANJLM.

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