Abstract: A sewing machine includes a housing with a base portion having a covering base plate and an upright standard adjacent one end of the base portion extending above the base plate and an arm portion extending out of the standard and overlying the base plate. A feed drive in the housing includes a ratchet wheel driven by the feed drive located on the arm portion which cooperates with a shuttle carried in the base portion. The feed drive includes a variable drive including an eccentric which may be shifted so as to vary the driving speed of the shuttle. The construction includes a setting device for setting the speed of the shuttle, an actuating device connected to the setting device and the variable drive so that the drive of the shuttle may be varied.

Abstract: The machine smoothes stitched seams on shoe shanks and applies a tape to cover the smoothed seam. A driven frictional wheel is cooperable with a second friction wheel rotatably mounted on a relatively elongated support over and along which the shanks are fed, the two friction wheels pressing and smoothing the stitched seams. Two holding elements are releasably engageable with this support at supporting points thereon spaced longitudinally of the support. A control circuit operates in such a manner that the two holding elements initially clamp the support at points spaced longitudinally therealong and, as a shoe shank leaves the friction wheels, the leading holding element is released for passage of the shoe shank therethrough while the trailing holding element remains clamped on the support. As the shoe shank clears the leading holding element, the latter is again clamped on the support and the trailing holding element is released from the support for passage of the shank.