IMPROVEMENTS IN, SEWING MACHINES CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR WORKING WITH WAXED THREAD
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to. Robert Ashe, of Boston, Massachusetts, United
States of America, now of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN, SEWING MACHINES CHIEFLY
DESIGNED FOR WORKING WITH WAXED THREAD.”
".
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Ashe at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th June 1875.
.
I, ROBERT ASHE, of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America,
now of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR WORKING WITH WAXED THREAD," to be as follows:
!
'
These improvements relate more particularly to that class of machines
which sew with waxed thread, and wherein a barbed or crotchet hook
works in a vertical plane beneath the material to be sewn, and an
awl or piercing instrument works in the same plane above the said
material.
...:

page_text: Some of the parts of my improved machine are contained in a machine
described in the Specification of former Letters Patent, dated September
12th 1872, No. 2706. But the particular features of my present Inven-
tion consists in the following devices, namely,―
First. A point or finger for taking the loops of thread from a hooked 5
needle in such manner that the needle in its upward movement for
thread to form the next stitch shall not pass through the loop resulting
from its last downward movement.
Also a point or spur which projects through the lower extremity of
the loop, and which holds the loop in its place against the forward 1
movement of the shuttle.
Also a vibrating lever having a compound vertical and horizontal
movement and vibrating in a plane at or nearly at right angles to the
plane of the shuttle and its carrier, and which is used to prevent the
rubbing of the point and swell of the shuttle on the thread in its 1
passage through the loop.
Also the employment of a piece of sponge or other porous sub-
stance saturated with oil and so placed that the point and swell of the
shuttle can be oiled at every revolution of the machine.
Another feature of my Invention consists in the arrangement of the 2
shuttle carrier on a stud or pivot at or near the centre of the shuttle
driving block for the purpose of allowing it to so vibrato that each end
shall project alternately over the shuttle race to propel the shuttle each
way.
In the operation of my said machine the driving wheel or handle is 2
turned around until the awl pierces the material to bo sown, and as it
commences to rise again the hook neodle follows it through the aperturo
thus made. When the needle has reached its highest point it remains
at rest for a short time until the presser foot is lifted high enough from
the work to allow of the needles moving forward and taking the material 8
the length of a stitch with it. The thread guide or looper then lays the
thread in the barb or hook of the needle, which descends to its lowest
point, where after a slight upward reaction it remains for a short time
at rest, or nearly so. As the needle in descending reaches the lower
extremity of its movement the point or finger advances and enters the 3
loop, and as the needle begins to rise the finger still advancing carries

page_text: the loop with it in an oblique direction from the line of the needle's
ascent and opposite the line of feeding, and leaves it around the spur,
which supports the loop against the forward movement of the shuttle.
One end of the vibrating lever is directly over and close upon the spur,
and when the finger places the loop upon the spur the loop also embraces
the end of the lever; this lever is then moved in a plane at or nearly
at right angles to the line of the shuttle and its carrier, while at the
same time its small end, which is within the loop, is elevated nearly
as high as the top of the shuttle, thus pulling the loop open in such a
way that the swell and back of the shuttle in entering and passing
through the same will have scarcely any contact with the thread.
The shuttle will have now entered the loop, and as it passes entirely
through the forward end of the shuttle carrier impinges on a pin or
block, and the carrier being pivoted at its forward end will be thrown
across the path of the shuttle, while the other end of the carrier will
be thrown back from the shuttle race, thereby relieving the thread from
any pinch between the heel of the shuttle and the carrier when the loop
is being drawn up.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Ashe in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
ASHE, of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, now of
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Robert Ashe, Her special licence that
I, the said Robert Ashe, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Robert Ashe, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the

page_text: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR WORKING WITH WAXED THREAD," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Robert Ashe, my executors or admi-
nistrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of 1
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to
be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Ashe, do declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by tho
following statement,[reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
forming a part of this Specification :-
These improvements relate more particularly to that class of machines
which sew with waxed thread, and wherein a barbed or crotchet hook
works in a vertical plane beneath the material to be sewn, and an awl
or piercing instrument works in the same plane above the said
material.
These machines have a shuttle or bobbin containing thread, and which
is carried through a loop formed of another thread, making what is
called the lock stitch. But such machines require many devices not
required in ordinary sewing machines, owing to the difficulty of sewing
with thread after it has been saturated with hard wax.
Some of the parts of my improved machine are contained in a
machine described in the Specification of former Letters Patent dated
September 12th, A.D. 1872, No. 2706. But the novel features of my
Invention are herein-after particularly set forth.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
រ
1
Line

page_text: is fitted to turn freely in suitable bearings on the said frame and carries
the balance wheel c. In the face of the grooved pulley o', which is
cast or fixed on this wheel, a cam groove is cut, in which works a roller
on the long arm of a lever d. The short arm of this lever has a hori-
5 zontal recess d, into which is fitted a square block a pivoted to a
stud d. This stud passes through a slot in an arm e and is made fast
by a wing nut ď. The said arm e is attached to the shaft k. On the
front end of this shaft is a bearing plate g, into which is fitted a sliding
bar h. At the top of the sliding bar a hook A' is attached to the same,
D and vertical movement is imparted to the said slide bar by means of a
cam i, lever j, rocker shaft k, arm 2, and link F. The crank pin m
operates the awl bar n and presser foot, and the cam o and lever o¹
operate the thread guide p. The shaft carries a cam g, which operates
a lever q³ having its fulcrum at q³. One end of this lever, as shown
5 in dotted lines in Figure 2, is connected by the rod q* with the
lever q³. This mechanism forms the take-up device. The said shaft ƒ
also carries a cam r, in the groove of which works one of the arms of
the lever. The other arm of this lever is connected to the sliding
piece ³, which is situated under the work plate at the front of the
O shuttle race. This mechanism is clearly shewn detached in Figure 5.
On the parts is a projection &¹ that fits into the recess in the sliding
piece to keep it in place. The parts is kept in its place by the screw s³;
** is a vibrating lever, which is pivoted to the projection of the
sliding piece. The shaft f is geared with the shaft 6 by wheels 1, 2.
5
In Figure 4 a part of the work supporting plate is removed for the
purpose of showing this lever in its proper position. A portion of the
shuttle race shewn is also uncovered, for more clearly illustrating the
operation of the lever 8*. A groove u extends parallel with the shuttle,
race, and into this groove is fitted a block u¹; to this block is attached
a shuttle carrier ³, shewn in dotted lines in Figure 3. On the front
end of the shaft f is a disc f provided with a crank pin f, which
travels in the curved slot of of the lever v. At the upper end of this
lever v a link v³ is connected by one end, its other end being connected
to a boss which projects downwards from the block u'. By the
5 mechanism consisting of the disc ƒ¹, crank pin ƒ³, lever v, and link v²,
the shuttle is operated; w is a screw, with large collars to'; z is a short
arm extending from the shaft k, and which fits between the collars w³,
so that by advancing or withdrawing the screw the shaft ⁄ can be moved

page_text: endwise in its bearings; and as the bearing plate g, which carries the
slide bar h is also fastened to the shaft it will be obvious that by
turning the said screw the hook can be very accurately adjusted to the
line of the awl A tension wheel y is arranged in the neck of the
machinė; y¹ is a short lever, one end of which rests on the periphery!
of the said tension wheel and is pressed tightly against it by the
spring y. The other end of the lever y' is acted upon by a cam near
the fulcrum of the take-up lever.
It will be observed that in this machine I do not use an ordinary
needle but an awl for puncturing the material. The awl and presser
foot actuating mechanism are the same as described in the Specification
of the aforesaid Letters Patent, and therefore no further description is
required.
]
A thread guide bar z is arranged as shown in Figure 2; at its top is
'a short arm 2¹, which is fastened to the shaft by the set screw 2. From 1
the arm &¹ extends a connection 2 to the top of the lever o', which is
pivoted at o³, and whose lower end is actuated by the cam o on the
driving shaft 6, thereby operating the thread guide p; tand are two
points or spurs placed beneath the shuttle race; & is a spring attached
to the vibrating lever s* ; and 8" is a screw, the point of which bears 2
against the said spring. If the lever ** is moved towards the spur t
until the inclined surface 8 strikes the pin its forked end & will move
in the direction of the spur P, as indicated by the arrow. It is then
carried back until the spring 8* which forms the other inclined surface
of the lever strikes the pin ľ, which throws the forked end of the lever 2
back to its proper position in the line of the hook. The angle of the
inclined surface 8ª can be regulated by the screws to adjust the point
of the lever to its proper position.
In Figure 3 the vibrating lever 8* is shewn at 3 in the act of taking
a loop of thread from the hook, and at 4 the thread is shown after it is 3
caught upon the point of the spur t, which holds it against the advance
of the shuttle. The dotted lines 5 shew the position to which the
advance of the shuttle would force the thread if nothing prevents it;
³ is a piece of cork or other suitable material rising from the back of
the shuttle race, against which the back of the shuttle rubs during its 3
passage through the loop; this device prevents the adhesion of particles
of wax to the back of the shuttle; 'is a picce of flannel or other soft

page_text: material saturated with oil for lubricating the top of the shuttle; it is
attached to one of the slide covers of the shuttle race, as clearly shown
in Figure 8.
The long arm of the lever is made in two parts; * is a pin or rivet,
upon which the part of the said lever is made to swing at ; this
part has a slot, through which passes a screw, having a square head
and collar; this screw enters into the other part of the lever and
affords the means for fastening the part ³ in any desired position
thereon. The object of this arrangement of parts is to allow the sliding
piece to be adjusted with reference to the spurt, as the movement of
the said sliding piece is obtained through the lever 7ª³.
The crotchet hook or hook needle ' when in its proper position
stands in a line with the awl ³, and after the awl descends and
punctures a hole in the material rises through the hole thus made;
after the hook has reached the limit of its upward movement it remains
at rest for a short time while the presser foot is being lifted from the
work, when a lateral motion of the hook takes place, carrying the
material with it, and thereby effecting a feed movement. When the
hook is at or near the limit of its lateral motion the thread carrying
finger or thread guide lays thread under the barb of the hook when the
hook descends, carrying the thread with it. When at or near the limit
of its downward motion it is moved laterally again to its original position
in the vertical line of the awl.
When the hook has descended, carrying thread with it, and has
reached its lowest point tho slide to which the vibrating lever is attached
is moved forward by means of the aforesaid lever, which is operated by
the cam behind the disc on the long shaft. As the slide advances,
carrying the vibrating lever with it, the middle prong or point on the
end of this vibrating lever enters the loop of thread over the point of
the hook, and as it still continues to advance, carrying the loop of thread.
with it, the hook comes back to the line of the awl and rises suddenly,
thus freeing the thread from its barb and allowing it to be freely carried
ahead by the vibrating lever. The path of the vibrating lever is in or
nearly in the line of the aforesaid point or spur, beneath and near the
front edge of the shuttle. This point as the lever advances enters the
loop at the same time that the inclined surface at the back end of the
lever impinges against the pin P, which causes the forked end of the lever
to vibrate in a horizontal plane beneath and towards the back of the

page_text: Sixth. The thread guide in combination with the other parts of the
looping mechanism and the devices for operating the same, as herein
set forth.
Seventh. In a sewing machine wherein the stitching is effected by a
crochet hook, or hook needle co-operating with an awl, the various
devices and combination of parts constructed and combined as shewn in
the Drawing, and operating as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Ashe, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.