IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES." A communication from abroad by Caroline Garcin and
Amelie Garcin, both of Colmar, in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 17th October 1868, and dated the 20th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th May 1868.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain means of working sewing machines,
and is chiefly applicable to the class of machines designed for family

page_text: use, the object being to give to sewing machines a self-contained
motive power that will maintain them in action for a considerable time.
To this end there is arranged in a suitable frame a group or series of
spring barrels which are mounted on arbors and are geared together
so that the turning of one barrel will cause the winding up of all the
others. The first or winding-up barrel is mounted on an arbor
capable of being rotated, and the others upon fixed arbors. Fitted to
the arbor of the winding-up barrel is a winch handle for turning it,
and a ratchet and click are provided for securing the position of the
arbor against the back pressure of the springs when coiled in their
respective barrels. The spur teeth on the last of the series of barrels
gear with a pinion mounted on an arbor that carries a second or
driving pinion for transmitting motion to the sewing machine. The
frame with its spring barrels is mounted vertically under the table of
the machine and at the end thereof. The driving pinion may con-
veniently gear with a spur wheel on the fly wheel shaft of the sewing
machine, and in connection with the fly wheel or some equivalent
part of the driving gear is a brake for arresting the motion of the
machine and maintaining it at rest during the pleasure of the operator,
A convenient form of brake will be a rock lever working on a stiff
joint and carrying at one end a button or stop within easy access of
the arm or hand of the operator while guiding the work and at the
other a friction pad or block. By simply pressing on the stop or
button the lever will be rocked and the friction block or brake applied,
thus retarding or stopping the machine as required. The removal
of the brake may be effected by raising the stop or button by the
finger.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in, the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence
that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my execu-
tors, 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 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES," being a communication to me from abroad by
Caroline Garcin and Amelie Garcin, both of Colmar, in the Empire of
France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals,
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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):-
The improvements which form the subject of the present Invention
have for their object to remedy numerous inconveniences attending the
present mode of actuating sewing machines, whether worked by the
foot or by hand, and consist in the application to such machines of
a direct motor which does not require any gearing for transmitting the
motion, and which is placed under or in the table upon which the
sewing machine is mounted, the motive mechanism being so disposed
that it allows of the machine being driven at a uniform speed for
several consecutive hours. This motor consists of a number of spring

page_text: barrels which gear into each other for the purpose of combining their
power, their motion being regulated by means of a flyer having
moveable or adjustable wings, which allows of the speed being accele-
rated or retarded as required. The motion of the machine is arrested
by a stop or break arrangement.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of
the driving mechanism taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 2, which is a
plan or bird's-eye view of the same; Fig. 3 is a transverse section
taken in the line 3, 4, of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a transverse section
taken in the line 5, 6, (Fig. 2), shewing the arrangement of the springs.
The motive mechanism is mounted in a case or box C affixed to
the table on which the sewing machine to be driven is mounted; the
spring barrels, which are six in number, are combined in such a manner
that through the rotation of the first barrel A all the springs of the
series will be wound up. The barrel A carries a spur wheel, in gear
with which is a pinion B on the shaft b. This shaft is provided with
a winch handle for giving it rotary motion, and with a ratchet wheel
and pawlor to prevent its backward movement. As the barrel A is
rotated the spring barrel E which is mounted on the same shaft will
be caused to rotate. The spur wheel of this barrel E gears into a
spur wheel carried by the spring barrel F mounted upon the shaft c.
This shaft carries also the spring barrel H, the spur wheel of which
gears into the wheel on the barrel I mounted on the shaft j, on which
is also mounted the barrel K; the spur wheel on this latter takes into
a pinion L keyed upon the shaft m, which is also provided with a
large spur wheel N in gear with a pinion O on the shaft p. This shaft
carries a pulley Q which through a band drives the sewing machine,
and upon this shaft is also mounted the helicoidal or worm wheel R
which drives the regulator or flyer S by means of the worm or endless
screw. The different axles b, c, m, and p, have their bearings and
rotate in flat bars M, M', which are connected by means of cross
pieces f, and thus form a frame of great strength which rests upon
blocks or supports set in the corners of the casing C, Figures 1 and 2.
The above described mechanism is arrested or stopped by means of
the following brake arrangement:- is a rock lever having its fulcrum
at upon a bracket e fixed, as shewn at Figures 1, 2, and 3, under the
table T which supports the sewing machine. At the extremity of this

page_text: lever is a stud g which comes against an arm t on the shaft of the
flyer S. On causing the lever to move in the direction of the arrows,
Fig. 2, the stud will be drawn back and allow the shaft of the flyer to
rotate. The speed is increased or diminished by altering the angle of
inclination of the wings of the flyer.
On referring to Fig. 4 the manner in which the springs are set in
the barrels will be seen. The axle is provided with a boss upon
which are fixed the extremities of the two springs of the barrel K, and
the two springs of the barrel I are fixed upon a boss pinned or bolted
on as shewn in the Figure.
The sewing machine which has been selected as an example for the
purpose of illustrating this Invention is constructed on the Wheeler and
Wilson plan, only it has been modified in the transmission of motion to
its various parts for the purpose of diminishing the friction. The main
shaft a carries the pulley g, which is actuated direct from the pulley Q
of the spring motor by means of a cord x. The movement of this
shaft is transmitted to a transverse axle a¹ by means of bevil gearing.
It is this axle which drives the rotary shuttle h fitted to its extremity,
and by means of a plate and counterweighted lever i it also drives the
shaft d upon which is fixed the needle carrier arm k.
It is not necessary further to enter into a description of this machine,
as it will be understood that the improved motor may be applied to any
kind of sewing machine, it may however be observed that the pullies Q
and q may be done away with and gearing substituted for them.
I would observe in conclusion that the case C which contains the
driving mechanism is closed at the two sides of the cross piece T by
moveable hinged pieces T drawn in red, and which when depressed or
closed as shewn in Fig. 1 form at top a perfectly even table. By raising
these moveable parts the mechanism may be readily inspected and
lubricated. The casing C is mounted upon ordinary feet, which are
fastened to it by means of screws or in any other manner and may be
readily removed for the purpose of packing the machine.
I would here observe that I do not confine myself to the use of two
springs for cach barrel, as three or a larger number might be employed
if thought desirable to increase the power of the mechanism; the
number of barrels may also be varied as thought necessary according to
the length of time the machine is required to be worked.

page_text: Having now described the nature of this Invention of "Improvements
in Sewing Machines," as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondents, I desire it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim, providing sewing machines with a self-
contained motor constructed and operating as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)