IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."-A
communication from abroad by James Sewell M° Curdy, of Brooklyn,
-V IInited States of America
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, ou the
19th March 1867.
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 improvements upon that class of lock stitch
sewing machines known as rotary shuttle machines.
The first part of the Invention consists in a novel arrangement of parts
for opening the loop of the needle thread and passing it over the bobbin of
the locking thread so as to be caught by that thread and brought to tension

page_text: to complete a stitch. The front end of the mandril which drives the looping
apparatus terminates in a disc, from the face of which projects a tongue
formed with a rounded point. In front of this disc and concentric therewith
a hoop of peculiar construction is mounted, it being supported and held up
to the vertical face of the frame of the machine by a ring-shaped bracket or
hoop holder made fast to the frame. The hoop is made of steel and its
inner face is made flat that it may move smoothly over the flat face of the
frame of the machine, but its other face is rounded that it may be the better
embraced and so held in place by the ring-shaped bracket. Within the steel
hoop the bobbin for carrying the locking thread is to be inserted, but it is
perfectly independent of it as also of the ring bracket in which it is free to
rotate, it being driven by means of the pointed tongue above mentioned which
enters a recess made in the inner periphery of the ring. The ring is cut open
and one end is pointed to enable it to take hold of the loops of the needle
thread and open them out, and near the rear end of the recess formed to receive
the tongue or driver and on the inner periphery of the hoop is a hook which
catches the loop of the needle thread and by the rotation of the hoop passes
the loop over the bobbin and then allows the loop to escape, bringing mean-
while the bobbin thread within that loop and thereby providing for the
formation of a lock stitch in the well-known manner of this class of machines.
The bobbin or spool case is held in place within the hoop by two rings (one
one either side) which are bracketted to the framing.
As an improvement in the four-motion feed the feed dog is hinged to a
sliding plate (through which the vertical needle works) and it is raised and
lowered by a cam mounted on the mandril just in rear of the disc before
mentioned, while its traverse motion is obtained through the sliding plate
which is moved forward by a second cam. The to-and-fro motion of the
plate is effected by the combined action of a spring and a face cam mounted
on the rear end of the mandril. The rear end of the mandril is reduced in
diameter and screwed at its extremity to receive a nut which is intended to
bear against the rear end of the face cam and determine its position on the
mandril. This face cam is made hollow, and it rides upon a stop collar fixed
to the mandril. A pendent piece from the sliding plate reaches this collar
which forms a stop to the backward movement of the plate. Between the
fixed collar and the hollow cam face a coiled spring is interposed which keeps
the cam always in contact with the adjusting nut on the screwed end of the
mandril, and a feather on the inner periphery of the hollow cam takes into a
slot cut in the stop collar to ensure the rotation of the cam with the mandril.
The forward motion of the sliding plate is effected by the pressure of the

page_text: face cam on the pendent piece before mentioned, and the return of the sliding
plate is effected by the flat spring connected therewith. In order to facilitate
the taking up of the slack of the driving band the bed of the machine is made
adjustable so that it may slide endwise on an under table, the framing of which
carries the driving pulley spindle. The mandril carrying the pulley to be
driven is mounted in bearings affixed to the bed of the machine, and the slots
made in the under table to allow the band to pass up are formed sufficiently
wide to provide for the band running clear when the mandril pulley is shifted
forward or backward. A clamping screw and nut is used to fix the bed of
the machine firmly to the under table. The spool or bobbin for carrying the
locking thread is made of pasteboard; a short barrel of pasteboard being
provided a strip of paper is lapped thereon to thicken it at the middle,
pasteboard discs are then applied to the ends, and upon such bobbins the
thread may be wound for sale.
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 18th September 1867.
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.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth 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 executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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, 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 seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be

page_text: 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 hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say): :-
This Invention consists, firstly, in a rotating hoop of novel construction so
applied and operating in relation with a needle which carries one thread
through the cloth or other material to be sewn, and having so applied in
relation with but not in contact with it a bobbin or its equivalent carrying
another thread that the said hoop will extend the loop of the needle thread
and pass it over the said bobbin or equivalent in such manner as to cause the
thread therefrom to be received within it, and afterward draw back the loop
into or against the cloth, thereby producing what is commonly known as the
lock stitch, such as is made by an ordinary shuttle sewing machine.
The Invention also consists in a novel means of supporting aud holding the
said rotating hoop in place, and in certain means of holding and supporting the
said bobbin or equivalent within and in proper relation to the hoop but in
contact neither with the hoop nor with the rotating mandril by which the
hoop is driven; this arrangement allows of the bobbin or its equivalent
working with no more friction than that unavoidably produced between it and
its bearings in its own movements. The construction of bobbin preferred to
be used for carrying the locking thread embracing a paper or pasteboard
spool made up of a hollow eye or centre piece and opposite convex sides or
heads, on one or both of which the usual marks or signs signifying the
number or quality and maker's name may be directly printed or impressed,
the usual label having such information upon it being dispensed with. The
article thus produced is of itself a separate and marketable commodity
capable of easy attachment to or within a spool case.
The Invention further consists in a new combination or arrangement of
means for tightening up the driving belt of the machine by a certain relative
position of the driving and driven pulleys and sliding or adjusting attachment
of the bed on the table, which gives every facility for taking up slack in the
beit, and obviates the necessity for shortening and lacing it up again from
time to time.
The Invention further consists in an improvement in the four-motion feed
of sewing machines whereby its action is rendered noiseless.

page_text: In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a right-hand side view of a sewing
machine constructed with the improvements; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of
the machine taken at right angles to Fig. 1, and in the plane of the axis of
the rotating ring; Fig. 3 is a vertical section parallel with Fig. 1 in the
plane indicated by the line x, x, of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a side view of the
needle, the rotating hoop, the device by which the said hoop is supported,
the bobbin and part of the contrivance for supporting and holding the bobbin,
showing the needle and rotating hoop in a position different from Fig. 1;
Fig. 5 is a side view representing the same parts as Fig. 4, but with the
needle and rotating hoop in another position; Fig. 6 is a side or outer face
view of the rotating hoop; Fig. 7 is an edge view of the same; Fig. 8 is a
back view of the same; Fig. 9 is a section of the supporting device for
holding the bobbin in place in the planes indicated by the line y, y, in
Fig. 4; Fig. 10 is a face view of that part of the frame or bed piece of the
machine against which the rotating hook works; Figures 11, 12, and 18 are
views of a modified bobbin and details connected with its construction;
Fig. 14 is an elevation showing a belt-tightening arrangement applicable to
sewing machines. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts
in the several Figures.
A is the frame or bed piece of the machine; B is the cloth plate on which
the work is laid; C, the horizontal rotating mandril from which the
movements of the several operating members of the machine are derived;
D is the stationary arm to which the presser E is attached; n is the needle;
these parts are represented as substantially like those of what is known as
the Wheeler and Wilson sewing machine, but may be arranged in any other
suitable manner that may suggest itself to persons familiar with sewing
machine construction. The machine may be furnished with any of the
well-known or any other suitable devices for producing the necessary friction
upon and tension of the needle thread. The right-hand end of the mandril C
has formed upon or otherwise rigidly attached to it a flange or disc C¹, the
outer face of which is countersunk a short distance within the corresponding
side of the frame A, as shown in Fig. 2, and on the outer face of this flange
or disc there is a projecting tongue a having a rounded point for the purpose
of driving the rotating hoop F by which the loops of the needle thread,
represented of red color, are extended and passed over the bobbin G which
carries and supplies the locking thread, represented of blue color. The
rotating hoop F consists of a circular hoop of steel the internal diameter of
which is considerably larger than the external diameter of the heads of the
bobbin G, as shown in Figures 2, 4, and 5. One face of the said hoop is flut

page_text: and perpendicular to its axis (see Fig. 7) that it may lie and rotate against
the flat upright surface of the exterior of the right-hand side of the frame A
below the plate B, and the opposite face is rounded. At one point in its
circumference the said hoop has an opening d (see Figures 6, 7, and 8), on
one side of which it is tapered to a point 6 of suitable form to enter easily
into the loops of the needle thread, the said point terminating in the plane of
its flat inner face, as shown in Fig. 7, and at the other side of the said
opening it is tapered or rounded, as shown at c in Fig. 7 on its inner face in
such manner as to allow the loop to slip freely off it. At a short distance
from the point b and on the same side of the opening a notch fis made in its
inner circumference of such form as to produce a hook e for the purpose of
catching and extending the loop and carrying it over the bobbin G. Between
this notch fand the point there is a recess g, shown best in Fig. 8, in the
inner face of the hoop forming a shoulder h, against which the projecting
tongue a of the mandril C presses to produce the rotation of the hoop by and
with the rotation of the mandril, which rotates once during every complete
movement of the needle. H is the device, which may be termed the hoop
holder, by which the hoop F is supported and held in place, consisting of a
small frame, which is held by screws I and J firmly against the flat vertical
outer surface of the frame A; in this frame there is a circular opening of
diameter smaller than that of the exterior of the hoop F; this opening is
countersunk on the inner side of the said frame H of such form that the hoop
may lie or rotate so loosely in it that the loop of the needle thread may pass
freely over it, one side of the said loop passing between the hoop and the said
frame H, and the other side of the said loop passing between the loop and
the face of the main frame A. The frame H is so arranged as to keep the
hoop concentric with the mandril C. In the top of the frame H there is a
taper opening i right through it for the passage of the loops and of the
locking thread from the bobbin. Opposite to this opening i there is a groove j
(Figures 2 and 10) in the face of the main frame A for the passage of the
needle and its thread, the needle passing through this groove close behind the
rotating hoop F. On one side of this groove there is a shallower recess
(Fig. 10) for the free passage of the inner portion of the loop of the needle
thread as the said loop is extended and carried over the bobbin G by the
rotating hoop. The bobbin G is of metal or other suitable material with
convex sides and in form somewhat like that used in the Wheeler and Wilson
sewing machine, but it may be much thicker in the direction of its axis so as
to hold more thread; it is held so loosely between two rings K and L that
the loops of the needle thread may pass freely over it between it and the said

page_text: rings, its position being within and concentric, or nearly so, with the rotating
hoop but slightly oblique to the plane of rotation of the said hoop, as shown
in Figure 2, its obliquity being in such direction that its lower part stands
out a little further from the face of the main frame A than its upper part.
The rings K and L are attached one to each of two arms K¹ and L', which
are secured to the main frame A outside of the hoop holder H by the same.
two screws I and J which hold the hoop holder in place. The arm K¹ of the
ring K is set in squarely or nearly so at the junction of the ring, as shown
atk in Fig. 9, to enable the ring to be set back to its proper place within the
rotating hoop, and the bobbin is supported partly by this set in part k of the
arm, and partly by a slight fullness or swell on the inner faces of the rings
about opposite the letter m in Figures 1, 4, and 5, the convexity of the
heads of the bobbin preventing it from slipping out between the swell on the
rings.
I will now describe the combined operations of the rotating hoop F, the
needle, and the bobbin G in sewing. To commence the operation the
needle is threaded and the end of thread from the bobbin is drawn off far
enough to enable it to pass a short distance through the needle hole in the
plate B and held between the finger and thumb, or otherwise suitably secured
until the first stitch is made. The machine being now set in operation the
needle carries the thread through the cloth in the form of a loop in the usual
manner, and after it has completed its downward movement and risen far
enough to throw out the outer side of the loop of its thread, the rotation of the
hoop in the direction of its point 6, indicated by an arrow in Figures 1, 4, and 5
carries the said point between the needle and the thrown-out part of the loop,
as shewn in Fig. 1, and as the rotation of the hoop proceeds while the needle
rises the hook e catching in the loop, as shewn in Fig. 4, extends it over the
hoop and carries it over the bobbin, as indicated in Fig. 5, one side of the
loop passing over the inner side of the hoop and bobbin, and the other side of
the loop over the outer side of the hoop and bobbin. By the time the hook
has passed the lowest point of the bobbin and carried the loop past the centre
thereof, as shown in Fig. 5, the needle has again descended so far that its eye
is about entering the cloth, and as the descent of the needle and rotation of
the hoop continue the doubling of the thread and formation of a new loop
below the cloth causes the old or first-mentioned loop to be drawn off the
hook e and caught by the bobbin thread. In the further continued rotation
of the hoop its point approaching the needle passes behind or inside of the
inner side of the old loop before entering the new one, and as the new loop is
extended by the hook e the thread to produce such extension is drawn from

page_text: the old loop, which is thereby drawn up through the opening d of the hoop to
the under side of the cloth bringing with it the locking thread which it has
received within it in slipping off the bobbin G. Every succeeding rotation of
the hoop and movement of the needle produces a repetition of the above-
described operation and with a proper feed movement of the cloth produces a
stitch. One peculiarity in the operation of this rotating hoop as compared
with the rotating hoop of Wheeler and Wilson, and the various rotating rings
employed in sewing machines, is that it passes completely through the loop like
a shuttle, its point entering the loop and the loop slipping off at the opposite
end or heel c, and hence it does not twist the loop like the book or rings of
those machines. Another peculiarity is that it does not spread the loop so
much as the rotating hook, and hence there is not so much thread to take up,
and the thread is consequently subject to less friction. Another peculiarity is
that it requires no adjustable loop check; again, it differs from the rotating
hook in working entirely free of the bobbin, and consequently produces no
friction thereon; and, finally, the said bobbin may be made so much thicker
than that of the Wheeler and Wilson machine that it may contain much
more thread.
The feeding device consists of a longitudinally sliding feed bar M and
an attached rising and falling dog N constructed and applied substantially
like those of the four-motion feed of the Wheeler and Wilson machine, but
instead of the longitudinal feeding movement of the said bar and dog and the
rising movement of the dog being produced by one cam the rising movement
of the dog is produced by a cam Q (Figures 2 and 3) fixed upon the
mandril C in the usual position, and the longitudinal feeding movement of
the bar and dog are produced by a cam P on the further or left-hand end of
the mandril; this cam P is made of a hollow cylindrical form and fitted to the
exterior of a circular flat-sided collar R arranged concentrically upon and
fastened rigidly to the mandril outside of the frame A. The operating portion
of this cam P is an offset p on the side face which is toward the frame A, and
which projects, as shown in Fig. 2, beyond the corresponding face of the
collar R, the said offset acting against a projection 9 on the under side of the
feed bar M, and the corresponding face of the collar R constituting the stop
to the backward movement of the feed bar produced by a spring S attached
to the frame A. A coiled spring is applied around the mandril within the
cam P and between the back of the collar R and the back of the said cam to press
back the cam against an adjusting nut T which is fitted to a screw thread t on
the mandril for the purpose of adjusting the length of feed which depends
on the distance the offset p of the cam projects beyond the face of the

page_text: collar R, the said distance being increased by screwing up the nut and vice
versa. After the feed bar has been moved forward from its stop R by the
action of the offset p of the cam upon the projection 9 on the said bar, the
said projection, whatever the distance the offset projects beyond the face of
the stop R, slides back easily over the receding slope of the back of the offset
until it comes into contact with the face of the stop, and hence meets the stop
without any concussion and consequently without noise.
Figures 11, 12, and 18 of the Drawing show the bobbin for carrying the
locking thread and details thereof which may be briefly described as follows:-
The bobbin is composed of a spool and spool case; the spool G is made of
paper or pasteboard in, say, three pieces, that is, a hollow central eye or
socket as with a wrapper 62 round its central portion so as to form collars and
two convex sides or heads which are slipped and gummed or otherwise
suitably secured on to and over the ends of the socket as that if protruding
beyond the heads may be afterwards pared off; thread put upon this spool
would form an article of merchandise in itself easy of attachment and detach-
ment to and from sewing machines, also dispensing with the usual separate
label signifying the number or quality of the thread, as such may be indicated
by printing or impressing directly upon its paper or pasteboard head, which
latter or which two latter rather being of convex form are stiffened or
restrained from springing and keep the thread from falling down between
the body of it and inner sides of said heads. Such a spool may be used in
the machine by inserting or clamping it between a detachable metal or other
suitable spool case formed of heads & united by screw and socket projections
,, which fit within or through the paper eye a³.
Fig. 14 of the Drawing illustrates a means or method of tightening up the
driving belt to sewing machines by avoiding the shortening and relacing of
the belt to take up slack, and substituting therefor a certain relative arrange-
ment of the driving and driven pulleys in connection with a sliding adjustment
of the bed to or on the table; thus A³ represents the table of the machine,
connected with which should be the driving pulley B; this table carries the
bed A of the machine to which is secured, as usual, the arm D, and connected
with the bed is the driven pulley C3 which is keyed to the shaft C, having its
bearings attached to the bed A. The bed A is set or fixed in an adjustable
manner to the table A2 by means of a screw bolt which passes through a slot
in the bed and is made secure by a thumb nut g³. This arrangement it will
be seen admits of the pulley C³ being slidden or adjusted further from the
driving pulley B when the belt D is required to be tightened up.

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in
Sewing Machines," as communicated to me from abroad, I wish it to be
understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First, the hoop F constructed and operating as above described.
Second, the hoop holder H, constructed and applied in combination with
the rotating hoop and the frame of the sewing machine, substantially as herein
described.
Third, the means described for holding the bobbin within and in proper
relation to but out of contact with the rotating hoop.
Fourth, the arrangement of the adjustable feed cam, stop collar, spring, and
nut, the whole applied to the rotating mandril C or its equivalent, sub-
stantially as herein set forth.
And, lastly, the arrangement above described for providing for the tighten-
ing of the driving belt of sewing machines.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
A. V NEWTON. (L.S.)
AV NEWTON. (LA)