IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1866

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 com-
munication from abroad by Elias Howe, junior, of the City of New York,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th October 1866.
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 consists in the introduction to sewing machines of certain
improvements in details intended chiefly to facilitate the threading up of such
machines. To this end, instead of fitting the face plate of the guide box (in
which the needle bar slides) with eyes of bent wire to guide the thread down
to the needle, headed pins are used round which the thread' is laid as it passes
to and from the spring thread controller. To keep the thread clear of the
grease on the needle bar a stud with a nick to receive the thread pro-
jects from the side of the needle bar, and the face plate is slotted to allow
of this stud playing up and down. The needle bar is slotted ver-
tically near its lower end to receive the thread and guide it vertically down to
the eye of the needle, and to facilitate the admission of the thread into this
slot' a curved lateral slot is formed extending from the vertical slot out-
Poire 8d1

page_text: wards and downwards to the extremity of the bar; the bar at this part is
moreover bevilled off. By this arrangement the thread led down from the
headed pins round which it is readily lapped is as easily laid in the vertical
guide and retained in a line with the groove in the needle when the same is in
operation.
For operating the presser the lifter which embraces a wing on the presser
bar is fitted with two inclined planes, one of which serves to lift the presser as
usual, while the other by continuing the action of the lifter gives the presser
bar an axial movement to turn the presser foot away from the needle. In revers-
ing the movement of the lifter a finger presses against the wing of the presser bar
and turns it to its normal position.
In machines using the Howe shuttle, for which William Edward Newton ob-
tained Letters Patent on behalf of the Inventor, dated Jany. 17th, 1859, No. 141,
it is proposed to make the butt of the shuttle where the driver prong comes in
contact with it somewhat flat to allow of a broader contact surface between the
shuttle and the driver than has been usual with those shuttles, thereby rendering
the parts more durable and enabling the shuttle to be driven with a more direct
thrust than heretofore.
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
11th April 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 Eleventh day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, 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, excrcise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Island,, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," being a communication from Elias Howe,

page_text: junior, of the City of New York, United States of America, upon the con-
dition (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 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 in the introduction to sewing machines of certain
improvements in the construction of certain details, the objects being to facilitate
the threading up of such machines, and to simplify the lifting and turning of the
presser foot.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of so much of a
sewing machine as will serve to explain the application of the improvements;
Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same; and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the guide
box with the needle bar and presser bar in place, and shewing also the parts
connected therewith.
In order to provide increased facilities for threading up the machine, the
face plate A of the guide box (in which the needle bar B and presser bar C
slide), instead of being fitted with eyes of bent wire to guide the thread down
to the needle, has inserted in it two headed pins a, a, around which the thread.
is laid as it passes to and from the loop of the coiled take-up spring D. From
the head of the pin a' an arm projects downwards so as to prevent the slack
thread from slipping over the head of the pin, and yet offering no obstruction
to the threading up of the machine. To keep the thread clear of the grease
on the needle bar, a stud b with a nick to receive the thread projects from the
side of the needle bar, and the face plate is slotted vertically to allow of this
stud playing up and down. In a line with the nick in the stud b the needle
bar is slotted in a vertical direction near its lower end to form a passage
through the bar for the thread and to guide it to the stem on its way down to
the eye of the needle, and to facilitate the admission of the thread into this
slot a curved lateral slot is formed extending from the vertical slot outwards
and downwards to the extremity of the bar; the bar at this part is, moreover,
bevilled off. By means of this arrangement it will be understood that the
thread. led down from the headed pins round which it is readily lapped' is

page_text: easily laid in the vertical guide, and it is retained in a line with the groove in
the needle when the same is in operation.
The means employed for lifting the presser foot from the work is adapted to
give an axial motion to the bar C in order to turn the presser foot when
desired away from the needle. The lifter shewn at E is a kind of screw cam
surrounding the presser bar, and operated by means of a handle which forms
a part thereof; this lifter E is made to embrace a wing c on the presser bar,
and it is formed with two inclined planes connected by a step (shewn best at
Fig. 4). One of these inclined planes serves to lift. the presser off the work
as is usual with rotating cam lifters, and the step retains it in a sufficiently
elevated position to allow of the adjustment of the work on the table; the
other incline will, on continuing the action of the lifter, further raise the presser
bar until the wing c (the lower end of which projects into a slot in the guide
box) is clear of the guide box; the bar C will then through the lateral
pressure put on the wing give an axial movement to the bar, and thus turn
the presser foot away from the needle into the position shewn in the plan view,
Fig. 3. In reversing the movements of the lifter, a finger or point of the lifter
will strike against the opposite face of the wing of the presser bar and return
it to its normal position.
. Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in Sew-
ing Machines," as communicated to me from abroad, and explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above
in part recited Letters Patent, I claim,―
First, the means above described for facilitating the threading up of sewing
machines.
• And, secondly, the arrangement above described' for lifting and turning the
presser foot.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. IV. NEWTON. (L.S.)