CERTAIN THOROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
mon
for the Invantion of is CERTAIN THOROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
t
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st October 1856.
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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in effecting the necessary movements of the shuttle
and of the feeding plate of sewing machines by devices having a positive
motion, the object being first to impart such a motion to the shuttle that it
shall move faster while going through the loop than in travelling back,
thereby increasing the time for taking up the slack of each stitch, and
requiring less stopping of the needle while the shuttle is passing through the
loop; secondly, to vary the length of the stitch at pleasure by adjusting the
length of the feed motion. For this purpose a swinging ellipse is used as
a shuttle thrower, it being supported at its lower end on a fixed pivot, and a

page_text: rocking motion being given to it by a cam on the driving or other rotating
shaft of the sewing machine. The rotating cam works within the swinging
ellipse, and in such manner that when the cam is bearing upon it near its
pivot, the ellipse) will move the shuttle faster or through a larger space in a
given time than when it is bearing upon the other parts. The feeding plate
by which the work is traversed forward is affixed to an arm, which is jointed
to a rock shaft, and at its opposite end carries a bowle, which works in the
groove of a cam on the driving shaft. The rock shaft receives its motion
from the cam through a crank rod; which is jointed to an adjustable hollow
telescopic rod carried by the rock shaft; the rotation, therefore, of the cam
imparts to the feeding plate the compound motion required. By jointing the
connecting or crank rod to a box or lug carried by the cam, and adjustable
by screws, so as to vary the amount of its excentricity, the length of the feed
motion, and consequently the length of the stitch, may also be regulated at
pleasure.
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 1st April 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County, 2
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting."
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her' heirs and successors, give and grant: unto me, the-saidi 2
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said: Alfred Vincent!
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns; or such others as' I;. thei
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
thereafter during the term therein expressed; shouldiand¹lawfully might make, a
use, exercise, and vend within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man; an Invention for IMPROVE
MENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY," being a communication from abroad; upon the
condition (amongst others) that I; the said Alfred Vincent Newton; by an
instrument in writing under 'my hand; and seal should particularly describe a
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention; and in whati manner the same:

page_text: 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, Drawings hereunto annexed;
and to the letters and figures.marked thereoni (that is to.say.) :-
I This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent;
consists in effecting the necessary movements of the shuttle and feeding plate
of sewing machines by devices having a positive.. motion, the object being,
first, to impart such a motion to the shuttle that it shall move faster while
going through the loop than in travelling back, thereby extending the time
for taking up the slack of each stitch, and requiring less stopping of the
needle while the shuttle is passing through the .loop; and, secondly, to vary
the length of the stitch .at pleasure by adjusting the length of the feed.
motion.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 represents in.. longitudinal vertical
section a sewing machine constructed' according to this Invention; Fig. 2 is
a transverseivertical section of the same, taken in the plane of the line A, B,:
(Fig. 1); and Figures: 3; 4; 5, and 6 are views of parts.in detail, to be herein-
after referred to: a, a, a, represent the framework of the machine;.b,' b, is:
the driving shaft; .and.c, the fly-wheel or drum; d is a grooved cam secured
to the shaft, and giving motion to the ineedle e (shewn by dotted lines in
Fig. 1) through the right angular lever fif, turning on a fulcrum at g, and
the vertical. needle holder or bar at h; h. A positive motion is imparted to.
the feeding plate it, as follows:-The feeding plate i is attached to or forms:
a part of an arm k (Fig. 4); which armis, attached by a pivot joint. to a
projection mof a rock shaft::n, n, (Fig. 1). To this rock shaft n, n, is
attached a vertical shaft o, o, (Figures 1,. 3, and 4), to which is secured a
connecting rod p, that is actuated by a cam iq on the main shaft b, b. The:
bent portion r of the arm k, k, before referred to, has on it a .roller or stud's,
that plays in the cam-shaped groove ct, t, formed on the face of the.cam 9.
From this description it will be iseen. that by the revolution of the cam q the
feeding plate i will, through the connecting rod p, p, vertical shaft o, o, and
arm k, receive a positive forward and back motion, and as the pivot joint /
projects beyond the rock shaft n, n, a lever power will be secured. The vertical
or up and down motion of the feeding plate i is effected by means of the cam-
shaped groove.t, t, and stud s, thereby bringing the feeding plate and cloth

page_text: against the spring clamp plate u (Fig. 1). It will be observed by inspection
of Fig. 4 that by the shape of the cam 9 the rise and fall of the feeding
plate i, i, is effected while the connecting rod p, p, that moves the rocker
shaft n, n, is passing dead points. The distance that the feeding plate i
traverses, and consequently the length of the stitch, is regulated at will in a
positive manner by varying the position of either end of the connecting rod P
with regard to the centre of the cam q.
The devices for effecting this adjustment are represented in Figures 3.
and 4. On the interior of the vertical shaft o, o, that moves the rock
shaft n, n, and arm k, is formed a female screw v, v, (Fig. 3), in which is
moved up or down at pleasure a screw shaft w, w, thereby raising or lowering
a loose collar or hollow shaft y, to which one end of the connecting rod p is
attached, thus the length of the feed motion and the length of the stitch can
be regulated at will.
In Fig. 6 another mode of adjustment is shewn, the position of the opposite
end of the connecting rod being varied at pleasure by means of a sliding
box moved in either direction by set screws P, F.
With respect to the arrangement for giving a positive motion to the shuttle,
I would remark that I am aware that shuttles have already received a positive:
motion, but by the present improvement, in which the shuttle has a short:
reciprocating rectilinear motion by positive means, the shuttle is made to
travel faster in going through the loop than in travelling back, thereby:
enabling the machine to sew more rapidly, as no delay to the needle occurs
while the shuttle is passing through the loop. This arrangement also gives
more time for pulling up the slack of each stitch. This peculiar movement
is imparted to the shuttle a', a', (Figures 2.and 5) by means of an excentric
shuttle thrower 61, 61, of an elliptical shape, turning on a pivot or bearing c¹
at its lower end, and actuated by a cam d on the driving shaft b, b. By
inspection of Fig. 2 it will be seen that when the cam d¹ bears on the part
of the shuttle thrower b', 6', nearest its pivot c', the shuttle a', a', will be
moved through a longer space in the same time, or the same space in a
quicker time, than when the cam d¹ is at the most remote point from its
pivot c¹, thereby causing the shuttle to travel faster in passing through the
loop than in going back; the ease and certainty of operation obtained by this
mode of throwing the shuttle will be readily apparent. The thread e, e¹, is
conducted from a spool or cop f¹ once or twice around a secondary spool or
pulley g', to which friction is applied by a spring h¹ (shewn by dotted lines in
Fig. 1). By the ordinary mode employed of conducting the thread from a
spool to the needle, it prevents the thread from receiving a uniform tension,

page_text: as the spool is of varying diameters when full, and when partially exhausted
of its thread, and the only means heretofore employed has been to lessen the
friction upon the spool of thread as it lessened in diameter. By the present
arrangement the thread makes one or two turns only around the pulley g',
upon which a constant and uniform friction is maintained. The result is,
keeping the thread to a uniform degree of tension at all times.
Having thus set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in
Sewing Machinery," as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be under-
stood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,—
First, the combination of a swinging ellipse as a shuttle thrower hung on
a pivot, with a cam on the driving or other rotating shaft so operating with
the swinging ellipse, that when the cam is bearing upon it near its pivot the
ellipse will move the shuttle faster or through a larger space in a given time
than when it is bearing upon the other parts, for the several purposes herein
above set forth.
Secondly, I claim the combination of the rock shaft, rocking arm k, and
connecting rod with the grooved cam for giving the required motions to the
feeding plate, substantially as described.
And, thirdly, I claim the means above explained for varying the length of
the feed motion, and consequently the length of the stitch, at pleasure.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the First day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)