IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Prince, of 4, Trafalgar Square, Charing
Cross, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SEWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 10th July 1868, and dated the 15th January 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Prince at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th January 1863.
I, ALEXANDER PRINCE, of 4, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of certain mechanical arrangements, whereby the
fabric or material to be operated upon is propelled or moved along the needle
plate by the motion of the needle bar, such motion being obtained by the
action of screws or pins operating upon or against projections of metal, glass,
or other hard substance, each presenting either an inclined plane or a curvi-
linear surface to the pins or screws, the projections being attached to and
projecting from the front plate of the machine head, and set at the required
angle.
The screws or pins pass sideways through the needle bar, the point of the
lower screw or pin coming in contact with the top of the lower inclined
plane while the needle is passing through the fabric; thus, by the time the

page_text: needle is at its lowest extremity the lower screw or pin has travelled to tho
bottom of the inclined plane, and propelled or moved the fabric according to
the distance the needle bar has moved. If it is required to make a longer or
shorter stitch in the fabric, the length of such stitch may be regulated by
turning the lower screw or pin from right to left, or vice versâ, or the pins or
projections on the needle bar may be fixtures, and the lower inclined plane
rendered moveable horizontally by sliding in a slot or groove, and being
actuated by a thumb screw.
.
The needle bar is affixed to the vertical guide by a screw or pin passing
through the upper part of both, upon which pin the needle bar swings, so
that after the needle, by its descent, has formed one stitch, upon its rising up
the upper screw or pin comes in contact with the other inclined plane above,
and thus drives the needle bar back to its former perpendicular position ready for
the next stitch. In some cases I propose, in lieu of the projecting planes or
curvilinear surfaces, to substitute a plate having a slot or channel cut length-
wise therein, the upper portion of the slot being straight and the lower portion
being made angular or curvilinear thereto. This plate is to be made in two
divisions, the straight slot being divided or separated from the curvilinear or
angular portion, which are then to be connected together by means of a joint,
whereby the position of the lower portion may be varied with regard to the
upper portion. This plate is to be attached by its upper or straight division
to the front plate of the machine head, and the pin, of the needle bar is to
work within the slot; it will therefore be obvious that by altering the position
of the lower slot, the pin on the side of the needle bar will change the position
of the bar, and regulate the length of the stitch accordingly. The lower slot
may be changed and held in position by regulating screws.
In lieu of the ordinary needle-plate, it is proposed, to substitute a plate of
glass for the purpose of inspecting the progress of the work, so as to see if
the thread is broken, which often occurs without the immediate knowledge of
the operator; also to enable the operator to fix fresh reels or spools, or alter
the tension of the lower thread without the necessity of taking off the driving
band or raising the machine, the plate being moveable; also, for the purpose
of.ascertaining when a knot or irregular surface on the thread is coming from
the lower reel or spool; which would impede the progress of the work.
By the adoption of the glass plate, the under working parts are directly
visible to the operator, who is thus enabled to have full control and manage-
ment thereof, without the necessity of disturbing the machine itself by raising
it, as before-mentioned.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Prince in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th July 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
PRINCE, of 4, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alexander Prince, Her special licence that I, the said Alexander Prince,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Alexander Prince, 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 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alexander Prince, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 mouths next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Prince, do hereby 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 the following
statement:-
.
This Invention consists of certain mechanical arrangements, whereby the
fabric or material to be operated upon is propelled or moved along the needle
plate by the motion of the needle bar, such motion being obtained by the action
of screws or pins operating upon or against projections of metal, glass, or other
hard substance, each presenting either an inclined plane or a curvilinear surface
to the pins or screws, the projections being attached to and projecting from
the front plate of the machine head, and set at the required angle.
The Invention further consists in the substitution of a needle plate of glass
in lieu of metal for the purpose of allowing the operator to inspect the
progress of the work, and also of an improved pressure foot.

page_text: In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Sheet of
Drawings hereto annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference
marked thereon respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a front view of the machine head shewing the needle bar previous
to its descent; Fig. 2 shews the needle-bar at its lowermost position, having
changed its perpendicular situation to one slightly oblique, and having moved
the fabric accordingly for the desired length of stitch; Figs. 3 and 4 are
similar views of the machine head, shewing slight modifications of the fore-
going arrangement; Fig. 5 is a side view of the lower part of the needle bar
and slide, showing that portion n of the bar which comes in contact with the
lower part of the face plate, which is bevelled, as shewn in the Drawing;
and Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a pressure foot with improved regulator
attached. Similar letters of reference denote corresponding parts where such
parts appear at each of the. Figures respectively.
The needle, bar a, a, is suspended from the vertical slide b, b, by a screw
at its upper end, the slide being kept in position; between the face plates c, c',
a screw d passes through the needle bar, the end of the screw coming in
contact, in its descent, with a projecting block e on the face plate c¹, said
block being formed with an inclined plane on its inner surface; thus, when
the screw has reached the bottom of the block, the needle bar has assumed
the position shewn at Fig. 2, and has, consequently, pushed or moved the
fabric the required distance under the pressure foot ready for the next stitch.
The needle bar, in its upward direction, again comes in contact with the
corresponding block f placed in a reversed position on the other face plate c,
the contact being effected by means of the pin or projection g on the needle
bar, the result being that immediately the point of the needle has risen above
the surface of the fabric the needle bar a is caused to resume its original
vertical position in readiness to make the succeeding stitch. It is obvious
that the length of stitch can be regulated to any required degree according to
the extent of the projecting point of the screw d acting against the oblique
surface of the block e.
A slight modification of the foregoing improvement is shewn at Figs. 3
and 4, where, instead of passing the screw d through the needle bar a; it is
worked through a block or stud on the face plate c', and by forming a pro-
jection h on the side of the needle bar the same motion is imparted to it in

page_text: its downward direction as in the former instance. When the needle has
moved the fabric, and is returning upwards, in order to bring the bar again
perpendicular, the lower part of the needle bar comes in contact with the
face plate c, which is bevelled off, as shewn at the part k, in order that when
the needle has reached its highest elevation, it will have been brought back to
its original vertical position.
At Fig. 6 will be seen a new method of regulating the pressure of the foot.
Immediately above the pressure foot a is placed a milled-edged button 6,
tapped with a fémale screw, which works on the lower portion of the leg of
the pressure foot, the leg being provided with a corresponding thread; above
this button is wound a spiral spring reaching to the bottom of the face plate,
as shewn. Thus, by turning the screwed button from right to left, or vice
verså, the pressure upon the fabric may be increased or diminished, as desired.
The spiral or helical spring may, in some instances, be placed upon the flat
bar of the pressure foot, and enclosed in a cavity cut in or between the guide
rod and face plate of the machine head, and the pressure adjusted in the
manner before described.
The lever excentric & serves to raise the pressure foot from the fabric when
it is required to be removed or replaced on the machine. In some instances,
in lieu of the projecting planes or curvilinear surfaces, I substitute a plate
having a slot or channel cut lengthwise therein, the upper portion of the slot
being straight, and the lower portion being made angular or curvilinear
thereto. This plate is to be made in two divisions, the straight slot being
separate from the curvilinear or angular portion; the two are then to be
connected together by a joint or hinge, whereby the angular or curvilinear
-position of the lower portion may be varied with regard to the upper portion.
This plate is to be attached by its upper or straight division to the face plate
of the machine head, and a pin projecting from the back of the needle bar
works in the curvilinear slotted plate, the necessary space being cut out of
the slide guide to permit the free passage or working of the pin; it is there-
fore evident that the needle bar will be compelled to follow the curvilinear or
angular lines of the slotted plate, moving the fabric as in the first instance.
By altering the position of the lower or adjustable portion of the slotted
plate, the length of stitch may be regulated as required, said slotted plate
being held in position by means of a set screw or other suitable fastening.
In lieu of the ordinary metal needle plate, I substitute a plate of glass for the
purpose of allowing the operator to inspect the progress of the work, and also
to observe if the lower thread is broken, which often occurs without the
immediate knowledge of the operator, also to enable the operator to fix fresh

page_text: reels or spools, or alter or regulate the tension of the lower thread, without
the necessity of taking off the driving band or raising the machine; the plate
may be either moveable or fixed, as required.
By the adoption of the glass plate the under working parts are directly
visible to the operator, who is thus enabled to have full control and manage-
ment thereof, without the necessity of disturbing the machine itself, by raising
it, as before mentioned.
Having now described the nature and objects of my said Invention of
Improvements in Sewing Machines," and the manner in which the same is
to be performed, I would remark, in conclusion, that I do not claim any
other portions of machinery for sewing than those described and shewn herein,
as the mode of actuating the needle bar may be effected by many of the well
known methods at present in use, the stitch being completed by an ordinary
looper; but what I claim as my Invention, and desire to be secured to me by
thé herein.in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
Firstly, the mode of moving the fabric under the pressure foot by means of
the motion given to the needle bar, in the manner shewn at Figs. 1 and 2. .
Secondly, the modification thereof described and shewn at Figs. 3 and 4
and 5 for effecting the same purpose.
Thirdly, the application of an adjustable slotted plate, as described, for the
same object.
Fourthly, the methods of regulating the pressure of the foot by means of
the spring and adjusting screw, which said spring may be exposed to view, or
concealed, as herein described and shewn.
And, lastly, the application of a glass plate as a substitute for the
metal needle plate hitherto used, all herein fully specified for the purposes set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Prince, have hereunto set
my hand and séal, this Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
E
ALEX. PRINCE. (L.S.)