IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Seth Ward, of Battersea, in the County of Surrey,
Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Seth Ward at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th February 1860.
I, SETH WARD, of Battersea, in the County of Surrey, Machinist, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of sewing
machine for producing the ordinary lock or shuttle stitch, whereby greater
nicety of adjustment of the tension of the two threads is obtained with
increased certainty of feed.
According to this Invention the lower thread is carried by a spool contained
within an eccentric thread box, which has a reciprocating. circular motion
imparted to it by means of a rack and pinion and toothed wheel, the latter
gearing into corresponding teeth made in the inner edge of the eccentric
thread box. An inclined or tapered nose is formed on the thread box, for the
purpose of catching the needle thread, and opening it for the passage there-
through of the lower thread. The thread box works round a fixed centre
piece or boss, in which is fitted a small tension plate, which is made to rise at

page_text: the proper time, and hold the lower thread against the under surface of the
covering plate, which may be inlaid with a piece of leather or other soft
material at that part. The rising motion of this tension plate is adjusted with
great nicety, by means of an adjusting screw and incline plane, so that the
tension or hold on the thread may be regulated to any desired extent with
great accuracy. A small stud or pin is passed vertically through the fixed
centre piece or boss, and enters the covering plate. This pin serves the two-
fold purpose of always keeping the lower thread on the proper side of the
needle, and of holding the covering plate in its place. The proper tension of
the needle thread is obtained by passing such thread on its way from the
bobbin through the head of a screw, and one or more times round the groove
of the thread of such screw. The tension is regulated by simply turning the
screw more or less, which has the effect of increasing or diminishing the hold
of the thread thereon. A small weight resting upon the bobbin is employed
for slightly retarding its movement. A suitable spring is used for taking up
the slack of the needle thread.
The improved feed motion consists of a roughened plate fitted to the lower
end of a vertical feed bar, which works both horizontally and vertically.. The
horizontal motion which moves the cloth is obtained from an incline on the
needle slide, and the vertical motion for raising the plate from the surface of
the cloth is imparted to the feed bar, by means of a lever and tumbler in
combination with a wiper or tappet fixed to the needle lever. A second
incline on the front of the needle slide acting upon a suitable lever brings back
the feeder to its proper position in readiness for the next stroke or stitch.
Suitable cams carried by a driving shaft are employed for obtaining the various
movements required in the machine. The stand of the machine consists of an
openwork hollow pillar, secured to one end of a hollow base plate, which con-
tains a double-action treadle worked by the heels only of the feet, the toos
resting on a suitable support. This treadle gives motion to a grooved fly-
wheel, round which a gut or band may be passed for transmitting motion to
the cam shaft. This shaft may also be provided with a fly-wheel and handlo
for working the machine by hand, and also carries a clutch pulley for enabling
the machine to be driven by power when preferred....

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Seth Ward in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th
August 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SETH
WARD, of Battersea, in the County of Surrey, Machinist, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty sixty, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Seth Ward, Her special license that I, the said Seth Ward,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Seth Ward, my executors, administrators, or 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 of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Seth
Ward, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Seth Ward, 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,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
sewing machines for producing the ordinary lock or shuttle stitch, whereby
greater nicety of adjustment of the tension of the two threads is obtained with
increased certainty of feed. According to this Invention, the lower thread is
carried by a spool contained within an eccentric thread box, which has a
reciprocating circulation motion imparted to it by means of a rack and pinion
and toothed wheel, the latter gearing into corresponding teeth made in the
inner edge of the eccentric thread box. An inclined or tapered nose is formed
on the thread box for the purpose of catching the loop of the needle thread,
and opening it for the passage therethrough of the lower thread. The thread
box works round a fixed boss, in which is fitted a small tension plate, which is

page_text: made to rise at the proper time and hold the lower thread against the under
surface of the covering plate, which may be inlaid with a piece of leather or
other soft material at that part. The rising motion of this tension plate is
adjusted with great nicety by means of an adjusting screw and inclined plane,
so that the tension or hold on the thread may be regulated to any desired
extent with great accuracy. A small stud or pin is passed vertically through
the fixed centre piece or boss, and enters the covering plate; this pin serves
the twofold purpose of always keeping the lower thread on the proper side of
the needle and of holding the covering plate in its place. The proper tension
of the needle thread is obtained by passing such thread on its way from the
bobbin through the head of a screw, and one or more times round the groove
of the thread of such screw. The tension is regulated by simply turning the
screw more or less, which has the effect of increasing or diminishing the hold
of the thread thereon. A small weight resting upon the bobbin is employed
for slightly retarding its movement; a suitable spring is used for taking up
the slack of the needle thread. The feed motion consists of a roughened
plate made in two parts binged to the lower end of a vertical feed bar, which
works both horizontally and vertically. The horizontal motion which moves
the cloth is obtained from an incline on the needle slide, and the vertical
motion for raising the plate from the surface of the cloth is imparted to the
feed bar by means of a lever and tumbler in combination with a wesser or
tappet fixed to the needle lever. A second incline on the front of the needle
slide acting upon a suitable lever brings back the feeder to its proper position
in readiness for the next stroke or stitch. Suitable cams carried by a driving
shaft are employed for obtaining the various movements required in the
machine.
.
According to one arrangement, the stand of the machine may consist of
open-work hollow pillar screwed to one end of a hollow base plate, which
contains a double-action treddle worked by the heels only of the feet, the toes
resting on a suitable support. This treddle gives motion to a grooved fly-
wheel, round which a gut or band may be passed for transmitting motion to
the cam shaft. This shaft may also be provided with a fly-wheel and handle
for working the machine by hand, and may also carry a clutch pulley for
enabling the machine to be driven by power when preferred.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I
shall refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.

page_text: Figure 1 of the Drawing represents side elevation and partial section of
my improved sewing machine; Figure 2 is a corresponding plan of the same;
Figure 3 is a plan of the under side of the table, shewing the mechanism at
that part; and the rest of the Figures are details which I shall herein-after fully
describe and refer to.
A is the table of the machine provided with suitable supports B, B, and:
having an overhanging bracket C cast thereon. The main driving shaft D
passes transversely through the table, and is fitted with a fly-wheel E and
band pulley F, the latter being used when the machine is to be driven by:
steam or other power; when driven by hand a handle may be fitted on to the
fly-wheel. G is a metal disc keyed on to the main shaft D, and having cam
grooves H and I made in each lateral face, whilst a projecting rim K is
formed on a portion of its perephery. This disc with its cam grooves and
projecting rim imparts the whole of the necessary movements to the sewing:
mechanism of the machine. In the groove H works an antifriction roller,
carried by the vertical arm of the bell-crank lever L; this lever vibrates on a
fixed centro M in the bracket C, and its horizontal arm imparts the up-and-
down motion to the needle slide N, which works in suitable guides in the end
of the bracket, and is connected with the lever L by means of the stud a,
which takes into a slot formed in the end of that lever, as is clearly shewn in
Figure 1. The needle thread b, coloured red in the Drawings, is contained on
the bobbin O, which is carried by a stud P coinciding with the working centre
of the needle lever L. Q is a weighted friction lever hinged to a boss on the
stud carrying the lever L, and bearing upon the surface of the bobbin, so as to
prevent it from overrunning when the thread is drawn off in the operation of
sewing. From this bobbin the thread passes through the head of the tension
pin R carried by the lever L, and is wound one or more times in a spiral,
groove in the tension pin, according to the amount of tension required. This
tension is easily regulated by turning the pin by means of its milled head,
which will have the effect of increasing or diminishing the number of coils
round the pin, and so adjusting the tension of the thread. S is a slight spring,
through an eye in the free end of which the thread passes before being passed
through the guide eye C in the end of the needle lever and through the eye of
the needle, which is of the ordinary construction used in sewing machines. Tho
object of the spring S is to take up the slack during the descent of the needle.
The under or shuttle thread is carried by a small spool d fitted inside the
eccentric thread box T, shewn in detail, under side plan, and transverso
section respectively at Figures 4 and 5. This thread passes out through a
holo made in the lid or cover of the thread box, its desired tension being

page_text: obtained by means of suitable mechanism which I shall hereafter describe. A
. circular aperture U (Figure 4) is made eccentrically in the thread box, and
round its lower edge are formed a series of teeth d, shewn clearly in Figure 4.
This aperture fits accurately a stationary boss V fixed into a recess or chamber
made in the table A, and serving as a centre round which the thread box
reciprocates. A circular reciprocating motion is imparted to the thread box
by the toothed wheel or driver W (Figures 1, 4, and 5,) which gears into the
internal teeth of the thread box. The driver W is carried by a vertical
spindle X rotating in the piece Y, screwed on to the under side of the table,
and this spindle is provided at its lower end with a pinion Z, to wbich motion
is given alternately in opposite directions by means of the horizontal recipro-
cating rack e, shewn clearly in Figure 3. fare guides for maintaining the rack
in position, and g is a link which connects the end of the rack to the oscillating
supporting lever arm h, working on a fixed centre at i; the head of this arm
at the point of junction with the link g is provided with an antifriction roller,
which works in the cam groove I. The proper tension of the shuttle or under
thread is obtained by means of the button or tension plate k, the stem of
which is passed through the boss V and driver spindle, and projects a short
distance below the pinion Z. At each stitch the thread is extended across the
surface of the tension plate, which latter is made to rise at the proper time,
and grip the thread with more or less pressure by forcing it against a pad, or
a polished surface of any suitable material, inlaid in the under surface of the
covering plate l, thereby imparting the desired tension to the shuttle thread at
the precise time required, namely, at the ascent of the needle and tightening
of the stitch. The rising of the tension plate is effected in the following
manner: The lower end of its stem rests upon and is supported by the bar m,
Fig. 1, which is bevelled or inclined at one end, and is jointed by a pin at n
to the link o suspended from the under side of the table A. The bevelled end
of the bar m rests upon the reversed bevelled end of a sliding bar P, which
slides longitudinally through the fixed supports q, q, and is held in contact with
the projecting rim or cam surface K of the disc G by a helical spring r; as
this disc rotates the cam surface K pushes forward the sliding bar p, the
bevelled end of which by sliding under the bevelled end of the bar m clevates
that end of the bar, and consequently raises the tenison plate K, and holds
the thread with more or less firmness against the under side of the covering
plate, until the passage of the cam surface K releases the bar p, and allows
it to be slid back again to its original position by the action of the spring r,
when the tenison plate descends by its own gravity, and releases the thread.
In order to regulate the lift of the tenison plate, and consequent grip on the

page_text: thread, the adjusting screw t is turned more or less, which has the effect of
slightly raising or lowering, as the case may be, the free end of the bar m, and
with it the tension plate, and as the bar p always travels the same distance, it
follows that at its next stroke the tenison plate will rise higher or lower
according to the direction in which the adjusting screw has been turned. A
small spring u serves to hold the link o against the end of the adjusting screw.
The feed motion is derived entirely from the needle actuating mechanism. It
is represented in detail at Figs. 6, 7, and 8, and consists of two plates v, having
their under surfaces roughened or serrated, and being binged or jointed to the
lower end of the vertical feed bar w, suspended from the knife-edge end of the
lever, herein-after referred to. This bar bas a horizontal or lateral vibratory
motion imparted to it, as well as a vertical or up-and-down motion. The
borizontal motion, which serves to move the cloth along, is derived from an
incline y on the inner side of the needle slide, which as the latter rises,
presses against the end of the stitch regulating screwz, and forces out the bar
laterally, at the same time carrying the cloth along with it, the roughened feed
plates being kept pressed down upon the surface of the cloth by the helical
spring 1, contained within the head of the overhanging bracket. The amount
of this lateral traverse is of course capable of regulation, so as to produce
longer or shorter stitches, as desired, by causing the screw to protrude a
longer or shorter distance through the feed bar. On arriving at the end of its
stroke, the bar is elevated slightly, so as to lift the feed plates from off the
surface of the cloth, and in this elevated position it is returned back again
laterally, so as to be in readiness for the next traverse, before effecting which
it is allowed to drop down, so as to bring the feed plates again in contact with
the surface of the cloth. The rising of the feed bar is effected by means of
the lever x, shown in Figures 1, 2, and 8, which works on a fixed centre pin 2
in the bracket C. 3 is a tumbler, carried by the bracket, and bearing upon
the end of the lever x, a spiral spring being fitted on to its axis for the purpose
of maintaining it in its proper position when not acted upon. On the needle
lever L is fitted a wiper or taffet 4, the head of which is so shaped as to catch
and draw down the tumbler 3. on descending, and with it the end of the
feeding lever, thereby clevating the feed bar and roughened plates, during
which time the descent of the needle slide brings the incline 5 against the
tail 6 of the lever 7, which is centred at 8, and bears at its opposite end.
against a pin 9, projecting from the side of the feed bar, and consequently
pushes that bar inwards, and returns the roughened feed plates back again
towards the needle, so as to be in readiness for the next stroke. During the
upward motion of the needle lever L, the wiper or taffet passes the end of the

page_text: tumbler freely, without influencing the lever. 2, which has already been
released by the passage of the wiper, and allow of the descent again of the
-feed plates on to the cloth at the starting point of the feed.
.
By this arrangement the use of a separate pressing or stripper plate is
obviated, as the feeding plates answer the twofold purpose of holding down the
cloth and feeding the same, and are slotted to allow of the passage of
the needle between them. A spring hook 10 is fitted to the feeding bar for
the facility of keeping it elevated when out of action. I may here observe
that I am aware that it has already been proposed to feed and to hold down
the cloth by feed bars in some respects similar, and therefore I lay no claim
to that principle.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of machinery
or apparatus for stitching or uniting fabrics, as herein-before described, and
illustrated by my Drawings.
Second, the combination is sewing machines employing two threads of an
eccentric thread box with a fixed boss and tension plate, as herein-before
described.
Third, the peculiar mechanism for driving or actuating the eccentric thread
box, is herein-before described.
Fourth, the peculiar mechanism for actuating the tenison plate, and of
regulating its grip or hold on the under or shuttle thread, as herein-before
described.
Fifth, the peculiar mechanism for actuating the feeding bar, as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Seth Ward, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.