AN IMPROVED COMBINATION SEWING MACHINE
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Silas Covell Salisbury, of Essex Street, Strand, in
the City of Westminster, Gentleman, and James Starley, of Lewisham,
in the County of Kent, Mechanic, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
COMBINATION SEWING MACHINE."
Sealed the 24th October 1861, and dated the 25th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Silas Covell Salisbury
and James Starley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 25th April 1861.
We, SILAS COVELL SALISBURY, of Essex Street, Strand, in the City of
Westminster, Gentleman, and JAMES STARLEY, of Lewisham, in the County
of Kent, Mechanic, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED COMBINATION SEWING MACHINE," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to adapt sewing machines to produce at the
will of the attendant either the shuttle stitch or the double chain stitch. To this
end we construct a shuttle machine with the shuttle race in a line with the
bracket arm that carries the vertical needle and presser (instead of, as is
usual, at right angles thereto), and both the shuttle carriage and the vertical
needle we operate by means of slotted rock levers driven by a crank pin,
working in the slots of these rock levers. To admit of this shuttle machine
being adapted to make the double-chain stitch, we attach to the slotted lever

page_text: that gives the up-and-down motion to the vertical needle a hinge piece, which
forms a kind of gate for shutting off a portion of the slot, and thus so far
changing the action of the crank pin on the vertical needle rock lever as to
produce the requisite change of movement of that needle to suit the operations
of the horizontal needle which is to be substituted for the shuttle. This
hinged piece may be readily thrown into and out of action as desired. The
box frame or plate which carries the shuttle race we form so that it may
readily receive a guide plate, which when applied is fixed thereto. In this
guide plate works a slide, which carries at its extremity the horizontal needle
that is to form with the vertical needle the chain stitch, and from the under
side of this slide projects a guide pin, through which the traverse motion is
transmitted to the needle. This needle stands at right angles to the shuttle
race, and when it is to be used the shuttle is removed from the machine and
a slotted needle guide plate is laid on the shuttle carriage, and receives a
traverse motion therefrom for the purpose of working the horizontal needle.
Into the slot in this plate the guide pin on the traversing horizontal needle
(which is laid across the path of the shuttle) is dropped. A rocking finger
mounted at the side of the shuttle race is used to hold open the loop of the
horizontal needle for the vertical needle to enter. This rocking finger is
actuated by a sliding rod, which transmits to the shuttle carriage the recipro-
cating motion of the slotted rock lever before mentioned. Stops are put on
this sliding rod to work against the tail of a lever attached to a short vertical
spindle which carries the rocking finger. The pressing foot is operated by a
spring on a rocking lever mounted on the bracket arm of the machine. This
spring enters a horizontal slot in the top of the pressure stem, and serves both
to lift and press the presser foot. Au arm jointed to the presser stem is
raised by a pin on the needle bar, and brought into contact with a fixed wedge
for the purpose of throwing forward the presser foot, and producing the feed
motion. The rocking lever that carries the flat spring is operated by a pin
on the needle arm bearing upon its tail end, whereby a lengthened pressure
is given to the presser foot. At the downward motion of the needle bar this
pin passes behind a hinged piece carried by the tail of the rock lever, and
raises the spring, thereby causing it to lift the foot clear of the fabric under
operation. The pin then passes to a part of the lever inclined in a reverse
direction, and throws down the spring into a pressing position.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Silas Covell Salisbury and James Starley in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th October 1961.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SILAS
COVELL SALISBURY, of Essex Street, Strand, in the City of Westminster,
Gentleman, and JAMES STARLEY, of Lewisham, in the County of Kent
Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Silas Covell Salisbury aud James Starley, Her special license that we, the
said Silas Covell Salisbury and James Starley, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Silas Covell Salisbury and James
Starley, our 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 "AN IMPROVED COMBINATION
SEWING MACHINE," upon the condition (amongst others) that we the said
Silas Covell Salisbury and James Starley, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 Silas Covell Salisbury, on behalf of
myself and of the said James Starley, do hereby declare the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention is to adapt sewing machines to produce at the
will of the attendant either the shuttle stitch or the double chain stitch. To
this end we construct a shuttle machine with the shuttle race in a line with the
bracket arm that carries the vertical needle and presser (instead of, as is
usual, at right angles thereto), and both the shuttle carriage and the vertical
needle we operate by means of slotted rock levers driven by a crank pin

page_text: working in the slots of these rock levers. To admit of this shuttle machine
being adapted to make the double chain stitch we attach to the slotted lever
that gives the up-and-down motion to the vertical needle, a hinge piece, which
forms a kind of gate for shutting off a portion of the slot, and thus so far
changing the action of the crank pin on the vertical needle rock lever as to
produce the requisite change of movement of that needle to suit the operations
of the horizontal needle which is to be substituted for the shuttle. The
shuttle carriage we employ for giving a traverse motion (at right angles
to the shuttle race) to a slide which carries at its extremity the horizontal
needle that is to form with the vertical needle the chain stitch.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1, Sheet I., shews our improved
combination machine as arranged for producing the ordinary chain stitch;
Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1; Fig. 3
shews in plan view the upper parts of the machine; and Fig. 4 is a vertical
section taken in the line 3, 4, of Fig. 1.
A, A, is the ordinary hollow bracket arm, carrying at its forward end the
vertical needle and presser foot as usual. This bracket arm is bolted to a
foundation plate or table B, B, to the forward end of which a shuttle race C is,
attached. The shuttle race consists of a rectangular trough open at both end
and covered by sliding plates a, a. It is fixed immediately above and parallel
with the table B, in which a slot or longitudinal opening is cast to allow of the
free movement of a reciprocating bar D, the outer extremity of which projects
up into a slot formed in the bottom of the shuttle race to receive a pin which
secures the bar D to the shuttle carriage E. Into this carriage fits (when
the chain stitch is required to be produced) a guide plate F, (see Fig. 2) which
is traversed to and fro by the reciprocating bar D, and is intended to impart
the requisite backward and forward movements to the horizontal needle. The
plate F is slotted from end to end to receive a pin b projecting from the
slide c, which carries at its inner end the horizontal needled. This slide works
in a guide e, which lies across the shuttle race and attached thereto, but so as
to be readily removable therefrom when not required to be used. The bar D
is coupled by a link to a pendent slotted arm D', contained within the hollow
bracket arın A, and having its fulcrum at D' on that arm. In the slot of this
swinging arm works a crank pin G projecting from a disc G¹, mounted on the
main driving shaft of the machine, and it is through the rotation of this crank
pin that the horizontal needle d and also the vertical needle receive their
appropriate movements. The vertical needle shewn at is attached by a bolt
and nuty to a vertical sliding bar H, which works in a guide box I, at the
front end of the bracket arm. On the side of this bar H is a stud h, which is

page_text: embraced by the forked end of a bent rock lever K having its fulcrum within
the hollow bracket arm. The lower end of thi: rock lever is slotted, as
shewn at Fig. 1, and it is fitted with a swinging piece or gate K', the object
of which is to shut off a portion of the slot and at the same time open another
portion, and thereby to confine the crank pin G (which works in this slotted
lever, also for the purpose of imparting a rocking motion thereto), at one time
to one part of the slot and at another time to another in order to vary the
rocking motion to suit the movements which the vertical needle is required to
make, according to whether it is working in combination with a second needle
as shewn in the Drawing, or with a shuttle, as will be hereafter explained.
The presser foot L which holds down the work on the table B while the stitch
is being formed, and also feeds forward the work at the completion of each
stitch, is operated by a cam M on the driving shaft of the machine. Into the
groove of this cam M projects a pin from the arm of a rock lever N, the other
eud of which carries a crank arm N' that bears against the under side of a stud
projecting from the back of the presser foot stem. This crank arm has a
pendent limb N, which is fitted with a horizontal projecting pin, and on the
back of the presser stem is a crank arm L', which carries at its upper end a
regulating screw L³, which bears against the bracket arm A. As, therefore,
the lever N is rocked by the cam M the presser will be lifted off the work. A
backward movement is now given to the presser by means of the coiled
spring, which by reason of its position has a tendency to pull forward the
upper end of the presser stem as well as to keep the presser foot in contact
with the work when released from the upward thrust of the lever N'. The
amount of this backward movement, which must be equal to the length of
stitch required to be made, is determined by the adjusting screw L. As the
rocking arm N' is withdrawn from the pin on the presser stem, the pin on the
pendent limb N will strike against the cranked arm L', and thereby move
forward the presser, which being at the time held down upon tho work by
the coiled spring 1, will carry forward the work a distance equal to one
stitch in length.
It will now be understood that the machine being arranged as shewn in the
Drawing, that is, with a second needle working at right angles to the shuttle
race, and a portion of the groove of the rock lever K being shut off to ensure
the proper dwell and movements of the vertical needle, on rotary motion being
given to the machine the vertical needle f (threaded from the bobbin O) will
pierce the work, and form a slack loop below the work as usual; the horizontal
needle d (threaded from the bobbin Q) will then advance, enter the slack loop
of the needle f, and wait until the next descent of the vertical needle, which

page_text: will in turn enter a loop formed by the locking thread of the horizontal needle,
and retain that loop on its stem while the needle d is preparing to enter a
second slack loop of the vertical needle. In order, however, to ensure the
vertical needle entering the loop of the horizontal needle, a rocking finger i is
mounted at the side of the shuttle race, whose office is to hold open the loop
of the horizontal needle for the vertical needle to enter. This rocking finger
is attached to a short vertical shaft i', which is supported by a bracket bearing
on the side of the shuttle race. Keyed to the lower end of this shaft is an
arm, the inner end of which projects between two stops formed by bending
down at right angles the ends of a brass plate ³, attached to the under side of
the sliding bar D. As, therefore, this sliding bar transmits to the shuttle
carriage E the requisite reciprocating motion for traversing the slotted plate F
pass the pin of the horizontal needle slide c, thereby giving the to-and-fro
motion to that needle (at right angles to the course of the shuttle carriage)
the finger i will be caused to draw out the locking thread, and present a large
loop to the doscending needle, which that needle cannot fail to enter. The
seizing of the locking thread by the finger i is effected when the needle d is
in the advanced position shewn by dots at Fig. 2, and it retains its hold until
the needle has receded nearly to the position indicated by red line, by which
time the vertical needle will have descended and caught the locking thread on
its stem. By this arrangement, therefore, it will be understood that the
ordinary chain stitch may be efficiently produced.
If now it be desired to resort to the shuttle stitch, which is better suited
than the chain stitch for certain classes of work (from the fact of both sides of
the scam having the same appearance) all that is requisite is to remove the
guide e, with its needle slide c, lift out the guide or cam plate F from the
shuttle carriage E, and insert a shuttle in place thereof; then to close
the sliding cover of the shuttle box, and finally to shift the gate K', incving it
away from the stop pink of the lever K, and thereby opening the portion of
the slot before closed against the traverse of the crank pin G. By these
changes the machine will assume the appearance shewn in Sheet II., where
Fig. 5 is a side elevation partly in section, Fig. 6 is a partial plan view, and
Fig. 7 is a cross section of the shuttle box. The action of the machine so
arranged will be precisely similar to that of the ordinary shuttle machine. To
provide for the requisite slackening and tension of the needle thread f, which
is drawn from the bobbin O, the thread is passed first through a fixed eye m
on the arm A (see Fig. 5), then up through an eye in a rocking arm P,
which has its fulcrum on the bracket arm A, and thence to the needle. This
arm P (the fulcrum of which is in advance of that of the lever K) is actuated

page_text: by a pin on that lever, which pin projects through a segment slot formed in
the bracket arm, and bears against the under side of the arm P. As,
therefore, the lever K rocks to lift and depress the needle, the arm P will
rise and fall with it but with a superior speed, thus giving off or taking up
the thread at the requisite moment, and thereby ensuring both a full slack
loop and a tight stitch.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "An Improved
Combination Sewing Machine," and explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, we wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent we claim arranging sewing machines as above
described, whereby they are free to receive indifferently a shuttle or a second
needle for the purpose above set forth.
In witness whereot, I, the said Silas Covell Salisbury, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
SILAS COVELL SALISBURY. (L.S.)