IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Whight, of Ipswich, in the County of
Suffolk, Surveyor, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES." A communication from abroad by Theodore Stuart Wash-
burn, of Rochester, in the State of New York, United States.
Sealed the 9th July 1861, and dated the 12th January 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Whight at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
January 1861.
I, GEORGE WHIGHT, of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, Surveyor, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES," (being a communication to me from abroad by Theodore Stuart
Washburn, of Rochester, in the State of New York, United States,) to
be as follows:
This Invention relates to machines intended to produce the interloop stitch.
The needle is worked by a crank motion from the main driving shaft through
an adjustable fulcrum, so as in the second part of its motion to feed the cloth
under operation, the length of stitch being regulated by the distance of the
fulcrum from the cloth.
The stitch is formed by means of the combined action of the needle carrying
the under thread, and a hook or claw for holding aside the same, both being

page_text: worked by a horizontal lever on the under side of the bed plate, actuated by a
vertical lever, worked by two cams on the main driving shaft. At the moment
when the loop is formed by the vertical needle in its upward movement, the
horizontal needle carrying the under thread is made to pass between the thread
and the vertical needle by the action of the said horizontal lever, the hook or
claw at the same moment being made to catch the under thread (by means of
a driver on the end of the said lever), and hold the same aside until the ver-
tical needle descends, thereby forming the interloop stitch. The hook or claw
is taken back to its original position by means of a spring fixed to the bed
plate.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Whight in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th July 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
WHIGHT, of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, Surveyor, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of January, 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 me, the said
George Whight, Her special license that I, the said George Whight, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Whight, 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 MA-
CHINES," being a communication from Theodore Stuart Washburn, of Rochester,
in the State of New York, United States, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said George Whight, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 George Whight, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following

page_text: statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention of "Improvements in Sewing Machines" relates to machines
intended to produce the interloop stitch. The needle is worked by a crank
motion from the main driving shaft through an adjustable fulcrum guide, so
as in the second part of its motion to feed the cloth under operation, the length
of stitch being regulated by the distance of the fulcrum guide from the cloth.
By this arrangement the cloth is fed by the movement of the needle only.
The stitch is formed by means of the combined action of the needle carrying
the under thread, and a hook or claw for holding aside the same, both being
worked by a horizontal lever on the under side of the bed plate, actuated by a
vertical lever with a forked end, worked by a double cam on the main driving
shaft. At the moment when the loop is formed by the vertical needle in its
upward movement, the horizontal needle carrying the under thread is made to
pass between the thread and the vertical needle by the action of the said hori-
zontal lever, the hook or claw at the same moment being made to catch the
under thread (by means of a driver on the end of the said lever), and hold the
same aside until the vertical needle descends, thereby forming the interloop
stitch. The hook or claw is taken back to its original position by means of a
spring fixed to the bed plate.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention, I will proceed to
describe more particularly in what manner the same is to be performed by
reference to the accompanying Drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a sido elevation, and Fig. 2 an end elevation of the machine full
size; Fig. 3 is an underneath plan of the bed plate; Fig. 4 represents some
of the parts in different positions to those shewn in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a section
of the main pillar or standard of the machine; and Fig. 6 is a detached view
of the vertical lever for working the horizontal or under needle. In all these
several Figures the same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
A is the bed plate, which is hinged to the base or pedestal B, the latter
being intended to be screwed to the table or support for the machine; C is
the main pillar or standard of the machine carrying a bracket frame D, as
shewn; E is the main driving shaft worked by a band pulley F, and turning
in bearings in the pillar C and frame D. On the end of this shaft is fixed
a disc G for giving motion to the needle bar H, which is connected to the disc
by a screw I passed through it and into the disc, thereby causing this part of
the bar to revolve with the disc; by this means the needle bar H has a crank

page_text: motion imparted to it, and with it the needle J; K. is the fulcrum guide for
the needle, which fulcrum guide may be adjusted to the required distance
from the cloth under operation by moving the carrying plate L (a pin in which
is passed through a slot in the bracket frame D), and fixing it by means of
the adjusting screw M. In this manner the required length may be given to
the stitch by moving the plate L upwards or downwards, and fixing it at the
distance from the cloth which is requisite to give the proper throw to the
needle in its double action of carrying the upper thread through the cloth and
feeding the cloth. It is also to be observed, that the power is applied directly
from the main driving shaft E to the needle bar H, so as to give the required
motion to the needle for feeding the cloth. N is the spool or reel holder for
carrying the upper thread, which is thence passed through an eye in the upper
part of the needle bar to the vertical needle J, the tension of the thread being
regulated by a screw, as shewn; O is the cloth presser, the lower end of which
is pressed down upon the cloth by a spring contained in the box P, the spring
being compressed and the presser raised by acting on the small lever Q; R is
the tightening screw for fixing the needle J in the needle bar.
The description so far relates to the action of the vertical needle carrying
the upper thread, I will now describe that of the horizontal needle carrying the
under thread.
S is a double cam on the shaft E, which by its revolution acts on the forked
end of the lever T, having its fulcrum at U in the pillar C. The lower end of
this lever enters a slot in the horizontal lever V (see Fig. 3), having its fulcrum
at W in the bed plate A. By this means the horizontal lever V will be worked
from the shaft E, and this lever carries the horizontal needle X, which again
carries the under thread. The lever V has a moveable portion, which may be
adjusted and fixed by tightening screws, so as to bring the needle X into its
required position. Y is a hook or claw which turns on a pivot and is made to
catch the under thread and draw it aside, as shewn in Fig. 4, by the action of
the driver Z fixed on the end of the horizontal lever V, the hook or claw being
restored to the position shewn in Fig. 3 (on the return motion of the lever V)
by the spring a; b is the spool for delivering the under thread to the horizontal
needle; c is a hook for guiding the thread; d is a small wire tension spring;
e is another guiding hook; f is a fence or guide fixed in the bed plate for the
purpose of insuring the formation of the loop, in such a manner that the
horizontal needle will always enter the loop formed by the vertical needle.
The action of the machine is as follows:- On the revolution of the shaft E,
the disc G will impart a crank motion to the needle bar H, and cause the
vertical needle J carrying the upper thread to be impelled through the cloth

page_text: in the first part of its movement, then to feed or urge forward the cloth, the
length of a stitch in the second part thereof, and then to rise through the cloth
and return to its original position as the disc G completes its revolution; but
at the moment when the vertical needle J in its upward movement has formed
the loop in the upper thread, the horizontal needle X carrying the under
thread is caused by the movement of the horizontal lever V to pass between
the upper thread, and the vertical needle J thereby entering the loop formed
by the vertical needle, the hook or claw Y being caused (at or near the same
moment by the continued movement of the lever V carrying the driver Z) to
catch the under thread from the horizontal needle X, and hold it aside, as
shewn in Fig. 4, until the vertical needle J descends again, when the hook or
claw Y is restored to the position shewn in Fig. 3, by the pressure of the
spring a on its tail. The parts are now in the position to make another stitch.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I do not claim as of the
Invention communicated to me as aforesaid any of the ordinary parts of sewing
machines referred to in the foregoing description, nor any of the parts con-
sidered separately; but what I do claim as of such Invention is, the combi-
nation of parts, whereby the vertical needle is worked through the motions of
a crank and made to feed the cloth without other mechanism than a fulcrum
guide; and the horizontal needle is worked by a horizontal lever set in motion
by a vertical lever with a forked end worked by a double cam fixed on the main
driving shaft; such horizontal lever also acting upon a hook or claw through
a driver, so as to cause the hook or claw to hold the under thread aside when
the horizontal needle is between the upper thread and the vertical needle until
the descent of the vertical needle, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Whight, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
WILLIAM PEPPER,
Station Road,
Merchant Tailor.
GEORGE WHIGHT. (L.S.)