CERTAIN NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Amos Lawrence Wood, now residing at the Castle
and Falcon Hotel, Aldersgate Street, in the City of London, for the
Invention of "CERTAIN NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES." A communication from abroad by William Chicken, residing
at Chelsea, Suffolk County, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 6th October 1866, and dated the 17th August 1866.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Amos Lawrence Wood at
the Office of the Commissioners of. Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 17th August 1866, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM. THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AMOS
LAWRENCE WOOD, now residing at the Castle and Falcon Hotel, Aldersgate
Street, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "CERTAIN NEW AND
USEFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," and have petitioned Her Majesty
to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters
Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that the same is a
communication to me from abroad by William Chicken, residing at Chelsea,
Suffolk County, in the United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Amos Lawrence Wood, do hereby declare'
that the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal fully describes.
and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the saun

page_text: is to be performed in and by the following statement, reference being had to
the accompanying Drawings making part of this Specification, in which
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a part of the machine; Figure 2, a front eleva-
tion; Figure 8, a view of the under side of the machine; Figure 4, a reversed
view in elevation of the plate (9), cap plate (r), and lever (y); Figure 5, a
vertical section taken on the line A, a, of Figure 4; Figure 6, a plan view
(on a larger scale) of a clamp suitable for a machine for working button holes;
Figure 7, a vertical section taken at the line B, b, of Figure 6; Figure 8, an
inverted view of the parts above the horizontal plane of the line C, c, of Figure 7;
Figure 9, a perspective view of the shoe (f¹); the same letters of reference
indicate like parts in each of the Figures.
The first part of my said Invention relates to mechanism for imparting the
motion to the clamp or holder of the cloth in working button holes.
The second part of my Invention relates to the clamp of machines for
working button holes.
The object of the third part of my said Invention is to spread the cloth or
other material in which a button hole is to be worked after it has been clamped
on both sides of the place in which the button hole is to be worked.
And a fourth part of my said Invention relates to an improvement in the
machinery for controlling the needle thread.
In the accompanying Drawings (a) represents the table of a sewing machine
for working button holes, and (b) the movable plate or base of the clamp for
holding and moving the cloth. This plate (b) receives the required motions
for spacing the stitches along the straight and curved parts of a button hole,
and for turning the cloth to form the eyelet from a plate (c) within the table,
shown by dotted lines in Figure 3, and as this makes no part of my Invention,
and is known to persons acquainted with machinery for working button holes,
it is deemed unnecessary to give a description of it. The said plate (c) has
cogs on its periphery, which engage the cogs; of what I denominate; the feed
wheel (d) which is mounted to turn on a stud pin (e) extending down from
the under side of the table. The under face of the feed wheel (d) is chambered
out to form a rim (f), the inner periphery of which is concentric; and within
the chambered part there is an eccentric wheel. (g) mounted to turn on the
same stud pin (e), and with its periphery at its greatest. radius extending.to,
but just clearing, the inner periphery of the rim (f) of the feed wheel. On
the same stud pin (e) is mounted an, arm (h), the. extremity: of which is
connected by a joint link (i) with another arm (j) that, turns on a fulcrum
pin (k), and which receives a reciprocating motion from the groove of a cam
(1) on the driving shaft (m) for the purpose of imparting a reciprocating

page_text: motion to the said arm (h). To the face of the eccentric wheel (g) is pivoted
a short lever (n), one end of which extends into a recess in the hub of the
arm (h), and the sides of this recess are curved so that the lever (n) may be
vibrated to some extent by the vibration of the arm (h). The opposite end
of the said lever (n) is pivoted to the butt end of a wedge (o), which is curved
so that its outer periphery shall be of the same curvature as the inner periphery
of the rim of the feed wheel, and its inner periphery of the same curvature as
the outer periphery of the eccentric wheel (9), and so that when moved in one
direction the whole length of it shall fit against and be brought in close contact
with the inner periphery of the rim and the outer periphery of the eccentric,
and bind the two so that the feed wheel shall turn with the eccentric wheel.
Bearing in mind the construction and connection of the parts above described
when the arm (h) is moved in the direction of the arrow, carrying with it that
end of the lever (n) which is connected with its hub, the said lever is thereby
vibrated on its fulcrum, and this forces the wedge (o) at the other end of the
lever (n) into the space between the rim (f) of the feed wheel and the
eccentric wheel (9) and into close contact with the surfaces thereof, and so,
soon as this contact has taken place the lever (n) cannot be further vibrated,
and then the fulerum pin of the lever (n), being pivoted to the eccentric
wheel (g) the further vibration of the arm (h) in the direction of the arrow:
will turn the eccentric wheel in the same direction, and with it the feed wheel
which is thus clutched to the eccentric wheel by the binding, force of the
wedge (o). In this way motion is communicated to the circular plate (c),
which by its cam grooves imparts the required motions to the clamp: When
the arm (h) is vibrated in the opposite direction the wedge (o) is withdrawn.
from contact with the rim of the feed wheel and the eccentric wheel, so that
the feed wheel remains at rest. The range of motion given to the arm (h).
by the cam (1) is to be sufficient for the maximum range of motion required
to be given to the feed wheel, and the reduction or graduation of the range of
motion of the feed wheel below that is regulated by a mechanism to be next,
described. When the arm (h) is vibrated in the direction of the arrow, if a
sufficient force be applied to the outer end of the lever (n), the motion of the,
arm (h) instead of vibrating the lever (n) to force the wedge (o) into contact
with the eccentric wheel and the rim of the feed wheel will simply turn the.
eccentric wheel, and the wedge (o) not being forced into contact with the rim
of the feed wheel and eccentric wheel motion will not be imparted to the feed.
wheel. The force required to prevent the lever (n) froin vibrating is but,
slight, and is applied to the outer end of the said lever by a pin (p) on a plate,
(2), which slides in ways formed on the inner face of a cap plate (r) which,

page_text: holds the said sliding plate in place; and this sliding plate is forced in the
direction of the arrow (see Fig. 5) to bear on the end of the lever (n) by the
tension of a spring (s). From the foregoing it will be seen that so long as
the plate (9) is free to be moved in the direction of the arrow by the tension
of its spring it will exert sufficient force on the outer end of the lever (n) to
prevent it from being vibrated by the arm (h). The range of motion of the
sliding plate (g) is governed by a stop (s¹), against which a pin or projection
(t) from the plate (9) strikes, and the stop (s) is adjustabie on the cap plate
(r) by a screw (u) and slot or other equivalent means. As the arm (h)
vibrates in the direction of the arrow no motion will be imparted to the feed
wheel until the sliding plate (9) strikes the stop (s¹), and then the lever (n) being
thus relieved is vibrated by the continued motion of the arm (h) to force the
wedge (o) into contact with the feed wheel and eccentric wheel and give the
required feed motion. In this way the range of feed motion along the straight
parts of the button hole can be readily and with the utmost accuracy varied
and adjusted by simply shifting the position of the stop (s). When the clamp
reaches that part of its circuit at which it must be turned to stitch around
the end or eyelet of the button hole the feed motion must be set to work with
a greatly increased range of motion, because in addition to spacing the stitches
the clamp must be turned half a revolution to form the stitching around the
end or eyelet of the button hole. This increased motion is given automatically,
the plate (c) which operates the clamp has a groove (v) formed in its under
face which for half the circle is of greater radius than the other half, the one
running into the other. A roller on one arm of a lever (a) runs in this groove,
and the other arm is in connection with a lever (y), which is vibrated when
the roller of the lever (r) runs from the part of the greatest into the part of
the least radius, so as to bring a stop (2) projecting from one edge of it under a
spur (a) (see Fig. 4) on the edge of the sliding plate (9), by which its range
of motion is materially reduced, thereby relieving the lever (n) at each
operation much sooner than by the stop (s¹) before described, and in con-
sequence the range of motion of the feed wheel will be greatly increased and
continue so increased until the said roller on the lever (a) runs back into the
part of the groove of greatest radius and permits the parts to be restored to
their original position by the springs. For the purpose of adjusting the
range of motion for spacing the stitches in working the end or eyelet of the
button hole the stop (2) is made adjustable on its lever (y), so that it can
be set at a greater or less distance from the fulcrum of the lever. The upper
or movable jaw (61) of the clamp is hinged to the base plate (6), and it is
depressed to clamp the cloth by a lever (c¹) mounted on a standard () pro-

page_text: jecting upward from the plate (b), and having a cam or segment of an
eccentric (e) which forces and holds down the spring jaw.
As heretofore made this cam acted directly on the upper surface of the spring
clamp, and to prevent it from being turned and relieving the clamp by the jars
consequent upon the vibrations of the needle bar of the machine it was found
necessary to make the face of the cam of a series of flat faces, each successive
one at a greater distance from the fulcrum of the lever. This mode of con-
struction was objectionable for the reason that the cam could not be made with
a sufficent number of such faces to suit the great variation in the thickness of
cloths to be clamped, and in consequence some would be clamped too hard
and others not hard enough. This difficulty is avoided by my Invention.
Between the cam or eccentric and the upper surface of the spring jaw of the
clamp I interpose a shoe (f¹), the upper surface of which is concave to fit
the curved face of the eccentric (e¹), and the under face is flat and slides on
the upper surface of the jaw. By this means all tendency to turn the cam is
avoided, and all thicknesses of cloth can be clamped alike. The bottom plate
(b) of the clamp on which the cloth or other material is to be clamped has a
mortise (h¹) for the needle to work in. A square stud (¹) projects from the
rear end of the plate (6); the upper jaw (61) of the clamp is bifurcated at the
forward end to correspond with the mortise (h¹) in the plate (6), and at its
rear end it has a square mortise to fit freely on the stud (¹). It is held down
by a cap plate and serew (¹), and beld up by the tension of two springs (1,A),
interposed between it and the plate (b). The jaw (6¹) is forced and held down
against the tension of the springs (1, 1,) by the eccentric cam lever (c). The
rough griping surfaces (n', n¹,) of the upper jaw (61) are secured to or made
parts of a plate (o¹) which lies under, and is connected with the plate (61),
herein-before termed the upper jaw. The forward end of this under plate (o')
is bifurcated like the plate (6¹), and the two prongs are only connected at the
rear end (p), see Fig. 8, where the connection acts as a spring, so that the
two parts can be forced apart by an oval cam (9') interposed between them..
This oval cam is on an arber (¹) provided above with a handle (s) by which
it can be turned. A flanch or lip (t) on the under part of the cam extends
under the two parts of the plate (o¹), and aid in holding them to, the under
surface of the plate (61); after the cloth or other material to be worked has
been clamped by forcing down the upper jaw by the cam lever (c¹) the handle
(s) of the oval cam (9') is turned to the position represented by dotted lines
(see Fig. 6), and by this operation the cloth is stretched or drawn tight, which
greatly facilitates the working of a button hole. After the needle has been
carried down and is being raised the needle arm tends to draw the needle

page_text: thread up with it, and if it does the forming of the required loop with the
needle thread below the cloth is sometimes prevented.
The object of the fourth part of my Invention is to avoid this tendency.
The needle thread (a³) passes through a guide (62) on the arm (c³), which
communicates motion to the needle, and on its way to the needle (d') it passes
beween a surface (6³) on the stock (f), in which the needle carrier slides,
and a spring (9) which is attached to the said stock (f), and which by its
tension tends to move from the said surface (e³) to free the thread that it may
pass freely. When the thread is to be stopped it is pinched between the
spring (9) and the surface (e) by the action of a lever (h²), which vibrates on
a fulcrum pin (2) on the stock (f), the lower arm being pressed against the
spring by the action of a pin (1) on the needle arm (c³) acting against a
cam-like face (), see Fig. 2, on the edge of the upper arm of the said lever
(h), and this takes place at the beginning of the upward motion of the needle
arm (c) and needle, and so soon as the loop of the needle thread has been
taken below the cloth the pin (9) passes by the end of the lever (h), which
relieves the spring (92) to liberate the thread. To permit the lever (h³) to
remain at rest as the needle arm descends, the pin (5) is fitted to slide in a
hole in the needle arm (c), and the upper end of the lever (2) on that face of
it towards the end of the pin is bevelled to drive the pin inwards, the axis of
vibration of the lever being at right angles with that face of the lever and with
the axis of the pin. So soon as the needle arm reaches the lower part of its
range of motion the pin (*) passes below the cam face (k) of the lever (h³),
and it is then pushed out by the tension of a spring (represented by dotted
lines in Figure 1) that it may be in the right position to operate the lever at
the next operation.
What I claim as my Invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is, the
feed wheel operated by the eccentric wheel and interposed wedge, substantially
as described, in combination with the wheel that moves and turns the clamp,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
I also claim, in combination with the feed wheel, the eccentric wheel, the
wedge for clutching them, and the lever for operating the clutching wedge,.
substantially such as described, the means substantially as herein described,
for controlling the period of clutching to regulate the spacing of the stitches,
substantially as described; and in combination with the last-named combination
I claim the means substantially a as herein described for suddenly increasing the
motions of the feed wheel for the turning of the clamp, substantially as
described.
I also claim the sliding shoe in combination with and interposed between.

page_text: the movable jaw of the clamp and the eccentric cam for operating it,
substantially as and for the purpose described.
I also claim making the two parts of one of the jaws of the clamp which
clamp the cloth on both sides of the intended button hole, so that they can be
spread or forced apart, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
And, finally, I claim in combination with the needle, the means substantially
as herein described for griping and holding the needle thread at the beginning
of the upward movement of the needle, for the purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Amos Lawrence Wood, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
AMOS LAWRENCE WOOD. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
above-named Amos Lawrence
Wood, in the presence of
W. H. IBBETT,
19, St. Martin's-le-Grand, E.C.