IMPROVEMENTS IN BASTERS FOR SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Me-
chanical Draughtsman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BASTERS
FOR SEWING MACHINES."-A communication from abroad by Franklin
Thomas Grimes, of Liberty, in the State of Missouri, United States
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 20th July 1870.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
5 Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BASTERS
FOR SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
The first part of this Invention consists in a rod, made capable of
attachment by any convenient means to the cloth table of a sewing

page_text: machine or to an adjustable plate connected with the cloth table and
provided at its ends with arms, one of which is furnished with teeth,
while the other, which may be adjustable along the rod to suit various
lengths of seam carries an elastic strip that is also furnished with teeth.
The rod is arranged to lie in the direction of the seam to be formed, and
it is so held as to be free to travel along with the cloth, the teeth at its
opposite ends being fastened into the work after the latter has been duly
stretched. This toothed rod or baster thus serves to hold the cloth
smoothly extended in the course of the seam without endangering the
tearing of it.
The second part of the Invention consists in a baster or basting bar for
use independently of a guiding plate; it is made up in sections jointed
together so as to allow of the bar being flexed or straightened out, and
one or more of said sections is made capable of sliding under spring
pressure or control in the direction of the length of the bar. This bar is
furnished at its opposite ends with teeth to take hold of the cloth or
materials under operation.
The second part of the Invention likewise embraces an arrangement
of teeth on the face or faces of such sectionally sliding and jointed
basting bar for operation in connection with the teeth at the extremities
of the end sections to secure a straight hold of the cloth laterally as well
as longitudinally. Such sectionally sliding and jointed basting bar
secures a most perfect adjustment in the stretch or elastic hold of it on
the goods, and the same is perfectly constructed alike on both its sides
or faces, so that it can be reversed without wholly detaching it from:
the seam by turning it over end for end to provide for operating on a
continuous seam over and above the length of the basting bar.
The second part of the Invention furthermore embraces a combination
with the bar of a ruler and measurer the same serving as a convenient
carrier and means for handling the basting bar, and as a ruler for marking
out the seams, also as a measurer. The combined ruler and measurer
be made detachable from the basting bar to allow of the separate uses
of these devices, as occasion may require.
may

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 19th January 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence,
that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 BASTERS FOR SEWING MACHINES," being a communication to me from
abroad by Franklin Thomas Grimes, of Liberty, in the State of Missouri,
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
scals, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 Drawing hereunto
annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :—
The first part of this Invention consists in a rod made capable of
attachment by any convenient means to the cloth table of a sewing

page_text: machine, or to an adjustable plate connected with the cloth table, and
provided at its ends with arms, one of which is furnished with teeth,
while the other, which may be adjustable along the rod to suit various
lengths of seam, carries an elastic strip that is also furnished with teeth.
The rod being arranged to lie in the direction of the seam, and being
free to travel along with the cloth, has the teeth at its opposite ends
fastened into the fabrics after the latter have been duly stretched, and
serves to hold the cloth smoothly extended in the course of the seam
without endangering the tearing of it.
The second part of the Invention consists in a baster or basting bar
for use independently of a guiding plate, and it is made up in sections
jointed together, so as to allow of the bar being bent or straightened out,
and one (or more) of said sections is made capable of sliding under
spring pressure or control in the direction of the length of the bar,
which is furnished at its opposite ends with teeth to take hold of the
cloth or materials under operation.
This part of the Invention likewise embraces an arrangement of teeth
on the face or faces of such sectionally sliding and jointed basting bar
for operation in connection with the teeth at the extremites of the end
sections to secure a straight hold of the cloth laterally as well as longi-
tudinally. Such sectionally sliding and jointed basting bar secures a
most perfect adjustment in the stretch or elastic hold of it on the goods,
and the same is preferably constructed alike on both its sides or faces, so
that it can be reversed without wholly detaching it from the seam by
turning it over end for end to provide for operating on a continuous
seam over and above the length of the basting bar.
The second part of the Invention furthermore embraces a combination
with the bar of a ruler and measurer, the same serving as a convenient
carrier and means for handling the basting bar and as a ruler for
marking out the seams, also as measurer. Under one form of con-
struction the combined ruler and measurer is made detachable from
the basting bar to allow of the separate uses of these devices as occasion
may require.
Having thus specified the object and nature of the Invention, its
description will be proceeded with in reference to the accompanying
Drawing.
Fig. 1 is a plan of an attachable and detachable baster as applied to
the cloth table of a sewing machine, and as constructed in accordance

page_text: with the first part of the Invention, in which a rod provided at its ends
with toothed arms, the one of which has its teeth carried by an elastic
strip, and a guiding plate for support of the rod are used; Fig. 2 is a side
elevation of the same looking from the rear of the table, and Fig. 3 a
transverse section in the line y, y, Fig. 1; Fig. 4 represents a partially
sectional longitudinal view of a combined baster ruler and measurer
constructed in accordance with the second part of the Invention; Fig. 5
is a plan of the same, and Figures 6 and 7 are a plan and longitudinal
section of a like device under a modified construction of its parts, the
section represented in Fig. 7 being taken as indicated, by the line x, x,
in Fig. 6.
Referring in the first instance to Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the Drawing,
M is the rod of the baster included in the first part of the Invention, and
m one of its arms provided with teeth n; N is the elastic strip attached
to the arm m' at the opposite end of the rod, and provided with teeth n¹.
This second arm m³ is preferably made adjustable along the rod M. under
lock by a set screw o, to adapt the baster to various lengths of seams;
P is the guiding plate for the rod, said plate being made adjustable on
the cloth table Q of the sewing machine; q is the needle aperture
through said table; ", ", are flanges projecting upwards from the plate P,
and s, s, openings in said flanges which receive the rod M, and from
which the rod may be removed at pleasure; the openings 8, 8, are
suitably shaped or provided with shoulders to hold the rod in place and
permit of its moving in an endwise direction. The arms of the rod M
project beyond the line of the needle and hold the cloth while the rod
itself is out of the way of the needle.
In Figures 4 and 5 of the Drawing A. represents a basting bar or
baster proper designed to lie lengthwise with the seam on the fabrics in
and during the support and feed of the latter over the cloth table of the.
machine. This bar is made up of jointed sections, of which there may
be any desired number, but three jointed sections will suffice, namely, a
central and two end ones, with a sliding provision under the control of a.
spring or springs in one or more of such sections for securing to the bar
an clastic action in the straightening of it out when setting it to its hold
on the goods; thus the central section a of the bar may be made rigid
or solid, and be jointed as at b, b, to a divided or tongue portion c of
either end section to secure to the basting bar its necessary flexure
under limit if desired of stops d, d, as more clearly represented by dotted

page_text: lines in Fig. 4. These tongue portions c of the end sections are made to
fit socketted extensions e, c, within each of which is arranged a spring f
to secure to the bar its necessary elastic grip or action, each of said end
portions c preferably being slotted and controlled by a stop pin s. If
desired only one of the bar sections (central or end) may be fitted in
spring and socketted connection with the adjacent section to secure a
like result. Each end section or portion e is armed at its end with a
cross row of teeth g, which, after the fabrics have been properly
straightened on the table and the bar A suitably bent, are in the
application of the bar to the seam to be produced made to enter the
fabrics, and on straightening out the bar caused to stretch and hold
the fabrics in a firm but elastic manner, the stretch being regulated
according to the quality or condition of the goods by the degree of
flexion given to the bar when or prior to inserting the teeth g, g. Said
baster travels along with the cloth as the seam is being stitched and
after a certain length of scam has been run may be turned over by
detaching one of its ends from the cloth, and be made to retain its hold
upon the cloth in the same line for a continuance of the seam, both
faces of the bar being similarly constructed so as to admit of such
reverse or repeated use of it without endangering its being displaced
from its proper line or course, by reason of its one end remaining in the
goods when reversing it. To effect a more perfect and smooth extension
of the goods and prevent them from being puckered or drawn out of line,
as, for instance, drawn curvilinearly by pull on the goods from under
the bar between its ends, the face or faces of the bar may be provided
with teeth h, h, which hold on the goods between the ends of the bar
when the latter is extended. Connected with the baster A. by screws i, i,
passing through slots k, k, in the end pieces e, e, of the bar so as to
provide for flexure of the latter, is a ruler and measurer B, which when
attached to the baster or bar A by the screws i, i, serves to carry and
give additional stiffness to the baster, and to give it a broader bearing on
the cloth, also to facilitate the handling of the baster. It may also be
used as a ruler for setting out the seam, and as a measurer generally in
the preparation of the work. For these purposes of ruling and measuring
the bar B may by slackening or taking out the screws i, i, be detached
from the baster A, and to facilitate the handling of it either when
detached from or combined with the baster, it may be provided with a
handle, which latter it is preferred to attach, subject to draft inwards
by a spring u, so that said handle may be made to lock with the bar A

page_text: when extended to hold said bar from accidental flexure, but which
handle may be drawn out or retracted against pressure of the spring u
when it is required to provide for flexure or detachment of the baster.
In Figures 6 and 7 of the Drawing the basting bar A is shewn as
combined with the ruler and measurer B in a permanent manner by
being let into the body of it, the whole being reversible to provide for a
continuation of the seam, as herein-before described, and the central
section a being jointed as at b, b, to end portions c, c, the one of which
is slotted as at k, and works on a pivot or cross pinj projected through
the ruler and measurer, while the other end portion c is of a tongue like
construction, and fits within a socketted portion of the ruler and
measurer B, said socketted portion also containing the spring f, and a
slotted sliding end extension or piece e, between which and the last
mentioned end portion c the spring facts to secure to the baster its
required elastic grip on the cloth. The sliding extension piece e and
the end portion c at the opposite extremity of the bar are each provided
with cross rows of teeth g to fasten the baster to the goods and on
straightening it from its bent position to stretch and hold the goods as
required.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements
in Basters for Sewing Machines," as communicated to me from abroad,
and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it
to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I
claim,―
First. The rod M provided at its ends with a toothed arm m and with
a toothed elastic strip N in combination with the guiding plate P,.
substantially as described with reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3, of the
Drawing, and for the purpose herein set forth.
Second. The arm m' made adjustable along the rod M in combination
with the elastic strip N carrying teeth n¹, as described with reference to
the baster shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawing.
Third. The baster or basting bar A made up in sections jointed
together, as described, and one or more of said sections made capable of
sliding, subject to spring pressure or control in direction of the length of
the bar in combination with the teeth g at the extremities of the end
section's, substantially as described with reference to Figures 4, 5, 6,
and 7 of the Drawing,

page_text: Fourth. The combination of the teeth h on the face or faces of the
sectionally sliding and jointed basting bar A with the teeth g at the
extremities of the end sections, essentially as shown and described.
Fifth. The combination of a ruler and measurer B with a basting
bar A, constructed in sections for operation as herein described with
reference to Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.