AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SEWING BUTTON HOLES AND FOR FANCY STITCHING
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Matthew Melhuish, of Hoxton, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR
SEWING BUTTON HOLES AND FOR FANCY STITCHING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Matthew
Melhuish at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 14th March 1873.
I, RICHARD MATTHEW MELHUISH, of Hoxton, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SEWING BUTTON HOLES AND FOR FANCY STITCHING,”
to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to a machine of simple construction for sewing
button holes, capable of being worked with ease and rapidity, it not
being necessary to turn the fabric round in order to work and finish the
two edges of the button hole.

page_text: In carrying out my Invention I employ the Thomas or Howe construc-
tion of machine, to which I adapt a vibrating cloth plate, upon which
the work is fixed by a suitable clamp, both plate and clamp being formed
with a slot for the needle to work in. This plate is vibrated, and at the
same time traversed to and fro under the needle to feed the cloth, as
required, to sew the button hole. The plate is vibrated by a bar, to
which endway motion is imparted by a rock lever operated by a cam
driven from the main shaft of the machine. This bar is fitted in slotted
bearings to admit of its being moved laterally by the action of one of
several inclined planes or faces on a cam formed at different inclinations
with which it is provided, and which being brought by the endway
motion of the bar into contact with a fixed part of the framing vibrates
the bar in a lateral direction. To this bar the cloth plate is connected by
lugs, and the plate is vibrated to a greater or lesser extent according to
the inclination of the cam face, either of which may be readily brought
into action by simply turning the bar. The plate, after being moved
sideways in one direction by the cam, is returned by a spring on the
return movement of the bar. The longitudinal traverse of the plate for
feeding the work along is effected by a feed screw, on which is a nut
fitted to the under side of the vibrating cloth plate by a pin moving in
an adjustable slotted plate fixed obliquely on the cloth plate. This feed
screw shaft receives an intermittent rotary motion from one of a pair of
pin plates or discs having adjustable pins or teeth keyed on the main
shaft of the machine. These discs are set face to face with the pinion
on the end of the feed screw shaft between them, and at such a distance
apart that when placed midway between them it will not be in gear with
either, the pinion being thrown into or out of gear therewith by a lateral
movement imparted to the feed screw by an eccentric on the bar on
turning said bar to change the face of the cam by which it is
vibrated.
The relative positions of the cam faces and of the feed screw are such
that the latter is out of gear when the cam face is in action, which
vibrates the plate to the extent necessary to "bar," or sew across the
ends of the button hole when no feed is required. The feed is regulated
by inserting or removing one or more of the pins or teeth in the discs in
which they are fixed by set screws.
The cloth plate slides upon the nut on the feed screw, which has been
referred to as having a pin received in an adjustable curved slotted plate.

page_text: upon the cloth plate. This slotted plate is fixed obliquely in such a
position as to guide the cloth plate in its vibrating movement to regulate
the inclination of the stitches to the button hole.
The button hole is first sewn by making two parallel seams with the
button hole stitch, and cut afterwards, and the vibrating and traversing
or feed motions of the cloth plate may be so regulated that the needle will
pass through twice in succession at the edge of the button hole, so as to
form a purl at the extreme edge, or alternately at the edge of the hole
and at a distance therefrom.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Matthew Melhuish in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th September 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
MATTHEW MELHUISH, of Hoxton, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Fourteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-sixth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Richard Matthew Melhuish, Her special licence that I,
the said Richard Matthew Melhuish, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Matthew Melhuish, 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 " AN IMPROVED
MACHINE FOR SEWING BUTTON HOLES AND FOR FANCY STITCHING," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard Matthew Melhuish,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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.

page_text: 4
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Matthew Melhuish, 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 Sheet of
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thercon
(that is to say) :—.
My Invention relates to mechanism of simple construction for sewing
straight button holes, capable of being worked with ease and rapidity, it
not being necessary to turn the fabric round in order to work and finish
off the two edges of the button hole.
In carrying out my Invention I employ the Thomas or Howe
construction of sewing machine, to which I adapt a vibrating feed
plate, upon which the work is fixed. This plate is vibrated and, at
same time, traversed to and fro under the needle to feed the cloth as
required to sew the button hole.
My Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, in which
Figure 1 represents a front elevation of a machine with my improve-
ments applied thereto; Figure 2 is a plan view of the same; and
Figures 2ª, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are detail views of different forms of cams and
cam wheels by which the cloth plate is vibrated.
2
a is the vibrating cloth or feed plate working upon the shuttle box b,
and vibrated by the bar c in the following manner:-This bar c is a
round rod carried in supports 6', 6', projecting from the rear side of the
shuttle box b, and slotted to admit of the bar being moved laterally to
impart the desired vibrating motion to the plate a. The bar c receives 2
endway motion from a cam wheel d through the bent rock lever e
pivoted at e¹ to the frame of the machine, and having at its extremity e³
a pin with friction roller working in the cam groove of the wheel d,
which is a spur wheel driven by a pinion on the main shaft f, the other
extremity of the lever e being forked and embracing the bar c between 3
two collars fixed thereon. The cloth plate a is connected to the bar c
by hook-shaped lugs, or preferably by friction rollers carried on studs
on the under side of the plate a, and grooved to grip the rod c, against
the rear side of which they are constantly maintained by the action of
a spring / attached to a stud on the under side of the plate a, and 3
pressing against the front side of the shuttle box. This spring mas

page_text: however be otherwise disposed, or other means may be employed to
bring the plate a forward again after it has been vibrated away from
the operator by the bar c. i is a cam fixed on bar c and having three
faces 1, 2, 3, at different angles and directions, which vary accord-.
ing to the kind of stitch it is desired to produce. The cam i works
against a fixed projection or stud j on the back of the shuttle box,
and either of its faces can be readily brought into contact with said
stud by simply turning rod c partly round by means of the thumb
lever c¹.
In Figure 2ª the cam i is shown in position for sewing that side of
the intended button hole which is nearest the operator or the front of
the machine, the face 1 being in contact with j. In Figure 3 the same
cam is shown with face 3 against j for sewing the opposite side of the
button hole; and in Figures 2 and 4 it is shown with face 2 against j,
or in position for "barring" the ends of the button hole. The action of
this cam is as follows:-In Figure 2, when by the motion of bar c
towards the left cam i is moved to the position shown in red lines,
the bar c will be oscillated or moved laterally, as shown, thereby
vibrating the cloth plate a, which first assumes the red line position and
then returns to its original position on the return movement of the bar c.
Face 3 of the cam is inclined at the same angle to the bar c as face 1,
but in the opposite direction (so that when bar c is half rotated it
assumes the same direction relatively to the stud j, as shown in Figure 3),
the cam being of reduced thickness on this side, so that face 3 being
ncarer to the centre line of bar c plate a is caused by the spring /
to take up a position nearer to the operator, so as to bring the side of
the button hole farthest from the operator beneath the needle, the plate
being vibrated to the same extent as by face 1. Face 2 is inclined more
transversely to bar c in order that with the same amount of movement
of bar c the plate a will be vibrated to twice the extent than by either
of the other faces, in order to "bar" or sew completely across the ends
of the button hole. With a cam i of this shape the groove in cam
wheel dis of the shape shown in Figure 5, and the relative proportion
of this wheel d to the pinion by which it is driven is as 2 to 1. k is a
slotted bar pivoted at to the plate a, and secured in an oblique position
by a set screw k². In the slot k is received a pin having a friction roller
thereon, and fixed to the upper side of a nut 7 working along the feed
screw m. The object of this slotted bark is to so guide the cloth plate a

page_text: in its vibrating movement as to make the stitches (supposing no feed to
take place) at a right angle to the button hole.
The longitudinal traverse of the plate a for feeding the work along
is effected by the feed screw shaft m, which is carried at one end in the
support 6', and at the other in slotted bearing m³ to permit of a lateral
movement of the feed screw, as hereafter mentioned. This feed screw m
receives an intermittent rotary motion from one of a pair of pin plates
or discs n, n³, secured on shaft f, and having two or more adjustable
pins or teeth o. These discs n, n¹, are set face to face, with a star-shaped
pinion p on the end of the feed screw m between them, and they are
placed at such a distance apart that when the pinion is placed midway
between them it will not be actuated by either. The pinion p is thrown
into or out of gear with discs n, n¹, by a lateral movement imparted to the
feed screw m by an eccentric q on bar c, through the medium of the link q',
which is attached to a tube or sleeve & upon the plain part of screw
shaft n.
The link q¹ is held between collars on rod c, and the sleeve s
participates in the endway movement of bar c. Thus, on turning said
bar to bring one or other of the faces 1, 3, of the cam i into action, the
proper direction of the feed is ensured by pinion p being thrown into
gear with n or n¹, as the case may be. When face 2 of the cam is brought
into action for " barring "the hole there is no feed, the pinion p remain-
ing stationary midway between the discs, as in Figure 2. The amount of
feed may be regulated by altering the number of pins in the disc, but
this particular feature forms no part of my Invention. m² is a brake
spring pressing on feed screw m, to prevent irregularity of feed. The
work is secured upon plate a by means of a clamp u, secured by a screw
nut u³, and having a slot fixed over a corresponding slot in the plate for
the needle to work through, both slots being necessarily of greater length
than the intended button hole, and a suitable needle hole plate being
fixed on the top of the shuttle race.
In sewing a button hole two parallel lines of stitches are thus made,
the vibrating feed plate being caused to traverse first in one direction
and then in the other by turning round cam i, each end of the intended
button hole "being barred" as the needle arrives thereat, after which
the hole is cut. With the cams of the shape above described the purl a
will be in the centre of each line of stitches, the tension being so adjusted
as to cause the needle thread to lay along the top of the work with the
under thread locked round it, first on one side and then on the other;

page_text: but the vibrating motion of the plate a may be so regulated that the
needle will enter the work twice in succession at the edge of the intended
button hole, so as to bring the purl nearer the edge instead of entering
alternately at the edge of the hole and away therefrom, as is the case
with the cams above described.
Figure 6 shows a cam wheel d and three views of cam i for producing
this stitch. In the latter cam the face 1 is made parallel to face 3, so
that when turned round it will be inclined in the opposite direction
relatively to stud j, in order that the period of rest of the vibrating plate
a (necessary to allow the needle to enter twice in succession in the same
line) may take place when the needle is entering the work at the edge of
the intended button hole, whichever side of the button hole it may be
working.
The shaped parts x, x, of the cam path in d, instead of being placed
diametrically opposite one another, as in Figures 1, 2, and 5, in which
the bar c is moved and plate a vibrated alternately between each descent
of the needle, the one circular portion y of the cam groove is made
equal to half the other circular portion z, and the wheel d is so speeded
that whilst the pin e² on lever e is passing through the part z of the
cam and the vibrating plate is consequently at rest, the needle will
make two descents before the plate is again vibrated, the work being
however fed along between each descent of the needle, so that it does not
enter twice in the same place. In this case the proportion of wheel d
to its driving pinion is as 3 to 1. It is obvious that the cam wheel d may
be further altered to still further modify the stitch, if required.
In a machine used only for fancy stitching, as for the backs of gloves
for instance, one or two faces only of the cam i would be required.
In using this machine I find it necessary to provide means for regu-
lating the amount of thread given out to the needle, according to the
class of work. For this purpose the pin 5, which actuates the quadrant or
"take-up" 6, instead of being permanently fixed in one position on the
needle slide, is fixed on an adjustable slotted plate secured to the needle
slide by a set screw, so that the position of the pin 5, and consequently
the throw of the quadrant 6 can be regulated as required.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as my

page_text: Invention to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,-
1st. In a machine for sewing straight button holes and fancy stitching,
the inclined faced cam i working against a fixed stud, and placed on a
rod c connected to the feed plate, and to which rod endway motion is
imparted for vibrating the feed plate back and forth, substantially as
shown and described.
2nd. The combination with the feed plate a, vibrated by cam i, as
described, of the adjustable slotted guide k fixed thereon, as and for the
purpose set forth.
3rd. The combination with bar c and cam i, operated as described, of
the feed screw m, actuated as described, for imparting a combined
vibrating and feed motion to the plate a, substantially as specified.
1
4th. The feed screw m connected to the rod c by a link q³, and sleeve
operated by an eccentric q on rod c for reversing or arresting the feed, 1
and rendering the same dependent on the position of cam i, substantially
as and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Matthew Melhuish, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy- 2
three.