IMPROVED TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Adam Shand, of Whitefriargate, Hull, in the County of
York, for the Invention of "IMPROVED TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR SEWING
MACHINES."
Sealed the 12th December 1876, and dated the 10th October 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Adam Shand at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th October 1870.
ADAM SHAND, of Whitefriargate, in the County of York. “IMPROVED TAKE-UP
MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES."
My Invention relates to an improved device to be substituted for the ordinary
take-up mechanism or apparatus of sewing machines.
:-
This ordinary apparatus consists of a spring lever placed on the face of the front
plate of the needle bar slide, which lever has a loop at its free end, and operates to
take up the slack of the thread by vibrating or moving to and fro on its fulcrum.
The form and arrangement of this take-up lever render it unsightly and very incon-
venient, and it is very liable to derangement and displacement in cleaning the
machine and otherwise. I have therefore devised my improved take-up device,
which is arranged and operates as follows, that is to say I bore or perforate the
needle bar from its upper end downward for the reception of a rod which is secured
in the said needle bar by screwing it into the same at the lower or inner end of the
hole or perforation. I prefer that this rod should have a length of about two inches,
its inner end being formed with a screw thread to fit a corresponding screw thread
at the bottom of the hole in the needle bar for the purpose above specified, and for
rendering the said rod adjustable in the needle bar. The upper or outer end of this
rod is provided with a head or collar, and below this head the rod has a long narrow
aperture or slot through it for the passage of the thread. On the said rod I fit a
small loose collar or ring, which is free to slide over the slotted part of the rod, but
it is kept from actual contact with the head of the same by a small stop fixed in
the rod below its head. Around the said rod below the loose ring or collar I place
a small spiral spring, which when the rod is properly in place in the needle bar
presses the said collar upward. The thread is passed through the slot in the rod
between the loose collar and the head, and during the operation of the machine is
ID 11

page_text: drawn through the said slot at each stitch, the said spring yielding more or less
according to the tension on the thread, and thereby taking up the "slack" of the
The said rod is adjusted to regulate the take-up by screwing it up or down
same.
in the needle bar.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said Adam Shand in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th April 1877.
ADAM SHAND, of Whitefriargate, Hull, in the County of York.
TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES."
" IMPROVED
My Invention relates to an improved device to be substituted for the ordinary
take-up mechanism or apparatus of sewing machines.
This ordinary apparatus consists of a spring lever placed on the face of the front
plate of the needle bar slide, which lever has a loop at its free end, and operates to
take up the slack of the thread by vibrating or swinging to and fro on its fulcrum.
The form and arrangement of this take-up lever renders it unsightly and very
inconvenient, and it is very liable to derangement and displacement in cleaning the
machine and otherwise. I have therefore devised my improved take-up device,
which is shewn in the accompanying Drawing, and is arranged and operates as
herein-after described.
Invention.
Figure 2 shows the needle bar of the said machine, partly in longitudinal
section.
Like letters indicate the same parts in both of these Figures.
A represents the top of the cloth plate; a is the needle bar; b is the presser foot ;
c is the front plate.
According to this Invention I bore or perforate the needle bar a from its upper
end downward for the reception of a rod d, which is secured in the said needle bar
by screwing it into the same at the lower or inner end of the hole or perforation, as
shown in Figure 2. prefer that this rod d should have a length of about two
inches, its inner end d¹´being formed with a screw thread to fit, with a capability
of working freely therein, the screw thread at the lower part of the hole in the
needle bar for securing the said rod, and for rendering the same adjustable in the
needle bar. The upper or outer end of this rod is provided with a head or collar d²,
and below this head the rod has a long narrow aperture or slot №³ through it for
the passage of the thread. On the rod d I fit a small loose collar or ring e, which
is free to slide over the slotted part of the said rod, but it is kept from actual
contact with the head of the same by a small stop or projection f fixed or formed
on the rod below its head, or by any other suitable contrivance. Around the rod d
below the loose ring or collar e I place a small spiral spring g, which when the
rod is properly in place in the needle bar a presses the said collar e upward. The
thread is passed through the slot d³ in the rod between the loose collar e and the
head d², and the said slot permits the thread while being drawn forward to rise or
descend with the said collar as the same moves up or down on the rod d. During
the operation of the machine the thread is drawn through the said slot at each
stitch or movement of the stitching mechanism, the spring yielding more or less,
and allowing the collar e to descend a greater or less distance on the rod d, according
to the tension on the thread, and thereby taking up the "slack" of the same. The
said take-up device is adjusted to regulate its action on the thread by screwing the
rod d up or down in the needle bar; or the said rod may be held adjustably by a
small screw pin passed through the side of the needle bar, or by other suitable
means.

page_text: Having thus fully described my said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I wish it understood that I claim, the inproved take-up mechanism con-
sisting of the slotted rod fitted adjustably in the upper end of the needle bar, and
provided with means for maintaining an elastic or yielding pressure upon the thread
while allowing the same to be drawn forward to form the stitches, as above set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Adam Shand, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-seven.
ADAM SHAND. (L.S.)