AN IMPROVED METHOD OF FORMING SEAMS AND ORNAMENTAL STITCHING, AND IN MACHINERY FOR EFFECTING SUCH OPERATION, PART OF WHICH MACHINERY IS APPLICABLE TO THE FORMING OF OTHER SEAMS AND STITCHES
Year: 1853

page_text: In the Matter of Letters Patent granted to ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON,
of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
FORMING SEAMS AND ORNAMENTAL STITCHING, AND IN MACHINERY FOR
EFFECTING SUCH OPERATION, PART OF WHICH MACHINERY IS APPLICABLE
TO THE FORMING OF OTHER SEAMS AND STITCHES," being a communi-
cation from abroad, bearing date the Twenty-first day of September,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three (N° 2187).
DISCLAIMER AND MEMORANDUM OF ALTERATION proposed to be
entered by the Patentee of the said Letters Patent, according to the
Statutes in that case made and provided.
WHEREAS in the Specification filed agreeably to the provisions of the
said Letters Patent the Invention was said to consist, amongst other things,
in feeding the cloth or other substance to be sewn, for the progress of the seam,
by means of a foot or pad which holds the substance down to the table: And
whereas I have found that such arrangement was anticipated by a Patent
already applied for but unspecified at the time of making the application for
my Patent; I wish to disclaim, and I do hereby disclaim, all such parts of my
Specification as refer specially to the use of such foot or pad; (that is to say,)
I disclaim and strike out the last paragraph in the introduction to my Specifi-
cation commencing "And, finally, this part of the Invention consists," and ending

page_text: with the words "extent of the feed motion being adjustable." And further I
disclaim and strike out the paragraph forming the claim for the feed motion
described in the above-mentioned paragraph (viz.) that commencing with the
words "And, finally, I claim the method of feeding," and ending with the words
"lifted up preparatory to the feed motion, as set forth."
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.

page_text: En the Matter of Letters Patent granted to ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON,
of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
FORMING SEAMS AND ORNAMENTAL STITCHING, AND IN MACHINERY FOR
EFFECTING SUCH OPERATION, PART OF WHICH MACHINERY 18 APPLICABLE TO
THE FORMING OF OTHER SEAMS AND STITCHES," bearing date the Twenty-
first September, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, No. 2187,
and which Letters Patent were assigned to Edward Clark, of New
York, in the United States of America, by deed bearing date the
Fourth day of October, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
SCLAIMER AND MEMORANDUM OF ALTERATION proposed to be
entered by the said Edward Clark according to the Statutes in that case
made and provided.
WHEREAS I have found that the first part of the said Invention, which
sists in a peculiar construction of stitch, is not of such practical value as to
der it desirable to retain a special claim therefor; and that the second part
the Invention, which relates mainly to an arrangement of mechanism for
ducing the said stitch, has consequently not that practical value which
ald render it prudent to maintain claims for such arrangement. I desire
refore to disclaim by erasure so much of the Specification and Drawings as
te to the first part of the Invention, and also the mechanism described in

page_text: 66
66
"
the Specification as relating to the second part of the Invention, with the
exception of the arrangement for giving the required slack and tension to the
needle thread; and to make such alterations and amendments as will render
the Specification intelligible after such erasure has been effected, (that is to
say), I strike out the first paragraph of the Specification, beginning "In
"Sheet I. of the Drawings;" and I also cancel the Sheet of Drawings therein
referred to. In the next following paragraph, at line 22, page 6, of the printed
Specification, I strike out the word "the" and alter it to "a;" and in the
following two lines I strike out the words, "according to the improved
"method" at page 7, I strike out the paragraph commencing "Machines
have been made," and continue the erasure through pages 8 and 9 to the
end of line 12, page 10. In line 13 of the same page, I strike out the words
"And this," and add in place thereof the words "The first ;" I likewise strike
out the word "also" in the same line. I strike out page 11, and the first
eight lines on page 12, and at line 9, after the word "Drawings," I insert the
following words, vizt., "this part of the Invention is shewn as applied to a
single-thread sewing machine, the action of which I will now describe for
"the purpose of more clearly explaining the operation of the novel means for
giving the required tension and slack to the thread, which constitutes the
"sole feature of the first part of the Invention." At line 11, page 14, I erase
the words "of a peculiar character as;" at lines 27 and 28, page 17, I strike
out the words "and second parts," and insert in lieu thereof the word "part;"
and in the same paragraph I strike out the words commencing "nor do I
wish," at line 31, and ending at the words "so with "at line 4 on the next
page. From the next following lines 5, 6, and 7 I erase the words "and for
feeding the cloth for," and also, "that either or both of these improve-
"ments;" the succeeding remark commencing "But these have all been
"described" I also erase; at line 13 in the same page, I commence an era-
sure at the words "the method of forming," and continue the same to the
words "I also claim" inclusive, in line 3, page 19; at line 13 I alter the
word "third" to "second," and at line 14 I strike out the word "also;" on
page 21, lines 8 and 9, I erase the words "as already explained under the
"head of the first part of the Invention.". I further strike out the paragraph
commencing "In this the third part of the Invention," and at line 27 I alter
the word "the" into "a." At lines 14 and 15, page 22, I strike out the
words "for reasons already given in reference to the first part of the Inven-
tion;" and at line 16 of the same page I alter the word "third" to
"second" at line 23 I change "fourth" into "third," and at line 24 "third"
66
"
66

page_text: into "second;" also "fourth" into "third" at line 11, page 23; and finally at
line 6, page 24, I strike out the word "of," which follows the word "permit,"
when the Specification will read as follows:-
The several Figures, in Sheet II. of the Drawings, represent a machine for
forming seams with a single thread; Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the
machine; Fig. 8 is a vertical section, taken at the line A, a, of Fig. 7; Fig. 9
is a vertical section, taken at the line B, b, of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is another
section, taken at the line C, c,' of the same Figure; Fig. 11 is a face view of
the cam for operating the looper; Fig. 12 is a perspective view of part of the
apparatus employed in operating the looper; Fig. 13 is a separate view in
plan of the lever, for giving the feed motion; and Figures 14 and 15 are sec-
tions, taken in the same plane as Fig. 9, to represent the looper in different
positions.
Sheet III. of the Drawings contains the several Figures to represent the
known modes, and an improved method of forming seams with two threads
without conveying one thread entirely through the loops formed with the other
thread; Figures 16, 17, 18, and 19 represent one of the known methods;
Figures 20 and 21, another known method; and Figures 22, 23, and 24,
represent the new method as applied to forming seams with two threads, spe-
cially applicable to ornamental stitching, but which is applicable to sewing
seams in general.
Sheet IV. of the Drawings shews in several views the machine for forming
or sewing seams with two threads on the improved method, and which with
certain modifications can be applied to sewing or forming seams with a single
thread according to the new method. Fig. 25 is a side elevation of the
machine; Fig. 26 is a front elevation; Fig. 27 is a plan view of the machine,
looking upwards; Fig. 28 is a plan of the table or platform, with so much of
the machinery as can be seen below it; Fig. 29 is a vertical section, taken at
the line A, a, of Fig. 28; Fig. 30 is a vertical section, taken at the line B, b,
of Fig. 25; and Fig. 31 is a back view of the needle carrier, with its cam
.groove.
The first part of the Invention consists in giving the required tension
and slack to the thread when required by means of a spring guide, through
which the thread passes from the bobbin or spool to the needle, in combina-
tion with two bridles through which the said spring passes, one attached to
the frame to determine the height to which the spring shall be permitted to
rise, and the other attached to the needle carrier, or to some other part of the
machine having a corresponding motion, for the purpose of depressing the

page_text: spring after the point of the needle has entered the substance to be sewn, that
the needle may slide on the thread whilst in a state of tension, and thus pre-
vent the point of the needle from injuring the thread, and then force down
the spring that the eye of the said spring may descend with the thread faster
than the needle to give the required amount of slack for the formation of
the loop.
In the Figures of Sheet II. of the accompanying Drawings, this part of the
Invention is shewn as applied to a single-thread sewing machine, the action
of which I will now describe for the purpose of more clearly explaining the
operation of the novel means for giving the required tension and slack to the
thread, which constitutes the sole feature of the first part of the Invention.
a represents the table or platform on which the articles to be sewn are [placed,
and constituting part of the framework; and b is that part of the framework
which carries the machinery for operating the needle. The needle c is formed
with the eye near the point, as in other sewing machines, and just above the
eye it is crooked, as represented at d, for the purpose to be presently
described, the point of the said needle being in the same line with the shank,
which is secured by a screw clamp e to the lower end of the needle carrier f
that slides vertically in ways 9, g, secured to the forward end of the frame b.
The needle carrier is formed at the back with a cam groove h, in which works
a crank pin i on the face of a wheel j, on the forward end of a horizontal shaft k,
that has its bearings in the frame b, the said shaft being rotated by a pinion
on its rear end, which gears into a cog wheel m, operated by any suitable
motive power. The form of the cam groove h (see Fig. 9) is such that as the
crank pin in its revolution moves from the point 1 to 2, the needle is carried
down, and the point forced through the substance to be sewn, and then, as the
crank pin returns from the point 2 to 3 in the said cam groove (which is in
that direction concentric or nearly so with the path of the crank pin) the
needle remains stationary or nearly so, to give time for the performance of
other operations, to be hereafter described. And then as the crank pin continues
its revolution, it raises the needle in passing back to the point of starting at 1.
The thread with which the seam is formed is wound on a spool n, fitted
to turn freely on a spindle o attached to the frame b, and one head of the said
spool is grooved, and a cord q attached by one end to the frame is wrapped
around this groove once, and to the other end of it is suspended a cup r, in
which small weights are placed to regulate the friction on the said spool, and
thus determine the tension of the thread as it is drawn off in the process of
sewing. From this spool the threads passes through an eye in the end of a

page_text: spring t, made of wire and attached to the frame b, and passed through two
staples or wire bridles u, v, one attached to the frame, and the other to the
needle carrier. The object of this arrangement is the better to control the
thread during the operations of the machine. As the needle is carried
through the cloth by the downward motion of the carrier, the thread is held
up by the tension of the spring t, so that the needle slides on the thread, for if
the thread were loose the point of the needle would be liable to catch and
injure it, and would not properly lay the thread on the surface of the cloth;
but after the eye of the needle bas reached the substance to be sewn, the top
of the staple or bridle u comes in contact with the spring, and carries it down
faster than the needle by reason of the projection of the spring forward of the
carrier, thus producing a sufficient amount of slack in the thread that it may
be drawn freely through the cloth or other substance in forming the stitch, as
will be hereafter described; and as the needle is drawn out of the cloth, the
spring is permitted to rise to draw out the thread until it is stopped by the
other staple or bridle u, which gauges the extent of the upward motion of
the spring. If, however, anything should hold or check its upward motion, the
top of the needle carrier will strike and carry it up with a positive but elastic
motion, the elasticity being due to that portion of the spring which projects
beyond the carrier. The amount of slack can be regulated by the position of
the bridle on the needle carrier. As the needle is carried down and towards
the end of its downward motion the bulge formed by the crook at d comes in
contact with a fixed cam w, which forces the needle inwards until the part
below the crook is brought into contact with a gauge plate a. The face of
this cam w, on which the needle acts, is grooved to and holds the needle
in its position laterally. By these means the needle, however flexible, is at
the end of its down motion always brought to its proper position, and held
firmly therein during the next succeeding operation in the process of forming
the stitch. The cam w is fitted to and passes through a mortise in the side of
the
groove in which the looper works, and is attached to a spring y, one end
of which is secured to the frame, and the other provided with an adjusting
screw, by means of which the position of the cam can bo adjusted. The
needle having passed through the cloth, and carried with it the thread which
stretches across the crook or bend, the point or nose of the looper a¹ enters
the space between the body of the thread and the needle at the crook. This
looper is represented at Figures 9, 14, and 15, and is attached to a carrier b¹,
which slides horizontally between ways c', c', below the bench or table a, the
carrier being provided at the back with a wrist pin d. fitted to a cam

page_text: groove e, in the face of a wheel f¹, on the end of a horizontal shaft g¹,
mounted in suitable bearings under the table a, and receiving motion from the
cog wheel m by a pinion h¹ on its rear end.
The form of the cam groove is represented in the separate Fig. 11, and is
such that the moment the needle has completed its downward motion the
Jooper is carried towards and past the needle, and then immediately back as
the needle rises; but before being entirely drawn back it is arrested for a
short time, whilst the needle is completing its upward movement to draw out
the slack of the thread and to draw the stitch in one direction, and as the
needle begins to descend, and simultaneously therewith the looper is restarted
and completes its back motion to draw the stitch back to its proper place.
The rest of the cam groove is then concentric to keep the looper in a fixed
position until the next operation. The said looper works in a groove in the
table or platform a, and at right angles or nearly so to the motion of the
needle. That face of the looper towards the needle is slightly convex in its
vertical section to fit the concavity in the crook of the needle, and the side of
the groove against which it works is of corresponding form. The point of the
looper is lancet-shaped, so as to enter freely between the needle and the
thread. When the thread is stretched across the crook the upper surface is
curved, and the under surface recessed to form a barb (as shewn at 2) which
will enter freely between the thread and needle. The moment the barb passes
the needle, it (the needle) begins to rise, which draws the thread into the
recess of the looper within the barb, and then as the looper moves back the
thread is drawn out to form a loop. The looper then stops for a short time
whilst the needle completes its upward movement, the thread being drawn
tight by the tension of the spring t, which draws the previous loop tight; this
being aided by the needle carrier coming in contact with the spring to force it
up by a positive but elastic motion, due to the elasticity of that part of the
spring which projects beyond the carrier; and the moment the needle has
completed its upward movement the looper is restarted to complete its back
movement, which draws out the thread to complete the size of the loop j³, and
as the thread which passes around the looper is held above by the tension of
the thread, and also in the cloth forming the previous stitch, this back move-
ment draws the thread tight in the cloth, and is equivalent to pulling on the
single thread which forms the stitch on the face of the cloth, because the
thread on the other side yields to the down motion of the needle. In this
condition the feed motion operates which advances the cloth the distance of
one stitch, in the manner to be presently described. The needle again descends

page_text: to make another stitch, and when it has completed its downward motion, the
looper makes its next movement as before towards and past the needle,
entering between the needle and the thread preparatory to the formation of
another loop, which is to be drawn through the previously formed loop still on
the body of the looper, which is effected in the following manner :-A small
lever is connected by a fulcrum pin with the body of the looper; when the
forward end of this lever is pushed down in the position represented in Fig. 15,
the looper is entirely closed, and has an eye instead of a recess, the end of the
lever being made to fit in a suitable recess inside of the barb, to have the
lower edge smooth and even, so as not to catch on the thread, but when the end
of the lever is thrown up to the top of the recess, then the barb is open and free
to receive the thread to form a loop. When the looper is in its back position
the thread forming the loop lies in the hollow of the looper, and extends
thence diagonally on each side to the cloth; and as the looper is drawn back
the thread forming the loop is drawn between the inner face of the looper and
a piece of cloth , or its equivalent, attached to the side of the groove, so that
when the looper is pushed forward to form another loop the previously formed
loop is held back by the friction of the cloth, so that the lever k¹ slides into the
loop j; and as the looper is drawn back with the thread forming a second loop
in the forward part of the recess, the forward end of the lever k', which is
then within the previous loop, is pushed down on to the barb to close the
recess that the previously formed loop may be liberated and drawn off from
the looper by its continued back motion and the tension on the thread as the
needle continues its upward movement. From this it follows that as the
previously formed loop is liberated over the loop last formed, the concatenation
of the stitches is effected with the previous stitch. The opening and closing
of the recess of the looper by the lever is effected by a wrist pin m'
on the back end of the lever, which on the back movement of the looper
rides up the inclined face of a latch n', which elevates its rear end, and
forces down its forward end. Towards the end of the back motion of the
looper the wrist pin m¹ passes off the latch to permit the looper to be opened
by the tension of a spring o¹. The latch ' turns on a stud pin p¹, so that it
can rise to permit the wrist pin of the lever to pass under it as the looper
makes its movement towards the needle.
The cloth or other substance to be sewn or stitched is placed on the table
or platform, and there held down by a pad or foot q', whose under surface may
be made with one or more teeth, but slightly projecting from its under surface,
simply to have a hold on the cloth or other substance. This pad or foot is

page_text: attached to the lower end of a lever
jointed at s¹ to a bar t¹, adapted to slide
on the standard of the frame 6 with a helical spring u¹ interposed, the tension
of which presses the pad or foot on to the cloth lying on the table. To the
upper end of the bar t' is attached a spring dog v', which, when the bar is
elevated, catches in a notch to hold up the pad or foot when desired to put in
or remove the cloth; an arm w' at the upper end of the bar t¹ passes to the
back of the standard of the frame, and is acted upon by the periphery of a
cam x¹ on the shaft k to lift the pad or foot from the cloth after the point of
the needle has entered the cloth, so that the cloth may yield to the crook of
the needle during its downward motion, and to admit of changing the direction
of the cloth to give the required direction to the seam whilst the needle is in
the cloth and before it begins to rise, so that the cloth can turn on the needle
as its centre, which greatly facilitates the making of a seam in any line or
direction desired. Whilst the pad is thus held up from the face of the cloth
it is pushed back the distance of a stitch by the tension of a spring y¹ acting
against the upper end of the lever r¹, to which the pad or foot is attached, the
said lever being provided with a set screw z¹, by means of which the range of
feed can be regulated with the greatest accuracy. The cam x¹ (Fig. 10) then
permit the foot or pad to be forced down on to the cloth by the tension of the
spring u, and there it remains until the needle is drawn out. The feed
motion is given to cause the foot or pad to push the cloth the distance of one
stitch by a pin a² on the periphery of the wheel j, which strikes the face of the
arm of a curved lever c³ that turns on a stud pin d2, the other arm acting
against the lever r¹ which carries the pad or foot. The needle with its crook
can make its upward movement while the pad or foot is down on the cloth,
because at that time the foot is at its greatest distance from the needle, and
the flexibility of the cloth and of the needle will permit the requisite play for
the passage of the crook. The groove in the table in which the looper works
is covered with plates e³, to protect the machinery below, and to give access to
it when required.
Having thus pointed out the character or principle of the first part of the
Invention, and the manner of making, constructing, and using the same, I
wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise mode of con-
struction, so long as the same ends are attained by means substantially the
same. The apparatus for giving the slack and tension to the thread it will be
obvious can be advantageously employed in connection with other machines
for stitching and sewing, in which an eye-pointed needle is used.
What I claim as the first part of this Invention, and desire to secure by

page_text: Letters Patent, is giving the alternate slack and tension to the thread, as
required, by the spring in combination with the bridles attached to the
frame and to the needle carrier, or the equivalents thereof, substantially as
described.
Of the second part of this Invention.-Seams have been formed with two
threads, without carrying one thread entirely through the loop formed with
the other thread as in the machines which sew with a needle and shuttle; and
the better to distinguish the new method of stitching and forming seams with
two threads, I will describe the only two methods heretofore known. The
seam made by the needle and shuttle machine, I do not deem necessary to
describe, as it is too well known.
The first of the said known methods is represented at Figures 16, 17, 18, 19,
in Sheet III., formed around a series of pins a instead of cloth. The better
to exhibit the concatenation the two threads are represented by different
colours d and e, and each passes through the eye of a needle just back of the
point. The needle 6 is the one which perforates the cloth, and other c works.
under the cloth at right angles or nearly so with the first. The needle b, with
its thread, passes through the cloth, the needle c, with its thread, then passes.
between the needle b and its thread, as seen at Fig. 16, and in that position
the needle is withdrawn, which leaves its thread d in the form of a loop f
around the needle c and its thread e, as seen at Fig. 17. The needle b then
progresses the distance of one stitch, and then passes with its thread through
the cloth and between the needle c and its thread e, as seen at Fig. 18, and
then the needle c is withdrawn, which leaves its thread e in the form of a
loop g around the needle b and its thread d, leaving its loop g within the loop f
of the thread d, which when drawn tight, gripes the thread e double against
the cloth, and whilst the needle 6 with its thread d is yet in the loop g of the
thread e, the needle c with its thread e again passes between the needle 6 and
its thread d, which is then withdrawn, leaving another loop f around the
needle c and its thread, which is there doubled, to be again griped against the
cloth at the next stitch, and so on to any number of stitches. In this way
each thread is alternately formed into a loop, in which loop the other thread
lies double, the one part h extending in nearly a straight line from the stitch
back of this loop to the stitch beyond it, whilst the other takes a short turn
around the loop, and passing in nearly a straight line extends the distance of
two stitches.
The other method is represented at Figures 20 and 21. In this method
the two needles b and c, with their threads d and e, work at right angles to

page_text: each other, or nearly so; they are on opposite sides of, and both pass through
the cloth diagonally. The needle 6 passes through the cloth with its thread d,
as seen in Fig. 20, and there the needle c, with its thread e, passes between
the needle 6 and its thread d, and then through the cloth, so that when the
needle 6 is withdrawn, the thread d forms a loop around the needle c and its
thread, which is double. The needle 6 then progresses the distance of one
stitch, and then passes between the needle c and its thread, and again through
the cloth, so that when the needle c is in turn withdrawn, it leaves its thread
around the needle b and its thread d, and leaves its thread double in the loop
of the thread d previously formed. In this way it will be seen that the con-
catenation of the two threads and the series of stitches is effected, forming a
seam like the previous one, with the only difference that in the latter the two
threads appear on the two surfaces of the cloth. The objections to both are
that the needles must pass each other alternately on opposite sides, that is,
the needle 6 first passes over the needle c, and then the needle c must pass
over the needle b; and in the first, the threads on the under surface cross each
other, forming a lumpy surface, with the thread which forms the upper surface
of the seam the most prominent on the under surface, and hence the most
liable to wear and break off, which would destroy the seam. And the second
method is seriously objectionable, for the reason that the two needles must
perforate the cloth in nearly the same places, which necessarily renders a seam
comparatively weak, and the threads too loose or free. And both are seriously
objectionable, for the reason that the stitch is drawn tight by the act of forcing
in the needle to form the next stitch. By the improved method all these
serious objections are avoided, and a seam is formed which on one side has
the appearance of being stitched with a single thread, whilst on the other side
three threads are laid on the surface of the cloth in such manner as to be
adapted to the most beautiful and ornamental embroidery.
In Figures 22, 23, and 24, Sheet III. of the accompanying Drawings, a
represents a series of pins instead of the cloth, and 6 the needle with its thread d,
and c a looper with its thread e. A loop fis formed with the looper c from
the thread e; the needle 6 then carries its thread through the cloth, forming
a loop g, through which the looper c passes, by entering between the needle
and its thread. The looper c then catches the thread e beyond or below the
thread d, and forms a loop h. In this position the thread d forming the needle
loop g lies between the two loops ƒ and g of the thread e. The looper is then
drawn back with the loop h, which is drawn through the loop g, and therefore
around the thread e, and thence through the loop f of the thread e, which is

page_text: thus liberated. The needle and looper are drawn back simultaneously, by
which the tie is completed and the stitch drawn in. From this it will be seen
that the thread e, doubled, is passed through the previously formed loop, and
thus griped and held, and the thread d completely embraced by the thread 6;
one thread appears single on one surface representing stitching, and the other
thread appears on the other surface like three threads laying smooth and flat
side by side, and well adapted to embroidery; and as the three threads lie flat
and smooth, the three threads must be worn at once before the seam gives
way, and what is very important the stitch is drawn tight by the withdrawing
motion of the needle, which is of great practical advantage when seams are
formed by machinery.
What I claim under the second part of the Invention is forming seams for
stitching and sewing with two threads, the first of which is carried through
the cloth at each stitch, and interlaced with the second by forming a loop with
the second on one side of a loop formed with the first, and then forming a
second loop with the second, which is drawn through the loop formed with the
first thread, and through the first loop formed with the second thread, as
described.
The third part of this Invention relates to machinery for sewing or stitching
with seams made in accordance with the second part of the Invention, parts of
which are applicable to machinery for sewing seams with one thread, and
other kinds of seams with two threads. And this part of the Invention
consists in combining with an eye-pointed needle for carrying one thread
through the cloth, and with a looping apparatus for forming the needle thread
into a loop, an apparatus for carrying the second thread within the reach of
the looping apparatus, that the said second thread may be formed into loops,
one on each side of the needle thread, the said looping apparatus being so
constituted as to draw the loop last formed with the second thread through
the loop of the needle thread and the previously formed loop of the second
thread. And this part of the Invention also consists in giving the feeding
motion for advancing the substance to be sewn or stitched the required distance
for each stitch, by giving a lateral motion to the needle in one direction after
it has entered the substance, and a back motion after it is withdrawn, in
combination with an up and down motion to the pad or foot which holds the
cloth on the table, that the said cloth may be free to be turned on the needle
to give the required direction to the seam, and to be moved forward by the
lateral motion of the needle, and then held down firmly to the table during the
formation of the stitch and the withdrawing of the needle.

page_text: The third part of the Invention is represented in the Figures of Sheet IV.,
in which the same letters indicate like parts. The table a is suitably adapted
to receive the cloth or other substance to be sewn, or stitched, and supports
the standard or frame b which carries the needle and its appendages, and the
pad and its appendages for holding the cloth to the needle. The cog-wheel c,
operated by any suitable motor, communicates motion by the cog-wheel d to
the shafte for operating the needle, and by another wheelf to the cam shaft
g below the table for operating the looper. The needle h is the eye-pointed
needle usually employed, and connected with the carrier i, receiving the
required reciprocating motion from a crank pinj on the cam wheel k on the
end of the shaft c, the crank pin being fitted to work in a cam groove on the
back of the needle carrier. This needle carrier slides vertically in ways m,
and the needle, instead of being attached as usual directly to the lower end of
it, is attached to the lower end of a vibrating bar n, connected with the carrier
i by a joint pin o near the top, so that it can vibrate laterally with the needle.
A spring, represented by dotted lines at p (Fig. 26) tends constantly to push
the bar with the needle to the right, and on the other side the said bar is
acted upon by one end of a lever q, the opposite end of which is provided with
a set screw r to regulate the distance to which the bar and needle shall vibrate
to the right. The upper end of this lever is bent, as at s, to extend over the
periphery of the cam wheel k, which cam is formed for the purpose of ope-
rating the lever to vibrate the bar and needle after it has reached the end of
its downward motion, and before the looper is operated to interlock the
threads. This lateral motion of the needle is to advance the cloth preparatory
to the next stitch, so that by the set screw r on the lever 9 the extent of this
feed motion can be regulated with the greatest accuracy. The form of this
cam must be such as not to permit the bar and its needle to be forced back
by the spring p until the needle is withdrawn from the cloth; but when the
feed motion is given to the bar and the needle to advance the cloth, the foot or
pad t which holds the cloth down to the table must be lifted up to liberate it.
For this purpose the pad is attached to the lower end of a bar u, adapted to
slide vertically in ways v, with a helical spring w surrounding the lower end of
the bar, the tension of which presses the pad on to the cloth. The upper end
of the bar u has an arm a, which is acted upon at the time the feed-motion is
given to the needle by a cam y on the shaft e, the cam being so formed as to
permit the pad to be again forced down on to the cloth the moment the cloth
has been advanced. The needle thread z passes from a spool or bobbin through
appropriate guides a', one of which is attached to the needle carrier to make

page_text: the required slack for the operation of the looper, to be hereafter described.
From this guide the thread on its way to the eye of the needle passes under
what is termed a check pad 6', which, at the required time makes pressure on
the thread to hold it. This pad is on the end of a lever c' that turns on a
fulcrum pin d. The pad is kept out clear of the thread by the tension of a
spring e, and forced against the thread to hold it until the point of the needle
has entered the cloth by the action of a cam f¹ on the face of the cam wheel
against the rear arm of the lever c¹. The object of this arrangement is to
hold the thread tight from the cloth upward whilst the needle enters the cloth,
to ensure the laying of the thread smoothly on the surface of the cloth, and to
prevent the point of the needle from catching and entering the thread, which
would be the consequence if the thread were not held tight whilst the needle
enters the cloth.
The needle with its thread having passed down through the cloth and given
the feed motion, the next operation then takes place. The second thread g¹
passes from a spool or bobbin h¹, with the tension properly regulated, through
a vibrating guide on the end of a lever j¹, and thence through the slot k¹ in
the table. This thread g¹ is to be interlaced with the needle thread, which is
effected by the vibrating guide i, and an instrument termed the looper /, which
is flat and straight on the face towards the needle, and bevilled on the opposite
face, and top and bottom, to form a point which will enter freely between the
needle and its thread. This looper is attached to a carrier m² adapted to slide
freely but accurately in a groove in the table at right angles to the needle, and
is provided at bottom with two rollers n', n', or wrist pins, Fig. 29, which
embrace a cam o¹ on the shaft, the said cam being of such form, as represented,
that so soon as the needle has descended and given the feed motion, the looper
enters between the needle and its thread, and then moves back again, the
needle beginning to rise the moment the looper has fairly entered. The body
of the looper is hollow, and within it is fitted a lever p', which turns on a
fulcrum pin at or near the middle, the forward end being barbed, as shewn by
dotted lines, and the rear end provided with a wrist pin r, which rides on a
planes on the table a, the two ends of which are oppositely inclined, and for
the purpose of adjustment made separate from each other and from the flat
plane, so that they can be moved towards or from each other. A spring
within the body of the looper tends constantly to elevate the barbed end of the
lever p¹, so as to have the barb within the looper, and to keep the wrist pin in
contact with the surface of the plane s. As the looper enters between the.
needle and its thread, the barb is within the body of the looper, and towards

page_text: the end of its forward motion the wrist pin rides up one of the inclined planes,
which carries the barb below the bottom of the looper; and at the same time
a projecting piece t¹ on the carrier strikes the outer arm of the lever j', which
carries the guide with its thread g¹ across the path of the looper, so that on
the return of the looper this thread is caught in the barb of the lever p¹, which
draws the said thread in the form of a loop. By this time the needle has been
drawn up, leaving its thread in the form of a loop around the body of the
looper. The barb of the lever p¹ is then drawn within the body of the looper,
still holding the loop of the thread g', which is thus drawn through the loop of
the needle thread, then liberated, and the stitch drawn tight by the continued
back movement, the loop being still held by the barb of the looper, and the
stitch drawn tight by the withdrawing motions of the needle and looper.
Towards the end of the back motion of the looper, the barb again descends
below the looper, that the thread may be free to slide or run thereon, and to
liberate at the next motion the loop which it holds.
The first stitch has been described, but when the next stitch is commenced
there is one loop of the thread g¹ around the body of the looper, which is held
back by the friction of a piece of cloth u¹, as the looper advances to enter
between the needle and its thread, and to form another loop with the thread g¹
by a repetition of the movements already described, so that the loop of the needle
thread is formed between the newly formed loop of the thread 9', and the one
formed by the previous operation, so that by the return motion of the looper
the loop last formed with the thread g is drawn through the loop of the needle
thread, and the previously formed loop of the thread g', thus forming a seam
on the principle above described.
If the guide ¹ for operating the thread g¹ or second thread be omitted, and
the cam o¹ be varied in form, as represented by the dotted lines v¹, to give the
period of rest in the back motion of the looper, the machine will then sew a
seam with one thread in accordance with the first part of the Invention; and
the machine, so far as regards the looper and its combination with the needle,
will represent one of the many modifications which may be made of that part
of the Invention.
What I claim under this part of the Invention is the needle and looper in
combination with the instrument or its equivalent, for carrying or guiding the
second thread within the range of the looper, substantially as described.
And I also claim feeding the cloth or other substance, or advancing it for
each stitch by the lateral motion of the needle as described, in combination
with the motion of the foot or pad for alternately liberating and holding down

page_text: the cloth or other substance to be sewn, as described, or the equivalent
therefor.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
EDWARD CLARK. (L.B.)
To the Commissioners of Patents for Inventions.
I hereby grant my fiat giving leave to the above-mentioned Edward Clark
to file in the Great Seal Patent Office, with the Specification to which the
same relates, the above-written Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alteration.
Temple, August 9th, 1861.
W. ATHERTON,

page_text: In the Matter of Letters Patent granted to Alfred Vincent Newton,
of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
FORMING SEAMS AND ORNAMENTAL STITCHING, AND IN MACHINERY FOR
EFFECTING SUCH OPERATION, PART OF WHICH MACHINERY IS APPLICABLE TO
THE FORMING OF OTHER SEAMS AND STITCHES," bearing date the Twenty-
first day of September One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three,
Number 2187, and which Letters Patent were assigned to Edward
Clerk, of New York, in the United States of America, by deed,
bearing date the Fourth day of October, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-nine.
SCLAIMER AND MEMORANDUM OF ALTERATION proposed to be
entered by the said EDWARD CLARK, to the Title and Specification of the
said Patent pursuant to an Act passed in the fifth and sixth years of His
late Majesty's reign, entituled "An Act to amend the Law touching
"Letters Patent for Inventions."
WHEREAS I have found that. the second part of the said Invention, which
asists in a peculiar construction of stitch, is not of such practical value as to
der it desirable to retain a special claim therefor, and that the third part of

page_text: the Invention, which relates mainly to machinery for producing such stitch,
is also not of that practical value to make it worth retaining it in the
Specification, I desire to disclaim by erasure, and do hereby disclaim so much
of the Specification and Drawings as relates to such second and third parts of
the Invention, and I make such alterations and amendments in the title of the
Patent as will adapt it to the more limited nature of the Invention, and I
so correct the wording of the Specification as to render it perfectly intelligible
after such erasure has been effected. That is to say, I strike out in the title of
the Patent the first word "an;" also the words "method of forming seams
and ornamental stitching, and in machinery for effecting such operation, part
of which;" also the words " is," and "other" when the title will stand thus:
"Improved Machinery applicable to the forming of Seams and Stitches."
In the Specification I strike out at page 3, line 4 (printed copy) the words
"in Sheet II.," and the final "s" in the word "Drawings." In the same
page I also strike out from lines 14 to 31 both inclusive, and at line 32 I
strike out the words "first part of the." In page 4 I strike out at line 7
the words "of Sheet II."; also the final "s" in the word " Drawings,"
and likewise the words "this part of." At line 11 I also erase the words
the first part of." In page 5, at line 16, I alter the reference letter
"u" to "v," to make it agree with the Drawing; and at line 25 I strike
out the superfluous word "to," which obscures the sense of the passage.
page 8 I strike out the whole of the paragraph commencing at line 31 with
the words "Having thus," and ending with the word " same at line 35, the
same being superfluous and out of place. And at line 38 on the same page I
erase the words "as the first part of this Invention." At line 5, page 9,
I commence a further erasure, and strike out all the following lines of the said
Specification, when the amended Specification will read as follows:-
66
"
At
The several Figures of the Drawing represent a machine for forming
seams with a single thread. Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the machine;
Fig. 8 is a vertical section taken at the line A, a, of Fig, 7; Fig. 9 is a
vertical section taken at the line B, b, of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is another section
taken at the line C, c, of the same Figure; Fig. 11 is a face view of the cam
for operating the looper; Fig. 12 is a perspective view of part of the appa-
ratus employed in operating the looper; Fig. 13 is a separate view, in plan,
of the lever for giving the feed motion; and Figures 14 and 15 are sections
taken in the same plane as Fig. 9 to represent the looper ja different
positions.
The Invention consists in giving the required tension and slack to the

page_text: thread, when required, by means of a spring guide, through which the thread..
passes from the bobbin or spool to the needle, in combination with two bridles
through which the said spring passes; one attached to the frame to determine
the height to which the spring shall be permitted to rise, and the other.
attached to the needle carrier, or to some other part of the machine having a
corresponding motion, for the purpose of depressing the spring after the point
of the needle has entered the substance to be sewn, that the needle may slide
on the thread whilst in a state of tension, and thus prevent the point of the
needle from injuring the thread, and then force down the spring, that the eye.
of the said spring may descend with the thread faster than the needle to give.
the required amount of slack for the formation of the loop.
In the Figures of the accompanying Drawing the Invention is shewn as
applied to a single thread sewing machine, the action of which I will now
describe for the purpose of more clearly explaining the operation of the novel
means for giving the 'required tension and slack to the thread which constitutes
the sole feature of the Invention:
a represents the table or platform on which the articles to be sewn are placed:
and constituting part of the framework, and 6 is that part of the framework
which carries the machinery for operating the needle. The needle c is formed
with the eye near the point, as in other sewing machines; and just above the
eye it is crooked, at represented at d, for the purpose to be presently described,
the point of the said needle being in the same line with the shank, which is
secured by a screw clamp e to the lower end of the needle carrier f, that slides
vertically in ways 9, 9, secured to the forward end of the frame b. The needle
carrier is formed at the back with a cam groove h, in which works a crank pin i
on the face of a wheel j, on the forward end of a horizontal shaft k, that has its
bearings in the frame b, the said shaft being rotated by a pinion on its rear-
end, which gears into a cog-wheel m, operated by any suitable motive power..
The form of the cam groove h (see Fig. 9) is such that, as the crank pin in its
revolution moves from the point 1 to 2, the needle is carried down and the
point forced through the substance to be sewn, and then, as the crank pin
returns from the point 2 to 3 in the said cam groove (which is in that direction
concentric or nearly so with the path of the crank pin), the needle remains
stationary or nearly so, to give time for the performance of other operations to
be hereafter described. And then, as the crank pin continues its revolution, it
raises the needle in passing back to the point of starting at 1. The thread
with which the seam is formed is wound on a spool n, fitted to turn freely on &
spindle o, attached to the frame b; and one head of the said spool is grooved,

page_text: and a cord g, attached by one end to the frame, is wrapped around this groove
once, and to the other end of it is suspended a cup r, in which small weights
are placed to regulate the friction on the said spool, and thus determine the
tension of the thread as it is drawn off in the process of sewing.. From this
spool the thread s passes through an eye in the end of a spring t, made of wire
and attached to the frame b, and passed through two staples or wire bridles u, v,
one attached to the frame and the other to the needle carrier. The object of
this arrangement is the better to control the thread during the operations of
the machine. As the needle is carried through the cloth by the downward
motion of the carrier, the thread is held up by the tension of the spring t, so.
that the needle slides on the thread; for if the thread were loose, the point of
the needle would be liable to catch and injure it, and would not properly lay
the thread on the surface of the cloth; but after the eye of the needle has
reached the substance to be sewn, the top of the staple or bridle u comes in
contact with the spring and carries it down faster than the needle by reason of
the projection of the spring forward of the carrier, thus producing a sufficient
amount of slack in the thread, that it may be drawn freely through the cloth or
other substance in forming the stitch, as will be hereafter described; and as
the needle is drawn out of the cloth the spring is permitted to rise, to draw
out the thread until it is stopped by the other staple or bridle v, which gauges
the extent of the upward motion of the spring. If, however, anything should
hold or check its upward motion, the top of the needle carrier will strike and
carry it up with a positive but elastic motion, the elasticity being due to that
portion of the spring which projects beyond the carrier. The amount of slack
cau be regulated by the position of the bridle on the needle carrier. As the
needle is carried down, and towards the end of its downward motion, the bulge
formed by the crook at d comes in contact with a fixed cam w, which forces the
needle inwards, until the part below the crook is brought into contact with a
gauge plate x. The face of this cam won which the needle acts is grooved and
holds the needle in its position laterally. By these means the needle, however
flexible, is at the end of its down motion always brought to its proper position
and held firmly therein during the next succeeding operation in the process of
forming the stitch. The cam w is fitted to and passes through a mortise in the
side of the groove in which the looper works, and is attached to a spring y,
one end of which is secured to the frame and the other provided with an
adjusting screw 2, by means of which the position of the cam can be adjusted.
The needle having passed through the cloth and carried with it the thread
which stretches across the crook or bend, the point or nose of the looper a

page_text: enters the space between the body of the thread and the needle at the crook..
This looper is represented at Figures 9, 14, and 15, and is attached to a.
carrier 6', which slides horizontally between ways c', c', below the bench or
table a, the carrier being provided at the back with a wrist pin d, fitted to a
cam groove e' in the face of a wheel f¹ on the end of a horizontal shaft g',
mounted in suitable bearings under the table a, and receiving motion from the
cog wheel m by a pinion h¹ on its rear end.
The form of the cam groove is represented in the separate Fig. 11, and is
such that the moment the needle has completed its downward motion the
looper is carried towards and past the needle, and then immediately back as
the needle rises; but, before being entirely drawn back, it is arrested for a
short time, whilst the needle is completing its upward movement to draw out
the slack of the thread and to draw the stitch in one direction, and as the.
needle begins to descend, and simultaneously therewith the looper is re-started
and completes its back motion to draw the stitch back to its proper place.
The rest of the cam groove is then concentric, to keep the looper in a fixed
position until the next operation. The said looper works in a groove in the
table or platform a, and at right angles or nearly so to the motion of the
needle.. That face of the looper towards the needle is slightly convex in its.
vertical section to fit the concavity in the crook of the needle, and the side of
the groove against which it works is of corresponding form. The point of the
looper is lancet-shaped, so as to enter freely between the needle and the
thread. When the thread is stretched across the crook the upper surface is
curved and the under surface recessed to form a barb (as shewn at i¹), which
will enter freely between the thread and needle. The moment the barb.
passes the needle, it (the needle) begins to rise, which draws the thread into
the recess of the looper within the barb, and then, as the looper moves back,
the thread is drawn out to form a loop. The looper then stops for a short
time whilst the. needle completes its upward movement, the thread being
drawn tight by the tension of the spring t, which draws the previous loop.
tight, this being aided by the needle carrier coming in contact with the spring
to force it up by a positive but elastic motion due to the elasticity of that.
part of the spring which projects beyond the carrier; and the moment the
needle has completed its upward movement, the looper is re-started to com-
plete its back movement, which draws out the thread to complete the size of
the loop j, and as the thread which passes around the looper is held above:
by the tension of the thread, and also in the cloth forming the previous stitch ;.
this back movement draws the thread tight in the cloth and is equivalent to

page_text: pulling on the single thread which forms the stitch on the face of the cloth,
because the thread on the other side yields to the down motion of the needle.
In this condition the feed motion operates which advances the cloth the dis-
tance of one stitch in the manner to be presently described. The needle again
descends to make another stitch, and, when it has completed its downward
motion, the looper makes its next movement as before towards and past the
needle, entering between the needle and the thread preparatory to the forma-
tion of another loop, which is to be drawn through the previously formed loop
still on the body of the looper, which is effected in the following manner :-
A small lever k' is connected by a fulcrum pin with the body of the looper,
when the forward end of this lever is pushed down in the position represented
in Fig. 15, the looper is entirely closed and has an eye instead of a recess, the
end of the lever being made to fit in a suitable recess inside of the barb i to
have the lower edge smooth and even, so as not to catch on the thread; but
when the end of the lever is thrown up to the top of the recess, then the barb
is open and free to receive the thread to form a loop. When the looper is
in its back position the thread forming the loop lies in the hollow of the looper
and extends thence diagonally on each side to the cloth, and, as the looper is
drawn back, the thread forming the loop is drawn between the inner face of
the looper, and a piece of cloth P, or its equivalent, attached to the side of the
groove, so that, when the looper is pushed forward to form another loop, the
previously formed loop is held back by the friction of the cloth, so that the
lever slides into the loop j, and, as the looper is drawn back with the
thread, forming a second loop in the forward part of the recess, the forward
end of the lever k³, which is then within the previous loop j¹, is pushed down
on to the barb to close the recess, that the previously formed loop may be
liberated and drawn off from the looper by its continued back motion and the
tension on the thread as the needle continues its upward movement. From
this it follows that, as the previously formed loop is liberated over the loop last
formed, the concatenation of the stitches is effected with the previous stitch.
The opening and closing of the recess of the looper by the lever is effected by a
wrist pin m¹ on the back end of the lever, which, on the back movement of the
looper, rides up the inclined face of a latch n¹, which elevates its rear end and
forces down its forward end. Towards the end of the back motion of the
looper the wrist pin m' passes off the latch to permit the looper to be opened
by the tension of a spring o'. The latch n¹ turns on a stud pin p¹, so that it can
rise to permit the wrist pin of the lever k¹ to pass under it as the looper makes.
its movement towards the needle.

page_text: The cloth or other substance to be sewn or stitched is placed on the table or
platform, and there held down by a pad or foot q', whose under surface may be
made with one or more teeth, but slightly projecting from its under surface,
simply to have a hold on the cloth or other substance. This pad or foot is
attached to the lower end of a lever r¹, jointed at s¹ to a bar t', adapted to
slide on the standard of the frame b, with a helical spring u¹ interposed, the
tension of which presses the pad or foot on to the cloth lying on the table.
To the upper end of the bar t' is attached a spring dog v¹, which, when the
bar is elevated, catches in a notch, to hold up the pad or foot when desired to
put in or remove the cloth; an arm w³, at the upper end of the bar t¹, passes
to the back of the standard of the frame, and is acted upon by the periphery of
a cam on the shaft k, to lift the pad or foot from the cloth after the point of
the needle has entered the cloth, so that the cloth may yield to the crook of
the needle during its downward motion, and to admit of changing the direction
of the cloth to give the required direction to the seam whilst the needle is in
the cloth and before it begins to rise, so that the cloth can turn on the needle
as its centre, which greatly facilitates the making of a seam in any line or
direction desired. Whilst the pad is thus held up from the face of the cloth it
is pushed back the distance of a stitch by the tension of a spring y', acting
against the upper end of a lever, to which the pad or foot is attached, the
said lever being provided with a set screw z¹, by means of which the range of
feed can be regulated with the greatest accuracy. The cam ¹ (Fig. 10) then
permits the foot or pad to be forced down on to the cloth by the tension of the
spring u', and there it remains until the needle is drawn. The feed motion is
given to cause the foot or pad to push the cloth the distance of one stitch by a
pin a on the periphery of the wheel j, which strikes the face of the arm b² of
a curved lever c² that turns on a stud pin d, the other arm acting against the
lever which carries the pad or foot. The needle with its crook can make its
upward movement while the pad or foot is down on the cloth, because, at that
time, the foot is at its greatest distance from the needle, and the flexibility of
the cloth and of the needle will permit the requisite play for the passage of the
crook. The groove in the table in which the looper works is covered with
plates to protect the machinery below and to give access to it when
required.
The apparatus for giving the slack and tension to the thread, it will be
obvious can be advantageously employed in connection with other machines
for stitching and sewing in which an eye-pointed needle is used.
What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is, giving the alternate

page_text: slack and tension to the thread, as required by the spring, in combination
with the bridles attached to the frame and to the needle carrier or the equi-
valents thereof, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.

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 "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF FORMING SEAMS AND ORNAMENTAL STITCHING, AND IN
MACHINERY FOR EFFECTING SUCH OPERATION, PART OF WHICH MACHI-
NERY IS APPLICABLE TO THE FORMING OF OTHER SEAMS AND STITCHES."
-A communication.
Sealed the 2nd December 1853, and dated the 21st September 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 21st September 1853.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, do hereby declare the nature of the
5 said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF FORMING SEAMS
ORNAMENTAL STITCHING, AND IN MACHINERY FOR EFFECTING SUCH OPERA-
TION, PARTS OF WHICH MACHINERY IS APPLICABLE TO THE FORMING OF OTHER
SEAMS AND STITCHES," to be as follows:-
The object of the first part of this Invention is to form a seam with
one thread, as in the tambour stitch, but without the objections to seams
A

page_text: formed by such stitches; and to this end the first part of the Invention
consists in forming a seam with one thread by first forming a loop
with that portion of the thread which is carried through the cloth by
the needle, and then forming another loop in like manner at the next
perforation with the needle, which second loop is drawn through the
first loop, and then liberated to complete the stitch. By this means
the stitch is drawn tight by the return or withdrawing motion of the
needle, which avoids any injurious chafing of the thread; the seam is
not weakened or destroyed by a .miss stitch or any number of them,
for the reason that the concalenation is completed at every stitch; and
the needle is not deflected by drawing in the stitch, so that it can be
made as thin as desirable.
The second part of the Invention, which relates to the machine for
sewing seams according to this new method with one thread, consists
in making the needle with a crook in its length back of the eye to
form a recess, across which the thread is drawn to form an open space
between the body of the needle and the thread to ensure the entrance
of an instrument termed the looper, the point of the needle being in
the same straight line with the body back of the crook. I am thus
enabled to obtain a needle, of the requisite fineness for sewing any kind
of seam, with a recess to insure the entrance of the looper between it
and the thread, and having the requisite stiffness, instead of a thick
needle with a recess cut into the side as heretofore, in consequence of
which it was necessary to make the body of the needle too thick in
proportion to the thread for sewing a good and efficient seam.
And this part of the Invention also consists in combining with a
needle having a crook such as above indicated a cam against which
the crook of the needle strikes at the end of its perforating operation,
and a gauge plate against which the point is forced when the crook is
brought against the cam, by which combination the proper position of
the needle is insured (however flexible it may be) at the time the looper
enters between it and the thread.
And this part of the Invention also consists in combining with a
needle for perforating the substance to be sewed or stitched, and carry-
ing the thread thro' it, a looping apparatus which forms the thread into

page_text: a loop at each perforation of the needle, and consequently liberates the
previously formed loop over the one last formed to effect the concatena-
tion of the stitches made by a single thread.
And this part of the Invention also consists in forming the looping
apparatus, which is suitably pointed to enter between the needle and
thread, with a recess into which the thread is drawn to form the loops,
when this is combined with a lever, or its equivalent, for alternately
closing and opening the said recess, and discharging the previously
formed loop over the one last formed, and whilst the last formed loop is
held or confined in the said recess.
And this part of the Invention also consists in stopping the looper
before the end of its back movement, and whilst the needle is com-
pleting its withdrawing motion, that the thread may be drawn tight,
and then completing the back motion of the looper as the needle
begins to descend, for the purpose of drawing the stitch close to the
cloth, which is thus effectually done for the reason that the thread
passes from the needle through the cloth around the looper, and thence
through the cloth forming the previous stitch, so that as the looper
moves back it draws that part of the thread which forms the previous
stitch tight to the surface of the cloth, the descent of the needle per-
mitting the thread to yield or give out on the other side. Without
this the thread would have to slide on the looper to draw the stitch
tight, which would be impracticable on account of the friction, particu-
larly with fine thread, whilst by this plan it is equivalent to pulling
directly on a single thread.
And this part of the Invention also consists in giving the required
tension and slack to the thread when required by means of a spring
guide, through which the thread passes from the bobbin or spool to the
needle in combination with two bridles through which the said spring
passes, one attached to the frame to determine the height to which the
spring shall be permitted to rise, and the other attached to the needle
carrier, or to some other part of the machine having a corresponding
motion, for the purpose of depressing the spring after the point of the
needle has entered the substance to be sewed, that the needle may
slide on the thread whilst in a state of tension, and thus prevent the

page_text: point of the needle from injuring the thread, and then force down the
spring that the eye of the said spring may descend with the the thread
faster than the needle to give the required amount of slack for the
formation of the loop.
And, finally, this part of the Invention consists in feeding the cloth
or other substance to be sewed for the progress of the seam by means
of the foot or pad which holds the said substance down to the table or
platform, by giving to the said foot or pad an upward motion to lift it
from the cloth, &c. whilst the needle is in it, that the cloth may be
turned on the needle as on a pivot to give any desired direction to the
seam, and then a back motion before it is let down on to the cloth, &c.
that it may hold down the cloth as the needle rises, and after the needle
is withdrawn a forward feeding motion to the extent required for a
stitch, the extent of the feed motion being adjustable.
In the third part of this Invention the principle of the first part is
employed, this third part being simply an improvement on or addition
to the first part of the Invention, for the interlacing of the two threads
and the concatenation of the series of stitches to form a seam, which is
effected by carrying one thread through the cloth with and eye-pointed
needle, and then forming a loop with the other thread with a looping
instrument; and, instead of alternately looping one thread around the
other, the looper is carried through between the needle and its thread;
a second loop is then formed with the second thread, which last loop is
carried back through the loop in the needle thread, and through the
first loop of the second thread, thus completely tying the second thread
around the first.
The fourth part of the Invention relates to machinery for sewing or
stitching with seams made in accordance with the third part of the
Invention, parts of which are applicable to machinery for sewing
seams with one thread, and other kinds of seams with two threads.
And this part of the Invention consists in combining with an eye-
pointed needle for carrying one thread thro' the cloth, and with a loop-
ing apparatus for forming the needle thread into a loop, an apparatus
for carrying the second thread within the reach of the looping appa-
said second thread may be formed into loops one on

page_text: each side of the needle thread, the said looping apparatus being so
constituted as to draw the loop last formed with the second thread
through the loop of the needle thread and the previously formed loop
of the second thread.
And this part of the Invention also consists in giving the feeding
motion for advancing the substance to be sewed or stitched the re-
quired distance for each stitch, by giving a lateral motion to the needle
in one direction after it has entered the substance, and a back motion
after it has withdrawn, in combination with an up and down motion to
the pad or foot which holds the cloth, &c. on the table, that the said
cloth, &c. may be free to be turned on the needle to give the required
direction to the seam, and to be moved forward by the lateral motion
of the needle, and then held down firmly to the table during the for-
mation of the stitch and the withdrawing of the needle.
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 21st March 1854.
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 Twenty-first day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
Her special license 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

page_text: Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF FORMING
SEAMS AND ORNAMENTAL STITCHING, AND IN MACHINERY FOR EFFECTING SUCH
OPERATION, PART OF WHICH MACHINERY IS APPLICABLE TO THE FORMING OF
OTHER SEAMS AND STITCHES," being a communication from abroad, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):
In Sheet I. of the Drawings, Figures 1, 2, and 3, represent the
method of forming seams by what is known as the tambour stitch
with a single thread; and Figures 4, 5, and 6, represent an improved
method of forming seams with a single thread, which improved method
constitutes the first head of the present Invention.
Fig. 10, is another
Fig. 11, is a face
The several Figures in Sheet II. of the Drawings represent the
machine for forming seams with a single thread according to the
improved method. Fig. 7, is a front elevation of the machine. Fig. 8,
is a vertical section taken at the line A, a, of Fig. 7, Fig. 9, is a
vertical section taken at the line B, b, of Fig. 8.
section taken at the line C, c, of the same Figure.
view of the cam for operating the looper. Fig. 12, is a perspective
view of part of the apparatus employed in operating the looper.
Fig. 13, is a separate view in plan of the lever for giving the feed motion;
and Figures 14, and 15, are sections taken in the same plane as Fig. 9,
to represent the looper in different positions.
Sheet III. of the Drawings contains the several Figures to repre-
sent the known modes, and an improved method of forming seams with
two threads without conveying one thread entirely through the loops

page_text: formed with the other thread. Figures 16, 17, 18, and 19, represent
one of the known methods; Figures 20, and 21, another known
method; and Figures 22, 23, and 24, represent the new method as
applied to forming seams with two threads, specially applicable to
ornamental stitching, but which is applicable to sewing seams in
general.
Sheet IV: of the Drawings shews in several views the machine for
forming or sewing seams with two threads on the improved method,
and which, with certain modifications, can be applied to sewing or
forming seams with a single thread, according to the new method.
Fig. 25, is a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 26, is a front eleva-
tion. Fig. 27, is a plan view of the machine, looking upwards. Fig. 28,
is a plan of the table or platform, with so much of the machinery as
can be seen below it. Fig. 29, is a vertical section taken at the line
A, a, of Fig. 28. Fig. 30, is a vertical section taken at the line B, b,
of Fig. 25; and Fig. 31, is a back view of the needle carrier with its
cam groove.
Machines have been made for sewing seams in cloth and other sub-
stances with one thread with what is called the tambour stitch, formed
as represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3, Sheet I., in. which the thread is
worked around a series of pins a, instead of being carried through the
cloth. The better to illustrate the forming of such stitches:-The
thread b, passes through the eye of the needle c, back of the point. The
needle is thrust between two pins as through the cloth to carry the
thread through the cloth, a hook d on the under side, and moving at
right angles to the needle, being at the time in the position represented
in Fig. 3. The hook is then drawn back, by which the thread is drawn
off' in the direction of the progress of the seam to form a loop, as repre-
sented at e, Fig. 1. The needle is drawn back and again thrust into
the next place, and in entering passes through the loop e, formed and
held by the hook, as represented in Fig. 2. In this condition the hook
is again moved forward to liberate the loop e, to form the stitch, and in
its return or back movement again catches the thread lying between
the cloth and the eye of the needle to form another loop for the next
stitch. In this way the stitches are formed in succession into a seam by

page_text: the needle passing each time through the cloth and the loop previously
formed by the hook.
The objections to this kind of stitch are numerous and serious. The
stitch is drawn tight and into the cloth, technically termed "drawing in
the stitch," by forcing in the needle for the next stitch, which must of
necessity chafe and seriously injure the thread and reduce the strength
of the seam. Drawing in the stitch by the next operation pulls on
the needle laterally to such an extent that to resist it the needle must
be made too thick for sewing fine seams. The hook must catch the
thread which lies against the surface of the needle by scraping across
the surface of the needle, whereby not only is the thread liable to
injury, from being chafed, but the thread is very liable to be missed,
and if the hook does fail to catch the thread and form the loop, or if
it does form the loop and at the next operation the needle fails to enter
the loop, not only will a false stitch be the result, but the strength of
the seam in the rear of the false stitch will be destroyed; because all
the stitches are dependent upon any one loop; and if the thread carried
through the cloth by the needle is not interlocked with itself by passing
through the loop previously formed, the concatenation is lost, and, all
the stitches back of it are liberated.
Now the object of the first part of this Invention is, as before stated,
to form a seam with one thread as in the tambour stitch above
described, but without the objections to seams formed by such stitches;
and to this end the first part of the Invention consists in forming a
seam with one thread by first forming a loop with that portion of the
thread which is carried through the cloth by the needle, and then form-
ing another loop in like manner at the next perforation with the needle,
which second loop is drawn through the first loop, and then liberated to
complete the stitch. By this means the stitch is drawn tight by the
return or withdrawing motion of the needle, which avoids any injurious
chafing of the thread; the seam is not weakened or destroyed by a miss
stitch, or any number of them, for the reason that the concatenation is
completed at every stitch; and the needle is not deflected by drawing in
the stitch, so that it can. be made as thin as desirable.
The second part of the Invention, which relates to the machine for

page_text: sewing seams according to this new method with one thread, consists
in making the needle with a crook in its length back of the eye to
form a recess across which the thread is drawn to form an open space
between the body of the needle and the thread to ensure the entrance
of an instrument termed the looper, the point of the needle being in
the same straight line with the body back of the crook. I am thus
enabled to obtain a needle of the requisite fineness for sewing any kind
of seam with a recess to ensure the entrance of the looper between it
and the thread, and having the requisite stiffness, instead of a thick
needle with a recess cut into the side as heretofore, in consequence of
which it was necessary to make the body of the needle too thick in
proportion to the thread for sewing a good and efficient seam.
And this part of the Invention also consists in combining with a
needle having a crook, such as above indicated, a cam against which
the crook of the needle strikes at the end of its perforating operation,
and a gauge plate against which the point is forced when the crook is
brought against the cam, by which combination the proper position of
the needle (however flexible it may be) at the time the looper enters
between it and the thread is insured.
And this part of the Invention also consists in combining with a
needle for perforating the substance to be sewn or stitched, and carry-
ing the thread through it, a looping apparatus which forms the thread
into a loop at each perforation of the needle, and consequently liberates
the previously formed loop over the one last formed to effect the con-
catenation of the stitches made by a single thread.
And this part of the Invention also consists in forming the looping
apparatus, which is suitably pointed to enter between the needle and
thread, with a recess into which the thread is drawn to form the loops,
when this is combined with a lever, or its equivalent, for alternately
closing and opening the said recess, and discharging the previously
formed loop over the one last formed, and whilst the last formed loop
is held or confined in the said recess.
And this part of the Invention also consists in stopping the looper
before the end of its back movement, and whilst the needle is com-

page_text: י.
pleting its withdrawing motion that the thread may be drawn tight, and
then completing the back motion of the looper as the needle begins to
descend for the purpose of drawing the stitch close to the cloth, which
is thus effectually done, for the reason that the thread passes from the
needle through the cloth around the looper, and thence through the
cloth forming the previous stitch, so that as the looper moves back it
draws that part of the thread which forms the previous stitch tight to
the surface of the cloth, the descent of the needle permitting the thread
to yield or give out on the other side. Without this, the thread would
have to slide on the loop to draw the stitch tight, which would be im
practicable on account of the friction, particularly with fine thread,
whilst by this plan it is equivalent to pulling directly on a single thread.
And this part of the Invention also consists in giving the required
tension and slack to, the thread when required by means of a spring
guide through which the thread passes from the bobbin or spool to the
needle, in combination with two bridles through which the said spring
passes, one attached to the frame to determine the height to which the
spring shall be permitted to rise, and the other attached to the needle
carrier, or to some other part of the machine having a corresponding
motion, for the purpose of depressing the spring after the point of the
needle has entered the substance to be sewn, that the needle may slide on
the thread whilst in a state of tension, and thus prevent the point of the
needle from injuring the thread, and then force down the spring that
the eye of the said spring may descend with the thread faster than the
needle to give the required amount of slack for the formation of the
loop.
And, finally, this part of the Invention consists in feeding the cloth
or other substance to be sewn for the progress of the seam by means of
the foot or pad which holds the said substance down to the table or
platform, by giving to the said foot or pad an upward motion to lift it
from the cloth, &c. whilst the needle is in it, that the cloth, &c. may
be turned on the needle as on a pivot, to give any desired direction to
the seam, and then a back motion before it is let down on to the cloth,
&c. that it may hold down the cloth as the needle rises"; and after the

page_text: needle is withdrawn a forward feeding motion to the extent required
for a stitch, the extent of the feed motion being adjustable.
Figures 4, 5, and 6, Sheet I., represent the new method of forming
a seam with a single thread, or a series of pins, the better to exhibit the
concatenation.
The pins represent the cloth between the punctures made by a
needle. The needle c, with the eye just back of the point for the
thread 6, enters a space between two pins, and carries the thread b,
through the cloth; the looper d, then moves forward between the needle
and the thread, and in its return motion catches the thread and forms
a loop c, as the needle is drawn out, the loop being drawn back, that is
in the direction the reverse of the progress of the seam. The needle
and thread is then forced in through the next place, as shown at Fig. 5.
The looper, with its previous loop e, on its shank, is moved forward,
and enters between the needle and the thread, as shewn at Fig. 6, and
in its back movement catches the thread which lies in the eye of the
needle, and, as the needle is drawn back, forms a second loop which is
drawn through the first loop e, and then liberated to complete the
stitch. In this way the seam progresses stitch by stitch.
If the thread should break, the end will be drawn through the loop e,
and there held by the looper as in the case of the last stitch of a seam.
The needle can be re-threaded, and the operation continued as if
beginning a new seam, in which the beginning end of the thread is
completely griped and held by the first stitch. But if the looper in any
part of the seam should fail to enter between the needle and thread,
and should fail to make the next loop, the previous loop still remains
on the shank of the looper, and when the looper does finally enter
properly and form another loop the connection is continued, and the
only consequence to the seam will be one long stitch instead of two or
more short ones.
It will be seen that this seam entirely differs from the seam made
by the tambour stitch, for the reason that in the tambour stitch seam
the loop must be drawn in the direction of the progress of the seam so
that the needle shall enter the loop to form the concatenation, and that
if it fails to enter, or the loop fails, to be formed, the concatenation is

page_text: broken, and the thread back of the missed stitch is liberated; whereas
in the new stitch, the loop must be drawn away from the needle to
prevent the needle from entering it, and the concatenation is produced
by drawing the last formed loop through the one previously formed, so
that each stitch completes the concatenation, and, as a consequence,
the failure at any time to catch the thread when carried through the
cloth by the needle does not break the connection, but simply causes
a longer stitch to be taken.
In the Figures of Sheet II. of the accompanying Drawings, a repre-
sents the table or platform on which the articles to be sewn are placed,
and constituting part of the framework; and b, is that part of the
framework which carries the machinery for operating the needle. The
needle c, is formed with the eye near the point, as in other sewing
machines, and just above the eye it is crooked, as represented at d,
for the purpose to be presently described, the point of the said needle
being in the same line with the shank, which is secured by a serew
clamp e, to the lower end of the needle carrier f, that slides vertically
in ways g, g, secured to the forward end of the frame b. The needle
carrier is formed at the back with a cam groove h, in which works
a crank pin i, on the face of a wheel j, on the forward end of a
horizontal shaft k, that has its bearings in the frame 6, the said shaft
being rotated by a pinion 1, on its rear end, which gears into a cog
wheel m, operated by any suitable motive power. The form of the
cam groove h, (see Fig. 9,) is such that as the crank pin in its re-
volution moves from the point 1, to 2, the needle is carried down,
and the point forced through the substance to be sewn, and then, as
the crank pin returns from the point 2, to 3, in the said cam groove,
(which is in that direction concentric or nearly so with the path of the
crank pin,) the needle remains stationary or nearly so, to give time for
the performance of other operations, to be hereafter described. And
then, as the crank pin continues its revolution, it raises the needle in
passing back to the point of starting at 1.
The thread with which the seam is formed is wound on a spool n,
fitted to turn freely on a spindle o, attached to the frame b, and one
head of the said spool is grooved; and a cord q, attached by one end to

page_text: the frame, is wrapped around this groove once, and to the other end
of it is suspended a cup , in which small weights are placed to
regulate the friction on the said spool, and thus determine the tension
of the thread as it is drawn off in the process of sewing. From this
spool the threads, passes through an eye in the end of a spring t, made
of wire, and attached to the frame b, and passed through two staples or
wire bridles u, v, one attached to the frame, and the other to the needle
carrier. The object of this arrangement is the better to control the
thread during the operations of the machine.
As the needle is carried through the cloth by the downward motion
of the carrier the thread is held up by the tension of the spring t, so
that the needle slides on the thread, for if the thread were loose the
point of the needle would be liable to catch and injure it, and would
not properly lay the thread on the surface of the cloth; but after the
eye of the needle has reached the substance to be sewn the top of the
staple or bridle u, comes in contact with the spring, and carries it down
faster than the needle by reason of the projection of the spring forward
of the carrier, thus producing a sufficient amount of slack in the
thread that it may be drawn freely through the cloth or other
substance in forming the stitch, as will be hereafter described; and as
the needle is drawn out of the cloth the spring is permitted to rise
to draw out the thread until it is stopped by the other staple or
bridle u, which gauges the extent of the upward motion of the spring.
If, however, any thing should hold or check its upward motion, the top
of the needle carrier will strike and carry it up with a positive but
elastic motion, the elasticity being due to that portion of the spring
which projects beyond the carrier. The amount of slack can be regu-
lated by the position of the bridle on the needle carrier.
As the needle is carried down and towards the end of its downward
motion the bulge formed by the crook at d, comes in contact with a
fixed cam w, which forces the needle inwards until the part below the
crook is brought into contact with a gauge plate x. The face of this
cam w, on which the needle acts, is grooved to and holds the needle in
its position laterally. By these means, the needle, however flexible, is at

page_text: the end of its down motion always brought to its proper position, and
held firmly therein during the next succeeding operation in the process
of forming the stitch. The cam w, is fitted to and passes through a
mortise in the side of the groove in which the looper works, and is
attached to a spring y, one end of which is secured to the frame, and
the other provided with an adjusting screw, by means of which the
position of the cam can be adjusted.
The needle having passed through the cloth, and carried with it the
thread which stretches across the crook or bend, the point or nose of
the looper a', enters the space between the body of the thread and the
needle at the crook. This looper is of a peculiar character as repre-
sented at Figures 9, 14, and 15, and is attached to a carrier 6', which
slides horizontally between ways c', c¹ below the bench or table a;
the carrier being provided at the back with a wrist pin d', fitted to a
cam groove c', in the face of a wheel f', on the end of a horizontal
shaft g', mounted in suitable bearings under the table a, and receiving
motion from the cog wheel m, by a pinion h³, on its rear end.
The form of the cam groove is represented in the separate Fig. 11,
and is such that the moment the needle has completed its downward
motion the looper is carried towards and past the needle and then im-
mediately back as the needle rises; but before being entirely drawn
back it is arrested for a short time, whilst the needle is completing its
upward movement to draw out the slack of the thread, and to draw the
stitch in one direction, and, as the needle begins to descend, and simul-
taneously therewith, the looper is re-started and completes its back
motion to draw the stitch back to its proper place. The rest of the
cam groove is then concentric to keep the looper in a fixed position
until the next operation. The said looper works in a groove in the
table or platform a, and at right angles or nearly so to the motion of the
needle. That face of the looper towards the needle is slightly convex
in its vertical section to fit the concavity in the crook of the needle,
and the side of the groove against which it works is of corresponding
form. The point of the looper is lancet shaped, so as to enter freely
between the needle and the thread. When the thread is stretched

page_text: across the, crook the upper surface is curved, and the 'under surface
recessed to form a barb (as shewn at ), which will enter freely between
the thread and needle. The moment the barb passes the needle, it
(the needle) begins to rise, which draws the thread into the recess of the
looper within the barb, and then as the looper moves back the thread
is drawn out to form a loop. The looper then stops for a short time
whilst the needle completes its upward movement.; the thread being
drawn tight by the tension of the spring t, which draws the previous
loop tight; this being aided by the needle, carrier coming in contact
with the spring to force it up by a positive but elastic motion, due to
the elasticity of that part of the spring which projects beyond the
carrier; and the moment the needle has completed its upward move-
ment the looper is re-started to complete its back movement, which draws
out the thread. to complete the size of the loop j', and as the thread
which passes around the looper is held above by the tension of the
thread, and also in the cloth forming the previous stitch, this back
movement draws the thread tight in the cloth, and is equivalent to
pulling on the single thread which forms the stitch on the face of the
cloth, because the thread on the other side yields to the down motion
of the needle. In this condition the feed motion operates which
advances the cloth the distance of one stitch, in the manner to be pre-
sently described. The needle again descends to make another stitch,
and when it has completed its downward motion, the looper makes its
next movement as before towards and past the needle, entering between
the needle and 'the thread preparatory to the formation of another loop
which is to be drawn through the previously formed loop still on the
body of the looper, which is effected in the following manner :—
A small lever ', is connected by a fulcrum pin with the body of the
looper. When the forward end of this lever is pushed down in the
position represented in Fig. 15, the looper is entirely closed, and has an
eye instead of a recess, the end of the lever being made to fit in a suit-
able recess inside of the barb, to have the lower edge smooth and
even so as not to catch on the thread, but when the end of the lever is
thrown up to the top of the recess, then the barb is open and free to
receive the thread to form a loop. When the looper is in its back

page_text: position, the thread forming the loop lics in the hollow of the loop er,
and extends thence diagonally on each side to the cloth; and as the
looper is drawn back the thread forming the loop is drawn between the
inner face of the looper and a piece of cloth 7, or its equivalent, attached
to the side of the groove, so that when the looper is pushed forward to
form another loop the previously formed loop is held back by the fric-
tion of the cloth, so that the lever k¹ slides into the loopj; and as the
looper is drawn back with the thread forming a second loop in the
forward part of the recess, the forward end of the lever ', which is
then within the previous loop', is pushed down on to the barb to close
the recess that the previously formed loop may be liberated and drawn
off from the looper by its continued back motion and the tension on the
thread as the needle continues its upward movement. From this it
follows that as the previously formed loop is liberated over the loop last
formed, the concatenation of the stitches is effected with the previous
stitch. The opening and closing of the recess of the looper by the
lever is effected by a wrist pin m', on the back end of the lever, which
on the back movement of the looper rides up the inclined face of a
latch n', which elevates its rear end, and forces down its forward end.
Towards the end of the back motion of the looper, the wrist pin m
passes off the latch to permit the looper to be opened by the tension of
a spring o'. The latch ', turns on a stud pin p', so that it can rise to
permit the wrist pin of the lever k', to pass under it as the looper makes
its movement towards the needle.
The cloth or other substance to be sewn or stitched is placed on the
table or platform, and there held down by a pad or foot q', whose under
surface may be made with one or more teeth, but slightly projecting
from its under surface, simply to have a hold on the cloth or other
substance. This pad or foot is attached to the lower end of a lever,
jointed at s¹ to a bar t¹, adapted to slide on the standard of the frame b,
with a helical spring u³, interposed, the tension of which presses the
pad or foot on to the cloth lying on the table. To the upper end of
the bar t, is attached a spring dog v', which, when the bar is elevated,
catches in a notch to hold up the pad or foot when desired to put in or
remove the cloth. An arm w¹, at the upper end of the bar t¹, passes

page_text: to the back of the standard of the frame, and is acted upon by the
periphery of a can a', on the shaft k, to lift the paul or foot from the
cloth after the point of the needle has entered the cloth, so that the
cloth may yield to the crook of the needle during its downward motion,
and to admit of changing the direction of the cloth to give the required
direction to the seam whilst the needle is in the cloth, and before it
begins to rise, so that the cloth can turn on the needle as its centre,
which greatly facilitates the making of a seam in any line or direction.
desired. Whilst the pad is thus held up from the face of the cloth it
is pushed back the distance of a stitch by the tension of a spring y',
acting against the upper end of the lever 1, to which the pad or foot
is attached, the said lever being provided with a set screw a', by means
of which the range of feed can be regulated with the greatest accuracy..
The cam a, (Fig. 10,) then permits the foot or pad to be forced down
on to the cloth by the tension of the spring u', and there it remains
until the needle is drawn out. The feed motion is given to cause the
foot or pad to push the cloth the distance of one stitch by a pin a², on
the periphery of the wheel j, which strikes the face of the arm 6, of a,
curved lever c², that turns on a stud pin d, the other arm acting against
the lever, which carries the pad or foot. The needle with its crook
can make its upward movement while the pad or foot is down on the
cloth, because at that time the foot is at its greatest distance from the
needle, and the flexibility of the cloth and of the needle will permit.
the requisite play for the passage of the crook. The groove in the,
table in which the looper works is covered with plates e, to protect the
machinery below, and to give access to it when required.
Having thus pointed out the character or principle of the first, and
second parts of the Invention, and the manner of making, constructing,.
and using the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise mode of construction, so long as the same ends
are attained by means, substantially the same; nor do I wish to be,
understood as limiting myself to the use of all the parts of the Invention
in connection, as some parts may be used without the others, as, for
instance, the improved seam may be formed by some other machine or:
by hand, and in the machine the crooked needle and the manner of
R

page_text: holding and guiding it may be advantageously employed in connection
with a shuttle or other means for carrying a second thread through
loops formed by the needle, thread, or with some other method of
concatenating the series of stitches formed with one thread. So with
the apparatus for giving the slack and tension to the thread and for
feeding the cloth; for it will be obvious that either or both of these
improvements can be advantageously employed in connection with other
machines for stitching and sewing in which an cyc-pointed needle is
used. But these have all been described in connection, because it is
believed that the best result will be obtained when they are all employed
in connection.
What I claim as the first part of this Invention, and desire to secure
by Letters Patent, is the method of forming a scam with one thread,
in the manner and for the purpose specified.
I also claim making the needle with a crook in its length back of the
eye, and with the point and shank back of the crook in the same
straight line, substantially as and for the purpose specified; and, in
combination with a needle thus crooked, I also claim the cam and
gauge plate substantially as described for the purpose of getting and
holding the needle in a proper position, as specified.
I also claim, in combination with a needle for perforating the sub-
stance to be sewn or stitched, and carrying the thread through it, a
looping apparatus to form a loop at each perforation of the needle, and
consequently liberating the previously formed loop over the one last
formed to effect the concatenation of the stitches, substantially as
described.
And I also claim the looping apparatus with a recess into which the
thread is drawn to form a loop, or its equivalent, substantially as speci-
fied, in combination with the lever, or its equivalent, for alternately
opening the recess to receive the thread to form the loop, and closing it
to shut in the last-formed loop, and discharging the previously-formed
loop over the one last formed, as set forth.
I also claim stopping the looper before the end of its back motion,
and whilst the needle is completing its withdrawing motion, and then
completing the back motion of the looper as the needle begins to

page_text: descend, substantially as specified, and for the purpose of drawing the
stitches close to the surface of the cloth.
I also claim giving the alternate slack and tension to the thread, as
required, by the spring in combination with the bridles attached to the
frame and to the needle carrier, or the equivalents thereof, substantially
as described.
And, finally, I claim the method of feeding the cloth or other sub-
stance to be sewn up to the needle for the progress of the seam by
means of the foot or pad which holds it to the table, substantially as
specified, by means of which the cloth or other substance can be turned
on the needle as its axis when the needle is in it, and the foot or pad
is lifted up preparatory to the feed motion, as set forth.
Of the third part of this Invention:-
Seams have also been formed with two threads without carrying
one thread entirely through the loop formed with the other thread
as in the machines which sew with a needle and shuttle; and the
better to distinguish the new method of stitching and forming seams
with two threads, I will describe the only two methods heretofore known.
The seam made by the needle and shuttle machine, I do not deem
necessary to describe, as it is too well known.
The first of the said known methods is represented at Figres 16,
17, 18, 19, in Sheet 11I., formed around a series of pins a, instead of
cloth. The better to exhibit the concatenation the two threads are
represented by different colors d, and e, and each passes through
the eye of a needle just back of the point. The needle b, is the
one which perforates the cloth; and other c, works under the cloth
at right angles or nearly so with the first. The needle b, with
its thread, passes through the cloth; the needle c, with its thread,
then passes between the needle b and its thread, as seen at Fig. 16;
and in that position the needle b, is withdrawn, which leaves its
thread d, in the form of a loop f, around the needle c, and its thread e,
as seen at Fig. 17. The needle b, then progresses the distance of
one stitch, and then passes with its thread through the cloth and
between the needle c, and its thread e, as seen at Fig. 18; and then
the needle c, is withdrawn, which leaves its thread e, in the form of a

page_text: loop g, around the needle b, and its thread d, leaving its loop g, within
the loop f, of the thread d, which, when drawn tight, gripes the
thread c, double against the cloth; and whilst the needle b, with its
thread d, is yet in the loop g of the thread c, the needle ć, with its:
thread e, again passes between the needle band its thread d, which is
then withdrawn, leaving another loop f, around the needle c, and its
thread, which is there doubled, to be again griped against the cloth.at
the next stitch, and so, on to any number of stitches. In this way
each thread is alternately formed into a loop, in which loop the other
thread lies double, the one part h, extending in nearly a straight line
from the stitch. back of this loop to the stitch beyond it, whilst the
other takes a short turn around the loop, and passing in nearly a
straight line extends the distance of two stitches.
The other method is represented at Figures 20, and 21. In this
method the two'needles b, and c, with their threads d, and e, work at
right angles to each other, or nearly so. They are on opposites sides of and:
both pass through the cloth diagonally. The needle b, passes through
the cloth with its thread d, as seen in Fig. 20, and there the needle c,
with.its thread e, passes between the needle band its thread d, and then
through the cloth, so that when the needle b is withdrawn, the thread d
forms a loop around the needle c, and its thread, which is double. -The
needle b, then progresses the distance of one stitch, and then passes
between the needle c and its thread, and again through the cloth, so
that when the needle c is in turn withdrawn it leaves its thread around
the needle and its thread d,, and leaves its thread double in the loop
of the thread d, previously formed.
In this way it will be seen that the concatenation of the two threads
and the series of stitches is effected, forming a seam like the previous
one, with the only difference that in the latter the two threads appear
on the two surfaces of the cloth. The objections to both are that the
needles must pass each other alternately on opposite sides, that is the
needle b, first passes over the needle c, and then the needle c must pass
over the needle b. And, in the first, the threads on the under surface
cross each other forming a lumpy surface, with the thread which forms
the upper surface of the seam the most prominent on the under surface,

page_text: and hence the most liable to wear and break off, which would destroy
the seani. And the second method is seriously objectionable, for the
reason that the two needles must perforate the cloth in nearly the same
places, which necessarily renders a seam comparatively weak, and; the
threads. too loose or free. And both are seriously objectionable, for the
reason that the stitch is drawn tight by the act of forcing in the needle
to form the next stitch, as already explained under the head of the
first part of the Invention.
By the improved method all these serious objections are avoided, and
a seam is formed which on one side has the appearance of being stitcheḍ
with a single thread, whilst on the other side three threads are laid on
the surface of the cloth in such manner as to be adapted to the most
beautiful and ornamental embroidery.
In this the third part of the Invention, the principle set out under
the first part of the Invention is employed, this third part being simply
an' improvement on or an addition to the first part of the Invention for
the interlacing of the two threads and the concatenation of the series
of stitches to form a seam, which is effected by carrying one thread
through the cloth with an eye-pointed needle, and then forming a loop
with the other thread with a looping instrument; and instead of alter-
nately looping one thread around the other the looper is carried through
between the needle and its thread, a second loop is then formed with
the second thread, which last loop is carried back through the loop in
the needle thread, and through the first loop of the second thread,
thus completely tying the second thread around the first.
In Figures 22, 23, and 24, Sheet III. of the accompanying Draw-
ings, represents the series of pius instead of the cloth; and b, the
eedle, with its thread d; and c, a looper with its thread e.
A loop f
is formed with the looper c, from the thread e; the needle b, then carries
its thread through the cloth forming a loop g, through which the looper
c, passes, by entering between the needle and its thread. The looper e,
then catches the thread e, beyond or below the thread d, and forms a
loop h.
In this position the thread d, forming the needle loop g. lies
between the two loops f. and g, of the thread c. The looper is then

page_text: drawn back with the loop h, which is drawn through the loop g, and
therefore around the thread e, and thence through the loop f, of the
thread e, which is thus liberated. The needle and looper are drawn
back simultaneously, by which the tie is completed and the stitch drawn
in. From this it will be seen that the thread e, doubled, is passed
through the previously formed loop, and thus griped and held, and the
thread d, completely embraced by the thread e; one thread appears single
on one surface representing stitching, and the other thread appears on
the other surface like three threads lying smooth and flat, side by side,
and well adapted to embroidery; and as the three threads lie flat and
smooth, the three threads must be worn at once before the seam gives
way, and, what is very important, the stitch is drawn tight by the with-
drawing motion of the needle, which is of great practical advantage
when scams are formed by machinery, for reasons already given in
reference to the first part of the Invention.
What I claim under the third part of the Invention, is forming
seams for stitching and sewing with two threads, the first of which is
carried through the cloth at each stitch, and interlaced with the second
by forming a loop with the second; or one side of a loop formed with the
first, and then forming a second loop with the second, which is drawn
through the loop formed with the first thread, and through the first
loop formed with the second thread, as described.
The fourth part of this Invention relates to machinery for sewing or
stitching with seams made in accordance with the third part of the
Invention, parts of which are applicable to machinery for sewing seams
with one thread, and other kinds of scams with two threads. And this
part of the Invention consists in combining with an eye-pointed needle
for carrying one thread through the cloth, and with a looping apparatus
for forming the needle thread into a loop, an apparatus for carrying the
second thread within the reach of the looping apparatus, that the said
second thread may be formed into loops, one on each side of the needle
thread, the said looping apparatus being so constituted as to draw the
loop last formed with the second thread through the loop of the needle
thread and the previously formed loop of the second thread. And this

page_text: part of the Invention also consists in giving the feeding motion for
advancing the substance to be sewn or stitched the required distance
for each stitch, by giving a lateral motion to the needle in one direction
after it has entered the substance, and a back motion after it is with-
drawn, in combination with an up and down motion to the pad or foot
which holds the cloth on the table, that the said cloth may be free to
be turned on the needle to give the required direction to the seam, and
to be moved forward by the lateral motion of the needle, and then held
down firmly to the table during the formation of the stitch and the
withdrawing of the needle.
The fourth part of the Invention is represented in the Figures of
Sheet IV., in which the same letters indicate like parts. The table a,
is suitably adapted to receive the cloth or other substance to be sewn or
stitched, and supports the standard or frame b, which carries the needle
and its appendages, and the pad and its appendages for holding the
cloth to the needle. The cog-wheel c, operated by any suitable motor,
communicates motion by the cog-wheel d, to the shaft e, for operating
the needle, and by another wheel f, to the cam shaft below the
table for operating the looper. The needle h, is the eye-pointed
needle usually employed and connected with the carrier i, receiving
the required reciprocating motion from a crank pin j, on the cam
wheel k, on the end of the shaft e; the crank pin being fitted to work
in a cam groove 1, on the back of the needle carrier. This needle
carrier slides vertically in ways m; and the needle, instead of being
attached as usual directly to the lower end of it, is attached to the
lower end of a vibrating bar n, connected with the carrier i, by a joint
pin o, near the top, so that it can vibrate laterally with the needle.
A spring represented by dotted lines at 2, (Fig. 26,) tends constantly to
push the bar with the needle to the right; and on the other side the said
bar is acted upon by one end of a lever 2, the opposite end of which is
provided with a set screw r, to regulate the distance to which the bar
and needle shall vibrate to the right. The upper end of this lever is
bent as at s, to extend over the periphery of the cam wheel k, which
cam is formed for the purpose of operating the lever to vibrate the bar

page_text: and needle after it has reached the end of its downward motion, and
before the looper is operated to interlock the threads. This lateral
motion of the needle is to advance the cloth preparatory to the next
stitch, so that by the set screw », on the lever q, the extent of this
feed motion can be regulated with the greatest accuracy. The form
of this cam must be such as not to permit of the bar and its needle
to be forced back by the spring p, until the needle is withdrawn from
the cloth; but when the feed motion is given to the bar and the
needle to advance the cloth, the foot or pad t, which holds the cloth
down to the table, must be lifted up to liberate it.
For this purpose
the pad is attached to the lower end of a bar u, adapted to slide
vertically in ways v, with a helical spring w, surrounding the lower
end of the bar, the tension of which presses the pad on to the cloth.
The upper end of the bar u, has an arma, which is acted upon at
the time the feed motion is given to the needle by a cam y, on the
shaft e, the cam being so formed as to permit the pad to be, again
forced down on to the cloth the moment the cloth has been advanced.
The needle thread z, passes from a spool or bobbing through appropri-
ate guides a', one of which is attached to the needle carrier to make
the required slack for the operation of the looper, to be hereafter
described. From this guide the thread on its way to the eye of the
needle passes under what is termed a check pad b', which at the required
time makes pressure on the thread to hold it. This pad is on the end
of a lever c', that turns on a fulcrum pin d'. The pad is kept out
clear of the thread by the tension of a spring e', and forced against the
thread to hold it until the point of the needle has entered the cloth by
the action of a cam f¹, on the face of the can wheel , against the
rear arm of the lever c. The object of this arrangement is to hold
the thread tight from the cloth upward whilst the needle enters the
cloth, to ensure the laying of the thread smoothly on the surface of the
cloth, and to prevent the point of the needle from catching and enter-
ing the thread, which would be the consequence if the thread were not
held tight whilst the needle enters the cloth.
The needle with its thread having passed down through the cloth and

page_text: given the feed motion, the next operation then takes place. The second
thread g', passes from a spool or bobbin ', with the tension properly
regulated, through a vibrating guide i, on the end of a lever j', and
thence through the slot A', in the table. This thread g¹, is to be inter-
laced with the needle thread, which is effected by the vibrating guide i,
and an instrument termed the looper l', which is flat and straight on the
face towards the needle, and bevelled on the opposite face, and top and
bottom, to form a point which will enter freely between the needle and
its thread. This looper is attached to a carrier m!, adapted to slide
freely but accurately in a groove in the table at right angles to the
needle, and is provided at bottom with two rollers n', n', or wrist pins,
(Fig. 29,) which embrace a cam o¹, on the shaft; the said cam being of
such form, as represented, that so soon as the needle has descended and
given the feed motion, the looper enters between the needle and its.
thread, and then moves back again, the needle beginning to rise the
moment the looper has fairly entered. The body of the looper is hollow,
and within it is fitted a lever p¹, which turns on a fulcrum pin at or
near the middle, the forward end being barbed, as shewn by dotted
lines, and the rear end provided with a wrist pin r, which rides on a
plane s', on the table a, the two ends of which are oppositely inclined,
and for the purpose of adjustment made separate from each other and
from the flat plane, so that they can be moved towards or from cach
other. A spring within the body of the looper tends constantly to
elevate the barbed end of the lever p¹, so as to have the barb within
the looper, and to keep the wrist pin in contact with the surface of the
plane s. As the looper enters between the needle and its thread, the
barb is within the body of the looper, and towards the end of its
forward motion the wrist pin rides up one of the inclined planes-which-
carries the barb below the bottom of the looper; and at the same time
a projecting piece't' on the carrier strikes the outer arm of the lever,
which carries the guide i, with its thread g', across the path of the
looper; so that on the return of the looper, this thread is caught in' the
barb of the lever p', which draws the said thread in the form of a.
Toop. By this time the needle has been drawn up, leaving its thread

page_text: in the form of a loop around the body of the looper. The barb of the
lever p¹, is then drawn within the body of the looper, still holding the
loop of the thread g¹, which is thus drawn through the loop of the
needle thread, then liberated, and the stitch drawn tight by the con-
tinued back movement, the loop being still held by the barb of the
looper, and the stitch drawn tight by the withdrawing motions of the
needle and looper. Towards the end of the back motion of the looper,
the barb again descends below the looper, that the thread may be
free to slide or run thereon, and to liberate at the next motion the loop
which it holds.
The first stitch has been described, but when the next stitch is com-
menced there is one loop of the thread g', around the body of the looper,
which is held back by the friction of a piece of cloth u', as the looper
advances to enter between the needle and its thread, and to form
another loop with the thread g', by a repetition of the movements
already described, so that the loop of the needle thread is formed
between the newly formed loop of the thread g¹, and the one formed
by the previous operation, so that by the return motion of the looper
the loop last formed with the thread g, is drawn through the loop of the
needle thread, and the previously formed loop of the thread g', thus
forming a seam on the principle above described.
If the thread guide i, for operating the thread g' or second thread, be
omitted, and the cam o¹ be varied in form, as represented by the dotted
lines v', to give the period of rest in the back motion of the looper, the
machine will then sew a scam with one thread in accordance with the
first part of the Invention; and the machine, so far as regards the looper
and its combination with the needle, will represent one of the many
modifications which may be made of that part of the Invention.
What I claim under this part of the Invention is, the needle and
looper in combination with the instrument, or its equivalent, for carry-
ing or guiding the second thread within the range of the looper, sub-
stantially as described. And I also claim feeding the cloth or other
substance or advancing it for each stitch by the lateral motion of the
needle as described, in .combination with the motion of the foot or pad

page_text: for alternately liberating and holding down the cloth or other sub-
stance to be sewn, as described, or the equivalent therefor.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)