IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Neidlinger, of Allen Street, Goswell
Street, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."-A communication from abroad
by Charles Crosby, of New Haven, and John Schenck, of New York,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Neidlinger
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th July 1866.
I, FREDERICK NEIDLINGER, of Allen Street, Goswell Street, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to sewing machines in which either a circular
or a straight up-and-down motion of the needle and a rotary motion of the
bobbin or spool case, which acts at the same time as a hook, are employed to
form an elastic lock stitch. I mount the circular bobbin or spool case so as to

page_text: 4°
be quite detached from the motion-giving or driving shaft, and I drive it round
a stationary socket by means of a loose revolving carrier on the driving shaft;
this carrier is acted upon in its rotation by a stationary disc with a pro-
jecting and receding face, so that the carrier in addition to its rotary motion
receives an alternate forward and backward movement, thereby leaving an
opening at the proper time for the thread to pass, when it is carried com-
pletely round the spool. In ordinary machines the thread after it has been
brought a half or three quarters round the bobbin is turned or guarded off,
which is an uncertain mode of forming a stitch. The feed dog or foot is
pushed forward by an ordinary faced cam, but I am enabled to dispense with
the feed raising cam by the peculiar construction of the feed apparatus as
about to be described. The feed lever is acted upon at one end by the faced
cam in the ordinary manner, and its other end is passed through or jointed to
the lower end of a piece of or other convenient shape, the upper end of which
carries the feed foot and moves in a vertical guide; thus as the feed lever is
acted upon by the cam the lower end of this piece is pushed forward, and the
upper end or feed foot is consequently raised through the work plate. The feed
foot is returned below the work plate by one or more spiral springs. The
feed foot, and what is ordinarily termed the presser foot, act together and in
conjunction to perform the feed, and from its peculiar action I term the
presser foot the cloth reliever. The arm of this cloth reliever carries another
longitudinal arm, which is connected to the 'feed apparatus, whereby the
movement of the feed apparatus is simultaneously imparted to the cloth
reliever arm. After the needle has ascended out of the fabric the feed foot
and cloth reliever rise and move transversely simultaneously, holding the
fabric between them, and thus perform the feed. The feed foot then
descends to its first position, the needle performs its next down stroke, and
before it again begins to ascend the cloth reliever comes down upon the
The cloth reliever
fabric; the same motions are again repeated, and so on.
works in a vertical guide, and instead of employing a spring to force down
this reliever, as in ordinary machines, I employ a spring which acts upon it
in the opposite direction. As the reliever is not pressed down upon the fabric
as in ordinary machines, the attendant can without difficulty turn the fabric
to produce stitches in any desired curve or angle.
The Invention relates, secondly, to sewing machines in which an up-and-
down motion of an eye-pointed needle and a straight to-and-fro motion of a
shuttle are employed to produce a lock stitch. The main feature in this part

page_text: of the Invention is that the needle and shuttle are driven or moved by the
same crank pin. I dispense with cams and geared wheels, and derive all the
motions from straight-acting levers and links, as follows:-Upon the shaft of
the driving pulley I mount a crank pin, from which I carry a lever up and
connect it by a link to a horizontal lever; this latter lever is in its turn con-
nected by a link to the needle carrier. From the same crank pin I carry
down a lever and connect it by a link to a horizontal lever, which is again
connected by a lever or link to the shuttle. This horizontal lever carries a
projection, which strikes against a corresponding projection on an arm fixed
to a wheel which performs the feed and gives a transverse movement to this
wheel. As the crank pin rotates with the driving pulley all the levers and
links receive the necessary movements for driving the needle and the shuttle.
By means of this arrangement the attendant is enabled to set or adjust the
loop for the shuttle to pass through to any required size.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Neidlinger in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th January 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
NEIDLINGER, of Allen Street, Goswell Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Frederick Neidlinger, Her special licence that I, the said Frederick
Neidlinger, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Frederick Neidlinger, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter, during, the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," (communicated to me from abroad by
Charles Crosby, of New Haven, and John Schenck, of New York, both in
the United States of America,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I,

page_text: the said Frederick Neidlinger, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals;
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick Neidlinger, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to sewing machines in which either a
motion
circular or a straight up-and-down motion of the needle and a rotary
of the bobbin or spool case, which acts as the same time as a hook, are
employed to form an elastic lock stitch.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a front view of a sewing
machine constructed according to this part of my Invention; Figure 2, a plan
with the work plate removed, and Figure 3, a view of the under side of the
work plate with the plates attached thereto.
A is the main shaft; B, the strap pulley; C, the fly wheel; D is a pinion
on the shaft A gearing into a pinion E on an inclined shaft F; the other end
of this shaft carries a pinion G gearing into a pinion H on a shaft I. I
mount the circular bobbin or spool case J (shown detached in Figure 4) ou
the shaft I, so as to be quite detached from the shaft which is its motion-
giving or driving shaft, and I drive it round a stationary socket K by means
of a loose revolving carrier L on the driving shaft I fitted on a pin a upon
which it works. This carrier L is acted upon in its rotation by a stationary
disc M with a projecting and receding face, so that the carrier in addition to
its rotary motion receives an alternate forward and backward movement,
thereby leaving an opening or space at the proper time for the thread to pass
when it is carried completely round the spool; in ordinary machines the
thread after it has been brought a half or three quarters round the bobbin is
turned or guarded off, which is an uncertain mode of forming a stitch. The
feed dog or foot N is pushed forward by an ordinary faced cam O. The feed
lever P is acted upon by the face cam O, and it has passed through or jointed
to it a piece Q of 4 shape, as shewn in detached view in Figure 5, or of other
convenient shape, the upper end of which carries the feed foot N, and moves

page_text: in a vertical guide; thus as the feed lever is acted upon by the cam O coming
against the lower end of the piece Q, the lower end of this piece is pushed
forward, and the upper end or feed foot is consequently raised through the
work plate. The feed foot is returned below the work plate by one or more
spiral springs R. The feed foot and what is ordinarily termed the presser
foot S act together and in conjunction to perform the feed, and from its
peculiar action I term the presser foot the cloth reliever. The arm T of this
cloth reliever carries another longitudinal arm U, which is connected to the
feed apparatus, its front end entering a slot or recess V in the lever P,
whereby the movement of the feed apparatus is simultaneously imparted to the
cloth reliever arm.
After the needle has ascended out of the fabric the feed
foot N and cloth reliever S rise and move transversely simultaneously, holding
the fabric between them, and thus perform the feed. The feed foot then
descends to its first position as the needle performs its next down stroke, and
the same motions are again repeated, and so on. The cloth reliever S works
in a vertical guide W, and instead of employing a spring to force down this
reliever as in ordinary machines I employ a spring X which acts upon it in the
opposite direction. The spring X is set to hold the reliever in one position.
As the reliever is not pressed down upon the fabric as in ordinary machines
the attendant can without difficulty turn the fabric to produce stitches in any
desired curve or angle.
The Invention relates, secondly, to sewing machines in which an up-and-
down motion of an eye-pointed needle and a straight to-and-fro motion
of a shuttle are employed to produce a lock stitch. The main feature in this
part of the Invention is that the needle and shuttle are driven or moved by
the same crank pin. I dispense with cams and geared wheels, and derive all
the motions from straight-acting levers and links, as hereafter described.
Figure 6 is a sectional elevation, and Figure 7, a back view, with the
framing in section, of a machine constructed according to this part of the
Invention.
Upon the shaft A of the driving pulley I mount a crank pin B, from which
I carry a lever C up and connect it by a link D to a horizontal lever E; this
lever E is in its turn connected by a link F to the needle carrier G; from the
same crank pin B. I carry down a lever H, and connect it by a link I to a
horizontal lever J, which is again connected by a lever or link K to the
shuttle L; this horizontal lever J carries a projection M which strikes
against a corresponding projection N on an arm O fitted to a wheel P, which
performs the feed and giving an intermittent movement to this wheel. As

page_text: the crank pin B rotates with the driving pulley all the levers and links
receive the necessary movements for driving the needle and the shuttle. By
means of this arrangement the attendant is enabled to set or adjust the loop
for the shuttle to pass through to any required size. Figure 8 is a back view
showing the position of the levers and links, their position at the opposite
part of the revolution of the crank pin being seen in Figure 7; Figure 9 is a
face view of the feed wheel P, with the bar O and the projections N and M.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as the "Improve-
ments in Sewing Machines,"
First, mounting the circular bobbin or spool case so as to be quite detached
from its motion giving or driving shaft, and driving it by means of a loose
revolving carrier having an alternate forward and backward movement, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose herein-before described, and represented in
Figures 1, 2, and 4 of the accompanying Drawings.
Second, constructing and arranging the feed apparatus, substantially as
herein-before described and represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 5 of the
accompanying Drawings.
Third, connecting the feed foot and the cloth reliever or presser foot, sub-
stantially as herein-after described and represented in Figure 1 of the
accompanying Drawings, so that they act together and in conjunction to
perform the feed.
Fourth, the employment of a spring which has a tendency to act upon the
cloth reliever or presser foot so as to press it upwards, substantially as
herein-before described and represented in Figure 1 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Fifth, the combination of parts of sewing machines, substantially as herein-
before described with reference to Figures 1 to 5 of the accompanying
Drawings..
Sixth, constructing sewing machines in which the needle and the shuttle
are driven or moved from the same crank pin, substantially as herein-before
described and represented in Figures 6 to 9 of the accompanying Drawings.
Seventh, the arrangement of levers and links, substantially as herein-
before described and represented in Figures 6 to 9 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Eighth, the arrangement whereby motion is given to a feed wheel sub-
stantially as herein-before described and represented in Figures 6 to 9 of the
accompanying Drawings.

page_text: Ninth, the combination of parts of sewing machines substantially as
herein-before described with reference to Figures 6 to 9 of the accompanying.
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Neidlinger, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-seven.
F. NEIDLINGER. (L.S.)