IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES." -A communication from abroad by the Singer Manu-
facturing Company (Incorporated), of the City and State of New
York, United States of America.
Sealed the 13th May 1875, and dated the 19th November 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 19th November 1874.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-

page_text: purpose of enabling it to form zig-zag or herring bone stitches. To
attain this end, instead of the vertical slide which works in guides in the
head of the machine carrying the needle as heretofore it is made to
carry a needle bar, which is fitted to the slide in such manner as to allow
of its rising and falling therewith (to drive the needle into and withdraw
it from the work) and also of moving towards and from the slide. The
lateral motion of the needle bar may be obtained by passing the bar
through a pair of guide arms projecting from a vertical rock shaft which
has its bearings on the head of the machine. The axial motion of the
rock shaft may be conveniently derived from a cross cut grooved cam on
the horizontal shaft which carries the crank pin for giving the vertical
motions to the needle, a link rod being used to connect the cross cut cam
with a projecting arm on the rock shaft.
As a modification of this arrangement the needle bar may move
laterally upon guide pins projecting from the face of the slide, it being
embraced by a clip that is attached to and actuated by a crank operated
through a link rod upon the cross cut cam; or the needle bar itself
may
be furnished with guide pins which pass through holes in the slide, and
thus serve to maintain its connection with the slide while it is free to
shift from one vertical plane to another to enable its needle to pierce the
cloth in parallel lines.
To allow of the shuttle following the lateral movements of the needle
the shuttle may be arranged to run in a line parallel with the traverse
motion of the needle, or it may run at right angles thereto, in which
latter case the shuttle race will require to receive a lateral motion. For
this purpose the arrangement described in the Specification of
Mr. George Baldwin Woodruff, dated July 25th, 1866, No. 1936, may
be adopted...
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."

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all.
times thereafter during the term therein oxpressed, 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," being a communica-
tion to me from abroad by the Singer Manufacturing Company
(Incorporated) of the City and State of New York, United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred.
Vincent Newton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in.
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters

page_text: In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn two arrangements of
apparatus for carrying out the object of this Invention. Fig. 1 is a side
clevation of so much of a shuttle sewing machine as will serve to
illustrate the nature of the Invention, and Fig. 2 is a front elevation of
the same.
In these Figures A, A', are the guides at the head of the
machine in which the vertical slide B works as usual.
This slide is fitted at its upper end with a slotted bracket b, the slot of
which receives a neck turned in the upper end of a round needle bar C.
By thus connecting the slide and needle bar together the latter is caused
to follow the vertical movements of the slide, while at the same time it
is free to move to and from the slide. Mounted in brackets on the
guide A¹ is a rock shaft D furnished with socket arms d, d¹, which are
made to embrace the needle bar C for the purpose of imparting to the
needle a lateral traverse motion, but so as to allow of the needle bar
moving up and down freely with the slide. The arm d is formed with a
tail piece, to which is jointed by a vertical screw pin a piece e, which
piece is connected by a horizontal pin with a link E that serves to
transmit the requisite rocking motion to the shaft D. Pivotted to
and pendent from the bracket arm of the machine is a rock lever F,
which is formed with a countersunk slot in its face to receive the head of
an adjustable screw which connects the rock lever F with the link E.
f is a clamping nut for retaining the parts E and F in connection and
for adjusting the position of the link E so as to vary the amount of
endway motion which the lever F shall impart to the link or to arrest
that motion altogether. The rock lever F is shewn detached in side and
back views at Figures 3, and in face and end views at Figures 4, and at
Figures 5 the mode of connecting it with the link E by means of the
adjustable screw and nut are clearly shewn.
The lever F is fitted at back with a swivel pin f¹ (Figs. 3) and an
opening is made in the bracket arm to allow of this pin projecting
inwards and entering the groove of a double cross grooved cam G, which
is shewn detached at Figure 6. This cam is mounted on the horizontal
shaft H which carries the heart cam for working the needle slide. I is
a strap piece for steadying the motions of the lever F.
From the foregoing explanation it will be understood that when the
link E is adjusted to the position shewn at Fig. 1, on rotary motion
being imparted to the shaft H to give the needle its requisite vertical
motions, the cam G will at the same time, through the rock lever F,

page_text: give an endway motion to the link E and through the link rock the shaft
D in its bearings, and thereby cause the arms d, d', constantly to shift
the position of the needle bar C relatively to the slide B without inter-
fering with the vertical motions of the needle bar and needle. The
result of this lateral traverse of the needle bar will be to cause the
needle to form a series of zig-zag stitches on the work.
.
To allow of the shuttle following the lateral movements of the needle
the shuttle may be arranged to run in a line parallel with the traverse
motion of the needle, as indicated at Fig. 1; or if preferred the shuttle
may run at right angles thereto, in which latter case the shuttle raco
will require to receive a lateral motion. For this purpose the arrange-
ment described in the Specification of Mr. George Baldwin Woodruff,
dated July Twenty-fifth, Onc thousand eight hundred and sixty-six,
No. 1936, may be adopted..
As a modification of the above described arrangement for shifting the
position of the needle bar relatively to its slide it is proposed in some
cases to use the device illustrated at Figures 7 and 8 in side and front.
clevation. In this arrangement the needle bar C is furnished with pins
c, c, which project through sockets carried by the slide. The bar C is
embraced by a clip d pivotted to a crank D which rocks in a bearing
fixed to the guide A'. This crank D is attached to and actuated by a
link rod E which, like the link E in the first described arrangement is
operated through a levor F and cross cut cam G.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of " Improvements
in Sewing Machines " as communicated to me by my foreign corrc-
spondents, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I
wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent I claim, the means above described for imparting a traverse
motion to the vertical needle bar of sewing machines.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, havo
hercunto set my hand and scal, the Nineteenth day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.