IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1865

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Clark at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd
October 1865.-A communication from abroad by Charles Rhodes
Goodwin, Manufacturer, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an arrangement and combination of parts
forming an improved sewing machine. In order that the Invention may
be readily understood I have represented this machine in the annexed
Drawings; Fig. 1 of which represents a front view of the machine taken on
the line 1, 2, Fig. 3; Fig. 2 shows an end elevation on line 3, 4, Fig. 1;.
while Fig. 3 shows an under side plan of the same. The same letters and
figures of reference indicate the same parts seen in different positions in
the several Figures."
frame or foot of the machine; b, arm cast with foot a and terminating
in a head c; d, driving pulley keyed on shaft e, turning in a bridge
piece ffixed to the pedestal a; g, disc keyed on the end of shaft e; h, large
bell-crank lever oscillating at point i; j, needle carrier moving up and down
in a dovetail groove on the head c; k, needle held in the needle holder f
by the binding screw k¹; 1, stud pin fixed in the needle carrier and

page_text: engaging in a fork m at one end of the bent lever h; n, rod jointed to the
other arm of lever hand laterally on the disc g. By this arrangement it
will be readily understood that the rotary motion of shaft e will impart an
oscillating movement to lever h by the aid of rod n, so producing an up-
and-down motion of needle carrier j; o, work presser, also working up and
down in a dovetail groove made on the lateral face of the head c, a spiral
spring in the interior of the latter exerting a constant downward pressure
on the work presser; p, hook fixed in a coupling r, fixed or cast on a
shaft s, turning in a bearing t fixed to foot piece a; u, pinion keyed on
shaft s; v, lever oscillating horizontally on an axis x fixed below the foot a;
it is furnished at one end with a toothed segment y, gearing with a pinion
u, while on the other end there is a cam z, in which works a friction roller
1 depending from lever h. From the foregoing it will be seen that the
movement of the hook is coincident with that of the needle, as the oscil-
lating movement of lever h being in a vertical plane the friction roller 1
will run in the grooved cam z, and so produce the oscillation of lever v
while by means of toothed segment y and pinion u the hook p will receive
⚫an alternate rotary motion in both directions; 2, claw fixed to a part 3,
provided with rectangular openings 4, 4, in which are received the
oscillating pin 5 and fixed pin 6. These pins serve as guides for the part 3,
which may thus slide horizontally or oscillate vertically on pin 5; 7, rect-
angular slot made in the upper face of part 3; 8, small rod or stitch
regulator oscillating on an axis 9, its end being engaged in slot 7 of part 3;
10, spring for keeping part 7 up to part 8; 11, 12, cams formed of a piece
with disc g. It will thus be easily seen that cam 12 causes part 3 to slide
horizontally from right to left, while spring 10 moves it back from left to
right, as also the claw fixed thereto, until part 7 abuts against the stitch
regulator 8. By inclining the regulator 8 more or less, the material being
sewn may be slid horizontally to a greater or less extent, and consequently
vary the length of the stitch. The cam 11 serves to produce the oscilla-
tion of part 3 on pin 5 at the desired time in order to raise the claw simul-
taneously with its backward and forward motion. 13, guide for the hook
thread, consisting of two metallic discs kept in contact by means of a spiral
spring, the thread being passed between the discs; 14, stretcher of the
hook thread, consisting of a steel spring in connection with a forked guide
15, having an elastic action; 16, bobbin of the needle thread; 17, guide
for the needle thread of similar arrangement to part 13; 18, arm serving
to conduct the thread between the two arms of a forked guide 19, con-
sisting of a lever oscillating at point 21 on the head c of the machine; 22,

page_text: head c; 23, friction
acting on the needle
steel spring for regulating the thread stretcher 18 on
roller fixed at the end of fork m of the large lever
carrier. During the oscillation of the lever h the thread stretcher 18 is
alternately pressed inwards by friction roller 23, and outwards by spring 22.
This thread stretcher serves to keep the thread straight between the point
of the needle and the head during the downward movement of the lever
while the needle is penetrating the fabric.
In conclusion I would observe that I make no claim to the parts of this
apparatus separately, the Invention consisting in the combination thereof
so as to form an improved machine. The Invention further consists in the
needle thread tightener and the arrangement of the lever, with its accessory
parts for transmitting motion to the lever acting on the needle in order to
work the hook.
I also reserve the right of employing any other arrangement of thread
tightener in this machine, and of substituting other means of transmitting
motion to the hook.