IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Socrates Keats, of Leeds, in the County of York,
Machinist, and Arthur Keats, of Worship Street, in the City of London, for
an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Socrates Keats & Arthur
Keats at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th October
1880.
"
SOCRATES KEATS, of Leeds, in the County of York, Machinist, and ARTHUR
KEATS, of Worship Street, in the City of London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES."
This Invention relates to improvements in sewing machines, in which a hooked
needle is used for pulling up a thread from below or pulling down a thread from
above the work supporter, either in conjunction with a shuttle or not, and whether
the work is fed forward by a top or an under feed. It consists mainly in a novel
form of looper, which ensures the unfailing placing of the hook thread in the hook
of the needle, thus preventing "missed stitches " being made, which is a very
frequent occurrence with existing loopers.
The advantages consequent on the use of this Invention are, first, that the
hooked needle can be placed in a more oblique position with reference to the work
to be sewn than heretofore, and thus a greater number of stitches per inch can be
" cast
put into the work without rendering the seam liable to "rip"; secondly, a
stitch"
may be produced; and, thirdly, by reason of the looper requiring but a
small movement, the work may be pressed closer to the hooked needle than can be
done with existing loopers, and thus the stitching will be brought as close to the
"feather as in hand work.
دو
The form of the looper will vary according to the nature of the machine to which
it is applied, the means of driving it being modified to suit the space it is intended
to occupy. In all cases, however, our looper will possess a forked termination, one
prong being pierced to form an eyelet for the thread, and the other being adjustable
laterally and end wise to suit various gauges of the needle.

page_text: Standing up from the adjustable prong is a shoulder which serves to press the
thread against the stem of the needle, holding it over the hook, and so presenting
it as to ensure the hooked needle on its ascent carrying up a loop of thread through
the work. In adapting this looper to a post or table machine we construct it in
the form of a sliding bar, which passes through a fixed guide, and carries at its rear
end an antifriction bowl that enters the groove of a cam carried by a vertical cam
shaft. The rotation of this cam will give the looper a slight endway motion, and
thereby cause the pronged extension of the bar to present the thread to the
depressed needle, as explained, and then to withdraw, pulling the thread (when
leather is being sewn) to one side, and thus giving uniformity of position to the
stitches. The back movement of the looper will cease at a moment which corre-
sponds with the completion of the stitch by the tightening of the needle thread, and
thus all tendency of the stitches to become irregular or zig zag in appearance is
removed.
The reduced motion of the improved looper permits of its introduction with
advantage, not merely into post and table machines, but into what are known as
horn machines, where the spaces for the looping mechanism is very limited, and
thereby to extend the capabilities of this class of machine.
The form the looper will take in this case is that of a small plate sliding in
horizontal guides formed for it in the nose of the horn. From the front edge of
this plate projects the forked extension above referred to. The plate is slotted
transversely to receive a propelling pin, which imparts to it its forward and back
motions.
"
In adapting the Invention to the horn we remove the upper part or nose " of
the horn with its pinion bar, whirl, and nose cap, and replace them by other parts
arranged to receive and operate the sliding looper; thus we introduce a short
pinion bar, which receives its compound motion from the ordinary inclined shaft in
the "horn." This short pinion bar is arranged to gear into the pinion of a short
vertical shaft, which has at its upper extremity a disc in which is inserted an
excentric driving pin or stud that enters the transverse slot in the looper, and by
the rotation of the disc imparts the required reciprocating motion thereto.
The horn is made stationary by a pin passing through the socket bearing of the
horn.
The looper, it will be understood, is applicable not merely to shuttle stitch but
to chain stitch machines, and that whether the needle works from above or below
the work.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Socrates Keats & Arthur Keats in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th April 1881.
SOCRATES KEATS, of Leeds, in the County of York, Machinist, and ARTHUR
KEATS, of Worship Street, in the City of London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES,"
This Invention relates to improvements in sewing machines, in which a hooked
needle is used for pulling up a thread from below the work supporter, either in
conjunction with a shuttle or not, and whether the work is fed forward by a top
or an under feed. It consists mainly in a novel form of looper, which ensures the
unfailing placing of the needle thread in the hook of the needle by holding it
straight across the path of the needle, and thus preventing "missed stitches" being
made, which is a very frequent occurrence with existing loopers.
The Invention is particularly applicable to machines used in the sewing of
leather, whether for harness manufacturers or for boot and shoe makers.
The advantages consequent on the use of this Invention by boot and shoe-
makers are, first, that the needle can be placed in a more oblique position as
respects its hook to the line of progress of the work to be sewn than heretofore,
and thus a greater number of stitches per inch can be put into the work without
rendering the same liable to rip; secondly, machine work more nearly approaching
handwork than it was heretofore possible to obtain can be produced; and, thirdly,
by reason of the looper in its movement never extending beyond the hooked needle,
the line of stitching for securing the sole to the welt may lie close to the welt seam
as in hand work.
The arrangement of the looper will vary according to the nature of the machine
to which it is applied, and the means of driving will necessarily be modified to suit
the space it is intended to occupy. In all cases, however, our looper will possess a
forked termination, one prong being pierced to form an eyelet for the thread, and
the other carrying a shoulder or support for the thread.
In the accompanying Drawings we have shewn our Invention as applied to a
table machine, and to what is known as a swivel horn machine, it being supposed,
in both examples, that the shuttle is above the work.
We have not thought it necessary in either example to shew more of the
machines than the parts requisite for explaining the mode of laying the thread
into the hooked needle. In Sheet I. of the Drawings, Fig. 1 shews in side elevation,
and Fig. 2 in sectional plan, so much of a table machine adapted for stitching boot
soles to their welts as will serve to explain the nature of our Invention. In these
Figures A is the. looper situate close under the throat plate B, which in this case
forms the table of the machine. Above the table is the hooked needle C which
passes down as usual through the throat plate to receive the thread from the looper.
D is a pricker feed for piercing the leather and feeding it forward ready for the
needle to enter it in the line of the piercing of the pricker.
The forked looper is shewn detached and on an enlarged scale at Figures 3, 4,
and 5 the better to explain its action. Figures 3 shew in plan and edge views the
looper in the act of laying the thread into the hook of the needle, and Fig. 4 is an
end view of the looper shewing the thread stretched across it and ready to be
received into the hook of the needle. Figures 5 shew in plan and edge views the
looper as having retired from the needle to its normal position, the loop having been
tightened up. a is the prong of the looper in which the eyelet for receiving the
thread is formed, and a is an adjustable prong which is made fast to the looper by
a binding screw entering a longitudinal slot formed at its rear; the object of

page_text: making it adjustable both laterally and longitudinally being to fit the looper for
working with hooked needles of different sizes. Standing up from the adjustable
prong a is a shoulder a³ which serves to press the thread against the stem of the
needle holding it over the hook, and so presenting it as to ensure the booked needle
on its ascent between the prongs of the advanced looper carrying up a loop of
thread through the work.
In order that the thread may be stretched across the looper and have the
shoulder of the prong a to support it, it is requisite that the feed of the work shall
be in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2. The act of feeding the work will put
tension on the thread, and thus enable the shoulder as the looper advances to hold
the thread in the path of the needle.
The looper, it will be seen, is a sliding bar which passes through a fixed guide A¹
attached to the framing of the machine. This bar carries at its rear end an
antifriction bowle that enters the groove of a cam A² carried by a vertical cam
shaft E. The rotation of this cam will give the looper a slight end way motion,
and thereby cause its prong extensions to present the thread to the depressed
needle, as explained, and then to withdraw, pulling the thread (which is specially
important when boot soles are being stitched to welts) to one side, and thus giving
uniformity of position to the stitches. The back movement of the looper will cease
at a moment which corresponds with the completion of the stitch by the tightening
of the needle thread, and thus all tendency of the stitches to become irregular or
zigzag in appearance is removed..
To provide for the looper being brought as close as possible under the throat
plate a recess is cut in the underside of the throat plate, which allows of the
shoulder a entering therein. An incidental advantage of this contrivance is, that
the possibility of the thread slipping over or past the shoulder and so missing a
stitch is avoided.
The reduced motion of this looper as compared with that of ordinary loopers
permits of its introduction with advantage, not merely to table machines but
obviously to "post" machines, and also to what are known as "horn" machines,
where the space for the looping mechanism is very limited, and thereby extends the
capabilities of this class of machine.
The adaptation of our looper to a "horn" machine is illustrated in Sheet II. of
the Drawings, where Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation of so much of the horn machine
as will serve to explain the adaptation of our Invention thereto; Fig. 7 is a plan
view of the mechanism used for transmitting the motion to the vertical shaft
through which the looper is actuated; Figures 8, 9, and 10 shew in full size the
looper adapted to a special form of nose constituting the termination of the horn;
Fig. 8 being a sectional elevation of the parts; Fig. 9, a plan view with the throat
plate removed, and Fig. 10, a back view of the detached nose.
"
In adapting the Invention to "horn" machines, we remove the upper part or
"nose" of the horn with its pinion bar, whirl, and "nose cap," and replace thein by
the parts shewn in the Drawings. Thus we introduce a short pinion bar e which
receives its axial motion from the ordinary inclined shaft in the horn," which is
actuated from the cam E on tho cam shaft by the quadrant toothed lever E',
which imparts a reciprocating axial motion to the vertical shaft E, and through
bevil gear to the inclined shaft Es.
The form of the looper A is that of a horizontal plate which slides in guides
formed for it in the nose F of the horn. The front edge of this plate is slotted to
form prongs a, a, both of which in this case are formed in one with the plate, the
prong a carrying as before the shoulder a². This plate A is fitted on its underface
with a pin a³, which projects into a cam groove forined in the upper end of a short
vertical shaft e¹, having its bearing in the nose F. This shaft e' is fitted with a
bevil pinion which gears into and is driven by the short pinion bar e. Fig. 11 is
an enlarged plan view of the upper end of the short shaft e¹, and serves to shew the
form of the cam groove by which the looper is reciprocated.
It will now be understood that as a reciprocating rotary motion is imparted to

page_text: the inclined shaft E³, it will through the pinion bar e give a reciprocating axial
motion to the shaft e', and the cam groove of that shaft acting upon the pin a³ will
advance the looper to the needle when the latter is down, and present at tension
the thread which the needle hook is to take on its ascent. When this is done and
the needle has ascended, the looper will retire and remain quiescent until the needle
has again descended preparatory to taking up a fresh loop of thread.
When using our improved looper, the horn is made stationary, by passing a pin f
through the socket bearing of the horn.
The position in which the horn will be fixed, relatively to the needle to produce
the work above indicated will vary according to the direction of the motion for
feeding the work forward, but the looper must not be presented at too great an
angle to the hook, or the hook will not take the thread with certainty. When this
machine is used for securing boot soles to their welts, the horn should be fixed in
such a position as will enable the looper to work at the angle to the feed, indicated
in the plan view Fig. 9, the arrow in that Figure representing the direction of the
feed.
The looper, it will be understood, is applicable not merely to shuttle stitch but to
chain stitch machines. We have not, however, thought it necessary to illustrate
its application to the latter class of sewing machines, as the mode of doing this
will be obvious to any mechanic experienced in the manufacture of sewing
machines.
By adapting our improved looper to the horn machine, the capacity of the
machine will be greatly enlarged, as it thus for the first time becomes capable of
stitching soles to welts, and may also be used as an ordinary leather stitching
machine.
Having now explained the nature of our Invention of "Improvements in Sewing
Machines," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, we wish it to
be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent we claim,-
The application to sewing machines in which a hooked needle is used of a
reciprocating instrument for holding the thread at tension across the path of the
needle, in the manner and for the purpose above explained with reference to the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Keats, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
ARTHUR KEATS. (L.S.)