IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Silas Covell Salisbury, of Essex Street, Strand, in
the City of Westminster, Gentleman, and James Starley, of Lewisham,
in the County of Kent, Mechanic, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SEWING MACHINERY."
Sealed the 24th October 1861, and dated the 26th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Silas Covell Salisbury and
James Starley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 26th April 1861.
We, SILAS COVELL SALISBURY, of Essex Street, Strand, in the City of
Westminster, Gentleman, and JAMES STARLEY, of Lewisham, in the County
of Kent, Mechanic, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
The chief object of this Invention is so to improve that class of sewing
machines known as the shuttle-stitch machines as to enable them to carry
more thread than it has hitherto been found practicable to put into a shuttle,.
and to ensure their more perfect action, so that the liability to drop stitches.
will be removed. To this end we propose to use in place of the ordinary.
shuttle a cylindrical case, which we call a spool case, whose duty will be to lay
the shuttle thread in the slack loop of the vertical needle. This case is fitted.
with a central tube to receive the bobbin or spool containing the locking
thread, on which tube the bobbin is free to revolve. As the case will hold a
good sized bobbin it will carry a large amount of thread as compared with the
ordinary shuttle. To form a race for this spool case (which traverses like the
shuttle, and also has an axial motion for the purpose to be presently ex-

page_text: plained), we mount it on a fixed spindle, which lies in a line with the bracket
arm of the machine and is divided at a point near which the vertical needle
works. It is traversed over this spindle by a driver, which embraces it length-
wise, and which engages with a notch made in the rear end of the spool case.
In a line with the fixed spindle is a fluted shaft, the flutes of which are
On this screw works a
twisted for a portion of its length to form a screw.
nút, which is connected to and receives a traverse motion from a pendent rock
lever actuated by a cam on the driving shaft. The traverse of this nut will
impart a reciprocating axial motion to the screw shaft. On the fluted portion
of the shaft also works a nut, which is coupled by a rod to the spool case
This
driver for the purpose of imparting an axial motion to the spool case.
driver receives its traverse motion from a pendent rock lever driven by the
cam, which operates the lever of the vertical needle, the driver being con-
On the fore end
nected to the pendent lever by an adjustable coupling rod.
of the spool case a little hook projects for taking up the slack loop of the
vertical needle. When the hook by the advance of the spool case has taken
hold of the loop an axial motion is given to its case to draw out the loop, and
lay it around the spool case; the case then advances through the loop, an axial
motion being for a time maintained to facilitate its passage through the loop,
and return the hook to its starting position; the loop then drops off at the rear
end of the case, and passes through the division in the fixed spindle. By this
time, however, the thread which is led out of a hole in the periphery of the
case has passed into the loop, and thus the loop as it slips off the case, to be
tightened by the ascent of the vertical needle, as usual, is caught by the spool
case thread and secured. By this arrangement, therefore, the ordinary shuttle
stitch is produced.
In order to make what is known as the knot-stitch the inclination of the
hook on the spool case is reversed, so that it may take up the slack loop of
the vertical needle by a back instead of a forward motion, as before men-
tioned. The driving cam has also to be adjusted, so as to place the hook in
advance of the vertical needle ready to take its loop.
•
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filéd
by the said Silas Covell Salisbury and James Starley in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 26th October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SILAS
COVELL SALISBURY, of Essex Street, Strand, in the City of Westminster,

page_text: Gentleman, and JAMES STARLEY, of Lewisham, in the County of Kent,
Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by IIer Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Iler heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Silas Covell Salisbury and James Starley, IIer special license
that we, the said Silas Covell Salisbury and James Starley, our executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Silas Covell Salisbury and
James Starley, our 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 MA-
CHINERY," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Silas Covell
Salisbury and James Starley, by an instrument in writing under our hands
and seals, or under the band and seal of one of us, 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 Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Silas Covell Salisbury, on behalf of
myself and of the said James Starley, do hereby declare the nature of our
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained 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):-
The chief object of this Invention is so to improve that class of sewing
machines termed shuttle-stitch machines as to enable them to carry more thread
than it has hitherto been found practicable to put into a shuttle, and to ensure
their more perfect action by removing the liability that at present exists, of
stitches being dropped. To this end we propose to use in place of the ordinary
shuttle a cylindrical case, which we call a spool case, whose duty will be to lay
the shuttle thread in the slack loop of the vertical needle. By this contrivance
we are not only enabled to produce the ordinary shuttle stitch, but also to
obtain an important variation therein, which will give a more elastic seam tl.an
has heretofore been obtained from this class of machines.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1, Sheet I., shews our improved machine
in side elevation, a portion of the base frame being broken away to shew the

page_text: construction of the hidden mechanism; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view, taken
in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, Sheet II., is an elevation of the opposite
side of the machine to that shewn at Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a vertical section,
taken in the line 3, 4, of Fig. 3.
In these views, A, A, is the hollow base frame of the machine carrying the
usual hollow bracket arm B, which supports the vertical needle and presser
stems in the ordinary manner. The table of the machine is formed by a plate
C, supported by a casting D, which is firmly attached to the hollow base
frame A, and together with that frame provides supports for the shafts and
sliding bars, to be presently described. a, a, is the spool case shewn in longi-
.tudinal section at Fig. 5, and in side view at Fig. 6, Sheet II. It is fitted
with a central tube b, to receive the bobbin or spool c containing the locking
thread, and on it the bobbin is free to revolve. As the case will hold a good
sized bobbin, it will carry a large amount of thread, as compared with the ordi-
nary shuttle. To form a race for this spool case (which traverses like the
ordinary shuttle, and bas in addition an axial motion for the purpose to be
presently explained), we mount it on a spindle which lies in a line with the
bracket arm B of the machine. This spindle consists of two parts E and E',
or may be said to be divided into two parts at a point in a line with which the
vertical needle works. The forward part of this spindle E is fixed or stationary,
and the hindler part E' is free to receive an axial motion, for the purpose of
imparting the same motion to the spool case. This case is traversed over the
spindle by a driver F, which embraces it lengthwise. The driver is forked at
its inner end, for the purpose of embracing a sliding collar F¹ fitted on the
outer end of the rotating portion of the spindle, which is squared to receive it.
The collar F carries a disc F³, that is notched at its periphery to receive a
projection d on the rear end of the spool case a. Mounted on the rotating or
live portion of the spindle E' is a screw cam E, into which the pin of a sliding
bar E works. This bar slides in guides in the base frame, and is fitted at its
rear end with a pin, which takes into the groove of a cam E* mounted on the
main driving shaft G of the machine. By the rotation therefore of this cam
a reciprocating motion is given to the bar E³, which through the pin on its
forward end imparts an axial motion to the cam E, and so through the
spindle E, sliding collar F, and disc F2, to the spool case.
driver F traverses in a slot formed in the side of the casting D, and it is ope-
rated by a rod F³, supported in guides attached to the side of the casting D.
The motion of this rod F is derived from a rock lever F, pendent from a
fulerum pin carried by the bracket arm B. The rod F³ is connected to the
lover end of this lever by a coupling rod or link, and a pin on the end of this
The spool case

page_text: lever enters the groove of a cam F' on the main driving shaft. By the rotation
therefore of the cam F, the requisite traverse motion is given to the spool or
shuttle driver.
The arrangements both for operating the vertical needle which presents the
loops (below the work) to the spool case, or the shuttle for it to pass through
and secure the several stitches, and also for working the presser foot (by which
the work is fed to the vertical needle), are or may be similar to those of
ordinary shuttle machines. Thus, the rock lever H, which is forked at its
forward end to embrace a pin on the vertical needle bar H, and impart the
requisite up-and-down motion thereto, is operated by a cam H on the driving
shaft G. The presser I derives its motions from a lever I', pivotted on the
outside of the arm B. This lever is rocked by a cam I' on the main driving
shaft, and it is forked at its forward end to take into a pin at the back of a
sliding plate 1', which works in guides in the slide box that carries the needle
bar and presser foot stem. This stem is notched at its side (see Fig. 4) to
receive a projection from the face of the plate I³, the under side of which is
chamfered off to enable it to act like a wedge on the presser.
the notch of the presser is also bevilled to correspond thereto. When, there-
fore, the presser foot, which is held down upon the work by the presser spring,
is required to be lifted, the rock lever I will raise the slide I2, and cause it to
lift the presser. The reverse motion of the lever will allow the presser to
drop, and the continued downward motion of the slide will give the presser
foot a slight forward motion, whereby the work will be fed forward under the
needle. The next rise of the sliding plate will enable the presser spring to
throw back the presser foot before it again presses on the work, and it will
thus be brought to the requisite position for repeating the forward movement.
The bottom of
Having now given a general description of the machine, we will proceed to
show how the spool case, by its traversing and axial motions, is made to take
up the slack loop of the vertical needle and throw a locking thread therein:
The spool case, shewn at Fig. 6, Sheet II., and in the Diagrams, Figures 7, 8,
9, 10, 11, and 12, is arranged to produce the stitch shewn in the Diagram;
Fig. 13, which is the improved stitch above referred to. The red line in
Fig. 13 represents the vertical needle thread, and the blue line the spool or
shuttle thread. The difference between this and the ordinary shuttle stitchi
consists simply in the loop of the needle thread receiving a twist before the
shuttle thread enters the loop to secure the stitch. By means of this twist an
amount of elasticity is introduced into the seam which permits of leather and
other heavy work being sewn by machinery without the liability that at present
exists of the threads being broken when any strain is put on the leather.
On

page_text: referring to the longitudinal section of the spool case, Fig. 5, it will be seen
that one end of the hollow axle of the spool case a has a screw thread formed
on it to receive a metal cap d, which is tapped to screw thereon, and forms
the end cover of the spool case, it being removeable to permit of the insertion
of the spool c.
The thread is led out of the case at a small lateral hole, and
breaded through the eye of a slight spring e (see Fig. 7), which represents
the spool case in end view. Attached to the periphery of the case, and near
the outer end thereof, is a hook or finger f, which is intended to catch into the
loop of the vertical needle, and throw it over the case preparatory to the case
passing through the loop. Leather or felt washers 9, 9, are applied to the
axle bat either end of the case to impart the requisite amount of friction to
the spool c, for keeping a proper amount of tension on the spool or bobbin
thread.
On the inner end of the case is a stud or projection h, which enters a
notch in the disc before mentioned, and through the stud imparts the requisite
reciprocating axial motion to the spool case. Supposing now the vertical
needle (Fig. 6) to have descended through the work, and to have ascended
sufficiently to open out the slack loop, the spool case will move up to he loop
(by sliding on its spindle E), and insert the hook f therein. An axial motion
will now be imparted to the spool in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 7), the
effect of which will be to draw the loop of the vertical needle thread first
into the position of Fig. 8, then into the position of Fig. 9 (during which
movement the loop will receive a twist), and ultimately into the position of
Fig. 10. At this time the loop will be so elongated and opened out as to
embrace the spool case, the next movement is to pass the case through the
loop and to lay the spool thread therein. The end of the spool thread having
been drawn out and carried up to the work before commencing to operate
the machine, that thread will be in the position shewn by the blue line
at Fig. 6 at the time of the opening out of the loop of the vertical needle
thread, it being held in that position by lying in a shallow recess k made for
its reception in the periphery of the spool case. When, therefore, an endway
motion is given to the spool case in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 11, by
means of the spool driver F, the loop of the vertical needle will be caused
to slip off the rear end of the spool case, as shewn at Fig. 12, and the spool
case having at that moment passed on to the part E of the spindle, the opening
in the spindle will be uncovered. The loop, therefore, will be drawn through
this opening and in passing upwards it will be caught by the spool thread.
The continued ascent of the vertical needle i will draw the now formed stitch
to tension, and the return motion of the spool case being combined by an

page_text: axial motion thereof, the case will be brought into the proper position for
A
advancing to take up the next loop formed by the vertical needle:
repetition of these movements will produce the line of stitches shewn at
Fig. 13.
In order to form by this improved mechanism the ordinary shuttle stitch
(which is shewn in the Diagram Fig. 14, Sheet I.), it is only necessary to
reverse the direction of the hook f on the shuttle case, and to reverse the
direction of rotation of the spool case when it has seized the loop for the
purpose of elongating it. This change will prevent the loop being twisted
during its elongation, and will thus ensure the production of a stitch like
that made by the ordinary shuttle machine, but the liability of dropping
stitches will be effectually removed.
The Diagrams, Figures 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19, shew this modification in
the spool case, and also the progress of its operation on the slack loop of
the vertical needle. In the last of these views it will be seen that the loop
will have received no twist (as in Diagram Fig. 10, Sheet II.) up to the
moment the spool case is ready to pass through the loop; the stitch, therefore,
produced by this slight modification will be precisely similar to the common
shuttle stitch.
-
It will be understood that in order to give the requisite axial motion to
this modification of spool case, the groove in the screw cam E' must take a
reverse direction to that shewn at Figures 1 and 2.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improvements in
Sewing Machinery," 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 means above described for seizing, opening out,
and securing the successive loops formed by the vertical or upper needle of
sewing machines.
In witness whereof, I, the said Silas Covell Salisbury, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
SILAS COVELL SALISBURY. (L.B.)
Witness,
FRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane, London.