IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Fairweather, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Fairweather at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th November 1878.
WILLIAM FAIRWEATHER, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer. IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."
C
My Invention relates to sewing machinery intended to make the Grover-Baker
or Lancashire sewing machine stitch, which is produced by a vertical straight needle
above and a curved needle below the cloth plate.
My Invention consists in actuating both the straight and curved needles by the
same cam, crank, or excentric, or actuating each needle by an excentric or crank,
and in using a projecting point or hook under the cloth plate to catch and detain
the thread from the curved needle to hold it in the right position until the straight
needle has descended sufficiently, and then liberate the thread to allow the stitch to
be completed.
I prefer to combine my improvements with sewing machine mechanism upon the
Wilcox and Gibbs type (though I do not restrict myself to such type of sewing
mechanism) by connecting a bell crank lever having its fulcrum on the frame or on
a bracket from the frame, with the lever working the straight needle (or the fulcrum
of the bell crank lever is or may be upon the latter), one arm of the bell crank lever
being connected with a projection or pin from the lever working the straight needle,
the other arm being jointed to a rod connected with a slide in a bracket attached
to the frame, this slide having a toothed rack upon it which gears with the pinion
on the axis of the curved needle. I prefer to make this toothed rack of a screw, by
turning which 1 can adjust the mechanism.
The curved needle thread passes from the bobbin through the eye in a tension
spring through a guide and to the eye of the curved needle and under the cloth

page_text: plate, where there is a point or hook (which is or may be arranged so as to be
adjustable) that catches and detains the thread from the curved needle until the
straight needle has descended past this thread sufficiently, then the continued move-
ment of the curved needle causes the thread to slip from the point or holder, and
this allows the stitch to be completed.
The same toothed rack is used when two or more straight needles are worked by
the same slide to work corresponding curved needles, and there is also a detaining
or holding point or hook, before referred to, attached to the cloth plate for each
curved needle.
By my Invention great speed in stitching is or may be attained, as both move-
ments for operating the straight and curved needles are from the same excentric,
which I prefer to use, the motion being smooth and free from sudden jerks and
shocks.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Fairweather in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd May
1879.
WILLIAM FAIRWEATHER, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."
My Invention relates to sewing machinery intended to make the Grover-Baker
or Lancashire sewing machine stitch, which is produced by a vertical straight needle
above and a curved needle below the cloth plate.
My Invention consists in actuating both the straight and curved needles by the
same cam, crank, or excentric, or actuating each needle by an excentric or crank,
and in using a projecting point or hook under the cloth plate to catch and detain
the thread from the curved needle to hold it in the right position until the straight
needle has descended sufficiently, and then liberate the thread to allow the stitch to
be completed.
I prefer to combine my improvements with sewing machine mechanism upon the
Wilcox and Gibbs type (though I do not restrict myself to such type of sewing
mechanisın), and I carry out my Invention by connecting a bell crank lever having
its fulcrum on the frame or on a bracket from the frame, with the lever working
the straight needle (or the fulcrum of the bell crank lever is or may be upon the
latter), one arm of the bell crank lever being connected with a projection or pin
from the lever working the straight needle, the other arm being jointed to a rod
connected with a slide in a bracket attached to the frame, this slide having a
toothed rack upon it which gears with the pinion on the axis of the curved needle;
but I prefer to actuate the bell crank by a separate crank pin, which may be either
on the driving shaft or on a bevel wheel in gear with it. I prefer to make the
toothed rack of a screw, by turning which I can adjust the mechanism, but it may
be an ordinary toothed rack if desired.

page_text: The curved needle thread passes from the bobbin through the eye in a tension
spring through a guide and to the eye of the curved needle and under the cloth
plate, where there is a point or hook (which is or may be arranged so as to be
adjustable) that catches and detains the thread from the curved needle until the
straight needle has descended past this thread sufficiently, then the continued move-
ment of the curved needle causes the thread to slip from the point or holder, and
this allows the stitch to be completed.
The same toothed rack is used when two or more straight needles are worked by
the same slide to work corresponding curved needles, and there is also a detaining
or holding point or hook, before referred to, attached to the cloth plate for each
curved needle.
By my Invention great speed in stitching is or may be attained, as both move-
ments for operating the straight and curved needles are or may be from the same
excentric, or from two excentrics, or an excentric and crank pin, which I prefer to
use, the motion being smooth and free from sudden jerks and shocks.
Fig. 1 is a side sectional elevation, and Fig. 2 a plan section with the table removed,
illustrating one mode of carrying out my Invention when an excentric and crank
pin are used for actuating the two needles.
a, framing; b, straight needle slide bar receiving motion through a lever b¹ and
connecting rod 62 from an excentric on the driving shaft c in the same manner as in
the Wilcox and Gibbs sewing machines; the feed mechanism, which is not shown, is
also the same as in that type of machine.
d is a bracket secured to the frame, which carries the fulcrum d' of a bell cranked
lever d², one arm of which is cranked (as shown in Fig. 2), and is connected by rod (³
with a crank pin d' and in the driving pulley on the shaft c.
The other arm of the bell crank lever (d) is jointed with a rod d³ that connects
it with a slide de in a bracket d' secured to the frame; this slide do has a screw d
at its end which can be rotated on the slide bar (do), and then secured when adjusted
by the screw nut at the end.
The worm or screw gears with a pinion on a vertical shaft (e) in bearings in a
bracket e¹ secured to the framing, and thus imparts reciprocating motion to it. The
curved needle (e²) is secured on the upper end of the shaft e.
The thread for the curved needle passes from the spool placed in any convenient
position to the eye e³, secured under the cloth plate, then to the eye in one end of
a slight spring e, the other end of which being secured to the framing by a screw,
as shown.
The spring (e) when the machine is at work is bent into the curve and position
shown in Fig. 2, and plays to and fro to take up slack thread and give it out again
to the curved needle as it works. From the eye in the spring (e) the thread passes
to a hook secured to the framing, and then to the eye of the curved needle (e²)
and to the cloth being sewn.
fis an adjustable projection secured to the frame by a screw passing through a
slot, or it may be formed of round wire secured by a set screw in a hole in the
frame. The end of this projection is shaped with a notch or step, as shown in
the Drawings, and the thread between the eye of the curved needle and the cloth
being sewn, passes under this projection when the curved needle has nearly arrived
at its greatest extent of forward oscillation (in that direction towards which the
point of the curved needle points), so that this part of the thread is detained when
the curved needle makes its back oscillation until it has nearly arrived at the full
extent of its back oscillation, when the thread then passing under the projection
slides off.
By this means the thread is detained and held back to give time for the point of
the straight needle in its descent to get past and on the right side of the curved
needle thread.
Fig. 3 is a partial side elevation to illustrate another mode of actuating the
toothed rack slide for the curved needle. In this arrangement a lever d² is jointed

page_text: on à fulcrum pin d' in the framing, and its end is connected by a rod (d) with the
rack slide (d).
There is a short arm from the lever b¹ for the straight needle, which is jointed
with one of a link d*, the other end of which is jointed to the lever d².
levers band d) are actuated by the same excentric or crank pin.
Thus both
Fig. 4 is a partial side elevation illustrating another mode of actuating the toothed
rack slide (d) according to my Invention.
is a bevel wheel on the driving shaft c; its boss forms an excentric for actuating
the straight needle, and it gears with another equal bevel wheel g¹ on a stud in the
framing, in which wheel there is a crank pin g that gives motion to a rod g³ that
connects it with the rack slide (de).
The toothed as well as the plain part of the rack in this case works in a guide
formed in a bracket (, in which also are formed the bearings for the vertical curved
needle shaft, so that the same screws secure this compound bracket for the rack and
shaft to the frame.
Instead of the bevel wheel g¹ being arranged on a horizontal axis it may be placed
on a vertical axis, as shown in peculiar dotted line in Fig. 4, but the frame in this
case would require to be modified, or a portion would have to be cut away to make
room for the wheel.
Another mode of carrying out my Invention consists in placing the toothed rack
at a right angle to the driving shaft in a guide similar to that (d) shown in Fig. 4,
and connecting it by a short link or a pin and slot with the end of a lever placed
with its axis in a vertical position, this lever being actuated by a crank or excentric
on the driving shaft c through a connecting rod. This arrangement is represented
diagramatically in peculiar lines in Fig. 2, where the dotted line represents the
centre line of the toothed rack (d), the line h', the lever h², its axis, secured to the
frame, and ³ the excentric rod working on an excentric on the shaft c, which rod is
similar to that used for actuating the lever b¹.
Instead of a sliding rack (d) the end of the lever (¹) has or may have formed on
or applied to it the segment of a toothed rack to gear with the pinion on the curved
needle shaft (e).
I have now particularly described the nature of my Invention and the mode of
carrying it into effect, and claim as my Invention,―
Firstly. The actuation of the curved and straight needles of sewing machines by
the same crank or excentric, substantially as hereinbefore described.
Secondly. The combination of a stationary projection or point (f) with a curved
needle (e) for detaining the thread, arranged and operated substantially in the
manner hereinbefore described.
Thirdly. The combination of a curved needle (eº), straight needle, detaining pro-
jection (f), and spring e, arranged and operating substantially in the manner
hereinbefore described.
Fourthly. The combination of mechanism for actuating the curved needle (e²),
substantially as hereinbefore described, and illustrated by the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Fairweather, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of May, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy nine.
WILLIAM FAIRWEATHER. (L.S.)