IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SEWING TOGETHER SHEETS OF PAPER OR OTHER MATERIAL INTO BOOKS OR PAMPHLETS."
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David McConnell Smyth, of East Northwood, in the
State of New Hampshire, United States of America, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SEWING TOGETHER SHEETS OF PAPER OR
OTHER MATERIAL INTO BOOKS OR PAMPHLETS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David McConnell Smyth at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th February 1879.
DAVID MCCONNELL SMYTH, of East Northwood, in the State of New Hamp-
shire, United States of America. "IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FOR SEWING
TOGETHER SHEETS OF PAPER OR OTHER MATERIAL INTO BOOKS OR PAMPHLETS."
The printed or blank sheets are folded in any usual manner, and they may be
sawed at the places where the threads pass into and out of the folded back edges
of the sheet, but usually the sawing is dispensed with.
A vertical shaft is provided with horizontal arms; preferably there are four of
these arms, the shaft is turned around progressively. The attendant lays a folded
sheet over one of these arms, the shaft is revolved to bring the arm and folded sheet
to the place where the sewing is to be done, the arms are lifted up, and the one
with the sheet passes into a locking device that holds the arm and sheet into place
under a stripper plate.
Two or more needles, each of a semi-circular form, now receive a partial revolu-
tion, and penetrate down through the folded back edge of the sheet into hollows
or recesses in the upper edge of the arm, and the points pass upwardly and out
again through the fold of the sheet, and these needles are eyepointed and carry
thread with them. At this moment two straight horizontal needles are moved
across the path of the curved needles and catch the loops of thread, the curved
needles retire leaving the double thread through the back edge of the sheet, the
sheet carrying arms drop down out of the way, leaving the sheet suspended; the
stripper plate moves and carries the sheet along out of the way of the next sheet,
and upon a table that is beneath the lower edge of the leaves. During this time
the attendant has placed another sheet upon the next arın, and it is moved around
to position and raised up and the sheet sewed as before, but it is preferably sewed
Prins G21

page_text: by another set of semi-circular needles standing in the opposite direction, so that
the back of the book will not be unduly increased in thickness by the threads
occupying the same position in each sheet, but the back will be uniform in thick-
ness by the distribution of the threads-with-uniformity.
After one book is sewed or any desired number of sheets have been stitched
together the horizontal needles are to be threaded with twine through the eyes
near the points, and the needles-pulled bodily from across the back of the book, and
the_cords.or-twine-drawn-thereby into their places in the backs.
Means are provided for giving the proper motions_to_the_parts,-such-as-an-
actuating-shaft, cams, levers, racks, and springs, and when the books are heavy I
arrange to support the horizontal needles at suitable intervals by metal plates
introduced between one sheet and the next and resting at their ends on supports or
ways.
A thread may be laid into the loops of thread by a looper, and catch threads may
also be laid across the back at the places where the needle passes into the

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said David McConnell Smyth in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th
August 1879.
DAVID MCCONNELL SMYTH, of East Northwood, in the State of New Hampshire,
United States of America. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SEWING TOGETHER
SHEETS OF PAPER OR OTHER MATERIAL INTO BOOKS OR PAMPHLETS."
The printed or blank sheets are folded in any usual manner, and they may be
sawed at the places where the threads pass into and out of the folded back edges
of the sheet, but usually the sawing is dispensed with. A vertical shaft is pro-
vided with horizontal arms; preferably there are four of these arms, the
shaft is turned around progressively. The attendant lays a folded sheet over one
of these arms, the shaft is revolved to bring the arm and folded sheet to the place
where the sewing is to be done, the arms are lifted up, and the one with the sheet
passes into a locking device that holds the arm and sheet into place under a stripper
plate. Two or more needles, each of a semi-circular form, now receive a partial
revolution, and penetrate down through the folded back edge of the sheet into
hollows or recesses in the upper edge of the arm, and the points pass upwardly
and out again through the fold of the sheet, and these needles are eye-pointed, and
carry thread with them. At this moment two straight horizontal needles are
moved across the path of the curved needles, and catch the loops of thread, the
curved needles retire, leaving the double thread through the back edge of the sheet,
the sheet carrying arms drop down out of the way leaving the sheet suspended,
the stripper plate moves and carries the sheet along out of the way of the next sheet
and upon a table that is beneath the lower edge of the leaves. During this time
the attendant has placed another sheet upon the next arm, and it is moved around
to position and raised up, and the sheet sewed as before, but it is preferably sewed
by another set of semi-circular needles standing in the opposite direction, so that
the back of the book will not be unduly increased in thickness by the threads
occupying the same position in each sheet, but the back. will be uniform in thickness
by the distribution of the threads with uniformity.
After one book is sewed or any desired number of sheets have been stitched
together the horizontal needles are to be threaded with twine through the eyes
near the points, and the needles pulled bodily from across the back of the book, and
the cords or twine drawn thereby into their places in the backs.
Means are provided for giving the proper motions to the parts, such as an
actuating shaft, cams, levers, rack, and springs, and when the books are heavy I
arrange to support the horizontal needles at suitable intervals by metal plates
introduced between one sheet and the next and resting at their ends on supports or
ways.
A. thread may be laid into the loops of thread by a looper, and catch threads may
also be laid across the back at the places where the needle passes into the fold.
In the Drawing,
Fig. 1 is a plan of the machine.
"
2 is an elevation with the bed in section.
"
31
3 is a plan of the actuating cams below the bed.
"
4 is a perspective view illustrating the sheets and the horizontal needles.
5 is a perspective view of part of one sheet-supporting arm and the semi-
circular needle.

page_text: Fig. 10 shows a device that may be used to aid in supporting the sheets after they
have been sewed.
The bed A sustains the main driving shaft B, and also the other parts of the
machine. The shaft C passes through and is supported at the bottom by the bed
A, and at the top it is held by the end of the frame D, that is L shaped and fastened
at the lower end to the bed A.
The cam a upon the shaft B gives motion to the rod a¹ and pawl a³ to turn the
ratchet wheel a³, and the vertical_shaft C.a.quarter-revolution-periodically-The-
spring pawl at retains the parts and prevents the shaft turning backwardly. The
_shaft.C.has-around-it-a-hub-d-that-can-be-moved-up-and-down upon the shaft, there
being a key or square to cause the hub to turn with the shaft, and the lever bon
the fulcrum 2, and the cam b' on the shaft B, are employed to raise the hub d'at the
proper time. In some instances it is preferable to attach the hub to the shaft by
clamping nuts above and below it, and to move the shaft endwise with the arms at
the proper time; in that case the shaft and its feather will slide through the ratchet
"wheel. Upon this hub d are four horizontal arms e, e, e¹, e¹, projecting radially;
each arm is made of a folded piece of sheet metal over a body, and the folded edges
are upward and notched at the proper places for the semi-circular needles to pass in,
as hereafter more fully explained.
Near the end of each arm there is a pivoted swinging gage and clip f, that is
made shaped to set over the arm, and hooked at the inner end.
When the folded sheet is laid upon the arm, the top angle of the back or fold is
brought under the hooked end of this gauge, and then the gauge is pushed down
upon the paper and forms a spring clip to catch and hold the paper.
As the shaft C and arms e, e, e¹, e¹, are revolved intermittently, the arms are
sufficiently above the bed A. for the sheets to be placed upon each arm in suc-
cession, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, but as the parts are turned, the
can also acts and lifts the sheet holding arms upwardly, and the sheet is
brought up adjacent to the edge of the book holding table F; the end of the arm
passes into the vertical slot of the locking plate f¹, and in so doing it is guided
to place, and the clip f is relieved by the back end of the clip striking against
such plate; the sheet is carried up under the stripper plate h that is formed with
openings for the passage of the needles next described, the sewing is performed,
the arms drop, leaving the sheet behind, and the next progressive movement of
the shaft C brings another arm and its sheet into position, and the operations are
repeated.
Upon the frame D there are four or more horizontal shafts k with their ends
projecting and carrying the needles; each needle or is made with a straight
part extending radially from the shaft, and then the needle is bent into the form
of a semi-circle; the groove for the thread is in the exterior surface and the eye
of the needle is near the point. The threads pass to these needles from spools i
upon a suitable arm or frame m. These needles are arranged in pairs, the needles
--working-from-right-to-left,-and-the-needles-l1-moving from left to right.
Any suitable means are employed for giving to these needles and their shafts a
partial rotation at the proper time. I have shown crank-arms n, n', upon the back
ends of the shafts, and links n², n³, for the needles 1, U, respectively, and these links
are moved at the proper time to give the half revolution to the needles by the
levers nt, n³, and cam 7 on the main shaft B, and the springs 9 and 10 serve to
draw the parts back into their normal position after each stitch has been taken.
When the arm e comes around and presents its sheet, the needles 1, 1, are moved
and take their threads down through the fold and up again, and the loops of
thread are left on the points of the horizontal needles o that are moved forward
at that time to take said loops like the looper in a sewing machine, and when the
next arm e¹ comes around with its sheet, the other needles 1; 1; operate in the
opposite direction and stitch that sheet, and the loops of thread are also taken

page_text: by the needles o, but they draw off in the opposite direction as illustrated in
Fig. 4.
By this arrangement the sewing is made to resemble the ordinary book sewing
by hand, the threads that hold one sheet being at a different place in the back to
the threads that hold the next sheet as in "off and on " sewing. In Fig. 11 is
shown an elevation of one pair of needles and spools and a section of the raceway,
which I employ for supporting the needles and preventing them bending when
penetrating the paper; Fig. 12 is a cross section at the line z, z; Fig. 13 is an
elevation of the end of the needle, and Fig. 14 is a cross-section of the same, the
needle in both instances being shown in enlarged size. The needle race 12 is sup-
ported by the frame D and is made with a groove of an arc of circle of the same
radius as the exterior of the needle, so that the needle can be turned first one way
and then the other, and its exterior surface will be in contact or nearly so with the
bottom of the groove forming the raceway, hence when the point of the needle
comes into contact with the paper or other material to be penetrated, said needle
cannot bow outwardly as its tendency would be, but it is obliged to move end wise
and penetrate the paper or other material, hence there is but little risk of breaking
the needle or bending it out of shape. The outer periphery of the needle is grooved
from the eye to the shank, and the groove is of a depth sufficient to contain the
thread, and the body of the needle behind its eye is removed as at ito form a
recess into which the needle o can pass and take off the loop of needle thread. The
thread passes through a hole 50 near the end of the needle-race, and a spring take
up between the eye 50, and spool may be employed to prevent the thread becoming
caught or injured.
The horizontal needles o are in the cross-bar that slides upon rods ¹ projecting
backwardly from the stationary bar ², and the cam 17 on the shaft B acts upon the
lever s, links, bent lever 82, lever &³, and link 8', to move the bar and needles o
back and forth at the proper time, to cause the needle points to take off the loops
of needle threads from the semi-circular needles and hold them and suspend the
sheets.
The stripper plate his supported by the guide rod / that passes through the
bar 2, it is adjusted by the screw and it is moved back and forth at the proper
time by the bent lever t, link t¹, lever t2, and cam 18 on the shaft B.
The parts
are so timed that as soon as the sheet carrying arm descends, the stripper h is
moved back to carry the sheet upon the needles o and back out of the way of the
next sheet, then the needles o are moved back ready to go forward again and take
the next loop of thread, the stripper plate his moved forward, another sheet is
brought to position, the other set of curved needles are operated, and the sewing is
performed as before.
There are spring fingers u at the notches in the stripper plate to hold the sheet
adjacent to where the needles perforate the fold of the paper, and these spring
fingers also aid in pushing the sheet upon the horizontal needles o as the stripper
is moved back.
The presser plate on the arms e, e¹, coming between the leaves of the folded
sheet and above the book-holding bed F aids in placing each sheet in position
above such bed, so that the weight of the book may rest upon such bed and relieve
the needle o from undue strain, but if desired there may be supporting plates ho
introduced at intervals between the sheets, the ends resting upon supports or
slides h³, and their upper edges being below the needles as illustrated in the
detached view, Fig. 10. When the proper number of sheets have been sewed to
form one or more books, the eyes of the horizontal needles are to be threaded with
cord or twine, and the needles drawn back so as to draw the twine into the loops
of thread that project from the backs of the folded sheets and connect and hold the
same in a manner similar to the cords in ordinary book-binding. The needles o
occupy the mortices in the stripper plate h, and the back edge of the stripper plate
is adjacent to the stationary frame and the needles pass freely through this

page_text: In some instances a looper may be made use of to draw a thread through the
loops of needle thread as in a two thread chain stitch sewing machine, but I prefer
the devices shown.
If desired a catch-thread may be supplied through an eye in line with the_places_
where the semi-circular-needles-enter, this eye is moved first one way and then the
other, so that the semi-circular needle descends first at one side of this thread and
then at the other side in its next descent, so that the catch thread may pass across
the back and be confined by the sewing and strengthen the back of the book.
I claim as my Invention,-
First. In a machine for sewing books a horizontal range of arms upon a vertical
shaft revolved intermittently in combination with mechanism substantially as
specified, for introducing the thread into the folded back of the sheet, and sewing
the sheets together in succession as presented by said arms, substantially as set
forth.
Second. The combination of the vertical shaft a, revolving horizontal sheet
sustaining and presenting arms, with semi-circular needles for carrying the threads
into and out of the folded back of the sheet, and means, substantially as specified
for interlocking such threads together, substantially as set forth.
Third. The combination of the sheet presenting and holding arms, the stripper,
the semi-circular eye-pointed needles, and the horizontal loop holding needles,
substantially as set forth.
Fourth. The combination in a book sewing machine of means substantially as
specified for supporting the folded sheet, curved eye pointed needles, means for
giving a partial rotary movement to the needles, and the stripper plate for holding
the sheet, substantially as specified.
Fifth. A pair of curved eye pointed needles arranged to act in opposite directions
in combination with the loop raking needle that receives the loops from the two
needles, substantially as set forth.
Sixth. In a book-sewing machine a sheet supporter that is made of a folded
sheet of metal notched at the portions of the fold where the needle enters, in com-
bination with an eye pointed curved needle that passes between the folded metal
in stitching the sheet, substantially as specified.
Seventh. The combination in a book sewing machine of a shaft and radial sheet
sustaining arms with mechanism substantially as specified, for imparting a pro-
gressive rotation, and a guide or locking plate for holding the outer end of such
arm in position while the sheet is being sewed, substantially as set forth.
Eighth. The combination in a book sewing machine of the sheet sustaining arm
or plate with the swinging clip.f, substantially-as-set-forth.
Ninth. The combination in a book sewing machine of the sheet sustainer, the
stripper, the eye-pointed needles, the loop-holding needles, means for reciprocating
such needles, and the bed F upon which the edges of the sewed sheets rest, sub-
stantially as set forth.
and
Tenth. The combination with the loop-holding needles of the sliding bar
lever for withdrawing the needles from the sewed book, substantially as set
forth.
Eleventh. A curved needle in the form of an arc of a circle grooved on its
periphery, having an eye near the point and a recess near the eye at the inner
part of the needle, substantially as set forth.
Twelfth. The combination with a curved needle of a needle race made as an arc

page_text: of circle of the same radius, or nearly so, as the periphery of the needle and sup-
porting the same, substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said David McConnell Smyth, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of July, A.D. 1879.
Witnesses,
DAVID M'CONNELL SMYTH. (L.S.)
EDWIN S. HOUSE, of Hartford, Conn.
DANL. N. COWEL, of Hartford, Conn.