IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, E. C., Editor of the Mechanics' Magazine and
Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."
-A communication.
Sealed the 27th July 1858, and dated the 1st February 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald Brooman
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st February 1858.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, E. C., Editor of the Mechanics' Magazine and Patent Agent, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES," (a communication from a foreigner residing abroad,) to be as
follows:-
These improvements in sewing machines are designed for employing a
barbed needle instead of one having an eye near its point as usual, and con-
sist, firstly, of a means of actuating the said needle, whereby its movement
through the material to be sewed shall also produce the feeding of the same
along; and, secondly, in a method of regulating the vibration of the said
needle, whereby the feed for giving the various lengths of stitches is obtained.
The needle is secured to the end of a needle bar, which latter plays up and

page_text: down beneath the table in a vibrating guide piece. At its lower end the needle
bar is connected with a crank, the rotation of which gives both the up and
down motions to the needle as well as its vibratory motion. The needle bar
is pivotted at its top on a screw pin, which passes through a vertically slotted
hole in an upright frame stud. Immediately at the back of this guide pin is
a flat circular plate, having cut through it a spirally curved slot; the pin
passes through this, and is held by it from slipping up and down in its slotted
hole in the stud. This plate is secured on a centre screw, upon which it
revolves and by which it is also screwed up and made fast in any position
desired. Above the table is a pressure pad, capable of being raised and
lowered by a set screw. The foot of this pad has a long narrow slot in it, cut
in the direction of the feed of cloth; the said slot stands directly over the
needle, so that when its point ascends above the table, that point will enter
the slot; at one side of the slot is an eye, through which the thread is rove for
sewing.
The operation is as follows:-The crank being made to revolve, the needle
bar will have a reciprocating motion along the guide, which latter will oscil-
late to and fro upon its centre; now, as the needle goes past this centre, that
part which is beyond will vibrate to and fro in the same manner that the
needle bar does on the other side; as the crank turns round until it is at its
lower centre, the point of the needle will come beneath the table; the point
then ascends and passes through in a slanting direction as well as through the
cloth; the crank continuing to revolve, the needle begins to be withdrawn, but
at an angle the reverse of that at which it entered, thus moving along the slot
in the pressure pad, and carrying the cloth which is held between it and the
table also along with it, thus forming the length of a stitch. As the needle
reaches its greatest height, the end of the barb having risen above, the pres-
sure pad seizes the thread through the eye by the act of changing its angle of
position, the said thread now lying across its path; the barb is then closed by
being pressed into the shank of the needle, so that it can pass out of the cloth
without being caught by it. A loop of thread is thus drawn through and held
on the shank until the next stitch is formed. As this is being taken, the
closed end of the barb passes through the former loop, and that is accordingly
cast off, and the last one drawn through it and held upon the needle shank,
forming the well-known chain or tambour stitch.
The length of stitch is regulated by the position of the axis pin. When
this is up close to the table, the stitches are fine, being made gradually coarser
by lowering that pin away therefrom. This is done by loosening a nut so that
the plate may be turned round. If this plate is then turned from left to right,

page_text: the pin will travel along a spiral slot, and consequently it will be lowered in
its slotted hole in the stud, thereby increasing the vibratory throw of the
needle at the level of the table.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 30th July 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, E. C.,
Editor of the, Mechanics' Magazine and Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the First day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others.
as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my 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 MACHINES," (a communication,) upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors
or administrators; by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, 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 Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and, ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
These improvements in sewing machines are designed for employing a
barbed needle, instead of one having an eye near its point as usual, and
consist, firstly, of a means of actuating the said needle, whereby its move-
ment through the material to be sewed shall also produce the feeding.

page_text: of the same along; and, secondly, in a method of regulating the vibration of
the said needle, whereby the feed for giving the various lengths of stitches is
obtained. These improvements are illustrated in the Drawings hereunto
annexed, Figure 1 being a front, and Figure 2 a side elevation of the appa-
ratus. The needle a is secured to the end of a needle bar 6, which latter plays
up and down beneath the table in a vibrating guide-piece c; at its lower end
the needle bar is connected with a crank d, the rotation of which gives both
the up and down motions to the needle as well as its vibratory motion. The
needle bar c is pivotted at its top at c¹ on a screw pin, which passes through a
vertically slotted hole in an upright frame stud e. Immediately at the back of
this guide pin is a flat circular plate i, having cut through it a spirally curved
slot. The pin c¹ passes through this, and is held by it from slipping
up and down in its slotted hole in the stud e. This plate is secured
on a centre screw, upon which it revolves, and by which it is also
screwed up and made fast in any position desired. Above the table is a
pressure pad o capable of being raised and lowered by a set screw. The
foot of this pad has a long narrow slot in it cut in the direction of the
feed of cloth; the said slot stands directly over the needle, so that when its
point ascends above the table that point.will enter the slot. At one side of the
slot is an eye p through which the thread is rove for sewing. The operation
is as follows:-The crank d being made to revolve, the needle bar 6 will have
a reciprocating motion along the guide c, which latter will oscillate to and fro
upon its centre c¹. Now, as the needle goes past this centre that part which
is beyond will vibrate to and fro, in the same manner that the needle bar does
on the other side. As the crank d turns round until it is at its lower centre
the point of the needle will come beneath the table; the point then ascends
and passes through in a slanting direction as well as through the cloth; the
crank continuing to revolve, the needle begins to be withdrawn, but at an
angle the reverse of that at which it entered, thus moving along the slot in the
pressure pad, and carrying the cloth which is held between it and the table
also along with it, thus forming the length of a stitch. As the needle reaches
its greatest height, the end of the barb having risen above the pressure pad
seizes the thread through the eye p by the act of changing its angle of
position; the said thread now lying across its path; the barb is then closed
by being pressed into the shank of the needle, so that it can pass out of the
cloth without being caught by it; a loop of thread is thus drawn through
and held on the shank until the next stitch is formed; as this is being taken
the closed end of the barb passes through the former loop, and that is accord-
ingly cast off, and the last one drawn through it and held upon the needle

page_text: shank, forming the well-known chain or tambour stitch. The length of stitch
is regulated by the position of the axis pin c¹. When this is up close to the
table the stitches are fine, being made gradually coarser by lowering that pin
away therefrom; this is done by loosening a nut " so that the plate i may be
turned round. If this plate is then turned from left to right, in the direction
of the arrow in Figure 1, the pin c¹ will travel along the spiral slot i¹, and
consequently it will be lowered in its slotted hole in the stud e, thereby in-
creasing the vibrating throw of the needle at the level of the table.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the improvements
in sewing machines herein-before described, and illustrated in the Drawings
hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have hero-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of July, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-eight.
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)