IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Gordon Cumming, of Forest Hill, in the
County of Kent, Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES.”
Sealed the 17th February 1874, and dated the 21st August 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Gordon
Cumming at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 21st August 1873.
I, WILLIAM GORDON CUMMING, of Forest Hill, in the County of
Kent, Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:―
MTSA

page_text: And, Thirdly. Of an improved arrangement or device for forming the
loop.
My arrangement or device for regulating the tension consists of an
upright or pedestal, against which a plate fits. The thread passes
between the upright or. pedestal and the plate, and the pressure is
regulated by tightening or loosening a screw which attaches the plate to
the upright, a spring being fitted between the said plate and a shoulder
of the screw. The upright should be provided with a guide for the thread
at each side of the said plate.
My improved arrangement for operating and regulating the feed is com- 1
posed of a curved arm carried up from the feed foot, and free to vibrate on
a pin at the upper part of the head of the machine. An adjustable screw
passes through the curved arm, and bears against a cam, which in its
revolution alternately forces the curved arm outwards, and then allows
it to be drawn inwards by a spring. The feed foot participates in these ]
alternate movements, and therefore moves the cloth. The feed is
regulated by adjusting the screw. The screw is provided with a clamp
nut to keep it in position.
My arrangement or device for forming the loop consists of a beak or
scissor-like appliance situated below the work plate. It is carried on the
end of an oscillating arm, and as the needle rises the beak moves
forward, opens the loop, and again retires as the needle again descends.
The opening of the beak is caused by its tail in the forward movement
coming against a projection, and the closing is effected in the backward
movement by a spring. One of the jaws of the beak has a protuberance a
to prevent the loop or thread running too far up it. The oscillating arm
to which the beak is attached is worked by means of a vertical rod, one
end of which is connected to a socket, in which the end of the oscillating
arm fits, while the other end of the rod is acted upon by a cam or crank
on the main shaft. The socket has a slight longitudinal movement to
allow the necessary freedom to the oscillating arm.

page_text: filed by the said William Gordon Cumming in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st February 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GORDON CUMMING, of Forest Hill, in the County of Kent, Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Gordon Cumming, Her special
licence that I, the said William Gordon Cumming, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Gordon
Cumming, 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 Ircland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Gordon Cumming, my executors or admini-
strators, 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 William Gordon Cumming, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:—
My Invention consists of an improved arrangement for regulating the
tension of the thread in sewing machines; of an improved arrangement
for operating and regulating the feed; and of an improved arrangement

page_text: -
For regulating the tension the arrangement I employ consists of an
upright or pedestal, against which a plate fits. The thread passes
between. thie, upright or pedestal and the plate, and the pressure is
regulated by tightening or loosening a screw which attaches the plate to
the upright, a spring being fitted between the said plate and a shoulder
of the screw. The upright should be provided with a guide for the
thread at each end of the said plate.
For operating and regulating the "feed"I employ a curved arm
carried up from the "feed" foot, and free to vibrate on a pin at the
upper part of the head of the machine. An adjustable screw passes
through the curved arm, and bears against a cam, which in its revolution.
alternately forces the curved arm outwards, and then allows it to be
drawn inwards by a spring. The "feed" foot participates in these
alternate movements, and therefore moves the cloth, the "feed" being.
regulated by adjusting the screw, which is provided with a clamp nut to
keep it in motion.
The last and most important part of my Invention is the arrangement
which I employ forming the "loop," and which for the purpose of
enabling the same to be more clearly understood I have illustrated by a
plan view in the accompanying Sheets of Drawings.
My said arrangement consists of a "beak" or scissor-like appliance a,
situate below the work plate of the machine; it is carried on the end d
of an oscillating arm c, and as the needle d rises the "beak" moves
forward, opens the loop, and, again retires as the needle again descends.
The opening of the "beak" is caused by its tail e in the forward move-
ment coming against a projection or cam surface e¹, and the closing is.
effected in the backward movement by a spring f. One of the jaws of
the "beak" has a protuberance 9 to prevent the loop or thread running
too far up it. The oscillating arm c, to which the beak is attached, is
worked by means of a vertical rod h, the lower end thereof is connected
to a socket, in which the end of the oscillating arm c fits, whilst the
upper end of the said rod h is acted upon by a cam or crank in the
main shaft of the machine. The said socket has a slight longitudinal
movement to allow the necessary freedom to the oscillating arm c.
Having now described the nature of "Improvements in Sewing
Machines," I wish it to be understood that my said improvements are

page_text: applicable to various types of sewing machines, and that what I claim as
the distinctive feature in my said Invention consists in the herein-
described arrangement for forming the "loop."
In witness whereof, I, the said William Gordon Cumming, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of February,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
WILLIAM GORDON CUMMING. (L.S.)