IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Emanuel Shepherd, Fred Rothwell, James
Edward Hough, and Tom Rothwell, all of Oldham, in the County
of Lancaster, and John M'Nay Rimington, of the Town and County
of the Town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Manufacturers, for the
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Emanuel Shepherd,
Fred Rothwell, James Edward Hough, Tom Rothwell, and John
M'Nay Rimington at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 29th January 1875.
We, EMANUEL SHEPHERD, FRED ROTHWELL, JAMES EDWARD HOUGH,
and TOM ROTHWELL, all of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, and
JOHN MCNAY RIMINGTON, of the Town and County of the Town of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as
follows:-

page_text: serrated feed plate acting upon the under side of the fabric being sewn
is employed. Upon the end of the main or driving shaft of a sewing
machine nearest to the feed arrangement, two cams are placed, and
against one of which cams the end of a bar or lever carrying the serrated
feed plate rests, for the purpose of giving the necessary upward and
downward motion to the feed plate, and to which bar is jointed a short
lever, which bears against the other cam and imparts a to-and-fro motion
to the feed plate. The length of the stitch is regulated by altering
the position of the fulcrum of the short lever jointed to the feed plate
bar.
According to this Invention the fulcrum of the before-mentioned short
lever is formed by one end of an arm bearing, against the same, and
which arm is pivoted at or near its centre to a bearing formed for that
purpose upon the bed plate of the machine, and upon the other end of
which pivoted arm is formed an inclined plane.. A longitudinal bar or
lever is placed lengthwise with and underneath the bed plate of tho
machine, and pivoted at or near its centre or at any other convenient
point, and having one end thercof provided with an inclined plane
corresponding to and bearing against that on the end of the pivoted arm.
To the other end of the longitudinal bar or lever is attached a set or
thumbscrew, passing through and working in a transverse slot formed in
the bed plate of the machine.
When it is desired to alter the length of the stitch, the set or thumb-
screw is moved along the slot, thereby causing the longitudinal bar or
lever to turn upon its pivot, and the inclined plane thereon acting upon
the inclined plane upon the end of the pivoted arm, causes the other end
thereof, which bears against and forms the fulcrum of the beforc-
mentioned short lever, to be raised or lowered as desired.
Instead of the longitudinal bar being made to turn upon a pivot as
herein-before described, it may be so mounted as to be capable of a
longitudinal to-and-fro motion, and kept in its position by means of a
bearing placed near its inclined end. In this case the slot through
which the set or thumbscrew works will be longitudinal instead of
transverse as herein-before described. The planes at the ends of the
longitudinal bar and pivoted arm being inclined so as to correspond with
one another, so that upon the longitudinal bar being moved forwards
and backwards, the fulcrum of the short lever will be varied as
desired.

page_text: The short lever jointed to the bar or lever carrying the serrated feed.
plate, and the pivoted arm are kept in their proper positions by a spring,
by preference attached to the feed bar or lever and the pivoted arm, and
which spring also serves to give the backward motion to the serrated
feed plate.
The second part of this Invention consists in the method of hingeing
or jointing the bed plates of sewing machines to the stand or table,
so that when the machine is in operation the bed plate rests entirely
upon elastic cushions or washers. Two pins formed with enlarged heads
are pin-jointed to one side of the bed plate, and pass into two holes
formed for their reception in the stand or table upon which the machine
works, the heads of the pins preventing their entering too far into the
stand or table when the machine is turned over: Underneath the bed
plate of the machine and in front of the pins are placed two elastic
cushions, so that when the machine is lowered into its working position
the bed plate rests thereon, and the contact of the bed plate with the
cushions raises the pins slightly from the stand or table until the
enlarged heads cease to rest thereon, thus disconnecting the hinge
therefrom. The opposite side of the bed plate of the machine is
provided with two rigid pins upon which elastic washers are placed as
heretofore. '
The third part of this Invention consists in improvements in the
shuttle pickers of sewing machines, its object being to facilitate the.
regulation of the picker at the end which drives the shuttle back after
the stitch is formed, to compensate for the wear in the shuttle and also in
the picker. In order to effect this object a projecting boss is formed on
or attached to the slide or carrier, and which boss has a hole bored
through it horizontally with the shuttle.. The picker is formed of a bar,
by preference a round one, one end of which passes through the
horizontal hole in the projecting boss, and secured therein by means of a
set screw, and the other end is bent to a suitable curve to accommodate
the end of the shuttle.
When either the shuttle or the picker wears longitudinally, the latter is
adjusted by loosing the set screw, and passing the straight end of the
picker a little further through the horizontal hole in the boss, thus
bringing the curved end of the picker nearer to the shuttle. As the
shuttle in its race or bed causes a corresponding lowering of the shuttle,
it is necessary to loosen the set screw and to lower the curved end of the

page_text: picker to correspond with the lowering of the shuttle. At the end of
the slide or carrier opposite to that with the curved picker, a rigid piece
of metal is fixed, as is ordinarily the case in the slides or carriers of
sewing machines.
1
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Emanuel Shepherd, Fred Rothwell, James Edward
Hough, Tom Rothwell, and John M'Nay Rimington in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 29th July 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ÉMANUEL
SHEPHERD, FRED ROTHWELL, JAMES EDWARD HOUGH, and Toм
ROTHWELL, all of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, and. Joun
MONAY RIMINGTON, of the Town and County of the Town of Newcastle-
upon-Tyne, Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said Emanuel Shepherd, Fred
Rothwell, James Edward Hough, Tom Rothwell, and John M'Nay
Rimington, Her special licence that we, the said Emanuel Shepherd,
Fred Rothwell, James Edward Hough, Tom Rothwell, and John M Nay
Rimington, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as we, the said Emanuel Shepherd, Fred Rothwell, James Edward
Hough, Tom Rothwell, and John M'Nay Rimington, our exccutors,
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," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Emanuel Shepherd, Fred Rothwell, James Edward Hough, Tom
Rothwell, and John McNay Rimington, our executors or administrators;
by an instrument in writing under our, 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
.

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Emanuel Shepherd, Fred Rothwell,
James Edward Hough, Tom Rothwell, and John M Nay Rimington, 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 figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say:
. Our said Invention consists, firstly, in improvements in the apparatus
for regulating the length of the stitch in those sewing machines in which
a serrated feed plate acting upon the under side of the fabric being sewn
is employed. Upon the end of the main or driving shaft of a sewing
machine nearest to the feed arrangement two cams are placed, and
against one of which cams the end of a bar or lever carrying the serrated
feed plate. rests, for the purpose of giving the necessary upward and
downward motion to the feed plate, and to which bar is jointed a short
lever which bears against the other cam and imparts a to-and-fro motion
to the feed plate. The length of the stitch is regulated by altering the
position of the fulcrum of the short lever jointed to the feed plate
bar.
According to our present Invention the fulcrum of the before-
mentioned short lever is formed by one end of an arm bearing against
the same, and which arm is pivoted at or near its centre to a bearing
formed for that purpose upon the bed plate of the machine, and upon
the other end of which pivoted arm an inclined plane is formed. A
longitudinal bar or lever is placed underneath the bed plate of the
machine, and pivoted at or near its centre or at any other convenient
point, and having one end thereof provided with an inclined planė
corresponding to and bearing against that on the end of the pivoted arm.
To the other end of the longitudinal bar or lever is attached a set or
thumbscrew passing through and working in a transverse slot formed in
the bed plate of the machine.
When it is desired to alter the length of the stitch, the set or thumb-
screw is moved along the slot, thereby causing the longitudinal bar or
lever to turn upon its pivot, and the inclined plane thereon, acting upon
the inclined plane upon the end of the pivoted arm causes the other end

page_text: thereof which bears against and forms the fulcrum of the before-
mentioned short lever to be raised or lowered as desired.
Instead of the longitudinal bar being made to turn upon a pivot as
herein before described, it may be so mounted as to be capable of a
longitudinal to-and-fro motion, and kept in its position by means of a
bearing placed near its inclined end. In this case the slot through
which the set or thumbscrew works, will be longitudinal instead of
transverse as in the previous case. The planes at the ends of the
longitudinal bar and pivoted arm being inclined so as to correspond with
one another, so that upon the longitudinal bar being moved forwards
.and backwards, the fulcrum of the short lever will be varied as desired..
'
The short lever jointed to the bar or lever carrying the serrated feed
plate and the pivoted arm are kept in their proper position by a spring,
by preference attached to the feed bar or lever and the pivoted arm, and
which spring also serves to give the backward motion to the serrated
fced plate.
The second part of our said Invention consists in the method of
hingcing or jointing the bed plates of sewing machines to the stand or
table, so that when the machine is in operation the bed plate rests
entirely upon elastic cushions or washers. Two pins formed with
enlarged heads are pin-jointed to the bed plate, and pass into two holes
formed for their reception in the stand or table upon which the machine
works, the heads of the pins preventing their .entering too far into the
stand or table when the machine is turned over. Underneath the bed
plate of the machine and in front of the pins are placed two elastic
cushions, so that, when the machine is lowered into its working position
the bed plate rests thereon, and the contact of the bed plate with the
cushions raises the pins slightly from the stand or table until the
enlarged heads cease to rest thereon, thus disconnecting the hinge
therefrom. The opposite side of the bed plate of the machine is
provided with two rigid pins upon which elastic washers are placed as
heretofore.
.
We will now proceed to refer to the accompanying Drawings, from
which the nature of the first part of our said Invention will be more
clearly understood.
Figure 1 is a plan of the under side of a sewing machine; Figure 2 is
a side elevation of the same; and Figure 3. an end view. The same letters
of reference indicate like parts in the several Figures,

page_text: A is the main or driving shaft of the machine; a and a¹ being the two
cams on the end thereof; B is the longitudinal bar or lever with the
inclined plane at the end thereof, b; C is the set screw by which the
lever B is actuated; D is the pivoted arm with the inclined plane dat
one end thereof, and the other end forming the fulcrum of the short
lever E;
E is the short lever with its end e resting against the cam a;
F is the feed plate bar with its end f resting upon the 'cam a'; G is the
feed. plate; H is the spring attached to the feed plate bar F and the
pivoted arm D; I is the bed plate of the machine; and J and K. are
respectively the cams for actuating the levers for working the shuttle
and needle, but which levers are not shewn in the Drawings.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we would
observe in conclusion that what we consider novel and original, and
therefore claim as constituting the Invention secured to us by the hercin-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The combination and arrangement of the parts and mechanism
for regulating the length of the stitch in sewing machines, as herein-
before set forth and described, or any merc modification thereof.
And, Secondly. The method of hingeing the bed plates of sewing
machines to the stand or table, as herein-before set forth and described,
or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, we, the said Emanuel Shepherd, Fred Roth-
well, James' Edward Hough, Tom Rothwell, and John M'Nay
Rimington, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twentieth
day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-five.