IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SEWING SADDLERY, STRAPS, BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Firmin Mignot, Manufacturer, of Brussels, in
the Province of Brabant (Belgium), for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SEWING SADDLERY, STRAPS, BOOTS,
SHOES, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES.”
Sealed the 5th January 1872, and dated the 25th August 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Firmin Mignot at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th August 1871.
I, FIRMIN MIGNOT, Manufacturer, of Brussels, in the Province of
Brabant (Belgium), do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SEWING SADDLERY, STRAPS, BOOTS,
SHOES, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," to be as follows :—
The Invention relates to that class of sewing machines known as
shuttle machines, and permits the sewing of articles of leather and other
materials with waxed thread.

page_text: The needle is fixed in a slide working in suitable guides in the frame
of the machine; the needle slide is operated by one end of a lever, the
other end of which is provided with a roller working within or against a
grooved or projecting cam formed on a wheel fixed on a vertical axis.
This end of the needle lever works within suitable fixed guides, and is
provided with other rollers working against such fixed guides to prevent
friction. The vertical axis has fixed thercon a bevilled toothed pinion
taking into and worked by another bevilled toothed pinion fixed on a
horizontal axis, which may be driven by means of a handle or by
pulleys fixed thereon. Below the framing of the machine is fixed on:
the said vertical axis an eccentric or a crank, which gives a to-and-fro
I motion to a link or connecting rod, the other end of which is pin-
jointed to a stud or projection firmly fixed to the shuttle carrier.
Suitable grooves and a guide shaft serve to guide the shuttle carrier
correctly. The shuttle is hollow as usual, and contains the thread:
wound upon a horizontal shaft with pulley and regulating spring. The
needle thread passes from its bobbin around a tension bobbin to and
over a guide pulley or roller carried by the needle slido, whence it.
passes through a guide to a pulley carried by a lover acted upon by a
spring; it then passes from the last-mentioned pulley to the eye of the
needle. The thread bobbin and tension bobbin are mounted upon pins,
around the upper parts of which are placed spiral springs which are
acted upon by screw nuts to regulate the pressure on the said, thread and
tension bobbins. A vertical rod or shaft presses at its lower end on the
work during the formation of a stitch and rises again to permit the 2
feeding of the work forward for a fresh stitch. This presser rod or
shaft is forced against, the article being sewn by a spring acting upon
ono end of a lever, the other end of 'which is fixed to the presser rod or
shaft; a catch fixed to the needle slide acts to raise the presser rod at
the required moment. A lever operating the serrated feed lever is fixed 3
near its centre upon a horizontal axis, which is carried by a piece
mounted on a vertical axis. One of the ends of this lever is pressed
by a spring against the periphery of the cam wheel, projections from
which give two motions to this lever, the one lateral the other vertical.
By means of this twofold movement the serrated feed lever receives the a
necessary movements to feed the work after cach stitch is completed..
·
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The machine may be provided with a table of any desired shape and
hink the shuttl
1
1

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Firmin Mignot, in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th February 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FIRMIN
MIGNOT, Manufacturer, of Brussels, in the Province of Brabant
(Belgium), send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Firmin Mignot, Her special licence
that I, the said Firmin Mignot, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Firmin Mignot, 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
MACHINERY FOR SEWING SADDLERY, STRAPS, BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHER SIMILAR
ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Firmin
Mignot, 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 Firmin Mignot, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
The Invention relates to that class of sewing machines known as
shuttle machines, and permits the sewing of articles of leather or other
materials with waxed thread.

page_text: And in order that the said Invention may be clearly understood and
readily carried into effect I will proceed, aided by the accompanying
Drawings, fully to describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side view of a sewing machine constructed according to 5
my Invention.
In this view the handle and part of the frame is broken
away. Figuro 2 is a view of parts thercof to a smaller scale showing a
handle applied to the driving shaft.
..
"
1
A, A, is a slide to which the needle a, a, is fixed. This slide works
in guides formed in the frame as shown, and is operated by one
end of
the lever B, which gives to the needle. slide an alternate up-and-down
movement. The other end of this lever B is provided with a roller B¹,
which works within a cam groove C¹ formed upon the periphery of the
wheel C. This end of the lever B also carries other rollers B³, which
work in fixed guides B³ to ease the motion of such lever. The cam 1
groove C³, which may if desired be replaced by a projecting cam, serves
to give to the lever B its up-and-down motions with the desired
variations of speed. This wheel C is fixed upon a vertical axis.D, on
which is, a toothed pinion D¹ gearing with another toothed wheel F
mounted upon a horizontal shaft F, to which may be applied a handle E 2
to give motion to the machine. The handle E may be replaced by two
pulleys F, F, or otherwise rotated by steam or other suitable power.
One of these pulleys is fixed and the other loose on its shaft. A fork,
which it is not necessary to show on the Drawing, serves to pass the
strap from the fixed pulley to the loose pulley and vice versa. Under 2
the cast framing the prolonged axis D of the cam wheel O is provided
with an eccentric G, G, which gives a to-and-fro horizontal motion to a
link H. The end of this link is fixed by pin joint to a projection I,
which is firmly fixed to a carriage K, K, which carrics the shuttle L, L..
Suitable grooves and a guide shaft M, M, serve to guide the shuttle 3
carrier correctly. L is a hollow shuttle containing the thread, which is
wound upon a horizontal shaft provided with a bobbin and regulating
spring. The needle thread passes from its bobbin & around a rotating
tension bobbin &, provided with a coiled spring acting thereon, the
pressure of which is regulated by a screw nut on the axis. thereof in a
manner to produce upon the thread the desired and regular tension.
The thread passes from the bobbin b¹ to a guide pulley or roller 6ª

page_text: the
carried by the needle slide A, whence it passes around a guide pulley b³
to a pulley N¹ carried by a lever N, N, resting upon a coiled spring N",
which assists in straining the thread. A vertical rod or shaft O, O,
placed at the side of the needle slide box rests upon the work during
the formation of a stitch, and is then immediately raised to permit of
passage of the work as it is being fed forward for a fresh stitch.
This presser rod or shaft is forced against the work by a coiled spring P¹
acting upon one end of the lever P, P, mounted on a horizontal axis
situated at the outside of the framing, the other end of this lever P
being connected to the presser rod. A click or catch Q fixed to the
needle slide raises this shaft at the required moment. A lever R gives
motion to the feed lever, which feeds the work to the needle after the
completion of each stitch. This lever R is fixed near its centre upon a
horizontal axis S, whilst the piece T carrying this axis is itself mounted
on a vertical axis T, T, placed upon one side of the cast framing. It
results that this lever partakes of a double movement of rotation in two
planes, the one horizontal the other vertical. One end of this lever R
is pressed by a spring against the periphery of the cam wheel O, pro-
jections from the periphery of which give to the lever R two alternate
movements, the one lateral, the other vertical. By means of this double
movement the serrated plate which is fixed to the other end of the lever
near to the needle is raised vertically against the leather pushed
horizontally against the needle, and then falls and disappears to
immediately recommence the same movements at the completion of
cach stitch. The table U placed under the needle serves to sustain the
work, and in the interior of this table is placed the shuttle mechanism.
The form and dimensions of this table may vary according to the objects
to be sewn. It will be flat for sewing straps and other large articles in
leather, whilst it may narrow, elongated, and even round in the form
of a sleeve for sewing the legs of boots and other articles.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the mode
in which I carry the same into effect, I would have it understood that
what I claim is,―
Firstly. The general arrangement and combination of machinery for
5 sewing saddlery, straps, boots, shoes, and other articles, substantially as
herein shown and described.
Secondly. The employment of an exterior lever with double motion
in order to give to the scrrated feed plate or lever the necessary motions

page_text: to feed the leather or other material to the needle, substantially as
herein shown and described.
Thirdly. The combination of the arrangements of pulleys and bobbins
which carry and guide the thread in such manner as to avoid friction of
the thread, in manner substantially as hercin shown and described.
Fourthly. I claim the employment of rollers Bª carried by the lever B
and working within the guides B³ for the purpose of easing the motion
of such lever, in manner substantially as herein shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Firmin Mignot, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
FIRMIN MIGNOT. (L.S.)