IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SEWING MACHINES.”
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Oram, of Bury, in the County of Lan-
caster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
SEWING MACHINES.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Oram at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th April 1875.
I, HENRY ORAM, of Bury, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to that class of sewing machines used for
quilting, and other similar purposes, wherein a number of needles are
employed in connection with a similar number of hooks, loopers, or
shuttles, for sewing or stitching a series of zig-zag or waved lines simul-
taneously over the whole width of the fabric.
The objects of my Invention are,-

page_text: And, Secondly. To enable the machine to work in a diamond or lozenge
shaped pattern instead of a series of parallel, zig-zag, or waved lines.
.
In place of the feed bars hitherto employed I employ a roller covered
with cards (which take hold of the back of the cloth) in combination
with a movable table.
The compound motion to produce the zig-zag lines is imparted in the
following manner :-Both the card roller and the table are mounted in
a carriage moving upon rails or slides and having an intermittent alter-
nate transverse motion given to it by means of a stepped cam, say, first
for so many stitches to the right hand, and then for an equal number
of stitches to the left hand, and so on, and at the same time the card
roller itself has an intermittent revolving feed motion given to it con-
stantly in a forward direction. The effect of this compound movement
without the second part of my Invention would be to produce a series
of zig-zag or waved lines across the whole width of the fabric. But in
order to produce a diamond or lozenge shaped pattern I employ two
needle bars, the distance of one behind the other being half the length
of the diamond or lozenge to be produced. Each of these needle bars
carries one half of the needles employed, the needles on one bar being
placed opposite to the centre of the spaces between the needles on the
other bar, and the consequence is that when the zig-zag or waved
"feed" is given to the fabric the zig-zag or waved lines of stitching
instead of being parallel to each other, as they are when all the needles
are in one line, will form a lozenge or diamond shaped pattern, in
consequence of one set of needles being just half the length of the
lozenge in advance of the other set.
By varying the relation between the forward and transverse move-
ments of the card covered feed roller a variety of other patterns may be
produced.
It will of course be understood that the second needle bar must
be provided with a second set of shuttles, hooks, or loopers and
bobbins, thread guides, lifters, and other well known appliances required
to produce the desired stitch.

page_text: .
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Oram in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th October 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ORAM, of Bury, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, 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 successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Oram, Her special license that I,
the said Henry Oram, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Henry Oram, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF
SEWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Henry Oram, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,, should par-
ticularly 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 Henry Oram, 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 and accompanying Drawings :—
This Invention relates to that class of sewing machines used for
quilting, and other similar purposes, wherein a number of needles are
employed in connection with a similar number of hooks, loopers, or
shuttles, for sewing or stitching a series of zig-zag or waved lines simul-
taneously over the whole width of the fabric.

page_text: Firstly. To dispense with the "feed bars" hitherto employed in such
machines and to substitute an improved feed motion.
And, Secondly. To enable the machine to work in a diamond or
lozengo shaped pattern instead of a series of parallel, zig-zag, or waved
lines.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention I will now
proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which the same is to
be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, and in order that
the same may be clearly understood, I have annexed hereunto a Sheet
of Drawing illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with figures
and letters of reference corresponding with those in the following
explanation thercof:-
Fig. 1 in the annexed Drawings is a transverse section; Fig. 2, a'.
front clevation; and Fig. 3, a plan view of so much of a quilting
machine as is necessary to illustrate my Invention.
.
Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating the form of stitching produced by the
quilting machines hitherto in use, from which it will be evident that
diamond or lozenge pattern quilting could only be produced by passing
the fabric twice through the machine; and Fig. 5 is a similar diagram,
showing the form of stitching produced at one operation by my improved
machine.
In place of the feed bar hitherto employed I employ a roller a, a,
covered with card teeth (which takes hold of the back of the cloth) in
combination with a movable table b, b.
The compound motion to produce the zig-zag lines is imparted to the
fabric in the following manner. Both the card roller a, a, and the
table b, b, are mounted in a carriage c, c, moving upon rails or slides d, d,
and having an intermittent alternate transverse motion given to it by
means of an arm e, e, connected to a crank pin f,f, on a face plate g, g,
driven by a pair of oval wheels h, h, to give absolute uniformity to the
to-and-fro movement of the carriage; or the same may be produced by
a heart shaped cam, or otherwise, so as to give a regular motion to the
carriage c, c, with its roller a, a, and table b, b, say, first for so many
stitches to the right hand, and then for an equal number of stitches to
-

page_text: the left hand, and so on, and at the same time the card roller a, a, itself
has an intermittent revolving feed motion given to it constantly in a
forward direction by means of a lever i, i, (actuated by a cam / on the
driving shaft 1, 1, and a clip m, m, acting on the periphery of a friction
wheel n, n, keyed on the axis of the card roller a, a. I may here remark
that this compound feed motion is also applicable to other quilting
machines now in usc. The effect of this compound movement without
the second part of my Invention would be to produce a series of zig-zag
or waved lines across the whole width of the fabric, as shown at Fig. 4.
But in order to produce a diamond or lozenge shaped pattern, as seen at
Fig. 3 and 5, I employ two needle bars o, o', the distance of one behind
the other being. regulated in proportion to the length of the diamond or
lozenge to be produced. Each of these needle bars o, o¹, carries one
half of the needles employed, the needles on one bar being placed
opposite to the centre of the spaces between the needles on the other
bar, and the consequence is that when zig-zag or waved "feed" is given
to the fabric the zig-zag or waved lines of stitching instead of being
parallel to cach other, as they are when all the needles are in one line
(see Fig. 4), will meet at the points and form a lozenge or diamond
shaped pattern (see Fig. 5), in consequence of one set of needles being
in advance of the other set.
By varying the relation between the forward and transverse move-
ments of the card covered feed roller a, a, a variety of other patterns
may be produced.
It will of course be understood that the second needle bar must be
provided with a second set of shuttles, hooks, or loopers and bobbins,
thread guides, lifters, and other well known appliances required to
produce the desired stitch.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that
I claim as my Invention,―
First. The use in such machines of a card roller in combination with
a movable table for giving the zig-zag feed.
And, Secondly. The application thereto of two or more needle bars
(in place of one only), the same being constructed and arranged sub-

page_text: stantially in the manner and for the purposes Heren-Deione particulary
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Oram, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
HENRY ORAM. (L.S.)