IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Tillie, of the City of Londonderry, Manu-
facturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 11th April 1860, and dated the 17th October 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Tillie at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
October 1859.
I, WILLIAM TILLIE, of the City of Londonderry, Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES," to be as follows:-
The first part of my Invention is intended to be applied to a number of
sewing machines driven by hand, steam, or other power, and has for object the
stopping of any of the machines upon a thread breaking either accidentally, or
on the work any of the machines have to do being completed. For this
purpose, instead of leading the thread from the bobbin direct to the needle, I
carry the thread back and through the eye of a stud or steeple and then
forward over the top of the bobbin and through the eye of a trumpet, which
hangs loose on a vertical wire, and which acts on the end of the upper or
horizontal lever while the thread is in tension, and the band by which the
machine is driven is ou the fast pulley, and then forward to the eye of the
needle. The upper lever is connected with another lever, the lower end of
which acts upon a carriage, and according to the position of the lever drives
the carriage to or fro. The carriage has projecting therefrom two pius or studs,
Price 8d.1

page_text: between which the belt or band for driving each machine passes, and by
which the belt or band is shifted to or from a fast or loose pulley on the main
shaft of the machine. As long as the thread remains unbroken the belt
remains on the fast pulley, but upon the breaking of the thread the tail of the
upper lever flies up and through the other lever, on which it acts, causes the
pin carriage to slide, whereby the belt is shifted from the fast on to the loose
pulley, and the machinery ceases to work without affecting any other
machines driven from the same prime mover.
The second part of the Invention consists in the construction and employ-
ment of a clamping guide, which directs the cloth to the needle, and which is
capable of adjustment in one direction in order that the stitching may take
place at the desired distance from the edge, and in another direction according
to the thickness of the fabric. The clamping guide consists ofa metal plate let
into a table hinged to or forming part of the table which carries the machine,
and of another metal which is connected by a screw to the first plate. The
top plate is formed at one end with a broad head, the under side of which is
made couical, and provided at back with a straight edge or flange, from the
outer ends of which two lugs descend; these lugs enter slots formed on each
side of the lower plate, and the length of these slots determines the travel
to and fro of the top plate. A slot is formed in the body and near the back
part of the plate, through which a screw formed with a shoulder passes and
enters a female thread in the lower plate. In front of the slot there is a
socket tapped with a female screw, through which a screw can be made to
bear upon the surface of the lower plate. By shifting the top plate backwards
or forwards the distance of the stitch from the edge can be regulated, and by
the screws the distance of the top from the bottom plate can be adjusted to
suit the thickness of cloth to pass through them to the needle. Sometimes I
form the head of the upper plate hollow, and fit a conical or other roller
therein to bear on the cloth.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed 30
by the said William Tillie in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
TILLIE, of the City of Londonderry, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 35
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our

page_text: Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Tillie, Her special licence that I, the said William
Tillie, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Tillie, 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," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Tillie, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Tillie, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
I
The first part of my Invention is intended to be applied to a number of
sewing machines driven by hand, steam, or other power, and has for object
the stopping of any of the machines upon a thread breaking accidentally
or on the work any of the machines have to do being completed. For this
purpose, instead of leading the thread from the bobbin direct to the needle,
carry the thread back, and though the eye of a stud or steeple, and then
forward over the top of the bobbin, and though the eye of a trumpet, which
hangs loose on a vertical wire, and which acts on the end of the upper or
horizontal lever, while the thread is in tension, and the band by which the
machine is driven is on the fast pulley, and then forward to the eye of the
needle. The upper lever is connected with another lever, the lower end of
which acts upon a carriage, and according to the position of the lever drives
the carriage to or fro. The carriage has projecting therefrom two pins or
studs, between which the belt or band for driving each machine passes, and by
which the belt or band is shifted to or from a fast or loose pulley on the main
shaft of the machine. As long as the thread remains unbroken, the belt
remains on the fast pulley, but upon the breaking of the thread the tail of
the upper lever flies up and through the other lever on which it acts, causes

page_text: the pin carriage to slide, whereby the belt is shifted from the fast on to the
loose pulley, and the machine ceases to work without affecting any other
machines driven from the same prime mover.
The second part of the Invention consists in the construction and employ-
ment of a clamping guide, which directs the cloth to the needle, and which is
capable of adjustment in one direction in order that the stitching may take
place at the desired distance from the edge, and in another direction
according to the thickness of the fabric. The clamping guide consists of a
metal plate let into a table hinged to or forming part of the table which carries
the machine, and of another metal which is connected by a screw to the first
plate. The top plate is formed at one end with a broad head, the under side
of which is made conical, and provided at back with a straight edge or flange,
from the outer ends of which two lugs descend; these lugs enter slots formed
on each side of the lower plate, and the length of these slots determines the
travel to and fro of the top plate. A slot is formed in the body and near the
back part of the plate, through which a screw formed with a shoulder passes,
and enters a female thread in the lower plate. In the front of the slot there
is a socket tapped with a female screw, through which a screw can be made
to bear upon the surface of the lower plate. By shifting the top plate back-
wards or forwards, the distance of the stitch from the edge can be regulated,
and by the screws the distance of the top from the bottom plate can be adjusted
to suit the thickness of cloth to pass through them to the needle. Some-
times I form the head of the upper plate hollow, and fit a conical or other
roller therein to bear on the cloth.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation of a sewing
machine with my improvements applied according to the first part of my Inven-
tion. ais the frame of the machine which supports all the main working parts;
is a bobbin mounted on a spindle which is acted on by a spring c, the
pressure of which is maintained by a set screw d, in order to regulate the
degree of tension required to be exerted on the thread; e is a stud or steeple
projecting from the frame, and formed at its cuter extremity with an eye; fis
a bent wire passing through a boss on the steeple e, and held by a set screw.
The wire is formed with a flange or projection, upon which a trumpet g
rests. The thread is carried back through the eye in the steeple e, then
forward through an eye on the trumpet g, it then passes over a lever, to be
hereafter particularly referred to, through an eye on a trumpet, supported
on a wire which is fitted to the frame, and thence the thread passes through
an eye in the needle carrier to the needle i. Figure 2 is a side elevation, and
Figure 3 a plan of the arrangement of apparatus I adopt for throwing the

page_text: driving strap from the fast on to the loose pulley, k is a bed screwed to the
frame of the machine; this bed is formed with a groove k¹,in which a carriage
k is free to slide to and fro; l, l, are studs projecting from the carriage, and
between which the driving strap passes; m is a pin placed between the studs
,, round which pin an india-rubber band passes to a frame n,carrying a series
of pins to allow of the tension of the band being regulated. Instead of this
band a helical spring may be substituted. A slot is made near the inner end
of the carriage 11, and a pin is fixed across the slot; o is a lever working
about the stud p on the upright q. The short arm or lower end of the lever
is slotted, and fits over the pin fixed over the slot in the carriage 11; the long
arm or upper end of the lever o hooks on to a pin on the short arm of a
second lever working about the points on the upright q, and it is over the
long arm of this lever that the thread passes after leaving the trumpet g.
Supposing the machine to be at work, driven by a strap passing round the
fast pulley on the shaft t, and the thread in tension, as shown in the Drawing,
with the end of the long arm of the lever under the thread, and that the
thread breaks, the long arm of the lever r is released, and flying up offers no
opposing force to the spring.or tension of the india-rubber band; the band
draws the carriage back, and with it the studs 4, 1, and thereby shifts the strap
from the fast to the loose pulley, when the machine stops working; the posi-
tions of the levers o and when the thread breaks are indicated by the dotted
lines. Upon carrying the thread from the bobbin to the needle through the
course before described, the machine will be again ready to work.
The manner in which I carry the second part of my Invention into effect is
illustrated at Figure 4, which is a plan, and Figure 5, a side elevation of the
clamping guide complete. a is a metal plate which is inserted or let into a
table hinged to or forming part of the table which supports the machine; this
metal plate a is shown in plan detached at Figure 6. cis another metal plate,"
shown detached at Figure 7, which fits on the plate a, as shown at Figure 5 ;
d, d, are lugs formed on the broad heade of the plate c, which lugs take into
slots or apertures f,f, formed in the plate a. The underside of the heade of
the plate c is made conical, or is slightly tapered from its outer end inwards,
as shown at Figure 5. g is a slot formed in the top plate c, through which a
screw h passes to a female thread formed in the plate a; i is another screw
passing through a collar formed on the platec to the under plate a. The fabric
to be sewu is placed between the plate a and plate c, the distance the stitch is
to be from the edge being adjusted by sliding the top plate cin the holes or slots
in the bottom plate, and maintaining that distance by screwing downthe screw h;
the other screw i is then screwed down sufficiently for the broad head e of the

page_text: plate c to suit the thickness of material passing beneath it. Figure 8 shows in
sectional elevation, and Figure 9 in transverse section through the line x, y, of
the former Figure, the broad head of the top plate before described, and marked
c, enlarged and hollowed out to contain a roller, which is made, by preference,
conical. The fabric is this instance passes beneath the conical roller, and
is guided and has the stitch regulated in a manner similar to that before
described.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my improve-
ments in sewing machines,
First, constructing sewing machines in such manner that the thread may be
so made to act upon the working gear, that on the breaking of the thread the
machine shall be thrown out of gear and its motion thereby stopped.
Second, the particular arrangement of machinery, herein-before described
and illustrated at Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the accompanying Drawings, for
throwing the machine out of gear on the breaking of the thread.
And third, the construction of clamping guides fordirectingthefabric tothe
needle in such manner that the distance of the stitching from the edge may
be adjusted in one direction, and the thickness of the fabric in the other, as
herein-before described and illustrated at Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Tillie, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of April, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty.
JOHN RAINGER, witness.
DAVID DARLING, witness.
WM TILLIE. (L.S.)