IMPROVEMENTS MACHINES SEW
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Westmoreland and William Westmoreland,
both of Newdegate Street, in the Town and County of the Town of Not-
tingham, Mechanists. for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
MACHINES"
IN SEWING
Sealed the 29th August 1860, and dated the 11th April 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Westmoreland and
William Westinoreland at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 11th April 1860.
We, EDWIN WESTMORELAND and WILLIAM WESTMORELAND, both of Newde-
gate Street, in the Town and County of the Town of Nottingham, Mechanists,
"IMPROVEMENTS IN
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
Our present Invention of improvements in sewing machines embraces both
the double lock knot stitch and the double traverse motion; the stitches are
formed by the combined action of a needle and shuttle, which shuttle con-
stantly revolves in a circular groove: by reversing the shuttle motion it will
make the double lock stitch or a peculiar fast knot stitch. This device has
considerable advantage over the ordinary method of working the shuttle, for by
its constantly revolving it works with great speed, precision, and smoothness,
and in a much superior manner to the method of pushing the shuttle backward
and forward, and consists in the following arrangements of parts:-
Firstly, a standard which supports an arm in which slides a needle rod
carrying a needle, the needle rod being raised and depressed by a lever moved

page_text: by a grooved cam on a short horizontal shaft; the shaft has a crank which
gives motion to a rack moving a pinion on a short vertical shaft, which carries
two arms, one being for the purpose of driving a shuttle, the shuttle being of a
form capable of running in a shuttle race forming the arc of a circle, the outer
arm terminates in an arched cam which depresses, traverses, and raises a small
feed plate, the top of the feed plate being underneath the material to be sewn.
which is held down by a presser plate and spring.
Secondly, instead of using a grooved cam for moving the needle lever we
use a small slide rod, one end terminating in a short arm carrying a pin, which
moves in a slot in the end of the needle lever opposite the needle. The other
end of the short arm is connected to a link moved by a crank on a short shaft.
on which is a cam which gives movement to a lever which slides to the right
and left, and backwards and forwards, the end of the lever terminating in a
feed plate, as before described. There is also a presser and spring, and the
shuttle motion is similar to that before described.
The third part of our Invention consists of a standard supporting an arm
carrying a needle lever and needle slide, moved as last described. The crank
being placed at the lower end of a short vertical shaft lying in bearings, the
lower one being screwed to the standard and the upper one forming the centre
of the shuttle race. Above the lower bearing is a pulley, round which a cord
or belt is passed, also passing round two other pulleys at the back of the
machine or to any prime mover, to communicate motion to the machine.
Above the pulley on the vertical shaft is a cam, which revolves with the shaft
and moves a presser plate, having the same movement as that first described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edwin Westmoreland and William Westmoreland in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 11th October 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDWIN
WESTMORELAND and WILLIAM WESTMORELAND, both of Newdegate Street,
in the Town and County of the Town of Nottingham, Mechanists, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign.
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Edwin Westmoreland and William Westmoreland, Her special licence that

page_text: we, the said Edwin Westmoreland and William Westmoreland, our executors,
administrators and assigns. or such others as we, the said Edwin Westmoreland
and William Westmoreland, our 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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we. the said Edwin Westmoreland and William Westmoreland. our execu-
tors or administrators. by an instrument in writing under our or their hands
and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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 we. the said Edwin Westmoreland and William
Westmoreland. 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 thereof, reference being had to
the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say:-
Our Invention of improvements in sewing machines embraces both the
double lock knot stitch and the double traverse motion: the stitches are
formed by the combined action of a needle and shuttle. which shuttle con-
stantly revolves in a circular groove. By reversing the shuttle motion it will
make the double lock stitch or a peculiar fast knot stitch. This device has
considerable advantage over the ordinary method of working the shuttle, for
the shuttle, by constantly revolving as we describe. works with great speed,
precision, and smoothness, and in a much superior manner to the ordinary
method of pushing the shuttle backward and forward; and our improved
machinery consists of the following arrangement of parts:--
Firstly, we employ a standard supporting an arm in which slides a needle
rod carrying a needle. the needle rod being raised and depressed by a lever
noved by a grooved cam on a short horizontal shaft; this shaft has a crank
which gives motion to a rack moving a pinion on a short vertical shaft which
carries two arms, one arm being for the purpose of driving a shuttle, which
shuttle is of a form capable of running in a shuttle race forming the arc of a
circle; the outer of the two arms terminates in an arched cam, which depresses,
raverses, and raises a small feed plate, the top of this feed plate is under

page_text: .
neath the material to be sewn, which is held down by a presser plate and
spring.
Secondly, instead of using a grooved cam for moving the needle lever we use
a small slide rod, one end terminating in a short arm carrying a pin, which
moves in a slot in the end of the needle lever opposite the needle. The other
end of the short arm is connected to a link moved by a crank on a short shaft,
on which is a cam which gives movement to a lever which slides to the right
and left, and backward and forward, the end of the lever terminating in a feed
plate, as before described. There is also a presser and spring, and the shuttle
motion is similar to that before described.
The third part of our Invention consists of an arrangement in which a
standard supports an arm carrying a needle lever and needle slide, moved as
last described, the crank being placed at the lower end of a short vertical shaft
lying in bearings, whereof the lower bearing is screwed to the standard, and
the upper one forms the centre of the shuttle race. Above the lower bearing.
is a pulley, round which a cord or belt is passed, also passing round two other
pullies at the back of the machine, or driven by any prime mover for commu-
nicating motion to the machine. Above the pulley on the vertical shaft is a
cam, which revolves with the shaft and moves a presser plate, having the same
movement as that first described.
We now proceed to explain our Invention more particularly, and the mode
of carrying the same into effect with reference to the accompanying Drawings.
Sheet 1, Figure 1 is a side view of a sewing machine formed by a combi-
nation of some of the parts first herein-before described, together with some of
the parts also secondly herein-before described; the bed plate may be sup-
ported by four feet, or it may form part of a table: the fly-wheel is removed
and a portion of the bed plate and casing R are also removed, in order to
shew certain other parts more fully. Figure 2 is a plan of a portion of the
under side of the bed plate, shewing the sliding plate to which the traversing
presser plate lever is attached; Figure 3 is a plan of the same machine, with
the needle bar standard or bracket taken away, the dotted lines shewing
various parts herein-after mentioned; Figure 4 is a side view of the double
cam, which causes the presser plate to traverse two ways.
Sheet 2, Figure 5 is a side view of another modification of parts combined
to form a second machine, supported by four feet and forming a complete
machine in itself, or the bed plate may form a part of the top of a table;
Figure 6 is a side view of the presser plate O, sliding in the needle bracket
and held down by a spring O'; Figure 7 is an end view of the same, shewing
its position relatively to the needle slide; Figure 8 is a view of the cam G

page_text: which gives motion to the needle lever, the circumference being delineated as
a flat surface; Figure 9 is a plan of the machine with a needle bracket broken
away, the dotted lines shewing the relative position of the various parts;
Figure 10 is an under side view of the shuttle driver.
Sheet 3, Figure 11, is a side view of another arrangement of parts forming
a third machine complete in itself, with part of the stand broken away, to
shew more fully the several parts under the bed plate. Figure 12 is a top
view of the bracket G and shuttle race; Figure 13 is a top view of two cams,
namely, the cam A, which gives motion to the traversing foot lever, as shewn
at Figure 11, working above the bed plate, and the cam B, which gives
anotion to the needle slide lever; Figure 14 is a top view of the cam which
we use to traverse the lever under the bed plate, used instead of the lever
above the bed plate moved by the cam A2; Figure 15 is the cam we use to
traverse the lever under the bed plate, shewn at Figure 5. When we use
traversing levers working under the bed plate, we also use a presser plate to
cach, held down on them by a spring, as shewn in the end view, Figure 7;
Figure 16 is a view of one kind of shuttle which we use, the side next the
needle is shewn in this Figure. There is a spring at the bottom of the case
which presses against the thread on the bobbin, and on one side of the case
on the inside there is placed a wire round which the thread is passed before
it is put through the holes in the outer side of the case, the tension of the
thread being obtained by the number of holes it is passed through. Figure 17
is a section of the same, shewing the bobbin and the way it is held in the case
by the small hinged bit; Figure 18 is a similar shuttle to the last, except that
the top side instead of having holes has a slot. the inner edge of which is
protected by a roller over which the thread runs; thus, if the thread were a
stiff one, it would be less liable to be cut when the greatest strain or pressure
is put on it; instead of a row of holes and a wire on the other side there is a
roller of the same length as the bobbin for the thread to be passed round;
Figure 20 is a double rack, which we sometimes use instead of the single one,
shewn at Figure 3. The whole of the several corresponding parts being
lettered alike, the following description will apply to each.
The whole of the Figures are drawn the full size. A is the bed plate,
which may form part of a table top supported on standards carrying a driving
wheel and treadle, or as shewn complete, having an arm A¹ attached to it;
B is a hollow bracket or arm securely attached to the bed plate; C is the
needle slide, free to rise and fall in the end of the bracket B, as moved by the
lever F, in the lower end of which is a pin working in a groove in the side of
the cam G, which places the needle at its lowest point, then slightly raises it

page_text: to the position shewn, by which means the thread which it carries through the
cloth to be sewn will be opened in the form of a loop from the face of the
needle, and allow of the shuttle with its thread being driven through, the
needle remaining stationary until the shuttle has passed through the loop, when
the cam raises it to the highest point. Thus the greatest strain is put upon
both the needle thread and the shuttle thread at the same time. The cam G
has a groove cut in its circumference. for the purpose of passing a band or
cord round it for communicating motion from any prime mover when the
machine is not driven by hand. The slackness of the needle thread, which is
produced by the depression of the needle, and by the driving of the shuttle
through the loop. is. taken up in the following manner: The bobbin of thread
to supply the needle is placed upon a spindle Crevolving on a pin in a bracket
screwed to the hollow arm or bracket B. or the pin is screwed to the arm B,
as seen in Figures 5 and 11, the bobbin is held fast on the spindle by the
small wedge-shaped piece at the lower end entering into the hole of the bobbin
which revolves with the spindle. There is a pulley at the lower end of the
spindle for a spring to lie in, which prevents the thread from being jerked off
the bobbin the thread from the bobbin is passed round the short spindle
carrying the short arm C. and through the hole in the arm, then round the
spindle again to the stud C6, up to and through the piece C. down through C".
and through the hole in the lower end of the needle slide and through the
needle eye. The round upper portion of the lifter or carrier C² passes through
a hole in a stud at the upper end of the needle slide, and the forked end
embraces a stud C passing through a slot in the needle slide. and screwed in
the needle lever: C³ is a short lever screwed to the plate holding the needle
slide in the arm B, and held to the forked carrier (by a spring, as shewn.
The carrier ( is shewn in the position it occupies just before the shuttle
commences to draw down the needle thread as it passes through the loop. the
stud raising the carrier up again as the slide rises before entering the cloth
for another stitch, the cloth being traversed the length of a stitch by the
lever D secured to an axle working in bearings D2 firmly secured to a sliding
plate M on a plate M' screwed to the under side of the bed plate A. shewn
more fully at Figure 2. K' is a hole through which a lever K' works, which
lever is secured on the axle in the bearings D2; F' is a hole through which a
lever F moved by the cam G works. The lever K and traversing lever D
are moved the distance of a stitch back by the cam K. Figure 4. the length of
stitch being regulated by the nut and lock nut D' on the end of the axle in
the bearings D2, and the traverse is brought forward again by the spring D³.
When the fabric is traversed, as just described, the handle D will lie as shewn

page_text: parallel to the lever D. and when it is required to traverse the fabric from left
to right, the handle being placed at right angles to the position shewn, will
allow the slide M io which the bearings D are attached to move to the left,
being forced by the spring. thereby bringing the lever 1 close on to the cam I,
Figure 4. the lever K' being then clear of the cam K. the length of traverse
being governed by the position of the stop at the end of the rod set by the nut
and lock nut I'. The traversing lever D is held firmly on the fabric by the
spring D: the arm A', which, in Figure is shewn in section. has a circular
recess cast in it, which is turned up true to form the shuttle race E. shewn in
plan at Figure 9. Through the boss in the centre of the race is passed the
stem of the shuttle driver E, to which is screwed a small cog wheel E', which
gears into a rack E which moves to the right and left, and causes the shuttle
to have a io-and-fro movement in the shuttle race. The rack E is attached
by a double joint to the lever L. one end of which is bent and slotted, in which
slot slides the pin of a crank L' screwed to the inner end of a shaft H which
carries the cams G. I. K: the shaft. H works in a long pipe attached to a
projection cast on the bed plate A. On the outer end of the shaft is keyed a
fly-wheel, grooved on its circumference. so that the shaft can be worked by
hand or power by means of a cord passed round the fly-wheel, or by the cam G,
as most convenient. When we prefer to drive the shuttle quite round the
race, we use the double rack, shewn on Sheet 3. Figure 20, the short end of
which carries a pin which slides against a guide plate E: the pin as it arrives
at either end is pushed to the other side of the plate by one or other of the
springs E.
The second combination of parts forming another machine, as shewn at
Figure 5, is similar to the last described as regards the work it produces.
except that it only traverses from front to back, and the shuttle driver revolves
quite round, being driven by a small wheel on the end of an horizontal shaft H
which also carries a cam moving the needle lever F, and instead of the lever D
being above the platform it is placed underneath, and has the requisite move-
ment given it by the cam I. Figure 15; the lever works upon a double joint
attached to the under side of the bed plate near the cam G, and the fabric is
pressed on it by a presser plate O held down by a spring O'. The length of
traverse of this lever is regulated by the nut and lock nuts P working through
the side of the arm A, seen in plan at Figure 9. Q is a small lever, which
being turned upwards will raise the pressed plate O, in order that the material
to be stitched may be placed under it. The shuttle race in each machine is
covered by a thin plate held fast when in its place by a bolt E*, Figure 9.
Our third combination of parts, representing a complete machine, is shewn

page_text: at Figure 11, having a portion of the casting broken away to exhibit the parts
more fully. This arrangement is applicable where it is desired to have a large
flat surface or table on which to lay the material to be stitched. A represents
the top of the table, through which a hole is pierced to receive the top of the
bracket G, the upper part of which forms the shuttle race and top bearing of
a short vertical shaft: the bracket has also a lower bearing, above which is
placed two cams A, B, the latter being the cam which communicates motion
to the needle levers F. a pin in a short bar working in the slot of the cam, the
other end of the bar has a double joint secured to one end of a link having
the other end connected to the lever F. The lever D in this instance is bent
round from above the bed plate to underneath it. where it is connected to an
axle passing through the pipe G' of the bracket G, the arm D being continued
past the pipe, and terminating on the cam A. which causes the lever to
traverse as required, the length being regulated by the pin and lock nut I', as
seen at Figure 12 at the end of the axle of the arm D.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim as our
improvements in sewing machines is,---
Firstly, the double traverse to move the fabric two ways to be stitched
without stopping the machine, as herein-before described.
And, secondly, the three several machines constructed and combined in the
manner herein-before described, and exemplified in the accompanying Drawings,
each in the arrangement and combination of parts of which the same consist.
or any similar arrangement or combination thereof which shall or may embrace
the peculiar character of our Invention.
In witness whereof, we, the said Edwin Westmoreland and William
Westmoreland, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Ninth
day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty.
WILLIAM WESTMORELAND. (t..s.)
Witness,
GEO. JON. ROBINSON, Patent Agent.
Nottingham.