IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Sussex Place Lough-
borough Road, Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES." -A communication.
Sealed the 9th June 1857, and dated the 16th January 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th January 1857.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Sussex Place, Loughborough Road,
Brixton, in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:---
This Invention has for its object improvements in sewing machines, and
consists in a peculiar combination and construction of parts of sewing
machines. For these purposes a feeding bar is used, which slides in dovetail
or slotted guides. This feeding bar is moved by a lever, connected thereto by
a swivel or joint, so as at all times to move the feed bar in a plane with the
material which is being sewed. The feed bar is moved back the distance
required for the length of a stitch while the needle is in the material, and when
the needle is withdrawn the feeding bar is moved forward, carrying the
material with it. An arrangement of pins is used, through which the needle
thread is laced, for the purpose of giving uniformity of tension without affecting

page_text: the twist of the thread.
Heretofore, in constructing some sewing machines,
the needle bars have been made to vibrate in the arc of a circle: now, part of
this Invention consists in using a balanced needle bar for sewing machines (when
constructed in the form of the segment of a circle), suitable for actuating
the shuttle driver by one end and for carrying the needle by the other. the
complete bar forming the arc of a circle, of which the point of suspension is the
centre. A slotted shuttle driver is used, which is actuated directly by the needle
bar, and in such manner as to cause the shuttle to pass through the loop of the
needle thread in its proper time, gradually decreasing its speed, and stopping
at or about the same time with the needle, the shuttle being moved to and fro
by a single pin. A graduated index is used, which is divided and numbered,
whereby the operator may at any time observe the number of stitches to the
inch without measuring. The driving wheel and the needle arm are arranged
to produce the result whichever way the wheel is rotated. The needle, bar is
made with an opening for containing such parts of the mechanism as may be
desired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Sussex Place, Loughborough Road, Brixton, in the
County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special licence that I, the said
George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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," (a communication,) upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of

page_text: their hands and scals, 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 George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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, that is to say:
The Invention consists in improvements in sewing machines, or machinery
The following is a description, reference being had to the annexed
Drawings, making part of this Specification.
for sewing.
Figure represents a view in perspective; Figure 2 is a side elevation,
showing the mechanism beneath the plate or table; Figure 3 is a side view of
the shuttle race, with a fragment of the plate in section, with the shuttle driver
attached; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the shuttle driver reversed to
exhibit its interior; Figures 5, 6, 7 are views of the shuttle. showing its
exterior and interior; Figure 8 is a view in perspective of the feed mechanism
detached, for the purpose of showing its construction more clearly; Figure 9
is a detached view of the feed mechanism, showing the loop guide and needle
thread in position while the needle is at its highest point; Figure 10 is a
detached view of the sliding feed bar.
The Invention consists, first, in a rigid feed bar, without either vertical or
lateral motion, and sliding back and forth in ways or guides in a horizontal
plane. Also in the arrangement of a series of pins through which the needle
thread is laced, in order to give the required tension to correspond with the
shuttle thread without affecting its twist. Also in constructing the needle bar
for sewing machines in the form of a segment of a circle, operating the shuttle
driver by one end direct and carrying the needle by the other end, said bar
forming the arc of a circle, of which the point of suspension is the centre.
Also in the construction of a slotted shuttle driver, so arranged and operated,
that while the needle is being withdrawn from the cloth the shuttle incased in
the bowl of the driver will have passed through the loop of the needle thread
about the time the eye of the needle appears above the surface of the plate or
table, still continuing its motion forward to complete the stitch formed by the
interlacing of the two threads. Also in carrying the shuttle back and forth by
means of a single pin, so that the thread may pass over both the point and
heel of the shuttle without obstruction, the spring to which the pin is secured
and by which it is operated serving also to hold the shuttle against which it

page_text: bears to the face of the race, so that the needle thread may not pass beneath
it, causing a missing of stitches. Like letters indicate similar parts in all the
Figures.
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use the improved sewing
machine, I will proceed to describe the same in detail.
A in the annexed Drawings represents a table or plate to which the
mechanism is secured, and upon which the material to be sewed is placed. To
the rear side of this plate (A) is firmly secured a circular bar B, its front
end extending over and nearly to the surface of the plate. To the front
end of this bar B is arranged the adjustable holder D, the bar B having
guides c formed on its surface corresponding to the sides c of the holder D;
the holder D may be raised and lowered and retained in position to suit the
different thicknesses of material placed beneath the step S on its lower
end by means of a thumb nut f. or in any other convenient manner.
To the adjustable holder D is pivoted a lever E, the lower end of which
extends through a suitable opening formed in the sliding feed bar g, or is
pivoted thereto, by which lever the sliding feed bar g is operated to move the
material being sewed along. That part of the sliding feed bar which
constantly rests upon the material and moves it forward is curved or inclined
towards the needle, so that when it is moved backwards or from the needle.
it will slide smoothly over the surface of the material, and when moved
forwards, or towards the needle, the edge i presents sufficient resistance to move
the material along the distance required for the length of the stitch, which
distance is regulated by the set screw d, passing through the lever E between
its pivot and lower end. The lever E above its pivot is formed into an inclined
plane u, by which incline the lower end is thrown by the cam m in the upward
motion of the needle bar to its extreme forward position, as shown in Figure 1,
previous to or at the same time the stitch just taken is being completed.
This lever E is operated alternately by the cam m and incline plane n
formed on the needle bar F. In the downward stroke of the needle bar, and
while the needle is through the material, the incline n strikes against the set
screw d, throwing the lower end of the lever E and carrying therewith the feed
bar back the distance required for the length of the stitch. and in the
upward motion of the needle bar the cam m operates against the incline u on
the lever E, throwing its lower end, by which the sliding feed bar g is moved
to its extreme forward position towards the needle, the feed bar g carrying the
material forward for the succeeding stitch.
In the annexed Drawings the material for the succeeding stitch is fed before
the last preceding stitch is complete, and while the two threads are slack, but

page_text: the feeding of the material may take place at the same time the previous stitch
is being finished. Upon the needle bar is arranged a series of pins r for the
purpose of giving to the needle thread sufficient and uniform tension to
correspond with the shuttle thread without affecting its twist. The spool G
from which the needle receives its supply of thread is placed in any convenient
position upon the needle bar F, and simply held sufficient to prevent paying off
its thread faster than required. The thread is then passed through guide
loops t and laced through any desired number of the pins r to give the proper
tension, thence through an eye v near the end of the needle bar, and thence
through the eye of the needle, when it is in readiness for operation. The
needle bar F is also a segment of a circle, and is pivoted at its centre a. so
as to be balanced, or nearly so, and vibrates in the arc of its circle. To the
front end of the bar F is secured the needle, by means of a loop and nut, or in
any other convenient manner, while to the lower end of this bar and beneath
the plate is fitted a pin o to the slot P in the shuttle driver M, by which said
shuttle driver is operated in harmony with the other mechanism. The required
range of motion may be given to the needle bar by means of a connecting rod [
and balance wheel W, as in the present instance, or in any other convenient
manner. From the lower side of the plate A extends the shuttle race J, to the
lower end of which is secured the slotted shuttle driver M. This shuttle driver
is operated by means of the pin o in the lower end of the needle bar F working
in the slot P. When the shuttle driver is at its extreme backward position, as
seen in Figure 3, the needle is through the material, and the pin o has passed
from the straight part of the slot P, and entered the curve near the lower end of
the driver. When the needle has risen sufficient to form a loop for the point
of the shuttle to enter, the shuttle driver has moved forward so as to bring the
point of the shuttle between the needle and its thread, and then while the
needle is rising to the surface of the plate, or thereabouts, the shuttle driver,
by means of the pin o passing from the curved to the straight part of the slot
P, carries the shuttle through the loop of the needle thread, when its speed
commences and continues to decrease until it stops simultaneously with the
needle, by which means the stitch is drawn into the body of the material
by the tightening of the two threads at the same time. A straight slot may be
used, but a curved one is found preferable, because a less motion of the shuttle
driver required to pass the shuttle through the loop of the needle thread in
its proper time.
On the bowl of the shuttle driver is placed a spring (r.) to which spring is
secured a pin 1. for the purpose of holding in position and carrying back and
forth the shuttle. This pin passes through an eye or opening into the bowl
l

page_text: of the driver, as shown in Figure 4. and enters a corresponding eye formed in
and near the point of the shuttle.
To the lever E is
To withdraw the pin from the eye b of the shuttle to permit the free passage
of the needle thread over the shuttle, a cam p projects downwards from the
plate A, which cam b catches heneath the curved end of the spring 2, raising
it sufficient to permit the needle thread to pass beneath the end of this pin 1,
when the spring, by the continued forward motion of the driver, passes off the
the cam p, allowing the pin to re-enter the eye b in the shuttle, in order to
hold it in position within the bowl of the driver in its backward as well as
forward motion. The spring passes beneath the camp in its backward
motion instead of over it. By this arrangement it will be seen that the shuttle
is carried back and forth by a single pin, leaving both the point and heel free
for the passage of the needle thread without obstruction.
pivoted a loop guide L; on the lower end of this guide L
curved springs k, between which springs the needle thread
pletion of the stitch is drawn, as seen in red lines, Figure 9.
the guide lever L, to throw the springs forward to receive the thread between
them, is operated by means of the cam m on the needle bar F, and to return it
in position, so that the springs shall pass from beneath the needle, a spring z
is arranged on its inner side, and bearing against the holder D, throwing off
the lower end of the guide bar L, to which the springs are attached, carrying
between said springs the loose thread formed by the descent of the needle. By
this arrangement the loose loop of the needle thread is always guided in one
direction by the thread being drawn between the springs during the time the
siitch is being completed and drawn from between the springs by the downward
motion of the needle in the succeeding stitch.
What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Paient, is,
are secured two
during the com-
The upper end of
First, the construction of a feed bar g, sliding in a dovetail or slotted guide,
and moved by a lever E, connected with the feed bar g by a swivel joint, or
its equivalent, so as always to move the feed bar g in a plane with the material
being sewed, the feed bar g being moved back the distance required for the
length of the stitch while the needle is in the material, and when the needle is
withdrawn is moved forward carrying the material therewith.
Second, the arrangement of a series of pins, through which the needle thread
is laced, for the purpose of giving an uniforinity of tension without affecting its
twist, or their equivalent.
Third, I am aware that needle bars have been made to vibrate in the arc of
a circle, which I do not claim; but I do claim a balanced needle bar for
sewing machines when constructed in the form of a segment of a circle

page_text: operating the shuttle driver by one end direct and carrying the needle by the
other end, when the whole of said bar forms the arc of a circle, of which the
point of suspension is the centre, as described.
Fourth, a slotted shuttle driver, the same being operated direct from the
needle bar, and so arranged that the shuttle may pass through the loop of the
needle thread in its proper time, gradually decreasing its speed, and stopping
at or about the same time with the needle, as described, or its equivalent.
Fifth, I do not claim carrying the shuttle back and forth by two pins, one
at the heel and one at the point, independent of a shuttle carrier, for this has
been done; but I do claim carrying the shuttle back and forth by a single pin,
as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
W. S. HARRISON,
New Court, St. Swithin's Lane,
London.
GEO. T. BOUSFIELD. (L.S.)