IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1860

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in
the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of
Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SEWING MACHINES."-A communication from abroad by The Grover
and Baker Sewing Machine Company, of New York, in the United
States of America.
ealed the 25th January 1861, and dated the 24th November 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson, at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th November 1860.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," a communication from abroad by The Grover and
Baker Sewing Machine Company, of New York, in the United States of
America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates more particularly to various improvements in that
class of sewing machines wherein a reciprocating shuttle works in com-
bination with an eye-pointed needle, although many of the improvements are
equally applicable to other kinds of sewing machines.

page_text: These improvements consist, firstly, in the employment of a reciprocating
retaining hook moving with and in the direction of the shuttle or nearly so,
for the purpose of entering and taking the loop of the needle thread and
retaining it until the pointed end of the shuttle has entered therein, when, as
the shuttle continues to enter the loop of the needle thread, the loop passes
out therefrom.
Secondly, in imparting a reciprocating motion to the shuttle and retaining
hook and needle lever by. means of a crank pin, which plays in a slot in the
sbank or stock of the hook and shuttle driver, and also works in a slot made
in the extended portion of the lever beneath the worktable, so that one
crank pin serves to actuate both the needle and shuttle with its retaining
hook.
Thirdly, in the use of a leather pad or pads placed on the top of the shuttle
race so as to bear lightly upon the surface of the shuttle, thereby slightly
nipping the shuttle thread and preventing the formation of slack near the
needle on the return stroke of the shuttle. One of such pads may be placed
in the shuttle race on each side of the aperture through which the needle
passes.
Fourthly, in the use of a single or double loop stopper in combination with
a reciprocating retaining hook or hooks and shuttle, and object of such
stoppers being to facilitate the entrance of the point of the shuttle and re-
taining hook into the loop of the needle thread, and to extend the loop to the
desired amount.
Fifthly, in attaching the reel, spool, or bobbin of the shuttle to a support or
gate which is hinged at one end to the shuttle, so that by opening the gate or
support on its hinge the reel or bobbin may be readily removed and replaced
when required.
Sixthly, in causing the shuttle thread as it leaves the reel to pass under a
curved bar contained in the body of the shuttle itself, or formed in the hinged'
support above referred to. By the use of this curved bar the thread is always
drawn off the reel or bobbin in planes perpendicular to the axis of the reel,
whereby a more even or unvarying strain is exerted upon its thread.
Seventhly, of an improved tension apparatus whereby the strain or tension
of the bobbin thread is rendered more even, and the adjustment of such
tension effected with greater nicety. This apparatus consists of two discs,
which are concave at the centre, and are placed face to face upon a fixed stud
with their concave parts inwards. The thread from the bobbin is passed
between these two discs and round the stud, and the tension thereon is

page_text: increased or diminished by means of a nut on the end of the stud, which acts
upon a spring bearing against one of the discs, the opposite disc being held by.
a shoulder on the stud. In order to facilitate the introduction of the thread
between the discs and the passage of knots, the peripheries of the discs at the
adjoining edges may be bevelled or rounded off.
Eighthly, of a peculiar mode of winding or filling the reels or bobbins used
in sewing machines, the bobbin to be filled being fitted to the end of a spindle
and pressed against it by a spring, the pressure of the spring causing a
friction pulley on the spindle to come in contact with the edge of the main
driving pulley of the machine, and consequently setting the bobbin in
motion.
Ninthly, in using a second reciprocating hook in combination with the
herein-before mentioned retaining hook, shuttle, and eye pointed needle, the
object of this second hook being to catch the loop after it has passed over the
heel of the shuttle, and detain it until finally drawn up by the needle, thus
controlling the slack of the loop.
SPECIFICATION. in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th May 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN HENRY
JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and of 166,
Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry Johnson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," a communication from abroad by The Grover and:

page_text: Baker Sewing Machine Company, of New York, in the United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry.
Johnson, my executors, or administrators, by an instrument in writing under:
my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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 follow-
ing statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The said Invention relates more particularly to various improvements in that
class of sewing machines wherein a reciprocating shuttle works in combination
with an eye-pointed needle, although many of. the improvements are equally,
applicable to other kinds of sewing machines.
These improvements consist, firstly, in the employment of a reciprocating re-
taining hook, moving with and in the direction of the shuttle, or nearly so, for the
purpose of entering and taking the loop of the needle thread, and retaining it
until the pointed end of the shuttle has entered therein, when, as the shuttle
continues to enter the loop of the needle thread, the hook passes out therefrom.
Secondly, in imparting a reciprocating motion to the shuttle and retaining
hook and needle lever by means of a crank pin, which plays in a slot in the
shank or stock of the hook and shuttle driver, and also works in a slot made in:
the extended portion of the lever beneath the worktable, so that one crank
pin serves to actuate both the needle and shuttle with its retaining hook.
Thirdly, in the use of a leather pad or pads placed in the top of the shuttle
race so as to bear lightly upon the surface of the shuttle, thereby slightly
nipping the shuttle thread, and preventing the formation of slack near the
needle on the return stroke of the shuttle. One of such pads may be placed.
in the shuttle race on each side of the aperture through which the needle
passes.
· Fourthly, in the use of a single or double loop stopper in combination with
a reciprocating retaining hook or hooks and shuttle, the object of such stoppers
being to facilitate the entrance of the point of the shuttle and retaining hook
into the loop of the needle thread, and to extend the loop to the desired
amount.

page_text: -
Fifthly, in attaching the reel, spool, or bobbin of the shuttle to a support or
gate, which is hinged at one end to the shuttle, so that by opening the gate or
support on its hinge, the reel or bobbin may be readily removed, and replaced
when required.
Sixthly, in causing the shuttle thread, as it leaves the reel, to pass under a
curved bar contained either in the body of the shuttle itself, or formed in the
hinged gate or support above referred to. By the use of this curved bar the
thread is always drawn off the reel or bobbin in planes perpendicular to the
axis of the reel, whereby a more even or unvarying strain is exerted upon.
the thread...
Seventhly, of an improved tension apparatus, whereby the strain or tension.
of the bobbin thread is also rendered more even, and the adjustment of such
tension effected with greater nicety. This apparatus consists of two discs,.
which are concave at the centre, and are placed face to face upon a fixed stud,
with their concave surfaces inwards. The thread from the bobbin is passed
between their two discs and round the stud, and the tension thereon is in..
creased or diminished by means of a nut on the end of the stud, which acts.
upon a spring bearing against one of the discs, the opposite disc being held by
a shoulder on the stud. In order to facilitate the introduction of the thread.
between the discs and the passage of knots, the peripheries of the discs at the-
adjoining edges may be bevilled or rounded off.
Eighthly, of a peculiar mode of winding or filling the reels or bobbins used:
in sewing machines; the bobbin to be filled being fitted to the end of a
spindle, and pressed against it by a spring, the pressure of the spring causing a.
friction pulley on the spindle to come in contact with the edge of the main
driving pulley of the machine, and consequently 'setting the bobbin in motion..
Ninthly, in using a second. reciprocating hook in combination with the
herein-before mentioned. retaining hook shuttle and eye-pointed needle; the
object of this second hook being to catch the loop after it has passed over the
heel of the shuttle, and detain it until finally drawn up by the needle, tbus.
controlling the slack of the loop.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
corresponding Figures.
.Figure 1, on Sheet 1 of the Drawings, represents a side elevation of the
improved sewing machine, a portion of the bed. plate being broken away in

page_text: order to shew the various working parts more clearly. Figure 2 represents a
corresponding front elevation of the same partly in section. Figures 3, 4, and
5, are detached elevational details, showing the various relative positions of
the needle, shuttle, retaining hook, and loop stop when in the act of forming a
stitch. Figure 6 is a plan of the same parts. Figure 7 is a detail plan of
the shuttle detached, with its hinged gate or support for holding the bobbin
open. Figure 8 is a detail plan of the top of the shuttle race, the platform or
bed plate of the machine being removed. Figure 9 is a transverse sectional
detail taken through the retaining hook, and shewing the loop stop in eleva-
tion. Figure 10 is a transverse section of the shuttle race, shewing the
shuttle arrester; and Figures 11, 12, and 13, represent respectively an
elevation, and a longitudinal and transverse section of the improved tension
apparatus.
case.
In the Drawings on Sheet 1, a is the vibrating needle arm; 6 the platform;
c the driving shaft, on which is mounted a belt or driving pulley d, and a
double-faced cam e, for driving the feed mechanism. The needle arm is
slotted at g, and a similar slot is made at f, in the stock or shank of the
retaining hook i. In these two slots works the crank pin h, and on referring
to the Drawings it will be seen that the needle will be running most rapidly
when the hook i, whose stock is pivotted at j, is at rest or nearly so, and the
hook will be moving at full speed when the needle is moving most slowly.
Upon the hook stock is mounted the hook i, and also the shuttle driver k,
the latter consisting of a fork, the prongs embracing a portion of the shuttle
This shuttle lies in a race l, open on the side next to the needle and
hook, and its pointed end enters into a groove cut in that side of the hook
nearest the shuttle (as shewn in Figure 9, and by the dotted lines in Figure
6.) The hook is wedge-shaped in two directions, namely, vertically and
horizontally, as shewn in the Drawings, and the groove last named runs off or
vanishes to nothing as it approaches the point of the hook. The cross section
of the hollow or cavity of the race coincides nearly with a cross section of the
shuttle, where its body is largest. The shuttle thus being maintained in
working contact with the hook and driver will follow all the motions of both
of them. In the hook, and on the side thereof furthest from the shuttle, is
another groove m (Figure 9), in which enters a loop stop n; this stop may be
formed substantially as shewn in the Drawings, and is attached to some
stationary part of the machine, as shewn in Figure 2, where it is screwed to
the under side of the platform or bed plate. The shuttle has hinged to it a
gate or support for carrying the reel or thread bobbin, as shewn clearly in

page_text: Figure 7. This gate can be swung into the position shewn in that figure, or
be opened still further when it is desired to remove or replace a bobbin, and
can be shut into the shuttle when the latter is in use, being retained in its
place by a small spring latch or catch if necessary. Part of this gate is formed
into a curve, or the gate has a curved cross bar p (Figure 3), and has also
holes in the upper bar, through which the thread may be passed to attain the
proper tension. When the machine is ready for use, the thread is to be
passed from the reel or bobbin under this curved bar, and thence to the hole in
the gate nearest the centre of the bobbin, and after being passed through a
sufficient number of the holes to secure the desired drag or tension the thread
is to be led through a hole in the top of the shuttle or bobbin case. By the
use of this curved guide or bar the thread is drawn from off the bobbin at all
times in planes perpendicular to the axis of the bobbin, or nearly so, from
whatever part of the bobbin the thread may be unwinding, whereas in ordinary.
shuttles and bobbins the thread is at times drawn off in planes nearly parallel
to the axis, and at others perpendicular to the axis of the bobbin, thus requiring
a different degree of strain upon the thread at different times. to turn the
bobbin, and consequently disturbing the even and regular action of the
machine. In ordinary shuttles also, the reel or bobbin is mounted upon a
frame wholly detachable from the bobbin, or else in. sockets firmly attached to
the bobbin; in the former case the frame is sometimes lost, and moreover
requires care to adjust it in its place again after removal ;. in the latter case
the bobbin is removed and replaced with. difficulty, whereas. by mounting the
bobbin upon supports attached to a hinge or gate, the-bobbin can be removed
and replaced with facility, and can be properly located in the shuttle with ease
and certainty. Part of the upper side of the shuttle race is cut away, and
there is inserted in the space thus left a leather pad 9 (Figure 8); this pad
bears upon the top of the shuttle slightly, and when the shuttle is furthest
from the needle the shuttle thread will be slightly pinched between it and the
top of the shuttle. As the shuttle advances towards the needle this pad will
prevent the formation of a slack loop of shuttle thread, and will give off the
thread, in proportion to the motion of the shuttle, until it has reached the other
extremity of its race. It is intended to use two such pads, one on each side
of the needle, they being useful in preventing the loop of shuttle thread:from
being entangled either with the needle or the hook, or from jamming between
the shuttle and its race..
As a convenient means of winding the shuttle- bobbin I have, mounted in
proper boxes, a small spindler (Figure 2), provided with. a bevel pulley s so-

page_text: arranged that it may come in contract with a bevel pulley t on the main shaft
of the machine. The spindler is free to revolve and to play endwise in its
bearings, and has in its outer end a small socket or suitable contrivance for
receiving one end of a reel or bobbin. Opposite this shaft, and fastened to
the table of the machine, is a spring ubaving at its upper end a'centre hole
to receive one end of the spindle of the bobbin. When the bobbin is entered
between this spring and the socket on the spindler it establishes a connection
between them; and the spring will not only force the bobbin into the socket,
but also move the shaft end wise until the bevel pulley thereon bears against
the bevelt on the driving pulley of the main shaft. If the latter shaft be in
motion it will cause both the small shaft and the bobbin to revolve, when
thread may be wound on the latter. On removing the bobbin the small shaft
will, on further revolution of the large one, slide so far endways that it will be
out of working contact. A weight or a lever, or its equivalent, may be used
instead of the spring. These various contrivances for winding the bobbin, for
supporting it in the shuttle, for regulating the direction of its thread when
being unwound therefrom, and for preventing a slack loop of shuttle thread
by a pad of leather, though useful, are not essential to the operation of the
machine; they are also useful in machines which do not sew by the combina-
tion of a hook, bobbin case, shuttle race, and eye-pointed needle.
I shall now proceed to describe the operation of the sewing mechanism.
The upper or needle thread bobbin is to be mounted in any suitable manner,
and the upper thread is to have any suitable means for attaining tension
applied to it (I prefer the means herein-after described), and to be led over a
small controlling spring, if necessary or desired, and thence passed through
the eye of the needle; this thread is coloured red in the Drawings. The lower
or shuttle thread (colored blue) is to be passed from its reel or bobbin in the
way before described, finally leaving the bobbin case through the small hole in
the upper side thereof when the shuttle or bobbin case is ready to be slid into
its race.
This can be accomplished by removing a plate x above the shuttle
race and moving the machine until the shuttle driver is in.the position shewn
in Figure 4; when the driver is to be pressed away from the race (it having
sufficient spring for the purpose), and the shuttle is to be pushed in until the
fork in the driver embraces the stud on the heel of the shuttle.. .The end of
the shuttle thread, is then to be pulled out, and the machine is ready for use.so
soon as the cloth is placed below the needle, and between the presser foot and
the feed bar, when the foot is to be permitted to.drop. The main shaft has
now a motion communicated to it in the direction of the arrow, and when the

page_text: .needle has entered and passed through the cloth to its full extent and risen á
little, so as to open a loop, the retaining hook i will enter that loop, moving in
the direction of the arrow, as shown in Figure 1. As the hook continues to
move in that direction the needle will rise, and the loop will slide along the
hook between it and the nose or pointed end of the shuttle until it has cleared
the point of the shuttle and rests on the widest part of the hook (see Figure 3').
The hook will then pause whilst the needle continues to ascend, and the hook
will then commence to recede or move back again in the direction of the arrow,
Figure 4, the shuttle, as before explained, following all its motions. When
the hook begins to move, or rather, after it has thus moved a short distance,
the loop of the needle thread will be stretched tight across the groove on that
side of the hook nearest the shuttle in the bottom of which the nose of the
shuttle rests; by the continued motion of the hook the nose of the shuttle will
pass between the thread and the hook until the shuttle strikes the thread; the
shuttle would then have a tendency to strain the thread, driving it back again
and jamming it on the heel or widest part of the look; but so soon as the
shuttle endeavours to move the thread in that 'direction it presses it against
that part of the loop stop n which lies just outside of the small groove m,
Figures 6 and 9; the loop is thus held in place, and as the hook and shuttle
continue to move the loop of the needle thread is transferred from the hook
to the shuttle, which then passes through that loop. Whilst the hook and
shuttle continue to move in the direction of the arrow, Figure 4, the needle
pauses and commences to descend, and the outermost prong of the shuttlè
driver is in contact with the heel of the shuttle; as the shuttle and hook move
the loop slips.between the innermost prong of the driver and the shuttle, and the
needle eye is then below the cloth and descending; whilst so doing it partially
drags up the loop of thread below the cloth sufficiently to clear it between the
shuttle and the outermost prong of the driver (see Fig. 5).
The portion of the loop cast off from the shuttle and below the cloth then
hangs slack until the needle has descended to its full extent and risen again a
little; by that time the shuttle, having paused at the end of its race, lias
moved in the direction of the arrow, Figure 5, until all parts have reached the
position shewn in Figure 1, when the hook again enters and takes a loop and
spreads it by drawing up that portion of the slack loop of the needle thread
lying below the cloth. To be precisely accurate it should be stated that this
slack loop is not drawn fully tight until the body of the shuttle strikes the
thread surrounding the hook, when an extra pull is thus given by the shuttle
to the needle thread, and the stitch last made is tightened. It may sometimes

page_text: happen. that the shuttle, when the machine is running at a great velocity, will,
as it were, run away from the outermost driving prong, and, having acquired
momentum, rest against the innermost prong just at the time that the loop of
the upper or needle thread is slipping between that innermost prong (the one
nearest the hook) and the shuttle. In such a case the slipping of the loop of
the needle thread would be impeded, and the thread might be broken, but to
prevent even the possibility of such an occurrence a shuttle arrester (Figures
.1 and 10) is adapted to the shuttle race. The arrester consists of a small
piece of sheet metal attached in any convenient place, for instance, to the side
of the race, and bent inwards, so that it shall lie in the path of the shuttle and
arrest its motion, its action being such that the shuttle shall strike against it
when at the limit of its motion through the loop, and be arrested whilst tlie
innermost prong leaves the shuttle and until the outermost prong strikes it,
and the innermost prong in the return motion of the hook and driver strikes it
again. This action will take place just as the shuttle driver and the hook are
changing from motion in one direction to motion in another, and the shuttle
will lie at rest whilst the driver is moving through a distance equal to the
play between the fork or two prongs and the part of the shuttle that they
embrace and back again through the same distance.
A free space for the passage of the loop of the needle thread will thus be
secured, even under the contingency above stated, and any tendency to fray or
break the thread whilst passing the driver will be obviated. I may observe,
that this machine will operate successfully without the loop stop n, but it will
work with greater certainty when such stop is employed; at the same time all
the requisite motions may be communicated to the retaining hook, shuttle, and
needle, by other means than those specially described, neither is it essential
that the shuttle driver should be attached to the hook or to its stock, or even
lie on the same side of the shuttle race; but the plan of arranging and moving
the parts as described is the best. Further, in sewing very heavy goods it has
been found disadvantageous to have a slack loop below the cloth to be closed
or pulled tight by the spreading of the next succeeding loop, as, in order to
do that, the thread is pulled up through the cloth, then along and in contact
with it, and then down again, all at the same time, thus causing great friction
and liability to breakage of thread when very heavy goods are sewed; I have
therefore contrived a lever or slide, acting above the cloth, and moved by a
proper cam attached to either the needle arm or the main shaft, which lever
has a hook or projection on it that enters under the needle thread and between
it and the cloth, and pulls up the lower slack loop entirely before the hook

page_text: commences to spread the next loop, such lever retiring out of the way before
this last loop reaches the broadest part of the hook, so that the thread may be
laid properly between each puncture made by the needle. The thread lifted
above the cloth by this lever is pulled down below it again by the retaining
hook to form the next loop, through which the, shuttle is to be passed. By
the use of this lever the machine will be complicated, but the thread will pass
through the material more easily, as it is pulled first up and then down at two
operations, and not upwards and downwards at the same time, as is the case
when the hook pulls up the slack loop below the cloth by extending the, next
succeeding loop. In this machine the top of the shuttle race may be dispensed
with, and the shuttle prevented from jumping up by means similar to those
hereafter described in referring to the machine shewn on Sheet 2 of the
Drawings, namely, by small pieces projecting from the shuttle under other
pieces working with the hook stock.
Figures 11, 12 and 13 represent the improved tension apparatus, which
forms part of this Invention; the same apparatus is also shewn in end
elevation at Figure 14 (Sheet 2). This apparatus consists of a spindle A
attached firmly to any suitable part of the machine upon which are mounted
two discs b, b; each of these discs is on one side concave or hollowed out at
the centre, and bevilled at the edge; one of them rests against a fixed
shoulder, and the other is to be forced towards or against its neighbour
by a spring C, the pressure of which may be regulated by a nut D. In
operating with this apparatus one end of thread is to be slipped between
the two discs, then a turn is to be taken around the spindle, and the thread
is to be led out between the discs to the needle. The thread has thus three
frictions upon it, one by being nipped between the disc as it passes to the
spindle, another, by the turn around the spindle, and a third by the nip
between the discs as it passes to the needle. The concave at the centre
of the discs permits the thread to render or pass around the spindle, and
the bevelling of the edges of the discs permits the thread to pass in freely,
and is especially advantageous in case of knots, kinks, and thick places in
the thread, all of which can pass through this tension apparatus, without
breaking the thread. Thread is thus economised as it does not break until
the knots or other defects reach the needle eye, and the length between
the tension apparatus and the needle is saved; greater or less tension may
be applied by screwing up or unscrewing the nut so that the spring presses
the discs together more or less forcibly. The discs may be of any suitable
material or form, so long as they are concave at the centre and have

page_text: surfaces to grasp or nip the thread, and any suitable spring and method of
increasing its tension may be used instead of that shewn in the Drawings.
Any suitable feed apparatus may be applied to this machine, but I prefer
to use the well-known feed, consisting of a roughened face bar operated
upon by a double-faced cam, so as to have a combined vertical and hori
zontal motion imparted to it.
On Sheet 2 of the Drawings I have shewn another modification wherein
a second hook is combined with the retaining hook, the shuttle, and the
race. The object of this second hook is to control the loop of needle thread
after it has passed over the shuttle, and before it is drawn up tight. This
second hook also holds the shuttle down upon the bottom of the race and
tends to hold the shuttle in contact with the hooks; a top to the race and
the pads of leather are therefore entirely unnecessary.
In this machine the shuttle is substantially the same as in the former
one; it is not however grasped at its heel by the prongs of a shuttle driver,
but is driven in one direction by a projection E (Figures 20 and 21) on the
shuttle driver, and in the other by a pin F, which takes into a hollow F' near
the nose or point of the shuttle. The thread passes between the pin or
the projection and the shuttle, owing to their being alternately out of contact
with it in the same way that the prongs are in the machine represented
on Sheet 1. The nose of this shuttle lies in a hole in the hook at G,
Figure 19, into which it projects a little, the effect being the same as if it
entered into a groove as in the first described machine.
In Sheet 2, Fig. 14 represents an elevation of the modified machine, with
part of the bed plate broken away; Figure 15 is a front elevation, part of the
bed plate or table being removed; Figure 16 is a plan and elevation of a
double loop stop, or loop stop with two hooks; Figures 17, 18, and 19, are
details shewing different positions occupied by the hooks, needle; and shuttle
in the operation of the machine; Figure 20 is a plan of the shuttle race,
hooks, driver, and shuttle; Figure 21, a plan of the same without the shuttle:;
Figure 22 is a vertical longitudinal section taken through the shuttle and
race just behind the hinged gate and equalizing curve, and Figure 23 is
-an elevation of the back of the shuttle.
;
In the machine thus represented the driving shaft, feed apparatus, and
cam that actuates it, the presser foot, needle arm, hook stock, crank pin
and slots, into which it enters to drive the needle hook and shuttles are all
substantially the same as those represented in Sheet 1 of the Drawings.
The shuttle race has, however, no top, and there is a duplex tension applied

page_text: to the needle thread, a small apparatus substantially the same as that.
formerly described being secured to the needle arm at H (Figure 14) by
means of which the upper thread is better controlled than when one tension
only is used. The loop-seizing hook is similar to the retaining hook, shevn
in Sheet 1, but is shorter, and is assisted in opening out a sufficiently large
loop by a second loop stop I, see Figure 16; this loop stop lies in a groove
in the seizing hook as the other loop stop does in the first-mentioned machi,
and when the seizing book advances through the needle thread it holds on
to the loop (see Figure 17) so as to cause one side of the loop to
stretched in two lines at an angle to each other, so that a longer loop is-
formed than is due to the size and motion of the hook itself.
The second reciprocating hook, which is called the detaining hook, is sheva
at K; it lies parallel to the face of the shuttle, and is attached to the hook
stock, so that it moves with the shuttle and the seizing book; its point
is bent inwards and lies in a recess in the top of the shuttle (see Figure 20);
just under its. point is a small bent piece of metal L (see Figures 19 and
22), and if the shuttle should attempt to rise, this piece strikes the hook
which then holds it down; as this point lies behind the, bend of the metal
piece it also tends to keep the shuttle in contact with the hook, and fraying
of the shuttle thread between the shuttle and the vertical wall of the race
is thus avoided. Another small and carefully rounded piece of metal projects
from the gate of the shuttle nearly opposite its point, and when the shuttle
is in place lies under the detaining hook as at M (see Figures 17 and 18);
this piece does not project out so far as the front side of the detaining hook,
but projects sufficiently to prevent the heel of the shuttle from rising. As.
the hook stock near the heel of the shuttle plays past the loop stop I a
groove is cut so that the latter may not obstruct the motions of the machine.
(see N Figures 17, and 18); to remove the shuttle the top plate is removed,
the machine put in position, as shewn in Figure 17, and the thumb nail
inserted between the detaining hook and the shuttle; the hook is then sprung
outwards, and the shuttle lifted upwards and pulled out, instead of being,
pulled out of the end of the race as in machine shewn in Sheet 1. The
driving shaft of this machine moves in the direction of the arrow (Figure 14)
and the machine operates substantially in the same way as the other, except,
in the controlling of the slack loop, by the detaining hook. In Figure 17
the seizing book has caught the loop of needle thread and spread it by the
aid of the loop stop I, and that part of the loop on the inner side of the
hook has passed between the point of the shuttle and the book; as the hook

page_text: passed over the shuttle
this by the other loop
vibrates towards the front of the shuttle the loop is
and between the shuttle and pin F, being assisted in
stop against which it rests as in machine represented in Sheet 1. A pro-
longation of this motion slips the loop over both the shuttle and the detaining
hook; the loop then slips over the heel of the shuttle between it and the
driver, being then held on the detaining hook only, and it finally slips out
free between the detaining hook and the shuttle as they move towards the
heel of the shuttle just after the seizing hook has seized the next succeeding
loop. The loop thus cast off is drawn tight as in machine Sheet 1, and the
needle in both machines has substantially the same motions in relation to
the shuttle. This machine like the other may by a proper shape and range
of motion of the hooks be made to work without either one or both of the
loop stops, but it works better when they are used. This machine may
moreover have a top to the shuttle race, in which case the contrivances for
holding down the shuttle by means of the detaining hook would be useless.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of machinery
or apparatus for stitching and uniting fabrics as herein-before described.
Second, the combination of an eye-pointed needle, a reciprocating shuttle,
a shuttle race, and a reciprocating hook moving in the same direction as the
shuttle, or nearly so, as herein-before described.
Third, the peculiar arrangement and combination of mechanism for
actuating the shuttle and reciprocating hook as herein-before described.
Fourth, the combination of a shuttle with a leather pad or pads contained
in the top of the shuttle race, as herein-before described.
Fifth, the combination with a reciprocating hook or hooks and a shuttle,
of a single or double loop stop, as herein-before described.
Sixth, the combination with a shuttle or bobbin case of a sewing machine
of a hinged support on which the bobbin or spool is mounted, as herein-before
lescribed.
Seventh, the application and use of an equalizing curve in combination
with a bobbin and a shuttle of a sewing machine, whether such equalizing
urve be constructed in the body of the shuttle itself, or on an attachment:
hereto, as herein-before described.

page_text: Eighth, the application and use of a tension apparatus composed sub-
stantially of two discs concaved at the centres, a spindle, and a contrivance
for compressing the thread between the discs, as herein-before described.
Ninth, the application and use to and in sewing machines of the contrivance
for winding bobbins, herein-before described.
And, lastly, the combination of a seizing and detaining hook with a
reciprocating shuttle and an eye-pointed needle operating in combination
substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, bave hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)