IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING AND STITCHING MACHINES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Otis Avery, of 16, Castle Street, Holborn, in the
City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING AND
STITCHING MACHINES."
Sealed the 15th September 1854, and dated the 6th July 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Otis Avery at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th July 1854.
I, OTIS AVERY, of 16, Castle Street, Holborn, in the City of London, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
AND STITCHING MACHINES" to be as follows, viz. :-
The nature of these improvements consists in making what is termed a
tambour, locked, embroidery, or chain stitch in cloth or leather, with a single
thread, by the conjoint action of two needles, one of which has an eye near
the point, and the other is what may be termed a split or loop-holding needle.
The split needle stands at an obtuse angle to the eye-pointed needle, so that
in the operation of sewing, the thread being carried through the fabric by the
eye-pointed needle, the opposite or split needle passes between the eye-pointed
needle and its thread, to or through the fabric to be sewn, as by adjustment the
case may be, holding the loop at nearly, if not quite, on a line with the under
surfaco of the fabric until the eye-pointed needle shall have been withdrawn
and returned into the loop held by the opposite or split needle, and thereby
making a succession of stitches as the cloth is fed along. The following are
some of the ways in which the split needle may be constructed:-

page_text: Firstly, so as to be opened and closed and so operated by machinery as
to pass between the eye-pointed needle and its thread while closed, and before
it is withdrawn the needle is opened or spread apart in such manner as to
spread the loop for the eye-pointed needle to pass into the same; the split
needle is then withdrawn.
Secondly, the split needie may be so made as not only to pass through the
loop, but also through the fabric, and thus hold the loop up near or quite to
the cloth. For this purpose I let the two branches of the needle come to a very
sharp point, or else I let one branch be pointed and longer than the other,
which when closing upon the long branch forms one body with it.
The way of causing either of the before described split needles to open is by
counteracting the springy action of one or the other of the branches by drawing
it back against a projection, by means of any mechanical contrivance, the
needle being pushed forward again by the action of a spring.
Another modification of the loop needle may consist of a needle with the
point standing obliquely to the line of the seam, seen in plan; this needle may
pass to or through the fabric, and spreads the loop of the thread by its curved
part, in the same manner as the needles before described.
The loop needle may also be forked, and pass between the eye-pointed
needle and the thread perpendicularly, or at an angle to the eye-pointed needle;
This forked needle is then made to revolve about a quarter of a turn, by means
of an arm at its end, or any other mechanical means, thereby spreading the
loop so as to allow the eye-pointed needle to pass through the loop thus formed
and the forks of the opposite needle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Otis Avery in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th
January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, OTIS
AVERY, of 16, Castle Street, Holborn, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Iler reign,
did, for Herself, Iler heirs and successors, give and grant unto him, the said
Otis Avery, Her special licence that I, the said Otis Avery, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Otis Avery, exc-
cutors, 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

page_text: 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 AND STITCHING MA-
CHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Otis Avery, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Scal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Otis Avery, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following.
statement:-
Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 shew the improved needles for making the tambour
or chain stitch, by the combined action of two needles and a single thread.
Fig. 1 represents a split or forked needle, the legs of which, 1 & 2, open and
close alternately, and is worked on the under side of the fabric to be sewn,
moving in caune vertical plane, but at an obtuse angle to the upper or eye-
pointed needle. The action is as follows:-The eye-pointed needle carries the
thread through the cloth; arrived at this stage, the split needle holds the loop
made by the first needle very close to the cloth, until the eye needle has been
withdrawn and made another stroke through the loop held by the split needle,
which is thus in its turn withdrawn. This form of needle, Fig. 1, may be made
either to pass only through the loop or through loop and cloth also; in this
case one of the legs of the needle 2, Fig. 1, is bevelled, as at 3; this bevil or
inclined plane serves to guide the upper needle into its opening in case it
should come in contact, from accidental derangement, with the split needle;
the bevil may therefore be applied to any of these needles. In needle Fig. 2,
the points are kept in contact by the elasticity of the legs 1 & 2; leg 1 fitting
into a small groove in leg 2; after passing through the loop it opens, in order
to allow the eye needle to pass through it.
Fig. 3, needle and holder, to work obliquely to the line of sewing. This
needle is not intended to pierce the cloth, but passes through the loop close to
the cloth; a small stud or fixed point in the platform prevents the thread from
slipping off the point of the needle. The oblique action and the shape of the
needle combined serve to open the loop for the next stroke of the eye needle.
If the needle be required to pierce the cloth, it is then made as in Fig. 4.
Fig. 5 needle passes through the loop made by the other needle; it is then
turned on
unrter of the revolution by means of the bent lever g, or by other

page_text: suitable means, and thus opens the loop ready for the eye needle to pass
through.
As these needles are all of the same nature, the following method of putting
them into practice will apply to all or any of them:
A, Fig. 1, is a needle holder for the split needles, and receives motion in the
same way as the eye needle; besides this motion it has one of its own, inde-
pendent of the holder. The shank of the needle a is laid and slides in a groove,
and is kept in position and attached to the holder by the spring c acting on the
tail b. At proper intervals a suitable pin or lever is made to bear against b,
in opposition to the spring c, and draw the needle into the holder, thus
opening the legs 1 & 2, by means of the inclined surface of leg 1 acting
against the fixed ring d. When the pressure is taken off b, the action of the
spring forces the said inclined surface to close the needle in the forward
action.
OIIS AVERY.