SEWING MACHINERY AND IN THE MACHINERY
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Baldwin Woodruff, of Cheapside, in the
City of London, Engineer, for
SEWING MACHINERY AND IN THE
MACHINERY."
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STITCHES TO BE PRODUCED
BY SUCH
Sealed the 23rd July 1867, and dated the 24th January 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Baldwin Wood-
ruff' at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th January 1867.
I, GEORGE BALDWIN WOODRUFF, of Cheapside, in the City of London,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY AND IN THE STITCHES TO BE PRODUCED BY SUCH
MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to the application of means for controlling
the feed motion of sewing machines and making changes in that motion
automatically so as to reverse the feed and produce a "dwell" at certain
periods relatively to the movements of a vertical traversing needle, the object.
being to enable me to produce new kinds of work. 1 employ for giving.
motion to the feed plate of under feeds the rocking slotted bar and sliding pin
described in my Patent dated Jany. 22nd 1866, No. 209, and this pin I
secure to an arm jointed to a slotted radius bar; this bar is connected by an

page_text: adjustable clamping screw inserted in its slot to a slotted crank lever which
rocks on a fixed fulcrum and carries a pin which works in a cam groove that
receives motion from the shaft that drives the shuttle. For traversing the
-needle over the work I prefer to use the arrangement described under my
Patent of July 25th 1866, No. 1936, but other traversing needles may be
employed. The traverses or vibrations of the needle and the shape and
relative speed of rotation of the cam for controlling the motions of the feed
plate will be determined by the kind of stitch it may be desired to make.
Having thus indicated the changes which I propose to introduce, I will
proceed to specify them more minutely by referring to the requirements of
certain new stitches which I have devised. Stitch No. 1 I have designed
chiefly for working button holes and hem stitching, but it will be susceptible,
doubtless, of other applications. To produce this stitch, the traversing or
vibrating needle being depressed, and at the edge of (outside) the cloth, the
loop of the needle thread having also been secured by a locking thread, the
needle ascends, vibrates to a point (say I) and then descends through the
work, making thereby a stitch transverse to the line of feed. The loop thus
formed is secured below the cloth, and the needle then rises and is vibrated
back to its first position (say point 1). All this time the feed plate remains
quiescent. The needle now descends by the side of the cloth at the point 2
and the loop of the needle thread is caught as before and locked. When the
needle next rises the work is fed forward the length of a stitch and no
vibration of the needle taking place the needle at its next descent (say the
point 3 by the side of the cloth) lays the threads at the edge of the work, thus
forming a pearl edging. These motions of the needle and the feed being
repeated in the order above explained will produce a strong edge specially
suited for button holes, but when used for making a hem stitch the drawing
together of the threads to secure the stitch will draw together the warp threads
of the cloth and give the usual openwork appearance of hem stitching.
From the above explanation it will be understood that the cams for giving
the traverse motion to the needle and operating the feed plate will require
to be so cut and speeded that the feed will be quiescent during every two
traverse motions of the needle, and when the stitch. made. after the second
vibration is secured the feed will come into. action. A variation of this
stitch, which I will call No. 2, I produce as follows:-Having secured the loop
of the needle thread in the work I vibrate the needle and cause it to descend
and leave a second loop below. the cloth, the feed plate being stationary.
When this loop is. secured, and the needle has risen, the cloth is fed forward
and the needle descends in a line with the feed, and the length of a stitch in

page_text: advance of the point where it last pierced the cloth. The loop now made.
being in like manner secured the needle is vibrated back to its first position.,
The cut and speeding of the cams will therefore to form this stitch be required,
to be so arranged as alternately to vibrate the needle and to operate the feed.
plate. A further variation of the stitch, which I will call No. 3, is produced,
by giving the needle a traverse motion or vibration after the locking of each,
loop, and feeding the work forward at every other vibration only of the needle.
The change of speed and cut of cams necessary for forming this stitch will be
obvious from the foregoing explanation. In the arrangement above
described for suspending the feed it has not been required to reverse the
direction of the feed, but the traverse motion of the pin in the slotted feed
bar may be so increased as to throw the pin past the centre of oscillation and;
the feed will then be reversed; by this automatic arrangement I am enabled
to obtain another form of bem or ornamental stitch which I will call No. 4;
this stitch I produce by vibrating the needle after the first loop is secured
concurrently with the forward feed movement. The needle then descends.
and the reversing cam comes into action to reverse the feed. The second loop
having been secured the needle rises and the back feed takes place. The
needle then descends and pierces the cloth in a line with the backward feed,
and while a third loop is being secured the cam again reverses the direction
of the feed. The needle having risen is now vibrated back to its first position
and at the same time the cloth is fed forward as before.
I will now describe a new character of knotted or combination stitch which
I propose to make by the aid of the traversing or vibrating needle in com-
bination with a finger for expanding the loops as they are formed; this stitch
which admits of various modifications I will call No. 5; it is produced as
follows The needle is vibrated at every feed motion and every alternate
loop formed by the needle thread is opened out by a reciprocating finger. to
allow of the needle entering and locking the loop. The reciprocating finger [
may actuate by a fish tail cam on the driving shaft or any suitable cam on a
countershaft.
Modification No. 5.--Every alternate loop of under thread may be seized
by the reciprocating finger and held for the vibrating needle to enter and
lock it.
Modification No. 5.-By the use of two reciprocating fingers, one above.
and the other below the table, the upper and under threads may be drawn
into open loops for the vibrating needle to enter and lock.
The foregoing description relates to under-feed sewing machines, but I
also propose to carry out my improvements in connection with upper feed

page_text: sewing machines, using my reversible upper feed described in the Specification
of my Patent dated 22nd Jany. 1866, No. 209, together with the traversing
In this
needle arrangements Patented by me July 25th 1866, No. 1936.
case I make the spur wheel which carries the cam for traversing the needle
carry also the cam for actuating the reversing pin of the slotted feed bar so
as to suspend or reverse the direction of the feed as required.
When working button holes, say by the use of stitch No. 1, I propose to
hold the work down upon a throat plate capable of receiving a lateral motion.
The cut button hole being laid on this plate, and opened out to allow of the
needle working through, is fed forward until by the traverse motion of the
I then cause
needle a pearl edge is worked upon it from end to end.
the needle to lay two or more elongated stitches at the end of the button
hole to bar the end of the hole; this being effected I reverse the direction of
the feed and give the throat plate carrying the work a slight lateral motion to
bring the opposite edge of the hole under the action of the needle. The
sewing is then continued until that edge is worked and the operation of
barring the end of the hole as repeated. When using machines fitted with
revolving, rocking, or reciprocating loopers for securing the needle thread if
the vibration or traverse of the needle is small, as, for example, when working
fine button holes, no change in the operating of these loopers will be requisite,
but when ornamental stitching, requiring a comparatively large traverse or
vibration of the needle is to be produced, then it will be requisite to make tho
looper follow the motions of the needle; this I propose to effect by giving the
shaft or the slide which carries the looper an endway or lateral traverse
motion to correspond to the movement of the needle. Many plans may be
applied by obtaining this motion; but that which I prefer is the sun-and-
planet motion described in the Specification of my Patent of July 25th 1866
before referred to.
In order to adapt the well-known Wheeler and Wilson machine to working
the stitches first above described I effect the traverse of the reciprocating
needle in the following manner :-1 mount the rocking arm which carries the
needle upon a slide forming a portion of the rocking frame which gives the
needle its up-and-down motion. A pin upon this rocking arm set in a line
with its axis of oscillation is embraced by the forked end of a rock lever
which receives from a cam driven by gearing from the main driving shaft its
rocking motion, and through this lever the arm is slidden to and fro on its
slide and thereby caused to traverse the needle. It will also be necessary to
apply a reversing feed to this machine. The slotted feed bar already referred
to, as described in the Specification of my Patent of Jany. 22nd, 1866, I

page_text: mount on a fixed fulcrum and rock by means of the feed cam and the sliding
pin working in the slotted bar, I connect by a radius rod with the feed plate,
and the pin being traversed by a cam on the cam shaft that slides, the rocking
needle bar will arrest or reverse the feed motion at pleasure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Baldwin Woodruff in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th July 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
BALDWIN WOODRUFF, of Cheapside, in the City of London, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of
iler reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
nic, the said George Baldwin Woodruff, Her special licence that I, the said
George Baldwin Woodruff, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said George Baldwin Woodruff, 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 MACHINERY AND IN THE STITCHES TO BE
PRODUCED BY SUCH MACHINERY," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said George Baldwin Woodruff, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Baldwin Woodruff, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to the application of means for controlling
the feed motion of sewing machines and making changes in that motion so as

page_text: to reverse the feed and to produce a "dwell" automatically at certain periods
relatively to the movements of a vertical traversing needle, the object being to
enable me to produce new kinds of work. I employ for giving motion to
the feed plate of under feeds the rocking slotted bar and sliding pin described
in the Specification of my Patent dated January Twenty-second, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, No. 209. The arm which carries
this sliding pin instead of adjusting it by hand as heretofore I work
automatically by the arrangement to be presently described, and I thus import
into the sewing machine a principle that admits of great varieties of work being
effected with the greatest ease.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings I have shewn my Invention for
suspending and for reversing the feed automatically, as applied both to an
under and a top feed. Fig. 1 shews in side elevation, partly in section, a shuttle
machine fitted with the improvement, and Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view of
the machine.
a is the reciprocating feed bar lying transversely of the table and hinged at
its rear end to an arm b, which carries a bar b¹ formed at right angles to the
arm b and grooved on its under side. Below this bar, and furnished with a
corresponding groove, is a bar c, which at the middle of its length is pivotted
to a bracket c* secured to the under side of the table. Projecting from one
end of this bar c is a curved arm c¹, which serves to carry a stud pin that is
embraced by the forked end of a rock lever d; this rock lever has for its
fulcrum a swivel guide d', in which it is free to slide under the action of a
cam on a vertical cam shaft e, which shaft is driven by bevil gearing from
the main driving shaft of the machine. The cam d² works in a square hole
formed in the tail end of the lever d, and as the lever is rocked it will impart
a vibrating motion to the swivel bar c. In the grooves of the bars c and b₁ a
pin 1 carried by an arm f takes, and thus serves to couple the two bars
together. This arm f is jointed to a slotted radius arm f', which vibrates on
a fixed centre. The slot of the radius arm receives an adjustable clamping
screw f2, which enters a groove in an arm of a bell crank lever g pivotted,
like the radius arm, to the under side of the table of the machine. The other
arm of this bell crank lever carries a pin, which enters a groove in a face
cam h; this face cam is fitted with a spur wheel h³, and it is carried by a
pendent stud axle. The form of this cam, the rotation of which controls the
position of the pin 1,.and consequently the motion of the feed bar a, must be
determined according to the work to be performed. That shewn in the
Drawing is cut to produce a "dwell" or stoppage of the feed for two-thirds
of its revolution, and a feed in one direction only for the other third of its

page_text: revolution. In other words, it is intended to be used in forming the button
hole stitch shewn at Fig. 1, Sheet II., and is used here simply as an
illustration of the means of automatically regulating the operation of the feed
bar. On the vertical cam shaft e is a spur pinion, which gears into the spur
wheel h', and gives it and its cam a third of a revolution for every revolution
of the shaft e and throw of the shuttle by which the stitches of the vertical
needle are locked. To utilize this improvement it will be necessary to present
the needle to the work or the work to the needle so that the latter may lay
the thread transversely as well as in the line of progress of the work.
For traversing the needle over the work I prefer to use the arrangement
described under my Patent of July Twenty-fifth, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-six, No. 1936, and shewn at Figures 3 and 4, Fig. 3 being a front
view of the machine or elevation of the guide box and its appurtenances, and
Fig. 4 a plan view of the apparatus for traversing the needle. The face cam
shewn is intended in conjunction with the cam h to give the motions requisite
for making the button hole stitch shewn at Fig. 1, Sheet II. The automatic
feed may however be employed in conjunction with other arrangements of
traversing needles. In all cases the traverses or vibrations of the needle and
the shape and relative speed of rotation of the feed plate for controlling the
motion of the feed plate will be determined by the kind of stitch it may be
desired to make.
Having thus indicated the changes which I propose to introduce, and
explained the means of effecting the same, I will proceed to their application
to the production of certain new stitches which I have devised. These stitches
are illustrated by diagrams in Sheet 11. Stitch No. 1, Fig. 1, I have designed
cbiefly for working button holes and hem stitching, but it will be susceptible
doubtless of other applications. To produce this stitch around a button hole
the traversing or vibrating needle descends through the hole cut in the cloth
and the loop of the needle thread is secured by a locking thread; the needle
then ascends, vibrates to the point 1; it then descends, and piercing the work,
makes thereby a stitch transverse to the line of feed. The loop thus formed
is secured below the cloth, and the needle on rising vibrates back to its first
position 2. All this time the feed plate remains quiescent. The needle now
descends by the side of the cloth at the point 2, and the loop of the needle
thread being caught as before and locked the needle rising clear of the work,
the work is now fed forward the length of a stitch, and no vibration of the
needle taking place the needle at its next descent at the point 3 lays the
threads at the edge of the work, thus forming a pearl edging. The above-
described motions of the needle and the feed are then repeated in the order

page_text: above explained, and a strong edge specially suited for button holes will be
produced. When this stitch is used for making a hem stitch the drawing
together of the threads to secure the stitch will draw the warp threads of the
cloth together in groups and give the usual openwork appearance of hem
stitching.
From the above explanation it will be understood why the cams for
giving the traverse motion to the needle and operating the feed plate require
to be cut and speeded as described and shewn in Sheet I. to produce stitch
No. 1, it being requisite that the feed should be quiescent during every two
traverse motions of the needle, and that when the stitch made after the second
vibration is secured the feed shall come into action. In applying this stitch
to the formation of button holes it will be understood that the work must be
turned when one side of the hole is sewn in order to retain the working
parts in the same relative positions with respect to the work. A variation of
this stitch, which I will call No. 2, is shewn at Fig. 2; this stitch I produce
às follows: Having secured the loop of the needle thread in the work at the
point 1 I vibrate the needle and cause it to descend and leave a second loop
below the cloth at the point 2, the feed plate being stationary; when this
loop is secured and the needle has risen the cloth is fed forward the length of
á stitch; the needle then descends in a line with the feed at the point 3 and
lays a stitch in advance of the point 2 where it last pierced the cloth; the
loop now made being in like manner secured the needle is vibrated back to its
first position, whereby at its next descent it will be enabled to enter the work
at the point 1* to repeat the series of stitches described. The cut and
speeding of the cams to form this stitch will be required to be so arranged as
alternately to vibrate the needle and to operate the feed plate in a forward
direction.
A further variation of the stitch, which I will call No. 3, is shewn at Fig. 3.
This stitch is produced by giving the needle a traverse motion or vibration
after the locking of each loop, and feeding the work forward at every other
vibration only of the needle. The change of speed and cut of cams necessary
for forming this stitch will be obvious from the foregoing explanation.
In the arrangement of machinery above described for suspending the feed
provision is not made for reversing the direction of the feed, as that was
intended for making the button hole or hem stitch, which requires a simple
forward intermittent feed, but the traverse motion of the pin 1 in the slotted
feed bar may be so increased as to throw the pin past the centre of oscillation,
and the direction of the feed will then be reversed. To effect this a double
action cam, such as that shewn at Fig. 7 Sheet I.), will be required to

page_text: replace the cam shewn at h, Fig. 1, Sheet I. By the automatic arrangement
thus modified I am enabled to obtain another form of hem or ornamental
stitch, which I call Number 4. This stitch, which is shewn at Fig. 4,
Sheet II., I produce in the following manner :-The needle after the first loop
formed by its descent at the point I is secured, is vibrated concurrently with
the forward feed movement of the work; the needle then descends at the
point 2, and the reversing cam, Fig. 7, comes into action to reverse the
feed by throwing the pin 1 of the arm f over or past the centre of vibration ;
the second loop having been secured the needle rises and the back feed takes
place; at its next descent the needle pierces the cloth in a line with the
backward feed at the point 3, and while a third loop is being secured
the cam again reverses the direction of the feed; the needle having risen is now
vibrated back to its first position, and at the same tie the cloth is fed forward
as before; the next descent, therefore, of the needle will be at the point 1*
to commence a repetition of the series of stitches above mentioned.
The foregoing description has reference solely to under-feel sewing
machines, but I also propose to carry out my improvements in connexion
with upper-feed sewing machines using my reversible upper feed, described
in the Specification of my Patent dated Twenty-second January, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-six, No. 209, together with the traversing needle
arrangements Patented by me July Twenty-fifth, One thousand eight
bundred and sixty-six, No. 1936. In this case I make the spur wheel
which carries the cam for traversing the needle carry also the can for
actuating the reversing pin of the slotted feed bar so as to suspend or
reverse the direction of the feed as required. This arrangement is shewn
at Figures 5 and 6, in Sheet 1., Fig. 5 being a front view of the guide
box with the apparatus applied thereto for operating the needle and
the top feed, and Fig. 6 a sectional plan view of the same parts. The
sliding rod which carries the pin 1 for regulating the amount of feed, and
changing its direction or arresting its action as desired is operated by
means of a cam h on the stud axle which carries the cam i for giving the
traverse motions to the needle. In these Figures the cams are shewn as cut
for forming the Number 1 or button hole or hem stitch; in this as in the first
described arrangement a pin carried by the crank lever 9 (which rocks on a
fixed fulcrum) enters the groove of the face cam h. One arm of this lever
is grooved to receive the adjustable screw stud f2, which is clamped to and
projects through the slot of a radius bar f¹ having its fulcrum on a bracket
cast on the guide box A. The end of this radius rod embraces a pin 2

page_text: projecting from the upper end of the sliding rod f which carries the pin 1
before mentioned, a vertical slot is made in the guide box A to allow this
pin 2 to enter a hole made in the radius rod. As, therefore, the radius rod is
vibrated by reason of its connection with the crank rod 9 which is itself
vibrated by the rotation of the cam h the rod f will be lifted and depressed
according to the cut of the cain. At the same time the pin I will be moved
automatically into coincidence with the centre of oscillation of the grooved
feed bar b¹, or on one side thereof, and thus the feed will act and be arrested as
required. By employing a reversing cam as explained with relation to Fig. 1,
the pin 1 may be thrown to either side of the centre of oscillation, and thus the
direction of the feed will be reversed. The pressing feed foot receives its motions
from a pair of cams k and on the horizontal driving shaft, as in my Patent of
January, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, before referred to. A spur
pinion on this shaft gears into a spur wheel connected with the cams h and i,
and the timing of the rotation of these cams, as well as the cut of the cams, will
be determined according to the nature of the stitch required to be produced.
When working button holes, say, by the use of stitch No. 1 in linen or in
under garments so soon as a pearl edge is worked upon one side of the
button hole from end to end I cause the needle to lay two or more elongated
stitches at the end of the button hole to bar the end of the hole, the feed being
mean while arrested; this may be effected by the use of the shifting throat
plate shewn at Figures 8 and 9, or by giving the needle an extra length of
throw or traverse motion, Figures 5 and 6 shew the latter mode of laying
the elongated stitches to bar or finish the ends of the button hole. The face
cami by its rotation rocks the crank lever m into a groove, in the upper limb
of which enters a pin n that is carried by a slotted radius arm o fitted to the
needle bar. This bar is grooved to receive feathers which allow it to slide up
and down freely and ensure its turning with the radius arm to give the
needle the required traverse motion as fully explained in the Specification of
my Patent of July One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six. It will be
understood that by shifting the pin n which couples the radius bar with the
crank lever the traverse motion of the needle may be increased or diminished
at pleasure. The radius bar I notch as shewn to guide the attendant in the
adjustment of the pin n, and this pin I fit with a spring which carries a V-edge
for entering the notches, soldered to the spring is a knob which facilitates the
lifting of the V-edge out of the notches and the shifting of the pin along the
If now I require elongated stitches I simply shift the pin to the
right (Fig. 5) until the V-edge catches into the second notch and the throw
bar o.

page_text: of the needle will then be proportionately increased. The proper number of
elongated stitches having been made the attendant must return the pin n to
its former position, this being effected I reverse the position of the work
and proceed with the sewing of the opposite edge of the button hole. When
employing a shifting throat plate I mount it so that it will be free to slide
laterally on the table, and I operate by means of the presser foot. To enable
the presser foot p to take hold of the throat plate 7, I form that plate with a
rounded projection and I give the presser foot a corresponding concave form.
The lower guide of the presser foot bar I make to slide in order that the
presser foot may be thrown to the right or left and so slide the throat plate
with the work upon it concurrently with but in the opposite direction to the
traverse of the needle; this motion of the presser foot is produced by hand.
and conveniently by a crank lever r which rocks on a fixed fulcrum on the
bracket arm of the machine. An excentric slot cut in the short limb of the
crank lever receives a pin which projects from the guide of the presser foot
bar. By pressing back, therefore, the crank lever the presser foot will be
moved to one side, and with it the throat plate, and the work held between
them, and the descent of the needle will therefore be over a space that will
allow it to lay a stitch across the end of the button hole; for the next succeed-
ing stitch the throat plate must be returned to its former position. The
pearl edge sewing is then continued until the second edge of the button hole
is worked and the operation of barring the end of the hole is repeated.
When using machines fitted with revolving, rocking, or reciprocating loopers
for securing the needle thread of a traversing needle if the vibration or traverse
of the needle is small, as for example, when working fine button holes no
change in the operating of these loopers will be requisite, but when ornamental
stitching requiring a comparatively large traverse or vibration of the needle is
to be produced, then it will be requisite to make the looper follow the motions
of the needle; this propose to effect by giving the shaft which carries the
looper an endway motion, or when the looper is carried by a slide I give the
slide a lateral traverse motion to correspond to the traverse movement of the.
needle; many plans may be applied for obtaining this motion automatically,
but that which I prefer is to apply to the looper shaft or the looper slide, the
sun-and-planet motion described in the Specification of my Patent of July
Twenty-fifth, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, before referred to.
The last part of this Invention relates to a means of adapting the well
known Wheeler and Wilson machine to work the stitches above described,
this is shewn in Sheet II. where Fig. 5 is a side elevation, partly in section,

page_text: of the machine so adapted, and Fig. 6 is a plan view of the same, the table
being broken to expose the parts beneath, and Fig. 7 is a back elevation.
The traverse of the reciprocating needle I effect in the following in anner :-
The rocking arm A which carries the needle I mount upon a slide A¹ forming
a portion of the rocking frame which gives the needle its up-and-down motion.
A pin a upon this rocking arm set in a line with its axis of oscillation (see the
red line Fig. 7) is embraced by a lug on the end of a rock lever B which
receives from a grooved cam C, driven by gearing from the main driving shaft D,
its rocking motion, and through this lever the arm is slidden endwise to and
fro on its slide, and thereby caused to traverse the needle across the line of the
feed. The motion is transmitted from the cam C to the rock lever B by
means of a crank lever E as in the above described arrangements, provision
being made by the shifting coupling stud to give an extra length of traverse
for barring button holes. It will also be necessary in order to form the
stitch No. 4 to apply a reversing feed to this machine; the slotted-feed bar
already described and referred to in the Specification of my Patent of
January Twenty-second, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, I mount
on a fixed fulcrum, as shewn at F, Figures 5 and 6, and I rock this feed bar
by means of the feed cam G. The sliding pin 1 which works in the slotted
bar and in the grooved bar F* carrying the feed plate I operate through a
radius bar and bell crank I by a cam K which also gives the lift to the
. feed plate. The traverse of the pin 1 along the groove of the bar F* will
arrest or reverse the feed motion at pleasure as described with reference to
Sheet I. of the Drawings.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of ""Improvements in
Sewing Machines, and in the Sitches to be Produced from such Machinery,"
and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be
understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First, the incans above described for automatically arresting the feed action
and for reversing the feed action in combination with a traversing needle
operated as above described with reference to Sheet I. of the Drawings.
Secondly, the manner of producing the stitches described with reference
to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, in Sheet 11. of the Drawings.
Thirdly, the mode above described for barring or finishing the ends of
button holes.
Fourthly, shifting the position of the looper of sewing machines wherein a
traversing needle is employed in the manner and for the purpose above
described.

page_text: Lastly, adapting the Wheeler and Wilson sewing machine to produce my
improved stitches in the manner above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Baldwin Woodruff, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
GEORGE BALDWIN WOODRUFF. (L.