NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SEWING CLOTH OR OTHER MATERIAL
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Elmer Townsend, of the State of Massa-
chusetts, of the United States of America, for the Invention of
"NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SEWING CLOTH
OR OTHER MATERIAL."-A communication from William Butterfield,
of the said State of Massachusetts
Sealed the 16th January 1854, and dated the 24th November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Elmer Townsend at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th November 1853.
I, ELMER TOWNSEND, of the State of Massachusetts, of the United
States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
of NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SEWING CLOTH OR
OTHER MATERIAL (which Invention has been communicated to me by
William Butterfield, of the said State of Massachusetts,) to be as
follows:-
The machine to which said Invention belongs performs the operation
of sewing a chain stitch with a hooked needle, which is made to pass
through the cloth or material to be sewed, and to have the thread laid

page_text: in its hook. When the hook is drawn through the cloth the thread is
drawn in a double or looped state through the cloth. The needle is
fixed to the lower end of a carrier or slide to which the usual vertical
movements necessary to the operation of the needle is to be imparted
by proper mechanism. In the side of this carrier an elongated notch
or recess is made, and a projection from another slide bar is extended
into this notch. This latter slide bar plays or slides parallel to the
needle carrier, and is made to slide against a friction spring which is
pressed against it with a force sufficient to hold it at any elevation
within the limit of its movements. The lower end of the said slide
carries the "spring rest cast-off," which constitutes one of my improve-
ments. It consists of a bent rod or piece of steel attached at its
upper end to the slide a short distance above the lower end of the slide.
Through the part of the slide which extends below the top of the rest
cast-off a screw is screwed and made to abut against the rest cast-off,
and to force the lower end of the same towards the needle. The
cast-off is made as a spring, so as to be capable of moving away from
the needle when the screw is unscrewed. The object of thus making
it, and applying to it a screw, is to adapt it to a needle of any thick-
11ess. The needle carrier is depressed by a lever to whose front arm a
spring is applied. When the carrier lever is depressed the spring is
borne down upon the projection from the slide of the rest cast-off, and
forces the slide downwards so as to force the rest cast-off down upon
the material to be sewed; and, whatever may be the thickness of such
material, or the variation of the thickness, the rest cast-off' will be borne
down upon the material by the action of the spring. The rest cast-off
is raised off and above the material by the lower end of the recess of
the needle carrier being made to act against the projection of the slide
of said cast-off, and lift the same while the needle carrier is being ele-
vated. The rest cast-off is not intended to close or cover the hook of
the needle while said hook is being drawn up through the material or
cloth to be sewed, for the rest cast-off' is not to be made to pass down
through the cloth, but only to rest upon it close to the needle, the hook
of the needle being so formed or carried back from the shank of it as
not to come into injurious contact with the lower end of the cast-off

page_text: when the point of the barb of the hook is raised out of the material.
As soon as the point of the barb has been drawn through the fabric
or material the rest cast-off should be elevated with the needle, and
made to rise up with the barb as high as it may go. While the needle
descends upon the material the rest cast-off should be stationary, but
during the further downward movement of the needle it should be
forced downward by the spring, and made to pass into the loop of
thread just previously drawn up by the hook of the needle, and to rest
and press upon the material to be sewed. The rest cast-off' is thus in-
terposed between the loop and point or barb of the hook of the needle,
so that when the barb rises out of the cloth with the next loop it (the
barb) cannot catch in the first-named loop, but draws the new loop
freely through it. By means of the rest spring cast-off' made and
operated as specified, I am enabled to dispense with the needle slide
that is commonly used to close the hook of the needle while it is being
drawn up through the fabric or material sewed. As such needle slide
goes through the cloth or material it is constantly liable to be and is
frequently broken. Accidents which so often happen to such closing
slides render a machine in which they are employed very expensive in
its use.
I have, therefore, aimed to get rid of them, and have effected
an improvement which completely removes the objection of the closing
slide of the hook. The thread is cast into the hook of the needle
by a sliding thread carrier arranged and operated in the ordinary way.
From a bobbin the thread proceeds to and through the carrier.
said bobbin is placed on a tubular axle that turns upon a fixed or
stationary axle, and has a friction disc on its lower end, such friction
disc being made to rest on a shoulder of the fixed axle. A shoulder is
arranged on and near the lower part of the tubular axle, and on this
shoulder a moveable bobbin holder is placed, it being made to turn
freely on the tubular axle and to be connected with the friction disc by
a spring, which is attached at one end to a stud or pin that projects
down from the holder and into a notch made in the friction disc.
The holder is provided with one or more studs or pius which extend
upwards from it, and into a corresponding recess or recesses formed in
The

page_text: the lower head of the bobbin. By means of this holder a full bobbin
may at any time be substituted for an empty one; but as machines
have heretofore been constructed, the bobbin being directly connected
to the friction disc by the take-up spring, admitted only of said bobbin
being employed. The removing it, and supplying it with fresh thread,
consumed too much valuable time. By means of my improvement we
have only to remove an empty bobbin, and put another and full one in
its place, thus saving the time of winding the thread and adjusting
the spring in place.
The purpose of the closing slide point or lever of a hooked needle,
whether used in a sewing or knitting machine, is to perform the fine-
tion of closing the hook or covering the barb of the needle, so as to
prevent the said hook or its barb, when drawn back through the ma-
terial, from catching in the same. In the sewing machine of William
Wickersham, as patented in the United States on the Nineteenth day
of April, Eighteen hundred and fifty-three, a slide under a particular
arrangement and method of use is made to perform this function, and
goes down through the cloth or leather with the needle. My spring rest
cast-off' does not perform such a function, for it in no respect goes
through the cloth or material to be sewed, and does not cover o
close the hook so as to prevent it from catching in the cloth or
material when it is drawn through such cloth or material. It operates
to hold down the cloth or fabric close to the needle, while its hook is
drawn through the said cloth or fabric, and after the hook has passed
entirely through the cloth or material the said rest cast-off' rises up with
the needle and loop of thread drawn up by and on it, and remains u
during the descent of the needle towards the fabric. It thus is made
to go up in order to remain above the loop, so that when it nex
descends it may pass into the loop. The said rest cast-off' is next made
to descend along the needle, and pass into the loop of thread, and to
rest on the fabric or cloth, and hold said loop firmly while said needle
descends through the material or cloth receiving the thread in its hook
and is drawn upwards, so as to draw a new or another loop up throug
the fabric and the loop held by the rest east-off. The said rest cast-oft

page_text: by being interposed between the needle barb and the first loop, not
only prevents the said loop from being caught by the hook as it rises
out of the cloth, but ensures the casting of the loop from the needle.
I do not, therefore, claim the combination of a needle slide and
hooked needle wherein the slide is made to operate so as to close or
cover the hook, and prevent it from catching in the fabric while it is
being drawn through the same; nor do I claim any arrangement of
applying the closing slide of a hooked needle to the same side of a
needle as is the barb or hook, so that such slide may slide in a groove
in the needle (or carrier thereof) parallel to the motion of the needle.
But what I do claim as my Invention or improvement in the chain
stitch sewing machine operating with a hooked needle or hook to draw
the thread through the material to be sewed, is the rest cast-off" in
its combination with the hooked needle, and as applied to and made to
operate with it and the material to be sewed, and in the loop of thread,
substantially as specified.
the rest cast-off"
And for the purpose of enabling the part termed
to be adapted to needles of different sizes, I claim the improvement of
making the lower part of it so as to be capable of springing away from
the needle in combination with applying to the side of it a set screw,
by which the said lower part may be forced up to or properly adjusted
to the barb of the needle, whatever may be the thickness of the needle
employed.
I also claim the improvement by which the rest east-off*" is ren-
dered capable of adapting itself to any ordinary thickness or variation
of thickness of the fabric or article to be sewed; such improvement
consisting in the above-described mode of operating it by the spring
applied to the carrier lever, and made to operate on the lower end of
the recess, as stated.
I do not claim the application of a spring to the bobbin for the pur-
pose of enabling the bobbin to fall or turn backward, and take up the
slack of the thread. But what I do claim is, the combination of the
bobbin holder with the spring, the friction disc, and the axle on which
the holder turns, the same enabling an empty bobbin to be removed

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Elmer Townsend in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
ELMER TOWNSEND, of the State of Massachusetts, of the United
States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of November,
A.D. 1853, in the seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her
heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Elmer Towns-
end, Her special licence that I, the said Elmer Townsend, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Elmer
Townsend, 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 Inven-
tion of "NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SEWING
CLOTH OR OTHER MATERIAL," [the same being a communication to me from
a foreigner, one William Butterfield, a resident of the said State of
Massachusetts, of the United States of America,] upon the condition
[amongst others] that I, the said Elmer Townsend, by an instrument of
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascer
tain 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, or Office of Her Majesty's Commissioners of
Patents, within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Elmer Townsend, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following Specification, and the accompanying Drawings, letters,
figures, and references thereof.
Of the said Drawings, Figure 1, denotes a front elevation; Figure 2,
an under side view; and Figure 3, a side elevation of a chain stitch
sewing machine, embodying my improvements; sundry parts of the
framework being represented as removed or broken away, in order to
more clearly exhibit the operative mechanism making parts of or con-
nected with the said improvements. Figure 4, is a vertical section of
the bobbin holder and bobbin.
its vertical side c.
The machine performs the operation of sewing with a hooked needle,
a side view of which, on an enlarged scale or full size, is given in
Figure 5. The said needle [seen at A, Figure 1,] is fixed in the lower
end of a carrier B, to which, by proper mechanism, the usual vertical
movements necessary to the operation of the needle is imparted. In
the side of this carrier an elongated notch or recess C, is made; its
top, and bottom b, being parallel to each other, and perpendicular to
There extends into this notch, from a vertical slide
bar D, a projection d. The lever E, by which this needle carrier is
worked has a spring F, extended from it, and directly over the projec-
tion d. The slide bar D, is made to slide against a friction spring G,
which is pressed against it with a force suflicient to hold it in any posi-
tion. The lower end of the slide D, carries the "spring rest cast-off"
H, which is a bent piece of steel, formed as seen in the Drawings, and
attached at its upper end to the slide D. Such slide D. is made to
project below the upper end of the "rest cast-off," and to have a set
screw I, screwed through it, and against the "rest cast-off." and so as
to move the lower end of the said "rest cast-off" up against the
needle. The cast-ofl" is made as a spring so as to be capable of
moving away from the needle when the screw 1, is unscrewed; and
the object of thus making it, and providing it with a set screw, in the
manner described. is to adapt it to a needle of any thickness, as
needles of different sizes or thicknesses are used in the machine in
accordance with the size and quality of the thread to be employed.
When the carrier lever E, is depressed, the spring F is borne down

page_text: upon the projection d, of the slide D, and forces the slide downwards,
so as to force the spring rest cast-off II, down upon the leather or
material to be sewed. Whatever may be the thickness, or however
variable may be the thickness, of the material to be sewed, the rest cast-
off H, will be made to rest upon it by the action of the spring F. The
rest cast-off' is raised off and above the leather by the lower end of the
recess of the needle carrier being made to act against and lift the
pro-
jection d, while the needle carrier is being elevated. The rest cast-off'
is not intended to close or cover the hook of the needle, while said
hook is being drawn up through the material or cloth to be sewed, for
the rest cast-off is not to be made to pass down through the cloth, but
only to rest upon it close to the needle; the hook of the needle being
so formed or carried back from the shank of it as not to come into
injurious contact with the lower end of the cast-off, when the point of
the barb of the hook is raised out of the material. As soon as the
point of the barb has been drawn through the fabric or material, the
rest cast-off should be clevated with the needle, and made to rise up
with the barb as high as it may go. While the needle descends upon
the material, the rest cast-off' should be stationary; but during the
further downward movement of the needle, it should be forced down-
ward by the spring F, and made to pass into the loop of thread, just
previously drawn up by the hook of the needle, and to rest and press
upon the material to be sewed. The rest cast-off' is thus interposed
between the loop and the point or barb of the hook of the needle, so that
when the barb rises from out of the cloth with the next loop, it [the
barb] cannot catch in the first-named loop, but draws the new loop freely
through it. By means of the spring rest cast-off, made and operated as
specified, I am able to dispense with the needle slide that is commonly
used to close the hook of the needle, while it is being drawn up
through the fabric or material sewed. As such needle slide goes
through the cloth or material, it is constantly liable to be and is fre-
quently broken. Accidents, which so often happen to such closing
slides, render a machine in which they are employed very expensive in
its use.
I have therefore aimed to get rid of them, and have effected
an improvement which completely removes the objection of the closing

page_text: slide of the hook. The thread L, is cast into the hook of the needle
by a sliding thread carrier M, arranged and operated in the ordinary
way. From a bobbin N, the thread proceeds to and through the carrier
M. The said bobbin is placed on a tubular axle O, that turns upon a
fixed or stationary axle P, and has a friction dise R, on its lower end ;
such friction disc being made to rest on a shoulder S, of the fixed axle.
A shoulder T, is arranged on and near the lower part of the tubular
axle, and on this shoulder a moveable bobbin holder U, is placed, it
being made to turn freely on the tubular axle, and to be connected
with the friction dise R, by a spring V, which is attached at one end
to a stud or pin i, that projects down from the holder, and into a
notch, made in the friction disc R, as seen in Figure 6, which is a
top view of this disc. The holder U, is provided with one or more
studs or pius, which extend upwards from it, and into a corre-
sponding recess or recesses formed in the lower head of the bobbin.
By means of this holder a full bobbin may be at any time substituted
for an empty one. But as machines have heretofore been constructed,
the bobbin being directly connected to the friction disc R, by the
take-up spring V, admitted only of said bobbin being employed, the
removing it and supplying it with fresh thread occupied much valuable
time. By means of my improvements we have only to remove an
empty bobbin, and put another and full one in its place, thus saving
the time of winding the thread and adjusting the spring in place.
The purpose of the closing slide point or lever of a hooked needle,
whether used in a sewing or a knitting machine, is to perform the
function of closing the hook or covering the barb of the needle, so as
to prevent the said hook or its barb, when drawn back through the
material, from catching in the same. In the sewing machine of
William Wickersham, as patented in the United States, on the
Nineteenth day of April, Eighteen hundred and fifty-three, a slide
under a particular arrangement and method of use, is made to
perform this function, and goes down through the cloth or leather
with the needle. My "spring rest cast-off" does not perform such a
function, for it in no respect goes through the cloth or material to be
sewed, and does not cover or close the hook so as to prevent it from

page_text: catching in the cloth or material when it is drawn through such cloth
or material. It operates to hold down the cloth or fabric close to the
needle while its hook is drawn through the said cloth or fabric; and
after the hook has passed entirely through the cloth or material, the
said rest cast-off rises up with the needle and loop of thread drawn up
by and on it, and remaining up during the descent of the needle
towards the fabric. It thus is made to go up in order to remain above
the loop, so that when it next descends it may pass into the loop.
The said "rest cast-off" is next made to descend along the needle, and
pass into the loop of thread, and to rest on the fabric or cloth, and hold
said loop firmly, while the needle descends through the material or
cloth receiving the thread in its hook, and is drawn upwards, so as to
draw a new or another loop up through the fabric, and the loop held by
the rest cast-off. The said rest cast-off, by being interposed between the
needle barb and the front loop, thus not only prevents the said loop
from being caught by the hook as it rises out out of the cloth, but
ensures the casting of the loop from the needle.
I do not therefore claim the combination of a needle slide and
hooked needle, wherein the slide is made to operate so as to close or
cover the hook, and prevent it from catching in the fabric while it is
being drawn through the same; nor do I claim any arrangement of
applying the closing slide of a hooked needle to the same side of the
needle as is the barb or hook, so that such slide may slide in a groove
in the needle [or carrier thereof] parallel to the motion of the needle.
But what I do claim as my Invention or improvement in the chain
stich sewing machine, operating with a hooked needle or hook to draw
the thread through the material to be sewed, is the "rest cast-off"" in its
combination with the hooked needle, and as applied to and made to
operate with it and the material to be sewed, and in the loop of thread,
substantially as specified.
And for the purpose of enabling the part termed the "rest cast-off""
to be adapted to needles of different sizes, I claim the improvement of
making the lower part of it so as to be capable of springing away from
the needle in combination with applying to the slide of it a set screw,
by which the said lower part may be forced up to or properly adjusted

page_text: to the barb of the needle, whatever may be the thickness of the needle
employed.
I also claim the improvement by which the rest cast-off' is rendered
capable of adapting itself to any ordinary thickness or variation of
thickness of the fabric or article to be sewed; such improvement con-
sisting in the above described mode of operating it by the spring F.
applied to the carrier lever E, and made to operate on the lower end of
the recess C, as stated.
I do not claim the application of a spring to the bobbin for the
purpose of enabling the bobbin to fall or turn backward and take up
the slack of the thread; but what I do claim is, the combination of the
bobbin holder U, with the spring V, its friction disc R, and the axle on
which the holder turns, the same enabling an empty bobbin to be
removed from the holder, and a full one put in its place, without dis-
turbing the connection of the spring with the bobbin and friction plate
or disc.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and sea, this
Third day of January, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
four.
ELMER TOWNSEND. (L.s.)