IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Palents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."-A communi-
cation from abroad by Walter Davis Richards, of Boston, in the United
States of America.
Scaled the 3rd May 1864, and dated the 6th November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th November 1863.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates in the first place to a novel arrangement of mechanism
for producing a double loop or chain stitch by the use of two needles or
loopers. This is effected by means of excentric straps and levers, connected
to the main shaft of the machine and operating in connection with the
upper needle.
The driving shaft revolves in standards or bearings, and on
the end of such shaft nearest the needle are secured by set screws or other-
wise two excentrics, around which are bands or straps which are connected
by rods to two vibrating bars or levers. The excentrics are attached to
the main driving shaft in such relative positions that the point of throw or
farthest point of one from its centre differs from the like point of the other
about 85 degrees, and they impart their motion accordingly. One of the
levers is a straight vibrating bar turning upon a stud by which it is secured

page_text: to the under side of the table, motion being communicated to it from an
excentric on the driving shaft by means of a suitable band and rod. The
other lever is an angular bar or bell crank lever pivotted on a stud upon
the straight lever just described and receiving motion therefrom.
The long
arm of the bell-crank lever carries the under needle or looper and the short
arm of the same is pivotted to a rod which which is connected with a band
which encircles and receives notion from the other excentric; thus the bell-
crank lever is subjected to a compound motion made up of the motion
received from the straight lever and that received from the excentric. The
lower needle or looper is by this compound motion carried forward on one
side of the upper needle as the latter is ascending, and is carried backwards
on its other side as the upper needle is descending and thus passing in a curve
or ellipse completely around the point of the upper needle, and forming in
combination therewith a succession of loops which constitute the elastic double
loop or lock stitch in the usual form.
The next iurprovement relates to an Invention for which Letters Patent
were granted to Alfred Vincent Newton, dated 11th October 1862, No. 2749
That Invention is described as an improvement upon that class of sewing
machines which produce what is known as the shuttle stitch.
The second part of the present Invention has for its object to so construct
a sewing machine that either the shuttle stitch as described under the Patent
just referred to, or the double chain stitch described under the first head of
the present Invention, may be produced in the same machine by merely
exchanging some of the parts.
In carrying out this improvement the mechanism for producing the stitch
below the table of the machine, whether it be the shuttle stitch or the lower
loop of the double chain stitch, is removeable, so that the mechanism for pro-
ducing either the shuttle stitch or the loop or chain stitch may be substituted
therefor without disarranging the upper mechanism.
We will suppose, for instance, that the upper part of the machine is in
proper working order and the lower part ready for the adjustment of either of
these devices. To prepare it for the shuttle stitch the circular head must be
placed upon the end of the lower shaft, to which it is made fast by means of
a screw, the bobbin case is to be secured to the table of the machine so
that it can be turned to and from its place when required; the spreader must
also be secured to the table, and the machine will then be in working order
for forming the shuttle stitch.
In order to arrange the same machine for making the double loop or
chain stitch, the above described mechanism is to be removed from below

page_text: the table.
The parts to be removed are the bobbin case, the spreader,
and the revolving head, which will be effected by renmoving the screws which
secure them; the machine is then ready for the other device; then the
excentrics attached to the compound lever of the loop arrangement are to be
slipped on to the shaft and made fast by a set screw or otherwise; the compound
lever with the lower needle or looper attached is to be secured to the table by
a stud, on which it moves or plays, and the machine will be ready for the
formation of the double loop or chain stitch; and thus the same machine, by
a simple and easy change and adjustment occupying hardly a moment
of time, can be made to form either the shuttle or chain stitch at the will
of the operator, an arrangement the economy and utility of which are
obvious.
The third part of the Invention relates to a machine for making a double
loop or chain stitch, the several parts being so arranged and combined that a
simple and inexpensive machine will be produced. The two spools for
supplying thread to the upper needle and the looper below are mounted on a
spindle, and the threads are submitted to proper tension to keep them tight.
The upper needle is worked up and down by means of an excentric on the
end of a horizontal shaft which turns in bearings in the swan's neck above the
table. A spring presser is also adapted to the end of the swan's neck for
holding down the cloth while being operated upon. This presser is provided
with a pin whereby it may be held up and prevented from pressing on the
cloth when desired. The apparatus for feeding forward the cloth acts from
below, and consists of a small vibrating lever which is actuated by an excentric
or tappet, at every rotation of which the lever moves forward, and as its end is
pressed upwards by a spring through a hole in the table it pushes forward the
cloth the length of a stitch at every impulse. The looping or securing stitch
is formed below the table by means of a looper, which has a peculiar recipro-
cating motion communicated to it by means of a cam or other equivalent con-
trivance which acts on the shaft which carries the looper and causes it not only
to advance, but also at the same time to rock on its centre. so that the upper
needle in its descent may pass first on one side and then on the other of the
looper.
The last improvement relates to the presser bar plate or foot which holds
down the cloth or work while the needle is passing through.
The improvement (which is applicable to all kinds of sewing mechanism
where a presser bar or foot is employed for the purpose above stated) consists
in making on the under side of that part of the presser bar plate or foot
through which the vertical needle passes a groove or recess which will prevent

page_text: the foot from pressing too much on that particular point of the work. By this
construction of the presser foot the workman is enabled to turn the work to
any angle without the necessity of first raising the pressure foot therefrom as
heretofore, and without the risk of deranging the loop,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," being a communication from abroad,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton,
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 Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
I said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, (reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say):
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates
in the first place to a novel arrangement of mechanism for producing a double
loop or chain stitch by two needles.

page_text: This improved mode of forming the elastic double loop or chain is more
simple and certain than any other in use, as the mode of carrying the looper or
lower needle around the upper needle removes all risk of dropping a stitch, and
at the same time dispenses altogether with the spreader used in other machines,
and which spreader by its operation constantly wears and often breaks the
thread.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1, Sheet I., is a plan view of a sewing
machine constructed according to the present improvements; Fig. 2 is a
vertical and transverse section of the same; Fig. 3 is a vertical and longi-
tudinal section of a portion of the main or driving shaft and the excentrics
secured thereto as herein-after described; and Fig. 4 is a diagram shewing
the relative positions of the excentrics as secured to the driving shaft, and the
difference between their points of throw.
A is the table of the machine; B, the driving shaft: C, the needle holder:
and D, the needle. The driving shaft B revolves in standards or bearings E, E,
and on the end of the shaft nearest the needle are secured by set screws or
otherwise the two excentrics F and G (shewn detached at Figures 3 and 4,
around which pass the metal straps H and I, which by the rods J and K and
the studs Land M are connected to the vibrating bars or levers N and O.
These excentrics F and G are attached to the main or driving shaft B in such
relative positions that the point of throw or farthest point of one from its
centre differs from the like point of the other about eighty-five degrees, as seen
in Fig. 4, and they impart their motion accordingly. The lever N is a straight
bar vibrating upon the stud P, by which it is secured to the under side of the
table (as seen in Fig. 1), motion being communicated to it from the excentric
F through the rod J and stud M: O is a bell-crank lever pivotted on a stud f
upon the straight lever N just described, and receiving motion therefrom.
The long arm of the hell-crank lever O carries the under needle or looper e.
and its short arm bis pivotted to the rod K, which is connected with the
strap I encircling and receiving motion from the other excentric G: thus the
bell-crank lever O is subjected to a compound motion made up of the motion
received from the straight lever N and that received from the excentric G.
The lower needle or looper e, attached as above described to the arm c of the
bent lever O, is by this compound motion carried forward on one side of the
upper needle as the latter is ascending, and is carried backwards on its other
side as the upper needle is descending, and its eye thus passes in a curve or
ellipse completely around the point of the upper needle. and forms in
combination therewith a succession of loops which constitute the elastic double
loop or lock stitch.

page_text: The foregoing description gives in detail only the mechanism comprised in
the present improvement, the other operating parts necessary to complete the
machine being common to many sewing machines. It will be understood from
the foregoing that the peculiar feature of novelty in this part of the improve-
ments is the vibrating bars or levers N and O operated by the excentrics F
and G by means of the excentric straps H and I, the rods J and K, and the
studs L and M, or their equivalents, the whole being in combination with tho
looper or lower needle operated as above described.
The next improvement relates to an Invention for which Letters Patent
were granted to Alfred Vincent Newton, dated Eleventh October One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-two, No. 2749. That Invention is described as an
improvement upon that class of sewing machines which produce what is known
as the shuttle stitch.
The second part of the present Invention has for its object so to construct a
sewing machine of this kind that either the shuttle stitch, as described under
the Patent just referred to, or the double chain stitch described under the first
head of the present Invention, may be produced in the same machine by merely
exchanging some of the parts.
In carrying out this improvement the mechanism for producing the stitch
below the table of the machine, whether it be the shuttle stitch or the lower
loop of the double chain stitch, is removeable so that the mechanism for pro-
ducing either the shuttle stitch or the loop or chain stitch may be substituted
the one for the other without disarranging the upper mechanism.
The utility
and advantage of such an arrangement will be readily apparent, as each of the
two stitches in use is especially appropriate to certain kinds of work, and by
adopting the present improvement the operator can with one machine make
either stitch as may be desired.
Fig. 5, Sheet II., is a plan view of a sewing machine arranged for making
the shuttle stitch, and constructed substantially in accordance with the Speci-
cation to the Letters Patent above referred to; Fig. 6 is a vertical and
longitudinal section of the front portion of the same; Figures 7 and 8. are end
views of the circular head or drum which carries the hook; Fig. 9 is a side
view of the bobbin or spool holder with its case; and Fig. 10 is a view of the
spreader, all of these parts being detached from the machine; Fig. 11 is a
plan view of the same machine, with the mechanism for making the double
loop or chain stitch substituted, and as now represented it is constructed and
arranged substantially in accordance with the machine shewn in Sheet I.
Fig. 12 is a vertical and longitudinal section of the front portion of the same;
Fig. 13 represents the compound lever, to which is attached the lower

page_text: needle; and Fig. 14 is a sectional view of the excentrics, band, and stud by
which the compound lever is moved, both represented as detached from the
machine.
In explaining this part of the Invention it will be unnecessary to describe
in detail the working parts of the machine, many of them being common to
most sewing machines.
A represents the table of the machine: B, the driving shaft revolving in
standards or bearings C, C; D, Fig. 3, represents the bobbin or spool holder,
and E the case in which it is contained, both of which are represented in side
view and detached from the machine in Fig. 9; F is the circular head or
drum for carrying the hook G, end views of which are given in Figures 7 and 8;
His the spreader shewn detached at Fig. 10. In Figure 11, I is the com-
pound lever or arm which carries the lower needle (see also detached view,
Fig. 12), and L, L, are arms connected with the lever I by the studs K, K,
and terminating in the excentric rings or straps M. M, which embrace the
two excentrics for operating the lever I, as shewn in Fig, 14,
Suppose now that the upper part of the machine is in proper working order
and that the lower part is ready for the adjustment of either sewing device,
to prepare it for the shuttle stitch the circular head F (Figures 5 and 6),
must be placed upon the ends of the lower shaft. to which it is made fust by
means of the screw X (see also Fig. 7). The bobbin case E is to be secured
to the table of the machine by the stud 0, so that it can be turned to and
from its place. The spreader H. Fig. 10, must also be secured to the table
by the screw P, as shewn in Fig. 5. The machine will then be in working
order for forming the shuttle stitch.
To enable the machine to produce the double loop or chain stitch the above-
described mechanism is to be removed, the bobbin case E, the spreader H,
and the revolving head F; the machine is then ready to receive the other
mechanism. The excentrics with their straps M. M,.are now to be slipped on
and made fast to the shaft B by a set screw or otherwise, and the connection
is to be made good between the excentrics and the compound lever I, which
lever, with the lower needle or looper attached, is secured to the table by the
stud R, on which it moves or plays, and the machine will then be ready for
the formation of the double loop or chain stitch.
Under this head of the Invention I claim the mode herein set forth of con-
structing the machine so that at the will of the operator either one of two
devices for operating the lower thread may be adapted thereto. so as to form
in conjunction with the upper thread by the one device either the double loop
or chain stitch or the shuttle stitch.

page_text: The third part of the Invention relates to another construction of machine
for making a double loop or chain stitch, the several parts being so arranged
and combined that a simple and inexpensive machine will be produced.
different positions the
In Figures 15, 16, 17,
This improved machine is shewn in Sheet III. of the accompanying
Drawings, in which Fig. 15 is a side elevation of the machine, Fig. 16 is an
end view thereof, some of the parts in both these Figures being shewn in
section Fig. 17 is a plan view of the under side of the table and those
parts attached thereto; Fig. 18 is a view of the other or driving end of the
machine, shewing the gearing whereby the several parts are actuated;
Figures 19, 20, 21, and 22, are views of the presser detached; Figures 23,
24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, and 32, represent the
two needles assume in order to produce the stitch.
and 18, a, a, is the table, to the under side of which some of the working parts
are connected; b is a vertical plate to which the bracket arm c is attached
This vertical plate b carries a stud pin d, on which os mounted the spur wheel c
and hollow axle f of the rotating case f, which may either be turned by a
winch handle, or by a band passed round the groove f. The bracket
arme and vertical plate b carry the upper shaft g, which is driven by the spur
wheel e in gear with a pinion on the inner end of the shaft g. The two
spools for supplying thread to the upper needle and the looper below are seen
at and mounted on a fixed pin. The threads are led through eyes in a
tension plate to keep them at proper tension. The upper needle is fixed to
the lower end of a vertical shaft k', which is worked up and down by means
of an eccentric on the end of the horizontal shaft g. A spring presser m
is also adapted to a vertical rod m' at the end of the bracket arm c, for the
purpose of holding down the cloth while being operated upon. The apparatus
for feeding forward the cloth consists of a small serrated plate n, which is
actuated in the following manner:--Pendent from the spur pinion g', and
secured thereto by a segment pin, is a wedge-shaped frame o. This frame is
actuated by the rotation of the pinion g', and by its action it is intended to
drive both the feed plate and the horizontal needle. At one side near its lower
end the frame is provided with a lug to receive a pin which projects into a
slot in a crank arm of a rock shaft p that lies below the table. The other end
of this shaft carries another crank arm, which is fitted with an adjustable
screw stop, and it is by rocking this shaft p, and thus bringing the stop to bear
against a projection on the under face of the plate n, that the feed is effected.
The plate n is pressed upwards through the slot in the table by a spring as
usual, and another spring gives it the requisite return motion. The looper
shaft is carried by an arın g attached to the end of the shaft g", which has a

page_text: peculiar reciprocating motion communicated to it by the vertical movement of
the frame o for the purpose of opening out its loop, so that the vertical needle
may be sure of entering it. The looper is thus set excentrically to the axis of
the shaft g. which is caused not only to advance and recede but also to rock
on its axis, so that the upper needle in its descent aray pass first on one side
and then on the other of the looper. The wedge-shaped frame o slides in a
fixed guide o, which controls its oscillations. At its lower end this frame is
fitted with lugs to receive a pin q, which passes through a segment slotted
head of the shaft g; as therefore the frame rises, lifted by the rotating
pinion g', the pin q rising in the segment slot in the head of the shaft g* will
move forward that shaft with its looper, and also rock it sufficiently to throw
the looper on one side of the vertical needle. On the descent of the frame
the opposite effect will be produced. The several motions of the vertical
needle and looper in combination will be clearly understood by examining
the Diagrams, Figures 23 to 32. The black lines 1, 1, in Figures 23, 25, 27,
29, and 31 represent the cloth or fabric that is being operated upon. The two
outer blue lines 2, 2, in the other Figures represent the direction in which the
looper advances and recedes alternately. The central blue line indicates the
position of the vertical needle, and the line in which the sewing operation
proceeds. The presser plate or foot m, which holds down the cloth or work
while the upper needle is passing through is inade, as shewn at Figures 33,
34, 35, and 36, the under side being grooved or recessed to prevent the foot
from pressing too much on that particular point of the work where the thread
is being drawn through. By this construction of presser foot the workman is
enabled to turn the work to any angle with the presser foot down without risk
of deranging the loop.
In reference to the machine shewn in Sheet III., I claim the general
arrangement and combination of parts above set forth, and also constructing
the presser foot or bar with a recess cut in its under face, as and for the
purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Third day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)