IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Marshall Henry Pearson, of Leeds, in the County of
York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 22nd July 1879, and dated the 28th January 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Marshall Henry Pearson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th January 1879.
MARSHALL HENRY PEARSON, of Leeds, in the County of York. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SEWING MACHINES."
First. My improvements relate to boot and shoe sole sewing machines, and have
for their object the automatic lifting and locking of the presser bar and foot at any
required distance above the "stock" irrespective of the thickness thereof, and for
the purpose of relieving the "stock" from pressure whilst being moved by the
feeder.
On the driving shaft of the machine I mount a cam or tappit which is for the
purpose of actuating an intermediate lever for the purpose of giving the required
lift to the presser bar, and in order to lock the presser bar I couple or hinge to the
opposite end of the lever to that which is in contact with the cam or tappit a foot
lifting plate provided with a hole through which the presser foot bar is passed;
this hole is slightly larger than the diameter of the presser foot bar, and the pin on
which the foot plate is hinged on the aforesaid lever is rather sınaller than the hole
in the lever which is provided to receive it, so that any movement of the lever causes
the plate gradually to bind or lock onto the bar presser foot and lifts it. The plate
is retained in position at its outer end by a spiral or other spring.
The second part of my improvements are intended to facilitate the slackening of
the stitck during the operation of feeding the "stock."
In machines of ordinary construction and at present in use it is customary to
move the "stock" at or about the time the thread forming the stitch is being
tightened; this is very objectionable, causing a great strain on the needle. By my
improvements the above named objections are obviated and better work produced.
I accomplish this end by giving a downward movement to the needle previous
to the feeding motion taking place; this is obtained by reversing the action and
applying an arrangement of mechanism, substantially the same as the hereinbefore
described for lifting the presser foot bar.

page_text: Third. My improvements have for their object imparting the requisite motion to
the whirl or looper, and are as follows:-I mount at one end of the driving shaft a
crank plate or disc provided with a pin and other working parts similar to those
employed on shaping machines for obtaining quick and slow motion. This motion
is transmitted to the whirl or looper shaft by suitable rods, levers, and ratchet
motion or other equivalent gearing.
Fourth. My improvements have reference to the thread levers of sewing
_machines, and are particularly applicable to such machines as are employed for
sewing leather, but may be applied to other sewing inachines.
The object of these improvements are to produce a positive and automatic variable
motion-to-the-thread lever in accordance with the thickness of the material being
-sewn-
The thread lever may be of ordinary construction, and actuated by a cam on the
driving shaft-in-the-ordinary-way. The opposite end-of-the-lever-terminates-at-or-
near and above the needle bar of the machine. On the end of the lever is pivotted
or hinged a thread controlling lever, one end of which is provided with an eye for
thread or guide roller. The other end of the controlling lever is passed beneath a
fixed pin, and is retained in contact therewith by means of a spiral or other spring.
Between the fixed pin and the fulcrum or bearing of the controlling lever is pro-
vided a slide having an adjustable piñ thereon, and connected by means of a bell
crank levér to the presser foot bar in such a manner that any variation in the
thickness of the material operates through the bell crank lever, and thence upon
the position of the controlling lever and adjustable pin, and so producing the
required variable motion of the thread controlling lever."

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Marshall Henry Pearson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th
July 1879.
MARSHALL HENRY PEARSON, of Leeds, in the County of York.
IN SEWING MACHINES."
"IMPROVEMENTS
First. My improvements relate to boot and shoe sole sewing machines, and have
for their object the automatic lifting and locking of the presser bar and foot at any
required distance above the "stock" irrespective of the thickness thereof, and for
the purpose of relieving the "stock" from pressure whilst being moved by the
feeder.
On the driving shaft of the machine I mount a cam or tappit, which is for the
purpose of actuating an intermediate lever for the purpose of giving the required
lift to the presser bar, and in order to lock the presser bar I couple or hinge to the
opposite end of the lever to that which is in contact with the cam or tappit a foot
lifting plate provided with a hole through which the presser foot bar is passed;
this hole is slightly larger than the diameter of the presser foot bar and the pin on
which the foot plate is hinged on the aforesaid lever is rather smaller than the hole
in the lever which is provided to receive it, so that any movement of the lever
causes the plate gradually to bind or lock onto the bar presser foot and lifts it.
The plate is retained in position at its outer end by a spiral or other spring.
The second part of my improvements are intended to facilitate the slackening
of the stitch during the operation of feeling the "stock."
"
In machines of ordinary construction, and at present in use, it is customary to
move the "stock at or about the time the thread forming the stitch is being
tightened; this is very objectionable, causing a great strain on the needle. By
my improvements the above named objections are obviated and better work
produced.
I accomplish this end by giving a downward movement to the needle previous
to the feeding motion taking place; this is obtained by reversing the action and
applying an arrangement of mechanism, substantially the same as the hereinbefore
described for lifting the presser foot bar.
Third. My improvements have for their object imparting the requisite motion to
the whirl or looper, and are as follows:-
I mount at one end of the driving shaft a crank plate or disc provided with a
pin and other working parts similar to those employed on "shaping machines" for
obtaining quick and slow motion. This motion is transmitted to the whirl or
looper shaft by, suitable rods, levers, and ratchet motion, or other equivalent
gearing.
Fourth. My improvements have reference to the thread levers of sewing machines
and are particularly applicable to such machines as are employed for sewing
leather, but may also be applied to other sewing machines.
The object of these improvements are to produce a positive and automatic variable
motion to the thread lever in accordance with the thickness of the material being
sewn.
3
The thread lever may be of ordinary construction and actuated by a cam on the
driving shaft in the ordinary way. The opposite end of the lever terminates at or
near and above the needle bar of the machine. On the end of the lever pivotted
or hinged a thread controlling lever, one end of which is provided with an eye for
thread or guide roller. The other end of the controlling lever is passed beneath a
fixed pin, and is retained in contact therewith by means of a spiral or other spring.

page_text: Between the fixed pin and the fulcrum or bearing of the controlling lever is provided
a slide having an adjustable pin thereon, and connected by means of a bell crank
lever to the presser foot bar in such a manner that any variation in the thickness
of the material operates through the bell crank lever and thence upon the position
of the controlling lever and adjustable pin, and so producing the required variable
motion of the thread controlling lever.
And in order that my Invention may be more completely understood, reference is
given to the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings and to the marks and letters of
reference thereon.
Fig. I is a side elevation and rig. za front elevation; Fig. 5, a part pian snewing
-a-portion-of-my-improvements.;-Figs. 4,-5,.6,-7,-8,-9,-and-10.are modifications-of-the
same.
''
Fig. 11 is a side elevation, and Fig. 12 a part plan of the same, shewing other.
improvements in sewing machines, and Figs. 13 and 14 are respectively a side eleva-
tion and part plan of modifications of the same.
a is the driving shaft of the sewing machine; on it I mount a cam or tappit b,
which is for the purpose of actuating an intermediate lever c for the purpose of
giving the required lift to the presser bar d. I provide a second lever c¹, which
as the effect of producing a second lift, the length of which is varied by the set
screw c², and motion imparted to the lever c' by a second cam 6'. In order to lock
the presser bar d, I couple or hinge to the opposite end of the lever c to that
which is in contact with cam or tappit b, the foot lifting plate e provided with a
hole f, through which the presser foot bar d is passed; this hole is slightly larger
than the diameter of the presser foot bar d, and the pin g by which the foot lifting
plate e is hinged is rather smaller than the hole provided to receive it in the lever c.
By this arrangement any movement of the lever c causes the foot lifting plate e to
gradually bind or lock onto the presser foot bar d, thereby lifting it. The plate e
is retained in position by spiral or other springs h.
In some cases I make the presser bar d by preference square, as shewn at Fig. 4,
and in order to better insure the lifting thereof I either cut the face of the presser
bar d, or dovetail a piece in, as shewn at i, and fit onto the plate e a fixed pawl j,
which works into the teeth. In this arrangement it is not necessary for the plate
e to be hinged on the lever c but only for its end k to rest thereon.
Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are respectively a side elevation, a cross section through A. B,
Fig. 5, and plan of further modifications employed for lifting the presser foot bar d,
in which is a clamp which is tapered at m to receive the end of the lever cat n.
It will be readily seen that by lifting the lever c the split clamp is caused to
tighten on the bar & so as to transmit thereto a positive motion. In this arrange-
ment the clamp is retained in position by the spring or springs o, and that position
adjusted or regulated by the set screw P.
In Figs. 8, 9, and 10 are shewn a modification of this last arrangement in which
the clamp is V'd at q, as shewn, into which fits the piece r, which is hinged on the
lever c.
By the movement of the lever c the hinged piece is lifted up and thereby
tightens the clamp on the bar d, giving the required movement thereto.
し
In the second part of my improvements I dispense with moving the "stock” at
or about the time the thread forming the stitch is being tightened, and accomplish
this end by giving a downward movement to the needle previous to the feeding
motion taking place, and is as hereafter described.
I employ another tappit wheel or cam b2, mounted on the driving shaft a, and
another lever c³ and hinged piece e¹; these are of a similar construction to lever c
and hinged piece e, and their action upon the needle bar r is of the same kind as that
described for the presser foot bar d, but have the effect of moving the needle bar

page_text: in the opposite direction. Other modifications shewn at Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and
10 may
also be used when preferred instead of the arrangement shewn at Figs. 1
and 2 for this purpose.
Thirdly. My arrangement of apparatus for imparting the requisite motion to the
whirl or looper are as follows:-
I mount at one end of the driving shaft a the crank plate or disc s provided with
a pin t and block u which works in the slot hole of the lever w, this motion is
similar to the link motion on a "shaping machine," whereby quick and slow motion
are alternately obtained; such motion is transmitted to the whirl or looper shaft
through lever w by an ordinary known means.
Fourthly. In order to impart an automatic and positive variable motion to the
thread lever to suit the various thickness of the material being sewn I construct
those parts of the machine required for this motion as shewn at Figs. 11 and 12, or
when preferred, in a modified way shewn at Figs. 13 and 14.
In Figs: 11 and 12, 1 is a thread lever and 2 the cam on driving shaft 3; these
may be of ordinary construction, the end 4 of the lever 1 terminates at or near or
above the needle bar of the machine. On the end 4 of the lever 1 is pivotted or
hinged a thread controlling lever 5, the end 6 of which is provided with an eye for
the thread or a guide roller 7 for the same. The other end of the controlling lever 5 is
passed beneath a fixed pin 8 and is retained in contact therewith by means of the
spring 9. Between the fixed pin 8 and the bearing of the controlling lever 5 is
provided a sliding piece 10 having an adjustable pin 11 thereon. This sliding
piece 10 is connected by means of a bell crank lever 12 and arm 13 to the presser
foot bar 14 in such a manner that any variation in the thickness of the material
15 operates through the bell crank lever 12 and arm 13, and thence through the
sliding piece 10 to the controlling lever 5 and adjustable pin 11, producing thereby
the required motion to the thread controlling lever_5.
In the modifications shewn at Figs. 13 and 14 I apply a bell crank lever 12¹
mounted at 16 so as to move radially and attached at 122 to the presser foot bar.
On this the roller 17 is mounted, and at the front of the slide 18 another roller 19
is also mounted over which the thread is passed, and through and behind the side
spring 20, thence to the needle. The hinged clamp 21 is also provided for retaining
the thread and releasing it when required. The opening of the clamp 21 is effected
through the medium of the regulating screw 23, this being lifted by the lever 24,
which may be of ordinary construction. The necessary amount of pressure for the
required grip is imparted to the clamp 21 by means of the adjustable spiral or other
spring 25. The clamp 21 is attached to the top of the presser foot bar.
Other parts of the machine not shewn or described may be of ordinary con-
struction.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and described by the aid
of Drawings how the same may be carried into practice, I would have it understood
that I do not limit myself to the precise details or configuration of the parts I have
described and shewn, as the same may be varied or modified without departing
from the nature of my said Invention, but what I do claim and desire to be secured
to me by Letters Patent is,-
"
First. The arrangement, construction, and application of the means employed for
lifting and locking the presser bar and foot at any required distance above the
'stock," and for the purpose of relieving the "stock" from pressure whilst being
moved by the feeder and mere modifications of the same, substantially as and for
purposes herein set forth.
Second. The arrangement, construction, and application of the various parts for
facilitating the slackening of the stitch during the operation of feeding the "stock,"
substantially as and for purposes herein set forth.
Third. The means employed for imparting the requisite motion to the whirl or
looper, substantially as and for purposes herein set forth.

page_text: Fourth. The arrangement, construction, and application of apparatus for pro
ducing a positive and automatic variable motion to the thread lever, substantially
as shewn at Figs. 11, 12, 13, and 14.
L
In witness whereof, I, the said Marshall Henry Pearson, have hereunto set
iny hand and seal, this Twentythird day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventynine.
MARSHALL HY. PEARSON. (L.S.)