IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1884

page_text: I WILLIAM JONES, of the firm of Jones & Co of Guide Bridge, near Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Sewing Machine Manufacturers, do hereby declare the
nature of said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES, to be as
follows:
My invention relates to a combination or to combinations of mechanism for
sewing with a straight needle and a curved shuttle oscillating in an arc, the axis
of which is horizontal..
The shuttle race is circular formed by a disc, dish or recess in a vertical plane,
the edge of the race being bevelled or under cut and the edge of the shuttle inade
to correspond with the bevelled edge of the race.
The shuttle is oscillated from a shaft having one of its bearings in the centre of
the disc or dish forming the shuttle race.
The shuttle is first placed in the race and the driver is slided along the shaft
against it and is then secured to the shaft.
The shuttle thus arranged is never removed from its race in ordinary working.
The face of the disc forming the shuttle race looks inside the frame of the
machine, and access is given to it through a hole in the table plate of the machine
which is covered by a slide plate when the machine is at work.
The shuttle is a segment fitting the circular curve of the race, and it has a recess
in it for a bobbin or spool the axis of the spool being parallel to the shaft that
oscillates the shuttle-The spool is retained in its place by a door or lid hinged to
the shuttle on one side, and held in its closed position by a spring and in its open
position by the same spring-The lid is made to bulge outwards and at its upper
edge has two small holes and a slit from the edge of the lid to get the thread into
each hole, On the opposite edge there is a curved slot in the lid struck from
about a centre between the two holes in the lid, and there is also a slit for the
thread to pass into this curved slot-The thread passing from the spool first goes
between tension discs (which can be regulated by a screw) placed in a recess
formed at the tip end of the shuttle and then directly to one of the two holes in
the lid and from one to the other of the two holes, and then passes inside the lid
to the curved slot and from the latter to the cloth being sewn through the eye in
the needle plate.
'When the shuttle is working, the thread can oscillate between the two ends of
the curved slot in the lid, at one end of which there is a slight recess that detains
the thread for a space after the shuttle has made about half its retrograde
movement.

page_text: Slack thread between the shuttle and needle plate is taken up during about the
first half of the retrograde movement of the shuttle (the back movement after it
has passed through the loop of the needle thread) by the feed or take up of the
cloth being sewn, and the bulged or curved form of the shuttle, and the curved slot
gives liberty to the shuttle thread just a little before and at the time the tip of the
shuttle is about to enter the loop of the needle thread.
The oscillating shaft for working the shuttle has a bearing in the frame at the
back, and it has an arm secured upon fits which is or may be jointed with a
connecting rod that receives motion from a crank on the driving shaft passing
through and having bearings in the arm carrying the needle slide.
Instead of connecting the crank connecting rod directly to the arm on the
oscillating shaft it may first pass through a guide made to swivel on a pin having
its bearings in the upright arm of the framing, and the end of the connecting rod
has a bowl or swivel slide that works in a groove in an arm secured upon the
oscillating shaft-Or motion from the crank is or may be given to the oscillating
shaft by a toothed rack formed on the connecting.rod in gear with a pinion on the
oscillating shaft.
Or a modification of the arrangement for producing slow and quick motion
in a rotary shaft employed in the Wheeler and Wilson Sewing Machine is or
may be used for giving oscillatory motion to the shuttle from the crank by a
connecting rod.
Or a modification formed by toggle levers, the end of one lever, being on a pin
in the framing the other on a pin on the arm on the oscillating shuttle driving
shaft the middle of the latter lever being jointed with the connecting rod of the
crank.
'In some cases one or more springs may be connected with the oscillating shaft
to be acted upon by the oscillations of the shaft, and react upon it at each end of
its movements and thus assist the stopping and starting of each oscillation.
The mechanism for feeding the cloth being sewn is a lever having a serrated
surface, one end of this lever rests upon a cam on the shaft oscillating the shuttle
and this gives the up and down motion to the feed bar. *
The fulcrum of the feed lever or bar is carried on arms in a shaft, having
bearings under and on one side of the base plate of the machine, and this shaft
receives oscillations to move the feed lever or bar to feed the cloth, from a rod
jointed to an arm on one end of the shaft for the feed bar which rod at its upper
end has a pin on one side of it that works in a groove in a part having a fulcrum
pin on one side midway in the length of the groove, which pin is in bearings in
the frame.
This grooved part forms a lever and it has jaws to be acted upon by a cam or
excentric on the rotary driving shaft.
The connecting rod above referred to has a slot about midway of its length-and
in its lengthway, for a pin on a lever on a fulcrum in the framing. By moving an
arm from this lever the pin on the end of the connecting rod can be slided in the
grooved part in any position on one or the other side of its fulcrum and thus the
length of the stitch can be varied and, the direction of the feed reversed when
required.
The needle slide is worked from a crank pin in a disc on the front end of the
driving shaft by a connecting rod, and the mechanism of the presser foot and
needle thread tension and other parts not referred to are or may be of ordinary
construction and arrangement.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I WILLIAM JONES, of the firm of Jones & Co of Guide Bridge, near Manchester
in the County of Lancaster Sewing Machine Manufacturers, do hereby declare
the nature of said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and, by the following statement:-
.
My invention relates to a combination or to combinations. of mechanism for
sewing with a straight needle and a curved shuttle oscillating in an 'are, the axis
of which is horizontal.
The shuttle race is circular formed by a disc, dish or recess in a vertical plane,
the edge of the race being bevelled or under cut and the edge of the shuttle made
to correspond with the bevelled edge of the race.
The shuttle is oscillated from a shaft having one of its bearings in the centre of
the-disc or dish forming the shuttle race.
The shuttle is first placed in the race and the driver is slided along the shaft
against it and is then secured to the shaft.
The shuttle thus arranged is never removed from its race in ordinary working.
The face of the disc forming the shuttle race looks inside the frame of the
machine (but may be arranged to look outside) and access is given to it through a
hole in the table plate of the machine, which is covered by a slide plate when the
machine is at work.
The shuttle is a segment fitting, the circular curve of the race, and it has a recess
in it for a bobbin or spool the axis of the spool being parallel to the shaft that
oscillates the shuttle The spool is retained in its place by a door or lid, hinged to
the shuttle on one side and held in its closed position by a spring and in its open
position by the same spring-The lid is made to bulge outwards and at its upper
edge has too small holes, and a slit from the edge of the lid to get the thread into
each hole-On the opposite edge there is a curved slot in the lid struck from
about a centre between the two holes in the lid, and there is also a slit for the
thread to pass into this curved slot-The thread passing from the spool first goes
between tension discs (which can be regulated by a screw) placed in a recess
formed at the tip end of the shuttle and then directly to one of the two holes in
the lid and from one to the other of the two holes, and then passes inside the lid
to the curved slot and from the latter to the cloth being sewn through the eye in
the needle plate.
P
When the shuttle is working, the thread can oscillate between the two ends of
the curved slot in the lid, at one end of which there is a slight recess that detains
the thread for a space after the shuttle has made about half its retrograde
movement.
:1.
1.
Slack thread between the shuttle and needle plate is taken up during about the
first half of the retrograde movement of the shuttle (the back movement after it
has passed through the loop of the needle thread) by the feed or take up of the
cloth being sewn and the bulged or curved form of the lid of the shuttle; and
the curved slot gives liberty to the shuttle thread just a littleg before and at the
time the tip of the shuttle is about to enter the loop of the needle thread..
f

page_text: The oscillating shaft for working the shuttle has a bearing in the frame at the
back, and it has an arm secured upon it which is or may be jointed with a con-
necting rod that receives motion from a crank on the driving shaft passing
through and having bearings in the arm carrying the needle slide.
on the
Instead of connecting the crank connecting-rod directly, to the arm
oscillating shaft it may first pass through a guide made to swivel on a pin having
its bearings in the upright arm of the framing, and the end of the connecting rod
has a bowl or swivel slide that works in a groove in an arm secured upon the
oscillating shaft.
Or a modification of the arrangement for producing slow and quick motion
in a rotary shaft employed in the Wheeler and Wilson sewing machine is or
may be used for giving oscillatory motion to the shuttle from the crank by a
connecting rod.
4+1
The mechanism for feeding the cloth being sewn is a lever having a serrated
surface, one end of this lever rests upon a cam on the shaft oscillating the shuttle
and this gives the up and down motion to the feed bar.
The fulcrum of the feed lever or bar is carried on arms in a shaft, having
bearings under and on one side of the base plate of the machine and this shaft
receives oscillations to move the feed lever or bar to feed the cloth from a rod
jointed to an arm on one end of the shaft for the feed bar, which rod at its upper
end lias a pin on one side of it that works in a groove in a part having a fulcrum pin
on one side, midway, in the length of the groove, which pin is in bearings in the
frame. This grooved part forms a lever and it has jaws to be acted upon by a cam
or excentric on the rotary driving shaft.
The connecting rod above referred to, has a slot about midway of its length,--and
in its lengthway for a pin in a lever on a fulcrum in the framing.
By moving an arm from this lever the pin on the end of the connecting rod can
be slided in the grooved part in any position on one or the other side of its
fulcrum, and thus the length of the stitch can be varied and the direction of the
feed reversed when required.
The needle slide is worked from a crank pin in a disc on the front end of the
driving shaft by a connecting rod, and the mechanism of the presser foot and
needle thread tension and other parts not referred to are or may be of ordinary
construction and arrangement.
Fig 1 is a side elevation of a sewing machine, parts out of the middle being
supposed broken away, as well as parts of the armi and bed plate, to show some of
the mechanism more clearly.
Fig 2 is a cross section taken in about the line A-A fig 1, looking from the
driving end of the machine.
Fig 3 is a plan view of the underside of the machine when turned upwards, the
middle parts being supposed broken away.
Fig 4 is an elevation looking at the face of the disc forming the shuttle race-
and shows the shuttle in its place, and a section through the rocking shaft for
giving the feed motion.
Fig 5 is a plan view looking-down upon the shuttle driving and cloth feeding
mechanism which is under the base plate, the parts being shown detached from
the framing.
Figs 4 and 5 represent shuttle and shuttle driving mechanism under the base
plate.
:
The shuttle race and shuttle and its driver shown in figs 1, 2 and 3 are the same
as those represented in figs 4 and 5 except that the same parts shown in figs 1, 2
and 3 are smaller in proportion..
Fig 6 is a front view of the shuttle detached, fig. 7 is an edge view of the same“
and fig 8 a front view with the lid removed showing the spool in the shuttle.
Fig 9 is a detached 'elevation illustrating an alternative mode of giving motion 5
to the shuttle driver.
70
"
1
Tit

page_text: a is the base plate of the machine, a¹ the arm for carrying the mechanism above
the base plate.
b is a bracket secured by screws to the underside of the base plate a.
45
In its face the circular shuttle race is formed and through its centre passes the
shaft b¹ for oscillating the shuttle driver.
This shaft has bearings in projections a³ and a³ from the base plate d, or as
shown in figs 4 and 5 it has a bearing in a projection a³ from the base plate d
at one end, and in the bracket b, for the shuttle race at the other end.
The shuttle c is placed in its race and then the driver 62 is brought against it
which driver is secured on the shaft 61 by a screw the point of which enters a
groove in the lengthway of the shaft b¹.
The shuttle is not intended to be removed from its race in ordinary working as
the thread spool can be removed and replaced while the shuttle remains in its race.
The shuttle is formed as illustrated by figs 4, 6, 7 and 8.; c¹ is the tip end; in a
recess in the side near the tip is an arrangement of two small thread tension
discs c³ on a screw, and there is a spring below, and by turning the screw, more or
less pressure is brought upon the tension discs by the spring, these discs being
similar to, but smaller than ordinary tension discs used for the needle thread.
The spool c³ fits freely in a cavity for it in the shuttle, this cavity is a hole
through the shuttle but with a narrow flange 'all round to prevent the spool
passing through the hole, at the back of the shuttle.
The spool is kept in its place by a thin bulged lid c¹ hinged at c³ to the shuttle
and to the face of the lid a thin spring c is brazed or otherwise secured, the free
end of which presses against a pin both when shut and when opened, this
spring holding with sufficient force the lid open when opened, and closed when
closed. The thread passes from the spool at the inner side of the shuttle direct to,
and between the two tension discs c³, then in a direct line inside the lid c' to the
small hole c³, then to the outside of the lid, and then back through the small
hole to the inside of the lid, then directly from the last named small hole c³ and
inside the lid to the curved slot cx, and from thence in front and outside the lid to
the hole in the needle plate. There are small slits from the edge of the lid so that
the thread can be easily inserted into the holes c³, c³ and slot c* without passing the
end through the holes and slit. The thread works to and fro as the shuttle
oscillates in the slot c* and is detained for a moment in the enlarged part at one
end of the slot as hereinbefore explained at one part of the oscillation of the shuttle.
There is a hole in the table a to give access to the shuttle which is closed by a
sliding plate c°.
The rotary driving shaft & has bearings in the arm a¹, and it has a crank d' and
connecting rod b³ by which oscillation is given to the shuttle driving shaft b¹.
In the modification shown by fig 5 a connecting rod 63 from the crank dis
jointed directly to an arın b* secured on the end of the oscillating shaft 6 and when
the shuttle race is of the diameter shown in figs 4 and 5 the angle of oscillation
thus imparted to the shaft b¹ is sufficient. In cases where a greater arc of
oscillation is required it is or may be obtained by the arrangement illustrated by
figs 1, 2 and 3 where the connecting rod 63 from the crank d¹ is first jointed with.
one end of a two armed lever 6 having its fulcrum 6º on a stud secured in a
projection from the base plate a. To the other arm of the lever b³ one end of a
link b' is jointed the other end of which is jointed to an arm b* on the end of the
oscillating shaft b¹.
Fig 9 illustrates another arrangement for actuating the oscillating, shaft 61
where d is the rotary crank shaft, 6s a connecting rod from it which slides to and
fro in a slide be that oscillates on a pin or axis 6° from it having its bearings in the
framing.
The end of the rod 6s has a pin for a bowl b* which fits a groove in the face of
the arm b' secured on the end of the oscillating shaft 61 and will cause it to
oscillate as the crank d' rotates through the are shown by dotted lines.

page_text: There is an excentric e secured on the rotary shaft d, which excentric fits jaws
formed in a part el having a pin or projection e2 forming its fulcrum that oscillates
in a hole or bearing in the casting. This part e¹ has a cross groove e³ to fit a bowl
on a pin in the upper end of a rod e. The lower end of the rod e¹ is jointed with
an armi e on a shaft e having bearings on centre screws e7 screwing through
projections from the base plate a.
The rode has a slot in its lengthway for a pin
or stud es secured in one arm of a two armed lever e having its fulcrum ex on a
screw screwing into the casting. One arm of the lever e passes through a slot in
the casting and forms a handle e by which the lever e³ is moved.
The lever e is made with friction sufficient to prevent it from moving too easily,
or by the working of the machine when adjusted. By means of this lever e the
end of the rod et can be placed in any desired position in the groove e³. It
is shown at one extreme at the greatest distance from the axis of oscillation e²
when the rod et will receive the greatest amount of end motion from the excentric.
If the end of the rod e' is brought to correspond with or be opposite to the
axis (e) of motion, there will be no end motion in the rod et, consequently between
these two positions any desired length of motion.in the rod and thus in the length
of the feed or stitch can be obtained.
.
By moving the end of the rod e' from one extreme of the groove e³ to the other
the feed is or may be reversed in direction and made of any required length.
It has been explained that the shaft e is carried in centre bearings and this
shaft has two arms e" which carries a short shaft f in centre bearings, which shaft
has an arm f¹ upon the upper face of which the ordinary serrated or ratchet
toothed feeding surface is formed or attached.
The free end of this arm f¹ rests upon a cam f2 on the oscillating shaft b' which
gives the feeding arm f¹ the required up and down motion while the rocking
shaft e gives the end feeding motion.
In figs 1, 2 and 3 the arm f¹ is kept down upon the cam f2 by any suitable
spring f³, a helical spring is shown, one end of which is attached to the feeding
arm, the other end to the bracket b.
In the modification shown by figs 4 and 5 the up and down motion is imparted
to the arm f¹ carrying the feeding surface by an excentric f2 on the oscillating
shaft b¹ acting on a fork in a lever f having its fulcrum on the bracket b at fb.
This lever f has a pin fe in its side that enters a fork on the end of the arm f¹
carrying the feeding surface, and therefore moves it positively both up and down.
is the needle slide actuated by a crank pin. g¹, in a disc on the front end of the
rotary shaft & and a connecting rod g² h is the slide for the presser foot h¹; h² the
handle for lifting and lowering the presser slide h; i is the arm for taking up the
slack thread; the tension disc for the needle thread.
All the above mentioned parts above the base plate a which are connected with
the needle slide g; presser h and the needle thread and its tension are of ordinary
construction.
The shuttle race is shown with its face inside, but it, and the connected parts
may be arranged if desired, with the face of the race to the outside of the
machine.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The combination and arrangement of the parts forming the oscillating shuttle
as herein before, described and illustrated by the drawings.
•
2. The combination and arrangement of the parts of a shuttle so that the thread
will pass from the spool through tension discs or their equivalents, then through
one hole and back through another hole in the lid of the shuttle, along the inside of
the lid and then to the outside through a slot in the lid of the shuttle, and then to
..

page_text: the hole for the needle in the needle plate substantially as hereinbefore described
and illustrated by the drawings.
3. The combination of a shuttle constructed, arranged and worked as described
with a needle actuated by a crank pin from the rotary driving shaft, substantially
as hereinbefore described and illustrated by the drawings.
4. The working of the shuttle driver by the combination of parts as hereinbefore
described and illustrated by fig 9 of the drawings.
5. The combination of a part (e¹) oscillated by an excentric or crank on the first
motion shaft and an adjustable rod (e) for actuating an oscillating shaft (e) for
giving the feed motion to the fabric being sewn, substantially as herein before
described and illustrated by the drawings.
6. The combination and arrangement of shuttle, needle and fabric feeding
mechanism as hereinbefore described and illustrated by figs 1 to 8 inclusive of the
drawings.