IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY."—A
communication from abroad by David Wood Green Humphrey, of
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th March 1865.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY," to be
as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements on a machine described in the
Specification of a Patent granted to Amos Lawrence Wood, and bearing date
the 3rd day of August 1864, No. 1932.
The first part of the present Invention relates to an improvement on the
method of regulating the spacing of the stitches by the motion imparted to

page_text: the movable clamp which holds the cloth for working button holes, by means
of which improvement the mechanism is materially simplified, and rendered
more perfect in its action.
And the second part of the Invention relates to the stitching mechanism, by
which it is much simplified, and its operations rendered more sure and less
liable to derangement.
The clamp for holding the cloth in which a button hole is to be worked is
secured to a plate fitted to turn and move as required on the table of the
machine; below this plate there is a circular feeding ring fitted to turn in a
cavity in the table, and the upper surface of this ring has a cam groove to
impart the required motions to the clamp, as fully described in the Specifi-
cation above referred to; this ring has ratchet teeth on its periphery to
receive the action of a spring ratchet or pawl, which is hinged to one end of a
vibrating lever worked by a face cam on the main cam shaft; this cam vibrates
the lever back and forth twice in every revolution of the cam shaft; these
vibrations are unequal, that is, one is greater than the other, for a purpose
important to be understood. In working button holes on the plan of the said
former Invention it is preferred that the feed motion when working the eyelet
of the button hole shall take place once for each operation of the needle, and
that the feed motion shall be greater just preceding that motion of the needle
in which it passes through the cloth than preceding that motion in which it
passes within the eyelet. For this reason the throw of the ratchet lever
should be alternately short and long; but in working the straight part of the
button hole it is preferable to have the feed motion take place only once for
every two operations of the needle. The range of feed motion given to the
feed ring while working the eyelet of the button hole is required to be much
greater than when working the straight parts of the button hole, for in the
former a considerable portion of the motion given to the ring is required to
turn the clamp. To effect this a feed gauge is provided, which is placed
below the table and below the feeding ring, and against the edge of which the
pawl is borne by its spring. The feed gauge is composed, for the convenience
of adjustment, of two cam plates attached to a lever, one of these cam plates
during the short throw of the ratchet lever when stitching along the straight
parts of the button hole prevents the pawl from reaching the ratchet teeth,
and hence no feed motion takes place, but the long throw of the ratchet lever
carries the pawl beyond a sloped part of the cam plate, and thus permits it to
engage with the teeth, and turn the feed ring the required distance to give
the feed motion. As the range of feed motion is required to be varied for
different qualities of work this cam plate is made adjustable. Another cam

page_text: plate, similar to that just mentioned, is also used for adjusting the range of
the feed motion around the eyelet; both of these cam plates are secured to
the face of a lever which vibrates on a stud pin below the table; on its upper
face, and near the outer end, it is provided with a round pin, which extends up
through an aperture in the table of sufficient capacity to allow the requisite
play, and the upper end of this is fitted to a cam groove in the under face of
the feed ring. During a portion of the rotations of the feed ring the lever
with its cam plates, forming the feed gauge, is thrown out so far that the pawl
cannot reach the teeth of the feed ring except beyond the sloped part of the
first-mentioned cam plate to give the required feed motion to space the stitches
along the straight parts of the button hole; but when the stitching reaches
the eyelet of the button hole, and the feed ring is about to begin to turn the
clamp, the cam groove draws the feeding gauge inwards, so that the pawl will
then be controlled by the second cam plate, which allows it to act on the teeth
of the feed ring at every throw of the lever, giving alternately a long and a
short feed motion. The pawl just as its edge approaches the feed ring
strikes against a spring (attached to the table), which insures its engaging
the ratchet teeth at the right time and place. The puncturing needle is
operated up and down, and laterally, to pass alternately through the cloth and
through the slit of the button hole, by means such as are described in the
Specification above referred to. Below the table there is a loop carrier,
pointed, and of a wedge-like form, and for convenience formed by cutting out
the edge of a thin plate of metal, secured to one end of a rod, which slides
longitudinally in a fixed guide; its other end is forked to embrace the cam
shaft, on which it slides as a guide, and it is provided with a roller or pin
which fits a groove in a face cam. On the plate of metal from which the
loop carrier is formed is a needle-like instrument, which carries the under
thread; like the loop carrier it is preferably made by cutting out, the edge of
the same plate, and with its point facing the point of the loop carrier; this
instrument has an eye near the point through which the thread passes. The
surface of this instrument, from the eye to the back end, is grooved to receive
the thread, and prevent it from interfering with the other parts of the machine.
The thread is taken from a spool, provided with suitable means for giving
tension, and it passes through a spring guide, and then to the needle-like
instrument. As the operations and motions of this instrument and the loop
carrier are alternate and in opposite directions they are united on the same
rod or bar, and receive motion from the same cam. Attached to the under
side of the table there is a plate with one face parallel with the vertical. plane
of motion of the needle, and so placed that the needle shall pass very near to

page_text: it, in doing which, as the needle rises, its loop will bow out on the loop carrier
side of the needle, that the second thread carrier may enter between it and
the needle. Between the loop carrier, and the under face of the plate on
which the stitching is performed, there is an instrument denominated the
compound loop opener; it is made of a thin plate of. metal attached to one
end of a vibrating lever operated by a face cam. The loop opener operates
at right angles to the motion of the loop carrier; this loop opener is divided
into two by a slot of sufficient width to allow the needle to pass between them
notwithstanding its lateral vibrations. Both loop openers are formed alike
with a slight indentation in the outer edge forming a small dull point next
the slot which separates them. That portion of the table on which the
stitching is performed has an aperture of sufficient size for the needle to pass
through notwithstanding its lateral vibrations, and this part of the table is
reduced in thickness by a cavity made in its under side, and in the lower
part of this cavity there is inserted a small plate with an inverted V-shaped
aperture, with its apex opposite to the loop openers. After the needle has
punctured the cloth and carried its thread below, it rises for a short distance
to slacken the thread, and the loop carrier, which in the meantime has been
advancing, then enters between the needle and its thread, and moves along to
draw out the requisite quantity of thread to form the loop, the loop carrier
being provided with a projecting shoulder at the rear under part to prevent
the loop from passing back. In the meantime the needle has risen out of the
cloth. This motion of the loop carrier carries the loop of the needle thread
with one side against the inner edge of the loop opener, and the other part of
it over its point. The loop opener then advances, and carries that portion of
the loop which is over its forward edge towards the apex of the V-shaped
opening, whilst the other portion of the loop continues to be held back by the
loop carrier. By this operation the loop of the needle thread is opened, so
that the needle, which in the meantime has been vibrated laterally, to pass
down in the slit of the button hole, shall pass into the loop of its own thread
to carry its own thread below such loop. As soon as these operations have
been performed, the loop opener and the loop carrier retire, and liberate the
loop, which is drawn to the cloth by the continued downward motion of the
needle. So soon as this downward motion of the needle is completed it rises
for a short distance to slacken its thread, and then the under thread carrier,
which has been advancing as the loop carrier was receding, enters this second
loop of the needle thread, carrying the under thread into it, and whilst this
loop continues around the body of the under thread carrier, the under thread
is carried over the point of the other loop opener, which then advances to

page_text: open the loop of the under thread, carrying one side of this loop along the
side and towards the apex of the V-shaped opening to open the loop, so that
the needle when it next descends through the cloth shall pass into this loop,
whilst the under thread carrier retires out of the second loop of the needle
thread, which is then drawn around the loop of the under thread after the
needle has entered the loop of the under thread preparatory to a repetition of
the series of operations:
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Alfred Vincent 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, au
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY," being a communication
from abroad by David Wood Green Humphrey, of Chelsea, Massachusetts,
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 mouths next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent 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

page_text: 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 to improvements on a machine described in the
Specification of a Patent granted to Amos Lawrence Wood, and bearing
date the Third day of August, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four,
No. 1,932.
The first part of the present Invention relates to an improvement on the
method of regulating the spacing of the stitches by the motion imparted to the
moveable clamp which holds the cloth for working button holes, by means of
which improvement the mechanism is materially simplified and rendered more
perfect in its action; and the second part of the Invention relates to the
stitching mechanism by which it is much simplified and its operations rendered
more sure and less liable to derangement.
The accompanying Drawings represent in general a machine for working
button holes, many parts of which need not to be described as no claim of
Invention is made or intended to be made thereto in this application. In the
said Drawings, Fig. 1 is a view of the under side of the machine; Fig. 2
is a longitudinal vertical section in the plane of the axis of the cam shaft;
Fig. 3 is a cross vertical section in the plane of the needle; Fig. 4 is a bottom
view of that part of the table where the stitching operation is performed with
the stitching mechanism removed; Fig. 5 is a separate view of the under
face of the feeding ring; Fig. 6 is a separate view of the cam groove for
operating the loop carrier; Fig. 7 is a separate view of the cam for
operating the loop openers; and Fig. 8 is a separate view of the cam which
operates the ratchet lever. The same letters indicate like parts in all the
Figures,
a represents the clamp for holding the cloth in which a button hole is to be
worked. It is secured to a plate b, fitted to turn and move as required on the
table c of the machine. Below this plate b there is a circular feeding ring or
plate d, fitted to turn in a cavity in the table, and the upper surface of this
ring has a cam groove to impart the required motions to the clamp as fully
described in the Specification above referred to. The ring d has ratcbet teeth
on its periphery, into which takes a spring ratchet or pawl e hinged to one
end of a vibrating lever f; this lever has for its fulcrum a pin 9, and its
other end is adapted to a cam groove h in the face of a cam wheel i on the
main cam shaftj; this cam groove is represented in Fig. 8, its form being
such that the lever f is vibrated back and forth twice in every revolution of
the cain shaft. The throw of one of the vibrations is greater than the other
for a purpose important to be understood. In working button holes on the

page_text: plan of the said former Invention it is preferred that the feed motion, when
working the eyelet of the button hole, shall take place once for each operation
of the needle, and that the feed motion shall be greater just preceding that
motion of the needle in which it passes through the cloth than preceding that
motion in which it passes within the eyelet. For this reason the throw of the
ratchet lever should be alternately short and long; but in working the
straight part of the button hole it is preferable to have the feed motion take
place only once for every two operations of the needle. The range of feed
motion given to the feed ring while working the eyelet of the button hole is
required to be much greater than when working the straight parts of the
button hole, for in the former a considerable portion of the motion given to
the ring is required to turn the clamp. To avoid the necessity for using com-
plicated machinery to vary the periods and ranges of motion of the ratchet
lever there is combined with the ratchet lever and feed ring what the Inventor
denominates a feed guage, which is placed below the table and below the
feeding ring, and against the edge of which the ratchet or pawl e is borne by
its spring . The feed guage is composed for the convenience of adjustment
of two cam plates attached to a lever; one of these cam plates k, during the
short throw of the ratchet lever, serves when stitching along the straight parts
of the button hole to prevent the pawl from reaching the ratchet teeth, and
hence no feed motion takes place, but the long throw of the ratchet lever
carries the pawl beyond the sloped part m, Fig. 1, of the cam plate k, and
thus permits it to engage with the ratchet teeth and turn the feed ring the
required distance to give the feed motion. As the range of feed motion is
required to be varied for different qualities of work this cam plate k is made
adjustable by slots n, n, fitted to slide on a steady pin and on the shank of the
screw by which it is secured. There is another cam plate o similar to the
one above described, and secured in like manner for the purpose of adjusting
the range of the feed motion around the eyelet; both of these cam plates are
secured to the face of a lever p, which vibrates on a stud pin below the table.
On its upper face, and near the outer end, it is provided with a round pin q
which extends up through an aperture in the table, of sufficient capacity to
allow the requisite play, and the upper end of this pin is fitted to a cam
groover, in the under face of the feed ring d. This cam groove is represented
in the separate Fig. 5. The groove is concentric from 1 to 2, and also from
3 to 4, but the latter is of less radius than the former, and from 2 to 3 and
from 1 to 4 the two parts of the groove run into each other. During the
rotations of the feed ring d, so long as the part of the cam groove from 1 to 2
is running on the pin q, the lever p with its cam plates k and o forming the

page_text: feed guage is thrown out so far that the pawl cannot reach the ratchet teeth
of the feed ring, except beyond the sloped part m of the cam plate k to give
the required feed motion to space the stitches along the straight parts of the
button hole; but when the stitches reaches the eyelet of the button hole and
the feed ring is about to begin to turn the clamp, the part of the cam groover
from 2 to 3 shifts the feeding gauge by drawing it inwards, so that the pawl
will then be controlled by the cam plate o, which allows it to act on the ratchet
teeth of the feed ring at every throw of the lever, giving alternately a long and
a short feed motion.
It will be obvious from the foregoing that the object of constructing
the feeding gauge with separate and adjustable cam plates is to afford a
convenient means of adjusting the feeding motions to different qualities of
work. In working at very high velocities the pawl e in passing along the cam
face of the feed gauge would be liable to fail to engage the ratchet teeth
precisely where it should unless its spring were made with considerable
tension, which would create much rubbing friction and cause the machine to
run hard. To avoid this, and at the same time to avoid the possibility of the
feed ring being forced round beyond the range of motion of the feeding band,.
a separate and independent spring is used, which is attached to the table,
and against which the feed hand strikes just as its edge approaches the feed
ring, so that the tension of this spring shall then act on it to insure its.
engaging the ratchet teeth at the right time and place, and so that it shall
hold the feed ring when it reaches the extent of its forward motion, and prevent
it from moving beyond the required distance.
In the stitching operation described in the Specification of the Patent
above referred to, the puncturing needle descends through the cloth, forming.
a loop of its own thread; below the cloth an instrument called the loop carrier.
then passes between the needle and its thread, and thereby catches and holds
the loop of the needle thread, whilst the needle rises out of the cloth and
vibrates laterally preparatory to its next descent through the slit of the intended
button hole, that is, by what may be termed the edge of the button hole. The
loop of the needle thread, thus held by the loop carrier, is then to be spread, so
that the needle in its next descent shall pass into and carry its thread into and.
below the previously formed loop of its own thread, and when this has been
accomplished the instruments which opened the loop let it go, and before the
needle rises a needle-like instrument carrying a second or under thread enters
between the needle and its thread to pass this under thread into the second
loop of the needle thread before the needle rises, and as the needle rises pre-
paratory to again puncturing the cloth, the loop of the under thread is spread:

page_text: that the needle in its next descent may enter and carry its thread into
the loop of this under thread to repeat the series of operations.
The means described for performing this series of operations is complicated
and liable to derangement, and by the present improvements not only is the
number of instruments required reduced, but the motions are materially
reduced, and the operations are rendered more certain than heretofore.
The puncturing needle a¹ is operated up and down, and laterally to pass
alternately through the cloth and through the slit of the button hole, by means
such as are described in the Specification above referred to. Below the table
there is an instrument b', termed the loop carrier, which is pointed and of a
wedge-like form. It is made by cutting out the edge of a thin plate of
metal c¹, which is secured to one end of a rod d', adapted to slide longitudinally
in suitable ways e¹. The other end of the rod d is forked, and embraces the
cam shaft on which it slides as a guide, and it is provided with a roller or
pin g fitted to a cam groove in the face of a cam wheel , represented
separately in Fig. 6. The form of this cam groove is such as to move the
loop carrier back and forth with an intermittent motion at the required periods
of time as will be presently described. On the same plate of metal c¹ is formed
a needle-like instrument i", which carries the under thread. Like the loop
carrier it is preferably made by cutting out the edge of the plate c', and with
its point facing the point of the loop carrier. This instrument has an eye
near the point, through which the thread from a spool passes. The
surface of this instrument from the eye to the back end is grooved to receive
the thread and prevent it from interfering with the other parts of the machine.
The thread is taken from the spool" provided with suitable means for giving
tension, and it passes through a spring guide m¹, and then to the needle-like
instrument. As the operations and motions of this instrument and the loop
carrier are alternate and in opposite directions, they are united on the same
rod or bar, and receive motion from the same cam. Attached to the under
side of the table there is a plate n¹ with one face parallel with the vertical
plane of motion of the needle a¹, and so placed that the needle shall pass very
near to it but without touching. As the thread when carried through the
cloth is on both sides of the needle, extending from its eye to the cloth, when
the needle begins to rise to slacken the thread to form the loop, the thread
tends to bow out on both sides, and sometimes more on one side than on the
other, it is desirable, however, to have it bow out on one side only that the
loop carrier and the second thread carrier may enter between it and the
needle, and to this end the plate n' is placed in the position above described.
Between the loop carrier and the under face of the plate on which the

page_text: opener.
stitching is performed there is an instrument denominated the compound loop
It is made of a thin plate of metal v¹, attached to one end of a lever
p', which vibrates on a fulcrum pin q', the other end being provided with a
pin or roller fitted to a cam groove s¹ in the face of a cam wheel t¹ on the cam
shaft. The form of this cam groove is represented in the separate Fig. 7,
and its relations to the cam groove which operates the loop carrier are
represented by dotted lines in Fig. 6. The loop opener operates at right
angles to the motion of the loop carrier; this loop opener is divided into two
parts, and v, by a slot of sufficient width to allow the needle a¹ to pass
between them, notwithstanding its lateral vibrations. Both loop openers are
formed alike, with a slight indentation in the outer edge, forming a small dull
point next the slot which separates them. That portion of the table on which
the stitching is performed has an aperture w¹ of sufficient size for the needle a¹
to pass through, notwithstanding its lateral vibrations, and this part of the table
is reduced in thickness by a cavity a made in its under side. In the lower
part of this cavity there is inserted a small plate y¹ with an inverted V-shaped
aperture with its apex opposite to the loop openers. The form of this opening,
and of the opening through which the needle works, and their relations to each
other are represented in Fig. 4. After the needle a¹ has punctured the cloth
and carried its thread below, it rises for a short distance to slacken the thread,
and the loop carrier which in the meantime has been advancing then enters
between the needle and its thread, and moves along to draw out the requisite
quantity of thread to form the loop, the loop carrier being provided with a
projecting shoulder 2 at the rear under part to prevent the loop from passing
back. In the meantime the needle has risen out of the cloth. This motion
of the loop carrier carries the loop of the needle thread with one side against
the inner edge of the loop opener ', and the other part of it over its point.
The loop opener then advances and carries that portion of the loop which is
over its forward edge towards the apex of the V-shaped opening, whilst the
other portion of the loop continues to be held back by the loop carrier. By
this operation the loop of the needle thread is opened so that the needle, which
in the meantime has been vibrated laterally to pass down in the slit of the
button bole, shall pass into the loop of its own thread to carry its own thread
below such loop. As soon as these operations have been performed, the loop
opener and the loop carrier retire and liberate the loop which is drawn to the
cloth by the continued downward motion of the needle. So soon as this
downward motion of the needle is completed it rises for a short distance to
slacken its thread, and then the under thread carrier j', which has been
advancing as the loop carrier was receding, enters this second loop of the

page_text: needle thread, carrying the under thread into it, and whilst this loop con-
tinues around the body of the under thread carrier the under thread is carried
over the point of the other loop opener v', which then advances to open the
loop of the under thread, carrying one side of this loop along the side and
towards the apex of the V-shaped opening to open the loop, so that the needle
when it next descends through the cloth shall pass into this loop, whilst the
under thread carrier retires out of the second loop of the needle thread, which is
then drawn around the loop of the under thread after the needle has entered
the loop of the under thread preparatory to a repetition of the series of
operations.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in
Sewing Machinery," as communicated to me from abroad, 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, the feeding gauge in com-
bination with the ratchet hand or pawl, and the feeding ring which operates
the clamp that holds the cloth, constructed and operating substantially as and
for the purpose specified.
I also claim the auxiliary spring for acting on the ratchet hand or
pawl only at the time it is required to act on the ratchet teeth as described.
I also claim connecting the loop carrier and the under thread carrier with
each other, to be operated together and by the same means, substantially as
and for the purpose specified.
I also claim uniting two loop openers for opening the loop of the needle
thread and the loop of the under thread substantially as described, so that
they shall be operated by the same means as described.
And I also claim each of the loop openers in combination with each
of the oblique sides of the aperture in the plate below that part of the
table on which the stitching is effected, substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)