IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1859

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 MACHINES."-
A communication from abroad by Henry Washington Hayden, of Water-
bury, in the State of Connecticut, United States of America.
Sealed the 7th February 1860, and dated the 5th September 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th September 1859.
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
MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the formation of what is commonly known as the
"lock stitch," such as is produced by a needle and shuttle by means of a
revolving and vibrating arm and hook for extending the loops of the needle
thread, and a peculiarly arranged bobbin for supplying the locking thread.
The Invention also relates to an improved device for taking up the slack of
the loop between the bobbin and the revolving and vibrating hook; and
further, to a new contrivance for feeding the cloth or material to be sewn.
The hook which takes up the loop formed by the needle thread, and causes
the insertion of the locking thread therein, is fixed to an arbor which is
mounted loosely in the vibrating arm before mentioned. This arm is jointed

page_text: to the mandril or main driving shaft of the machine, so that it is free to move
on its fulcrum to give the required vibration to the hook, which is free to turn
on its bearing, but is held in position by a spring fixed to the vibrating carrying
arm, and bearing on a stud which projects from a notched disc secured to the
hook arbor. The mandril projects through a stationary face cam, over which the
vibrating arm rides, the same being kept in contact with the cam face by the
pressure of a coiled spring which the mandril carries. A part of this cam
forms the fixed portion of the lock thread bobbin holder, and an adjustable
slide completes the holder and retains it, as in a clamp. A spring stop passing
through the slide serves to keep the holder steady in its place without preventing
the loop of the needle thread from being passed completely over the bobbin by
the rotation of the vibrating arm. As this arm in its rotation comes in contact
with an incline on the face of the fixed cam, it is rocked to bring the hook,
with the loop which it carries, opposite to the bobbin. It then draws the loop
through the bobbin holder, and brings one side into contact with an adjustable
pin, which takes up the slack while the other side is caught in a notch in the
stationary portion of the bobbin holder. The further progress of the vibrating
arm brings a pin projecting from the hook arbor into contact with a pro-
jection on the edge of the fixed cam and throws the hook out of and free of
the loop of the needle thread. The hook is, however, immediately returned
to its original position by the spring which. presses on the disc pin, as before
mentioned. On the next descent of the needle a loop is taken up by the hook
as before, and the operation of locking the stitch is repeated.
The cloth or material to be sewn is fed by means of one or more smooth-
faced angular projections on the feed bar, or its equivalent, and one or more
ratchet-like wheels attached to the presser, these wheels being arranged
with the lowest portions of their peripheries above the bottom of the presser
foot, and the projections pressing the material into one notch at a time of each
wheel.
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 5th March 1860.
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-Fifth-day-of September, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license 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, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," being a com-
munication from abroad by H. Washington Hayden, of Waterbury, in the
State of Connecticut, United States, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Alfred Vincent 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 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
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
:-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my correspondent, relates
to the formation of what is commonly called the "lock stitch," such as is
produced by a needle and shuttle by means of a revolving and vibrating arm
and hook for extending the loops of the needle thread, and a peculiarly
arranged bobbin for supplying the locking thread.
The Invention also relates to an improved device for taking up the slack o
the loop between the bobbin and the revolving and vibrating hook; and further
to a new contrivance for feeding the cloth or material to be sewn.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1
is a back view of the improved sewing machine. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of
the same 'at right angles to Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front view of the needle,
rotating hook, bobbin, and their appendages. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional
view of some of the principal parts of the machine. Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9
are detail views, which will be herein-after described. Similar letters of
reference denote corresponding parts in the several Figures.
A (Figures 1, 2, and 3) is the bed plate of the machine upon which the

page_text: cloth or other material to be sewn is placed; B is the stationary arm holding
the presser C; D is the needle arm attached to a rocker D' and carrying a
curved needle a, but in place of this needle a straight needle bar or slide and a
straight needle may be used. E (Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4) is the main shaft
from which all the operating parts derive their motion, arranged directly under
the needle in bearings beneath the plate A, having fast upon it the pulley F,
through which it receives its motion. This shaft carries an excentric or
crank G for driving the needle rocker D', and the feed cam H (Fig. 2), and
also the revolving and vibrating arm I¹ (Figures 1, 2, 3), which arm carries
the looping hook I, represented in Fig. 5 in perspective, detached from the
machine. The arm I¹ is fitted into a slot b that is cut centrally and longitu-
dinally through the main shaft and secured by a pin c, upon which it is capable
of vibrating in a plane or planes parallel with the axis of the strip, while it is
caused to revolvo with the latter. The hook I is made with a pivot d in front,
which is fitted to turn or oscillate in a bearing provided for it in the arm I¹
near the end thereof, and to the opposite end of the pivot d to that which
carries the hook there is secured a plate e, of the form of a circle, having a
recess 10, 11, extending about one-fourth of the way round it, and carrying a
pin or projection 12, against which a spring f (which is secured to the arm 1')
presses in such a way as to exert a tendency to turn the hook I in the direction
of the arrow shown near it in Fig. 3, as far as permitted by a pin g which is
secured in the arm I, and which serves as a stop to the end 10 of the recess
10, 11, of the plate e. This spring f keeps the hook I, when the latter is not
otherwise influenced, standing out from the arm 1' in the direction of a circle
described from the centre of the shaft E. At the back of the arm I' there is
fast to the stem or pivot of the hook a pin or projection h, the duty of which
will be presently explained. J, Figures 2, 3, 4, is a stationary cam in the
form of a ring encircling the shaft E, and having a broad flanch J' to receive
screws 1, 1, by which it is secured to a portion of the bed plate. This cam has
its operating face i, j, k, whose formi will be presently explained, presented
towards the front of the machine. A part of the exterior of the cam also
constitutes one-half of the bobbin holder L, M, for holding the thin bobbin K
from which the locking thread is supplied. The other half M of the bobbin
holder consists of a disc-shaped projection from an adjustable sliding plate M³,
which is secured by a screw bolt N to a part of the bed plate A. The bobbin
which, being outside of the cam J, is some distance from the centre of the
shaft E, is also arranged obliquely both to the needle and to the axis of the
shaft, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. Its front portion, which is the portion to
which the rotating hook approaches the nearest, is the farthest from the axis

page_text: of the shaft E. The form of the face i, j, k, of the cam, and the relation of
said face to the bobbin K, are shown in Fig. 6, which exhibits the cam as
though projected on a plane. The duty of the cam is to produce the necessary
vibrating motion of the arm I' and hook I on the pin c, as they revolve with
the shaft to carry the loops over the bobbin K, and to enable this to be
effected the arm I is confined to the face of the cam by means of a sleeve Q,
(Fig. 2) and a spiral spring R, both fitted to a portion of the shaft E, which
extends forward in advance of the cam hook and bobbin on purpose to receive
them. The spring R is enclosed within the said sleeve, and rests against a
collar on the shaft E and a seat u provided for it at the back of the sleeve Q.
This sleeve has a finger v, which presses upon the arm I¹, at some distance
from the shaft E. At the least prominent point in the face of the cam there
is an abrupt lateral projection m, which serves as a stop to operate upon the
before-mentioned pin or projection h on the stem of the hook I, for the purpose
of operating the hook to throw off the loops, as will be presently explained.
p, (Fig. 4) is a spring attached to the exterior of the piece M, of the bobbin
holder, and having a small round tongue 9 near its extremity passing through
a hole in the piece M, and pressing against the bobbin for the purpose of pre-
venting the bobbin from, rattling, and of temporarily detaining one side of the
loop while it is passing over the bobbin. r, Figures 2, 3, and 4, is a stationary
but adjustable pin standing across a space P that is provided behind the lower
part of the cam. This pin, which is for the purpose of preventing any slacken-
ing of the loop between the bobbin and the pin, is attached to a plate r¹ which
is secured by a screw to the flanch J of the cam, the said plate being capable
of being moved to adjust the pin to the proper position for preventing the loops
from getting slack, but at the same time preventing any excessive drag upon
them; s is the stationary loop guide, placed near the needle hole in the cloth
plate. But this guide forms no part of the Invention.
The operation of forming the stitch is as follows:-The needle thread
having been carried by the needle through the cloth or material to be sewn in
the usual manner, and retracted sufficiently to commence the opening of the
loop, the hook I, in its revolution with the arm I, passes between the needle
and thread, and as the needle continues to rise draws the thread downward in
the form of a loop, which, by reason of the forward swinging movement of the
arm and hook produced by the rising portion i, of the swelling i, j, of. the
cam, is carried on to the front of the bobbin K, with one half on either side
of the bobbin. As the revolution of the arm I¹ continues over the receding
portion of the swelling of the cam, the outer side of the loop (that is to say,
the side which passes furthest from the shaft E) is carried over the outer

page_text: side of the bobbin, and after it has passed completely over the bobbin, it comes
in contact with the pin r, while the other side of the loop slips into and is
retained in a notch 18 provided in the bottom of the part L of the bobbin
holder. This notch is shewn in Fig. 7, which is an opposite side view of the
cam J to that exhibited in Fig. 2; the loop remains in the notch 13, and in
contact with the pin r, the latter taking up the slack as the hook moves
onward, till, in the revolution of the hook, the pin h strikes the projection m,
and the continued revolution of the hook, while said pin is arrested, causes
the pivot of the hook to turn in its bearing in the arm I, and the point of
the hook to be turned far enough toward the centre of the shaft E for the
loop to slip off it. The hook, after thus letting the loop go, is instantly thrown
back by the spring f to the position relatively to the arm I¹, represented in
Fig. 3, to be in readiness to catch a new loop as it passes the needle again, the
old loop remaining slack after escaping from the hook, till the extension of
the new one is commenced, when the old one is drawn up through the cloth to
furnish thread for the new one, and is so drawn tight.
T, Fig. 2, is the feed bar attached by a pin w to a slide U, which works
horizontally below the bed plate A; this bar has two projections a, a, which
pass through slots provided for them in the bed plate. The said bar and the
slide U are both operated upon by the double feed cam H, to give the former
a rising and falling motion, to cause the projections a, a, to be raised above,
and to permit them to descend below the upper surface of the bed blate, and to
give the slide a horizontal motion. This slide and feed bar are substantially
like the slide and feed bar of other sewing-machines, and the length of the
movement of the slide may be controlled in the usual or any well-known
manner to vary the length of feed for longer or shorter stitches; but it is
only in the character of its own movement that the feed apparatus resembles
the feed apparatus heretofore used for sewing machines; and the manner
in which the cloth or material to be sewn is laid hold of to be moved along
differs very essentially from the modes heretofore used, as will be understood
by reference to Figs. 8 and 9, which are enlarged views of the essential
elements of this part of the Invention, the former being a side view cor-
responding with Fig. 2, and the latter a section corresponding with Fig. 3.
The two projections a, a, have their upper surfaces smooth, and nearly flat
and parallel with the upper surface of the bed plate, being only slightly
bevilled or rounded towards the rear ends, and having the front ends, or those
ends from which the material is moved in feeding, terminate in a square form,
or in a very slightly acute angle, as shown at 14, 14. These projections
operate in combination with two wheels y, y, which have ratchet-like notches

page_text: in their peripheries, and which are fitted to slots in the foot of the presser C,
and secured therein by pins, %, which constitute axles upon which the said
wheels are capable of rotating in planes parallel with the movement of the
slide U, each wheel being arranged a little in front of its respective pro-
jections, and with the radial faces of its lower notches toward the said
projection. The bottoms of the wheels are slightly elevated above the upper
surface of the bed plate, or of the material 16 (Figures 1, 2, 3, 8, and 9),
when the bottom part 15 of the foot bears upon it. When the pro-
jections x, x, are raised, preparatory to the feeding movement, each forces the
cloth or other material into a notch in its respective wheel, and when the
projection afterwards moves forward to feed, it forces the material into the angle
of the notch, and its continued movement causes the ratchet wheel to turn
along with it; and as the cloth passes along, and the projection approaches a
position below the centre of the wheel, the presser is lifted, and the cloth that
was pressed into the notch rolls along until the angle of the projection arrives
directly under the centre of the wheel, where it is stopped. The feed move-
ment is greater or less according as the feed bar is allowed to recede to a
position in which it will raise the cloth higher or not so high up the periphery
of the wheel. The condition of the parts at the commencement of the feeding
operation is shewn in black outline, and their condition as the feed terminates
in red outline in Fig. 8. The wheels y, y, do not touch the material when
the projections x, x, are below the upper surface of the bed plate. A single
projection on the feed bar and a single ratchet wheel on the presser may be
used; but it is preferred to use the two projections and two wheels, as repre-
sented in the Drawings.
V, V, are a pair of friction clamps of disc form for producing tension on
the needle thread; V is stationary, and V¹ is fitted to a hub provided on V,
and is screwed up towards V by a thumb-screw W, with an interposed spring X.
The thread, on its way to and from the clamps, is conducted by a guide Y in
such a manner that it passes round the hub of V, and forms nearly a complete
circle within the clamps. The tension is regulated by screwing up the disk V¹
with more or less tightness.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in
Sewing Machines," as communicated to me from abroad, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do
not claim the use in a sewing machine of a hook revolving in a fixed plane in
combination with a bobbin arranged within or concentric to the circle of revo-
lution of the said hook; nor do I claim the feeding of the material by means
of projecting teeth working up through the bed plate and forcing the cloth

page_text: against a presser, nor yet the use of wheels acting on the upper surface of the
material to move it along; but what I claim, under the above in part recited
Letters Patent, is,―
First, the attachment of the looping hook to a revolving arm which has a
vibrating motion in a direction transversely to its revolution, as described, for
the purpose of operating in combination with the locking thread bobbin sub-
stantially in the manner herein set forth.
Second, the means above described for operating the revolving arm and
looping hook, and for carrying the locking thread bobbin so that the loops
may be passed over it to receive the locking thread.
Third, the adjustable pin r applied and operating substantially as herein
described in combination with the revolving and vibrating looping hook and
the bobbin for the purpose set forth.
And, fourth, feeding the cloth or material to be sewn by means of one or
more smooth-faced angular projections on the feed bar or its equivalent in
combination with one or more ratchet-like wheels attached to the presser, such
wheels being arranged with the lowest portions of their peripheries above the
bottom of the presser foot and the projections pressing the material into one
notch at a time of each wheel, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)