IMPROVEMENTS IN SOWING MANUTES IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Shakespear, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Sewing Machine Manufacturer, and George
Illston, of Birmingham, aforesaid, Machinist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SOWING MANUTES"
Sealed the 3rd September 1869, and dated the 24th March 1869..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Shakespear and
George Illston at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 24th March 1869:
We, THOMAS SHAKESPEAR, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,.
Sewing Machine Manufacturer, and GEORGE ILLSTON, of Birmingham,
aforesaid, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention.
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:--
Our Invention relates principally to that part of the mechanism of.
sewing machines which has for its object to give the required motion. to
the shuttle carriers of the said machines.
In order to actuate the said shuttle carriers we adopt the following
combination of parts:-Near the end of the principal shaft of the sewing
machine we fix a wheel which receives a rotary motion from the said
shaft. A vibrating arm or lever working in a plane parallel to that in

page_text: which the said wheel works is geared to the said wheel by means of a
connecting rod connected to the face of the said wheel by a crank pin.
The said connecting rod gives motion to a rocking shaft working in the
upright supporting the feed plate of the machine. The other end of the
said rocking shaft carries another arm or lever, the upper end of which is
geared to the shuttle carrier by means of a connecting rod jointed to the
end of the said lever and to the said shuttle carrier. When the machine
is worked the wheel on the principal shaft communicates a reciprocating
motion to the first-named vibrating arm or lever, which motion is
transmitted by the rocking shaft to the other arm or lever, and through
it and the connecting rod to the shuttle carrier.
Our Invention consists further of the following improvement in
actuating the shuttle carriers of sewing machines by the direct action of
a lever. In the ordinary method of constructing these parts the lever
has near its end a slot in which a pin on the shuttle carrier engages.
In constructing the said parts according to our Invention we dispense
with the pin and slot described and make the end of the lever engage in
a depression in the shuttle carrier.
Our Invention consists further in making that side of the bobbin
which bears against the rotating hook of sewing machines flat instead of
convex as usual. By flattening the said side of the bobbin the thread
is not exposed to the friction consequent on its being drawn over the
convex side of the bobbin. There is consequently less risk of breaking
the thread and the machine works more easily. There is also more
room for the needle of the machine to pass between the rotating hook
and the bobbin when the side of the bobbin is flattened as described
than when both sides of the bobbin are convex. We make bobbins
either of the ordinary kind or of the kind herein described of horn,
ebonite, ivory, or other hard non-metallic substance for diminishing the
noise produced by the working of the machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Shakespear and George Illston in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th September 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
SHAKESPEAR, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Sewing a

page_text: Machine Manufacturer, and GEORGE ILLSTON, of Birmingham, aforesaid,
Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said Thomas Shakespear and
George Illston, Her special licence that we, the said Thomas Shakespear
and George Illston, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Thomas Shakespear and George Illston, our
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 "Iм.
PROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Thomas Shakespear and George Illston, our executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their hands
and scals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them 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 months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Shakespear, on behalf of
myself and the said George Illston, 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
thereof, that is to say :-
Our Invention relates principally to that part of the mechanism of
sewing machines which has for its object to give the required motion to
the shuttle carriers of the said machines.
In order to actuate the said shuttle carriers we adopt the following
combination of parts:-At or near the end of the principal shaft of the
sewing machine we fix a wheel which receives a rotary motion from the
said shaft. A vibrating arm or lever working in a plane parallel to that
in which the said wheel works is geared to the said wheel by means of a
connecting rod connected to the face of the said wheel by a crank pin.
The said connecting rod and arm give motion to a rocking shaft working

page_text: in the upright or frame supporting the feed plate of the machine. The
other end of the said rocking shaft carries another arm or lever the
upper end of which is geared to the shuttle carrier by means of a con-
necting rod jointed to the end of the said lever and to the said shuttle
carrier. When the machine is worked the wheel on the principal shaft
communicates a reciprocating motion to the first-named vibrating arm
or lever, which motion is transmitted by the rocking shaft to the other
arm or lever, and through it and the connecting rod to the shuttle
carrier..
Our Invention consists further in making that side of the bobbin
which bears against the rotating hook of sewing machines flat instead of
convex as usual. By flattering the said side of the bobbin the thread
is not exposed to the friction consequent on its being drawn over the
convex side of the bobbin. There is consequently less risk of breaking
the thread and the machine works more easily. There is also more room
for the needle of the machine to pass between the rotating hook and
bobbin when the side of the bobbin is flattened as described than when
both sides of the bobbin are convex.
Having explained the nature of our Invention, we will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal
vertical section a portion of a sewing machine containing our arrange-
ment for actuating the shuttle carrier of the said machine; Figure 2 is
a plan of a portion of the same, the cloth plate being removed; and
Figure 3 is an end elevation of the machine. The same letters of
reference indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
a is the principal shaft of the machine driven in the ordinary
manner from the hand wheel b; c is the frame carrying the cloth plate d
and feeding and shuttle arrangements; e is the shuttle carrier, and fis
the shuttle. The shuttle carrier e works upon the horizontal guide
rods g, g, and has a reciprocating motion upon the said rods. The
reciprocating motion of the shuttle carrier e, e, is effected by the
following arrangement of parts:-On the end of the shaft a is a plain
wheel h receiving rotatory motion from the said shaft; i is a vibrating
arm or lever connected by the rod k to the crank pin h³ on
the said wheel h. The said arm or lever i works in a plane
that in which the wheel h works. The said arm i is fixed on the end
the face of
parallel to

page_text: of the shaft l, which shaft has a rocking motion given to it by the
motion of the said arm. The other or inner end of the rocking shaft z
carries another arm or lever m, the upper end of which is geared by the
connecting rod n to the shuttle carrier e, e. The respective positions of
the two arms or levers i, m, on the ends of the rocking shaft / will be
readily seen by an examination of Figure 1. On turning the hand
wheel the shaft a gives rotation to the wheel h and through the
connecting rod k gives a reciprocating motion to the arm or lever i and
rocking shaft . The motion thus communicated to the rocking shaft /
is transmitted through the arm or lever m and connecting rod n to the
shuttle carrier e, as will be understood by an examination of the
Drawing. The wheel h in addition to transmitting motion to the
rocking shaft also serves to work the feeder p. As the mechanism for
working the feeder p constitutes no part of our Invention we do not
consider it necessary to describe the same.
Figure 4 represents in front and side elevation a bobbin of a sewing
machine constructed according to our Invention; Figure 5 represents
in front elevation, and Figure 6 in longitudinal section the said bobbin
combined with the rotating hook of a sewing machine. The bobbin is
marked
The flattened side of the
q and the rotating hook is marked r.
bobbin which bears against the rotating hook is marked q². The bobbin
is secured in its place in the hook by the ordinary holder. By an
examination of Figure 6 it will be seen that by making one side of the
bobbin flat there is more room for the needle of the machine to pass
between the rotating hook and the bobbin than if both sides were
convex as usual. In addition to obtaining more room between the
bobbin and rotating hook bobbins having a flattened side possess the
other advantages herein-before mentioned.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we
do not limit ourselves to the precise details herein described and illus-
trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
our Invention, but we claim as our Invention of improvements in sewing
machines,―
3 Firstly. The arrangement or combination of the parts of mechanism
herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the
accompanying Drawing for giving motion to the shuttle carriers of the
said machines, that is to say, transmitting motion from the principal

page_text: shaft of the machine, and converting the motion of the said shaft
into a reciprocating motion by means of the wheel h, rod k, arm or
lever i, rocking shaft 7, arm or lever m, and rod n, the said parts being
arranged, combined, and operating substantially as described and illus-
trated.
Secondly. Making that side of the bobbins of sewing machines which
bears against the rotating hooks flat instead of convex, for the purposes
and substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 4,
5, and 6 of the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Shakespear, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Sixteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
THOMAS SHAKESPEAR. (L.S.)