IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Edward Keats, of Leicester, and John Keats,
of Street, in the County of Somerset, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SEWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 1st December 1865, and dated the 14th June 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Edward Keats
and John Keats at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 14th June 1865.
We, GEORGE EDWARD KEATS, of Leicester, and JOHN KEATS, of Street, in
the County of Somerset, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
The first part of this Invention has for its object so to construct sewing
machines as to render them suitable for embroidering and for stitching over
the edges of button holes or the edges of fabrics, and consists in so arranging
the mechanism which actuates the serrated plate by which the work is caused
to travel that the serrated plate may, in addition to having a rising and falling
and a backward and forward movement imparted to it as is usual, also have
imparted to it simultaneously with each forward movement a sideway motion,
first to one side and then to the other, by which means either a zigzag line of
stitches may be formed, or when stitching the edge of a fabric the fabric may

page_text: be moved in such manner that the needle only passes through the fabric at
every alternate movement, the needle at other times passing beyond the edge
of the fabric and so binding together the threads over this edge. The serrated
plate is for this purpose carried at the end of a bar which is acted on by a
cam or eccentric in such manner that a rising and falling and backward and
forward movement may be imparted to the serrated plate; the sideway move-
ment is given to the plate by carrying the bar in such manner that the bar
can be caused to slide endwise to and fro by a cam acting on a roller at the
opposite end of the bar to that which carries the plate, a spring pressing the
bar towards this cam, the movement of the bar towards the cam is limited by
the end of a screw carried by the bar coming against a stop. The amount of
endway movement which the cam is allowed to give to the bar can thus be
regulated by turning the screw so as either not to allow the roller at the end
of the bar to approach so near to the cam or to allow it to approach closer to
it or the screw can be turned so that no endway movement at all shall be
imparted to the bar by the cam, the serrated plate will then feed the work
forward in a straight line and a straight row of stitches will be produced so
that the machine can be used as an ordinary sewing machine. We prefer to
combine this feed motion with a sewing machine constructed in the following
manner, it may, however, be applied to any other kind of sewing machine.
Two needles, each having an eye near its point and each furnished with a
separate thread are employed; one needle is a straight and the other a curved
needle, and the stitching is made by each needle alternately passing a loop of
the thread that it carries through the loop of thread carried by the other
needle, as is commonly the case. The straight needle is, however, placed on
the under side of the fabric, and rises up in place of descending through it as
is usual whilst the curved needle is above the fabric, and is moved as usual in
the arc of a circle in a plane at right angles to the plane in which the straight
needle moves, by which means the chain or cord formed by sewing machines
of this description is made on the surface in place of at the back of the work,
as is commonly the case. The curved needle is only caused to move through
a small arc of a circle, and in order that when the straight needle has risen up
through the fabric and the point of the curved needle has entered the loop
carried by it. the straight needle may after descending again rise up through
the fabric and its point enter the loop of the curved needle, we employ a small
hook or instrument (which by preference moves in the arc of a circle) to enlarge
the loop of thread of the curved needle and hold it open over the place where
the straight needle rises, so that the needle may rise up through it; the so
enlarging the loop also aids to press the loop of thread of the straight needle

page_text: through which the point of the curved needle has been passed as above-
mentioned further back on to the curved needle, this loop will thus be moved
out of the way of the point of the straight needle when it rises up through the
fabric, and the point of the straight needle may so pass freely through the loop
of the curved needle, the curved needle then turns back, and in its turn leaves
its loop on the straight needle, and then again moves forward and enters the
loop of the straight needle as is usual. Sewing machines constructed as
above described may have any suitable mechanism for feeding forward the
wark combined with them in place of the feeding mechanism herein
described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Edward Keats and John Keats in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 14th December 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
EDWARD KEATS, of Leicester, and JOHN KEATS, of Street, in the County of
Somerset, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of June, 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 us, the
said George Edward Keats and John Keats, Her special licence that we, the
said George Edward Keats and John Keats, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said George Edward Keats and John
Keats, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
SEWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
George Edward Keats and John Keats, our executors or administrators by
an instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under
the hand and seal of one of us or them 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 he filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
IN

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Keats on behalf of myself and the
said George Edward Keats, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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--
The first part of this Invention has for its object so to construct sewing
machines as to render them suitable for embroidering and for stitching over
the edges of button holes or the edges of fabrics, and consists in so arranging
the mechanism which actuates the serrated plate by which the work is caused
to travel that the serrated plate may in addition to having a rising and falling
and a backward and forward movement imparted to it as is usual also have
imparted to it simultaneously with each forward movement a sideway motion
first to one side and then to the other, by which means either a zig-zag line
of stitches may be formed, or when stitching the edge of a fabric the fabric
may be moved in such manner that the needle only passes through the
fabric at every alternate movement, the needle at other times passing beyond
the edge of the fabric and so binding together the threads over this edge.
The serrated plate is for this purpose carried at the end of a bar which is
acted on by a cam or eccentric in such manner that a rising and falling and
backward and forward movement may be imparted to the serrated plate; the
sideway movement is given to the plate by carrying the bar in such manner
that the be cam be caused to slide endwise to and fro by a cam acting on a
roller at the opposite end of the bar to that which carries the plate, a spring
pressing the bar towards this cam. The movement of the bar towards the
cam is limited by the end of a screw carried by the bar coming against a
stop, the amount of endway movement which the cam is allowed to give to
the bar can thus be regulated by turning the screw so as either not to allow
the roller at the end of the bar io approach so near to the cam or to allow
it to approach closer to it; or the screw can be turned so that no endway
movement at all shall be imparted to the bar by the cam, the serrated plate
will then feed the work forward in a straight line and a straight row of
stitches will be produced so that the machine can be used as an ordinary
sewing machine. We prefer to combine this feed motion with a sewing
machine constructed in the following manner, it may, however, be applied to
any other kind of sewing machine. To needles each having an eye near its
point and each furnished with a separate thread are employed; one needle is
a straight and the other a curved needle, and the stitching is made by each
needle alternately passing a loop of the thread that it carries through the
loop of thread carried by the other needle as is commonly the case. The

page_text: straight needle is, however, placed on the under side of the fabric and rises
up in place of descending through it, as is usual, whilst the curved needle is
above the fabric, and is moved as usual in the arc of a circle in a plane at
right angles to the plane in which the straight needle moves, by which means
the chain or cord formed by sewing machines of this description is made on
the surface in place of at the back of the work, as is commonly the case.
The curved needle is only caused to move through a small arc of a circle,
and in order that when the straight needle has risen up through the fabric
and the point of the curved needle has entered the loop carried by it that
the straight needle may after descending again rise up through the fabric
and its point enter the loop of the curved needle, we employ a small hook or
instrument, which by preference moves in the arc of the circle, to enlarge
the loop of thread of the curved needle and hold it open over the place where
the straight needle rises so that the needle may rise up through it; the so
enlarging the loop also aids to press the loop of thread of the straight needle
through which the point of the curved needle has been passed as above
mentioned further back on to the curved needle, this loop will thus be moved
out of the way of the point of the straight needle when it rises up through
the fabric, and the point of the straight needle may so pass freely through the
loop of the curved needle, the curved needle then turns back and in its turn
leaves its loop on the straight needle, and then again moves forward and
enters the loop of the straight needle as is usual. Sewing machines con-
structed as above described may have any suitable mechanism for feeding
forward the work combined with them in place of the feeding mechanism
herein described.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed we have shewn a sewing machine in
which are combined the above-described mechanism for moving the cloth or
work, and also the mechanism above described for producing the sewing or
stitching; but as before stated either of these arrangements may be applied to
other arrangements of sewing machines.
Figures 1 and 2 shew opposite side views and Figure 3 an end view of the
machine. In these Figures a is the serrated plate that imparts movement. to
the cloth or work; this plate is received in a slot in the table or surface b
upon which the cloth or work rests; the cloth is held down on to this table
by the presser plate c. The serrated plate a is carried at the end of a bar d;
the forward end of this bar is received in a recess in the table b, and is con-
stantially pressed towards the bottom of the recess by a spring e. The bar near
its rear end has a slot formed in it through which a pin passes, this pin
screws into a piece g fixed to the framing of the machine, and its head forms

page_text: a stop or guide to prevent the bar rising; the slot formed in the bar allows
however of the bar moving endwise to and fro. The ordinary rising and fall-
ing and to-and-fro motion is given to the serrated plate by two cams h and i
on the axis k; the cam surface h which is at the end of the axis acts upon the
lower end of a lever 1; this lever turns on a centre at 1', and at its upper end
presses against the serrated plate and gives to it a forward motion; the back-
ward motion is given to the plate by a spring m, which is so formed as to
bear against the side of the bar d; the rising motion is given to the plate by
the cam i. This cam acts on the lower end of a sliding rod, the upper end
of which comes under the bar d, and the downward motion is given to the
bar by the spring e. The rear end of the bar carries a roller d', against which
a cam surface o¹ on the axis o acts, and the end of the bar is pressed towards
this cam surface by the spring m. An endway motion can thus be given to
the bar, and the amount of this motion can be regulated by the screw stop d*,
the end of which comes against the piece g of the framing, the amount of
forward movement given to the plate a is governed by a similar screw stop 12.
The axis o is driven in any suitable manner, and by toothed wheels imparts
motion to the lower axis h, the diameters of the toothed wheels being such
that the axis makes two revolutions for each revolution of the axis o. The
cam surface o' extends slightly more than half way around the toothed
wheel o, and is formed with an incline at each end. the intermediate portion
between these inclines being parallel with the surface of the wheel o², and as
the axis o makes but a half revolution for each complete revolution of the
axis the roller d' will during one revolution of the axis k rise up the incline
at one end of the cam surface o', and for the remainder. of the revolution be
pressed against this surface, whilst during the next revolution the roller will
slide down the incline at the opposite end of the cam surface, and for the
remainder of the revolution be pressed towards the surface of the wheel o²;
the cam surface o' is so placed on the wheel o2 that the incline at one of its
ends acts to press forward the bar simultaneously with the forward motion
given to the plate during one revolution of the axis k, whilst the roller at the
end of the bar will slide down the incline at the opposite end of the cam
surface simultaneously with the forward motion given to the plate a during
the next revolution of the axis. By thus giving to the feeding plate a in addi-
tion to the ordinary motions imparted to it a sideway motion simultaneously
with each of its forward movements a zigzag line of stitches may be formed,
or when stitching the edge of a fabric the fabric may, as before stated, be
moved in such manner that the needle only passes through the fabric at every
alternate movement, the needle at other times passing beyond the edge of the

page_text: fabric, and so binding or lacing together the threads over this edge of the
fabric, or by turning the screw until the roller d' at the end of the bar d
can no longer be acted on by the cam surface of the serrated plate may be
caused to feed the work forward in a straight line, and a straight row of
stitches will then be produced.
We will now proceed to describe the mechanism for producing the sewing
or stitching. p is the straight needle carried by a slide p' below the surface
of the table b. In this slide is a horizontal slot in which a crank pin p
carried by the cam works, a rising and falling motion is thus given to the
needle, when the axis is rotated. r is the curved needle, which, as before
stated, is above the surface of the work; this needle is carried by an axis r'.
The needler and axis rare shewn at Figures 4. In the head at the top
of the axis r¹ a hole is formed at a distance from its centre, into which hole a
pin enters that is carried by a sliding rod. This rod has a to-and-fro
motion imparted to it by a lever r' that at its lower end carries a roller pressed
forward by a cam surface k. On the axis k is a spiral spring r' by pressing for-
ward the sliding rod keeps the roller against this cam surface, the to-and-
fro motion imparted to the rod gives an oscillating rotary motion to the
axis r, and consequently gives a similar motion to the curved needle r. s is
a small hook carried by an axis s'. This axis turns in a bearing fixed to
the framing of the machine. The hook and its axis are shewn at Figures 5.
In the head on the top of the axis is a hole s' at a distance from its centre,
into which a pin carried by the arm senters. the end of the arm that carries
this pin is, by its coming underneath the fixed arm of the framing, prevented
from rising, but it is free to move to and fro horizontally. The opposite end
of the arm is jointed to a link that at its upper end turns on a fixed pin,
and at its lower end is acted on by the cam 3, towards which cam it is con-
stantly pressed by a spring . When the machine is at work the straight
needle rises up through the fabric and then descends; after it has sufficiently
descended to cause a loop of its thread to project outwards from it, the cam, ³
acts on the roller at the lower end of the lever r', and thus causes the curved
needle to advance and insert its point through the loop of thread project-
ing from the straight needle... As soon as the curved needle has completed
its motion the cain acts on the lower end of the link so, and so causes the
hook s to rotate. The hook s catches that portion of the thread of the curved
needle which passes between the eye of the needle and the work, and carries
this thread round with it. The straight needle during this time has con-
tinued its downward motion, and ceases its downward motion as soon as
the hook has completed its forward motion. The parts are shewn in this

page_text: position at Figure 6. The hooks by carrying round the thread of the curved
needle not only carries this thread out of the way of the straight needle when
it again rises, but it also presses the loop of the thread of the straight needle
through which the curved needle has been inserted further on to this needle,
so that this loop of thread is also held out of the way of the straight needle
when it again rises. As the straight needle again rises up through the fabric
(which has been previously moved forward a distance by the feeding
mechanism) its point passes between the curved needle and the portion of its
thread that is held aside by the hook; the cam surface then allows the
spiral spring r to press back the rod r, and so the curved needle turns back
to its original position; the cam surface also then allows the hooks to turn
back to its former position. The parts are shown in this position at Figure 7,
the straight needle then descends, and the same operation is repeated.
The
straight needle is supplied with thread from the bobbin v, the thread passes
from this bobbin through the hole p at the bottom of the slide, and then
after passing through the eye x carried by the spring z¹ it is passed through
the eye of the needle. The curved needle is supplied with thread from the
bobbin . The thread as it comes from the bobbin passes through the eye y
and through the spiral spring y', it afterwards passes through a groove formed
in the rear end of the curved needle, and afterwards along the exterior of
the needle and through the eye at its point.. 2, 2, are clamps for clamping
the machine to the edge of a table.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Keats, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twelfth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
said John Keats in the presence of
W. CHALLINOR,
A Commissioner for taking affidavits, &c.,
in Chancery in England.
JOHN KEATS. (L.S.)