AN IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1862

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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING MACHINES."― A
communication from abroad by Nicholas Wilkins; of Chicago, County
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th July 1862.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby déclare
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING MACHINES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improvement in that class of sewing machines,
in which a rotating hook is employed in combination with an eye-pointed needle
and a spool, and in which the said hook enters between the needle and its
thread to form the needle thread loop, and carry it around a spool which carries
the other or locking thread, thereby to interlock the two threads to form the
stitch. In this class of machines various devices have been employed, called
checks, to hold back the loop, so that as the hook in its rotation again

page_text: approaches the needle to enter between it and its thread to form and carry
around the next succeeding loop, it shall not again enter the loop, which it
has already carried around the spool. All of these devices operate simply to
check or hold back the loop as the hook is moving towards the needle. The
most efficient of the devices heretofore used for this purpose is a brush formed
of bristles secured in the socket of an adjustable segment, the said brush being
placed so near to the periphery of the rotating hook that the loop after being
carried around the spool shall be caught and held back until the hook again
enters between the needle and its thread, and then permit it to escape as the
thread is pulled by the forming of the next succeeding loop.
The object of the present Invention is to avoid certain difficulties expe-
rienced in the use of loop checks. To this end the Inventor employs what ho
denominates a thread controller. It is a mere finger projecting from the
inner periphery of a ring, which together with a hollowed disc forms the seat
for the spool, the rotating hook, which serves to open the loop of the needle
thread, being formed out of this disc. The projecting finger is curved on its
inner face, and is placed outside of the outer face of the spool, and its upper
end extends to or slightly beyond the edge or periphery of the spool, and just
within the periphery of the recess in the face of the disc. The under edge
of this loop controller is curved. As the loop of the needle thread is carried
around from the inner to the outer face and cast over by the hook, that
portion which was on the inside in the beginning, and which is cast off or
turned over the outer face of the spool, passes over the outer face of the finger
and is drawn down over its outer face, and under its inclined and curved lower
edge by the continued rotation of the hook, until it extends down from the
cloth to the lower part of the finger about at right angles with the surface of
the table, and thence around the edge of the disc to the cloth forming an
angle a little less than a right angle. At this time the book is within a short
distance of the needle, and as the hook progresses towards the needle the loop,
being held by the loop controller in front, and drawn as it were from the face
of the disc, causes that part of the loop which extends around the inner face
of the hook to slip over the edge or periphery of the disc to the front, and
bence to escape from the hook just before its point enters the next loop. By
reason of this the hook is prevented from remaining within the old loop when
it enters the new loop.

page_text: 5
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by tho said. Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th January 1863,
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, 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 Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth 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 us
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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING MACHINES," being a communication from
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 imme-
diately 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 bad to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
.
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
relates to an improvement in that class of sewing machines, in which a
rotating hook is employed in combination with an eye-pointed needle and a
spool, and in which the said hook enters between the needle and its thread
to form the needle thread loop, and carry it around a spool which carries the
5 other or locking thread, thereby ensuring the interlocking of the two threads
to form the stitch. In this class of machines various devices have been
employed, called checks, to hold back the loop, so that as the hook in its
rotation again approaches the needle to enter between it and its thread to

page_text: form and carry around the next succeeding loop, it shall not again enter th
Joop which it has already carried around the spool. All of these devices operat
simply to check or hold back the loop as the hook is moving towards th
needle. The most efficient of the devices heretofore used for this purpose i
a brush formed of bristles secured in the socket of an adjustable segment, th
said brush being placed so near to the periphery of the rotating hook, tha
the loop after being carried around the spool shall be caught and held bac
until the hook again enters between the needle and its thread, and then permi
it to escape as the thread is pulled by the forming of the next succeeding
loop.
Now the object of the present Invention is to avoid certain difficulties
experienced in the use of looped checks.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken in the plane of the axis of the rotating hook;
Fig. 3 is a face view of the rotating hook and needle with the spool and
sustaining ring and loop controller removed, and with the loop check as at
present generally used; Figures 4 aro separate views of a loop controller made
adjustable; and Fig. 5 is a side view of the rotating hook. The same letters
of reference indicate like parts in all the Figures.
a represents the needle on a vibrating needle arm b; c, the table on which
the fabric to be sewn is placed; d, the rotating hook; c, the spool; f, the
ring for holding the spool in the cavity made for it in the face of the disc of
the rotating hook; g, the feeding bar; h, the cam on the shaft of the rotating
hook for operating the feeding bar; i, the excentric on the shaft of the rotating
hook, which excentric, by the excentric rod j, imparts the required rocking
motion to the rock shaft k, which carries the needle arm. The needle thread
from a spool passes around a tension wheel to the eye of the needle. All
these parts are represented as usually made in this class of machines.
It is necessary to an appreciation of this Invention to understand clearly the
operation of the rotating hook d of this class of machines. It is formed from
a circular disc m on the end of a shaft. The front face of this disc is
recessed to receive the spool e. A portion of the periphery is cut away forward
of the point of the hook, as at n, and on the inner face is cut away as at o, for.
some distance back and forward of the point of the hook to permit the needle
to move down and up as the book approaches and passes by it. The point, of:
the hook passes so near to the needle as to insure its entrance between the
needle and its thread. The needle begins to rise a little before the point of
the book reaches it, that the thread may, slacken and bend outward from the
needle the better to insure the entrance of the point of the hook between the

page_text: thread and the needle, and the needle then continues to rise as the hook con-
tinues to advance in its rotation. When the needle is up out of the cloth the
needle thread is in the form of a loop, extending from the cloth down on the
off side under the hook, and up around the inner face of the hook to the cloth.
The object then is to expand this loop and pass it over the spool e, which
carries the other thread, the end of which other thread is also in the cloth, and
thereby to interlock the two threads to form the stich. As the hook continues
its rotation the back portion p comes against what may be termed the bottom
of the loop, and enlarges it, drawing the thread from the previously formed
loop, and to get this loop around the spool e, that portion of the loop which
lies in front of the hook passes between the recessed face of the disc m and the
spool c, and that portion of the loop which is on the inner face of the hook is
drawn on to the periphery of the disc, which for some distance back of the hook
is formed with a sloped groove q. This, as the hook rotates, shifts that part
of the loop which was on the inner side to the outer or off side, and casts or
turns it over the spool e, the hook still remaining in the loop, which by this
operation is simply turned over, the spool e lying in the cavity of the disc, m.
This operation is not completed until the hook has performed a little more
than half a revolution from the time it entered the loop. Now the hook being
still in the loop which has been carried around the spool e, as the point of the
hook again approaches the needle to enter the next loop, it is evident it must
first get out of the previously formed loop, otherwise it would be in two loops
at the same time, and the thread would be broken. If the previously, formed.
loop be left loose, the point of the hook is just as likely to re-enter it as to get
out of it. To prevent this as before stated, various devices have been used to
check or hold back the loop. The most effective of these various devices
heretofore used is a check brush represented at r, Fig. 3, placed against the
periphery of the hook, so as to hold back the loop as the hook rises, and until
it enters the next loop. By thus keeping the thread distended from the cloth
down on both sides of the hook, the point of the hook in approaching the
needle to enter the new loop must go out of and thereby liberate the previously
formed loop.
The feeding motion for the spacing of the stitches takes place while the
needle is out of the cloth, and hence before the hook reaches the loop of the
needle thread to enter it. Now, if long stitches are to be made, the feed;
motion carries the thread so far over that the point of the book will pass outside,
of the previously formed loop before entering the new loop, thus retaining the
previous formed loop, and then it will enter the next loop, after which it will
be in two loops. To prevent this, it has been the practice to use a guard,

page_text: which is a rounded bar attached to the under side of the table (not
represented) and which holds back the needle thread when the feed motion
advances the cloth, so that the hook in approaching the needle to enter a new
loop shall pass out of the previously formed loop.
By the present improvement.the brush or other device for checking the loop
is dispensed with, and all the disadvantages are avoided consequent upon the
use of such a device, including the guard for holding back the loop to insure its
liberation before the next is taken on the hook. Instead of such check or
hold back, the Inventor employs what he denominates a thread controller.
It is a mere finger 8, projecting from the inner periphery of the ring f, which
holds the spool e in the cavity of the disc m. This finger is curved on its
inner face, and is placed outside of the outer face of the spool c, and its upper
end extends to or slightly beyond the edge or periphery of the spool, and just
within the periphery of the recess in the face of the disc m.
The under edge
of this loop controller is curved as represented.
As the loop of the needle thread is carried around from the inner
to the outer face and cast over by the hook, that portion which was
on the inside in the beginning, and which is cast off or turned over
the outer face of the spool e, passes over the outer face of the finger
s, and is drawn down over its outer face and under its inclined and curved
lower edge by the continued rotation of the hook, until it extends down from
the cloth to the lower part of the finger s, about at right angles with the
surface of the table, and thence around the edge of the disc m to the cloth, as
represented by the red line t, forming an angle a little less than a right angle.
At this time the hook is within a short distance of the needle, and as the hook
progresses towards the needle, the loop being held by the loop controller in
front, and drawn as it were from the face of the disc, causes that part of the
loop which extends around the inner face of the hook to slip over the edge or
periphery of the disc m to the front, and hence to escape from the hook just
before its point enters the next loop. This is represented by dotted red lines.
By reason of this, the hook is prevented from remaining within the old loop
when it enters the new loop. If instead of this the loop be held back by any
means whatever at or near the periphery of the disc as it is by the check
brush, represented in Fig. 3, the pull on the loop has no tendency to cause
it to escape from the inner to the outer face of the hook, and hence the result
secured by the present Invention cannot be obtained by such old devices. To
secure this result, the loop must be so controlled that the pull on the thread
shall cause that portion of it which bears against the inner face of the hook to
slip over the edge or periphery to the outer face. The moment this escape

page_text: takes place, the hook is entirely out of the old loop, which remains under the
control of the fingers until after the hook has entered the next loop, which it
can do without danger of any conflict with the loop thus liberated, and as the
new loop is drawn out by the continued rotation of the hook, the old loop is
drawn up towards and through the cloth, the inclination of the under edge of
the controller being such as to permit its free escape upwards.
The advantages of this Invention are,―
First, a better control of the loop, so as to insure its escape from the hook
before the hook enters a new one.
Second, greater simplicity and less cost of construction, the single finger s
being substituted for the brush or other check and the appendages thereof and
means of adjustment.
Third, dispensing with the necessity of adjustment as the brush wears out,
and when a change is required to be made from very coarse to very fine or from
very fine to very coarse thread, and avoiding the necessity for renewing the
parts, as the improved controller will last as long as any other part of the
machine.
Fourth, dispensing with a loop guard under the table, the objection to the
use of which was its tendency to resist the feed motion.
Besides the advantages above enumerated there are others important to
name.
With the thread checks as heretofore used the ring f, which holds the spool e
in its recess in the face of the disc m, requires to be accurately adjusted, so as
to leave just sufficient room for the passage of the thread of the loop, both
sides of the spool e requiring the ring to be readjusted whenever the size of the
thread is materially changed, but the improved method of controlling the loop
admits of considerable play of the spool between the ring f and the disc, so
that such adjustment becomes unimportant.
Another advantage is, that the space for the passage of the spool thread
between the two discs constituting the spool, may be made considerably wider
than the thickness of the thread, without danger of the loop getting into it.
As the thread controller extends beyond the edge of the spool when the loop
is cast off or turned over the spool by the hook, it must pass over the con-
troller, and this effectually prevents it from getting to the edge of the spool.
The loop controller may, if thought desirable, be made adjustable in the
ring f by attaching its lower end to one end of a sector u, and securing the
sector to the ring f by a screw v passing through an elongated slot in the
sector, as represented separately in Fig. 4, but if placed at the proper angle, as
represented in the Figures first above described, it will need no adjustment.

page_text: The mode of operation which distinguishes this Invention from the loop
checks heretofore employed is, that of holding back the loop at the side or face
of the hook, so that it shall be thereby discharged or cast off before the hook
enters the next loop, whilst all other devices heretofore used for this purpose,
hold back the loop by some means of resistance at or near the periphery of the
hook, in such manner that the point of the hook shall pass out of it as it moves
towards the needle to enter the new loop.
Having now set forth the nature of this Invention of "An Improvement 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 under
the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, combining with an eye-
pointed needle rotating hook and spool, or their equivalents the loop controller'
substantially such as herein described, and having the mode of operation herein
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
FRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)