IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE- WITH
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Moss, of 76, Preston Street, Liverpool, in
the County of Lancaster, Mechanic, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
""
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Moss at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th October 1873.
I, JAMES Moss, of 76, Preston Street, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Mechanic, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE-
WITH," to be as follows:-
-
This Invention relates to a peculiar combination or arrangement of
mechanism for producing what is known as the "lock stitch" in sewing
machines without the necessity for the use of shuttles, an ordinary reel
or bobbin of thread being used in the machine in licu of a shuttle, thus
obviating the winding of spools.

page_text: According to this Invention a reciprocating hook or looper having a
circular or curvelinear path is combined with a loose frame or cage
containing an ordinary recl or bobbin of thread, which is mounted and
turns freely on a stud or spindle within the said frame. The hook or
looper receives its motion from a crank pin in a crank or disc fixed on
the end of the driving shaft, and is provided with a shank or stem which
slides freely in a swivel guide cyo attached to the under side of the bed
plate. The before mentioned loose frame is curved towards the needle,
and carries a segmental plate at its lower end, over which plate the loop
from the needle is passed by the action of the before mentioned hook or
looper. The needle having risen and again descended through the fabric
with a second loop the hook or looper takes this second loop and, by
extending it simultaneously draws up the previous loop over the reel or
bobbin in the frame, thus interlocking the two threads.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Moss in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 4th April 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
Moss, of 76, Preston Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing dato tho Fourth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the 37th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Moss, Her special license that
I, the said James Moss, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Moss, my exccutors, admini-
strators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to timo and at all times thereafter during the terin therein
'expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
tho United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES,
AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said James Moss, my executors or administrators,

page_text: 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 James Moss, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 accompanying Drawings
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :—
My said Invention relates to a peculiar combination or arrangement
of mechanism for producing what is known as the "lock stitch in
sewing machines without the necessity for the use of shuttles, an
ordinary reel or bobbin of thread being used in the machine in lieu of a
shuttle, thus obviating the winding of spools.
According to this Invention a reciprocating hook or looper having a
circular or curvilinear path is combined with a loose frame or cage con-
taining an ordinary reel or bobbin of thread which is mounted and turns
freely on a stud or spindle within the said frame. The hook or looper
receives its motion from a crank pin in a crank or disc fixed on the end
of the driving shaft, and is provided with a shank or stem which slides
freely in a swivel guide eye attached to the under side of the bed plate.
The before mentioned loose frame is turned towards the needle and
carries a segmental plate at its lower end, over which plate the loop from.
the needle is passed by the action of the before mentioned hook or looper.
The needle having risen and again descended through the fabric with a
second loop the hook or looper takes this second loop and by extending
it simultaneously draws up the previous loop over the reel or bobbin in-
the frame, thus interlocking the two threads.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I
shall now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that.
purpose shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in
all the Figures.
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my improved sewing machine:

page_text: Figure 2 a plan, and Figure 3 a front clevation thereof, shewing a
portion of the plate or bed broken away,
A represents a reel or bobbin mounted in lieu of the ordinary shuttle,
and turning freely on a stud or spindle fixed to a bracket or chair formed
across the open front and interior of a loose frame or cage B, the latter
being mounted in a bracket or carriage fixed to the under side of tho
plate or bed of the machine, as shown, and capable of a slight forward
movement therein, as hercafter described; the loose frame or cage B'is
open at its upper end, where the reel or bobbin A revolves and terminates
at the lower end in a segmental-bridle plate a formed-with-projecting
corners, as shewn; b is a guide attached in front of the reel or bobbin A
to the bracket or chair carrying the same; C is a peculiarly constructed
spring fixed to the under side of the bracket or carriage carrying the looso
frame or cage B in such a position as to bear slightly against the back
portion of the latter; for the purposo hereafter described; in proximity,
to the loose, frame or cage B is a hook or looper D formed with a shank
or-stem E which slides freely through a swivel guide eye F attached to
and projecting from the under-side-of-the-plate.or bed so as to allow of
a circular reciprocating motion being given to the hook or looper D
across the open part of the loose frame or cago B by means of the crank
pin G connected with the hook or looper D and with a crank or disc H
fixed to the end of the driving shaft J which is mounted in suitable
bearings attached to the under side of the plate or bed, as shewn; K is
the needle of the machine attached to the needle bar L, which-is-con--
nected with and receives a vertical reciprocating motion from tho presser 2
arm M and lever N' fixed to a common axis or fulcrum mounted in
suitable bearing on the plate or framework of the machine, and caused'
to vibrate by a rod in connection with an eccentric on the' driving
shaft J, as shown; 0, 0, are the tension discs carried by the presser.
arm M for tightening the upper thread wound" on a reel or bobbin &
carried by the pin or stud P.
:
The manner in which the lock stitch is produced or formed by the
apparatus liere described is as follows:-The thread from the reel or
bobbin A in the loose frame or cago B is passed through the guide in
front of the reel or bobbin A and drawn-up through the hole or aperture-
formed for the needle K in the plate or bed of the machine, while the"
thread from the upper reel or bobbin on the pin or stud P is passed

page_text: between the tension discs O, O, through a guide eye at the upper end of
the needle bar L and through a hole in the needle yoke at the lower end
of the same to the eye of the vertical needle K. The material to bo
sewn or stitched being laid or adjusted on the upper surface of the plate
or bed underneath the needle K the driving-shaft J is caused to revolve
and the eccentric and rod acting upon the lever N and the presser arm M
causes the needle K carrying the upper thread to descend through the
fabric and through the hole or aperture in the plate or bed; at the same
time the hook or looper D revolves, and its motion is so adjusted or
arranged relatively to that of the needle K that when the latter has
descended and is about to rise again the hook or looper D hooks into or
catches the loop formed by the needle K and carries the same round
with it until the loop is caught by one of the projecting corners of the
segmental bridle plate a which releases it from the hook or looper D
and passes it on to the lower back portion of the loose frame or cage B
until it comes in contact with the spring C which checks or retains it
until the needle K descends through the fabric with a second loop,
which the hook or looper D having meanwhile completed a revolution
catches, and in carrying this second loop along with it further pulls up
the first loop past thes pring C (the pressure caused producing a slight
forward movement in the loose frame or cage B and. thereby allowing
the first loop to pass the spring C) and completely over the back of the
loose frame or cage B past the top of the reel or bobbin A up to and
tightly against the under side of the fabric, where it is locked by the
intervening thread from the reel or bobbin A; meanwhile the second
loop has been passed on to the lower back portion of the loose frame or
cage B from the hook or looper D which is now engaging with the third
loop, and so on, continuing the operation as long as desired.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the application
and use of a book or looper having a circular reciprocating motion across
and in proximity to the front of a loose frame or cage containing a reel
or bobbin of thread in combination with a peculiarly constructed spring
bearing slightly against the back portion of the said loose frame or cage

page_text: and with the vertically reciprocating needle and upper thread of sewing
machines for the purpose of producing what is known as the lock stitch,
substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whoreof, I, the said James Moss, have to this my
Specification set my hand and soal, this Second day of April One 5
thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.