Iμ- PROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Galloway, of Glasgow, in the County
of Lanark, North Britain, Machinist, for the Invention of "Iμ-
PROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 14th November 1871, and dated the 19th May 1871.

page_text: '
"
a single thread; or to form an ornamental stitch or a "button-hole
stitch with two or more needles and upper threads in combination with
an under thread.
The various movements are derived from a revolving spindle or
cylinder driven from a treadle or otherwise, and actuating a rocking
needle holder or lever by means of an eccentric or cam and connecting
rod. The revolving spindle or cylinder, which is below the plate sup-
porting the fabric, is made with an overhanging end near the vertical
plane of the needle, and a hook is formed or fixed on this end to take
down and form a loop on the thread passed through the fabric by the
needle, the loop being held in a groove formed round the end of the
cylinder behind the hook. The cylinder is made hollow, and the bobbin
containing the thread for the under side is passed into it and through the
loop of the upper thread after which, the revolving motion continuing
the loop is drawn up across or over the end of the bobbin. The bobbin
is carried out of the cylinder again either before the next loop is formed,
so that it may be passed through such next loop in the same direction
as in the case of the preceding one, or it passes out of the cylinder
when going through one loop and into it when going through the next,
and so on alternately. The bobbin is supported on a guide or guides
which are, as it were, cut through under the needle for the loop to pass
across them, being fixed at their opposite ends, and the bobbin is thrown
or picked by bell-crank levers acted on by a cam or cams formed or
fixed on the revolving cylinder. If a single-thread chain stitch is
desired all that is necessary is to remove the lower bobbin and to use
a suitable throat plate. When two or more needles are used they are
fixed in the vertical plane of the end of the cylinder so that the hook
of the latter takes down and forms loops of their threads, through which
loops the bobbin below passes as through one loop. When making
a button-hole stitch the fabric is placed so that one of the two needles
works through the cloth and the other past the edge. When the
needles are raised a kind of double fork is moved across under them
pushing the two threads to one side, and then turning partly round
for the needles to descend through it, one needle being thereby made
to pass through a loop of the other needle's thread, and thus form a
kind of twist between the threads. The double fork is moved by means
of a lever acted on by the needle lever, and is turned by another lever
or by passing through a spiral guide. A small folding clip guide is
applied to keep the edge of the fabric clear at the part where the button-

page_text: hole stitching is being done, being formed with a lip which when it
is folded down clips the edge, and which is slotted or notched where
the needles pass through.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Galloway in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th November 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GALLOWAY, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Galloway, Her special licence that
I, the said William Galloway, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Galloway, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Galloway, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 William Galloway, 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 in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention comprises improvements whereby the sewing
machine can be arranged to form what is known as the "lock stitch"

page_text: "
with two threads, both drawn off bobbins; or to form the "chain stitch"
with a single thread; or to form an ornamental or a " button-hole
stitch with two or more needles and upper threads in combination with
an under thread.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append two Sheets of
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing a
sewing machine as made with my improvements. The same reference
numerals are used to mark the same or like parts wherever they are
repeated.
Figures 1 and 2, on Sheet 1 of the Drawings, are a front and a side
clevation of the machine, and Figure 3, on Sheet 2, is a transverse
vertical section showing parts below the front part of the plate 1 of the
machine. The other Figures will be more conveniently referred to in
the course of the following description :-
The machine is designed to rest with the plate 1 on a table top in
which a recess is formed for the parts beneath the plate. The various
movements are derived from a horizontal revolving spindle 2, carried
below the plate 1, and fitted with a grooved pulley 3, and hand wheel 4,
to be driven by means of a treadle or otherwise. A needle arm or
lever 5 is arranged to rock on a centre 6 upon a stationary arm 7, and
is formed with a lever 8 projecting down through a hollow part of the
arm 7, the rocking motion being imparted directly to the lever 8 by a
grooved cam 9 on the revolving spindle 2. The revolving spindle 2 by
means of a pair of toothed bevil wheels 10 gives rotation to a hollow
cylinder 11, which I intended to have arranged in the line of or as part
of the spindle 2, but which I find is better placed at right angles as
shown. This cylinder 11 is carried in two bearings 12, and is fitted with
an overhanging end near the vertical plane of the needle; and this end,
the form of which will be best understood from the three detached views
of it in Figure 4, is made with a hook 13 to take down and form a loop
on the thread passed through the fabric by the needle, the loop being
held by a groove 14 formed partly round the cylinder end behind the
hook 13. The needle thread, shown by a red line in the Drawing, is
drawn as usual off a bobbin 15, being guided according to the kind of
stitching required, as is herein-after more particularly explained. The
lower thread, shown by blue lines, is drawn off an ordinary bobbin 16 (of
a suitable size), and this bobbin 16 is passed into the cylinder 11 and

page_text: through the loop of the upper thread, after which, the revolving motion
continuing, the loop is drawn up across or over the end of the bobbin.
The bobbin 16 is carried out of the cylinder 11 again either before the
next loop is formed, so that it may be passed through such next loop in
the same direction as in the case of the preceding one, or it passes out
of the cylinder when going through one loop and into it when going
through the next, and so on alternately. In the Drawing the parts are
shown as arranged for the bobbin to pass through the loop always in
one direction. The bobbin 16 is supported in a holder 17, which is
shown in section and without the bobbin in Figure 3, this holder con-
sisting of a hollow spindle with end discs connected by a plate with
perforations through which to pass the thread to give it the requisite
tension. One of the end discs of the holder 17 unscrews to admit of the
bobbin 16 being put on, and the spindle is made square internally to
slide on square guides 18, 19, which are in line, and form as it were a
single continuous guide cut through at the part where the needle thread
has to cross. The guide 19 inside of the cylinder is held by a fixed
bracket 20, but the other guide 18 is attached to a movable bracket 21
contrived to ship down through an opening in the plate 1 into a socket
formed for it in a fixed bracket 22. The bobbin 16 is thrown or picked
by means of a duplex picker 23, formed or fitted with two curved
picking discs, and the construction of which will be easily understood
from Figure 3. The picker 23 is jointed to one arm 24 of a bell-crank
lever 24, 25, turning on a vertical pin 26, and having its second arm 25
acted on by a grooved cam 27 on the spindle 2. The fabric is fed along
by the usual dog or roughened surface 28, formed or fixed on the front
end of a lever 29, shown separately in Figure 5. This lever 29 is at its
back end jointed by a horizontal pin to a small block 30 capable of
turning on a vertical pin fixed in the under side of the plate 1, whilst the
front end of the lever 29 rests on the cylinder 11 at a part shown in
section in Figure 6, and formed with a cam projection 31 for lifting up
the dog 28 at the proper time. The feed is effected by the action of a
projection 32 on the boss of the bell-crank lever 24, 25, as will be under-
stood from Figure 5, a spring 33 at the front end returning the lever 29,
after each feed movement, such return being limited according to the
length of stitch required by a screw 34, which is encountered by a
plate 35 formed or fixed on the arm 29 for the purpose. The needle
arm 5, by means of a pin at its outer end, actuates a vertical needle
bar 36 working in guides in the front end of the stationary arm 7, which

page_text: also carries the usual presser leg 37, to which a foot 38 is attached to
suit the kind of stitching that is wanted.
In Figures 1 and 2 the parts are shown as arranged for forming what
I will term the No. 1 or plain "lock stitch" with two threads.
Figure 7 is a horizontal section showing the throat plate 39 and the
presser foot 38 used with this stitch, whilst Figure 8 is a face view of
the needle bar 36 showing the corresponding needle and its position on
the needle bar, which bar is formed with three grooves for different
positions of the needle. The needles used are of the usual kind used
with vertical needle and shuttle machines, and the red line near the
point shows in each case the proper position for the eye. The needle
thread is led from the bobbin 15 through a guide eye 40, through or
round a spring tension clip or pulley 41, and through one of the holes
in a guide plate 42, fixed on the end of the rocking or needle arm 5.
When the material is thin and the stitch short the top holes of the
guide plate 42 will be found to work best, and the lower ones when the
material is thick and the stitch long. The thread is then led through a
hole in the needle clamp 43 to the needle.
For forming the No. 2 or simple "chain" stitch the lower bobbin 16
is removed, and the thread of the upper bobbin 15 is led through a slot
in the guide plate 42, then through any of the holes in a guide plate 44
fixed to the stationary arm 7, the lower holes for thin material and the
upper ones for thick. The presser foot 38 and throat plate 39, shown in
Figure 9, are used, and the needle fixed as shown in Figure 10.
No. 3 stitch is formed when the under bobbin 16 is used along with
the arrangements described for No. 2, and is a knoted or elastic lock-
stitch, being a combination of No. 1 and No. 2. This No. 3 may be used
as an ornamental stitch, and the threads may be of different colors, the
sewing being done with the fabric inverted.
No. 4 is a "lock" stitch with two upper threads and with the under
thread 16, the second upper bobbin being placed on a spindle 45 pro-
vided for it, and its thread led through an eye at 40, thence through or
round a tension clip or pulley 46 and through one of the holes in the
guide plate 42. The presser foot 38 and throat plate 39 for this stitch
are shown in Figure 11, whilst Figure 12 is an inverted plan of the
presser foot. The throat is formed with a tongue to prevent the needles
from pushing the fabric through, and a curved ridge 47 (shown in edge
views) is formed beneath the plate to prevent the thread from catching

page_text: on the tongue when being drawn into the cloth. The adjustment of the
needles is shown in Figure 13.
No. 5 is a "chain" stitch with two upper threads, and for it the lower
bobbin 16 is omitted, whilst the throat plate 39, shown in Figure 14, is
used with a presser foot 38, like Figures 11, 12, and with the adjustment
of needles shown in Figure 15.
No. 6 stitch is formed when the under thread 16 is used along with
the arrangements described for No. 5.
No. 7 is a "button-hole" stitch, and can be made with the arrange-
ments for either No. 5 or No. 6, but with the substitution of a presser
foot and twisting appliances thereon, shown in Figures 16, 17, and 18.
Figure 16 is a face view, Figure 17 a sectional plan, and Figure 18
an inverted plan, the last showing the presser foot only. A small
horizontally moving hooked lever 48 is jointed on the top of the foot,
and acted on by a spring tending to hold it in the position shown. A
bent wire 49 catching on that end of the lever 48 which is shown to the
right in the Figures is moved by the rising needle clamp 43 so as to
turn the lever, and the hooked left-hand end of the lever catches the
thread of the outer needle (Figure 13 or 15) and twists it round under
the point of the inner needle. The inner needle passes down through
an eye bit between the toes of the foot, and seen best in Figure 18, and
this eye bit being formed externally with a spiral ridge, the thread of
the outer needle catches on it sufficiently for the inner needle's thread to
interlace with it at the next stitch. This button-holing device is
modified from that described in my relative Provisional Specification,
and which was not found to answer satisfactorily, but the action on the
threads by the improved device herein described and delineated is the
same as what I previously intended to produce.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict myself to
the precise details herein described or delineated, but that what I believe
to be novel and original and claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1. The arranging or combining together of the parts of sewing
machines in the improved mode substantially as herein-before described.
2. The using of a revolving hook (13) and part in immediate con-
nection, shaped and operating in the manner herein delineated and

page_text: described, without an under thread or with an under thread worked as
herein described, or otherwise.
3. The using of a revolving cylinder with a hook on one end, and
having in connection with it appliances for picking a bobbin or thread
holder into and out of it, substantially as herein-before described.
4. The several combinations of throat plate, presser foot, and needle
adjustment for different stitches herein described and delineated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Galloway, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-one.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
WM. GALLOWAY. (L.S.)