IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Daniel Foxwell, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Card Manufacturer for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 11th July 1856, and dated the 29th January 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said. Daniel Foxwell at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th January 1856.
I, DANIEL FOXWELL, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Card
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
My improvement consists in the use of two. straight needles. and one hooked
needle, one straight needle working vertically and one horizontally, and the
book or fork working also horizontally, or in. the use of two needles without
the hook or fork, one working vertically and one horizontally.
In the first arrangement, I cause the vertical needle to pass down through
the cloth or material to be sewn, and the second needle working horizontally
to pass through the loop of the vertical needle, and the hook or fork to catch
the loop of the horizontal needle, and so place it, that the vertical needle in
its next-descent can pass through the loop of the horizontal needle; then the
horizontal needle,again passes through the loop of the vertical needle, and
So ou.
In the second arrangement, I use two straight needles, only one vertical
and the other horizontal. I first tic the end of the thread of the horizontal
needle to a stud fixed for that purpose, then I pass the horizontal needle under
the material to be sewn, so that the vertical needle in its descent can pass

page_text: through the loop, or between the thread and the horizontal needle, then I draw
back the horizontal needle and pass it through the loop of the vertical needle,
then I lift out the vertical needle and pass it through the material and the loop
of the horizontal needle, and so on, for any length of sewing. By these
arrangements I employ two fixed bobbins; I can also sew with one nee‹lle,
one thread, and one hook or fork. The vertical needle can be worked either
under or over the material to be sewn, and the same with the other needles.
A novel and peculiar mode of propelling or carrying forward the cloth and
also of regulating the length of the stitch is provided, and different arrange-
ments of mechanism for this purpose will be shewn in the Drawings attached
to my complete Specification hereafter to be filed, as well as the other requisite
arrangements of mechanism for working the needles, &c. &c., which have
never before been used for such purposes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Daniel Foxwell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th July 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DANIEL
FOXWELL, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Card Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Daniel Foxwell, Her especial license that I, the said Daniel Foxwell, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Daniel
Foxwell, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Daniel Foxwell, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Daniel Foxwell, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My improvements in sewing machines consist in the use of two straight
needles and one hooked needle, one straight needle working vertically and
one horizontally.
In the first arrangement, I cause the vertical needle to pass down through
the cloth or material to be sewn, and the second needle working horizontally
to pass through the loop of the vertical needle, then the hook holds the loop of
the horizontal needle until the vertical needle in its next descent has passed
through it; the horizontal needle again passes through the loop of the vertical
needle, and so on.
In the second arrangement, I use two straight needles, only one being vertical
and the other horizontal. I first lay the end of the thread of the horizontal
needle on the top of the machine under the cloth, then I pass the horizontal
needle under the material to be sewn, so that the vertical needle in its descent
can pass through the loop of the horizontal needle, then I draw back the
horizontal needle and pass it through the loop of the vertical needle, then I
lift out the vertical needle and pass it through the material and the loop
of the horizontal needle, and so on, for any length of sewing. By these
arrangements I employ two fixed bobbins; I can also sew with one thread
and one hook or fork. In another and simpler arrangement of the machine,
the vertical needle may be worked either under or over the cloth to be
sewn, and the same may be done with the other system of needles; in
all of which arrangements of sewing machines I use a novel and peculiar mode
of propelling or carrying forward the cloth, and also of regulating the length
of the stitch as required.
In order that this Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail, I have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawing, made about half the real
size. Similar letters of reference are placed upon corresponding parts of the
machinery or apparatus in all the entire Figures of the machine; and as I have
found the second arrangement of the machine more preferable, and which I call
a "domestic sewing machine," it will be convenient for the better illustration
of my Invention to describe it first, as follows:-
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine, in which the two needles only
are employed, one vertical and the other horizontal. In this Figure the
machine is shewn with the front plate of the framing removed, in order to
exhibit more clearly the enclosed apparatus for working or actuating such

page_text: needles. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same machine, also having the side
platé removed for the like purpose; and Fig. 5 is a plan or horizontal view,
in which the upper part of the machine and top plate is removed, for the
same purpose as in Figs. 1 and 2. Figs: 3 and 4 are, respectively an end
view and side view of the apparatus, which I also term a domestic "sewing
machine," being in principle the same as Fig. 1, 2, 5, (that is, having only
vertical and horizontal needles, which are actuated by similar mechanism,)
with the exception of a different arrangement of certain parts, as I prefer in
this machine to pierce and sew the cloth, &c. upon the under side, and have
arranged the parts accordingly, in contradistinction to sewing upon the upper
side, as by the machine shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 5. Figs. 6 and 7 are Diagrams,
shewing the method of forming the stitch when a hook is used in conjunction
with the vertical and horizontal needles, and is the arrangement as first
alluded to in the preliminary part of this Specification; Fig. 6 being an end
view of the needles and hook when forming the stitch, and Fig. 7 a plan
view of the needles and hook in the same position. Fig. 8, 9, and 10 illus-
trate the configuration of the several grooves formed in the cams, developed
upon a plane and shewn from end to end, that is, the grove, completing one
circumference of the cam; Fig. 8 being the groove of the cam for actuating
the horizontal needle in the machine shewn at Fig. 3, 4, and Fig. 9 the
groove in the cam for working the vertical needle in the same machine.
Fig. 10 is the groove of the cam for working the horizontal needle in the
machine shown at Figs. 1, 2, 5, the cam for working the vertical needle in
'tlicse Figures being of the saine configuration as that used for the vertical
needle in Figs. 3, 4. Fig. 11 is a Diagram, shewing the running stitch as
'formed upon the face of the cloth, which will be of the same formation
whether sewn by the machine with vertical and horizontal needles only, or
with both needles and hook, or by the last-named "domestic machine," the
'only difference in this last-mentioned machine being that the face of the cloth
is placed downwards and the stitch formed beneath, as before explained.
Fig. 12 illustrates the course of the "binding thread" formed upon the
opposite side of the material, and which retains or keeps the "running stitch"
from being drawn through the cloth or material. Fig. 13 represents a cam
'and cranked lever; the cam is secured upon the cam shaft c, and the lever is
so situated, that upon the revolution of the cam one end of it will force the
'thread of the vertical needle from the said needle, and thereby forms a loop,
through which the horizontal needle may pass with greater certainty, as in
'instances of fine sewing, the horizontal necille will sometimes pass on the
'outer side of the loop in lieu of through it, but the cranked lever and cam
"

page_text: ensures the proper course of the horizontal needle through the loop of the
vertical, by holding the loop open for its free passage. The operation of
these machines will be more readily understood by referring to the Drawings
and the following description thercof:-
In Figs. 1, 2, 5, a, a, is the framing of the machine; b, the driving pulley,
secured upon the cam shaft c; d is the grooved cam for actuating the vertical
needle by means of the cranked lever f; and ġ is the grooved cam for
working the horizontal needle h, through the medium of the cranked lever i.
At or near the needle end of the cam shaft c are secured two surface cams
k, l, which act against the vibrating lever m; at the top of this lever m is
placed a small plate or table n, having its surface "diamond cut" or otherwise
indented; over this table the material to be sewn passes, and is propelled at
the finish of each successive stitch by means of the vibratory and lifting
motion imparted to the lever m and. table n by the cams k, l; the spring o
draws the lever m back as it is propelled by the cams. In Figs. 3, 4, the
arrangement of the several parts shewn differs from that in the preceding
Figures; the plate or table m and its cams and lever are situated above the
cloth and propel it from above, and in consequence of piercing and sewing
the material upon the under side, the fulcrum of the lever f for working the
vertical needle is situated below the cam shaft instead of above it. The
various actions of the several parts will be more clearly illustrated and under-
stood in and by the following description of the method of forming the stitch.
The cloth or material to be sewn is first placed upon the table or plate n, and
pressed down thereupon by an ordinary spring presser; the horizontal needle
now being threaded, the end of this thread of the horizontal needle h, which
forms the "binding" thread, is then laid on the bed of the machine under the
cloth; motion is then given to the cam shaft c, upon which the horizontal
needle is shot forward under the material, carrying with it the thread which
forms a loop; then the vertical needle e, also threaded, descends with its loop
through the cloth, and passes through the loop of the horizontal needle; the
horizontal needle now recedes, leaving its loop passed round the vertical
needle the horizontal needle now shoots forward again as the vertical needle
ascends, and passes through the loop of the vertical needle; the stitch is now
finished ready for tightening. The vertical needle ascends through the cloth
to its highest position, and in its next descent the point of the vertical needle
just catches the loop of the horizontal needle, which immediately withdraws
and slips off the loop of the vertical needle; the vertical needle then passes
down to its lowest point, and tightens up the last stitch, and so on, forming
consecutive stitches for any length or continuance of sewing. This con-

page_text: secutive formation of stitches is shewn in the Diagrams 11 and 12, the red.
thread being that of the horizontal needle, and the blue thread that of the
vertical needle.. The cloth or material is, propelled forwards by means of
the lever m, connected with the table h, and actuated by the cams k, 1; this
lever also regulates the length of the stitch by means of the spring p, which is
forced out from the lever by means of the screw q, thus throwing the lever
further from the centre of vibration. The stitch of the "domestic machine,"
as shown at Fig. 3, 4, is formed in the same manner as in that before
described, with the exception that the horizontal needle works above the cloth,
and the vertical needle pierces and enters the cloth from below. The working
of the needles in Figs. 6; 7, are the same as that employed in Figs. 1, 2, 5,
with the addition of the hook, which holds the loop of the horizontal needle
whilst the vertical needle passes through it, in lieu of depending upon the
horizontal needle alone to form the loop.
Having now described the nature and object of this Invention, together
with the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be
distinctly understood that I claim as my improvements in sewing machines,-
First, the employment or use of two straight needles, the one vertical and
the other horizontal, for the formation of the particular stitch shewn at
Figs. 11, 12.
Secondly, the use and employment of two straight needles and one hooked
needle, the one needle being vertical and the others horizontal, as exhibited at
Figs. 6 and 7,, also for the formation of the above-named stitch.
.
Thirdly, the novel and peculiar construction, of the machine exhibited in
Figs. 3 and 4.
Fourthly, the particular arrangement of mechanism for propelling the cloth
and regulating the length of the stitch.
And, lastly, I claim the general novel arrangement and construction of the
machinery or apparatus constituting my improvements in sewing machines,
together with the necessary cams and levers, as herein-before described and set
forth, and fully illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Daniel Foxwell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
DANIEL FOXWELL. (L.S.)