IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES FOR THE PURPOSE OF APPLYING MOTIVE POWER RENDERING THEM SELF-ACTING
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Geminiano Zanni, of Rathbone Place, Oxford Street,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES FOR THE PURPOSE OF
APPLYING MOTIVE
POWER
RENDERING THEM SELF-ACTING."
Sealed the 24th August 1866, and dated the 27th February 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Geminiano Zanni at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
February 1866.
I, GEMINIANO ZANNI, of Rathbone Place, Oxford Street, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPLYING MOTIVE POWER TO SEWING MACHINES FOR THE PURPOSE OF
RENDERING THEM SELF-ACTING," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in applying motive power to
sewing machines, in order that they may be rendered self-acting in place of
having motion imparted thereto by manual labour.
Heretofore sewing machines have had motion imparted thereto by means
of a treadle moved by the feet, or by means of a crank or other mechanism
actuated by hand when the machine is required for use, and in some cases
sewing machines have been driven by steam power.
Now this Invention consists in arranging sewing machines in combination
with a self-acting spring (or springs).or by means of weights, which when

page_text: wound up and released impart motion through a train of wheels and other
suitable mechanism to the main axis of a sewing machine, as is well under-
stood in obtaining motive power from springs or weights for actuating clockwork
and other mechanism. Breaks or stops are arranged in combination with the
mechanism in order to arrest the action of the springs or weights, or to set
them in motion, when the break or stop is removed for the purpose of stopping
or starting the sewing machine actuated by such mechanism when required.
Another part of my improvements consists in imparting motion to sewing
machines by means of electro-magnetic apparatus arranged in combination
therewith. It is well known that motive power can be readily obtained by
various compact arrangements of electro-magnetic apparatus, and this part of my
Invention consists in transmitting the motive power so obtained to the main
axis of a sewing machine, the electro-magnetic apparatus being either affixed
to the table of the machine, or placed-underneath or in any other convenient
position in combination therewith.
A suitable break or stop is applied to the apparatus in order to cut off the
current of electricity, so as to stop and start the sewing machine when
required....
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Geminiano Zanni in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th August 1866
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEMINIANO
ZANNI, of Rathbone Place, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her.
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give. and grant unto me," the
said Geminiano Zanni, Her special licence that. I; the said Geminiano Zanni,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others às. I, the said.
Geminiano Zanni, my executors, administrators, and assignis, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there->
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPLYING MOTIVE POWER TO. SEWING MACHINES FOR THE PURPOSE OF

page_text: RENDERING THEM SELF-ACTING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Geminiano Zanni, 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 Geminiano Zanni, 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 thereof, that is to say::-
This Invention has for its object improvements in applying motive power
to sewing machines, in order that they may be rendered self-acting in place
of having motion imparted thereto by manual labour.
. :
.
Heretofore sewing machines. have had motion iinparted thereto by means:
of a treadle moved by the feet, or by means of a crank or other mechanism
actuated by hand when the machine is required for use, and in some cases
sewing machines have been driven by steam power.
Now, this Invention consists in arranging sewing machines in combination
with a self-acting spring (or springs) or by means of weights, which when
wound up and released impart motion through a train of wheels and other:
suitable mechanism to the main axis of a sewing machine, as is well under-
stood in obtaining motive power from springs' or weights for actuating clock-
work and other mechanism. Breaks or stops are arranged in combination
with the mechanism in order to arrest the action of the springs or weights, or
to set them in motion, when the break or stop is removed for the purpose of
stopping or starting the sewing machine actuated by such mechanism when
required.
And in order that this part of my Invention may be clearly understood I:
will proceed to describe the several arrangements of in:echanism which I prefer:
to employ for the purpose of applying motive power to sewing machines:
in order to render them self-acting according to my improvements, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed.
:
I would remark that I have not shown my improvements applied to any,
particular arrangement of sewing machine, the arrangement or construction of
which forms no part of my Invention, which simply consists in applying motive!
power as herein-after described to sewing machines such as are well known:
and in general use for the purpose of rendering them self-acting, thus,
dispensing with the manual labour heretofore required to actuate them.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a side view, Figure 2 an end view, and Figure 3 a plan of
an arrangement of mechanism suitable for actuating a sewing machine by
means of the power exerted by the unwinding of a coiled spring (or springs)
according to the first part of my improvements. a is a barrel containing a
coiled spring combined therewith, as is well understood; the spring is wound
up around the central axis a' by means of a crank handle 6 placed on the
square end of the axis & mounted and turning in bearings as shown. A
toothed pinion be fixed on the axis 61 takes into the teeth of the crown wheel
a² fixed on the central axis a¹, so as to wind up the spring barrel when
required.. a³ is a toothed ratchet fixed on the axis a', into the teeth of which
a lever click or driver a" 'carried by the toothed wheel (1) drops, the click
or driver a being the means by which the power of the spring and barrel a
is transmitted to the wheel (1), causing it to revolve and thus drive the train
of. toothed wheels and pinions numbered respectively (2), (3), (4), (5), (6),
(7), and (8), the latter being fixed on the axis (9), from which motion may
be communicated to the main or driving axis (10), of a sewing machine,
which arrangement of mechanism may however be greatly varied to suit the
particular arrangement of sewing machine to which my improvements are
applied. Upon the axis (9) a friction pulley c is fixed against which a
friction pulley c* carried by the lever c¹ is constantly borne by a spring c³, or
otherwise, and acting as a break to stop the action of the mechanism until
released by the pressure of the foot upon the lever d (shown at Figure 4),
which lever is connected by the cord d¹ to the lever c¹ as shown; or the move-
ment of the mechanism may be arrested and set in motion by other convenient
means if desired. The arrangement of mechanism carried by the plates or
frame a* is mounted in any convenient manner below the table, or upou the
framing of the sewing machine to which it is applied, for the purpose of
imparting self-acting motion thereto without the aid of manual labour, as
above described.
Figure 5 is a vertical section, and Figure 6 a horizontal section (taken on
the line A, B, of Figure 5) of another arrangement of mechanism actuated by
coiled springs contained in the two barrels a, a, for giving motion to a sewing
machine (not shown in the Drawing) mounted on the upper surface of the
box B*, B*, within which the self-acting mechanism is arranged and
supported in suitable bearings, as shown. Figure 7 is a plan of the top plate
a*. By means of this arrangement a very portable form of self-acting.
sewing machine may be constructed, so as to have motion imparted thereto

page_text: by springs according to this part of my Invention. Similar letters of reference
are placed on the parts which correspond with those in the arrangement
previously described, so that it will not be necessary to repeat the description
of the same. The two spring barrels a, a, are connected together by toothed
wheels, as shown, so as to obtain the combined force of the two springs for.
actuating the mechanism which gives motion to the main driving axis of the
sewing machine, or if required several of such spring barrels a, a, may be
combined together in order to increase the power of the machine. In this
arrangement a chain and "fusee" barrel is employed, as clearly shown in
the Drawings, for transmitting and regulating the action of the spring barrels
a, a, the chain being wound up around the fusee barrel when required by the
crank 6 and pinion 62, for actuating the crown wheel a² and axis a¹, as in the
arrangement previously described. The train of toothed wheels and pinions
(1), (2), (3), and (5), communicate motion to the bevil wheel (6) fixed on
the axis (7) which gives motion by means of a pulley and endless band (8)
or by other suitable means to the main driving axis of the sewing machine
which may be mounted in any convenient manner on the box B*; c is a break
pulley on the axis (7) upon which the friction break or clip c* is pressed by
means of the set screw c¹ to arrest or regulate the action of the machine when
required.
I will now proceed to describe the second part of my improvements which
consists in. giving motion to sewing machines, in order to render them self-
acting, by means of a descending weight (or weights) attached to a cord or
chain wound around the circumstance of a drum so as to impart motion to
its axis, and although I do not confine myself to the employment of any
particular arrangement of mechanism actuated by a descending weight or
weights for the purpose of carrying out this part of my improvements I prefer
to employ the arrangement of apparatus described in the Provisional Specifi-
cation of an Invention for "Improvements in Mechanism for Obtaining and
Applying Motive Power," for which a Patent is now being applied for by me
dated August 7th 1866, No. 2030, which arrangement of mechanism I will
now proceed to describe, reference being had to Sheets 5 and 6 of the
Drawings. Figure 8 is a side elevation; Figure 9 a plan; and Figures 10
and 11 are transverse sections of an arrangement of mechanism for imparting
retary motion to the central axis a by the descent of a series of weights
simultaneously or in succession, for the purpose of actuating a sewing machine
without the aid of manual labour, in accordance with the second part of my
improvements; Figures 12 and 13 show parts of the apparatus on a larger

page_text: a is a central axis supported and turning in the bearings 61, 61, at each end
of the frame b, which may be fixed to a wall or other supported by screws or
otherwise above the sewing machine or machines to which the apparatus is
required to give motion. The axis a passes through the series of weighted
drums c, the axis a being free to revolve in one direction independently of the
drums c, the hollow axes c¹ of which are supported and turn in bearings formed
in the arms or brackets b¹ fixed to the frame b. The end of each drum c
carries a click or driver c³, the end of which passes through a slot in the hollow
axis, and takes into the ratchet teeth a' cut or formed on the axis a at suitable
distances apart opposite each of the clicks or drivers c² carried by each of the
drums c. When, one of the weights c attached to the cords wound around
each drum,c is allowed to descend (by releasing one of the clicks or catches c³
from the teeth of its ratchet wheel c*) the drums c will be caused to revolve,
the driver carried thereby giving motion to the central axis a by acting
against one of the ratchet teeth cut thereon, as previously described. Each,
weighted drum c is brought into action in succession by each weighted cord.
when nearly unwound coming in contact with the forked end of the lever.
arm ca carried by each of the clicks or catches c³, so as to move each click c³
in succession out of gear with its ratchet wheel c', and thus set each succes-
sive drum in motion by the descent of its weight before the previous one!
comes to a stand. The whole series of cords and weights when down are
wound up simultaneously upon the drums c in the following manner: is a
toothed wheel fixed on the end of the axis a, to which motion is communicated:
by means of a pinion c actuated by a crank handle c³, so as to turn the axis a
in the opposite direction to that produced by the descent of the weights c', by
which means the ratchet teeth a² on the axis a by acting against the drivers c²
will cause the drums c' to revolve, and thus wind up the weights and cords
or chains around the circumference of the drums c, the clicks or catches c³ by.
taking into the ratchet teeth on the ratchet wheels c' preventing the. unwinding
of the drums until released therefrom, as previously described. Motion is
transmitted from the axis a to a train of wheels for actuating a sewing machine
by means of the ratchet wheel d (fixed on the axis a), which gives motion to
the toothed wheel e (loose on the axis a) by means of the click or, driver e¹
carried thereby, as shown at Figure 10. The toothed wheel e gives motion by
means of a train of wheels to the axis f, on which a driving pulley g is fixed,
an endless band thereon giving motion to the main axis of a sewing machine,
or to an axis for driving a series of sewing machines if desired; c* is a fric-
tional break similar to that previously described to arrest or regulate the action
of the apparatus when required. Should more power be required than that

page_text: produced by the descent of one of the weights in succession, then two or
more of the drums c may be set in motion by releasing their clicks or catches c³,
thus causing their several weights to descend simultaneously, and so on until
the whole of the accumulated power of the series of drums c is expended, the
whole series then being wound up simultaneously, as before. Several axes a
arranged with drums c may be combined together by suitable gearing, so as
to accumulate a considerable amount of power, in order that the mechanism
may continue in action for a longer period of time without requiring to be
wound up, or for actuating a number of sewing machines when required.
The third part of my improvements consists in imparting motion to sewing
machines by means of electro-magnetic apparatus arranged in combination
therewith. It is well known that motive power can be readily obtained by
various compact arrangements of electro-magnetic apparatus, and this part of
my Invention consists in transmitting the motive power so obtained to the
main axis of a sewing machine, the electro-magnetic apparatus being either
affixed to the table of the machine or placed underneath, or in any other
convenient position in combination therewith. A suitable break or stop is
applied to the apparatus in order to cut off the current of electricity, so as to
stop and start the sewing machine when required.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is carried into practice, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the exact details herein described, neither do I claim the
arrangements of mechanism herein described for obtaining motive power, but
what I claim is, the application of motive power to sewing machines in the
manner herein described for the purpose of rendering them self-acting, whereby
manual labour or steam power is dispensed with.
In witness whereof, I, the said Geminiano Zanni, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. G. TONGUE,
Patent Agent,
GEMINIANO ZANNI. (L.S.)
34, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, W.C.