IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ira Dimock, of 97, Cheapside, in the City of London,
and James Gresham, of the City of Manchester, Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO SEWING MACHINES,"
Sealed the 27th August 1867, and dated the 7th March 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ira Dimock and James
Gresham at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 7th March 1867.
We, IRA DIMOCк, of 97, Cheapside, in the City of London, and JAME
GRESHAM, of the City of Manchester, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO SEWING MACHINES,"
to be as follows:-
Firstly, our improvements relate principally to sewing machines rotated o
worked by the baud (though applicable to those worked by the foot or by power),
and consist in an improved combination and arrangement of mechanism
for sewing with a needle and shuttle, namely, in a frame upon which is
mounted two horizontal shafts parallel to each other, one above the other
below the table of the machine. These two shafts are both rotated in one
modification of our improvements by spurwheels in gear with a middle wheel
upon a stud, upon which the fly or driving wheel is placed.
In another modification of our Invention the upper shaft is rotated and the
lower shaft receives an oscillatory movement from an excentric upout the upper

page_text: upon
shaft through a connecting rod. The upper shaft, by means of a crank pin in
a disc
the end of the shaft, gives up and down movement to the vertical
slide carrying the piercing needle, the crank pin working in either a straight
or cam slot carried by a cross piece attached to the needle slide, or the needle
slide is worked by a disc cam acting upon a pin attached to the needle slide.
The mechanism (when required) for tightening and slackening the thread to
allow the shuttle to pass through the loop in the needle thread consists of a
lever, along which the thread passes, which lever is actuated by a cam upon
the upper shaft, or the needle thread is tightened and slackened by an
excentric or pully with a slit in it, which is secured-upon the upper shaft.
In one modification of our Invention the shuttle is worked in a segmental
race by a forked arm on a vertical axis, this arm receiving movement from the
oscillating shaft below the table by segmental bevel wheels or other suitable
means; or the shuttle is worked in a straight race, or it is carried in a driver
working in a straight line, which by means of slots is actuated by an arm
either upon a vertical or horizontal axis receiving motion from the oscillating
shaft below the table through bevel gear or connecting rods; or an arm is
placed directly upon the oscillating shaft below the table, the upper end of
which has a cavity for the shuttle, which thus moves in a curve and in a
vertical plane.
Another modification of our Invention, when the shaft below the table is
made to rotate, consists in actuating the arm carrying the shuttle, as last
described, by a crank pin working in a slot in the arm of the shuttle driver or
carrier, so that the shuttle will be caused to pass quickly through the loop of
the needle thread and return slowly, or the motion from the crank pin may be
transmitted to the shuttle driver or carrier by a connecting rod. The feeding
of the cloth after each stitch is obtained by means of a serrated plate acting
under the fabric, and is of the character of those (now well known) actuated
by cams or tappets upon the oscillating shaft under the table, or upon the
oscillating arm actuating the shuttle; or the feed motion is or may be of the
well-known "four-motion" class, when there is a rotating shaft below the
table.
Secondly, our Invention applies to the "hand" class of sewing machines
only, and consists in securing to the "base," bottom, or feet of such machines
pieces of india-rubber, which we prefer to make of cup-like form, so that when
resting upon a table the weight of the machine will give sufficient adhesion
to hold the machine from moving when being worked, the india-rubber feet
will also prevent damage to the surface of the table upon which the machine
is used and will deaden the noise of the working mechanism at the same time.
1.

page_text: This part of our Invention also relates to a mode of constructing boxes
suitable for protecting hand sewing machines when travelling. The lid of the
box is made at one end, and our Invention consists in arranging slides in the
box in which the edges of the bottoms of the machine will enter so as to
be held firm and prevented from moving. about when the lid of the box is
losed
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent. filed
by the said Ira Dimock and James Gresham in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 3rd Septeinber 1867.
we, IRA
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,
DIMOCK, of 97, Cheapside, in the City of Lon-lon, and JAMES GRESHAM, of
the City of Manchester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, b7 Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Ira Dimock and James Gresham, Her special license that we, the said Ira
Dimock and James Gresham, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or,
such others as we, the said Ira Dimock aud James Gresham, our 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 OR APPLICABLE TO SEWING
MACHINES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we,the said Ira Dimock
and James Gresham, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals
(or under the hand and seal of one of us), 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 we, the said Ira Dimock and James Gresham, do
hereby declare the nature of our 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):-
Firstly, our improvements relate principally to sewing machines rotated or

page_text: worked by hand, though wholly or partly applicable to those worked by the
foot or by power, and consists in an improved arrangement and combination
of mechanism for sewing with a needle and shuttle, part of the said improve-
ments being also applicable to "single thread," "double thread," and other
sewing machines. Our improvements are illustrated upon the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation, Fig. 2 an end elevation, and Fig. 3 is a plan of
a machine according to our Invention, each of the three views being partly in
section. In Figs. 1 and 2 the machine is supposed to be placed in a box, which
will be herein-after referred unto under the second division of our Invention.
a is the frame of the machine; b, the driving wheel; 61, the stud upon
which
it rotates; 6, the handle; ³, a spur wheel upon the boss of the driving wheel,
which gears with a wheel (c) on the shaft (c) above, and a wheel (d) upon
a shaft (d) below. The upper shaft (c) rotates in suitable bearings, and has
a disc (c) fixed upon it at one end, which has a crank pin (3) secured in it,
which works in a cam slot (as shewn), formed in a cross piece (e¹) secured to
a vertical slide (e) arranged in suitable bearings. The presser (¹) for keeping
down the fabric upon the top of the table is formed at the lower end of a
stem (g), which can slide up end down, and partially rotate, being held up
when partly rotated by a pin (93), and pressed down by a spring (93) arranged,
as shewn.
The needle thread is drawn from a spool placed on a stud (h)
and passes round a well-known friction pulley arrangement (61), then through
an eye in a stud (h*) fixed in the frame, and then through an eye in the top
of the needle bar (e), and then down to the eye of the needle, passing through
a "gap" in the lower part of the frame forming the guide for the needle slide
and presser stem, in which "gap" there is a spring (i) arranged as shown
best in the detached plan, sectional view, Fig. 4, which spring puts just
sufficient tension upon the thread to keep it stretched during the descent of
the needle. The thread may pass from the tension pulley to the eye stud (h*),
and then to the eye of the needle by causing it after leaving the tension
pulley (h¹) to pass through an eye in the end of a lever, which in working
will pass through a hole, slot, or staple formed in or upon the frame, so as to
draw the thread through this hole or slot in a looped form to take up the
slack. This arrangement is illustrated by Fig. 5, a cross section. c is the
upper shaft; h4, a cam upon the shaft, which acts upon the tail of the
lever (2), having its fulcrum (h³) upon a projection from the frame. The
end of the lever (h³) having the eye in it can pass between the staple (h5),
and draw the loop of thread through,as shown in dotted line. When the above-
described thread tightening and slackening arrangementis used the spring (i)

page_text: may be dispensed with. Upon the end of the lower shaft (d) a piece of
forming a double cam is secured, and in which also a crank pin (4) is fixed
to give motion to the shuttle; the shuttle (k) is carried in the end of an arm
or lever (2), having its fulcrum upon a horizontal stud (3) in the framing,
consequently the shuttle moves in an arc in a vertical plane. The face of the
shuttle works against a flat surface upon the frame, upon which there is a
ledge above the upper edge of the shuttle in the form of an arc to keep the
shuttle from lifting when at work; the point of the shuttle itself is bent down-
wards in a hook form, so as to enter the loop of the needle thread more
readily. The shuttle carrier is actuated by the crank pin (4), which works
in a cam slot in the arm of the shuttle driver, as shewn, and the shuttle is
reinoved from and inserted in the shuttle carrier by sliding or pulling the
arm (2) of the shuttle carrier along its stud (3), a spring (5) in the hollow
of the boss of the arm keeping the shuttle in its proper position when working.
The feed motion is formed by a serrated ba (1), secured to a part (13),
arranged to swivel and slide endways upon a pivot (12). The part (13) is
formed with a oblong hole at its end, through which the shaft (d) passes.
One part (13) rests upon the cam (*) for giving the lifting movement to
bring the serrated surface to and from the fabric, the feeding movement being
given by a cam (7), which acts upon a projection (a) from the bar (13); this
projection is kept against the cam (1) by a spring (m), which acts upon a
notch in the bar (73) (see Figs. 1 and 3); the fast end of this spring (m) is
secured in a vertical shaft (m), to which a handle (m²) is secured, which is
elastic in one direction, so that a point fixed in the handle can pass between
two holes (m³) and hold the haudle when the point is left in the holes, see
Figs. 1 and 3. When the handle (m2) is in one position the spring (m) will
force the projection (a) against the cam (),and the cloth will be fed forward,
and when the handle (m²) is in the other position, the spring (m) will act
upon the bar (13) to force its end against the lifting cam (*), and this cam
will then give both the lifting and feeding movements, but in the opposite
direction to that in which the cloth is fed when the handle is in the position
first mentioned; this reversing of the feed motion is useful for fastening off
the thread when a line of stitches is completed. The length of the stitch
when feeding forward is regulated by the excentric (14) and handle (15) in a
well known manner. The length of stitch for the reversed feed is uniform
in length.
In Fig. 1 there is a small headstock (n) shewn in dotted line, which is of
the ordinary kind used for winding thread upon the shuttle spools.
Fig. 6 illustrates a reversible feed motion actuated by rotary cams where

page_text: the length of the stitch can be regulated in both directions. It is somewhat
similar to that shewn in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, except that three cams or tappets
are used all connected together and sliding endways upon a fixed key on the
shaft (d) which gives them motion. The lifting cam (*) is in the centre of
the boss, and the feeding cam (1) for the forward motion is at one end of the
boss, and that for the backward motion is at the other end of the boss. Upon
each side of the tail par: (1) of the feeding bar there are projections, those
upon one side being formed by an excentric (4), which is forked to pass upou
each side of the tail piece (1) by turning the handle (15) attached to the
excentric (), the space between the projections (x and ) for the cams (2)
to act upon can be increased or diminished, and consequently the length of the
stitch can be diminished or increased. The space between the feeding cams (7)
in such that when the cams are slided to the mid-position both the feeding
cams will rotate outside and clear of the projections ( and 4), but when
slided entirely to one side, one feeding cam (7) will act upon the projections
'and will feed one way. when slided entirely in the opposite direction the feed
will be reversed The camis (1) may be slided by a clutch fork arrangement
and suitable connections. The cams may be fixed upon the shaft (d) and the
tail part (3) may be arranged to slide or move, so as to bring the projections
(and) against the feeding cams (1), as required. The lifting cam (1×)
acts upon the tail part (13) constantly, whether feeding forward or backward
'In Fig. 6 () is the serrated feed plate, and (j) is the table upon which the
cloth is placed.
The feed motions above described and those to be described below are
applicable to other sewing machines besides needle and shuttle machines;
but those to be herein-after described are actuated by oscillatory movements
such as that given to the hook under the table in single thread chain stitch
machines, or from the oscillating arm of the shuttle driver (2), as shewn in
Figs. 1 and 2, or shuttle drivers placed upon oscillating shafts actuated by
cams or otherwise. In the feed motions to be herein-after described the
shuttle driver (2) is supposed to be actuated by being secured upon an
oscillating shaft (3), and this shaft is used to actuate the feed motion, but the
reversible feed motions may be readily applied to other arrangements of the
parts of sewing machines from the explanations herein-before and herein-after
'given.
Figs. 7, 8, and 9, illustrate a reversible feed motion according to one
modification of our Invention. Fig. 7 is an end view, Fig. 8 is a side sectional
view detached of a double cam or tappet, and Fig. 9 is a detached side view
of the double tappet and parts upon which it acts.

page_text: This feed motion in its principle of action is well known, namely, that which
acts as a tappet oscillating between two stops, one of them being adjustable,
so as to vary the space between the stops, and thus vary the length of the
stitch. The serrated surface (1) is secured to a bar (1) which can oscillate
and slide on a pin (12), and when the tappet (1) gives the feeding movement
the cam surface (*) acting under the tail part upon a projection has lifted the
serrated surface against the fabric being sewn, and when the back oscillation
of the cam (1) takes place this cam (1) lowers the serrated surface (¹).
again before the tappet (1) strikes the opposite projection to produce the back
movement of the serrated surface (11). The double adjustable projections (17)
above and below the axis (43) are mounted upon a slide in the tail part (13)
and are regulated by a screw (), as shewn. The feeding cams or tappets (1),
and lifting cam (*) are all in one piece, and are arranged to slide upon the
oscillating shaft (³) by means of a sliding key and key groove. The cams
(land *) are slided by the handle (1) so as to bring one tappet (7) between
the projections upon one side for the forward feeding movement, and the other
tappet between the projections upon the other side for the backward feeding
movement.
Fig. 10 is an end, and Fig. 11 a plan view, shewing another reversible feed
motion according to our Invention. This, so far as the sliding double tappet (1)
for giving the feeding movement is concerned, is similar to that shown by
Figs. 7, 8, and 9, but it operates to produce oscillations in a lever (13) having
its fulcrum upon a fixed stud (8). The tappets in this case do not produce
he backward movement after feeding, as in Fig. 7, this being done by a
spring (1) fixed in the stud (18), the free end of the spring passing between
projections upon the lever (13), as shown. Whether the lever (13) is moved
one way or the other the spring (P) will bring it back to the central position.
One of the two arms of the lever (13) plays between two projections in one
end of the arm (1) carrying the serrated plate which swivels upon the fulcrum
stud (12). By increasing or decreasing the space by means of the adjusting
screw (14) the length of the stitch is regulated. The lifting movement for the
serrated plate is given by a cain projection (*) upon the shuttle driver (k²),
as shewn in Fig. 10. The "feed" may be reversed by making the double
tappet (1) so as to slide endways upon the shaft (3), or the tappet may be
fixed and the lever (13) may be slide endways upon the stud (18) by a handle
shewn in dotted line in Fig. 10.
Fig. 12 is another reversible feed motion according to our Invention; it is
similar in principle to that shewn by Figs. 10 and 11, but it is not actuated
by sliding cams or tappets. 1 he two arms of the lever (13) are separate,

page_text: that is, one arm is moveable upon the boss of the other arm.
One arm has
a handle (10) which is elastic laterally, and this part carries a pin, which by
lateral movements of the handle can be made to enter either of the two holes
in a part from the boss of the other arm. When the pin is in one of the holes
the two arms form one rigid lever, and the motion imparted to one is transmitted
to the other; the end of one arm is forked, as shewn, the prongs forming
cam surfaces, against one of which a pin (m) in the shuttle driver (2) will act
and produce a movement in the lever one way, which will be returned by the
spring (); but if the pin in the spring handle (1) is changed from one hole to
the other hole the movements will be reversed as the pin (m) in the shuttle
driver will then act upon the other prong of the arm. Two pins (m) may be
used, arranged so that one will give the movement in one direction, and the
other in the other direction, the lever (1) being made solid and in one piece,
while the cam surfaces upon the end of the lever are brought into gear with
either pin by sliding the lever (13) upon its fulcrum, as herein-before described
in reference to Fig. 10 when the tappets are fixed.
Secondly, our Invention applies to the hand class of sewing machines only,
and consists in securing to the base, bottom, or feet of such machines pieces of
india-rubber or similar elastic material which we prefer to make in the form
of a cup or in rings (though plain discs may be used) so that when resting
upon a table the weight of the machine will give sufficient adhesion to hold
the machine from moving when being worked, the india-rubber fect will also
prevent damage to the surface of the table upon which the machine is used,
and will deaden the noise of the working mechanism at the same time. Four
circular cups, rings, or discs may be used, one at each corner of the base or
bottom of the machine, projecting from the base, bottom, or feet sufficiently to
cause the machine to rest entirely upon them. The pieces of india-rubber
(9) may be secured by screws or cement, as shewn in Figs. 1 and 2, or by other
means.
This part of our Invention also relates to a mode of constructing boxes
suitable for protecting hand sewing machines when travelling and not in use;
this is illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2. The lid or door (pl) of the box (p) is
made at one end hinged, as shewn, and our Invention consists in arranging
slides (p) in the box in which the edges of the bottom and table of the
machine will enter (as shewn) so as to be held firm and prevented from moving
about when the lid of the box is closed, as shown in Fig. 1. p³ are two
drawers; the sides of the box may be dovetailed together, as shewn; the box
may be made of pine or other wood, and covered with a veneer of mahogany;
and provided with a handle at the top, as shewn.

page_text: We have now particularly described the nature of our said Invention,
and the modes of carrying the same into effect, and claim as our Invention,―
Firstly, the combination and arrangement of mechanism for sewing with a
needle and shuttle, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated by
the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly, actuating and carrying the shuttle by a lever working upon a
horizontal axis, and the arrangement of the lever so that it can slide upon its
axistorelease the shuttle,substantially as herein-beforedescribedand illustrated
by the Drawings.
Thirdly, the arrangement for tightening and slackening the needle thread as
illustrated by Fig. 5 of the accompanying Drawings.
Fourthly, the reversible feed motion by two cams, substantially as herein_
before described and illustrated by Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Fifthly, the use of two cams or tappets or cam surfaces sliding or fixed for
producing reversible feeding movements, and the combination and arrange-
ment of reversible feed motions for sewing machines producing lock chain
or other stitch, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated by the
Drawings.
Sixthly, the use of india-rubber or similar elastic material for the bases,
bottoms, or feet of hand sewing machines, and the construction and arrange-
ment of boxes, as herein-before described under the second division of our
improvements and illustrated by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Ira Dimock and James Gresham
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Second day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
seven.
30
Witness,
PETER J. LIVSEY,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
IRA DIMOCK.
(L.S.)
JAMES GRESHAM. (L.B.)