IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR STITCHING OR WORK- 11. ... ING BUTTON-HOLES
Year: 1858

page_text: ....
LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR STITCHING OR WORK-
11.
...
ING BUTTON-HOLES." A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent *Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition; on the
12th February 1858:
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical. Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR STITCHING OR
WORKING BUTTON-HOLES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to imitate the action of the human-hand, and
by analogous means produce the stitch usually known as the button-hole
stitch.
For this purpose an ordinary needle of a suitable, length is employed; it is
supplied with the necessary thread or silk in the usual way, the portion pulled
through the eye being slightly twisted with the longer portion to prevent the
thread from being pulled out of the needle. In making the button-hole the
twisted portion will not be used, neither during the operation will the twisted
portion be left free to unwind. When desired to increase the friction, two or

page_text: more eyes in the needle may be substituted for one, thus further to increase its
friction in the process of withdrawal. The needle is placed eye upward in a
pair of pincers above the bed plate of the machine, occupying their exact
centre, and immediately over a needle tube, which is carried by a pinion that
is also provided with a hook for seizing and interlacing the thread, as will be
presently described. Below the needle tube, and in a line with the upper
pincers, which are capable of moving downward in their slide, is a second pair
of pincers, which open to receive the needle as it descends. In order to start
the machine, the point of the needle is first raised above the bed plate. An
incision having been made through the cloth where the button-hole is desired
to be formed, the cloth is placed in a clamp in such position that the slit will
occupy the centre of a slot made in the form of a button-hole, through the
plates forming the clamp. The clamp is then placed upon the bed plate, and
the machine is set in operation. As the upper pincers descend they will force
the needle through the cloth, when its point will be seized by the pincers
below the bed plate, drawing it entirely through the cloth. As soon as the eye
is below the bed plate, a rotating arm fitted at its extremity with a projecting
pin will bear against the thread and draw it through the cloth, lapping it at
the same time around a fixed circular band or hoop, during which operation
the cloth-holder will be moved, so as to permit of the ascent of the needle-eye,
foremost, the point being held by the lower pincers through the slit in the
cloth, and the pin on the rotating arm having let go the thread to permit of
this ascent. The next revolution of the driving gear causes the descent of the
needle with the upper pincers, and as soon as the point is through the cloth at
the proper position, the hook on the pinion which carries the needle-tube
catches up the thread which intervenes between the circular band or hoop and
the cloth, and passes it round the needle, permitting its escape from the hook
after the needle is so far progressed as to prevent the return of the thread to
its former position. The next operation is to tighten the thread on the cloth
by means of a pin on the rotating arm, and the first button-hole stitch is then
perfected; this pin, it should be remarked, is a spring of exactly such strength
as to slip the thread as soon as each looping is tightened.
Having thus described a stitch, it will be readily perceived that its repetition
will afterwards occur at each revolution of the driving gear, while a pawl and
ratchet will secure such movement of the clamp as will give an eyelet-hole
form, or any other that may be desired, and reversing the line of travel of the
cloth, so as to complete the opposite side of the button-hole.

page_text: of the conditions of the Letters Patent, med
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 12th August 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victorià, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license, that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Alired Vincent Newton, 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, ise, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR STITCHING OR WORKING BUTTON-HOLES." being
a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent, is to imitate by machinery the action of the human hand or hands,
and thereby produce the stitch usually known as the button-hole stitch.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine:
Fig. 2 is a front view of the same; Fig. 3 is a rear view of the same; Fig. 4
is a ground plan of parts of the machine, in which is exhibited the cloth-
holder a with its bearings and the two excentrics X, X, for its oscillatory
motion, the rack a¹, pinion wheel a", and pinion a¹ for its backward and
forward motion, a rotating-dog e attached to a-spring-for fixing in degree the

page_text: pinion wheel a", where desired, the clicks-m and click-setter m, which act as a
shifting apparatus to secure the change of motion from that required in
forming the straight sides of the button-hole to that which is necessary for
producing the semicircular or eyelet portion of the button-hole, and also for
arresting the motion of these parts so as to insure the repetition of the last
stitch to secure the final end of the thread used in the button-hole; it also
shews the dog m¹ to dog the click setter and arrest it in its proper position at
each change of motion or action; it also shews the needle tube c.
Fig. 5 shews the under side of Fig. 4, x, x, being the pinions of the two
excentrics; c', the wheel for acting on the excentric pinions, which is moved
by motion through the arm d" and the rock shaft d¹¹; it also shews an arm o
attached to the click-shifter, which is moved by a spring o¹, and thus operates
upon the dog n; it also shews the rack-sector o", which operates upon a
single tooth p upon the shaft of a cog-wheel driven by the large wheel c¹, and
thus affecting one tooth of the sector at each revolution of the smaller wheel
for the purpose of regulating the number of stitches in the eyelet-hole, also
containing a ratchet q, which is acted upon by a dog y for the purpose of
keeping the sector in a proper position during its operation. The click y', being
the one. just referred to, answers the double purpose of a click, and by the
assistance of the slotted connecting bar y" of a regulator of the relation
between itself, the sector, and the arm o; the lower side of this sector contains
a pin, by which its position is shifted when it comes in contact with the arm o.
The spring is intended to assist in regulating the action of the dog or
click y. The click r is intended to give motion in its backward action to the
wheel, shewn in Fig. 6, which acts upon the annular pinion c surrounding
the needle-tube. Fig. 6 shews the wheel 11 with the pinion surrounding the
needle tube c and the click r¹; Fig. 7 shews the front view of the top cam,
which regulates the opening and shutting of the pincers d, as shewn in Fig. 2;
Fig. 8 shews the rear view of the top cam, shewing its channel way, which
regulates the rise and fall of the upper pincers d; Fig. 9 shews the rear view
of the lower cam with the form of the channel way causing the rise and fall of
the lower pincers d. The opposite side of this cam for opening and shutting
the lower pincers d will be found shewn at Fig. 10; Fig. 9 also shews a rear
view of the lower pincers bed or slide, together with the needle-guard to be
hereafter described. Fig. 10 shews the front view of the lower cam with the
channel way for working the arm attachment to the thread-griper q', more
fully shewn in Fig. 2 in connection with the revolving wheel q", and still
more fully shewn in Fig. 11, herein-after more minutely explained.
A, Fig. 1, represents the cast-iron frame of the machine, to which all the

page_text: other parts are attached; b is the bed plate for holding the clamp and goods
in which the button-hole is to be worked, and this will be found to be more
fully set forth in Fig. 4, and said clamp will hereafter be called the cloth-
holder; c is the pinion containing the needle-tube and the hook, which are
also represented in Figures 4 and 6 and indicated in Fig. 2; d are the thumb
and finger pincers, intended to hold and operate the needle in its upward and
downward travel, and which receive motion from the circular cams e, on the
opposite sides of which are to be found the small channel grooves f, and all of
which will be found delineated in part in Figures 2, 7, 8, 9 and 10; K is a
pulley for driving the shaft B and with it the cog wheel M, and thus giving
motion to the cog wheels n, o, and p, and the shafts o* and p*, which shafts,
in connection with the cams before described and those hereafter to be
described, give rise to all the necessary motions for the operation of the
machine:
The clamp or cloth-holder is made of two pieces of metal a, a, as seen in
Fig. 4, and supposed to be united at b in Fig. 1, hinged or otherwise joined,
between which the cloth or other material in which the button-hole is to be
worked may be placed, and through these two plates is a slot or opening W,
larger but of the figure of the button-hole desired. The lower clamp plate
passes between two slides which constitute the shifting plate, and which give
the lateral motion through the action of the excentrics X, X, as more clearly
set forth in Fig. 4, and which in connection with the aforesaid slot will cause
the cloth to receive the needle and be worked on the edge of the button-hole,
or such figure as may be desired. c', more fully shewn in Fig. 5, is a
large
cog wheel, which operates the two excentrics for giving the oscillatory motion
to the cloth-holder, so that the needle may pass up through the slit and down
through the cloth in the manner herein-after described. The large wheel 7"
operates the annular pinion c which surrounds concentrically the needle tube,
and is armed on its lower side with a hook for seizing the thread at the proper
time, so as to assist in the formation of the loop which goes to constitute the
button-hole stitch.
The channel way shewn on the face of the lower cam e, Fig. 1, gives motion
to the arm g, which operates the feed motions or all that portion which acts
upon the cloth-holder and other parts resident between the plate b and the
plate beneath it; m is the click shifter before described.
Fig. 2 is a front view of the machine, shewing in addition. to many. of the
parts already described the contrivance for receiving and drawing the thread
where the pulley g having a positive motion is approached by the loose
pulley q', armed at its periphery with the thread causing it to be drawn down,

page_text: and passing through. a tin channel or other polished tube or surface, so as to
take up the entire slack of the thread. The arm carrying the pulley q' at its
upper end is regulated in its motion by the channel way 1, 1, (see Figures 2
and 10). The parts in detail are more fully delineated in Fig. 11, where it
will be seen that a spiral spring regulates or causes friction, so as to be equal
to. the requirements of the thread for its withdrawal without abrasion or
tangling.
Fig. 3 is, the rear view of Fig. 1, showing a wheel z attached which does
not appear in Fig. 1, which takes its motion from the cog wheel M and com-
municates it to q¹, thus giving it a positive motion and enabling it to act in
concert with q¹, Fig. 2.
Fig. 4 has already been fully described in its parts as such in my former
description in course, but its functions and mode of manipulation in addition
to the description there given may be thus explained:-The portion of the
cloth-holder, as shewn on the Drawing at right angles to the line of the rack,
may be turned around in coincidence with it, the cloth being held between
the upper and lower plate, the two parts a covering each other and being held
firmly together with the cloth between them by the screw W¹. The screw
heads are continuations of the pinions X, X, found in Fig. 5, and resident
under the plate, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4, the excentrically located
screw heads not being concentric with the openings in which they rest in the
shifting plate, cause it, while these pinions are revolved by the large wheel c¹,
represented in Fig. 5, to oscillate from right to left and from left to right,
securing a proper length to the button-hole stitch, admitting of the free
uprising of the needle through the slit, and of a measured automatic down-
travel through the cloth.
forth, all the functions
their combined action be
secures the action of its
It will be easily traced that when all the parts as represented in this
Drawing are put in motion in the manner set
belonging to this portion of the machine will by
developed. Thus the revolution of the wheel a
pinion resident on its lower side, which acting on the rack a correctly
measures the distance between the stitches on the straight or parallel side of
the button-hole, while the necessary arresting of this wheel a" and its pro-
gression are regulated by the dogs e* and m³, and the clicks m, while the
lateral motion from left to right and from right to left are obtained in the
manner hercin-before described.
Fig. 5: this Diagram is fully described in its parts when described in course,
and is directly the medium motor of the parts represented in Fig. 4, its object
being to secure the automatic changes, necessary for working an eyelet hole

page_text: or a portion of an eyelet hole at the end of the button-hole for the reception
of the shank of the button.
Fig. 6 is a view of the wheel as represented in Fig. 1, shewing the
manner in which this wheel operates upon the needle tube c by the pinion
surrounding it, so as to work the hook to complete the looping of the thread,
the wheel being regulated in its action by the click r', the whole action
being more fully set forth herein-after.
Fig. 7 is a front view of the top cam, with an elevation on its surface for
the opening and shutting of the upper pincers d.
Fig. 8 is a rear view of the top cam, with the channel way for the raising
and depressing of the upper pincers d.
Fig. 9 is a rear view of the lower cam with the channel way for raising
and depressing the lower pincers d. It also shews a portion of the lower
pincers bed, and of the sliding needle guard held up by a spring, so as to
sustain the needle while in the jaws of the lower pincers against the pull of
the thread, said needle guard yielding during the upward travel of the
pincers by impingement against the lower end of the needle tube to admit the
ascent of the needle, while the guard itself is depressed upon its spring.
Fig. 10 is the front view of the lower cam, shewing the elevation upon the.
surface for opening and shutting the lower pincers d; also the excentric
channel way, 1, 1, which operates the thread griper q', which latter function is
more clearly set forth in Fig. 11, where q represents the moveable thread
tightener; thread tightener q' loose upon its shaft in active contact with it.
Having thus described in detail the parts of the machine, the Patentee
proceeds to explain its mode of operation.
An ordinary needle of a suitable length is supplied with the necessary.
thread or silk in the usual way, the portion pulled through the eye being
simply tied to the longer portion adjacent to the needle. This needle is then
placed eye upwards in the thumb and finger pincers above, the bed plate
occupying their exact centre and immediately over the needle tube c, in such
position that when the upper pincers d shall move downward in their slide the
point of the needle shall pass into the exact centre of the lower pincers d,
which will be open to receive it below the needle tube c. By turning the
machine by the main pulley until the point of the needle is above the bed
plate, the machine will then be in position to perform its functions.
incision being made through the cloth where the button-hole is desired, the
cloth is placed in the clamp or cloth-holder in such position that the slit will
occupy the centre of the slot before described, the clamp is then placed upon
the bed plate in its proper position, and by revolving the main pulley, the
An

page_text: following operations will take place to niake a stitchThe pincers d will
descend forcing the needle. through the cloth and down through the needle
tube c, when its lower portion will be seized by the lower pincers d below. the
bed plate, drawing the needle, entirely through the cloth. As soon as the eye is
below the bed plate the arm q will be suddenly thrown past the thread, and
in returning to the position it now occupies in Fig. 2 (front view) will force
the thread over against the surface of q", from the fixed motion of which the
thread will be drawn through the cloth with the required amount of tension
when it will be relieved, the 'excentrics represented in Fig. 4 will then move
the plate laterally, so as to permit the needle to ascend upward 'through the
slit, and to be seized by the upper pincers d as soon as free from the upper
surface of the cloth-holder. The excentrics will move the cloth-holder so as
to cause the needle to descend through the cloth in the line of the first stitch
and equidistant witli it from the slit, but before such entrance into the cloth
the rack and pinion represented in Fig. 4 will have forced forward the cloth-
holder to the required amount, to fix the proper distance between the first and
second stitch, and the needle-hook below the pinion c will have caught the
thread carrying it around the point of the needle, and will have held it for a
sufficient length of time to have enabled the needle to have passed sufficiently
far through the cloth and needle-tube to be seized by the lower pincers, so
that at the next operation of the tightening of the thread will leave the first
stitch complete, and of that form known as a button-hole stitch. Having
thus described the stitch, it will be readily perceived that its repetition will
occur at each revolution until one straight side of the button-hole shall be
completed up to the point where the eyelet hole portion is demanded, when a
pressure on the dog mat its lower portion, which is automatically produced,
will cause the lower dog to be displaced from a notch in the click shifter,
permitting it to escape and thus bringing into requisition' all the parts as
before described intended to produce the eyelet-hole action by the peculiar
resultant motion given 'by the cloth-holder, while the line of travel of the
needle remains permanently unalterable; the same automatic change will take
place at the completion of the semi-eyelet, as shewn in the description of parts
of Fig. 5 in connection with Fig. 4, when the straight side of the button-hole
parallel to the first will be worked. The intermediate motions of each part of
the machine are clearly indicated by the Drawings, when taken in connection
with the description and references already given.
Having thus set forth the nature and operation of the "Improved Machinery
for Stitching or Working Button-Holes," constituting the Invention com-
municated to me by my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be understood that

page_text: under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I do not claim generally the
use of pincers as needle-holders, nor do I claim the opening and shutting of
pincers to gripe and liberate the needle, nor do I claim a hook to seize the
thread, nor do I claim moving pincers in direct lines to enable them to be
opened or closed, for all these are functions which may or may not be found
in other machines; but what I do claim is,
First, the combination of the two pincers, or their equivalents for operating
the needle in .combination with the hook or its equivalent for forming the loop
as described.
Secondly, I claim in combination with the mechanism or equivalents
therefor by which the needle is operated and the loop formed, the mechanism
or equivalent thereof for giving to the cloth a lateral movement that the
needle may descend through the cloth and then rise through the slit.
And, Thirdly, I claim, in combination with the mechanism or its equivalent
for forming the stitch, the mechanism herein described or any equivalent
therefor for imparting to the cloth the curvilinear movement that gives the
eyelet form to the end of the button hole as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twelfth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.