IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Millard, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES." A communication from abroad by James Rowe, of
Cincinnati in the State of Ohio and United States of Amerion
Sealed the 19th September 1860, and dated the 22nd March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Millard at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
March 1860.
I, DAVID MILLARD, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain mechanical arrangements for effecting the
feed in sewing machines, and for locking the stitches of the vertical recipro-
cating needle. The bent rock lever which operates the slide carrying this
needle projects down through a slot in the table of the machine, and is fur-
nished with a slot suitable for receiving the wrist pin of a crank on the
driving shaft. Affixed to the lower arm of this lever is a bar carrying two
studs, one being fixed and the other adjustable. Between these studs lies a

page_text: rock lever, which is pivotted to the under side of the table of the machine,
and is intended to drive the feed slide. The tail end of this lever is formed
with inclined sides for the studs to work against, and give, through the operation
of the lever, which operates the needle, the requisite motion for working the
feed slide. This feed slide is fitted in a groove in the table, and curved so as
to bear upon the under side of the sewing plate. It is held in place by a
finger, and its end is furnished with a rough or toothed surface fitted to an
opening through the sewing plate, through which it is forced to protrude
slightly at the proper time by the pressure of a wedge-shaped piece or shoe
carried by the looper lever. The forward end of the feed slide is made thin
and elastic, and that end is bent downwards, by which means the rough or
feeding surface is kept below the surface of the sewing plate when not forced
up by the shoe. To the needle rock lever is also attached a bar which carries
two studs for acting upon the rear end of the looper lever, and giving it the
proper vibratory movement for driving the looper; this lever is also pivoted
to the under side of the table. Upon its forward end is a swivel carrying the
looper, it being secured therein by a set screw. The back end of the looper
slides in a guide, which may be made adjustable by being arranged upon a
moveable plate secured to the table by screws fitted into slots in that plate.
The locking thread is supplied from a spool to the looper, which is constructed
in the form of a needle, having two eyes near its point, the two eyes being so
far from each other, and the needle so curved between them as to give space
for the vertical needle to pass down between it and the thread when drawn
from one eye to the other; the looper also passes in like manner through the
loop made by the vertical needle, as will be well understood, and thereby locks
the stitches as they are made by the vertical needle.
The arrangement for working the vertical needle is similar to that now
commonly adopted in sewing machines. The adjustable stud which operates
the feed rock lever furnishes the means for changing the feed, thus to make
the stitches coarser, the space between the fixed and moveable studs must be
reduced, and to make them finer the space must be increased.
The vibratory movement of the feed slide may be also effected by means of
a lever pivoted to the table, and jointed at one end to the feed slide and at
the other end to a rod connected to the looping lever in such manner that its
position upon the lever may be varied for the purpose of changing the feed.
Secured to the sewing plate by means of two screws or pins is a slotted slide,
which is connected by a pin to the looping lever; this slide is for raising the
end of the feed slide, and holding it up during its forward movement in contact
with the work.

page_text: As another modification, it is proposed to use a slide jointed to the reci-
procating arm which operates the needle; from this connection the slide
-receives a reciprocating movement, and on its opposite end a slotted plate is
arranged with set screws so as to be adjustable to different angles with its line
5 of motion. From the feed slide a pin projects through the slotted plate.
Another projection from the slide is rounded or bevilled so as to slide upon
and lift the feed slide. The feed is adjusted by changing the angle of the
slotted plate with reference to the line of motion, the length of the stitch
increasing with the increase of the angle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said David Millard in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd
September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
MILLARD, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said David Millard, Her special license that I, the said David
Millard, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said David Millard, 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," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said David Millard, 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 David Millard, 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 fol-

page_text: lowing statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates, first, to an improvement in the construction and
method of operating the loop-forming or stitch-making mechanism; and,
second, to an improvement in the construction and method of operating the
feeding mechanism in sewing machines.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved
machine; Fig. 2 is a view from beneath of the under parts of the machine;
Figures 3 and 4 are sectional detail views; Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the
improved machine; Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing a different
mode of operating the feed slide; Fig. 7 is a similar view, showing still
another modification of the means for operating the feed slide. A, Fig. 1,
is the table of the machine, and B is a stand or bracket arm made fast to the
table. To the forward end of this arm B is fitted in suitable slide bearings
the vertically reciprocating needle bar C, which carries the needle, and also
the pressure bar Z, furnished with a foot at its lower end for holding down
the work as usual, also a cam at its upper end for lifting it, and a spring, as
seen in Fig. 3, for producing the requisite pressure; D, F, is a bent lever
pivoted at D to the bracket arm B; its upper end is forked to receive a pin
fixed in bar C, as shown in Fig. 4. The lower arm of this lever passes down
through a slot in the table A, and is furnished with a slot suitable to receive
the wrist pin of a crank G (Fig. 5), from which it receives a reciprocating
or vibratory movement, the crank being driven by means of a band passing
over the pulley N on the same shaft. To the lower arm of the bent lever is
fixed a bar I, in which are arranged two studs, one fixed and the other marked
L, moveable by means of a slot in the bar, and a set screw fitted to the square
tenon of the stud, which square tenon is fitted to slide in the slot when the
screw is loosed. These two studs operate upon opposite sides of a lever J
against inclined surfaces to give it the proper vibratory movement to drive the
feed slide O. The lever J is pivoted to the table at J', and its end jointed to
the feed slide by means of a slot and pin. This feed slide O is fitted in a
groove o' in the under side of the table A, and curved so as to bear upon the
under side of the sewing plate. It is held in place by a finger Q, and furnished
at its forward end with a roughened or toothed surface, in which it is forced
to protrude slightly through an opening in the sewing plate at the proper time
by means of shoe R carried by the looper lever K. The feed slide is made
thin and elastic between the finger Q and the feeding end, and that end is
bent downward, by which means the rough or feeding surface is kept below
the surface of the sewing plate P when not forced up by the shoe R. This

page_text: shoe has its end bevilled so as to slide upon and lift the feeding slide O, and
hold it in contact with the work during its forward movement. Attached to
the arm F is a bar H, which carries two studs for acting upon inclined sur-
faces upon opposite sides of the back end of the lever K to give to that lever
the proper vibratory movement to drive the looper E. This lever K is pivoted
at K' to the under side of the table, and upon its forward end is a swivel S,
carrying the looper E. This swivel carrier is furnished with a set screw, by
which means the looper may be properly adjusted therein. The back end of
looper E slides in a guide U, U, which may be made adjustable by being
arranged upon a moveable plate secured to the table by screws fitted into slots
in that plate. The locking thread is supplied from the spool V, and its proper
tension is produced by means of the cone nut and the sliding spring cone,
which are represented as holding the spool upon a spindle passing through it,
and connected to the table. The looper E is constructed in the form of a
needle, having two eyes near its point, the two eyes being so far from each
other, and the needle so curved between them as to give space for the vertical
needle to pass down between it and the thread when drawn from one eye to
the other. W is the upper spool adjusted in the stand X by means of a
spring socket, set screw, and spindle, so as to be easily removed when empty,
and replaced by a full one. L' is a slack spring to take up the slack of the
upper thread. The adjustable stud L, in the bar I, furnishes the means for
changing the feed; thus to make the stitches coarser, the space between the
fixed and moveable studs must be reduced, and to make them finer, the space
must be increased.
Fig. 6 shews a modification, in which the lever J, the bar I, and its studs
are dispensed with, and the vibratory movement of the feed slide O is obtained
by means of a lever 1 and rod 2. The lever 1 is pivoted to the table, one of
its ends being jointed to the feed slide O and the other to a rod 2, connected
by means of a pin or screw stud 3 to the looping-lever K in such manner that
its position upon the lever may be varied for the purpose of changing the feed.
Secured to the sewing plate by means of two screws or pins is a slotted slide 4,
which is connected to the looping lever K by means of a pin that plays in a
socket in the end of the lever K. This slide 4 being operated by the lever K
slides upon and raises the end of the feed slide, and holds it up during its
forward movement in contact with the work in a manner similar to the
operation of the shoe R.
In Fig. 7 is shown a reciprocating slide 5, which may also be employed as
a substitute for the lever J, bar I, and its studs, and the shoe R. The
back end of the slide 5 is jointed to the arm F, and receives a reciprocating

page_text: movement therefrom, and on its opposite end a slotted plate 6 is arranged
with set screws so as to be adjustable to different angles with its line of
motion, and into the slot of this plate a pin from the feed slide O projects.
The end 7 of the slide 5 is rounded or bevilled so as to slide upon and lift the
elastic feed slide O. When the slide 5 moves forward, as it does with each
vibration of the rocking arm F, the slotted plate 6 gives the proper vibratory
movement to the feeding slide O, and the end 7 meanwhile raises and holds the
end of the slide O in contact with the work. The feed is adjusted by changing
the angle of the slotted plate 6 with reference to the line of motion, the length
of the stitch increasing with the increase of the angle.
The operation of the improved machine may be thus described:-The two
spools of thread W and V being adjusted, as already described, the thread of
the upper one is passed through the eye of the slack spring L, thence through
the
eye of the needle bar, thence through the eye of the vertical needle C'.
The thread of the lower spool V is first passed over the looper E, and back
through the eye furthest from the point, thence along the convex side of the
curve, and through the eye nearest the point. The pressure bar is then to be
lifted, the work placed under it, and being guided with one hand, the crank G
is made to rotate in either direction, and the several parts come to the position
shown in the Drawings. The needle has now pierced the work, and begins
by the action of the crank G through the bent lever F, D, and needle bar C
to move upward, and thereby opens its loop. At the same time the stud on
the bar II, acting on the incline of the lever K next to the arm F, causes the
looper E to carry its thread through the loop formed by the vertical needle.
The needle then coming to the upper part of its stroke, leaves the work, at
which point the stud in the bar I nearest the arm F, striking its incline on
the lever J, thereby moves forward the feed slide O far enough for one stitch,
the shoe R having meanwhile, the movement of the lever K, raised up the
slide O into contact with the work. The needle C₁ now comes down through
the work again by the continued action of the crank G through the bent
lever, and passes between the looper and its thread just in rear of the eye
nearest the point, so taking a loop from the looper around its stem, when the
loop previously formed from the needle around the looper slips off the looper,
on its retiring with lever K, by the action of the other stud. The loop is
then drawn up against the work by the slack spring and the receding move-
ment of the needle bar; the looper then comes forward again to enter the
opening loop of the vertical needle as before below the loop, which is still
encircling the needle and its loop, and was embraced by the loop last slipped
off the looper, and drawn up as described.

page_text: Having now set forth the construction and operation of the improvements
in sewing machines, as communicated to me from abroad, I wish it to be
understood that, under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim the
arrangement of parts above described for taking up and securing the loops of
the vertical needle, and for feeding the fabric to be sewn to such needle.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Millard, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
DAVID MILLARD. (L.S.)