IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."-
A communication from abroad by Alonzo Porter, of Rochester,
New York, United States of America.
Scaled the 29th March 1870, and dated the 15th October 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th October 1869.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES," a communication, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in sewing machines
employing a single thread. A frame of suitable form is provided,
in the upper portion of which is mounted a shaft, which is driven by
a wheel provided with a crank, or band, or both. At the opposite end

page_text: is attached a crank head, which gives motion to the needle bar by a
pin on the crank head resting in the slot of a cross bar. In the lower
portion of the frame is another shaft, which receives a rocking motion
produced by a rod connecting with a crank head of the shaft, the opposite
end having a loop or strap which rests on an eccentric made solid with
the driving wheel of the upper shaft. The opposite end of the lower
shaft has a cam and also a hook head made fast thereto. The said
cam operates the feeding bar by striking in its forward motion a lug or
shoulder on the feed bar, and by striking in its backward motion a
screw which is adjustable in position to change the length of the
stitches. The cam is also provided with an eccentric surface, which
throws the feed bar up as it moves forward to catch the cloth. The
feed bar is held in the rear by a spring that allows it a free movement.
The hook head is provided with a hook, which is thrown forward by
the rocking of the shaft to catch the thread of the needle, and hold it
while the needle goes up and comes down again through it to form
the lock stitch. The position of the hook head is changed on the shaft
by a set screw or some equivalent device. The cloth presser has an
open slot in one side to allow it to turn away from the needle when
the latter is to be threaded; its shaft has also a roller and shaft at
the top of the latter resting in an open slot, which forms the bearing
of the presser shaft in the frame. This allows the presser shaft to be
elevated and turned. The tension device for the thread consists simply
of two disks, one of which is stationary while the other turns, being
held down by a coiled spring and nut above.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 8th April 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," Southampton 3
Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third year of
Her reign, did for Herself, Ier heirs and successors, give and grant unto 3

page_text: me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence, that I, the said
William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Robert Lake, 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," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Alonzo Porter, of Rochester, New
York, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 William Robert Lake, 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 accompanying
Drawing, forming a part of this Specification :-
My Invention consists in the arrangement of the operating parts,
as herein-after described.
In the Drawing, Fig. 1 is a side clevation of my improved machine;
Fig. 2, an end elevation; Fig. 3, a plan of the front end of the
frame showing the connection and attachment of the cloth presser;
Fig. 4, a view showing the cam of the driving wheel and the connection
of the pitman rod therewith; Fig. 5, a diagram showing a plan of the
parts connected with the feed bar and needle.
A indicates the frame, having open work bars or arms a, a, and a
base plate 6 for attaching to a table. Two shafts B, C, are mounted in
the frame, the upper serving to give motion to the needle, while the
lower gives motion to the feed mechanism, and also the hook which
holds the loop of thread while the needle goes up. At one end of the
upper shaft is mounted a crank wheel D, having preferably a groove
in its periphery for the reception of a band which connects with a motive
power below in the ordinary manner. At the opposite end of the upper
shaft is situated a crank head E, the pin c of which rests in a lotted

page_text: bar G attached rigidly to the needle bar H. The revolutions of the
crank head give the up-and-down motion to the needle bar. The outer
end of the lower shaft has a crank head I, with the pin of which connects
a pitman K passing upward and having a loop d at the top which rests
on an eccentric L, which forms a solid part of the driving wheel D.
Every revolution of the latter imparts simply a rocking motion to the
crank head I, and consequently to the shaft C. To the opposite end of
the lower shaft is secured a cam M and hook head N. At every forward
motion of the cam it strikes lug f of the feed bar O, thereby causing
it to throw the cloth along upon cloth plate P. The stem of the feed
bar rests upon an eccentric surface g of the cam, which in the forward
motion clevates the feed bar sufficiently to make it hold in the cloth.
The reverse motion of the feed bar is produced by a screw h, which passes
through a bearing i of the bar in such a position as to be struck by the
cam M in its back action. By turning this screw up more or less it
is apparent that the throw of the feed bar will be changed, and con-
sequently the length of the stitches adjusted as desired. The rear end
of the feed bar is held up by a spring k, which allows by its clasticity
the necessary motion of the bar, and still holds it against slipping or
back action. The hook head N is in the form of a collar, which simply
slips on the shaft C and is held thereto in any desired position by a set
screw; it is provided with a hook m which is thrown forward by the
rocking of the shaft, and its adjustment and action are such relatively
to the needle that when the needle goes up the hook catches the thread
in the needle and holds it, thereby forming a loop, through which the
needle passes in its next downward action. This forms a lock stitch
with a single thread that will not unravel under ordinary circumstances.
The crank head I has its pin h resting in a slot of the crank head of
suitable extent, by which means the said shaft may be turned as may be
desired to adjust the position of cam M, and since the hook head is
adjustablo on the shaft, the proper positions of parts M and N are
readily attained. These adjustments are of great importance in securing
the accurate working of the machine. The cloth presser foot R has a
slot p, through which the needle passes, and this slot is made open
through the side to allow the foot to be swung around free of the needle,
which is necessary in threading, since the eye of the needle does not
come high enough to be free from the presser in its ordinary position.
The shaft of the presser turns free in bearings q, q, of the frame, and
at the upper end it has a collars, whose shaft rests in an open slot ⟫

page_text: When
of the upper bearing. This keeps it in position in working.
it is desired to raise the presser to turn it around the collar & strikes
the top of the bearing 9, the shaft at the same time freeing itself
from slot &, as in Fig. 3 Other cloth pressers simply rise, but mine
turns in addition, and at the same time I am enabled to bring the presser
directly over the feed bar, and covering the position of the needle, the
side motion being secured by the employment of the open slots P, ",
and the shaft and collar t, s. The tension device for holding the thread
consists simply of two disks v, v, one being fast, and the other loose,
and a spring and nut w, x, pressing down upon the lower one. The
thread passing between the disks receives any desired amount of friction
by turning down the nut.
What I claim as my Invention is,―
First. The arrangement of the driving wheel D and eccentric L
formed in one piece, the pitman K, and crank head I, when combined
with the two shafts B, C, in the manner and for the purpose
specified.
Second. The cam M, hook head N, spring %, and feed bar O, provided
with the lug f and adjusting screw k, when combined and arranged as
described, and operating in the manner and for the purpose specified.
Third. The cloth presser R, r, provided with the open sided slot p,
and the collar and shaft s, t, so arranged as to clevate and turn to onc
side for the threading of the needle, as described.
Fourth. The tension arrangement, consisting of the fast and loose
disks v, v, spring w, and nut x, the whole operating as described, and
for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, havo
hercunto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of April, in
the year of our Lord 1870.
Witness,
II. WRAIGHT.
W. ROB. LAKE. (L.S.)