IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Clifton, of the Queen's Hotel, Saint
Martin's-le-Grand, in the City of London, Engineer, for the Invention.
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES." Partly a communication from.
abroad by George Snieder, residing at Vicksburg, Mississippi, United
States of America.
Sealed the 15th May 1866, and dated the 18th November 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Clifton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th November 1865.
I, HENRY CLIFTON, of the Queen's Hotel, St. Martin's-le-Grand,' in
the City of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the so constructing sewing machines
that they may at one time be used for plain sewing or stitching, and at
another time for stitching over the edges of button holes or over the
edges of fabrics. In sewing machinery for stitching over the edges of
button holes it has before been proposed to employ a hook or instrument
to take a loop of the shuttle thread from below the fabric, and pass it over
the edge of the fabric on to its upper side, so that the needle in descending
may pass through the loop.

page_text: According to my Invention I mount the hook or instrument that is for
taking the loop of shuttle thread from the under to the upper side of the
fabric on an axis, to which a reciprocating rotary motion and also a rising
and falling motion can be imparted. The axis is received in a recess in the
shuttle race, and to impart the motions above nientioned to it I place on
the lower end of the axis a toothed wheel, into which gears a toothed
segment capable of turning at its centre on a fixed pin. A reciprocating
to-and-fro motion is imparted to the segment by a connecting link, which
connects it with a lever actuated by a cam on the main axis of the machine.
The to-and-fro reciprocating motion of the segment gives a reciprocating
rotary motion to the axis. Around the exterior of the axis is formed a
groove passing spirally from one end of the axis to the other; into this
groove a fixed pin enters, so that when the reciprocating rotary motion is
given to the axis, it is at the same time caused to move endwise to and fro.
The shuttle of the machine I actuate in such manner as to cause it first to
advance a distance, then to stop, afterwards to recede, and again advance
to carry its thread through the loop of the needle thread, the object being
to first slack its thread, then to take up the slack, and afterwards to pass it
through the loop of the needle thread.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-When the needle descends
through the cloth the hook makes a quick turn, and catches the slackened
shuttle thread, and as it rises during its turning motion, it carries the thread
upwards and over the edges of the cloth until the loop of thread carried
by the hook is directly under the needle; the point of the needle then
passes between the shuttle thread and the hook. As soon as the needle
has taken hold of the loop of shuttle thread the hook returns to its original
position, whilst the needle enters the cloth. The shuttle, which while the
hook was rising had been advancing slowly towards the needle, recedes
from the moment or just after the needle has entered the cloth, and until
it has reached its lowest position, for the purpose of taking up the slack of
the shuttle thread and tightening it after it has been turned over the edge
of the cloth; as the needle begins to rise the shuttle passes between the
needle and its thread, thereby completing the stitch. When the machine
is required for plain stitching the link which transmits motion to it from
the lever actuated from the cam shaft is disconnected from the lever, so
that the hook is thrown out of action; the machine then works like an
ordinary sewing machine.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Clifton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th May 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
CLIFTON, of the Queen's Hotel, St. Martin's-le-Grand, in the City of
London, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Henry Clifton, Her special licence that I, the
said Henry Clifton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Henry Clifton, 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," the result
of a communication made to me from abroad by George Snieder, a person
resident at Vicksburg, Mississippi, United States of America, and partly of
Invention of my own, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Henry Clifton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Henry Clifton, 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 the so constructing sewing machines
that they may at one time be used for plain sewing or stitching, and at
another time for stitching over the edges of button holes or over the edges
of fabrics. In sewing machinery for stitching over the edges of button
holes it has before been proposed to employ a hook or instrument to take

page_text: a loop of the shuttle thread from below the fabric and pass it over the edge
of the fabric on to its upper side, so that the needle in descending may pass
through the loop.
According to this Invention I mount the hook or instrument that
is for taking the loop of shuttle thread from the under to the upper
side of the fabric on an axis, to which a reciprocating rotary motion
and also a rising and falling motion can be imparted. The axis is
received in a recess in the shuttle race, and to impart the motions above
mentioned to it I place on the lower end of the axis a toothed wheel, into
which gears a toothed segment capable of turning at its centre on a fixed
pin; a reciprocating to-and-fro motion is imparted to the segment by a
connecting link, which connects it with a lever actuated by a cam on the
main axis of the machine; the to-and-fro reciprocating motion of the seg-
ment gives a reciprocating rotary motion to the axis. Around the exterior
of the axis is formed a groove passing spirally from one end of the axis to
the other; into this groove a fixed pin enters, so that when the recipro-
cating rotary motion is given to the axis it is at the same time caused to
move endwise to and fro. The shuttle of the machine I actuate in such
manner as to cause it first to advance a distance, then to stop, and after-
wards to recede, and again advance to carry its thread through the loop of
the needle thread, the object being to first slack its thread, then to take up
the slack, and afterwards to pass it through the loop of the needle thread.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-When the needle descends
through the cloth the hook makes a quick turn, and catches the slackened
shuttle thread, and as it rises during its turning motion it carries the thread
upwards and over the edges of the cloth until the loop of thread carried
by the hook is directly under the needle; the point of the needle then
As soon as the needle
passes between the shuttle thread and the hook.
has taken hold of the loop of shuttle thread the hook returns to its original
position, whilst the needle enters the cloth. The shuttle, which while the
hook was rising had been advancing slowly towards the needle, recedes
from the moment or just after the needle has entered the cloth, and until
it has reached its lowest position, for the purpose of taking up the slack of
the shuttle thread and tightening it after it has been turned over the edge
of the cloth; as the needle begins to rise the shuttle passes between the
needle and its thread, thereby completing the stitch. When the machine is
required for plain stitching the link which transmits motion to it from the
lever actuated from the cam shaft is disconnected from the lever, so that

page_text: the hook is thrown out of action; the machine then works like an ordinary
sewing machine.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, I will proceed to
describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
The Drawings hereunto annexed shew a sewing machine arranged in
the manner above described. Figure 1 represents a longitudinal vertical
section through the machine; Figure 2 is a top view of the same; Figures
3, 4, 5, and 6 are detached views representing the operation of the needle,
shuttle, and hook; Figure 7 is a diagram shewing the nature of the button-
hole stitch produced; and Figure 8 is a section across the edge of a fabric
thus sewn or stitched over.
A represents, the base or stitching plate; B, the main shaft, from which
the several working parts of the machine derive motion through the agency
of canis C, D, E; the cam C operating the needle cam; D, the shuttle; and
E, the hook. F represents the needle arm pivoted to the frame G at H,
and its longer end connected with the needle bar, which slides in guides in
the usual manner; 1 represents the needle, and K represents the shuttle;
it runs in the race L, its flat and vertical side resting against the side a of
said race; it is operated by means of a shuttle driver M, which runs on
the side of the race, and is operated from a cam groove D by means of
lever N, which turns on fulcrum O, and is also connected with the shuttle
driver M by means of a rod or link P. Qrepresents a hook, which in
conjunction with the needle and shuttle forms the button-hole stitch; it is
secured to the vertical shaft R by a set screw, not shown in the Drawing.
The shaft R is arranged to turn freely within a suitable recess in the race
L. R¹ represents a pinion secured upon the lower end of shaft R, and
having imparted to it a reciprocating rotary motion by means of the toothed
sector S, which latter is operated from the cam groove, E by means of the
lever T, which turns on the fulcrum d, and which is connected to the sector
S by means of the bar U. The bar U can be disconnected from the lever
T and sprung into a pin catch, which holds it in said position when the
machine is to be used for plain work, whereby the needle and shuttle only
are operated while the hook Q is disconnected from the machine. The
hook Q, besides its reciprocating rotary motion, has a vertical reciprocating
motion, which is imparted to it by the action of the stationary pin e, which
is secured to the frame of the machine, and which extends into the spiral

page_text: cam groove f, which is on the circumference of the shaft R, and thus the
motion of the hook is a compound of a reciprocating rotating and recipro-
cating rectilinear motion.
V represents the feed bar for feeding the cloth
to the needle. The cam D, which gives motion to the shuttle, is so formed
as to cause the shuttle first to advance a portion of the distance, then stop
or slightly recede, and again advance, the object being to cause it to slack
up its thread, then take up the slack or hold it firm, and finally to carry its
thread through the loop of the needle thread.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-When the machine is to
be used for plain work the lever U is disconnected from the lever T, and
is secured by the pin catch; the hook Q then remains stationary. The
machine, therefore, when set in motion will work as an ordinary shuttle
sewing machine.
For making button-hole work the arm U is connected with the lever T.
The needle, shuttle, and hook will then, when the needle is at its highest
point, assume the positions shewn in Figures 3 and 5. When the machine
is set in motion and the needle descends the hook Q makes a quick turn
and catches the shuttle thread (which is then slackened) in its prongs, and
as it rises during its turning motion it carries the thread upward and around
the edge of the cloth until the prongs of the hook are directly under the
needle n, the needle now descends and its point passes between the shuttle
thread and the hook, as shown in Figures 4 and 6. As soon as the needle
has taken hold of the shuttle thread the hook Q returns to the position
shewn in Figures 3 and 5, while the needle enters the cloth. The shuttle
K, which during this time has been advancing slowly toward the needle,
by preference recedes slightly from the moment or just after the needle has
entered the cloth and until it has reached its lowest position, for the
purpose of taking up the slack of and tightening the shuttle thread after it
has been turned over the edge of the cloth, and as the needle begins to rise
the shuttle passes through between the needle and its thread, so carrying
through the shuttle thread and thereby completing and tightening the stitch
on its return motion. In each of the Figures the needle thread is repre-
sented in red lines and the shuttle thread in blue lines.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise arrangement of the mechanism above described, as a
hook carried by an axis that has a reciprocating endway as well as a rotating
motion imparted to it may in a similar manner be combined with other

page_text: forms of sewing machines for the purpose of taking the under or shuttle
thread and looping it over the edge of the fabric, as above described. The
arrangement of mechanism for imparting these motions to the axis which
carries the hook may also be varied.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Clifton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
HENRY CLIFTON. (L.s.)