IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."-A communication from abroad
by Lebbeus Wisner Lathrop, of the City, County, and State of New
York, United States of America.
Sealed the 19th December 1871, and dated the 27th July 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th July 1871.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as
follows:-
66
This Invention relates to improvements in sewing machines, and it
consists, first, in an arrangement of loopers and a spool carrier, whereby
the loop may be extended so that a commercial spool may be employed
for introducing the locking thread to avoid the winding of bobbins for

page_text: shuttles now necessary in the common lock stitch machines, also much
of the friction due to the shuttle machines, so that the spool may be
readily applied and removed.
In carrying out this part of the Invention I employ two loopers for
taking the loop of the upper thread when the needle has carried it
through the cloth, and opening it wide and holding it open for the
passage of the spool, one of which loopers is a long curved oscillating
or vibrating arm engaging one part of the loop and carrying it away
across the path of the spool, while the other engages the other part
of the loop and carries it downward in a manner to make a large
opening, and the latter is provided with a plate which is bulged outward
perpendicularly to the plane of its movement to occupy the thread
after the looper ceases to hold it taut, and until it is drawn taut by the
first looper in making the next stitch to prevent the thread from kinking
or snarling.
The Invention consists, secondly, in an adaptation of one of the
loop openers for so adjusting the loop as it is opened for passing the
locking thread spool through it that a chain stitch will be formed by
the upper thread.
In carrying out this part of the Invention a projecting piece is
applied to the looper, which carries the thread downward as before
stated to act upon the thread between the cloth and the looper, and carry
it beyond the needle in such manner that the latter passes down through
the loop at the next movement and delivers the thread to the looper,
so that a chain stitch is formed, and if the under thread is operated at
the same time a combination lock and chain stitch is formed. The
projecting piece is so applied to the looper or a plate attached thereto
that it may be readily shifted into or out of the working position. In
this case it consists of a spring bar with perpendicular end or point
pivoted to the bulged plate employed for preventing the thread from
kinking, so that the said point may either be brought to a hole through
said plate by turning the bar on its pivot, or moved away from said
hole, and when adjusted to said hole it will project through said plate
from the rear side to the working side, and engage the thread as
desired.
The third part of the Invention consists in a spool carrier adapted for
receiving a common spool, a way on which the said carrier is slid forward
and back in passing through the loops of the upper thread and a driver

page_text: therefore, all arranged in relation to the loopers and needle for intro-
ducing the binding thread in an efficient and simple manner. The
said carrier comprises a kind of cage formed of end pieces connected
by side pieces, one of the former having a set screw and the other a
socket for sccuring a spindle on which the spool is mounted at each
end, and the latter being fitted to slides or ways on which the said carrier
reciprocates, one being nearly above the other vertically. The lower
one is in the form of a tube and fits on the lower way consisting of a
couple of rods ribbed longitudinally to fit the tube at different points
of the inner circumference to provide space for any loose thread that
may work into said tube, which rods are supported at one end in the
same right line from the opposite points on the frame, with their other
ends nearly but not quite in contact, a sufficient space being allowed
in the plane of the sweep of the long vibrating looper to allow it to
pass across the path of the spool carrier in opening the loops for it to
pass through. The upper side piece has a longitudinal groove for the
reception of a guiding rib projecting down into it from the under side
of the plate but notched so that the said vibrating looper passes it.
The carrier also comprises a thread guide, the particular office of which
is to hold the locking thread, so that it cannot become entangled with
the loopers.
The driver for the spool carrier comprises a long cylindrical or other
formed piece with a spiral angular hole through it longitudinally,
mounted on a spiral way and carrying two arms as far apart as the
length of the shuttle carrier, one of which stands about 90 degrees to
the other circumferentially and engages the carrier when the other is
disengaged to admit of the spool and said arm passing the looper con-
taining the upper thread, after which these come together and carry
the spool carrier, while the arm at the other end which was engaged
and moving it becomes disengaged and passes the looper, then the
looper moves back and the spool carrier returns to the place of starting.
These connecting and disconnecting operations are effected by the
oscillating motion which the driver gets by reciprocating on the spiral
rod or way. The reciprocating motion of the driver is imparted to it
by a novel system of vibrating arms actuated by a connecting bar,
which communicates the motion of the needle arm rocker from the
pulley shaft, said arms being pivoted to the frame at one end while
the other swings forward and back, and the first being worked by the

page_text: said connecting rod being suitably connected thereto near its pivot
and carrying a rod which is jointed to its free end, which rod passes
through the other arm near its pivot and slides in and out of said arm
to compensate for the varying distance between the two pivots, while
it imparts the vibrating motion to the second arm by swinging with the
free end of the first.
The fourth part of the Invention consists in the application to one
of the loopers of a plate adapted for taking up the slack of the thread
of the loop after the spool has passed through, and preparatory to the
drawing up of the said slack, to complete the stitch and so occupy the
thread as to prevent it from kinking. The said plate is made of thin
sheet metal bulged outward perpendicular to the plane of the move-
ments of the looper, to which it is attached and so arranged that the
two parts of the loop are kept separate and measurebly taut by it
until the final escape of the loop when nearly drawn up to complete the
stitch by the loopers in forming the next stitch.
The fifth part of the Invention consists in an arrangement of
operating gear for working the loopers, one of which, together, with
the bulged plate for holding the discharged loop to avoid kinking, is
mounted on the rotary shaft, which imparts motion to the rocker of the
needle arm by a wrist pin projecting from a disc on the end of said
shaft, while the other being pivoted to the frame at one end below said
shaft is oscillated by a slotted pendulum or lever pivoted to the frame
above the shaft and worked by the wrist pin which passes through the
pendulum, to the swinging end of which the looper is connected by a
rod or link.
The sixth part of the Invention consists in the friction devices
employed for subjecting the thread to the requisite tension, which I
propose to accomplish by packing one or more small discs of closely
woven cloth or other elastic substance in the bottom of the hole for
one of the pivots of the spindle carrying the spool, and pressing the
pivot against them by a set screw acting on the other end of the spindle.
The seventh part of the Invention consists in a construction of the
metal case of the machine or cover for the working parts in sections,
and jointing them together in such manner that by swinging the jointed
parts the work below may be exposed ready at any time for inspection,
oiling, or adjusting, while the plate on which the sewing is done
remains stationary. This plate is supported on brackets rising up from

page_text: below, and the top of the case is formed around it in two parts jointed
to the main part of the case and swinging away from it, one in a
horizontal plane from the front, and the other part back of the needle
arm swinging in a vertical plane.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 27th January 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing datet he Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alexander Melville Clark, Her special
licence that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander Melville
Clark, 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 communication to me from abroad.
by Lebbeus Wisner Lathrop, of the City, County, and State of New
York, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others),
that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, my executors or adminis-.
trators, 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 per-
formed, 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 Alexander Melville Clark, 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

page_text: by the following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):-
'
This Invention relates to improvements in sewing machines, and it
consists, first, in an arrangement of loopers and a spool carrier, whereby
the loop may be extended so that a commercial spool may be employed
for introducing the locking thread to avoid the winding of bobbins for
shuttles now necessary in the common lock stitch machines, also much
of the friction due to shuttle machines, so that the spool may be readily
applied and removed.
In carrying out this part of the Invention, I employ two loopers for
taking the loop of the upper thread when the needle has carried it
through the cloth, and opening it wide, and holding it open for the
passage of the spool, one of which loopers is a long curved oscillating
or vibrating arm engaging one part of the loop and carrying it away
across the path of the spool, while the other engages the other part
of the loop and carries it downward in a manner to make a large
opening, and the latter is provided with a plate which is bulged outward
perpendicularly to the plane of its movement to occupy the thread after
the looper ceases to hold it taut and until it is drawn taut by the
first looper in making the next stitch to prevent the thread from
kinking or snarling.
The Invention consists, secondly, in an adaptation of one of the loop
openers for so adjusting the loop as it is opened for passing the locking
thread spool through it that a chain stitch will be formed by the upper
thread.
In carrying out this part of the Invention a projecting piece is
applied to the looper which carries the thread downward as before
stated to act upon the thread between the cloth and the looper, and
carry it beyond the needle in such manner that the latter passes down
through the loop at the next movement and delivers the thread to the
looper so that a chain stitch is formed, and if the under thread is
operated at the same time a combination lock and chain stitch is formed.
The projecting piece is so applied to the looper, or a plate attached
thereto, that it may be readily shifted into or out of the working
position. In this case it consists of a spring bar with perpendicular
end or point pivoted to the bulged plate employed for preventing the
thread from kinking, so that the said point may either be brought

page_text: to a hole through said plate by turning the bar on los pivots Of M
away from said hole, and when adjusted to said hole it will project
through said plate from the rear side to the working side and engage
the thread as desired.
The third part of the Invention consists in the spool carrier adapted
for receiving a common spool, a way on which the said carrier is slid
forward and back in passing through the loops of the upper thread and
a driver therefor all arranged in relation to the loopers and needle for
introducing the binding thread in an efficient and simple manner. The
said carrier comprises a kind of cage formed of end pieces connected
by side pieces, one of the former having a set screw and the other a
socket for securing a spindle on which the spool is mounted at each
end, and the latter being fitted to slides or ways on which the said
carrier reciprocates, one being nearly above the other vertically. The
lower one is in the form of a tube, and fits on the lower way consisting
of a couple of rods ribbed longitudinally to fit the tube at different
points of the inner circumference to provide space for any loose thread
that may work into said tube, which rods are supported at one end
in the same right line from the opposite points on the frame, with their
other ends nearly but not quite in contact, a sufficient space being
allowed in the plane of the sweep of the long vibrating looper to allow
it to pass across the path of the spool carrier in opening the loops for
it to pass through. The upper side piece has a longitudinal groove for
the reception of a guiding rib projecting down into it from the under-
side of the plate, but notched so that the said vibrating looper passes it.
The driver for the spool carrier comprises a long cylindrical or other
formed piece with a spiral angular hole through it longitudinally,
mounted on a spiral way and carrying two arms as far apart as the
length of the shuttle carrier. One arm stands about 90 degrees to the
other circumferentially, and engages the carrier when the other arm is
disengaged to admit of the spool passing the looper containing the upper
thread, after which the other arm engages with and carries the spool
carrier while the arm at the other end which was engaged, and moving
it becomes disengaged and passes the looper, then the looper moves
back and the spool carrier returns to the place of starting. These
connecting and disconnecting operations are effected by the oscillating
motion which the driver gets by reciprocating on the spiral rod or
way. The reciprocating motion of the driver is imparted to it by a

page_text: novel system of vibrating arms actuated by a connecting bar (which also
communicates the motion to the needle arm rocker from the pulley
shaft,) said arms being pivoted to the frame at one end, while the other
swings forward and back. The first arm is worked by the said con-
necting rod being suitably connected thereto near its pivot, and carries
a rod which is jointed to its free end, which rod passes through the
other arm near its pivot and sildes in and out of said arm to compensate
for the varying distance between the two pivots while it imparts the
vibrating motion to the second arm by swinging with the free end of
the first.
The fourth part of the Invention consists in the application to one of
the loopers of a plate adapted for taking up the slack of the thread of
the loop after the spool has passed through and preparatory to the
drawing up of the said slack to complete the stitch and so occupy the
thread as to prevent it from kinking. The said plate is made of thin
sheet metal bulged outward perpendicular to the plane of the movements
of the loopers to which it is attached, and so arranged that the two
parts of the loop are kept separate and measurably taut by it until the
final escape of the loop when nearly drawn up to complete the stitch
by the loopers in forming the next stitch.
The fifth part of the Invention consists in an arrangement of operating
gear for working the loopers, one of which together with the bulged
plate for holding the discharged loop to avoid kinking is mounted on
the rotary shaft (which imparts motion to the rocker of the needle arm)
by a wrist pin projecting from a disc on the end of said shaft, while the
other being pivoted to the frame at one end below said shaft is oscillated
by a slotted pendulum or lever pivoted to the frame above the shaft,
and worked by the wrist pin which passes through the pendulum, to
the swinging end of which the looper is connected by a rod or link.
The sixth part of the Invention consists in the friction devices
employed for subjecting the thread to the requisite tension, which I
propose to accomplish by packing one or more small discs of closely
woven cloth or other elastic substance in the bottom of the hole for
one of the pivots of the spindle carrying the spool, and pressing the
pivot against them by a set screw acting on the other end of the
spindle.
The seventh part of the Invention consists in the construction of the
metal ance of the machine
Ox cover
for the working parts in sections.

page_text: and jointing them together in such manner that by swinging the jointed
parts the work below may be exposed ready at any time for inspection,
oiling, or adjusting, while the plate on which the sewing is done remains
stationary. This plate is supported on brackets rising up from below.
and the top of the case is formed around it in two parts jointed to the
main part of the case and swinging away from it, one in a horizontal
plane from the front, and the other part back of the needle arm swinging
and the top of the case is formed around it in two parts jointed to the
main part of the case and swinging away from it, one in a horizontal
plane from the front, and the other part back of the needle arm swinging
in a vertical plane.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a front clevation of the improved machine with the case
raised to show the working parts below; Figure 2 is partly a plan view
and partly a horizontal section; Figure 3 is a longitudinal section
showing the positions of the looper when the spool is passing through
the loop; Figure 4 is a partial horizontal section showing the positions
after passing through; Figure 5 is another partial horizontal section
showing the mode of forming the combined lock and chain stitch;
Figure 6 is a section showing the arrangement of devices for working
one of the loopers; Figures 7 and 8 are rear views of the attachments to
one of the loopers for preventing the thread from kinking and for
making the chain stitch. Similar letters of reference indicate corre-
sponding parts.
In this example the needle A is mounted on an arm B which oscillates
on a rocker C, but it may have a rectilinear motion as when attached
to a vertically reciprocating bar working in guides or bearings. This
rocker is worked by the short crank shaft D, to which it is connected
by the arm E, rod F, and crank G. The said shaft is arranged parallel
with the line in which the work moves, and nearly under the line of
the seam, with a driving pulley H at the rear end, by which motion is
imparted to it by a belt from the main driving pulley to be worked
by the foot treadle. The shaft also imparts the motion to the loopers
and to the spool driver. The looper I (which is the one that first
takes the thread in opening the loop and carries it away across the path
of the spool carrier J) is a long curved finger pivoted to the frame of
the machine at K nearly under the needles. Near the upper end it has
a large curve to the left about a quarter of a circle marked M, and the
outer face of this curved part is grooved, as shown at L, Figure 1. At
or about the base of this curved and grooved part M is a long and
sharp horn N projecting from the front side towards the right, which is

page_text: to take the thread from the side of the needle by passing between it and
said needle, as indicated in Figure 2. As soon as the eye of the needle
passes down below the said horn, and while the thread is stretched
between the cloth and the eye, the thread thus taken on the horn
falls into the groove L above the horn to be carried away to the right
of the needle across the path of the spool to extend the loop for the
spool to pass through. As soon as the looper I has thus taken the
thread and passed out of the way, stretching it away from the eye of
the needle in a horizontal line or nearly so, the other looper O which is
a short piece mounted on an arm P and having a notch Q in the end
and front side comes down upon the thread between the looper I and
the needle carrying said thread downward nearly in a direct line from
the eye of the needle, as shown at R, Figure 3, to a point below the
spool carrier. This looper arrives at the lowermost points (shown in
Figure 3) at the time the looper I arrives at the end of its movement to
the right, thus opening a wide loop in a kind of triangular shape, of
which the line R represents the base, and S, T, the sides; the spool
carrier then goes through from front to rear and delivers its locking
thread; the looper I then swings back returning its thread to a notched
receiver X following the looper O about the distance of a quarter of its
circular path behind it, and the looper O continues to hold its thread
until it comes near to the needle again, as indicated in Figure 5.
This return movement of looper I slackens the thread so that it is liable
to kink or become entangled with the moving parts, consequently a
plate V is employed with the looper O in such relation to it as to
engage the part R of the thread at this time and take up or occupy this
slack by drawing it over the bulged part of the plate until it is taken
up in the forming of the next loop. Said plate is of an irregular form
in outline and bulged outward toward the front of the machine, and
is provided with a sword shaped piece which passes behind the
thread R about the time of the beginning of the return movement of
the looper I to throw the loop over the bulge of said plate V to control
the slack and to disengage from the looper O at the proper time.
At the same time that the piece engages the thread R it delivers up
the old loop to the cloth as indicated at W, which is drawn up to
finish the stitch by the loopers. The said part R of the thread is dis-
charged over the bulged plate a little before the looper O escapes from
it, and the part of the loop behind that received from the looper I at
its return movement in the notch X falls into a groove between plate V

page_text: and another plate Y indicated by the irregular line and vanishing
at ¹, where the thread escapes from it as the said point reaches
the lowermost part of its circular path to be finally cast off over the
sword when it arrives at the top of its path just before the loopers I
and O have completed the opening of the next loop to allow them to
draw up the slack of the old loop and complete the stitch. These
operations form the ordinary lock stitch, and they are all employed in
making the chain stitch, with the exception that instead of allowing the
part of the loop delivered upon or into the notched receiver X to fall
into the groove za projection a is thrust out through the plate Y to
engage the thread after it drops into the notch X and carry it forward to
the right across the needle so that the latter will come down through the
loop and deliver the thread to the loopers so that when the old loop is
finally cast off it will be over the new loop in the ordinary way of
making chain stitches. This action upon the thread by the projection a
does not interfere with the introduction of the locking thread so that it
being also worked at the same time a combined lock and chain stitch is
formed, which is very desirable for embroidery as well as for other uses.
The looper I is worked by a slotted pendulum & pivoted to the frame
above the shaft D, and worked by a wrist pin e passing through its
slot, the said looper being connected to it by a link f. This wrist pin
also carries the looper O, its arm or plate P being attached to it, and
the notched piece X and the plate Y are attached to the looper. The
bulged plate V is attached to plate Y both by the stud g and by its
edge along the groove z, they therefore all revolve together, but instead
of having the looper O connected with these parts and revolving with
them it may be arranged independently of them and worked by an
oscillating or swinging motion, and I propose to arrange it either way
as I may prefer.
The projecting stud a is a part of a spring arm or finger h, pivoted
to the plate P of the looper O at the rear side to swing to or from
the hole i, through which the said piece will be caused to project
when brought to it, which is done when it is to be used, but when not
to be used the arm is pushed back to withdraw said projection a, and
then turned away from the hole. The spool carrier by which the binding
thread spool j is carried is composed of the two end pieces k, connected
together by the side pieces l, m, which are a little longer than the spool
so as to admit the latter between the end pieces, where it is secured by
a spindle n, one of whose pivots is received in a socket p, while the

page_text: other receives the point of a set screw q in a small socket in its end, the
said screw screwing through a boss on the end plate. This set screw
also produces the tension on the spool by forcing the spindle against
discs o of woollen cloth or other elastic material placed in the socket p
as indicated in the section of the bearing of the upper spool t in Figure 2,
the same mode of producing the tension being employed for both spools.
The lower side piece / is tubular and fitted to work on the ribbed rods w
which form the way or rail on which the carrier moves forward and
back, while the upper side piece m has a groove x in which the small
rib y projecting from the under side of the plate Z is received to act as
the upper guide for the spool carrier. This guide rail or rib is notched
where the thread is drawn under it by the looper to allow it to rise in
the said notch high enough to let the spool carrier or the piece m
thereof pass under it without coming in contact with the thread. Two
rods w are employed for the carrier to slide upon in order to provide a
space a¹ through which the looper can pass in extending the loop for
the spool to pass through and returning it again. The said rods are
ribbed to afford space for pieces of thread liable to work into the tube /
in the operation of the machine, to avoid the clogging and binding that
would occur if made cylindrical and nearly filling the bore of the tube.
A thread guide ' consisting of a bent plate of narrow and thin metal
is extended from the front end of the carrier near the bottom, and to
the piece m at the top and near the middle as clearly shown in Figure 1,
said guide having an eye c¹ near the upper part for receiving the thread
from the spool, and a long slot d¹ below said eye and extending nearly
to the lower end through which the thread passes back and toward the
spool and thence to the cloth. The particular office of this guide is to
hold the locking thread so that it cannot become entangled with the
loopers. The spool carrier being driven by apparatus not passing
through the loop, the said driving devices must disconnect from it to
pass the thread of the loop and the looper, and yet it must have a
regular and uniform movement not to be obtained by driving it
through in the manner of driving a shuttle by a picker, nor can so
large a device as a carrier which will convey a commercial spool be
allowed to be forced under or over the thread, while the latter passes
between the shuttle and driver as in the common shuttle drivers of
sewing machines for the great length of thread subject to the action of
the spool carrier and driver, and friction thereof on the thread would be
so great as to displace the thread too much. Therefore in order to carry

page_text: the spool and its carrier through the loop without coming in contact
with the thread at all I have devised a driver for the spool carrier having
two points of connection with the said spool carrier and capable of
taking hold at one point while disconnected at the other, the said points
of connection being at the ends of the carrier, and the time of dis-
connection being when the ends are passing the looper, the connection
being at the ends opposite the ones passing the looper. To accomplish
this I employ a reciprocating drum e¹ having also an oscillating motion,
which drum is provided with two radial arms f¹, and g¹about as far apart
as the length of the spool carrier, which arms are set about ninety
degrees apart circumferentially, and have a segmental grooved end /¹
which in the oscillating movement come to and pass along the concave
ends ¹ of the carrier, receiving them into the grooves so as to impart the
necessary reciprocating motion. The oscillating motion is imparted to
the driver by the spiral way on which it reciprocates, and the adjust-
ment is such that one arm takes hold of the carrier just before the other
lets go, and both let go just before arriving at the looper and the open
space a¹ in the way w, and the movements of the looper and shuttle
driver are in such relation to each other that the looper always stands
ready to be passed by the detached arm and the spool carrier, and from
which the arm is detached at the time of such detachment. In this casc.
a triangular spiral way j' is represented, but it is obvious that a cylindrical
way with a spiral rib or flange on it working in a groove on the hub
of the driver will work as well, or the way may be grooved and the rib
or flange placed in the hub of the driver.
I find a very simple method of fitting the driver to the spiral way to
be in fitting a tube somewhat larger than the way upon it and then
casting the space within said tube surrounding the way full of Babbitts
or other soft antifriction compound. This gives the exact spiral form
required for the inner walls of the hole of the driver for working on the
way without fitting. The reciprocating motion is imparted to the driver.
by the swinging arm k having a notch in the swinging end, in which
a flange on the driver works to form a connection that will admit of
the oscillation required for the driver. This arm k¹ working on the
pivot m has motion imparted to it by the rod n' passing through it near
said pivot, being so fitted that it can slide in and out, and jointed to the
end of the arm o¹ at p', said arm o' being pivoted to the frame at q¹ and
actuated by the connecting rod F which carries a stud pin fitted in.
:

page_text: t
the slots. The case or top of the machine which is made of cast metal
is made in three separate pieces t, u, v¹, the piece being permanently
fixed with the frame of the machine, the piece u¹ being hinged to
picce that w¹ so that it can swing vertically, and the piece v¹ being hinged
to piece at x to swing horizontally away from the positions they
occupy when covering and protecting the loopers and spool carriers, and
protecting the cloth from them to admit of the most ready and con-
venient access to the parts when required for inspecting them, and for
oiling, and the like. The swinging parts u¹ and v₁ are fitted to the plate Z
so as to shut around it and when opening leave it in position. It is
preferable to make one of them to swing horizontally in order to clear
the needle and presser arms, but they may both be made to swing
upward in the same manner as w¹.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. The combination with the needle of a pair of loopers adapted to
open the loop for the passage of a commercial spool, and a carrier for
said spool sliding through said loop in a right line, substantially as
specified.
2ndly. Making the loop openers employed for holding the loop so that
a spool may pass through it capable of adjusting said loop for the
formation of a chain stitch, or a combined lock and chain stitch, by a
shifting finger employed in connection with one of them, and arranged
to act upon the loop when it is required to make the chain stitch,
substantially in the manner described.
3rdly. A spool carrier adapted to receive a commercial spool, a way
therefor having an opening for the passage of one of the loopers, and a
driver for said spool carrier, combined with the loopers in such manner
that a positive connection of the drivers and carrier will be maintained a
while said carrier is driven past the looper, the said driver having two
points of connection with the carrier, one of which is disconnected
while passing the looper, and the other connected, all substantially as
specified.
4thly. The combination with the looper ○ of the bulged loop con- a
trolling plate for preventing the kinking of the loop preparatory and
while the loop is being drawn up, substantially as specified.

page_text: 5thly. The operating of the loopers by means of the shaft D, the one
being connected thereto and revolving with it, and the other being
pivoted to the machine and connected to said shaft by a rod or link, a
slotted pendulum, and a wrist or crank pin, substantially as specified.
6thly. Imparting the tension to the thread by means of the elastic
discs of cloth or other substance placed behind one of the pivots, and
pressing the pivot against them by the set screw at the other end
employed in connection with the socket containing said discs for holding
the spools, all substantially as specified.
7thly. The construction of the metal top or case of the machine in
two or more sections jointed or hinged together in such manner that the
said case may be swung open to afford access to the working parts
below without disturbing the work holding plate, all substantially as
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
Witness,
WN. CLARK,
-
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
A. M. CLARK.
(L.S.)