IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1856

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LETTERS PATENT to William, Caswell Watson, of New York, in the
United States of America, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 24th March 1857, and dated the 11th October 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Caswell Watson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th October 1856.
I, WILLIAM. CASWELL WATSON, of New York, in, the. United States, of
America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:
My Invention consists, firstly, in improvements in the method of constructing
and working the book. which takes up the loops formed beneath the, table in
single-thread sewing machines; and, secondly, in an improved feed motion......
My Invention is intended to remedy. the uncertainty in the taking off of the
loop, and retaining it till the needle shall have passed through in the.next
stitch, and to regulate the action of the loop-forming part. By means of my
improvements the thread. is seized while in contact with the side of the needle,
drawn away, and opened into a wide loop directly in the path of the-needle at
its next stroke. In performing this the hook takes three different positions.
In the first, it is at the side of the needle with its point just back of the thread ;
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page_text: in the second, it has moved horizontally, thus taking hold of the thread and
pulling it off to one side; in the third, the hook turns one quarter round,
thereby twisting the loop from a vertical to a horizontal position, forming a
comparatively large opening directly in the path of the needle, thereby insuring
its entrance.
The hook is attached to or formed at the end of a round shank or spindle.
It is flat and broad in front, and thin when viewed at the edge. It is carried
in a sheath or bearing fixed to the end of a lever beneath the bed of the
machine. As the shank stands at right angles to the lever it points in a line
tangent to the arc of vibration of the former, thus effecting the transfer of the
point of the hook from the side of the needle to another point in a line with
the path of the needle. While the hook is being thus moved it is also turned
on its shank as an axis one quarter of a revolution; by this means the thread
at the side of the needle is taken up by the hook, then drawn off laterally;
here the hook is turned and spreads the loop open, so that it completely
embraces the line passed over by the needle, whereby the latter must neces-
sarily enter the loop. Through the side of the sheath a spiral slot is cut, in
which plays a pin projecting from the shank. The lever first commences its
movement from a stop, carrying the hook with its thread to the other side of the
needle, but without changing the position in which the thread is held until the
further motion of the hook is arrested by the end of its shank striking against
a stop. The lever continues on; slides the sheath over the shank; in doing
which the pin is made to traverse in the spiral slot, whereby the hook is turned
round, and the loop formed by drawing off; the sewing thread is spread open.
Before the needle retreats the hook must be disengaged from the loop, and for
this the hook first turns round on its shank, which is accomplished by a spring
compressed by the previous sliding of the sheath. As the lever returns the
spring keeps the shank against the stop, and the sheath consequently slides
along, first towards the hook, the pin returning in the spiral slot and causing
the hooks to rotate; at this point the forward edge of the sheath has arrived
at a stop upon the shank near where the hook commences, when the whole
moves together back to the first position. The lever is made to vibrate by
ineans of a cam on the main shaft or otherwise. The point of the needle is
braced when beneath the table to stop all vibration, and to diniinish the risk of
breakage by the lateral pull of the hook upon the thread in case the latter
should be stopped by a knot. The brace consists of a piece of metal having a
narrow groove on its face, and secured beneath the table on one side of the
hole where the needle comes through, and so that the groove will be inclined
so as to extend across the path of the needle. As the needle descends when

page_text: part of the way through, the point strikes angularly against the groove in the
brace plate, and as it continues to descend it is sprung to one side by following
the course of the groove. This pressure is slight, but enough to hold the
needle in the groove, and sustain it by its side against the lateral pull of the
hook, also to steady it, so that it will not vibrate by reason of its rapid motion
through the cloth, which is one frequent cause of the hook missing the thread.
My improved feed motion consists of an arm having a peculiarly constructed
finger attached at its lower end, and placed in such position that the vibration
of the former will cause the latter to take hold of and move or feed the cloth
along under the needle. This arm is attached at top to a horizontal rock shaft
secured to the bracket holding the needle stock. At the opposite end of this
shaft is another arm, in the lower end of which is a screw stud, the point of
which rests against a cam upon the main shaft, and is kept up to the surface
of the cam by a spring, whereby this second arm is made to vibrate according
to the figure of the cam's surface. The finger which takes hold of the cloth is a
lever, having its axis or fulcrum in the end of the first arm; its lower end is
bent nearly at right angles, so that its flat side presses upon the table directly
under the path of the needle. The needle passes in a slot cut longitudinally
through this part, the under surface of which is notched. The pad is made to
bear upon the cloth by means of a spring, which presses against the tail. The
finger pulls the cloth along instead of pushing. In consequence of the angle
at which the arm stands at the commencement of the feed, the point descends
tightly towards the table in following the are in which it vibrates, thus slightly
increasing the pressure upon the cloth as it moves along. When the arm
returns the finger for a new feed the needle is in the cloth, and thereby keeps
it in place. The length of stitch is regulated by the angle at which the first"
arm stands at the commencement, which is given by the set of the screw stud.
As the stud is screwed outward the second arm will move towards the cam, and
the first arm will move towards the needle, and the fulcrum of the feed finger
will be lifted upward by being carried along the arc which the first arm
describes, thus the feed finger could be eventually raised entirely from the table.
The screw stud moves the second arm, and through that the other arm, towards
or from the surface of the cam. The finger, however, never leaves the cloth,
the arm not being allowed in any position of the screw to rise high enough for
that, hence it acts also as a pressure pad.
The operation is as follows:-The needle being supplied with thread, I turn
the crank until its point is raised to its greatest height, press upon the tail with
the finger, thus raising the pad from the table, and the cloth may then be put
under in place for being sewed; continuing the motion of the crank, the needle:

page_text: descends, through the cloth, and commences to rise, puffing out thereby the
thread along the inner side of the needle; the cam strikes the tail of the lever
and it begins to move, the look catches the thread, and draws the loop off to
one side; then turning round it spreads the loop. As the needle decended it
struck in the groove of the brace plate. At this moment also the feed finger
returns to be ready for a new grip upon the cloth, and as it pushes along
against the, frictional pressure of the spring the cloth is kept from going with
it by the needle holding it in place, the brace plate also serving to steady.it.
The needle having risen above the cloth, the proper projection on the cam
strikes the point of the stud, thereby vibrating the arm and giving the feed, by
bringing the pad down upon the cloth and drawing it along. The needle now
descends, passing directly through the loop, the hook then returning to its first
position to take off the next loop, and thus interlock or weave the chain in the
well-known manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Caswell Watson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 11th April 1857.
·
TO ALL TO WHOM, THESE; PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CASWELL WATSON, of New York, in, the United. States of America, send
greeting:
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WHEREAS Herniost Excellent, Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her Letters
Patent; bearing date the Eleventh day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and, fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Herfreign;
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,, give and grant unto me, the said
William. Caswell Watson,! Her special, licence, that I, the said. William
Caswell Watson, my executors, administrators,, and assigns," "or such others
as I, the: said William Caswell Watson, 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 ivend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Caswell Watson, my exécutors..or. adini-
nistrators, 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

page_text: 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 Caswell Watson, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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;
that is to say:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in an improvement in the method of con-
structing and operating the hook which takes up the loops formed beneath the
table in single-thread sewing machines; and, secondly, in an improved feed
motion. There has always been great uncertainty in the operation of that part
of a single-thread sewing machine which is to take off the loop and retain it
until the needle shall have passed through in the succeeding stitch, and almost
all of the various plans, such as hooks, loopers, &c., proposed, have been
designed to remedy that uncertainty. This is also the principal object sought
to be accomplished by this part of my Invention, which is designed to make
the workings of the loop-forming part as positive as the operations of the
needle itself. The difficulty grows out of the fact that the thread must be
Feleased and taken up at each and every stitch. Now, as the time allowed is
very short, and the space to work in is also extremely limited, the slightest
irregularity is sufficient to cause the hook looper, or whatever device may be
employed, either to miss the thread altogether, or else to cause the needle to
pass by without going through, and thus in either case the stitch will not be
formed; in fact, the needle more commonly misses to pass through the loop
than the hook or looper fails of taking hold of the thread, because even after
the hook or looper gets hold of the thread it is commonly held in such a bad
position that the point of the needle is as likely to pass outside as to go through.
My improvement possesses peculiar advantages in this respect, for it seizes
the thread while in contact with the side of the needle, draws it away, and
opens it into a wide loop directly in the path of the needle at its next stroke!
In performing this the hook takes three different positions. In the first
position, it is at the side of the needle, with its point just back of the thread;
in the second, it has moved horizontally, thus taking hold of the thread and
pulling it off to one side; in the third, the hook turns one quarter round;
thereby twisting the loop from a vertical to a horizontal position, forming a
comparatively large opening directly in the path of the needle, thereby insuring
its entrance in the most certain-manner, all which will be made apparent by
the following description of its construction and operation:-
The book is shown at (a) attached to or formed at the end of a round

page_text: shank or spindle (b); it is flat and broad when viewed in front, and thin
when viewed at the edge, or as shown in Figs. III. and IV. It is carried
in a sheath or long bearing (c), fixed to the end of a lever situated beneath
the bed of the machine at A. As the shank (b) stands at right angles to
the lever A it points in a line tangent to the arc of vibration of the former,
and this is an important feature in the movement of this part of the machine,
for it effects the transfer of the point of the hook from the side of the needle
to another point, which will be in a line with the path of the needle, or in
the two positions shown in Figs. 111. and IV., wherein Fig. III. shows the
first-named position and Fig. IV. the second. While the hook is being
moved in manner above described it is also turned on its. shank as an axis
one-quarter of a revolution. By this means the thread at the side of the
neelle is taken up by the hook, then drawn off laterally to the position in
Fig. IV.; here, as will next be described, the hook is turned and spreads the
Joop open, so that it completely embraces the line passed over by the needle,
whereby the latter must necessarily enter the loop. Through the side of
the sheath (c) a spiral slot (c¹) is cut, in which plays a pin (61), projecting
from the shank (6). The lever A first commences its movement from the
stop A', Fig. III.; in the direction of the arrow, shown upon it, carrying the
hook with its thread to the other side of the needle, but without changing
the position in which the thread is held until the further motion of the hook
is arrested by the end of its shank striking against a stop (d), as in Fig. IV.
The lever A does not rest yet, but continuing on causes the sheath (c) now
to slide over the shank, in doing which the pin (61) is made to traverse in
the spiral slot before named, whereby the hook is turned round, and the loop,
formed by drawing off the sewing thread, is spread open, in the manner before
mentioned, the several parts being then in the positions shown in Fig. IV.,
the loop being seen at (e). Before the needle retreats the hook must become
disengaged from the loop, and for this purpose the hook first turns round on
its shank, which turning is accomplished by the force of a spiral spring, shown
nt (c), which has been compressed by the sliding along of the sheath in the
previous movement. As the lever returns, therefore, the spring (c") keeps
the shank against the stop, and the sheath consequently slides along in the
first place toward the hook, the pin (6) returning in the spiral slot and
causing the hook to rotate; at this point the forward edge of the sheath has
arrived at a stop (a¹) upon the shank, near where the hook commences,
when the whole moves together back to the first position, Fig. III. The
lever A is made to vibrate in the proper time and manner by means of an
ordinary cam B upon the main shaft. In order still further to increase the

page_text: cort inty of action, the point of the needle is braced when beneath the table,
so as to stop all vibration, and to diminish the risk of breakage by the lateral
pull of the hook upon the thread in case the latter should be stopped by a
knot from travelling. The brace consists of a piece of metal having a narrow
groove cut on its face; this is secured beneath the table just on one side
of the hole where the needle comes through, and so that the groove will be
inclined, so as to tend across the path of the needle. This piece is seen at (i).
As the needle descends when part of the way through, the point strikes
angularly against the groove in the brace plate, and as it continues to descend
it is sprung slightly to one side by following the course of said groove, as
seen in Fig. I. This pressure is of course slight, just enough to attain the
object of having the needle held in the groove and sustained by its sides
against the lateral pull of the hook, and also to steady it, so that it will not
get into-vibration by reason of its rapid motion through the cloth, which is
one frequent cause of the hook or looper missing the thread in the old
machines, particularly when using a fine needle. The degree of angularity
of the brace plate to the path of the needle may be regulated as desired by
a set screw at the back.
The feed motion consists of an arm, having a peculiarly constructed finger.
attached at its lower end, and placed in such position that the vibration of
the former will cause the latter to take hold of and move or feed the cloth
along under the needle. At (0), Figs. I. and II., is the arm, attached at
its top end to a rock shaft (p), lying horizontally, and secured to the bracket
holding the needle stock. At the end of this shaft, opposite to that to which
(o) is attached, is another arm (o¹), in the lower end of which is a screw
stud (pl), Figs. I. and II., the point of which rests against a cam (2), Fig. I.,
upon the main shaft. The point of this stud is kept up to the surface of the
cam by a spring (1), whereby the arm (o¹) is made to vibrate, according to
the figure of the cam's surface. The finger which takes hold of the cloth is
a lever, having its axis or fulcrum in the end of the arm (0), as seen at (s);
its lower end is bent nearly at right angles, and so that its flat
upon the table directly under the path of the needle, as at (t).
passes in a slot cut longitudinally through the part (t), and the under surface
of this part is notched, in a manner common to the feed parts of sewing
machines. The pad is made to bear upon the cloth by means of a spring (k),
Fig. II., which presses against the tail (k). The finger in operating pulls
the cloth along instead of pushing, as is common to most plans where a
finger is employed. In starting, the arm is inclined toward the needle, and
in giving the feed it moves in the direction of the arrow in Fig. V., the
side presses
The needle

page_text: position of the parts when extended to take the feed being shown also in
that Figure by the dotted lines. In consequence of the angle at which the
arm (o) stands at the commencement of the feed, the point (t), descends
slightly toward the table in following the arc in which (0) vibrates, thus
slightly increasing the pressure upon the cloth as it moves along. When the
arm returns the finger for a new feed the needle is in the cloth, and thereby
keeps it in place. The length of stitch is regulated by the angle at which
the arm (o) stands at the commencement, which angle is given by the set of
the screw (p) As this stud is screwed outward, the arm (o) will move
toward the cam (r), and (o) will move toward the needle, and the fulcrum
(s) of the feed finger will be lifted upward by being carried along the are
which (o) describes, as clearly seen in Fig. V; thus the feed finger could be
eventually raised entirely from the table. As the throw of the cam (7)
constantly vibrates (o) to the same degree, it will be seen that the length of
stitch depends upon the angle at which (o) stands on commencing the feed,
since the pad is made to pass a greater or less distance, according to said
angle, and the cloth will be moved along more or less accordingly. This
angle is regulated by the screw stud (p¹) moving the arm (o'), and through
that the other arm (6), toward or from the surface of the cam. The finger,
however, never leaves the cloth, the arm not being in any position of the
regulating screw allowed to rise high enough for that, hence it acts also as
á pressure pad.
The other parts of the machine can be understood by inspection of the
Drawings without a more particular description, being common to sewing
machines, and well known. The operation will be as follows:-The needle
being supplied with thread, turn the crank until its point is raised to its greatest
height, press upon (k) with the finger, this raises the pad from the table,
and the cloth may then be put under in the proper place for being sewed;
continuing the motion of the crank, the needle descends through the cloth
and commences to rise, puffing out thereby the thread which lies along the
inner side of the needle; the book (a) is that moment in the position shown
in Fig. III., the cam B strikes the tail of the lever connected with A, and
it begins to move in the direction shown by the arrow; the hook catches
the thread and draws the loop off to one side, then turning round it spreads
the loop, as
shown in Fig. IV., in the manner already described. As the
needle descended it struck in the groove of the brace plate (i) placed on the
opposite side of the hook, where it is well braced by the side of said groove,'
as well as steadied against the lateral pull of the hook. At this moment
also the feed finger returns to be ready for a new grip upon the cloth, and

page_text: as it pushes along against the frictional pressure of the spring () the cloth
is kept from going with it by the needle holding it in place, the brace plate
also serving to steady it against this action as well as against the pull of the
hook. The needle having risen above the cloth, the proper projection on the
cam (2) strikes the point of the stud (p'), thereby vibrating the arm (o) and
giving the feed, by bringing the pad (t) down upon the cloth and drawing it
along, in the manner already set forth. The needle now descends, passing
directly through the loop (e), Fig. IV., the hook (a) then returning to its
first position, Fig. III., to take off the next loop, and thus interlock or weave
the chain, in the manner well known.
What I claim is the revolving and reciprocating looping hook constructed
and operating substantially as described.
I also claim the inclined and grooved brace plate (i) so placed beneath
the cloth as to deflect the lower end of the needle to one side of its path,
whereby its vibrations are prevented, and it is secured from breakage by the
lateral pulls, as set forth.
I also claim, in connection with suitable means for actuating the feed,
the arrangement and construction thereof, consisting of the arm (o) and its
jointed spring finger pad () so placed and operated, that the variations of
feed and the pressure upon the cloth shall be effected by the degree of angular
set of the arm to the surface of the table, in combination with the spring
finger, as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Caswell Watson, have hereunto
set my band and affixed my seal, at New York, this Thirtieth day
WILLIAM CASWELL WATSON. (L.S.)
Taken and declared at Her Britannick
Majesty's Consulate at New York,
this Second day of February,
A.D. 1857, before me,
(L.S.)
JOSEPH FOWLER,
H. B. M. Acts Consul,
New York.