IMPROVED MECHANISM FOR OPERATING THE WORKING PARTS OF SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MECHANISM FOR OPERATING THE
WORKING PARTS OF SEWING MACHINES."-A communication from abroad
by Elias Howe, junior, of New York, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 28th July 1865, and dated the 9th February 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th February 1865.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MECHANISM FOR OPERATING THE
WORKING PARTS OF SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
'This Invention relates to certain novel arrangements of mechanism for
working the actuating parts of sewing machines. I will first describe an
arrangement whereby the mechanism for transmitting motion to the needle
and shuttle is simplified and a silent motion obtained. Underneath the front
end of the bed of the machine is carried in bracket bearings a transverse shaft

page_text: to which a driving pulley is keyed. To this pulley is jointed (by a stud pin)
a rocking slide, the rear end of which has a curved slot by which it is
suspended on a block piece carried by a stud pin projecting from a pendent
bracket below the bed of the machine. To a projection formed on this rocking
slide at right angles to its length is jointed a connecting rod (lying in a
horizontal position) by which a reciprocating motion is imparted to the
ordinary shuttle driver and shuttle. This projecting lug of the rock slide has
a link connection with a rock lever pivotted on the bracket arm of the
machine. At its opposite end this rock lever is also connected to the vertical
needle bar by a link. By the rotation of the, driving pulley and crank pin
thereon the rocking slide will be made to slide over the block piece (which
is free to rock on its supporting pin), and by its connection with it the shuttle
driver and needle bar it will operate the needle and shuttle, timing their
movements accurately to the requirements of the sewing operation.
I will now describe the improved means for obtaining the feed in sewing
machines. When the rotary or the wheel feed is employed, the following
means is adopted for regulating the length of stitch. The cam which gives
motion to the reciprocating clamps or other drivers of the ring or wheel
carrying the roughened or feed surface is mounted on the end of a driving
shaft carried in bracket bearings from the bed of the machine, and made
adjustable laterally thereon. It is made secure on 'the shaft by means of a
feather and groove attachment. The projection on this cam is made tapering
in the direction of its length, and any portion of that length can be brought
to act upon the end of a lever which transmits motion to the clamp or other
driver used to operate the rotary feed. By the shifting, therefore, of the cam
endwise, any desired extent of intermittent motion may be imparted to the
feed surface. The endway. adjustment of the cam on its shaft is obtained by
a milled headed screw screwed into the end of the driving shaft. In a
shoulder at its outer end a circular groove is cut to receive a pin from the
cam. The lowest part of the conical projection giving the least movement to
the operating lever represents the shortest stitch obtainable, and as the cam is
slidden to or fro on its shaft any desired amount of motion is obtained. The
lever end having always à constaut bearing on the cam, the clicking and
hammering common to this description of feed mechanism is avoided. The
operating lever is preferably fitted at its end with a bearing point capable of
a slight turning action, in order that it may conform to the varying positions
of the conical cam. An obvious modification inay be arranged by having the
end of the shaft threaded and a milled headed nut thereon having a circular
groove cut upon it into which lugs from the cam may project.

page_text: In order to obtain a reciprocating feed a slotted plate is provided, placed in
a nearly vertical position beneath the bed of the machine and terminating at
its upper end in a curved head which plays through a slot in the throat plate
as usual, and carries a roughened surface for taking hold of the cloth. The
lower end of this feed bar terminates in a ring which embraces an excentric
mounted on a rotating shaft set at right angles to the line of feed. An oblique
longitudinal slot is cut in the feed bar to receive a sliding block which is
carried by a stud axle from a lever hinged to the underside of the table. The
feed bar is free to slide up and down and to oscillate on this block as a
fulcrum. The length of the feed bar is such that during about half a revolu-
tion of the excentric the roughened feed surface is above the level of the
throat plate on which the material to be sewn lies. The hinged lever carrying
the sliding block or fulcrum has a slotted end, through which passes a screwed
rod pendent from the table, having upon it milled headed screw nuts, by which
the position of the hinged lever carrying the sliding block can be readily
adjusted. The obliquity of the slot in the feed bar is such, that the tendency
of the excentric to rock the feed bar is counteracted by the opposite inclination
of the slot, and the feed bar is caused by the rotation of the excentric to rise
practically perpendicular to take a firm hold of the material to be sewn when
this action becomes subsidiary to the oscillating movement given to the feed bar
by rotation of the excentric through the upper quarter of its revolution. The
inclination of the slot causing the forward movement of the feeding surface to
be greater than that which would result from the action of the excentric alone.
The completion of the revolution of the excentric will. withdraw the feed-bar
clear of the cloth and rock the feed bar back to its normal position from
which it will again rise to take a fresh hold of the material to be moved.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 9th August 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eighthundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,

page_text: did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "In-
PROVED MECHANISM FOR OPERATING THE WORKING PARTS OF SEWING MACHINES,"
being a communication to me from abroad, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instru:aent 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to certain novel arrangements of mechanism for
working the actuating parts of sewing machines. The first improvement
consists in an arrangement whereby the mechanism for transmitting motion to
the needle and shuttle is simplified and a silent motion obtained.
In Sheets 1. and II. of the accompanying Drawings the mechanism for
working the needle and shuttle is shewn inside elevation in several positions ;
Fig. 1, Sheet I., shews the shuttle about to commence its back traverse, and
the needle descending to pierce the cloth to be sewn; Fig. 2 shows the
shuttle receding and the needle passing to its lowest position; Fig.3,Sheet II.,
shows the shuttle arrived at the end of its back traverse and ready to
advance to enter the loop which the needle has just formed, by making a
slight upward movement; Fig. 4 shews the needle depressed to its lowest
position for the purpose of carrying down for the extension of the loop which
the shuttle has now entered to deposit its locking thread therein. These
movements of the needle and shuttle are contemporaneous, as they both
derive their motions from the same rocking slide arrangement, the con-
struction and operation of which I will now explain.
Underneath the front end of the bed A of the machine is a transverse

page_text: shaft B mounted in bracket bearings; to this shaft a driving pulley C is
keyed, having on its face a crank pin, to which a rocking slide D is attached.
This slide has at its rear end a curved slot by which it is suspended on a block
piece E, carried by a stud pin projecting from a pendent bracket F below the
bed of the machine, and which block piece serves as a fulcrum for the rocking
slide. This slide D has a lateral projection D at right angles to its length,
which carries a stud, and by means of this stud it is connected to a rod G
which is jointed at its other end to the shuttle driver H. The stud on the
projection D' also receives the eye of a coupling rod I, which connects with
the rocking slide a rock lever K pivotted on the bracket arm of the machine.
At its opposite end this rock lever K is also connected to the vertical needle
bar L by a short link M. By the rotation of the driving pulley C and crank
pin thereon the rocking slide will be made to slide over the block piece
(which is free to rock on its supporting pin), and by its connection with it the
shuttle driver and needle bar will operate the needle and shuttle, as above
described, and timing their movements accurately to the requirements of the
sewing operation.
The second head of the Invention relates to improved means for obtaining
the feed in sewing machines.
The first improvement relates to the mode of regulating the length of
stitch where the rotary or the wheel feed is employed. This improvement is
shewn in several Figures in Sheet III. of the Drawings. Fig. 5 is a side
view of the rotary feed with the improvement applied thereto, and Fig. 6 is an
edge view of the same. It consists of a peculiar form of cam which gives
motion to the reciprocating clamps or other drivers of the ring or wheel
carrying the roughened or feed surface. This cam is shewn at A, it is
mounted on the end of a driving shaft B, as shewn best in the detached
sectional view Fig. 7. The shaft B is carried in bracket bearings C from the
bed of the machine, and it is provided with a feather to receive the cam A,
and allow it to slide upon the shaft. Fig. 8 shews the cam detached and in
end view. The projection on its periphery is made tapering in the direction
of its length, and any portion of that length can be brought to act upon the
end of a lever D, which is pendent from the stud axle of the feeding wheel E,
and is intended to transmit motion to the clamp or other driver used to
operate the rotary feed. In the Drawing a clip F is shewn which grips the
feed ring G, and causes it to turn on its wheel when that clip is rocked. The
clip carries a tail piece which is acted upon by the rocking lever D, and it is
returned to its normal position by a tension spring H. It being understood

page_text: that the feed ring receives an axial motion from the rocking of the clip which
is set in motion from the pendent lever D; it will be seen that by shifting the
cam endwise on its shaft any desired extent of intermittent motion may be
imparted to the feed surface. The endway adjustment of the cam on its shaft
is obtained by a milled headed screw I screwed into the end of the driving
shaft B. In a shoulder at its outer end a circular groove b is cut to receive a
pin d from the cam. The lowest part of the conical projection giving the least
movement to the operating lever represents the shortest stitch obtainable, and
as the cam is slidden to or fro on its shaft any desired amount of motion may
be given to the lever to ensure the required length of stitch. The end of this
lever D having a constant bearing on the cam the clicking and hammering
sound common to this description of feed mechanism is avoided. It will be
found preferable to fit it at its end with a bearing point capable of a slight
turning action, in order that it may conform to the varying positions of the
tapering cam. This arrangement is shewn best at Fig. 9, where the bearing
point dis shewn detached from its lever D, but capable of being fitted thereto
by means of a socket pin.
An obvious modification of the above described mode of adjusting the taper
cam on its driving shaft is shewn at Fig. 10. In this arrangement the end of
.the shaft B. is threaded and a milled headed nut I is tapped to fit thereon.
On this nut a circular groove is cut, into which lugs from the cam may
project, and thereby ensure the endway traverse of the cam as the nut is
turned.
The second improvement under this head of the Invention relates to a
novel arrangement of reciprocating feed. This is shewn in side elevation at
Fig. 11, Sheet III., and in vertical sectional elevation at Fig. 12. A is a
slotted bar placed ina nearly vertical position beneath the bed of the machine,
and terminating at its upper end in a curved head which plays through a slot
in the throat plate as usual, and carries a roughened surface for taking hold of
the cloth. The lower end of this feed bar terminates in a ring which embraces
an excentric B mounted on a rotating shaft Cset at right angles to the line of
feed. A straight longitudinal slot is cut in the feed bar to receive a swivel
sliding block D, which is carried by a stud axle from a lever E hinged to the
under side of the table. The direction of this slot is such that a line drawn
through its centre would cross at an acute angle a line drawn longitudinally
through the centre of the feed bar. The feed bar by reason of its being
mounted on an excentric is free to slide up and down, and to oscillate on this
block as a fulcrum. The length of the feed bar is such that during about half

page_text: a revolution of the excentric the roughened feed surface is above the level of
the throat plate on which the material to be sewn lies, and it thus presses
upon the under side of the cloth which is held down by means of the ordinary
presser foot. The hinged lever E carrying the sliding block or fulcrum ]) has
a slotted end, through which passes a screwed rod F pendent from the table.
Fitted to this screwed rod are two milled headed screw nuts G, by which the
position of the hinged lever E carrying the sliding block can be readily adjusted.
By screwing these nuts up or down on the rod the fulcrum stud can be
moved further from or nearer to the excentric, and the relative lengths of the
parts of the feed bar above and below the fulcrum will be thereby changed,
consequently the head which forms the feeding surface will by reason of this
adjustment be moved less or more, as desired, in the direction the cloth is to
be fed without any change in the movement of the excentric. The obliquity
of the slot in the feed bar is such that the tendency of the excentric to rock
the feed bur is counteracted by the opposite inclination of the slot, and the
feed bar is caused by the rotation of the excentric to rise practically perpen-
dicularly to take a firm hold of the material to be sewn; when this action
becomes subsidiary to the oscillating movement given to the feed bar by
rotation of the excentric through the upper quarter of its revolution, the
inclination of the slot causing the forward movement of the feeding surface to
be greater than that which would result from the action of the excentricalone.
The completion of the revolution of the excentric will withdraw the feed bar
clear of the cloth, and rock the feed bar back to its normal position, from
which it will again rise to take a fresh hold of the material to be moved forward
under the action of the vertical needle. I may here remark that it is not
essential to the carrying out of this improvement that the oblique slot in the
feed bar shall be used, for a similar result may be obtained if the portion of
the feed bar between its head and the excentric be a plain bar, and this part
be arranged to slide in an oblique slot made in a head formed on the fulorum.
pin, or fitted to rock upon it. In this case the straight portion of the feed
bar must be inclined in the same manner as the oblique slot to produce the
same antagonistic effect to the operation of the excentric.
Having set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improved Mechanism for
Working the Operating Parts of Sewing Machines," as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent I claim,-
First, the arrangement above described for working the needle and shuttle.

page_text: Secondly, the means above described for regulating the motion of a rotary
r wheel feed to suit the length of stitch required.
And, lastly, the arrangement of reciprocating feed above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Ninth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON (L.B.)