AN IMPROVED MODE OF PRODUCING PLAIN AND ORNAMENTAL SEWING, AND IN MACHINERY APPLICABLE THERETO
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Lewis Jennings, of Fludyer Street, in the
City of Westminster, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED MODE OF PRODUCING PLAIN AND ORNAMENTAL SEWING,
AND IN MACHINERY APPLICABLE THERETO:
Sealed the 30th May 1854, and dated the 30th November 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Lewis Jennings
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 30th November 1853.
I, LEWIS JENNINGS, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF PRODUCING PLAIN AND ORNAMENTAL
SEWING, AND IN MACHINERY APPLICABLE THERETO," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is, firstly, to produce a novel kind of
tie stitch, or a stitch which will have a sufficiently independent cha-
racter to ensure the strength of any seam which it may be employed
to form, although the seam were purposely injured by severing the
thread in several places.
Secondly, the Invention is intended to effect an economy in the
manufacture of sewing machines.

page_text: To produce a seam on this new principle the needle pierces the cloth,
and passes through it to a given distance, and then retires, leaving
behind it a sufficient length of thread to form what may be called loop
No 1. To form this loop (which is a long one) a hook or finger takes
hold of and retains the thread. When the needle has risen clear of
the cloth, the cloth is traversed forward a given distance, and it then
descends to form the loop N° 2, which is a short one. As the needle
traverses upward the finger moves horizontally or in the line of the
seam, and passes loop N° 1 through N° 2 (which is then tightened), and
extends it beyond the spot where loop N° 3 is to be formed. The
needle now descends again, and makes a third passage into the cloth,
entering it at such a point (determined by the intermittent forward
motion of the cloth) as to leave a loop (N° 3) within the loop N° 1.
This loop N° 3 is formed by a hook or finger taking hold of it, as was
the case with No 1, and in like manner with that loop No 3 is carried
through No 4, and interlocked with N° 5, which is itself interlocked with
No 7, and so on through any length of seam a series of secure ties is
made, which will ensure a firm and enduring seam.
Instead of making long and short loops alternately, and an inter-
locking at every other loop, each loop may be similarly interlocked, if
desired, but an unnecessary expenditure of thread would thereby
ensue.
In order to feed up the cloth a grip motion is employed instead of a
ratchet wheel and click, the advantage being that the length of stitch
may be determined with great nicety. The needle is mounted on a
round bar, which by admitting of an axial motion when loose, will
afford an easy means of adjusting it in its frame; it is maintained in
any required position by a binding screw.
The traversing needle bar frame by coming in contact with a stud
projecting from the elastic thread presser will release the thread at the
proper time from the bite of the presser, and prevent it being cut by
of the needle. These mechanical arrangements are applicable
eye
to sewing machinery generally.
the

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Lewis Jennings in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 30th May 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
LEWIS JENNINGS, of Fludyer Street, in the City. of Westminster,
Mechanical Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Lewis Jennings, Her
special license that I, the said Lewis Jennings, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Lewis Jennings,
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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF PRODUCING PLAIN AND ORNAMENTAL SEWING,
AND IN MACHINERY APPLICABLE THERETO," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Lewis Jennings, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 Lewis Jennings, 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 Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):-
This Invention relates to the formation of a novel kind of tic stitch, or
a stitch which will have a sufficiently independent character to ensure

page_text: the strength of any seam which it may be employed to form, although
the seam were purposely injured by severing the thread in several
places. And this Invention is also intended to effect an economy in the
manufacture of sewing machines by simplifying their construction.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1, shews in longitudinal sectional
elevation my improved sewing machine; Fig. 2, is an end elevation,
partly in section, to shew the arrangement for feeding the cloth; Fig. 3,
is a partial plan view looking down from the top of the machine; and
Fig. 4, is a sectional plan view taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1. al, α,
is a cast iron hollow framing for supporting the various parts of the
mechanism. b, is a short cam shaft which receives rotary motion fromi
any first mover. Upon this shaft is a cam wheel c, which is provided
with a cam groove d, for the reception of the bowle of a rocking lever e,
and a face cam f, against which the bowle of a rocking lever g works,
for the purpose to be presently explained. The outer end of the lever
e, which has its fulcrum at e, is connected loosely by means of an
adjustable collar h, to a round bar h, which carries at its lower end the
needle i. This needle bar slides in guides made for it in the frame a,
and by that means is kept in a vertical position, while by being round,
it admits of the ready adjustment of the needle. Immediately below
the needle the framing a is cut away, and a guide plate is inserted
to permit of the descent of the icedle below the bed of the framing
when it pierces the cloth. Contiguous to this guide plate, is the feed
wheel k, which projects through the opening made in the bed of the
framing, and by reason of an intermittent axial motion which it re-
ceives, carries forward the fabric which is kept in contact with its
roughened periphery by means of the ordinary spring presser *. This
wheel k, is mounted loosely on an axle 1, bolted to the framing, and the
boss of the wheel serves as a fulcrum for a lever m, which is capable
of moving independently of the wheel. Connected to this lever is a
'rocking segnient piece n, which bears against the inner periphery of
the feed wheel. Beneath the end of the lever m, and kept in contact
therewith by the downward pressure of a spring m, is an arm of a
compound rocking lever o, the other arm of which bears against the
cam shaft b, at the part of its periphery which is recessed, as shewn at

page_text: Fig. 1, and therefore acts as a cam to rock the lever o; as long as the
larger radius of this cam is presented to the lever the feed wheel will
be stationary, but as soon as the smaller radius is presented (which will
take place when the needle is raised out of the fabric), the spring m*
will come into action and depress the lever m, which 'movement of the
lever m will cause the segment 'n to grip the feed wheel, and move it
round a portion of a revolution. The amount of motion permitted to
the lever m, will determine the amount of axial motion imparted to the
feed wheel, and consequently the length of stitch put into the work.
A screw stop n is therefore provided, by turning which to the right or
left the length of stitch required may be readily obtained. Jointed
loosely to the opposite end of the lever g, to that which carries the
friction bowle, is a slotted guide piece p, for carrying the finger q, and
regulating its movements. This finger is peculiarly shaped, as shewn
best in the plan view; Fig. 4, and is intended to catch up the loops as
they are formed by the depression of the needle into the fabric under
operation, and to interlace the loops, one within the other, in such a
manner as to form a firm and secure stitch. Into the slit of the guide
piece a fixed (adjustable) pin projects, and as the lever g is vibrated,
the finger is caused to oscillate on its fulcrum, and thereby bring the
loops in succession under the descending needle to effect the proper
interlocking of the stitches. The thread for forming the stitches is
carried by a bobbin r, at the top of the machine. In passing from this
bobbin it enters the eye of an adjustable guide s. The thread next
passes through a guide carried by the needle bar, and is brought down
in front of the machine to the eye of the needle. This guide s is made
adjustable, in order that the eye through which the thread passes may
be raised or lowered, according to the quality of work to be sewn.
Attached to the front part of this framing is a spring presser t, behind
which the thread passes on its way to the needle. From this presser
projects inwards a pin which bears against the carrier of the needle
bar, and by that carrier being chamfered at its lower part (as shewn by
dots in Fig. 1,) the presser t, as the needle bar rises, is permitted to
close upon the thread and hold it fast, but immediately before the needle
enters the fabric the presser will be thrust outward, and the thread will

page_text: be released. The tension of the thread is preserved by means of a
weighted lever u, pressing upon the under side of the bobbin.
I have shewn the machine as arranged for producing the novel kind
of stitch exhibited by the diagram Fig. 6, wherein each loop is similarly
interlocked, and thus a very secure seam is ensured. I may, however,
remark that this machine is also capable of producing the stitch shewn
by the diagram Fig. 7, as well as the common crochet stitch, by merely
substituting for the cam wheel c another cam wheel, which will effect
the change in the relative movements of the needle and loop finger
suitable for producing the required stitches. The operations of this
machine to form the stitch shewn at Fig. 6, are as follows:-Supposing
the fabric to be sewn to lie between the feed roller k and the presser k,
and the thread to have been passed through the eye of the needle i,
rotary motion is imparted to the shaft b, and by means of the cam d
the lever e is rocked into the position shewn at Fig. 1. The needle will
now have entered the fabric, and the next movement is to draw the
thread which the needle has brought down into a loop. This is effected
by the advance of the finger 7, which by taking up the thread upon its
point, prevents the needle on its ascent from drawing back the thread.
The advance of the finger q is effected by means of the face cam f
rocking the lever g on its fulcrum. In the diagram Figure 8, N° 1
shows the loop as formed on the finger and the needle depressed to form
a second loop; that is, in the position it will take when the part 1 of
the cam groove d is acting upon the bowle of the lever e. By the rota-
tion of the cam wheel c in the direction of the arrow, the part 2 of the
cam groove will come under the bowle of the lever e, at the moment
that the part 2 of the face cam f (see the diagram Fig. 9, which shews
this face cam laid out flat) acts upon the bowle of the lever, 9. and thus
the needle will be raised (to slack the thread), and the finger advanced
simultaneously to the position of N° 2, which represents the finger as
having thrust the first formed loop through the second loop, which is
now being made by the ascent of the needle. When the part 3 of the
cam groove has come round, the needle will have risen free of the work
as at No 3, and formed a loop on the shoulder of the finger, and simul-
taneously with that movement the cam shaft b, by presenting a recess

page_text: to the end of the lever o, will have permitted of the partial rotation of
the feed wheel k, and consequently of the advance of the fabric, the
thread having been at the same time slackened off to facilitate this
operation by the part 3 of the cam face f presenting itself to the
lever I. and permitting the finger to recede a short distance. The con-
tinued rotation of the cam c will bring the part 4 of the cam groove
into action, and the needle will descend as at No 4 to make another
stitch. The finger being still advanced (and held under the needle by
means of the fixed pin projecting through the outer end of the slot in
the guide piece p,) the needle will now pass through the loop on the
shoulder of the finger, and as the needle continues to descend, the
part 1 of the cam face f will be brought under the bowle of the lever 9,
and thereby the finger will be drawn back. The loop now caught by
the needle will be drawn off the point of the finger, and the loop
formed on the shoulder of the finger will be drawn forwards on to the
point, as shewn at N° 5. The continued depression of the needle
caused by the action of the part 1 of the can groove will carry the
thread through the loop on its shaft, and when the thread is slackened
by the partial rising of the needle, as before explained, the finger
advanced by the part 2 of the cam face f coming into action, will
carry the loop on its point through the loop formed by the slackened
thread; and by a repetition of these movements the row of stitches
shewn at Fig. 6 will be produced.
In order to produce the stitch shewn at Fig. 7, I substitute for the
cam ca cam constructed as shewn at Fig. 10. The face f of this cam
is shewn as laid out flat at Fig. 11. The diagrams Fig. 12 shew the
different movements of the needle and finger to form the stitch. As
these are very similar to those described with respect to Fig. 8, and as
the parts of the cams for effecting these several movements are num-
bered to correspond with the diagrams illustrating the movements, it
will be unnecessary to refer particularly to any other of the movements
than those marked Nas 5 and 6, which are peculiar to this stitch.
Referring to the description of the movement N° 5 of Fig. 8, instead
of the finger waiting for the descent of the needle to pass the thread
through the cast off' loop, the finger advances, as shown at N° 5, Fig. 12,

page_text: and tightens the loop which the needle has received on its shaft. This
is effected by the part 5 of the cam face f, Fig. 11, coining into action.
The finger then recedes by reason of the depression 6 in the cam face,
and drops the loop which it held, which loop is drawn up by the descent
of the needle, as shewn at No 6. Part 7 of the cam face now comes
into operation and drives the finger forward to catch up another loop,
as shewn at N° 7, and the movements described with reference to
Fig. 8, and numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, are then repeated.
Having now set forth the nature and object of my Invention of "An
Improved Mode of Producing Plain and Ornamental Sewing, and in
Machinery applicable thereto," I wish it to be understood that under
the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,―
First, the mode of forming tie stitches, as described with reference
to the diagrams Fig. 8, and the modification thereof shewn in the dia-
grams Fig. 12. And particularly I claim with reference to the modifi-
cation of stitch shown at Fig. 12, causing the finger to advance to the
position shewn at No 5, whereby the cast off loop (now lying on the
needle shaft) will be pulled up and tightened without depending upon
'the movement of the needle to effect that object.
Secondly, I claim the general arrangement of sewing machinery as
above described, for producing plain and ornamental sewing. And
particularly I claim the round needle bar with the needle set excentri-
cally to its axis for the purpose of facilitating the adjustment of the
needle. I also claim the grip motion for actuating the feed roller, as
explained. And I likewise claim the arrangement of spring presser
for holding the thread at tension and preventing it from becoming
entangled while the needle, is descending.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lewis Jennings, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
L. JENNINGS. (LS.)