IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEWING OR STITCHING
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Frederick Thomas, of Porchester
Terrace, Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEWING OR STITCHING."
Scaled the 14th June 1853, and dated the 27th April 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Frederick
Thomas at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 27th April 1858.
I, WILLIAM FREDERICK THOMAS, of Porchester Terrace, Bayswater,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR SEWING OR STITCHING" to be as follows:-
The improvements relate to that class of sewing or stitching machi-
nery where two threads are used, one of which is conducted by a needle,
the other by a shuttle or such like carrier, and where the two threads
-interloop together to obtain the required sewing or stitching.
And the improvements consist, first, in moving the work, after each
stitch, by an instrument acting on that surface of the fabric which the
needle enters, to facilitate which movement the face of the instru-
ment which acts upon the fabric is serrated or roughened. This
instrument also, or another acting therewith, acts to hold the work
during the insertion of the needle, and again during its withdrawal.

page_text: Secondly, to withdrawing the holding means from the fabric, whilst
the needle is therein to admit of any shifting thereof, and to facilitate
the varying the direction of the next stitch.
Thirdly, to the application of a wire lengthwise of the shuttle, over
or around which the thread carried thereby passes.
Fourthly, to the application of springs in the shuttle race, to
press on the thread from the shuttle and give tension thereto.
Fifthly, to applying a shifting centre of motion, (or a shifting
truck for the cam to act on,) to the lever actuating the needle carrier,
so as to vary the traverse of the needle.
Sixthly, to the general combination by which the working levers act
direct between the cams, and the working instruments or their carriers,
and in straight lines or nearly so.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said William Frederick Thomas in the Great Seal
Patent Office, on the 27th October 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM FREDERICK THOMAS, of Porchester Terrace, Bayswater, in
the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said William Frederick Thomas, Her
special licence that I, the said William Frederick Thomas, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Frederick Thomas, 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,

page_text: an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEWING OR STITCH-
ING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Frederick Thomas, 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 William Frederick Thomas, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):
The improvements relate to that class of sewing or stitching machi-
nery where two threads are used, one of which is conducted by a needle,
the other by a shuttle or other thread carrier, and where the two
threads interloop together to obtain the required sewing or stitching.
But that the nature of the various improvements, and the mode of
working them, may be fully understood, I will proceed to describe the
Drawing heroto annexed, in the various figures of which the same
letters are used to indicate like parts wherever they occur.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figures 1 and 2, show two side views; Figure 3, a plan; Figure 4,
a sectional eud view, and Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8, detail views of an
arrangement of apparatus, the parts of which are according to my
Invention.
a, a, is the framing of the machine; the dotted lines a', show the
outline of a table, upon which the work is placed during the operation
of sewing or stitching the parts of the same. 6, is the main axis
upon which are affixed the various cams for giving the different
motions. Upon this axis b, is affixed the fly wheel b³, to assist the
motion thereof; and there is a handle 6, by which rotary motion may
be given to the axis b, or such motion may be given from a steam
engine or other power, by a gut or band acting upon the pulley b³,
formed on or affixed to the fly wheel 6. c, is the needle for conducting

page_text: the thread through the fabric: it is affixed by a set screw c', to the
plate c², which is capable of moving up and down between the fixed
guides a², by means of the lever c³, one end of which is slotted to
receive the pin c', at the upper end of the plate c², whilst the other
end carries a pin c³, with a roller which works in the course formed
in the cam c. And in order to vary the length of motion of the
needle to the length of stitch being produced, I form the centre of
motion of the lever c³, upon a plate c, capable of being slided along
the lever c³, and set at any required position by means of the set
screws c³. Or a slight variation in the motion of the needle may be
obtained by sliding the pin c³, in the lever c, nearer to or farther from
the centre of motion of the lever c. And it is this capability of vary-
ing the length of motion of the needle c, by varying the position of the
centre of motion of the lever c³, or by varying the position of the truck
or roller at the end of the lever c³, which constitutes one peculiarity of
my Invention. d, is the shuttle or instrument for carrying the other
thread, which in the working of the apparatus is caused to be inter-
looped by the thread carried through the fabric by the needle c. The
shuttle d, is moved to and fro in its race by the projections e, from the
slide e', which has motion given to it to drive the shuttle through and
through the loop formed by the thread carried by the needle c, by
means of the came, which actuates, as shewn, the lever ; that lever e³,
being connected to the end of the slide e. f, f, are springs applied to
the shuttle-race to prevent the shuttle shaking about in its to and fro
motion; and it is such application of springs to the shuttle-race that
constitutes another part of my Invention. g, is the instrument by
which the work is held correctly in position during the insertion of the
needle c; and when that insertion has taken place, and whilst the needle
is in the fabric, the instrument g, rises off the fabric being sewn, and
moves towards the needle a distance equal to that required to bę
traversed for the formation of the next stitch, and again holds by
pressing on the fabric; the needle c, then rises through the fabric (the
thread therefrom having been interlooped by the shuttle thread), and
the instrument g, still pressing on the fabric being sewn, is caused to
slide on the table a', taking with it the fabric being sewn a distance

page_text: equal to the length of stitch required; and whilst that instrument, g.
still holds the work, the needle c, again enters the fabric. The under-
side of the instrument g, is roughened, to facilitate its sliding with it
the fabric or material being sewn.
.
The various movements to the instrument g, are effected in the
following manner: -The instrument g, is formed on or affixed to the
stem g, which traverses in the channel formed for that purpose in
the frame a, and in addition to the spring g*, (which tends constantly
to keep the instrument g, borne upon the work.) it is borne against
by the spring g A lifting movement is given to the instrument g,
by means of the lever g', which turns upon the pin g, and at its other
end is acted upon by the cam or tappet go, affixed on the axis b; and
the forward movement is given to the instrument g, to draw forward
the fabric for the next stitch by means of the lever g', which turns
upon the axis g, and at the other end carries a screw stud y', which
is acted upon by the side surface of the cam g, and the distance
to be traversed for the required stitch is regulated by the distance the
screw stud g, projects through the lever g'. Sometimes I form the
instrument g,. in two or more parts, as shown by Figure 5, where
the part g, is capable of sliding on the parts g, g'; the part g",
being constantly borne downwards by the spring g". The object of
thus forming the holding means in two or more parts, is to compensate
for any inequalities in the material being sewn; and it is the arranging
an instrument g, which, whilst it is the means of holding the fabric or
material during the insertion and withdrawal of the needle, is also the
means by which the step-by-step movement is given to the fabric or
material for the succession of stitches, by which I am enabled to
obtain great facility in turning to any desired pattern the fabric being
sewn, which constitutes another peculiarity of my Invention. I would,
however, state that although I prefer the arrangement of combined
moving and holding means, as described in respect to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4,
and 5, I do not confine myself thereto, and I sometimes form the com-
bined holding and moving instrument as shewn by the detached views,
Figure 6. In this case a roller g, (whose surface I prefer to be
roughened,) is the holding means, and this roller has formed on or

page_text: affixed to it the toothed wheel h, which is taken into by the spring
stop h', so as to hold the roller from turning round when the instru-
ment g, is moved in the direction to move the fabric for the formation
of a fresh stitch. The roller g, at such time acts, by the friction of its
surface, to take with it the fabric or other material being sewn; but
when the insertion of the needle c, has taken place as before explained,
and the instrument g, moves into position again to move the work
when the needle is withdrawn, the roller or rollers g, turn freely in
their bearings. When using the arrangement shown by Figure 6, the
surfaces which press on the fabric do not require to be raised therefrom,
but are simply pressed on by the spring y*; consequently, the only
movement required is that given by the lever g', to traverse the fabric
the length of the stitch; and the lever 9', and tappet actuating such
lever, are omitted. k, is a spring, which at its lower end supports a few
bristles to draw the thread out of the way of the needle, when the
needle is again entering the work.
Figure 7, shows one of the shuttles or thread carriers separately; and
another improvement consists in the application to such thread carriers,
used in connection with sewing or stitching machines, of a wire 1,
lengthwise thereof, around which the thread first passes from the bobbin
or spool, carried by the shuttle to the holes in the side of the shuttle as
shewn.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise details shown, so long as
the peculiar character of any part of the Invention be retained. But
what I do claim is,-
First, the means described for regulating the distance traversed by
the needle c.
Secondly, I claim the application of springs f, in the shuttle-race as
described.
Thirdly, I claim the so arranging and working the means for holding
the fabric whilst the insertion of the needle is effected, that the same
may also effect the requisite traverse of the fabric for the successive
stitches as described.

page_text: Fourthly, I claim the application to shuttles used in sewing or stitch-
ing machines of a wire l, as described.
And, fifthly, I claim the general combination of parts shewn and
described, by which the working levers act direct between the cams,
and the working instruments or their carriers, and in straight lines or
nearly so.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Frederick Thomas, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of
October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-three.
Witness, WILLIAM BROOKS,
Patent Agent,
73, Chancery Lane.
W. F. THOMAS. (L.S.)