IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alonzo Kimball, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES."
Sealed the 27th December 1864, and dated the 30th June 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alonzo Kimball at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th June 1864.
I, ALONZO KIMBALL, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention of improvements in sewing machines has for object to
simplify and render more efficient the feeding details of such machines as are
arranged to feed or move the material operated upon in different directions at
right angles to each other.
The feeding dog or roughened piece, which works in an opening so as to act
on the under side of the material, is fixed on the end of a long lever which is
fitted so that it can slide in a centre shoe arranged to swivel on a vertical pin
or joint, and when feeding in one direction this lever slides in its shoe, whilst
for feeding in the other direction it turns with the shoe through a small
angle. One revolving cam acts on the lever longitudinally and another side-
wise to produce the respective movements, whilst a third cam tilts the lever

page_text: vertically to cause the feed dog to rise and engage with the material at the
proper times, the lever oscillating on a horizontal pin fixed in the centre shoe
through an elongated slot in the lever. The present Invention relates more
particularly to the manner in which the feed lever is acted upon to cause it to
feed in the different directions, and for this purpose there is applied a small
plate lever or quadrant which is shifted into its different positions by an
external handle. A spring connects the outer point of the quadrant with the
feed lever, and this spring reacts against the feeding cam so as to return the
feed lever after each impulse of the cam. When the lever is moving longi-
tudinally the spring acts nearly in that direction, but when the quadrant is
shifted for the sidewise movement the spring acts across. A pin on the feed
lever projects into an opening in the quadrant, and this opening is made with
two sides or edges shaped to act suitably on the pin in the different positions
of the quadrant. In one position of the quadrant one edge acts on the pin so
as to prevent the sidewise movement of the lever, whilst in the other position
the other edge prevents the longitudinal movement. The positions of the
connections of the spring can be adjusted to give the least possible friction,
and so that the parts can work with the greatest freedom and certainty.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alonzo Kimball in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALONZO
KIMBALL, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Alonzo Kimball, Her special licence that I, the said Alonzo
Kimball, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alonzo Kimball, 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," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said

page_text: Alonzo Kimball, my executors or administrators, 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 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 Alonzo Kimball, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention of improvements in sewing machines has for its object
to simplify and render more efficient the feeding details of such machines as
are arranged to feed or move the material operated upon in different directions
at right angles to each other.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing the
same may be properly understood I hereunto append a Sheet of explanatory
Drawings, to be herein-after referred to, and representing a modification
embodying my improved arrangements, Figure 1 being a vertical section,
whilst Figure 2 is a horizontal section drawn as viewed from underneath.
It has been considered unnecessary to show all the minor details of the
sewing machine, but with what is shown it is believed the construction,
arrangement, and working of the improved parts, as also their relation to the
rest of the machine, will be easily apprehended. The machine, so far as it is
shown, is such as is made for shoe and sleeve work and general purposes, and
of a class well known in the trade.
The feeding dog or roughened piece 1, which, as is usual, works in an
opening 2 below the presser foot 3 so as to act on the under side of the
material that is being operated upon, is fixed on the end of a long lever 4, 5,
which is fitted so that it can slide in a centre shoe 6, arranged to swivel on a
vertical pin or joint, indicated by dotted lines 7, and when feeding in one
direction, namely, from right to left in the Drawing, or along the arm 8, this
lever 4, 5, slides in its shoe 6, whilst for feeding in the other direction, or
across the arm 8, it turns horizontally with the shoe 6 through a small angle.
The feeding movements are derived from cams on the lower end of the
revolving vertical shaft 9. One cam projection 10 acts on the squared end 5
of the lever so as to move it longitudinally, whilst another cam projection 11
acts sidewise on a part 12 of the lever formed with a radial surface to receive

page_text: that action when the transverse feeding movement is required. A third
cam 13 tilts the lever 4, 5, vertically to cause the feed dog 1 to rise and
engage with the material at the proper times, the lever oscillating on a hori-
zontal pin 14 fixed in the centre shoe 6 through a hole in the lever, which
hole is elongated to allow of the longitudinal movement of the lever.
My present Invention relates more particularly to the manner in which the
feed lever 4, 5, is acted upon to cause it to feed in whichever of the two
directions is required. For this purpose there is applied a small plate lever
or quadrant 15, which is centred in the top plate of the arm 8, and is shifted
into its different positions by an external handle 16. A spring 17-connects
the outer point of the quadrant 15 with the feed lever 4, 5, and this spring
reaots against the feeding cams 10, 11, and 18, so as to return the lever after
each impulse, both longitudinal or transverse and vertical. When the lever
4, 5, is moving longitudinally the spring 17 acts nearly in that direction, the
quadrant 15 being then in the position in which it is shown in full lines in
Figure 2; but when the quadrant 15 is shifted into the position indicated by
dotted lines the spring 17 acts across. A guide pin 18 on the feed lever 4, 5,
projects into an opening 19 in the quadrant 15, and this opening is made with
two sides or edges shaped to act suitably on the guide pin 18 in the different
positions of the quadrant. In one position of the quadrant one edge of the
opening 19 acts on the guide pin 18 so as to prevent the sidewise movement
of the lever 4, 5, whilst in the other position of the quadrant the other edge
of the opening 19 prevents the longitudinal movement. The positions of the
connections of the quadrant 15 and spring 17 are adjusted to give the least
possible friction, and so that the parts can work with the greatest freedom and
certainty. The length of the feed movement and the consequent size of stitch
is varied, as in other movements of this class, by regulating the distance that
the feed lever can move inwards towards the cams, these always moving the
lever outwards to the same point. In the example represented a pin 20 on
the feed lever 4, 5, when moving towards the cams, encounters a surface
inclined at an angle of about 45 degrees of the circle on the stitch adjuster 21,
and in consequence of this inclination of the surface it acts for both directions
of feeding, and is adjusted for both by moving it transversely by means of the
screw nut 22.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is or may be performed, I have to state that I do not restrict myself
to the precise form or disposition of the parts herein described or delineated;
but that what I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention

page_text: secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the
constructing of the feed works of sewing machines to act in two directions
with a single reacting spring and a single guide pin in connection with a
movable plate or quadrant, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alonzo Kimball, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
28, St. Enoch Square,
Glasgow.
A. KIMBALL. (L.S.)