Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Oct., 1886.
Complete Left, 4th July, 1887.
Complete Accepted, 30th Sept., 1887
I, FREDERIC CLIFT, of 12 Pancras Lane, in the City of London, L.L.D. Camb. do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in lock-stitch sewing machines, and more
especially to such machines when adapted to be operated by hand, but the said
improvements are also applicable to such machines when adapted to be operated by a
treadle and driving band or otherwise.
The said improvements consist as follows :-
The frame of the machine carries an upper and a lower shaft. On the front end
of the upper shaft is fixed an excentric, or cam, in one side of which is placed a steel
screw, or pin, which takes into a curved slot in the needle bar, and thereby imparts
the necessary up and down motions to the said needle bar when the upper shaft is
rotated.
The needle bar is hardened, and differs from the needle bars usually employed by
being very broad, and of a trapezoidal section. The needle is fastened to the needle
bar by a screw.
Upon the back end of the upper shaft is fixed an eccentric and fly-wheel. The
eccentric carries an eccentric rod, the lower end of which is connected to a crank arm
on the back end of the lower shaft, being connected to such crank arm by a pin or
bolt which is adjustable in a slot in the said crank arm. By these means, the revolu-
tion of the upper shaft communicates an oscillating motion to the lower shaft, and
thereby, through the intervention of a crank arm and pin on the front end of the lower
shaft, a similar motion to the shuttle holder which oscillates on a fulcrum pin or bolt
secured to the frame of the machine; the stroke of the shuttle holder, and therefore
the pull of the shuttle thread, being regulated by adjusting the pin or bolt in the
slot of the aforesaid crank arm.
The shuttle is held in the shuttle holder by a hook at the front end and by a plate

page_text: attached to the head of a rotating pin at the back end, and is released by turning
back the said pin and plate, which latter is pressed against the shuttle holder by a
spiral spring surrounding the said pin.
The shuttle holder is operated by a crank arm and pin on the front end of the
lower shaft, the said pin taking, for that purpose, into a curved slot in the shuttle
holder. The curvature of the said slot is so arranged that as the needle bar rises,
the upper thread, which has been passed round the shuttle, is released therefrom, and
when the needle bar is at its highest point and the shuttle holder is already going
back, the thread is pulled tight again so as to make a good stitch.
For feeding forward the material to be sewn, a carrier and presser foot is employed
which is pressed back against the back wall of the slot in the head of the machine in
which it works by means of a spring, whereby a certain movement and simple
arrangement of the said carrier and presser foot is obtained. The presser foot is
pressed towards the needle plate by a spring.
A spring on the front plate of the machine forms the usual thread tightener, while
the needle bar acts as a thread lever. The tension of the upper thread, which is
wound on an ordinary reel, is obtained by means of a screw nut, cones, and cloth
washers.
The winding of the shuttle thread on its spool is effected on an ordinary winding
apparatus provided for that purpose.
The machine may be secured on a wooden foot loaded with a metallic plate let into
the underside thereof.
If desired, the upper shaft may be provided with a toothed pinion gearing into a
wheel of larger diameter supported by a bracket or casing attached to the base of the
machine, and provided with a crank handle in the usual way. By this arrange-
ment two or three revolutions of the upper shaft may be obtained for one turn of the
hand.
D
Q 1
1000

page_text: I, FREDERIO CLIFT, of 12 Pancras Lane, in the City of London, LL.D. Camb. do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment, reference being had to the accompanying two sheets of Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
This invention relates to improvements in lock-stitch sewing machines, and more
especially to such machines when adapted to be operated by hand; but the said
improvements are also applicable to such machines when adapted to be operated by a
treadle and driving band or otherwise.
In the Drawings hereto annexed, Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section, of a
hand sewing machine constructed with these improvements applied thereto; Figure 2
is a front view of same with the front part of the cover plate of the needle bar
removed and the shuttle carrier and driver shown in its backward position; Figure 3
is a front view with the cover plate of the needle bar in position and the shuttle carrier
and driver shown in its forward position with the needle bar rising: Figure 4 is a
vertical section through the head of the machine; Figure 5 is a partial front view
showing the position of the shuttle carrier and driver when the loop of the upper
thread has just been drawn off the rear end of the shuttle by the upward movement of
the needle and Figure 6 is a side view of the head of the machine, with the cover
plate of the needle bar removed.
The said improvements consist as follows:-
The frame of the machine carries an upper shaft f and a lower shaft d. On the
front end of the upper shaft f is fixed an eccentric or cam fl in the front of which
is secured a steel screw or pin which takes into a curved slot or needle cam in
the needle bar and thereby imparts the necessary up and down motion to the said
needle bar when the upper shaft is rotated.
The needle bar is hardened, and differs from the needle bars usually employed by
being very broad and of a trapezoidal section, that is to say, of a section suitable for
working in a dovetail guide way as shown at Figure 2.
The needle is fastened to the needle bar by the head of a screw and is
specially finished with a flat end to prevent wrong setting.
On the back end of the upper shaft f is fixed an eccentric / and a fly-wheel '. The
eccentrich carries an eccentric strap and eccentric rod g the lower end of which rod

page_text: is connected to a crank arm d¹ on the back end of the lower shaft d by a pin or bolt i
which is adjustable in a slot in the said crank arm d. By these means the revolution
of the upper shaft of communicates an oscillating motion to the lower shaft d and
thereby through the intervention of a crank arm d and pin e on the front end of the
lower shaft d, a similar motion to the shuttle holder and driver n which oscillates on a
fulcrum pin or bolt c secured to the frame of the machine, the stroke of the shuttle
holder and driver n, and therefore the pull of the shuttle thread, being regulated by
adjusting the pin or bolt in the aforesaid crank arm d'.
The shuttle a is held in the shuttle holder and driver n by a hook 62 at the front end,
and by a plate m at the back end attached to the head of a milled-headed button or
pin o rotating in lugs b b formed on the shuttle holder. The shuttle a is released by
turning the plate m outwards by means of the pin o against the action of the spring p
which is fixed at one end to the shuttle holder and at the other end to the pino.
The shuttle holder and driver n is made in one piece of malleable cast iron except as
to the spring q for pressing the shuttle a against the face of the machine, which spring
is rivetted or screwed to the shuttle carrier, and as to the plate m which, as above
described, is carried by the pin o. The shuttle holder is operated by the crank arm ď²
and pin e on the front end of the lower shaft d, the said pine working for that purpose
in a curved slot in the shuttle holder and driver n. The curvature of the said
slot 6 is so arranged that as the needle bar rises, the upper thread, which has
been passed round the shuttle a is released therefrom, and when the needle bar 7 is at
its highest point and the shuttle holder and driver n is already going back the thread
is pulled tight again into the centre of the material sewn so as to make a good stitch.
For feeding forward the material to be sewn a carrier and presser foot r is employed
which is pressed back against the back wall of the slot in the head of the machine in
which it works by means of a spring whereby a certain movement and simple arrange-
ment of the said carrier and presser foot is obtained. The presser foot is pressed
downwards towards the needle plate and sidewise towards the cams s and f¹ by
which its upward and feeding movements are effected, by means of the spring u
(see Figures 2 and 6) arranged to act obliquely so as to press the said foot in
the two directions named in opposition to the action of the said cams.
A self acting spring k fixed to the front plate of the machine is released each time
the needle bar rises and falls by the inclined plane on the lower end of the needle
bar acting on the stud k² connected with the spring k this effects the necessary
tension or thread check and release of the top thread which is passed from the needle
through the hole in bottom of the needle bar and then passed between the arm k²
of the spring k and the front plate, through the hole in the arm k of the spring k,
through the hole in the top of the needle bar 7 through the hole in the top of
the head of the machine and between and around two discs w regulated by a spiral
spring and set screw in the usual way.
The winding of the shuttle thread on its spool is effected by any suitable winding
apparatus attached to the machine.
The machine may be secured on a wooden foot loaded with a metallic plate let into
the underside thereof, or on an ornamental iron base.
If desired the upper shaft may be provided with a toothed pinion gearing into a
wheel of larger diameter, which wheel may be an ordinary spur wheel or an inter-
nally geared wheel supported by a bracket or casing attached to the base of the
machine, and provided with a crank handle in the usual way.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
First. The broad, parallel sided needle bar constructed of trapezoidal section
adapted to slide in a dovetail guideway and having the curved slot or needle cam
formed therein by means of which motion is imparted to the said needle bar by the
pin in the needle cam on the upper shaft working therein as hereinbefore
described, and illustrated in the Drawings hereto annexed.

page_text: Second. The shuttle holder and driver n constructed of one piece of malleable cast
iron in combination with the heel plate m, the pin o, and the spring p, the said
shuttle holder and driver n being constructed with a curved slot having the crank
pine of the lower shaft working therein in order to produce the necessary forward
and backward movements of the shuttle, as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in
the Drawings hereto annexed.
Third. The feed bar in combination with a spring u so arranged as to draw the
said feed bar both sidewise and downwards as hereinbefore described.