IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."-A communication
from abroad by Robert Halsted Morford and Anthony Denton Morford,
of New York.
Sealed the 15th September 1859, and dated the 25th April 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 25th April 1859.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," to
be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to the employment, for the purpose of driving
the needle of a sewing machine, of a rocker so applied in combination with
the needle bar or other needle carrier, and with a crank on the main shaft
of the machine as herein-after specified, whereby I am enabled to impart to
the needle, after carrying its protrusion as far as necessary through the cloth or
other material being sewed, the required movement to commence the formation

page_text: of the loop in its thread, and afterwards to allow the shuttle sufficient time to
pass through the loop before the loop is drawn tight.
The Invention relates, secondly, to a peculiar mode of working the shuttle
driver. After it has completed its advance to drive the shuttle through the
loop of the needle thread, and before its retreat to commence a new stitch, a
slight backward movement and then a return forward movement is given to
it, the backward movement being sufficient to remove the driver from contact
with the heel of the shuttle, so that the loop of the needle thread may pass
freely over the heel, and the return forward. movement being for the purpose
of tightening up the shuttle thread simultaneously with the tightening of the
needle thread to complete the stitch.
The Invention relates, thirdly, to the employment of two springs and a slide
for the purpose of producing a greater or less friction, and consequently a
greater or less tension upon the needle thread.
The Invention relates, fourthly, to the employment of an auxiliary adjustable
thread guide in combination with the above-mentioned rocker, and with the
stationary thread guides for the purposes of governing and adjusting the
amount of needle thread for each stitch.
The Invention relates, fifthly, to the dispensing with the use of a spring or
other means of producing a yielding pressure on the holding down or feeding
pad of a sewing machine, and the employment of a vertical sliding unyielding
pressure bar, and a jointed holding down and feeding pad constructed and
applied in combination with each other, and operated in such a manner that
they may be adapted for holding down and feeding material of any thickness.
The Invention relates, sixthly, to the mounting of the bobbin in a sewing
machine shuttle in bearing plates connected with a spring which operates to
draw the plates towards each other or towards the end of the bobbin, whereby
some important advantages are obtained over the modes of application
heretofore adopted.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 25th October 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," being a com-
munication from Robert Halsted Morford and Anthony Denton Morford,
of New York, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton, 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 Edward 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 of " Improvements in Sewing Machines" relates, firstly, to
the employment, for the purpose of driving the needle of a sewing machine,
of a rocker which is applied in combination with the needle bar or other
needle carrier, and with a crank on the main shaft of the machine, in such a
manner as to admit of imparting to the needle, after causing its protrusion as
far as necessary through the cloth or other material being sewed, the required
movement to commence the formation of the loop in its thread, and afterwards
to allow the shuttle sufficient time to pass through the loop before the loop is
drawn tight.
The Invention relates, secondly, to a peculiar mode of working the shuttle
driver after it has completed its advance to drive the shuttle through the loop
of the needle thread, and before its retreat to commence a new stitch, a
slight backward movement and then a return forward movement is given to
it, the backward movement being sufficient to remove the driver from contact
with the heel of the shuttle, so that the loop of the needle thread may pass

page_text: freely over the heel, and the return forward movement being for the purpose of
tightening up the shuttle thread simultaneously with the, tightening of the
needle thread to complete the stitch.
The Invention relates, thirdly, to the employment of two springs and a
slide, for the purpose of producing a greater or less friction, and consequently
a greater or less tension upon the needle thread.
The Invention relates, fourthly, to the employment of an auxiliary adjustable
thread guide, in combination with the above-mentioned rocker and with the
stationary thread guides as herein-after specified, for the purposes of governing
and adjusting the amount of needle thread for each stitch.
The Invention relates, fifthly, to an arrangement of parts whereby the use
of a spring or other means of producing a yielding pressure on the bolding-
down or feeding pad of a sewing machine may be dispensed with. This
object is effected by the employment of a vertical sliding unyielding pressure
bar and a jointed holding-down and feeding pad constructed and applied in
combination with each other, and operated in such a manner that they may be
adapted for holding down and feeding material of any thickness.
The Invention relates, sixthly, to a novel mode of mounting the bobbin
within a sewing machine shuttle, whereby some important advantages are
obtained over the modes of application heretofore adopted, as will be herein-
after fully explained.
In the accompanying Drawing, which forms part of this Specification, the
several features of the Invention are illustrated. Fig. 1 represents a side
elevation of a sewing machine, but exhibits the bed plate in section; Fig. 2
is a front elevation of the same, also exhibiting the bed plate in section;
Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the contrivance for producing friction on and
regulating the tension of the needle thread; Fig. 4 is a face view of the shuttle;
Fig. 5 is a horizontal section of the same; Fig. 6 is a top view of the bobbin
holder removed from the shuttle; Fig. 7 is a Diagram illustrative of the
needle motion. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in
the several Figures.
A represents the bed plate or table; and B, the upper frame of the machine;
C is the needle bar or slider carrying the needle n, and working above the
table A in suitable vertical guides in the frame B, in the well-known manner;
D is the shuttle working in a straight raceway E of the usual form, within or
under the table A. F is the main shaft of the machine furnished at one end
with the crank G, by the revolution of which the necessary movement of the
needle is produced. The main shaft F is at the other end furnished with the
crank H, whereby the necessary movement of the shuttle is produced; I is

page_text: the rocker, through which the crank G gives the necessary motion to the
needle; this rocker swings on a stationary pin a, situated above the needle,
and carries two pins b and c, the latter of which is connected by a rod J, with
the crank G, and the former of which is connected by a rod K and pin d with
the needle bar C. The said rocker and its connections are so arranged, that
in the movement of the rocker on the pin a, produced by the revolution of the
crank G, the pin c will pass a position in which the axes of the pins b, d,
and a, will all be in the same plane; but that the greater portion of the stroke
of the pin, say about four-fifths of it, should be made on one side of such
position, as shewn in the Diagram, Fig. 7, which represents the centre lines
of the rocker and the rod C in three positions, viz., in those they occupy. at
the ends of the stroke of the rocker shewn respectively in black and blue
color, and when the points a, b, c, are in line shewn in red.
The effect of this arrangement is as follows:-The needle is raised to its
highest position when the pin is in the position shewn in black in Fig. 7,
which is the position shewn in Fig. 1, and it is in its lowest position when the
pin 6 arrives at the position shown in red, and hence the whole stroke necessary
to carry through the cloth the quantity of needle thread to form the loop for
the shuttle to pass through must be completed during the movement from the
black to the red position, and the remainder of the stroke of the rocker which
takes the pin b to the blue position causes the needle to rise again a short
distance to commence the formation of the loop preparatory to the advance of
the shuttle, whose movement must of course be timed to make it operate
properly in combination with the needle. In the return stroke of the rocker,
the needle is caused to descend again, while the pin 6 is moving towards the
red position, and thus to facilitate the drawing of the thread through the cloth
by the shuttle, and allow the shuttle time to pass through the loop before the
needle commences its complete upward movement to draw up the thread and
complete the stitch, which movement is performed during the remaining
portion of the stroke of the rocker; the stitch being completed when the
rocker arrives in its highest position. It will be understood that the rocker I
effects, in combination with the crank, the movement commonly produced by
a cam, than which it not only works easier and less noisily, but also wears
better.
The movement of the shuttle is effected by the crank H, through the
agency of a rocker L, L', g, of similar character to that I, which operates
the needle. This rocker L consists of a rock shaft g, working in a stationary
box M, below the table A, and having an arm at each end; one arm L
carrying a pin or stud e, which is connected by a rod N with a pin f secured

page_text: in the shuttle driver P, and the other arm L', carrying a pin or stud f', which
is connected by a rod Q with the crank H. The rocker L and its connections
are so arranged that in the downward stroke of the arm L, the pin e will pass
a little way below a position in which its axis, and the axes of the shaft g and
pin fare all in the same plane, which position is the one shewn in Fig. 1;
and thence, after completing the forward movement of the shuttle driver, it
will drive it back a short distance, and enable it to pass out of contact with
the heel of the shuttle to permit the loop of the needle thread to slip freely
over the latter. As the upward stroke of the rocker commences, the shuttle
driver will return a short distance forward before commencing its retreat, and
by such forward movement will drive forward the shuttle, which, though not
having moved back quite so far as its driver after completing its advance, will
have been moved back a little way by the tension of its thread when relieved
of the pressure of the driver. This slight forward movement of the shuttle
being completed just as the upward movement of the needle is completed,
causes the shuttle thread to be drawn tight again at the same instant that the
needle thread is drawn tight, and hence the threads are drawn one against the
other, and their interlocking point is drawn into the middle of the fabric.
The above-described movement of the shuttle driver may be produced by other
means than the crank and rocker, but that mechanism is preferred for the
same reasons that the similar mechanism for driving the needle is preferred.
R is the spool which supplies the needle thread, and turns freely on a
fixed spindle h, secured to the frame B; S, i, i, j, is the contrivance for
producing a properly graduated friction, and thereby a properly regulated
tension on the thread; S is a frame secured firmly to the frame B, and
having attached firmly to it the ends of the two friction springs i, i, made
of two pieces of watch spring or of spring steel of similar character. The
ends of these springs are secured firmly together, but the springs are so
set that their elasticity tends to bow them apart; this tendency, however,
is more or less counteracted by their both being embraced within the slide j
which is fitted to slide along them, and to clamp them firmly together at the
part where it embraces them, and which can be shifted by means of a rod j',
which is firmly secured to the slide, and which passes through one side of
the frame. The thread k on its way from the spool R to the needle
passes between the springs i, i, as shewn in Figs. 1 and 3; and according as
the slide is adjusted nearer to or further from where the thread passes
through, the springs i, i, are caused to press more or less forcibly, and produce
more or less friction upon the thread; l, m, p, are thread guides between the
friction springs i, i, and the needle; is stationary on the frame B, and m is

page_text: attached to the lower part of the connecting rod K, which connects the rocker
I with the needle bar, but these two guides possess no novelty; p is also
attached to the rod K by a slotted plate p¹ and set screw q, in such a manner
as to be capable of adjustment higher or lower for the purpose of regulating
the supply of thread from the bobbin R for every stitch. The thread is drawn
from the spool by the guide p as the rocker arrives in the position represented
in Fig. 1, and indicated by the black outline in the Diagram, Fig. 7, and the
quantity will be greater as the guide is higher, and vice versa. T is the pad
by which the cloth or other material is held down upon the table during the
withdrawal of the needle and the drawing back of the loop, and during the
first part of the descent of the needle. This pad is made with a serrated face
to enable it to serve also for feeding the material and being attached rigidly to
an arm T', which is jointed by a pin y to the lower end of the feed lever U,
which works on a fixed fulcrum q' secured in the front of the frame B, and
which derives the necessary movement to th the material from a cam r
secured to the rocker I; t is a spring applied to the lever U to force it back
preparatory to the repetition of the action of the cam r; V is the vertical
sliding unyielding pressure bar, divided at or near the middle of its length
into two pieces, the upper one of which has a right-handed screw thread on
its lower end, and the lower one having a left-handed screw thread on its
upper end; and the said pieces being united by a double nut V¹ which fits to
the two screw threads, and which may be turned thereon to force the two
parts of the bar apart or draw them together, and thereby effect the elongation
or shortening of the bar, which is prevented from turning by being squared
above and below the screw threads, and fitted to square guides s, s, secured to
the frame B. The pressure bar has at or near its lower end a rectangular
projection or pin u which enters a slot u in the arm T¹ of the pad T, and the
bar has applied to its upper part a spring v, which exerts a tendency to raise
it and lift the pad from the material. The upper extremity of the pressure
bar is situated below the front end of a lever W, which works on a fixed
fulcrum pin w secured in the side of the frame B, and whose rear end is
situated above a cam X on the main shaft F. The cam X is so formed that
it causes the lever W to press upon and hold down the pressure bar, and keep
the pad T pressing upon the material during about three-fourths of every
revolution of the main shaft F, but leaves the pressure bar free from the
influence of the lever W, and allows the spring v to raise the pressure bar, and
thus lift the pad during the remaining fourth of the revolution. The cam X
is so set that the pad T is lifted only while the needle is descending into the
material. The cam r is so set that the feed movement of-the-pad T takes

page_text: place while the pad is pressed firmly upon the material, and that the cam X
leaves the pad free to be thrown back by the action of the spring t, while it is
lifted from the material by the action of the spring v. The length of feed is
regulated by a screwz, which screws through the upper end of the feed lever
U, and whose point, when the lever is free of the cam r, comes into contact
with the side of the frame B. The pad is adjusted to operate on different
thicknesses of material by lengthening or shortening the pressure bar V by the
.nut V, a thicker material requiring the bar to be shortened, and vice versa.
so caused to
The bobbin
The improved mode of applying the bobbin Y within the shuttle D is
illustrated in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. The bobbin is provided at its ends with
centres or journals 8, 8, turned out of the same piece of metal, or otherwise
made to constitute parts of it; and these centres or journals have bearings
provided for them in two plates 9, 9, which are made of a shape to fit easily
to the interior of the shell D, and connected by a steel spring 10, which tends
to draw them towards each other. The plates 9, 9, and their connecting
spring 10, constitute what is termed a bobbin holder, which is represented
detached from the shuttle in Fig. 6. The bobbin holder has no permanent
connection with the shuttle, but is capable of removal therefrom at pleasure.
The spring 10 is curved in its normal condition, but when the bobbin is
inserted between the plates 9, 9, it is strained and kept straight, or nearly so,
by the interposition of the bobbin between the plates, and thus tends to press
the two plates against the centres or heads of the bobbin, and is
make the plates produce the necessary friction upon the bobbin.
is placed in the bobbin holder before the latter is placed in the shuttle, and
when it is in the shuttle the holder is kept in place by the plate 9, next the
point of the shuttle entering behind a lip 11 (see Fig. 5) formed on the shell,
the plates 9, 9, then fitting easily between the ends of the cavity of the shell.
To explain fully the effect of this mode of applying the bobbin within the
shuttle, I will describe the disadvantages of the two best known methods of
applying the bobbin.
In the most common method, that is to say, the bobbin
having centres or conical journals, one of which works in a fixed bearing in
the head of the shuttle, and the other in a bearing which is fitted to the butt
of the shuttle with a spring behind it. The spring in the butt requires to be
very stiff in order to prevent the butt bearing from being forced back by the
inertia of the bobbin when the driver commences to act upon the butt to drive
the shuttle forward, and thus permitting the opposite centre to fly out of its
bearing. Now, there is a great objection to so stiff a spring, for the reason
that the thread running from the bobbin through an eye near the centre of
the length of the shell has so much greater tension produced upon it when

page_text: drawing from near the ends of the bobbin than when drawing from near the
middle of its length, and the stiffer the spring the more friction it produces,'
and the greater is this inequality of tension. In the other method, that is to
say, the bobbin laying loose in the shell when the needle thread is drawn up
tight to complete the stitch, which it is very suddenly; it by its action on that
portion of the shuttle thread within the stitch, frequently draws from the
shuttle bobbin more thread than is required for the next stitch, and the excess
of thread so drawn from the bobbin is drawn up through the material being
sewed, and a seam or line of stitching of uneven appearance is produced. The
friction produced by the improved bobbin holder is sufficient to prevent the
last-mentioned effect, but yet not enough to produce unnecessary tension in
any part of the operation. The tension is regulated by providing several holes
or eyes 12, 12, (dotted in Fig. 4,) in the upper side of the shell, and lacing
the thread through one, two, or more holes or eyes, as may be desired, but
this method of regulating the tension is not claimed, being well known.
Having now described this Invention of improvements in sewing machines,
which has been communicated to me by my foreign correspondents, and having
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim, as the Invention
secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid,-
First, the employment, for giving motion to the needle of a sewing machine,
of a rocker I, in combination with the needle bar C, or needle carrier, and
with a crank G on the main or other rotating shaft of the machine.
Second, giving to the shuttle driver, after it has completed its advance and
before its retreat to commence the next stitch, first, a slight backward move-
ment, and afterwards a return forward movement, for the purpose herein set
forth, whether the said movement be produced by a crank and rocker as
herein described, or by other equivalent mechanical means.
Third, the employment, for regulating the tension of the needle thread, of
two springs i, i, and a slide j, combined, applied, and operating substantially
as herein described.
Fourth, the employment, for the purpose of regulating the quantity of
thread that is supplied to the needle for each stitch, of an adjustable thread
guide p, applied in combination with the rocker I, and with a fixed thread
guide l.
Fifth, the employment, for holding down and feeding the cloth or other
material to be sewed, of a pad T, combined with a lever U or its equivalent,
and with a pressure bar V of variable length.
Sixth, applying the bobbin of a sewing machine shuttle in bearings in two

page_text: plates 9, 9, connected by a spring, which operates to draw the plates towards
each other and towards the ends of the bobbin, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON.
(L.S.)