IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Keats and George Edward Keats, both of
Leek, in the County of Stafford, Boot Makers, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY."
Sealed the 3rd January 1862, and dated the 9th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Keats and George
Edward Keats at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with. their
Petition, on the 9th July 1861.
We, JOHN KEATS and GEORGE EDWARD KEATS, both of Leek, in the County
of Stafford, Boot Makers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
Our invention of improvements in sewing machinery relates to that class of
sewing machinery known as the shuttle machine.
In our improved machine the shuttle is attached to a carrier, and is moved
to and fro by causing this carrier to be actuated by a rod connected to an
excentric or crank pin on the lower end of a vertical shaft, which is driven by
Other mechanical con-
suitable gearing connected with the prime mover.
The motion of the
trivances may be employed for actuating the carrier.
vertical needle is effected by means of an excentric or cam on a horizontal
shaft, which is driven by the prime mover. The feed motion for propelling
the fabric under the needle as the sewing operation proceeds, is effected by an
excentric or cam, working in an open bridle piece attached to or forming part
of the propeller arm or lever. By the rotation of this cam or excentric in the

page_text: open bridle piece, a vibrating motion is communicated to the propeller arm,
which works on a pin that passes through a vertical slot in the arm, so as to
allow the arm to rise slightly in a vertical direction. The propeller foot is
jointed to the arm or lever, so that it may always take a fair bearing on the
fabric. The extent or length of feed is regulated by an adjusting screw,
which passes through the bridle piece, and bears against the working edge of
the actuating cam or excentric. In order to cause the propeller of the feed
motion to pass over an uneven surface, such as over a seam, an additional
cam is made to act on a bar placed at the back of the propeller arm, and this
cam by acting on the bar will lift the whole of the feeding apparatus over the
uneven surface. A transverse motion may also be communicated to the
feeding apparatus by means of a vibrating lever, which turns or works on a
centre or stud fixed in the needle box. The upper end of this lever is inserted
into a groove opposite to a face cam on the driving shaft and in rear of the
other cams of the regular feed motion. The lower end of this lever acts
against the lower part of the feeding arm, which is jointed transversely to the
upper part of the feeding arm, and when a vibrating motion is communicated
to the additional lever above mentioned, it will act on the lower part of the
feeding arm, and cause it to vibrate in a direction at right angles to the former
feed.
When this transverse motion is not required, the vibrating lever is
forced back away from its cam by means of a set screw. It will of course be
understood that when one feed motion is in use the other must be put out
of gear.
In sewing machines which are used for working with fabrics of different
kinds, it is important that the attendant should be enabled to alter or modify
the tension on the thread with facility. This is effected by means of a coiled
spring, which is made to envelope or surround a barrel, on which it may be
tightened or loosened, as may be required, by means of a screw nut, which
will depress or tighten one end of the spring, and cause the other end
to act more strongly on the thread lever, according to the tension required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Keats and George Edward Keats in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 9th January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME. we, JOHN
KEATS and GEORGE EDWARD KEATS, both of Leek, in the County of Stafford, a
Boot Makers, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
John Keats and George Edward Keats, Her special license that we, the
said John Keats and George Edward Keats, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Keats and George
Edward Keats. our 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 "IMPROVE
MENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY," upon the conditions (amongst others) that we
the said John Keats and George Edward Keats, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 John Keats, on behalf of myself and
of the said George Edward Keats, do hereby declare the nature of our
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 Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters
and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
The object of this Invention is to simplify the construction of sewing
machines, and enable them to produce a greater range of work than has here-
tofore been achieved by one machine.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 shews our improved machine in side
elevation; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same: Fig. 3 is an end elevation; and
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional elevation taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 3.
A, A, is the bed of the machine, carrying at its under side the arrangements
for working the shuttle. Standing up from the bed A is a hollow pillar B,
the upper end of which is made spherical to receive gearing by which motive
Projecting from the
power is conveyed from the main shaft to the shuttle.
hollow spherical termination of the pillar B, and at right angles to its shaft, is
a hollow bracket arm C. which for convenience we cast in one with the pillar.
This bracket arm C carries at its outer end the guide box in which the needle
bar and feeder stem work. D is the main driving shaft, mounted horizontally

page_text: in bearings in the bracket arm C, and spherical termination of the pillar B; it
is provided both with a belt pulley and a hand wheel for communicating rotary
motion thereto. E is a vertical shaft having its bearings in the pillar B and
in the bed A of the machine.
to this end there is keyed to its lower end a crank plate a, the crank pin of
which is attached to a rod b. jointed to a slide c. which runs in a race formed
for it below the bed A of the machine, and receives from the rod a recipro-
cating motion. Fitted to this slide is a shell carrier e', a dovetailed projection
on the back of which fits into a corresponding groove made to receive it in
the slide c (sce the sectional plan view. Fig 6). This carrier is intended to
receive the shuttle c. which lies closely therein, and by its own gravity has a
tendency to bear against the shuttle plate c. As. therefore, the slide c is
operated the face of the shuttle will bear against this plate, the nose of the
shuttle keeping so closely in contact therewith as to ensure its entering the
slack loop formed by the vertical needle below the work. Keyed to the upper
end of the shaft E is a bevil pinion e, which gears into a bevil pinion d on the
shaft D. The rotation, therefore, of the shafts D and E will be simultaneous,
and their speeds relative to each other. To permit of access to this bevil
gearing for the purpose of lubricating the same, a portion of the hollow sphere
which encloses it is made removeable, as shewn best in the sectional elevation,
Fig. 4. The outer end of the shaft D is fitted with a cam F, which works in
a bridle piece G, forming the main portion of the stem of the feeder or instru-
ment by which the fabric under operation is fed up to the vertical needle.
This bridle piece G is mounted in the guide box H. and is capable not only of
sliding up and down therein, but of receiving a lateral rocking motion. For
this purpose the upper of the two guides in which it works is made wider
than the breadth of the guiding piece which slides in it (see Fig. 3), and the
part of the bridle piece which slides in the lower guide is made with a bearing
point at its opposite edges, on which it is intended to rock. To the lower end
of the bridle piece G is rigidly secured an arm G', to which the feeding presser
foot is hinged. This presser foot is constructed in the ordinary manner, and
works over the hole formed in the bed A, for the vertical needle to strike into
in the act of piercing the fabric under operation. The vertical needle shewn
at i is attached as usual to a sliding bar I, which moves up and down in the
guide box H. A vertical groove is made in the shuttle plate c³, to allow of the
needle in its descent entering therein, and thereby presenting no obstruction
to the nose of the traversing shuttle. The needle is operated by means of a
bowle on the cam F, which bowle works in a curved slot cut in a plate I'
attached to the needle bar I. When, therefore, rotary motion is imparted to
This shaft is intended to drive the shuttle, and

page_text: the shaft D, the consequent rotation of the cam F will cause the bowl to give
an up-and-down motion to the needle bar, thereby causing the needle to enter
and withdraw from the work in the manner common to sewing machines. At
the same time the cam F, in its rotation, will operate upon the bridle piece G,
thereby causing it to rock, and through its connection with the presser foot g,
traverse forward the work the length of a stitch. To permit of a facile adjust-
ment of the length of the stitch the cam F is caused to operate upon an
adjusting screw g' (Fig. 3). which is tapped into the bridle piece. and projects
inwards so as to encounter the cam as it rotates within the bridle piece. The
raising of the foot g from the cloth preparatory to its returning to its backward
position to repeat the feeding action is effected by a cam f (on the boss of
the cam F) operating upon a cross bar attached to the bridle piece. This
cain, it will be understood. comes into action while the vertical needle is"
quiescent after having pierced the cloth, and while, therefore, the presser is not
required to hold the work down upon the bed A. At the time that the cam f
is raising the presser from the work the presser is rocked backwards by means
of the cam F, which, in its continued rotation, strikes upon a stud on the
opposite side of the bridle piece to that where the adjusting screw ' is situated
and rocks the bridle piece. The pressure of a spring K attached to the back
of the guide box, and bearing upon the bridle piece, will now force down the
presser foot into close contact with the work, when the presser foot will be
ready to repeat the feed action at the return action of the cam F upon the
adjusting screw g'. For throwing the presser foot out of action when the
work is required to be adjusted, a catch L jointed to the top of the guide
box H is used. This catch, when in use. is brought under a shoulder at the
upper end of the bridle piece, and thus supports it against the downward
pressure of the spring K. For ensuring the delivery from the bobbin of the
vertical needle of a sufficient amount of thread for each successive stitch, and
at a suitable tension (which is a matter of considerable importance in this
novel construction of machine, having what may be termed a loose shuttle for
taking up the loops of the vertical needle.) the following arrangement is
adopted-On the arm C is mounted a bracket M, which carries a barrel N
surrounded by a coiled spring n. One end of this spring is inserted into a
hole made in a milled disc attached to the barrel, and the other is carried
upward and coiled around a thread guide n', which is jointed to the upper
extremity of the bracket M.
By means, therefore, of the coiled spring the
thread guide is borne upwards and kept in contact with an adjustable stop in
the top of a slotted plate n' (through which the thread guide passes), affixed
to the front of the guide box H. This thread guide also passes through a sioi

page_text: in the vertical needle bar, and by its descent the thread guide is pressed down
and caused to draw off a regulated quantity of thread from the bobbin. In
order to adapt the pressure of the spring to the work in hand the barrel N is
fitted with a ratchet wheel n. into the teeth of which takes a catch ', jointed
to the bracket M. This catch is capable of being operated by the attendant
so as to hold the spring at any required tension, the catch being thrown out
of contact with its ratchet wheel to allow of the spring being slackened. The
catch is made to engage with its ratchet wheel by means of a slight spring.
which causes the outer end of the catch to fly upwards when released from
pressure. The milled disc attached to the barrel N is to enable the attendant.
to increase the tension of the coiled spring at pleasure by giving the barrel an
axial motion in the direction of the arrow..
In the machine as above described, the feed, as will be understood, is made
at right angles to or across the path of the shuttle; when, however, it is desired
to feed the fabric under operation in a line with the path of the shuttle, the
following modification is effected in the feed motion: The arm G is detached
from the bridle piece by removing the attaching screw, and in substitution
therefor a jointed arm O, shewn in red at Fig. 1 as carrying a presser foot, is
applied. Jointed to this arm is a rock lever O'. supported on a removeable
fulcrum pin o, having its bearings in the back of the guide box H. The upper
end of this lever enters the guide box, and is operated upon by a cam 0°
on the boss of the cam F. At each revolution therefore of this cam 0, the
rock lever will be caused to push forward the presser foot. and feed the fabric
up to the needle. For giving the return motion to the presser foot a spring o
is employed. This spring is attached to the back of the guide box, and as the
lever is thrown forward, it will, as soon as the cam O' has ceased to act, force
the presser foot into its back position. The rocking motion of the lever O'
is regulated so as to reduce or increase the length of stitch by means of an
adjusting screw o, which, in proportion as it is screwed in, will, by arresting the
backward movement of the rock lever, limit the amount of action of the
cam O upon that lever. The rising and depression of the presser foot will be
effected by the means already described for actuating the bridle piece, but as
it is necessary when this feed motion is used that the bridle piece should have
no rocking motion, the adjustable stop g¹ must be withdrawn from out of reach
of the cam F, before starting the machine. It may be here remarked that
instead of giving the bridle piece two side bearings for it to rock upon, it may
be slotted as shewn at Fig. 5, and made to rock loosely on a fixed fulcrum pin
secured to the guide box H.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improvements in

page_text: Sewing Machinery," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
we wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent, we claim,- -
First, the means above described for operating the shuttle, whereby we are
enabled to adapt various sizes of shuttle to the same machine by merely
changing the shell or carrier attached to the reciprocating slide c.
Secondly, actuating the needle bar and presser from the same cam in the
manner above set forth.
Thirdly, adapting to the same bridle piece pressers capable of feeding the
cloth either at right angles to or in a line with the course of the shuttle, and
operating the same as above set forth.
And, lastly, we claim regulating the tension of the vertical needle thread by
means of a coiled spring capable of adjustment as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Keats, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
JOHN KEATS. (L.S.)