CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING AND STITCHING BY MACHINERY
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 3, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING AND STITCHING BY MACHINERY."-A communication
from abroad by Kasimir Vogel, of Chelsea, in the County of Suffolk, and
State of Massachusetts.
Sealed the 14th February 1860, and dated the 29th August 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
August 1859.
J, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING AND STITCHING BY MACHINERY," to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in certain modes of interlacing three or more threads
in cloth or other material and with each other for the production of stitches of
novel character to be used for making seams, working button-holes, em-
broidering, and other useful and ornamental work.
It also consists in certain novel modes ofapplying and combining in a sewing
machinea system ofneedles and other devices operating in combination there-
with for the production of such stitches; also in fitting the bed plate or work.
plate of a sewing machine with an adjustable needle plate containing two or
moredifferentlysized or differentlyshaped,ordifferentlyarranged needleholes,
Paine Rd 1

page_text: either one of which may, by a proper adjustment of the plate, be brought to a
position for the needle or needles to work through,according to the size,form,
or arrangement of the needle or needles.
The subject maybedivided intothe following heads and partiallyillustrated
in the Drawings annexed, of which Fig. 1 represents a view of the operating
instriments.
First, several modes of interlacing three or more threads with each other,
and through cloth or other material whereby stitches illustrated by Figs. 2,
3, 4, & 5 are formed.
Secondly, combination of two or more perforating needles a, b, a single
needle L, and a hook S, so that the whole operating together produce novel
stitches.
Thirdly, application of finger or thread conductor Y operating in com-
bination with two or more needles a, b, one or all of which pass through the
material to effect the interlacing of the thread of said needles on the side of
the material at which they enter it.
Fourthly, timing the operation of the needle L, or its equivalent relatively
to the operation of the perforating needle or needles, so that after advancing
into and extending the loop or loops of the latter needle or needles it remains
stationary,and retains said loop or loops till the perforating needle or needles,
after having been withdrawn from the clothorother material under operation,
shall have again entered the material.
Fifthly, employment in a sewing machine of a movable needle plate K,
containing two or more needle holes of different size, form, or arrangement.
applied to the bedplate or workplate of the machine in such a manner as to
be capable of adjustment to bring either of its holes into position for the
proper needles to work in it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th February 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent,bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give anlgrant unto me, the
said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William Clark, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Williamı
Clark, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
AND STITCHING BY MACHINERY," a communication from abroad by Kasimir Vogel,
of Chelsea, in the County of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I,the said William Clark, 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 William Clark, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what mauner the saine is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
:-
This Invention consists in certain modes of interlacing three or more
threads in cloth or other material, and with each other, for the production of
stitches of novel character to be used for making seams, working button-
holes, embroidering, and other useful and ornamental work.
It also consists in certain novel modes of applying and combining, in a
sewing machine, a system of needles and other divices operating inc ombi-
Also in fitting the
nation therewith for the production of such stitches.
bed plate or work plate of a sewing machine with an adjustable needle plate
containing two or differentlysized, or differentlyshaped, or differentlyarranged
needle-holes, either oue of which may by a proper adjustment of the plate be
brought to a position for the needle or needles to work through, according
to the size, form, or arrangement of the needle or needles.
This Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings inwhich Fig.1
is a front view of a machine adapted for working several new kind of stitches,
said view representing the bed plate in section, and part of the stationary arm
broken away to expose the working parts; Fig. 2 is an end view of the said
machine, with the bed plate in section; Fig. 3 is an inverted plan of the
same; Fig. 4 is a section of one of the needles employed in the machine;

page_text: Fig. 5 is a plan view of all the stitch-making apparatus that can be seen
above the bed plate or work plate; Fig. 6 is a front view of the mere stitch-
making parts of the machine in a different position to that shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 7 is a side view of the stitch-making parts that are above the work plate
in a condition corresponding with Fig. 6; Fig 8 is an inverted plan of the
parts below the bed plate, representing them in positions corresponding with
Figs 6 & 7; Fig. 9, will be hereinafter explained; Figs. 10, 11, 12 & 13,
are views illustrative of several of the different kinds of stitches made by the
machine. Similar letters and numbers of reference indicate corresponding
parts in the several Figures.
A is the horizontal plate or bed on which the material is placed to be
sewed;
B is the stationary arm, to which is secured a stationary guide block
B1, containing a vertical guide for the slider C which carries two needles a, b,
which, for the sake of distinction, I will term the perforating needles. The
said block B, also contains a guide for a slider E to which the feed wheel E',
operating on the upper surface of the material, is attached. The material
is represented in brown color in Figs. 1 & 2, and is marked 20. The needles
a, b, are of the ordinary eye-pointed kind, and b is considerably longer than a
The feeding apparatus is what may be termed a positive top wheel elastic
pressure feed, and though I do not intend here to claim any portion of it 1
will describe it as far as is necessary to prevent confusion of its parts in the
Drawing with other parts of the machine. The slider E has the feed wheel
E' attached by the pin or axle c on which the latter rotates, and has applied
to its upper end a spring E³, which operates substantially like the springs
applied to the pressure pads of most sewing machines, and presses the wheel
down upon the material. The feed wheel E has securely attached to it a
spur wheel d, which gears with another spur wheel e¹ on one end of a short
shaft e, which is fitted to turn in a bearing in the slider E, and on the other
end of said shaft there is a ratchet wheel e³, which is acted upon to produce
the rotation of the feed wheel at proper intervals by means of a pawl/Fig. 2
that is attached to a lever G, G¹ (Figs. 1 and 2) which works upon the shafte
as a fulcrum, and which is operated by a pin g working in its slot g', said pin
being carried by a lever H which works at the back of the stationary arın B
on a fulcrum pin h which passes through and projects on both sides of said
arm. the said lever H passing down through an opening in the bed plate, and
being connected by a rod H' with a crank or wrist pink carried by the main
shaft I of the machine which is arranged in bearings i, i, below the plate A.
The ratchet wheel e has a stop pawlf (Fig. 1) applied to prevent it being
turned in the wrong direction. The upper portion G¹ (Fig. 2) of the

page_text: lever G, G¹, is made adjustable by its attachment to the lower part by a
hinge j, set screw j¹, and slotj², to give the upper part of the slot g¹ different
inclinations for the purpose of varying the feed. The lever I serves another
purpose, as will be presently described, besides that of operating the feed
wheel once at every revolution of the main shaft 1. J is the lever for
operating the needle slider C, which carries the perforating needles a, b, said
lever working at the front of the stationary arm B on the same fulcrum pin h
as the lever H. This lever J is connected by a link J' with the needle
slider C, & by a rod J with the same crank or wrist pink, that drives the
lever E. The needles are shown arranged side by side in a plane forming
right angles with the line of direction of the fecd, but this Invention is not
limited strictly to this arrangement. The perforating needles in their
operation pass through the plate A in the usual manner, and where the said
needles pass through, a large opening is made in the said plate, which opening
is covered by a thin steel plate K, containing a hole (Figs, 1 & 2) no
larger than is necessary for the two needles and their threads to work through.
This needle plate K is not a fixed plate containing but the one hole such as
is used in many other machines, but is fitted to turn in a circular cavity
provided for it in the plate A, and is provided with several holes n, n, of
different size and form, and differently arranged, some of said holes being for
single needles and some for two. By turning the said plate in the cavity of
the plate A, either of its different holes l, n. n, may be presented in position
to receive the needle or needles for which it is adapted when the needle
slider Chas such needle or needles fitted to it, aud when the said plate is
properly adjusted it is prevented turning by means of a spring stop p
(Figs. 2 & 3) attached to the bottom of the plate A, and entering one of a
series of holes q, q, provided in it, and it is still further secured by a set
screw m, which passes through a hole in its centre, and screws into the
plate A. The same result may be obtained by providing several holes in a
straight needle plate, and fitting it to slide lengthwise in suitable ways in the
plate A, so that it may be adjusted to present either hole in position to receive
the needle or needles.
L (Figs. 1, 2, & 3,) is a needle which I term the non-perforating needle,
(also shown detached in section, Fig. 4. This needle is subotantially like what
is used in some machines making what is known as the double loop stitch,
having its eye r(Fig. 4) running in a longitudinal direction with both orifices
ou the upper side of the needle. The said needle is attached to, or formed of
the same piece of steel with a small lever L', which works on a fixed fulcrum s

page_text: carried carried by a bracket L² below the plate A, and it derives its motion in
as nearly a horizontal direction as is permitted by said lever from a grooved
cam l'on the shaft I, the connection with said cam being made by a rod L³
carrying a stud t, which works in the groove t¹ of said cam, the said rod being
guided in its movement by a slot. t provided in it to receive the shaft I. The
said needle I commences its advance in the direction of the arrow showu near
it in Fig. 1 as soon as the perforating needles have completed their descent,
and it completes its advance before the perforating needles have been drawn
out of the material, and then remains stationary till the needles have again
entered the material.
M, M³, are two spools of thread for supplying the perforating needles, b,
said spools being placed on fixed spindles u, u, arranged in line with each
other, the former in front of, and the latter at the back of the stationary
arm B.
From these spools, the two threads, which are represented respec-
tively of red and green color for the sake of distinction, pass through a thread
controller N of well known construction over a guide v attached to thenee.ll>
slider C under a spring of attached to the arm B, and down to the eyes of the
needles a, b. The requisite tension is produced upon the said threads by the
friction of springs O, O', applied to press upon the body of thread on the
spools. P is a spool of thread for supplying the under needle L, said spool
being placed upon a fixed spindle w, at the back of the arm B. From this
spool the thread represented in blue color passes down through an opening in
the plate A, under a guide, attached to the lever H, and along a groovey,,
in the top of the plate A, and from thence down through an opening in the
said plate to the needle. The necessary tension on this thread is produced by
the friction of a spring Q pressing upon the body of the thread on the spool P.
R is another spool of thread placed on a spindle z at the front of the arm B,
for supplying a thread for barring button-holes, and for other purposes, about
which spool more will be herein-after said; R' is a spring for pressing on the
spool R to produce the necessary tension on its thread.
S (Figs. 1, 2. & 3,) is the hook, by whose aid the needle L effects the
interlacing of its thread with the threads of needles a, b, the long stem S¹ of
said hook being carried by two vibrating arms T, U, of different length, which
work horizontally below the plate A. on fixed pius 11 and 12, secured in said
plate. The movement of said hook (whose character will be presently
described) is produced under the control of these arms T, U, by the connection
of its stem, by a link V, with a rod W, which is operated upon by a groove
cam 1 on the shaft I, the groove 13 of said can receiving a stud 14 ou said

page_text: rod, and said rod being guided in the operation thus produced by having a
slot 15 provided in it to receive the shaft I.
Z (Fig. 2) is a spring presser, attached by a set screw 17 to a bent arm 18
that is secured rigidly to the slider E, to press upon the material, being sewed
close in front of the needles, for the purpose of pressing the material firm and
flat as it passes on toward the needles. This presser has a small tooth-like
downward projection 21 (Fig. 2) at one side of its extremity to enter a button-
hole and serve as a guide to the edge thereof, and enable the material in which
the button-hole is being worked to be turned so as to work all round the
hole. This form of presser is useful in all operations of sewing over an edge,
but for other kinds of work a presser without a tooth 21 though otherwise
like Z is used.
Y, (in Figs. 1, 2, & 5,) is the finger or thread conductor, working on thut
side of the inaterial at which the needles enter, viz., the upper side, for the
purpose of causing the interlacing of the two needle threads on that side.
This finger is carried by plate Y¹, attached to the lower end of an elastic
arm Y2, which is arranged to swing transversely to the direction of the feed
movement on a pin 19, which attaches to it the back of the guide block B¹.
The said spring, by its flexure, also permits the plate to swing back and forth
in a direction parallel with the feed movement, and towards and from the
needles, and hence the plate Y¹ and attached finger are capable of two
horizontal movements at right angles to each other. The finger Y is pointed
at its lower extremity, and has a recess 30 (Fig. 5) in one side near the point.
It is in itself elastic in an upward and downward direction, but in order that
its point may move downward with great freedom, as it is required to do in
the formation of the stitch as will be presently described, the said finger is
made in the form of a lever, and attached to the plate Y¹ by a horizontal
fulcrum pin 22 (Fig. 2), and a light spring 23 is applied to it above said
fulcruin to hold it back against said plate; but this spring permits the descent
of the lower extremity of the finger to be effected by a very gentle downward
motion or pressure. The upper part of the plate Y¹ has a horizontal section
of the form of three sides of a quadrangle, as shown in Fig. 9, which is given
to illustrate this form. In the front and back of said plate there are two
corresponding curved slots 24 (Figs. 1 & 5) to receive the two projecting ends
of the pin 25, which passes through and is secured in a vertical sliding bar 26,
which receives a vertical motion in a guide within the guide block B' from
the lever H, before described as operating the feed, the said sliding bar 26
being connected with the said lever by a link 27 (Fig. 1). In the front of
the said plate Y', there is a slot 28 (Figs. 2 & 5), which receives a pin 29,

page_text: .)
which is secured to the sliding bar 26, but arranged at right angles to pin 25.
The vertical movement of the pins 25 & 29, with the bar 26, produces the
two horizontal movements of the plate Y¹ and attached finger Y before-
mentioned as being permitted by the elastic swinging arm Y2. At the bottom of
the front of the plate Y¹, there is a small projection 31, which is operated
upon by the movement of the needle slider C, and the elasticity of the arm Ya
to produce a moverent towards and from the needles in addition to that
produced by the pin 29 and slot 28.
Having described the construction of the several parts of the machine, Iwill
proceed to describe its operation for the various kinds of sewing of which it is
capable, first describing its operation to produce the stitch represented in
Figs. 10 & 11. In this stitch the threads of the perforating needles are
interlaced on that side of the material at which they enter. I will first suppose
the stitch-inaking parts to be in the condition represented in Figs. 6, and partly
in Figs. 7 and S, and by the bold outline in Fig. 5. The perforating needles
ab, which have a regular reciprocating motion produced by the crank pin k,are
rising, and the longer one b is withdrawn but a short distance from thematerial.
Thencedle Lhas just previously advanced to the position in which it is stationary
during about two-thirds of the time occupied in the ascent and descent of the
perforating needles, and it has received upon it a loop of the thread of each
perforating needle. The hook S is also stationary between the top of the
needle L and the plate K, with its point just behind the said needle, and the
finger Y has just been moved forward by the action of the pin 29 in the slot 28
of the plate Y¹, and brought its recess 30 to a position to receive within it the
thread which is extended between the point of the needle a and the material.
As the perforating needles complete their ascent, the finger Y commences to
be moved laterally across their path, below their points, by the action of the
pins 25 in the slots 24, and at the same time it is permitted to be moved
rapidly forward by the spring Yas the end of the slider C passes the projection
31. During the first part of the descent of the perforating needles, the lateral
movement of the finger Y across the path of the needles continues, and the
said finger commences to move backward, and by these operations of the finger
and the operation of the feed which takes place in a direction away from the
front of the machine, the thread of the needle a is beut in such a manner
between the material and its eye, as shown in (Figs. 1 & 2) which represents
the needles a, b, descending, and in dotted outline in Fig. 5, that the longer
needle b will pass into said bend, and so cause a loop of the thread of the
needle a to be formed around the needle b, and to be retained by the thread of
the latter needle, after said needle itself is withdrawn. During the first part

page_text: of the descent of the needles and the above described simultaneous operation
of the finger Y, the hook S moves round the front of the needles from the
position shown in Fig. 8 to that shown in Fig. 3, for the purpose of catching
the thread of the needle L between the said needle and the plate Y, and
drawing it in the form of a loop into a suitable position represented in Fig. 3,
for the perforating needles to enter; and when the points of the said needles
have entered the said loop, the hook returns again to the first-described position,
and there again becomes stationary. The needle L retires from the loops of
the perforating needle threads that it has previously retained, just as those
needles have entered the loop of its own thread, and so draws its loops tightly
round those needles,and immediately afterwards advances againtopass between
them and their threads,as their upward movement commerces, and so forms
new loops of those threads which it retains until the perforating needles have
again entered the loop of its own thread, when it retires again as above men-
tioned. By the above operation the thread of one of the perforating needles is
made to pass round the thread of the other one on the upper side of the
material, and both the said threads are formed into loops which are made to
protrude through the material, and to pass into one loop and receive the
succeeding one formed on the opposite side by the third thread carried by the
needle L. I have attempted in Figs. 10 & 11 to represent the kind of stitch
or manner of interlacing the threads thus produced; Fig. 10 being a view of
the upper side, and Fig. 11 a view of the under side. This kind of stitch may
be made onany part ofapiece of goods, both perforatingneedles passing through
the goods, or one of said needles passing through and the other passing over
the edge, the latter mode of operation serving for button-hole working or
for finishing any edge, and the former making seams, embroidering, or any
other kind of work. A button-hole or edge may be "barred " by conducting
the thread from the spool R through a guide suitably arranged to lay it along
within the sewing, and in a similar manner a thread may be laid within the
stitch on the upper surface of the material to raise or fill it up, to produce the
appearance of a braid.
By simply making the shorter perforating needle a so much shorter than b,
that in its descent its point will not arrive low enough to enter the loop of the
thread of the needle L, till that needle has retired and taken its loop out of
the way, making no further alteration whatever in the machine, the thread
of the needle a will not be carried into the loops of L,and the latter will con-
sequently only be locked by that of the other perforating needle b,but this, if
the needlea is not too much shortened, will not prevent the needle L entering
and placing its loops in the loops of a as well as in those of b, and so making a

page_text: secure stitch. This stitch will present on the upper surface of the material
the same structure (represented in Fig. 10) as that previously described, but
will present on the under side of the material the totally different structure
represented in Fig. 12.
By taking away the finger or thread conductor Y the threads of the per-
forating needles are prevented being interlaced on the upper side of the
material, and the said threads are caused to present on that side the appearance
of two rows of plain stitching,as represented in Fig. 13. In connection with
thismodeofoperation theshorter perforatingneedle may be long enough to enter
the loop of the thread of the needle L, or short enough to escape it, as above
described, and accordingly the work will present on the under side either the
structure represented in Fig. 11 or that represented in Fig. 12. By taking
away one of the perforating needles as well as the finger Y, the machine is
brought to a coudition for making the well-known double-looped stitch made
by many of the sewing machines heretofore used. By using more than two
perforating needles further varieties of fancy stitches can be produced. The
movement of the needle L is so timed relatively to the movements of the
perforating needle slider C that by using the said needle without thread in
combination with one or more perforating needles carrying thread, it mayat
each perforation catch the thread of each perforating needle, and retain it in
the form of a loop until the next perforation is commenced, and scause the
thread of each perforating needle to be left in the cloth or other material in
the form shown in Fig.14,which represents a section of the material through
the perforations made by one of the needles. The loops 32, 32, that are
protruded through the material may be left whole or cut to produce a pile,
and in either form, if the rows of loops are made very close together, a very
beautiful nap-like appearance will be produced, which will be very effective in
embroidery. In doing thus kind of stitching the material should be placed in
the machine with its face downward that the perforating needle or needles
may enter from the back. I do not claim the use of two or more perforating
needles for carrying two or more threads through a piece of cloth or other
material in the form of loops in combination with a shuttle for carrying a
locking thread through both or all of said loops, as I am aware that such a
combination of two needles and a shuttle has been used; neither do I claim of
itself the employment of a hook below the needle plate to extend a loop of a
locking thread, as I am aware that such a hook has been used.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the inanner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-

page_text: First, the several modes of interlacing three or more threads with each
other, and through cloth or other materials, whereby stitches of the kind herein
described, and illustrated by Figs. 10, 11, 12, & 13, are formed.
Secondly, the combination of two or more perforating needles a, b, a single
needle L, and a hook S, the whole operating together in any way, sib-
stantially as herein specified, so as to produce the novel stitches herein
described.
Thirdly, the finger or thread conductor Y, applied and operating in com-
bination with two or more needles a, b, one or all of which pass through the
material, to effect the interlacing of the thread of said needles on the side of
the material at which they enter it, substantially as and for the purpose herein
described.
Fourthly, the timing of the operation of the needle L or its equivalent
relatively to the operation of the perforating needle or needles, so that after
advancing into and extending the loop or loops of the latter needle or needles,
it remains stationary.and retains said loop or loops till the perforating needle
or needles after having been withdrawn from the cloth or other material
under operation shall have again entered the material, substantially as herein
described.
Fifthly, the employment in a sewing machine of a movable needle plate K
containing two or more needle holes of different size, form, or arrangement,
applied to the bed plate or work plate of the machine in such a manner as
to be capable of adjustment to bring either of its holes into position for the
proper needles to work in it, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
W. G. E. SWINNOOK,
53, Chancery Lane.
W. CLARK. (L.S.)