Ix- PROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Loughborough
Park, Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "Ix-
PROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."- A communication from abroad by
James Alford House and Henry Alonzo House, both of Bridgeport,
in the County of Fairfield, in the State of Connecticut, United
States of America.
Sealed the 1st June 1869, and dated the 30th March 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION Jeft by the said George Tomlinson
Bousfield at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 30th March 1869.
1, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton,
in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
The improvements in sewing machines are represented in the
Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine on a scale one-half that of
the other Figures; Figure 2 is a vertical section through parts of the
[Price 8d.]

page_text: machine on the line y, y, of Figure 4; Figure 3 is a vertical section of
parts of the machine in the line, of Figure 4, and an elevation of
other parts with the face plate, needle carrier, and presser foot carrier
removed; Figure 4 is a plan of parts of the machine with the plate
which constitutes the supporting table or platform removed; Figure 5
contains two vertical sections at right angles to each other through the
bobbin container; Figure 6 is a plan of the bobbin and bobbin case;
Figure 7 is a horizontal section through the same; Figure 8 is an
elevation of the bobbin case; Figure 9 is a plan of the bobbin; Figure 10
is a plan of the hook and bobbin case supporter; Figure 11 is an
elevation of the rotating hook; Figure 12 exhibits two clevations of the
take-up lever, one of them being partially in section; Figure 12' is a
partial section through the take-up lever and the shaft upon which it is
mounted; Figure 13 is a plan of the preferred kind of cog gearing and
of the shaft and cams which actuate the feed bar; Figure 14 exhibits
the thread guides in plan and elevation; Figure 15 is an elevation of the
feed bar and one of its pendants.
The improvements all relate to that class of sewing machines in
which the stitches are formed by a revolving hook seizing, expanding,
and casting off a loop of needle thread, such hook also passing this loop
around an under thread wound upon and delivered from a bobbin, some
of the improvements are nevertheless applicable to other kinds of
machines.
These improvements have been invented chiefly with a view of sewing
heavy material in a machine working with a rotating hook, and at the
same time providing for the employment of a bobbin containing a large
quantity of under thread.
In the machine shewn in the Drawings, which embodies all the
improvements, the needle moves in a right line, but the same improve-
ments are applicable in machines where the needle arm or carrier
oscillates upon a shaft or centre. The machine has a bracket a, needle
carrier a', presser foot carrier /', and table e, beneath which is a driving
shaft d. The needle may be caused to work up and down by means of
any proper or usual connection from the main shaft. A presser foot b
may be arranged and applied as usual, forced down by a spring e', and
capable of being lifted by a levere lying behind the bar 6', and beneath
the bracket. The upper or needle thread bobbin as at e', tension
apparatus e, oil vessel e, may all be, as usual, so also may be the guides,

page_text: but guides shewn especially in Figure 14 with a slot diagonal to the axis
of the orifice and arranged on the side thereof furthest from that against
which the thread bears are preferred. The hook g is mounted upon a
shaft g, and is shaped as a whole substantially as shewn in the
Drawings; it has a seizing point g, a depression at g³, and a depression
and bevel at g. In the operation of this hook the lower part of the
bight of needle thread passes under the bobbin, and leads from the
needle eye; the upper part of the same bight passes over the bobbin and
leads from the under side of the cloth, and as the seizing part of the
hook lies below the cloth at some distance and revolves substantially in a
horizontal plane the throat or base of the loop of needle thread is a wide
one and suitable for enclosing a thick bobbin. The hook shaped and
operating as shewn forms a round turn of needle thread around the
part g2 just prior to the time when the loop is cast off, but no difficulty
arises from this circumstance. The hook is differently arranged from all
other hooks, as it revolves in a plane substantially perpendicular to that
in which the needle reciprocates. In order to prevent side strain upon
the needle and hold the base of the expanding loop wide open, it is
preferred to use in combination with the revolving book a small
stationary hook j located near the needle a, which when below the
cloth lies in the groove a³; this hook is so shaped and located that the
revolving hook draws the lower part of the bight of needle thread into its
throat; this part of the bight is thus held down until about the time
when the loop is freely expanded, and then the thread slips out of the
throat under the rounded point of the stationary hook. A bobbin
without a case may be used in this machine, one with a case is pre-
ferred, either may lie upon metal making part of and rotating with the
hook, but it is preferred to make the hook shaft hollow, and to locate
within it a rod h' carrying a bobbin supporter h; the end is free to slide
up and down, a button being applied to it, and is kept from turning
by a set screw h; this sliding motion facilitates the removal and intro-
duction of the bobbin. It is preferred to shape the top of the bobbin or
bobbin case supporter substantially as shewn with a projecting ring or
crown cut away as at ', thus facilitating the passage and slipping off of
the loop, but this supporter may have a flat-domed shaped or dished top,
and the ring when used may have no gap in it. A bobbin such as i
enclosed in a case such as is preferred; the case serves to prevent
loops of needle thread from entering between the heads of the bobbin,
and also as a support for any proper tension device.
We prefer a spring

page_text: ring bearing against the bobbin case, and capable of being turned
around the axis of the bobbin. The bobbin thread is passed through a
hole in the case, then by turning the spring ring to a greater or less
extent the proper tension is put upon the thread. The thread may lead
directly from this hole to the cloth; it is preferred to pass it through
another hole just above it, and then through a small eye or hook
attached to a spindle mounted upon the bottom of the bobbin case,
tipping and oscillation of the bobbin are thus avoided. The bobbin or
bobbin and case are held in place by the bobbin container, which is in the
inner surface of a ring i. In order to prevent oscillation of the bobbin
case it is preferred to furnish it with a nose, which enters a recess in
the bore of the restraining or containing ring i', and also to make a part
of the ring of leather or similar cushioning substance i", so as to prevent
noise. Neither the nose or the cushion are essential to the proper
operation of the machine. The rotating hook may be driven by ordinary
gearing, by preference two revolutions to one complete reciprocation of
the needle, the hook not seizing a loop at each alternate revolution, but
is preferred to revolve the hook with a velocity varying during each
revolution, and with only one revolution for each reciprocation of the
needle, the greater speed being while a loop is being seized and drawn
out, the slower speed after the loop is cast off. This varying or
differential revolving motion may be attained by any proper gearing;
it is, however, preferred to use irregular screw gear, substantially such
as is shewn in the Drawings, one of the wheels & being mounted upon
the main shaft, the other upon the shaft of the hook, which rests
upon a cone g fitted to slide in a hole in the stationary armg", and
held in position by a set screw gx, so that the hook may be elevated or
depressed. The cogs upon the gears are cut according to well known
rules for cutting screw gear, and the contour and relative arrangements
of the wheels and hooks is such that the latter moves with greater
velocity during the time of seizing and expanding a loop, and with lesser
velocity while the loop is being pulled up by the thread controller or
take up. The machine may have any proper feeding apparatus. The
rough surface feed is preferred, and it is best to arrange this surface p on
both sides of the needle, and to furnish the bar upon which it is
mounted with two pendants p', p', one lying each side of the gear
wheel, and applying themselves against cams p³, p, p, p, two of
which lift the bar, and the other two force it forwards in the direction of
the progression of the cloth. The bar is retracted and forced down-

page_text: wards by the spring p³. This duplex system of pendants and cams
permits the feeding surface to be arranged over the gear wheel, and at
the same relieves it from all tendency to shog or wabble sidewise.
The feed bar may be supported in place and its range of motion be
adjusted in any proper or usual way; it is preferred to permit its end to
strike against a circular wedge p', which may be moved by means of a
handle p" attached to a graduated plate p". In close proximity to this
plate is a hand or index line, and the whole contrivance serves not only
to regulate the length of stitch, but also to set the mechanism to any
predetermined length of stitch.
In ordinary rotating hook machines each loop when cast off is pulled
up by the expansion of the next loop. This machine will and is
intended to be worked in this way, but as this method of pulling up
involves great friction, it is preferred to use some of the ordinary kinds of
take-up or thread controller, so acting as to pull up or tighten each loop
as cast off, and then to give out thread for the formation of the next
loop; it is, however, preferred above all to use the take-up shewn in
the Drawings. consists of a lever mounted loosely on a shaft l, and
tending to remain at rest in consequence of the pressure of the pads P³, 1.
The hub of this lever is slotted, and a pin m projecting from l' enters the
slot. The shaft l' is provided with an arm m³, and the cam m³, acting
by means of a bent lever (mounted and concealed in the bracket) upon
this arm, causes the shaft to oscillate, The needle thread is passed
through the various guides, and the two hooks on the end of the take-up
lever, as shewn in red lines, Figure 1. When the rotating hook has
cast off a loop the lever oscillates backward (see arrow) and pulls it up;
when the rotating hook commences to seize a loop the pin m has moved,
and is moving in a direction the reverse of the arrow, Figure 12, and as.
the hook expands the loop it draws the take-up lever forwards to
furnish thread. The hook on the end of the take-up lever is double
and formed by punching a heart-shaped picce out of it, so as to leave a
tongue ; the end of the lever is then bent back upon itself, forming
two hooks or eyes, with a tongue acting somewhat like the snap of a
snap hook to prevent the escape of thread. The bobbin may be shut
up by means of a plate pivotted at n'; a spring m³ tends to throw this
plate open, and a spring catch n³ prevents it from opening unless pressed
npon when it is desired to remove and replace the bobbin and case.

page_text: SPECIFICATION
in pursuance of the conditions of the Letter, Patent
filed by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 15th September 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM
THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME. I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the County
of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her
special licence, that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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," a com-
munication to me from abroad by James Alford House and Henry
Alonzo House, both of Bridgeport, in the County of Fairfield, in
the State of Connecticut, United States of America, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said George Tomlinson Bous-
field, 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 George Tomlinson Bousfield,
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 thereof, that is
to say:-
In the accompanying Drawings, which represent a machine embodying
the Invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine on a scale one-

page_text: half of that of the other Figures; Figure 2 is a vertical section through
parts of the machine in the line y, y, of Figure 4; Figure 3 is a vertical
section of parts of the machine on the line a, a, of Figure 4 and an
elevation of other parts with the face plate, needle carrier, and presser
foot carrier removed; Figure 4 is a plan of parts of the machine with
the plate which constitutes the supporting table or platform removed;
Figure 5 contains two vertical sections at right angles to cach other
through the bobbin container; Figure 6 is a plan of the bobbin and
bobbin case; Figure 7 a horizontal section through the same; Figure 8
is an elevation of the bobbin case; Figure 9 is a plan of the bobbin;
Figure 10 is a plan of the hook and the bobbin case supporter;
Figure 11 is an elevation of the hook. In Figure 12 are shown two
elevations of the take-up lever, one of them being partially in section in
order to exhibit the pin and shaft which actuate that lever; Figure 12*
is a partial section through the take-up lever and its driving shaft in
the line of the axis thereof; Figure 13 is a plan of the preferred
kind of cog gearing and of the shaft and cams which actuate
the feed bar; Figure 14 cxhibits the thread guides in plan and
clevation, and Figure 15 is an elevation of the feed bar and one of its
pendants.
These improvements all relate to that class of sewing machines in
which a loop of needle thread is extended or expanded by a revolving
hook and passed around a bobbin, one part of the bight or loop of
upper or needle thread being passed between the bobbin and the hook,
and wish it distinctly to be understood that this class of machines is
not to be confounded with that other class of machines in which a
shuttle revolving upon its own axis is employed, such shuttle acting
by means of a hook making part thereof to draw out loops of needle
thread and pass them around itself and consequently around the bobbin
contained in the shuttle, and such shuttle and its hook being of necessity
separate from and not connected with a shaft or any other means for
causing it to revolve.
The class of machines upon which the improvements are based are
usually known as Wheeler and Wilson machines, and the improvements
have been invented chiefly with a view of enabling revolving hook
machines to sew heavy material, thick cloth, leather, &., and also
to permit the use of a bobbin containing a much greater quantity of
thread than can be wound upon the bobbins of machines of that class.

page_text: Some of these improvements are applicable to sewing machines of
other classes or varieties and it is intended to use them in such
machines.
The said improvements consist chiefly as follows, viz'.,--
First. In a new form of hook.
Second. In an arrangement of the hook so that it revolves in planes
perpendicular to the plane in which the needle reciprocates.
Third. In the employment of a case around the bobbin whereby a
thick bobbin containing in consequence much thread may be employed
and a tension be put upon the lower or bobbin thread.
Fourth. In the employment of a non-rotating support for the bobbin,
said support being surrounded by the hook.
Fifth. In the combination with a rotating hook and a reciprocating
needle of a take-up or apparatus for pulling up the loop of needle thread
when cast off by the revolving hook.
These and other improvements will be specified or claimed hereafter
and arc
now mentioned chiefly for the purpose of facilitating the
understanding of the following description;--
The machine shown in the Drawings is one of the straight needle
variety, but a curved needle mounted in an arm oscillating on a shaft
or centre may be employed, this machine has a bracket a for supporting
the needle carrier a¹, presser foot carrier b', &c., and also a table or
platform e beneath which the driving shaft d may be arranged. The
needle may be driven from the main shaft through the inter-
vention of any suitable train of mechanical devices, an excentric is
preferred on the driving shaft, actuating by means of a connecting
rod a lever enclosed in the bracket, one end of which lever in its
vibrations causes the needle carrier to reciprocate.
A presser foot or
contrivance for holding the material to be sewn down upon the feeding
surface and the table may be arranged in any usual manner, the presser
foot is preferred to be mounted upon a vertical sliding bar b' forced
down by
springe and lifted when necessary by a lever lying
behind the bar b' and beneath the bracket. This lever may act either
upon the spring or upon the bar itself. This position or arrangement
of the lever we believe to be new and more convenient than arrange-
ments used heretofore. The bobbin for the
upper thread
may be
mounted in any convenient place as at e' with a tension apparatus as

page_text: at e and an oil vessel if desired as at e' the latter being useful when
leather is sewn and the thread being caused to pass through the oil
in any usual or proper manner. Any proper guides or eyes may be
used between the tension and the needle eye, such guides are preferred
to be used as are shown specially in Figure 14, these guides are the
usual eyes with a diagonal slit f cut from the eye proper or orifice
to the outside, it is cut into that side of the orifice against which the
thread does not usually bear, and it furnishes a convenient means for
threading the eye while at the same time, owing to its diagonal position
and the fact that it is on the inactive side of the orifice, it affords no
facility for the accidental escape of the thread during the working of
the machine.
The hook of the machine is represented at g and its shaft at g'. This
hook consists of a hook proper or seizing point g³, making part of an
irregular cylinder having a depression at g³, which permits the lower
part of the bight of needle thread to pass under the bobbin, and a
depression and bevel at g', which facilitates the slipping off of the loop.
In the operation of this hook the lower part of the bight of needle
thread passes under the bobbin and the upper part of the same bight
over the bobbin, and as this lower part leads from the needle eye and
the upper part from the under side of the cloth, and the seizing part of
the hook lies some distance below the cloth (see Figure 2) it will be
perceived that the loop has a wide throat or base, and that it is well
suited for surrounding a thick bobbin. Owing to this peculiar con-
formation and consequent peculiar action of the book the apex of the
loop or that part of it held on the hook proper forms a round turn of
needle thread around the seizing part of the hook just prior to the time
when the loop is cast-off of the hook; but it is found in practice that
this turn slips freely off of the point of the hook when the hook and
needle are about in the relative position shown in Figure 10, and that
the formation of this round turn is in no way objectionable.
seizing, expanding, and casting-off functions and operations of the hook
are the same as in former known rotary hooks of the machines of the
Wheeler and Wilson system. So long as the hook is so formed as to
pass the loop of needle thread, as described, and seize, expand, and cast
off such loops, its precise shape is immaterial. This hook also differs in
arrangement with respect to the needle from all known sewing machines,
inspection of the Drawings showing that its shaft and axis of revolution
The

page_text: are in a plane parallel with that in which the needle reciprocates or
nearly so. Whereas in former machines the shaft of the hook lies in a
plane perpendicular to that in which the needle reciprocates. This new
arrangement of the hook causes the loop to be drawn out in planes
nearly parallel with the lower surface of the material being sewn, and
with a side draft from the needle instead of a downward one as usual;
and thus, as before described, much facilitates the formation of a wide
loop or one that will surround a thick bobbin. The bobbin may lic upon
the metal forming the hook and revolving with it, as would be the case
if the piece h, which is denominated the bobbin supporter, were made
in one piece with the hook or so attached thereto as to rotate with it;
but it is deemed preferable to use a hollow tube for the hook shaft, and
to place within it a rod h', to which is attached the bobbin supporter h.
This rod tends to revolve by the friction of the hook shaft upon it and
the friction of the hook upon the bottom of the bobbin supporter, and
is prevented from revolving by means of a set screw h³, or other proper
device, and it is deemed preferable to permit the set screw to bear in
such way upon the rod that the latter will be free to slide up and down.
By applying the finger to the button the rod and bobbin supporter
may be lifted, so that the latter rises level or nearly so with the table of
the machine, and this sliding of the supporter much facilitates the
removal and introduction of bobbins. By supporting the bobbin on a
non-rotating support the rubbing action between the hook and bobbin is
prevented, and also all tendency of the hook to revolve the bobbin, and
the users enabled consequently to sew more regularly with greater cer-
tainty of the same tightness of each stitch. The upper and acting
surface of the bobbin supporter may be shaped as a flat or dished or
irregular surface, but the best plan is to form it as a ring or annular
elevation h*, the bobbin resting upon the ring, and thus affording free-
space for the needle thread to pass under the bobbin, the thread being
hampered only where the bobbin rests upon the ring; and, further, it
is preferred to cut away a part of the periphery of this ring as at h³
(see Figure 10) and to arrange the gap in such relation to the needle
that the loop at the time when it is cast off by the hook is not nipped
at all between the bobbin and the ring, and it therefore opposes no
resistance when drawn up. Upon the supporter or the centre part of the
hook any of the usual circular bobbins of this class of machines may be
placed, and these bobbins may be made much thicker than usual at and
near the centres thereof so as to contain more thread, but it is deemed

page_text: best to employ a bobbin i enclosed in a case i'. When a case is used one
of its special offices is to shut up the slit between the upper and lower
heads of the bobbin, and thus prevent loops of needle thread from
entering and being caught in this slit, and a mere ring will serve this
purpose provided it be slightly flanged inwards at bottom so that the
bobbin may rest in it, but it is deemed best to make the case with a
bottom, and to round the bottom so as to present as little obstacle as
possible to the passage of one part of the loop beneath it, and also to
bevel the top on one side thereof (see ³, Figures 1, 6, and 8,) so as to
permit the other part of the loop to slip freely over its edge. Another
special office of the bobbin is, that it affords a support for a tension
device for putting tension upon the lower threads, and any proper usual
device for this purpose may be employed, such as holes, through which
the thread is passed, as in shuttles, but it is deemed best to use a device
consisting of a spring ring (see specially Figure 7). This spring tends
to expand and bears against the inside of the bobbin case, and a part of
it projects through a slit in the periphery of the case. The bobbin thread
is passed through a hole in the case, such as i', and the spring is then by
means of the projection revolved (in the direction of arrow, Figure 7).
This turning of the spring nips the thread between the spring and
the case, and a greater or less degree of tension may be attained
by turning the end of the spring to a greater or less distance past
the hole. Sometimes it is intended to form a groove on the outside of the
bobbin case, and locate in it a spring ring tending to diminish its
diameter; by sliding this ring the nipping of the thread is produced
in the same way, and substantially by the same means. The thread
may lead directly from the exterior of the bobbin case to the under side
of the cloth, when the machine is in operation, and good sewing
cffected, but as the bobbin case tends to tip and oscillate under the
action of the loop passing around it, thus disturbing the efficient tension
on the bobbin thread, and as it is desirable to attain as near as possible to
perfection, the thread is led back again towards the centre of the bobbin
through another hole just above i' and is hooked under a little hook i³
attached to a spindle projecting upwards from the centre of the bobbin
case. The thread then lics as in Figure 6, and always leads from the
centre of the bobbin, and is not affected by any oscillation or tipping
thereof. The bobbin is made with a hollow axis as usual, and the spindle
supporting the little hook passes up through this axis. The bobbin
or bobbin case when used is held in place by the bobbin container

page_text: which is the inner surface or bore i of a short cylinder or ring, this
ring may be supported and held in place in any proper or convenient
manner so long as it surrounds the bobbin or bobbin case substantially
as shown in the Drawings. In order to prevent oscillation or revolution
of the bobbin case upon its own axis, there is applied to it a small nose
or projection which (see specially Figure 4) enters into a recess cut
into the bore of the restraining ring ", and as the bobbin or bobbin
case sometimes while the loop is being put over it knocks noisily against
one part of the ring there is applied to the ring, and making part of it,
a piece of raw hard leather, india-rubber, or substance of similar
cushioning properties against which the bobbin case strikes at such
times. Neither the nose or the cushion picce are essential, but they
tend to perfect the machine. The rotating hook may be caused to
revolve in any usual or proper manner care being taken as usual that
the hooked part thereof shall at the proper time seize the loop of needle
thread; it is driven by preference from the main shaft by means of
any proper gearing, and common mitre or bevelled gear may be used
with success for the purpose, especially where the hook is so geared
that it makes two complete revolutions to cach stroke of the needle
instead of one revolution at cach stroke as usual in revolving hook
machines. The hook when thus geared up seizes a loop at cach alternate
revolution only, and the object of giving it this double speed is that
it may draw out and cast off the loop quickly, thus giving more time
in proportion for the pulling up of the loop by the take-up than when
the hook makes only one revolution for cach stroke of the needle. The
pulling up of the loop is accomplished chiefly during the time occupied
by those revolutions of the hook during which no needle thread is seized.
The plan, however, which is preferred is to drive the hook with a
differential or varying velocity during cach revolution, and this may
effected by any means known to mechanics suitable for the purpose,
but it is purposed usually to employ a kind of gearing which is believed
to be new, viz., two irregular oval or eccentric screw gear wheels whose
axes lie in planes at right angles to each other. By reference to the
Drawings it will be perceived that one of these gear wheels is mounted
upon the main shaft and the other upon the shaft or axis of the
revolving hook. This shaft rests upon a hollow cone g¹ which is free
to slide in the stationary arm g' and is held in place by a set screw g³,
the gist of the construction being that the support which carries the
hook and consequently the hook itself shall be adjustable.
The cogs

page_text: on these gear wheels are cut according to well known rules for cutting
screw gear, and the contour of the wheels themselves is substantially
such as is shown in the Drawings, and they are so arranged in reference
to each other to the hook and the necdie that the hook moves with
greater velocity during the time of seizing and expanding or drawing
out the loop and with less velocity during the time that the loop is being
drawn up or pulled up by the thread controller or take up. The loop
which surrounds the bobbin must be as wide open as the thickness of
the bobbin, and as the hook pulls out or opens the loop in planes sub-
stantially at right angles to the plane in which the needle vibrates,
and as the bobbin lies above the hook it is well to prevent as much as
possible side strain upon the needle and to hold down that part of the
loop which goes under the bobbin. In order to accomplish these results
there is applied near the needle a³, which is contained when below the
cloth in the groove.a³, a small stationary hook j (see specially Figure 5)
this hook is so shaped and located substantially as shown that the
rotating hook revolving in the direction of the arrows Figures 4 and 10,
draws the lower part of the seized loom behind the hook j, so that it
rests in the gap j'. As the revolving hook continues to expand the loop
the draw or pull of the thread in consequence of its being caught behind
the stationary hook tends to pull the needle downwards instead of
sidewise, and the lower part of the loop is prevented from being drawn
up by the needle. At or about the time that the loop is fully formed
thic lower part of it is carried in such direction by the seizing part of
the rotating hook and is so held down by the bobbin that this lower
part pulls on the stationary hook in a direction somewhat in reverse
to that in which it pulled at the commencement of the drawing out
operation and therefore slips off the stationary hook under its rounded
point. This stationary hook may be used or not used, but the machine
works better when it is furnished with a stationary hook. Any proper
feed motion may be used in connection with the stitching mechanism,
but the ordinary four-motion feed consisting of a notched or roughened
bar acting in combination with a smooth surface pressing the cloth
down upon the roughened surface is preferred. As this machine is
intended specially for use in heavy work a strong feed is needed, and
it is better to arrange the rough surface p on both sides of the needle
(sec especially Figure 4), when this surface is thus arranged and the
feed bar lies directly over the gear wheel upon the main shaft it is
impossible to arrange the cams which lift and push it in the direction

page_text: of the feed directly under the bar, and if these càms are arranged on
one side only of the cog wheels they tend to shog the bar sidewise when
resisted by a force equal to that needed to feed the cloth or leather.
In order to obviate this difficulty two hangers or pendents p', p', arc
attached to and depend from the feed bar, these hangers straddle the gear
wheel and apply themselves against cams p, p, p, p, arranged on
cach side of the wheel. Two of these cams lift the hangers and con-
sequently the feeding surface and the other two force the bar forward
to feed the cloth, while the bar is lifted the bar is retracted and forced
downwards by the spring p (see Figure 4). The feed bar is supported
in place in any usual or proper manner, and its end or a piece 2"
attached to its end furthest from the feeding surface strikes when thrown
back against a wedge form stop 2', this stop is supported in a slot in
the edge of the platform (see p8 Figure 1) in such manner that it can
be moved or slid to and fro to regulate the distance of retraction of
the bar, and consequently the length of stitch. There is attached
to this bar a handle p' outside of the machine, and also a graduated
plate or scale p1, and there is engraved upon or attached to the platform
of the machine an index line or hand, or the graduations may be marked
upon the platform, and the hand be attached to the wedge. The wedge
is so shaped and the plate so graduated that the length of the stitch
may be regulated prior to the commencement of any sewing, and this
facility of setting the food har to any predetermined longth of stitch

page_text: described and in common use, especially on sewing machines of the
shuttle variety which will answer the purpose, but is deemed best to
use a lever mounted loosely upon a shaft l' and tending to remain at
rest, this tendency resulting from the employment of a frictional spring
or pad or pads 1, 1, pressing upon the lever by preference near its
centre of oscillation. The hub of the lever has a slot cut in it (see
Figures 3 and 12) and a pin or arm m attached to the shaft upon which
the lever is mounted enters the slot. The shaft has an arm m³ upon
it and this arm and consequently the shaft and pin are caused to oscillate
by means of any proper train of mechanical motions, the cam m³ acting.
by means of a bent lever (mounted and concealed in the bracket), upon
the arm m is the mechanical means employed in the machine shown in
the Drawings. The needle thread leading from the guide is passed
through an eye or hook in the end of the take-up lever, thence through
the guide f, thence again through an eye or hook in the end of the
take-up lever, thence through an eye f*, and thence downwards and
through the eye of the needle. When the rotating hook spreads the
loop the take-up lever is drawn forwards by the thread overcoming the
friction of the pads, thus furnishing thread for the loop, and after the
loop is cast off the pin m in its oscillation (see Figure 12) strikes against
the end of the slot in which it plays and throws the lever back, thus
drawing up the cast off loop above the cloth; the pin m oscillates back
again in the direction the reverse of the arrow at or before the time
that the hook seizes a new loop, thus leaving the take-up lever free to
be pulled forward by the thread as before. The cams and connections to
drive the lever must be so constructed as to perform the drawing up and
permit the spreading at the proper times. The hook on the end of the
take-up lever is formed by punching a hole in the end of it so as to
leave a tongue 1 extending into the hole, the punched end of the lever
is then bent over on itself, substantially as shown in the Drawings, and
when thread is passed through the hook the tongue prevents it from
escaping somewhat in the same manner as the snap of a snap hook.
When the bobbin is wound and put in the case and the thread subjected
to the tension and led from the centre of the bobbin as before described
it is to be put into place in its containing ring upon the bobbin supporter
and a door, shutter, or covering plate n is shut over it; this plate is
pivotted at n' (see Figure 4) and a spring n³ tends to throw it open; it is
prevented from swinging open by means of a spring catch n³ (Figure 3).
The needle is then to be threaded with the thread, led through the

page_text: rise a little, then the hook in its rotation will seize a loop, expand it, and
pass it around the bobbin case and bobbin and cast the loop off all
during a further ascent or an ascent and partial descent of the needle,
when the loop is cast off it will be drawn up by the take-up, thus
enclosing or surrounding the bobbin thread, and a subsequent descent of
the needle seizing, expanding, casting off, and drawing up of a loop of
needle thread around the bobbin thread will complete a stitch, provided
the feeding apparatus acts as usual to advance the cloth while the needle
is out of it.
What is claimed as the Invention is,-
First. A rotating hook so formed substantially as described as to seize,
expand, and cast off loops of needle thread as specified, and in its action
causing a round turn of thread around the seizing part of the hook.
Second. The relative arrangement of a reciprocating eye pointedneedle
and a revolving hook, so that the seizing portion of the latter revolves
in planes perpendicular to that in which the former reciprocates, the
arrangement being substantially such as specified, and both the needle
and hook operating substantially as described.
Third. The combination of a reciprocating eye pointed needle with a
revolving hook and bobbin when the axis of the two latter are in planes
parallel to that in which the needle reciprocates, the relative arrangement
being as described.
Fourth. The combination with a revolving hook of a non-revolving
bobbin supporter, the combination being substantially such as specified.
Fifth. The combination with a revolving hook of a non-revolving
sliding bobbin supporter, substantially in the manner and for the purpose
specified.
Sixth. In combination with a revolving hook, a non-revolving bobbin
supporter provided with a ring or annular elevation, substantially such
as described, on which a bobbin or a bobbin case may rest as described.
Seventh. A non-revolving bobbin supporter provided with a ring or
annular elevation having a gap or opening in the periphery thereof, the
construction being substantially such as described in combination with a
revolving hook operating substantially as described.

page_text: Eighth. A bobbin in combination with a bobbin case and a revolving
hook, all constructed and operating substantially as described.
Ninth. A bobbin and bobbin case provided with a tension apparatus in
combination with a revolving hook, the combination being substantially
such as herein-before set forth.
Tenth. The tension apparatus for the bobbin thread, consisting of a
sliding ring compressing thread between itself and the bobbin case, and
operating substantially as set forth.
Eleventh. In combination with a bobbin and bobbin case and an eye
or hole in the latter a guide eye or hook at the axis of the bobbin through
which bobbin thread may be led as described.
Twelfth. In combination with a rotating hook and a reciprocating
needle relatively arranged and acting as described, a stationary hook
constructed and located substantially as described, and acting upon loops
of needle thread while being expanded, substantially as set forth.
Thirteenth. In combination with a reciprocating eye pointed needle
and a revolving hook relatively arranged substantially as set forth, a
take-up or thread controlling apparatus substantially such as described
and operating to draw up cast off loops of needle thread.
Fourteenth. A take-up lever mounted upon a shaft and operated in
one direction by a pin or arm upon the shaft and in the other by the
pull or draft of the thread, the combination of lever pin and shaft being
substantially such as set forth.
Fifteenth. The hook in the end of the take-up lever in combination
with the tongue between the two parts thereof, the construction and
combination being as set forth.
Sixteenth. In combination with a bobbin case and a rotating hook a
nose upon the case acting in connection with a stationary slot or recess
so as to prevent revolution of the bobbin case as described.
Seventeenth. The arrangement of the lever for lifting the presser foot
behind the presser foot bar or carrier and underneath the bracket of the
machine, substantially as set forth.
Eighteenth. The combination of two irregular eccentrics or oval screw
gears, the one mounted upon a shaft lying in a plane at right angles
to the plane in which the shaft of the other gear is located, the com-
bination being substantially such as set forth and used for the purpose
described.

page_text: Nineteenth. The combination of two sets of cams, one set upon each
side of a cog wheel with two legs or pendants attached to a feed bar
whereby the feeding surface may be properly actuated when located
above the cog wheel, substantially as set forth.
Twentieth. In combination with a feed bar and a sliding wedge under
the platform of a sewing machine, a graduated scale and a hand or index
upon the outside thereof, whereby the feed may be set to any predeter-
mined length of stitch, substantially in the manner specified.
Twenty-first. In combination with the guides of a sewing machine,
the diagonal slits leading into the orifice through which the thread
passes, the combination being substantially as set forth; and lastly, in
combination with a revolving hook, substantially such as specified, and
mounted upon a vertical axis, an adjustable support, substantially such
as described, for the lower end of the hook shaft.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
GEO. T. BOUSFIELD, (L.S.)