A KNOT-TYING SEWING MACHINE
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Bernard Hughes, of Rochester, New York, United
States, but now of 67, Gracechurch Street, London, for the Invention of
"A KNOT-TYING SEWING MACHINE."-A communication...
Sealed the 10th June 1856, and dated the 11th December 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Bernard Hughes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th
December 1855.
I, BERNARD HUGHES, of Rochester, New York, United States, but now of
67, Gracechurch Street, London, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A KNOT-TYING SEWING MACHINE," a communication from a
foreigner residing abroad, to be as follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists in so arranging, adjusting, & operating"
the needle, shuttle, & other accessory apparatus of a sewing machine by
cams and other mechanical devices, that the thread from- the needle when
passed through the material to be sewed is tied by a half or whole knot of the
shuttle thread, and also in so operating the feed motion that the thread to be
tied shall be tied at the will of the operator by a half or whole knot at every
or any stitch that may be thought necessary, thus producing a seam'that will
not rip when the thread is cut.
The first-named object is effected by employing a vertical stationary circul
shuttle box, so placed that the needle is perpendicular to, but on one side of,

page_text: the track described by the revolving shuttle. The thread passed with the
needle through the material is seized by a looper, operated by a spring for
the purpose, & borne in a loop across the shuttle track, & the shuttle
passes through it. As the shuttle revolves, the shuttle thread is prevented
from interfering with it in passing the looper by a snail screw or worm on the
external face of a revolving circular plate, covering the central portion of the
circular shuttle box, and to whose inner face is attached the cams which
operate the looper, & also the shuttle driver, until the time arrives for
drawing up the needle thread as well as the shuttle thread. This does not
happen until the shuttle has passed the shuttle thread through the loop &
between the thread so held out of the way and the needle. This being effected,
the threads are drawn tight by the operation for tying the next stitch.
The second object is effected by moving or sliding one end of the rock shaft,
upon which the needle bar is placed, on its bearing or step, by cams operated
from the main or revolving plate shaft. This is so adjusted, that as the needle
is coming up through the material or cloth it is caused to make a lateral
movement, & in so doing to move the cloth with it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Bernard Hughes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th June 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BERNARD
HUGHES, of Rochester, New York, United States, but now of 67, Gracechurch
Street, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Bernard Hughes, Her special licence that. I, the said Bernard Hughes, my
executors, administrators, and assigns; or such others as I, the said Bernard
Hughes, 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 "A KNOT-TYING SEWING
MACHINE," a communication from a foreigner residing abroad, upon the con-

page_text: dition (amongst others) that I, the said Bernard Hughes, 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 Bernard Hughes, do hereby declare.
the nature of my 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 accompanying Drawings; in which
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine; Figure 2 is a side view of the
double eccentric cam E and yoke, and presents also an end view of the yoke ;
Figure 3 is a side view of revolving plate F, exhibiting the rail T, snail screw
S on one side, and cam V on the other; Figure 4 shews the outer surface of
plate F, with rail, snail screw, and shuttle driver x, x; Figure 5 shews the inner
surface of the same, with cam V, cutting U, and shuttle driver; Figure 6 is the
looper with spring attached at its base; Figure 7 shews the needle in the bar,
the looper, shuttle, shuttle box, presser, &c. in their relative positions; Figure 8
shews the half and the whole knot; and Figure 9 shews the interior arrange-
ment of the shuttle. The same parts are designated by the same letters in all
the Figures.
..:
The nature of my Invention consists in so arranging, adjusting, and
operating the needle, shuttle, and other accessory apparatus of a sewing
machine by cams and other mechanical devices, that the thread from the
needle when passed through the material to be sewed is tied by a half. or a
whole knot of the shuttle thread, and also in so operating the feed motion that
the thread to be tied shall be tied at the will of the operator by a half or
whole knot at every or any stitch that may be thought necessary, thus pro-
ducing a seam that will not rip when the thread is cut.
The construction of the machine is as follows:-A, A, A, is the stationary
frame, secured to a proper foundation, and has several upright stands for
attaching thereto the other stationary and working portions of the machine.
The main shaft C has its bearings in the two front stands B, B'. This shaft
carries the pulley D, driven by a belt from the motive power, a double eccentric
cam E, attached for convenience to this pulley, a circular plate F on the
extremity of the shaft, and a gear G, all securely fixed upon it.
The double eccentric cam E moves the
square yoke h' of an eccentric rod or
bar H, connected by a movable joint to th
the bar I, let down from the rock

page_text: shaft J. The rock shaft J is supported and centred on two points L, L, pro-
jecting inwards from and through the uprights K, K. These points are set by.
means of the screws cut on their bars, adjusted in the usual way. The shaft J.
also holds the needle bar M and the feed bar N, which last, being merely.
hooped on to the shaft, is not affected by its; motion. The double cam E, to.
operate on the different sides of the yoke, is so constructed,. that one cam acts
on the upper and back side, and the other on the lower and front side of said
yoke, each cam acting at a different period in the revolution of the shaft, and
at about a quarter revolution apart. It will be seen from the Drawings that
the sides or bars of the yoke are, in the plane only of that cam by which they.
are respectively operated. The shaft J receives in this manner its rocking.
motion, communicating to the needle bar M a vertical or nearly vertical
movement..
The wheel G on the main shaft gears into another wheel of double. its
number of teeth set upon a stud projecting from the upright B' over the shaft
C. Two cams 0, 0, on the same stud are attached to this wheel, and revolve
with it. From their construction, one O will operate once, and the other O¹
twice, at each revolution, upon friction roller P, on the end of the feed bar N,
adjusted by a set screw to be always in the way of one of these cams when in
action. This end of the feed bar is attached to the under side of a sliding
bar Q, resting in grooves in the uprights B, B',
the bar N will not move laterally without it.
.cams O, O', upon the friction roller P forces the feed bar to pull forward the
end of the rock shaft, to which it is attached, and which, having a groove cut
from its centre where the point supports it to the periphery, slides on the point
and yields to the motion. When this ceases, a spiral spring R, suitably
attached to the bar N, pushing against the side of the sliding bar Q, forces the
shaft J back to its centre.
and at right angles to it, so that
The operation of either. of the
The circular plate F on the main shaft has on its outer face a scroll or snail-
shaped screw S, rising and, projecting from the centre, and a circular rail T is
raised near the outer edge, inclining at either extremity to the surface of the
plate. On the inner surface a portion U of the plate is reduced gradually in
thickness from the centre towards the edge, where also the periphery is cut
away. A cam V is also raised, as represented, and operates parallel to the face:
Two points X, X, project beyond the periphery of the plate & form the shuttle
driver.
To the outer side of the upright B, and next to & surrounding the circular
plate F. is attached a vertical stationary circular box Z, in which the shuttle Y
runs. A section is cut out of this box immediately below the slot in the work

page_text: plate for the passage of the looper Q'. This looper is attached vertically by its
base to the upright B, but out of the way of the shuttle box. It is thrown
across the shuttle track by means of a spiral spring attached to its base, and is
forced back to its vertical position by the action. of, the cam V.
The horizontal or. work plate 61, on which the material to be sewed is laid, is
fastened to the top of the uprights B, B', and is perforated or slotted, as above
referred to, to allow the, needle to pass down below. its under surface. The
presser C for holding down the material is supported by an, arm d from the
frame A, and is operated by an adjustable spiral spring: On the plate 6 is a
guide bar or plate, adjusted and fastened by a screw working in a slot of the
guide bar. The needle is fastened to a wrist in the end of the bar M, and has
a hole or eye near the end of its point. A spool. m², regulated by a straight
spring to prevent too rapid delivery of the thread, is set on a stud fixed to the
needle bar or other convenient place. The shuttle Y,, holding a bobbin, is
placed in the box Z: between the points X, X, and kept in place by a cover Z
fastened over the box. In this cover a door with a. spring, fastening is made
for the purpose of inserting the shuttle.
The mode of operating the machine is as follows:-The thread from the
spool m' is passed through the eye of the needle, and by the action of the cam E
is forced with the needle through the material, and below the under surface of
the work plate b¹. The point of the looper Q, pressing by the needle, and
between it and the thread, bears the thread across the track of the shuttle,
forming a loop of it. Through this loop,the shuttle, impelled by the driver,
passes. As soon as the point of the shuttle enters the loop, the looper is forced
back out of the way by the cam V, which keeps it in its upright position. until
the greater portion of the shuttle has passed through,, when, relieved of the
pressure of the cam and impelled by the spiral spring, the looper, coming again
across the track with or without a new loop, strikes the rear end of the shuttle,
and gives it additional impulsion. If a half knot only is to be made, the
looper makes another loop, through which the shuttle at its next revolution
passes in the same. way. The shuttle thread is wound on a bobbin set on
bearings within the shuttle, and passes out through a hole in the side, in at
another hole under a light spring, and out again at the first hole; the object
being to obtain sufficient friction on the thread to regulate its feed. In
5 following the shuttle after passing the loop, the thread passes on the outside of
the circular plate, and would interfere with the shuttle as it passed on the next
revolution were it not received on the rail T, which rises gradually to a level,
and then descends; at the same time it is also caught on the point of the snail
worm S, and there held until the further revolution of the circular plate permits

page_text: it to slip off the point at the time it is being drawn tight as a knot on the
needle thread, which itself is drawn tight by the ascent of the needle. That
the looper may carry the thread sufficiently over or by the track, the plate is
made thinner at U, and then again becomes of the regular thickness. A cór-
responding cut is made in the raised circle on which the cam V is raised, and
à portion of the periphery is also removed, all for the same purpose. If it is
desired to tie each stitch with a half knot only, the friction roller P is adjusted
to come in contact with the cam O', which shall bear against it twice in each
revolution; this will give two forward impulses to the feed bar N in each revo-
lution, or one impulse to each revolution of the shaft operating the needle bar.
This impulse causes the needle bar to give a lateral motion to the needle as it
is coming up through the cloth, which is thus forced along, bringing the place
to be next perforated in its proper position. If a double knot is to be tied, the
friction roller P is operated by the cam O, that bears against it, once in its
revolution, or once. at every alternate revolution of the main shaft. The needle
when it does not receive any lateral motion in its ascent descends a second
time into the same hole, and the loop formed is the same as the first, being
merely a repetition without any intermediate operation, except the passage of
the shuttle twice through the same loop.
Having now described my said Invention, what I claim under the above in
part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the mode of forming or tying the stitch by a half or a whole knot,
as herein described.
Second, the construction and adaptation of the various parts of the revolving
face plate for the several purposes herein mentioned, and also the application
of the shuttle box, as herein described.
Third, feeding the cloth by the lateral motion given to the needle, in the
mode herein described.
Finally, I claim the general arrangement and construction of the machine,
substantially in the manner herein described.
In witness, whereof, I, the said Bernard Hughes, have hereunto set
my band and seal, this Ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
BERNARD HUGHES. (L.S.)