IMPROVE- MENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,.
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SEWING MACHINES." -A communication from abroad by the
Grover and Baker Sewing Machine Company,. of New York, in the
United States of America.
Sealed the 5th July 1864, and dated the 21st January 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st January 1864.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex,. Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," a communication to me from abroad
by the Grover and Baker Sewing Machine Company, of New York, in the
United States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the driving or actuating of certain parts of
sewing machines, and is applicable either to shuttle machines or to looping
machines.
The improvements consist, firstly, of a peculiar combination of mechanism
for driving one shaft from the other in that class of sewing machines wherein

page_text: two shafts are employed, namely, the one to actuate the needle, and the other
to drive the shuttle, circular needle, hook, or looper, as the case may be. This
combination consists of two crank pins, a connecting rod, and a swivel or
fixed fulcrum, through or on which fulcrum the connecting rod is free to slide
longitudinally and vibrate laterally. One of the two shafts, by preference
the upper one, which is carried in the bracket of the machine is driven by a
belt and driving pulley or otherwise, and carries a crank pin, to which is
jointed the upper end of a connecting rod, which slides through a guide or
socket capable of swivelling or turning upon a centre or fulcrum of its own.
The lower end of this connecting rod carries a second crank pin, which fits
into a slot in a disc fast on the second shaft of the machine working below
the bed plate. The swivel fulcrum of the connecting rod is actuated on some
point between the centres of the driving and the driven shafts, and in the
same line therewith. On imparting a rotatory motion to one of the crank
pins the connecting rod will by its sliding and lateral oscillating motion impart
a rotatory motion to the opposite crank pin, thus causing the two shafts to
revolve together, turn for turn, in a perfectly isochronous manner, although the
two may move at varying speeds during portions of a single revolution. In
lieu of having the connecting rod to slide through a swivel socket or guide
the rod may be slotted longitudinally and work over a fixed pin or antifriction
roller as a fulcrum.
The second part of this Invention consists of certain peculiar combinations
of mechanism for transmitting a differential vertical reciprocating motion to
the needle slide or carrier from the needle actuating shaft of the machine.
According to this part of the Invention a disc or arm is keyed on to the front
end of the shaft, which works in the bracket of the machine, and in this disc
or arm there is made a slot, which may be either a straight radial slot or a
curved slot, but it is preferred to make it straight, and in a radial direction
from the centre of the shaft. In this slot works a crank pin carried by a
rotating disc on the inner end of a short spindle, the axial line of this short
spindle being eccentric to that of the needle actuating shaft, that is to say, it
is situate either above the needle shaft and in different vertical plane. To the
crank pin above referred to is jointed a connecting rod or link, the lower end
of which is jointed to the needle slide or carrier. On rotating the slotted disc
the crank pin will be caused to rotate, but as it rotates on a different centre
to that of the slotted disc it will travel along the slot, and will approach
towards and recede from the centre of the disc alternately, its vertical motion
being slow when near the centre of the slotted disc, and faster when near its

page_text: circumference. By suitably adjusting the parts variations of velocity may be
obtained, and the variation in speed at different parts of the revolution may.
be so regulated as to cause the needle to pause or move slowly at any part of
its traverse, for example, just after it has risen to expand the loop, then to
move quickly when completing its ascent, and finally to panse again or move
slowly on completing its upward. traverse, so as to afford ample time in the
first instance for the shuttle or looper to pass through or enter the loop, and
in the second instance to allow the feeder time to act before the needle again
penetrates the material. In lieu of the connecting rod or link above referred
to a slot in the needle slide may be employed.
The third part of this Invention consists in the combination of a rotating
slotted disc, a stud pin, from which motion is imparted to the middle slide or
carrier, and a stationary face cam, having a groove in the face thereof of the
form required to give the desired differential motion. Through the centre of
this stationary cam works the front end of the needle actuating shaft carried
in the fixed bracket of the machine, and to the extreme front end of this
shaft is keyed the disc having a radial or curved slot therein. In the slot of
this disc works a stud pin fast on one end of a connecting rod or link,
the other end of the rod or link being jointed to the needle slide. The stud
pin is made sufficiently long to pass entirely through the slot in the rotating
disc, and to enter and travel within the groove in the face of the stationary
cam situate immediately behind the disc. The vertical reciprocating motion
of the needle slide or carrier is derived from the revolution of the stud pin,
which is carried round by the slotted disc, whilst any variation in the speed of
or differential motion in the needle slide is obtained from the cam groove,
which acts as a guide to the stud pin, causing it to travel along its slot in the
disc, and approach to or recede from the centre of the disc, according as a
slow or quick motion is required at different parts of the traverse of the
needle slide.
30 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 21st July 1864.

page_text: .
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or
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 communication to me
from abroad by the Grover and Baker Sewing Machine Company, of New
York, in the United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of
one of them, 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 Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to the driving or actuating of certain parts of
sewing machines, and is applicable either to shuttle machines or to looping
machines.
The first head of this Invention consists of a peculiar combination of
mechanism for driving one shaft from the other in that class of sewing
machines wherein two shafts are employed, namely, the one to actuate the
needle, and the other to drive the shuttle circular needle, hook, or looper, as
the case may be. This combination consists of two crank pins, a connecting
rod, and a swivel or fixed fulcrum, through or on which fulcrum the con-
'necting rod is free to slide longitudinally and vibrate laterally. One of the
two shafts, by preference the upper one, which is carried in the bracket of the
machine, is driven by a belt and driving pulley or otherwise, and carries a

page_text: crank pin, to which is jointed the upper end of a connecting rod, which slides
through a guide or socket capable of swivelling or turning upon a centre or
fulcrum of its own. The lower end of this connecting rod carries a second
crank pin, which fits into a slot in a disc fast on the second shaft of the
machine working below the bed plate. The swivel fulcrum of the connecting
rod is actuated on some point between the centres of the driving and the
driven shafts, and in the same line therewith. On imparting a rotatory
motion to one of the crank pins the connecting rod will, by its sliding and
lateral oscillating motion, impart a rotatory motion to the opposite crank pin,
thus causing the two shafts to revolve together turn for turn in a perfectly
isochronous manner, although the two may move at varying speeds during
portions of a single revolution. In lieu of having the connecting rod to slide
through a swivel socket or guide, the rod may be slotted longitudinally and
work over a fixed pin or antifriction roller as a fulcrum.
The second head of this Invention consists of certain peculiar combi-
nations of mechanism for transmitting a differential vertical reciprocating
motion to the needle slide or carrier from the needle actuating shaft of the
machine.
According to the first part of this head of the Invention, a disc or arm is
keyed on to the front end of the shaft which works in the bracket of the
machine, and in this disc or arm there is made a slot, which may be either a
straight radial slot or a curved slot, but it is preferred to make it straight, and
in a radial direction from the centre of the shaft. In this slot works a crank
pin carried by a rotating dise on the inner end of a short spindle, the axial
line of this short spindle being eccentric to that of the needle actuating shaft,
that is to say, it is situate either above the needle shaft and in a different
vertical plane. To the crank pin above referred to is jointed a connecting
rod or link, the lower end of which is jointed to the needle slide or carrier.
On rotating the slotted disc the crank pin will be caused to rotate, but as it
rotates on a different centre to that of the slotted dise it will travel along the
slot, and will approach towards and recede from the centre of the disc alter-
nately, its vertical motion being slow when near the centre of the slotted disc,
and faster when near its circumference. By suitably adjusting the parts
variations of velocity may be obtained, and the variation in speed at different
parts of the revolution may be so regulated as to cause the needle to pause or
move slowly at any part of its traverse; for example, just after it has risen to
expand the loop, then to move quickly, when completing its ascent, and,
finally, to pause again or move slowly on completing its upward traverse, so

page_text: as to afford ample time in the first instance for the shuttle or looper to pass
through or enter the loop, and in the second instance to allow the feeder
time to act before the needle again penetrates the material. In lieu of the
connecting rod or link above referred to, a slot in the needle slide may be
employed.
The second part of this head of the Invention consists in the combination
of a rotating slotted disc, a stud pin from which motion is imparted to the
needle slide or carrier, and a stationary face cam having a groove in the face
thereof of the form required to give the desired differential motion. Through
the centre of this stationary cam works the front end of the needle actuating
shaft carried in the fixed bracket of the machine, and to the extreme front end
of this shaft is keyed the disc having a radial or curved slot therein. In the
slot of this disc works a stud pin fast on one end of a connecting rod or link,
the other end of the rod or link being jointed to the needle slide. The stud
pin is made sufficiently long to pass entirely through the slot in the rotating
disc, and to enter and travel within the groove in the face of the stationary
cam situate immediately behind the disc. The vertical reciprocating motion
of the needle slide or carrier is derived from the revolution of the stud pin,
which is carried round by the slotted dise; whilst any variation in the speed
of or differential motion in the needle slide is obtained from the cam groove,
which acts as a guide to the stud pin, causing it to travel along its slot in the
disc, and approach to or recede from the centre of the disc according as a
slow or quick motion is required at different parts of the traverse of the
needle slide.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the two Sheets of Drawings hereunto aunexed,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the corre-
sponding Figures.
Fig. 1, on Sheet 1 of the Drawings, is a front elevation of the improved
sewing machine constructed according to the first and second heads of this
Invention; Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation,
and Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are details of the actuating mechanism.
In these Drawings the bed plate of the machine is shown at a, a, the bracket
at b, b, the upper shaft at c, c, and the lower shaft at d, d. This latter, in the
present instance, carries two cams e and f, the former actuating an ordinary
feed, and the latter by means of a bent lever or bell crank, not represented in
the Drawings giving motion in the usual manner to the shuttle driver and

page_text: shuttle, but this shaft may be applied to move a hook or an eye pointed
needle or a looper for a single thread machine. The machine is to have a
proper feed apparatus, presser foot, bobbin supporters, tension apparatus, and
if necessary a thread controller. In the Drawings a four-motion feed is
represented. The needle is shown at g the needle stock or carrier at h sliding
in proper guides, and the tension for the upper thread at i. In this machine
the upper is the driving shaft, or that to be actuated by the prime mover,
and it is provided with a fly wheel and pulley as at j, but the lower one may
be the driving shaft, and the upper one the driven shaft. In connection with
the upper shaft there is a crank pin k, and to the lower shaft is connected
another crank pin k', both pins have about the same throw and are coupled
together by an ordinary connecting rod . If desired the lower crank pin k¹,
may be secured to the lower end of the connecting rod, and work in a radial
slot in a disc fast on the lower shaft, as herein-after described. This rod passes
through and slides in a vibrating fulcrum, which it is preferred to make as
a journal box in two pieces, one of which has secured to it a pin which
oscillates in a socket k*. The requisites of the fulcrum, or its equivalent, are
that it shall permit of the endwise motion of the connecting rod, and shall
at the same time cause it to oscillate upon points somewhere between its two
extremities. When the upper shaft is revolved in the direction of the arrow
from the position shown in Fig. 3 it will raise the connecting rod and con-
sequently the lower crank pin, and will at the same time carry the upper end
of the connecting rod sidewise, moving the lower end in the opposite direction
in consequence of the confinement of the rod by the fulcrum, and thus
revolving the lower shaft in the direction of the arrow. At and about those
parts of the revolution where the connecting rod lies in the plane passing
through the centres of the two shafts, or nearly so, the motion imparted to
the lower one will be due almost entirely to the oscillatory motion of the rod
upon its fulcrum, when the shafts are 90° from that position of the rod the
motion conferred upon the lower shaft will depend almost wholly upon the
endwise or longitudinal motion of the rod. It will be seen that the two
shafts will vary slightly in velocity during each revolution, but they will
nevertheless always make revolution for revolution, each crank pin always
bearing the same relative position to the other at any given point in
each and every revolution. This variation of velocity when the proportions
and arrangements of the parts are as shown in the Drawings is practically
unimportant, but if great nicety be desired it may be compensated for by the
shape of the cams which actuate the shuttle or lower eye-pointed needle. In

page_text: ૧
single-thread machines, and those of the Wheeler and Wilson variety, a
rotatory hook may be placed upon the end of the lower shaft. This con-
trivance will not operate if the driven crank pin be made fast, or in other
words cannot change its distance from the centre of the shaft unless there be
a great amount of play in the connections, which would be objectionable.
The crank pin k' is therefore so mounted that it may vary its distance from
the shaft with which it revolves. In the machine shown in the Drawings this
crank pin works in a slotted disc, the slot extending in a radial line from the
centre of the shaft and in this slot the pin is free to slide. The oscillating
fulcrum may be set nearer to one shaft than to the other, or the connecting
rod made longer or shorter, and a considerable variation of velocity of the
driven shaft during any one revolution may thus be attained. This variation
of velocity may be taken advantage of for imparting varying velocities of
travel to the shuttle or other working parts actuated from the driven shaft.
The upper shaft has secured upon its front end a boss or face wheel m. A
slot m' is formed in this boss, and into it extends a crank pin n, which is
supported by and revolves with a short shaft p; this latter shaft is not
opposite the upper shaft, but lies above it and in a different vertical plane.
A connecting rod q extends from the crank pin n to the pin r upon the needle
stock or carrier h, the connection being such that the stock or carrier is
forced to rise and fall as the crank revolves. When the upper or main
shaft is revolved, the slot m¹ will force the crank pin n to revolve, and as
the two shafts are eccentric the pin will during its revolution be forced
to slide in the slot; as it slides it will vary its distance from the centre of the
main shaft, and the pin will have a rapid motion when at a distance from the
main shaft (see Figs. 6 and 7), and a comparatively slow motion when it is
close to the centre of the main shaft (see Figs. 4 and 5.) The distance
between the centre of the shaft and the centre on which the crank pin revolves
may be varied from the precise distance shown in the Drawings. The throw
of the crank pin or length of the crank may also be changed, and also the
length of the slot, and by such changes variations of velocity may be produced
suiting the exigencies of any special machine or the judgment of any con-
structor. The shafts are so placed relatively to each other that the slow
motion of the pin occurs when the necessities of the machine require a slow
motion of the needle, The contrivance works smoothly and with little
friction or wear of the parts, and the varying velocity of the pin with reference
to the main shaft may be further diversified by curving the slot, but the
Inventor prefers a straight slot. The acting parts of the contrivance are a

page_text: revolving slot, a crank pin revolving upon a centre eccentric to that upon
which the slot revolves, and a connecting rod or some equivalent therefor,
such as a slot in the needle stock or carrier to transfer the motions of the
crank to the needle, and by varying the relative positions of the centres of the
shafts and the centre of revolution of the crank pin, and, if desired, the length
of the crank, the variation of velocities of the shafts may be changed as
circumstances may require.
Figure 1 on Sheet 2 of the Drawings represents a view in elevation of one
side of a sewing machine embracing the second part of the second head of
this Invention; Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof; Fig. 3 a rear elevation
thereof, which is here shown as constructed according to the first head of this
Invention, although any other means may be employed for transmitting
motion from the driving to the driven shaft; and Figs. 4, 5, and 6, represent
details of the needle-driving mechanism comprised in this part of the
Invention.
A is the bed plate of the machine, and B.the supporting arm to sustain the
needle bar and its operating mechanism, the presser foot, its spring and
lifting cam, and also a rotating shaft D, carrying fly wheel C, and a driving
pulley E; it is obvious, however, that this part of the Invention may be
applied to all sewing machines using the supporting arm or its equivalent.
a
The supporting arm B is bifurcated at its front end, and its branches a and a¹
support the front plate b, in which two parallel grooves are formed longi-
tudinally to guide the needle bar d and the bar c that carries the presser foot,
and these bars or arms are let in flush with the back of the plate, which also
sustains a shield e to exclude dust from the operative mechanism on the end
of the supporting arm, and to prevent the escape therefrom of the oil used in
those parts for lubrication, at the back of the plate 6, and about centrally
between the branches a and a¹, the arm B is recessed to receive the mechanism
constituting this part of the Invention. On the front end of the arm B is
cast a circular flange or plate f to which is permanently secured in a vertical
plane a stationary cam disc g (shown separately in Fig. 6.)
9
This disc has a
central opening to permit the forward end of the driving shaft D to pass
through and rotate freely therein. The cam groove h is so formed as to give
the required pauses, rests, and rapid movements of the needle at the time
required for the particular machine to which this part of the Invention is to be
applied, and is made of a depth to give a bold supporting face to both sides of
the crank pin which is to move in it. A disc, boss, or face wheel i is secured
to the front end of the driving shaft and revolves with it. The edges of this

page_text: boss, and those of the permanent disc g, match neatly with each other, and the
boss i carries a radial slot K, Fig. 5, of sufficient width to carry smoothly an
antifriction roller 2 on the central portion of the crank pin n, (shown in
Fig. 4). The boss i runs close to the face of the fixed can g, and may have
a curved instead of a radial slot, but it is preferred to adopt the latter, though
either can be made of a length to give all the required movements of the
crank pin with little friction. The crank arm 1 is fastened at its lower end
by a pin or screw m, on which it must vibrate freely to the needle bar d, and
carries a stud or crank pin n at its opposite end long enough to pass through
the slot K in the boss, and nearly to the bottom of the cam groove h of the
stationary disc or cam g. The antifriction roller 2 on the crank pin moves
in the slot K in the boss, and another antifriction roller 3 on the same
crank pin runs in the cam groove h in order to diminish the friction of the
movement of the crank pin within the boss and cam. When the parts thus
described are combined, and the driving shaft set in motion, the boss i will
rotate with it and carry the crank pin n in the slot K round the centre of the
driving shaft, while, its movement being governed by the stationary cam
groove h, will describe an irregular ellipse or oval, due to the form of the
cam and to the change of position of the crank pin in the slot K, and thus this
motion will vary the movement of the needle bar to a perfect reciprocation
and regulate its pauses and movements so that the needle movements will be
properly timed to the wants of the stitching and feeding mechanism of
all the machines in which it may be employed, for as the distance between
the centre of the driving shaft and the centre of the crank pin may be varied
as the length of the crank arm may be varied, and the length and form of the
driving shaft as well as the form and size of the stationary cam may also be
varied without affecting the principle of this part of the Invention, its
applicability and adaptability to all sewing machines using a supporting arm
or requiring such changes of the needle motion is clearly manifest.
This device for vibrating the needle bar works smoothly, is attended with
no jerking of the needle bar, and moves almost without noise.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before
in part recited Letters Patent, is,—
First, the peculiar combination of two crank pins, a connecting rod, and a
fulcrum, for transmitting motion from one shaft of a sewing machine to a

page_text: second shaft therein, substantially as herein-before described under the first
head of this Invention.
Second, the application and use to and in the transmitting of motion to the
needle of a sewing machine of a crank pin connected with the needle
carrier or slide, and working in a revolving slot, substantially as herein-before
described.
Third, the application and use to and in the transmitting of motion to the
needle of a sewing machine of a stationary face cam in combination with a
revolving slot and crank pin, substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated on Sheet 2 of the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-four.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)