IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Norris Parmby Stockwell, of 64, Regent Street,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SEWING MACHINES."-A communication from abroad by The Howe
Machine Company, of Bridgeport, State of Connecticut, United
States of America.
Sealed the 26th September 1871, and dated the 1st August 1871.
13.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Norris Parmby Stock-
well at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 1st August 1871.
J
'I, NORRIS PARMBY STOCKWELL, of 64, Regent Street, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
-
This Invention has for its object improvements in sewing machines.
In order to give a rising and falling and also an endway to-and-fro
movement to the stepper or feed plate of that class of sewing machine
where the serrated feed plate acts on the under side of the fabric or work,

page_text: I attach the serrated feed plate to a bar, one end of which rests on a
suitable guide, and the other end, which is bent downwards, is held
down by a spring on to a cam. This cam gives the rising and falling
motion to the serrated feed plate. The spring above-mentioned also
draws the end of the bar which rests on the guide surface back against
a stop. To this end of the bar is jointed another bar, which at its
opposite end is held down by a spring on to a second cam, by which a
rising and falling motion is imparted to it; as this end of the last-
mentioned bar rises upwards a projection upon it works against an
inclined surface, and this causes the two bars to move endwise and gives
the forward motion to the serrated feed plate. The amount of forward
movement given to the serrated feed plate, and consequently the length
of stitch, is governed by the angle at which this inclined surface is fixed.
The incline is formed by one edge of a plate, which plate at its lower
end turns on a pin, and at its upper end is by a link connected to a
lever, so that by turning this lever the angle of the plate can be varied.
The link is connected to the shorter arm of the lever, and the longer arm
has upon it a pin that rises upwards through a slot at the back end of
the bed plate of the machine, and which can be locked at any desired
position along the slot by a lock nút screwing on to its upper end.
By moving the lever by this lock nut the length of stitch can be
quickly altered without stopping the machine. Other arrangements
of mechanism for altering the angle of the incline may however be
adopted.
In order also that the bed plates of sewing machines may be capable
of being turned up on a hinge joint, and yet allow of their resting when
at work on elastic washers, the bed of the machine is provided with four
pins projecting downwards from its under side near it's four corners, and
these pins pass through holes in elastic washers which are placed
between the bed and the table or stand on which the machine is carried;
but in place of all the pins being rigidly connected to the bed plate, as
heretofore, the upper ends of the two pins on one side are pin jointed to
the bed plate, and a collar is formed on each of these pins to rest upon
the elastic washers placed around them.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Norris Parmby Stockwell in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st February 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NORRIS
PARMBY STOCKWELL, of 64, Regent Street, in the County of Middlesex;
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-fifth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Norris Parmby Stockwell, Her special license
that I, the said Norris Parmby Stockwell, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Norris Parmby Stockwell, 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 communication to him from abroad by The Howe
Machine Company, of Bridgeport, State of Connecticut, United States of
America,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Norris
Parmby Stockwell, 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 Norris Parmby Stockwell, 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 :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in sewing machines.
In order to give a rising and falling and also an endway .to-and-fro
movement to the stepper or feed plate of that class of sewing machine
where the serrated feed plate acts on the under side of the fabric or work,
I attach the serrated feed plate to a bar, one end of which rests on a
suitable guide, and the other, end, which is bent downwards, is held down

page_text: by a spring on to a cam. This cam gives the rising and falling motion
to the serrated feed plate. The spring above mentioned also draws the
bar backwards, such backward movement being limited by a stop. To
the bar is jointed one end of another bar, which at its opposite end is
held down by a spring on to a second cam, by which a rising and falling
motion is imparted to it; as this end of the last-mentioned bar rises
upwards a projection upon it works against an inclined surface, and this
causes the two bars to move endwise, and gives the forward motion to
the serrated feed plate. The amount of forward movement given to the
serrated feed plate, and consequently the length of stitch, is governed by
the angle at which this inclined surface is fixed. The incline is formed
by one edge of a plate, which plate at its lower end turns on a pin, and
at its upper end is by a link connected to a lever, so that by turning this
lever the angle of the plate can be varied. The link is connected to
the shorter arm of the lever, and the longer arm has upon it a pin that
rises upwards through a slot at the back end of the bed plate of the
machine, and which can be locked at any desired position along the slot
by a lock nut screwing on to its upper end. By moving the lever by
this lock nut the length of stitch can be quickly altered without stopping
the machine. Other arrangements of mechanism for altering the angle
of the incline may however be adopted.
In order also that the bed plates of sewing machines may be capable
of being turned up on a hinge joint, and yet allow of their resting when
at work on elastic washers, the bed of the machine is provided with
four pins projecting downwards from its under side near its four corners,
and these pins pass through holes in elastic washers which are placed
between the bed and the table or stand on which the machine is carried;
but in place of all the pins being rigidly connected to the bed plate as
heretofore the upper ends of the two pins on one side are pin jointed to
the bed plate, and a collar is formed on each of these pins to rest upon
the elastic washers placed around them.
Figure 1 shews a side view partly in section, and Figure 2 an end view
of a sewing machine, in which the mechanism for feeding forward the
cloth or work is arranged in the manner above described.
a is the cam axis of the machine having upon it a cam 6 for giving a
vertical to-and-fro motion to the needle, and a cam c for giving a hori-
zontal to-and-fro motion to the shuttle, as is usual in what are known as
the "Howe" sewing machines, and as is clearly shewn by the Drawings;

page_text: d is the serrated feed plate which passes through a slot in the bed plate
of the machine, and below the bed plate it is fixed by a screw to a bar e:
One end of this bar rests in a guide slot in a projection f on the under
side of the bed plate, and the opposite end of the bar has screwed to it
a projecting piece e', which is held down by the spring e² on to a cam e¹.
This cam gives a rising and falling motion to the serrated feed plate.
The spring es also serves to draw backwards the bar e. 9 is a bar jointed
at one end by the screw pin h to the bar e, whilst its opposite end is by
a spring g² pressed down on to a cam g¹, and by this cam a rising and
falling motion is given to it. On this end of the bar is also a projection g³
which bears against the edge of the inclined plate k. When the bar g
is raised by the cam g¹ the projection g³ on the bar slides along the edge
of the inclined plate k, and is so caused to move forward, and as it is
jointed at its opposite end to the bar e it draws this bar forward with it,
and so gives the requisite forward motion to the feed plate d. When
the cam g¹as it revolves comes into a position to allow of the bar g
descending the bar is pressed downwards by the spring 93, and at the
same time the two bars e and g are drawn backwards by the spring e²;
thus the projection g³ is at all times kept bearing against the edge of the
inclined plate k. The plate k is capable of turning at its lower end on a
pink, and near its upper end it' has jointed to it a connecting rod 7.
The rod at its opposite end is jointed to a lever m, which turns on a
pin at m¹, and at its end carries a screw pin m³. This pin rises up
through a slot in the bed plate of the machine, and has a thumb nut n
screwed on to it, by which the end of the lever can be clamped to the
bed plate. When the lever m is turned on its fulcrum by shifting
the position of the thumb nut along the slot the inclination of the
plate k is varied, and according as the plate is set in a more or less
inclined position so will the amount of forward feed given to the work
be varied.
As before stated other arrangements of mechanism for altering the
angle of the plate k may be adopted; I however prefer to employ the

page_text: shewn. These pins pass down through holes in elastic washers p, p,
which rest on the table or stand, and on the pins o are collars o¹, which
rest upon the top of the washers. The two corners of the opposite side
of the bed plate have pins r, r, fixed to them, and these pass down as
heretofore through holes in elastic washers 8, 8, which rest upon the
table or stand. I would state that in place of the pins o which are
jointed to the bed plate being outside of the bed plate, as shewn in the
Drawings, the heads of the pins o might be received in slots or recesses
in the edge of the bed plate, and be similarly jointed to it.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that what is claimed
as the improvements in sewing machines is,-
First. The combined arrangement substantially as herein described for
giving motion to the serrated feed plate of sewing machines.
Second. The combined arrangement substantially as herein described
whereby the amount of feed given to the work, and consequently the
length of stitch, can be varied by shifting the position of a lock nut at
the back end of the machine.
Third. The jointing the bed plates of sewing machines to pins or
supports formed with collars to rest on elastic washers substantially as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Norris Parmby Stockwell, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.