IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Reeves, of Wandsworth Road, in the
County of Surrey, Accountant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SEWING MACHINES.”
Scaled the 20th July 1875, and dated the 4th February 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Reeves at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th February 1875.
I, THOMAS REEVES, of Wandsworth Road, in the County of Surrey,
Accountant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SEWING MACHINES," to be as
follows:-
The chief object of this Invention is to ensure to the ordinary shuttle
of the sewing machine an easy, rapid, and silent action.
To this end instead of giving, to the shuttle a reciprocating motion I
cause it to revolve around the axis of its carrier. The shuttle is
mounted in a disc shaped carrier keyed to the main driving shaft, and

page_text: :
rotating in front of a circular race. This carrier is made to slide on its
shaft to permit of the facile insertion and removal of the shuttle there-
from. An excentric on this shaft serves both to give a reciprocating
motion to the vertical needle through suitable connections, and also to
work the feed dog or serrated plate.
The mechanical arrangement by which the motion of the driving
shaft is communicated to the feed dog or plate may be indefinitely
varied, as will be well understood, but when great exactness of adjust-
ment is desired, both in respect of the rise of the feed plate (to suit
various thicknesses and kinds of material) and the traverse to determine
the length of stitch, I employ an arrangement of the following
character-To the strap which surrounds the above-mentioned excentric
is jointed a lover which rocks on an adjustable fulcrum near the bed
of the machine. To the front end of this rock lever is jointed a pair of
slotted arms, to one of which is linked an arm that is pivotted to a
vertically sliding plate that is governed in its motions by fixed guides.
To the other of the pair of arms is jointed a link which connects with a
crank lever, the upper arm of which is slotted to receive a pin that con-
nects it with the feed dog.
A horizontal slot made in the vertically sliding plate also receives a
pin from this feed dog, and thus the rising and falling motion of the
plate is communicated to the dog, while the rocking motion of the
crank lever gives the dog a to-and-fro motion. This feed motion may
be adjusted with great nicety, the levers being slotted to allow of the
adjustment of their connecting pins.
A guide spring is situate in the centre of the shuttle race for the
purpose of regulating and determining the proper positions of the shuttle
thread during the continuous movement of the shuttle.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Reeves, Her special
licence, that I, the said Thomas Reeves, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Reeves, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF SEWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Thomas Reeves, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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 Thomas Reeves, 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 Drawing
5 hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say) :-
The object of this Invention is to ensure to the shuttle of the sewing
machine an easy, rapid, and silent action, and generally to simplify the
construction of the machine.
To this end instead of giving to the shuttle a reciprocating motion as
in the ordinary sewing machines, I fit it to a peculiar construction of
rotatory carrier and cause it to revolve in a circular race which is con-
centric with the carrier, and which is provided with a detaining spring
for holding the shuttle thread at tension during certain periods of the
5 action of the machine. The carrier is disc shaped, and it is keyed on to
the main driving shaft and rotates in the circular race which is bolted
to the underside of the table of the machine. An excentric on the
driving shaft serves both to give reciprocating motion to the vertical

page_text: needle through suitable connections, and also to impart the requisite
motions to the feed dog or roughened plate.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a side clevation partly in
section of the improved machine; Fig. 2 is a front view of the same,
the table being in section to shew the feed mechanism more clearly.
Figures 3 and 4 are detached views of the shuttle and race illustrativo
of the action of the shuttle in forming the stitch.
Figures 5 are side and end views of the shuttle used in the machine.
A is the main driving shaft of the machine mounted in bearings on
the under side of the table B; C is the bracket arm of the machine in
the front or head of which are mounted the needle bar D and presser E
in the usual manner. The main driving shaft carries at its front end
the disc-shaped shuttle carrier A', which is provided with a recess a on
its periphery, in which the shuttle a* fits loosely. This shuttle, shewn
detached at Figures 5, is curved at its forward end so as to catch and
enter the needle loop with certainty, and is of the usual form in cross
section. The bobbin is inserted into the shuttle case from the end and
secured in its place by closing the end with a spring trap. The bobbin
thread passes from the shuttle near its point, the necessary tension being
given by first passing it through guide holes and beneath a spring disc
inserted in the nose of the shuttle. The shuttle carrier being disc
shaped will serve as a balance or fly wheel to the machine.
The rear end of the main shaft is furnished with a band pulley a¹ (by
which motion may be communicated to the machine), and keyed to the
driving shaft near to the pulley a¹ is an excentric. Surrounding the
excentric a³ is a strap and arm a³ from which leads upward to and is
connected by a socket joint to the rock lever D₁, by which a recipro-
cating motion is transmitted to the needle bar D. The excentric strap
is also fitted with a lug to receive a link a' which connects with a rock
lever G below the table; the fulcrum of this rock lever is adjustable to
determine the amount of lift of the feeding dog or plate; H is a pendent
bracket bolted to the under side of the table B, the recessed face H' of
which forms the circular shuttle race, and is in close proximity to the face
of the rotating shuttle carrier. A deeper recess is cut near the centre of
the race H¹ to receive the detaining spiral spring h, the end of which is
bent into an elbow and projects into the race H' for the purpose of
catching and holding the shuttle thread at tension during a portion of

page_text: the revolution of the shuttle. In the vertical recess in the race H¹ made
for the passage of the needle I cut a notch h³, for the purpose of
catching and holding the loop of the needle thread during the passage
of the shuttle through the same, and I cut away at h² a portion of the
circumference of the race near the throat plate to prevent the liability
of the loop catching between the shuttle and the rim of the race so as
to facilitate the escape of the loop.
For securing a proper tension of the needle thread the following con-
trivance is employed :-I is a lever or "take-up "having an irregular or
bent slot pivotted at i to the bracket arm C. Into the slot of this lever
projects the joint pin or screw d which couples the rock lever D₁ to the
needle bar D. This screw d during the up and down motion of the rock
lever D¹ communicates to the " take-up" lever the action herein-after
more particularly described.
Before starting the machine the shuttle thread is to be pulled through
the throat plate and held fast. On the shuttle commencing to revolve
its thread will be caught by the detaining spring / (as shewn in the
detached view, Fig. 4) and will be held at tension until the shuttle;
during its onward motion, has passed into the loop of the needle thread;
which the descent and partial ascent of the needle has at the same time
opened out and presented to the point of the advancing shuttle. The
passage of the shuttle through the loop of the needle thread will push
one side of the loop into the notch h¹ of the shuttle race, and the loop
will be held by the edge or corner of this notch and so counteract the
tendency which the shuttle has to drag forward the loop of the needle
thread; this action will also slightly raise the shuttle from its carrier
and facilitate the passage of the shuttle through the loop. The pro-
jecting elbow of the detaining spring / having caught the shuttle thread
during the rotation of the shuttle will hold it until the shuttle has nearly
passed through the needle loop. The shuttle thread will then be
released (slipping off the inclined plane formed by the bent end or elbow
of the spring) as the shuttle continues its rotary course (as seen best in
Fig. 1). This detaining spring forms a shuttle thread regulator, and
easily adapts itself to any tension that may be on the thread.
When the shuttle has passed through the needle loop the ascent of the
needle bar will bring the screw or pin d against the projecting angle **
of the slot in the "take-up" lever I and cause that lever to rise and
draw the needle thread from off the angle of the notch ' and take up

page_text: the slack of the thread. The pin d during the completion of the ascent
of the needle bar passes up the remaining portion of the slot in the
"take-up" lever, causing it thereby to descend for a short distance, thus
avoiding the tightening of the needle thread prematurely. It will be
seen that the needle arrives at its highest point a little before the shuttle
has reached the lowest part of the race (that is, its farthest point from
the throat plate) in consequence of the needle having commenced its
ascent before the point of the shuttle has reached the central vertical
line of the shuttle race, therefore the needle is descending before the
shuttle has tightened up its thread; the descent of the "take-up" lever ]
a short distance as the needle attains its highest position therefore
prevents the shuttle thread from being pulled up into the work
prematurely. On the descent of the needle bar the pin d will bear
against one side of the upper portion of the slot of the "take-up " lever
(as shewn in the diagram view, Figure 6) and cause it to rise again to its 1
highest point, and give an additional pull upwards to the needle thread
at precisely the moment that the shuttle has been carried down to its
lowest position and its thread is stretched across the race in a vertical
line, so that both threads will be pulled tight at the same instant.
The feed mechanism is composed of vertical and horizontal sliding
plates F and F¹, rock levers F2 and F³, and an adjustable guide pin for
regulating the length of stitch. This mechanism is mounted on the
front face of the bracket H. The vertical sliding plate F is provided
with slots f to receive the studs or screws which connect it to the
bracket, and serve also to guide it in its vertical motion. The feed
dog F¹ is carried by the sliding plate F, and is mounted thereon in a
similar manner by screws passing through the horizontal slot f*. F' is
a bell-crank lever pivotted on the bracket H, but in front of the sliding
plate F, the guide screw f' forming its fulcrum. The upper end of this
lever is slotted to receive the pin or screw f' by which it is connected to
the feed dog F¹, its other end is curved and passes through the slotted
lever F³. This lever F³ and the slide plate F are both pivotted at their
lower ends to the extreme outer end of the rock lever G, from which
they receive an up-and-down motion. The upper end of the lever F³ is
slotted, and into this slot takes a pin on the end of the lever Ft which
is keyed on a rock shaft running the length of the machine. The
opposite end of this rock shaft carries a lever F; in the forked end of
which a nut is carried in journals. Into this nut the screw Fe passes.

page_text: It will be readily understood that by turning the screw F the guide
pin of the lever F' will be caused to rock the lever F" nearer to or
farther from the fulcrum of the bell-crank lever F³ (one arm of which
it embraces), thus shortening or lengthening its acting leverage so that
the vertical motion which the lever F³ receives in common with the
sliding plate F from the rock lever G will cause the bell-crank lever
to be rocked and traverse the feed dog in its horizontal slot as it attains
its highest position, a greater or less distance, according to the length
of stitch desired.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements
in the Construction of Sewing Machines," and explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be. understood that under the
above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First. The arrangement of carrier, race, and detaining spring above
described for revolving the shuttle and controlling the slack of the
shuttle thread during a portion of its revolution.
Second. The means above described for holding back the loop of the
needle thread for releasing the loop and taking up the slack of that
thread after the loop has been secured by the passage through it of the
shuttle thread.
Third. The combination and arrangement of parts whereby the needle
and feed mechanism are operated from one excentric on the rotating
shuttle shaft, as herein shewn and described.
Fourth. The arrangement of mechanism above described for operating
the feed dog or plate.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Reeves, have hereunto
set my
hand and seal, the Fourth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
I
THOMAS REEVES
(T. B)