IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Gilbee, of No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES."-A communication from abroad by Jacques Marie
Clement Debras and Gabriel Léonard Bongard, of 19, Boulevard
Bonnenouvelle, Paris.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Gilbee at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th
January 1861.
I, HENRY GILBEE, of No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows, that is to say:―
This Invention relates to certain arrangements of machinery for forming a
sewing stitch known as the "overlap" or "glove stitch," and consists, first,
in the peculiar construction and combination of a reciprocating circular needle
with a hook or looper, a thread separator, and thread expanding pin or hook
for forming the said stitch.
Secondly, in a peculiar construction of "presser" for pressing the cloth or
other material.
Thirdly, in a novel mode of pushing or feeding the material to be sewn.
Fourthly, in constructing the guide plate for guiding the cloth.

page_text: The machine is composed of a cast-iron table, underneath which is placed
the mechanism for actuating the circular needle and pieces, which, by their
combined movement, produce the overlap or glove stitch. The main shaft is
put in motion by a driving wheel or pulley, which is made to turn by two
treadles or other suitable means. The circular needle is fixed on the axis of a
pinion, and receives its circular alternate motion from a segmental rack put in
motion by a cam. This needle is placed within a recess in which is fixed the
hooked pin or thread separator, which serves to separate, at the proper
moment, the two branches or parts of the thread passing through the
eye of
the needle. A small hook or pin placed on the fore part of the recess serves
to expand the loop of the stitch. The hook or looper guiding the thread to
produce the loop is jointed to the end of a slide connected to a lever, which is
worked by a cam giving an alternate movement. A stop moved by another
cam causes the hook or looper to move aside at the required moment, in order
to allow the circular needle to pass when the circular needle is advancing to
bring its thread. The slide of the hook is made to move. backwards by a
spiral spring, and as soon as this movement is performed the needle remains
stationary. The hook, which had been withdrawn, advances again, and, being
pushed back by the stop, takes hold of the thread in the interior of the circular
part of the needle, follows its course, and moves aside immediately, so as to
allow the needle to pass at the moment it withdraws. The hook or looper
brings the loop behind the needle to finish the stitch.
needle has performed half its stroke, and the hook or looper is set in motion,
the pin or separator takes hold of one of the threads in order that the hook
may not take two in passing, thus the looper makes the loop, it is expanded
by the hook, and the separator sets aside the two threads brought by the
needle in order that the hook may take hold of one only. The presser does
not receive any motion from the driving shaft; the cylindrical roller is caused
only to press on the wedge or inclined plane of the presser, which is regulated
at will according to the thickness of the material. A plate fixed on the head
of the presser serves to press on the cloth by means of a screw. The feeder
or pusher is provided also with an inclined plane on which a cam presses.
When the circular
Various mechanical equivalents may be employed to produce the above
results. The stitch is regulated by means of a screw turning in the two nuts
fixed on the feeder. A bar set on the extremity of the screw bears on a cam
and receives from it an alternate motion. This improved sewing machine is
applicable for sewing the strongest as well as the most delicate fabrics.

page_text: :
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Gilbee in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th July 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
GILBEE, of No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, send.
greeting.
. WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Gilbee, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Gilbee, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Gilbee, 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 of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES," communicated to me from abroad by Jacques Marie Clement
Debras and Gabriel Leonard Bongard, of 19, Boulevard Bonnenouvelle,
Paris, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Gilbee,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 Henry Gilbee, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following.
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereto annexed, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
*
The Invention communicated to me relates to certain improved arrange-
ments of machinery for forming a sewing stitch known as the "overlap" or
glove stitch," and consists, first, in the peculiar construction and com-
bination of a reciprocating circular needle, with a hook or looper, a thread
separator, and a thread expanding pin or hook for forming the said stitch.
Secondly, in the peculiar construction of "presser" for pressing the cloth or
other material.

page_text: Thirdly, in a novel mode of pushing or feeding the material to be sewn.
Fourthly, in constructing the guide plate for guiding the cloth.
In the annexed Drawing the same letters of reference on the various figures
indicate similar parts.
Figure 1, Sheet 1, represents a plan of the machine seen from underneath,
showing the apparatus for working simultaneously the needle and the parts
serving to form and complete the stitch. Figures 2 and 3 are vertical sections
of the machine. Figures 3¹, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
18, 19, & 20, Sheet 2, are detailed views of the several parts; and Figure 21,
Sheet 1, is an enlarged view of the overlap stitch made by the machine. A,
cast-iron base plate of the machine; B, the driving shaft set in motion by the
pulley C, which is made to turn by two treadles or any other means. The
shaft B carries cams D, J, R, X, T, causing the movable pieces of the machine.
to work. The two principal organs or pieces which by their combined.action
produce the whip-stitch are the circular needle N and the hook or looper F,
by which the stitch is looped. The circular needle N fitted on an axis:
carrying the pinion M receiving a circular alternate motion from the toothed
balance lever L, actuated by the cam K on the shaft B. The needle N is
placed in the recessed needle-box o, in the interior of which is fixed the hook
or separator P, which separates the thread egressing from the-eye-of-the-needle-
at the required moment. The expanding book P¹ set on the front of the
recess o serves to develop the loop of the stitch. The hook or looper F serving
to guide the thread is jointed to the extremity of the slide G united to the
balance lever E receiving from the cam D an alternate motion. A stop H
actuated by the cam J causes the hook F at the required moment to recede
for the purpose of letting the circular needle pass. When the latter is advan-
cing to bring in its thread the slide G is pushed backwards by the spiral
spring, and as soon as this movement is accomplished the needle remains at
rest, the hook F, which had withdrawn, advances again, but being stopped by.
means of the stop H, takes hold of the thread in the internal and circular part 3
of the needle N, follows its course, and moves immediately out of the way to
give passage to the needle at the moment the last is receding, then the hook
F brings the loop behind the needle to finish the stitch. When the circular
needle has performed half of its course the hook or separator P takes hold of
one of the threads at the moment the looper F is moving again, preventing it 3
therefore to take hold of two threads while passing. In this manner the hook
or looper F makes the loop, the expanding hook P¹ develops it, and the thread
separator P separates the two threads brought by the needle to prevent the
hook F taking hold of two threads while passing. The fabric presser Q

page_text: presses against the cloth by means of the inclined plane q, which can be regu-
lated at will according to the thickness of the fabric. The plate Q' placed on
the upper part of the "presser" Q serves, by means of a screw, to bear on the
fabric. The fabric mover S is also provided with an inclined plane r, on which
presses the cam T. The head or claw of the fabric mover is formed with a
rough surface, by which the fabric is moved according to the direction given
by the cam T. The position of the incline plane r, and also the inclined. plane
9, are adjusted in order to obtain the necessary action for moving the fabric..
The length of the stitch is regulated by means of the screw V, which turns in
two nuts u, v, on the fabric mover S. A bar a placed on the extremity of the
screws bears on the cam X, from which it receives an alternate motion.
This machine may be used for the thickest and strongest fabrics, such as
tarpauling, ship canvass, and also for the most delicate goods, such as gloves.
and other articles. Thus, for the sewing of gloves the arrangement for the
fabric, presser Q will be similar to those of the feeder S, but the cam of the.
"presser" will be disposed in a contrary direction to the cam of the feeder, in:
order that these two organs should receive simultaneously a contrary alternate
motion. Thus, to make the fabric advance the distance of a stitch the feeder
will rise at the same moment as that at which the fabric presser will be lowered,
and this movement takes place when the circular needle has moved out of the:

page_text: lated by a screw, and serves to maintain the fabric. S, fabric feeder, carrying
an inclined planer, on which the cam T presses; U, spring serving to main-
tain the feeder; V, screw serving to regulate the stitch and turning in the
nuts u, v, and carries at the extremity the bar a, on which the cam X. acts;
Y, fabric guide, composed of a plate for guiding the edge of the fabric; W,
regulator guide, serving to regulate the tension of the thread and acting on a
spring. It is placed, as well as the bobbin Z, under the fabric guide Y. Y, Y,
screws by which the position of the fabric guide is regulated on the plate A.
Having now described the Invention communicated to me, and the best
means I am acquainted with of putting it into execution, I wish to observe, in
conclusion, that I do not confine myself to the precise details of construction
herein laid down provided the principle of the Invention be preserved. What
I claim is.
First, the general arrangement and construction of the sewing machine
for producing the overlap stitch, as herein-before described, and shown in the
accompanying Sheets of Drawings.
Secondly, the construction and arrangement of the pieces marked F, P, P',
in combination with the circular needle N, for producing the overlap stitch, as
herein-before described and, shown in Figures 2, 3, 31, 4, & 17, of the
annexed Drawing.
Thirdly, the construction and arrangement of the apparatus for feeding and
pressing the cloth or other fabric, as described.
Fourthly, the employment and construction of the guide plate Y, as
described and shown in Figure 20 of Sheet 2.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Gilbee, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
TT
H. GILDEE. (L.S.)