IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alphonso Keats, of Newcastle, in the County of Stafford,
Boot Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINES"
SEWING
Scaled the 4th May 1880, and dated the 23rd December 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alphonso Keats at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd December 1879.
ALPHONSO KEATS, of Newcastle, in the County of Stafford, Boot Manufacturer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES,"
This Invention relates to improvements on sewing machines in which a hooked
needle is used, with which needle it is common to employ a whirl for laying the
needle thread in the hook of the needle.
In place of this contrivance I propose to adapt to post sewing machines and such
others as will admit of its employment a reciprocating plate or notched bar for
laying the needle thread within the hook of the needle. This plate or notched bar
will lie under the throat plate and parallel thereto. It will be carried by a vertical
rock shaft which may receive a reciprocating axial motion from a driver working
up and down in a helical groove or from other suitable means. The thread is
drawn off a reel from below, passed through an eye at the outer extremity of the
plate or bar, and thence led up at an angle through the throat plate to the work.
To permit of the needle in its descent passing this reciprocating plate the plate is
notched out to a depth equal to the amount of its reciprocation. The needle in its
descent will carry its hook down past the notched plate, and while in this position
the plate will advance towards the needle so as to bring the thread over the hook.
As the needle rises its hook will take the thread thus brought within its reach and
carry it up through the work in the usual manner.
In order to provide for the tightening of the stitch in machines which are fitted
with a hooked needle and a shuttle above the work, I provide below the base of
the machine a rocking lever carrying a tension pulley for the thread. This rock
lever serves to draw off the requisite supply of thread from the bobbin and deliver
it to the reciprocating thread plate (or to the whirl when that instrument is
employed) in such manner that it will provide the slack thread for the rising

page_text: hooked necdle, and take up the slack when the hooked needle is released from the
thread, thereby drawing the shuttle thread into the work and avoiding the cutting
or indenting of the leather on the line of progress of the work by the pull of the
needle thread
The rock lever carrying the tension pulley I operate by a cam on the cam shaft 5
in such a manner that it will not only draw the stitch tight in the work, which
operation is effected before the next following loop is drawn up into the work, but
also take a fresh supply of thread off the bobbin before it rises to follow the upwaid
movement of the needle.
The bobbin I fit with a tension spring as usual, and I hold it fast by a brake 1
lever which is released momentarily from action by a tappet cam on the cam shaft
when a fresh supply of thread is required to be drawn off.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Alphonso Keats in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 23rd June
1880.
"
ALPHONSO KEATS, of Newcastle, in the County of Stafford, Boot Manufacturer.
IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."
This Invention relates to means for tightening of the stitch in waxed thread
sewing machines having a hooked needle and shuttle above the work.
In attaining this object 1 employ a rocking lever carrying a guide pulley for the
thread, which lever serves to draw off the requisite supply of thread from the
bobbin, deliver it to the whirl, provide the slack thread for the rising hooked
needle, and take up the slack when the shuttle has passed through the loop, thereby
drawing the shuttle thread into the work, and by timing this action with respect
to the movements of the feeding instruments as hereafter explained, avoiding the
cutting or indenting of the leather on the line of progress of the stitching by the
pull of the needle thread.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly in
section of a post sewing machine, constructed according to the Invention for which
I obtained Letters Patent, bearing date June Twenty eighth, One thousand eight
hundred and seventy nine, No. 2619, and having applied thereto the improvements
which constitute the present Invention, and Fig. 2, Sheet II., is a sectional plan of
the same taken in the irregular line 1, 2, 3, 4, of Fig. 1.
A, A, A, Figs. 1 and 2, indicate the hollow base, the standard, and bracket arm
which serve to carry the working parts of the machine, the same being cast in one
piece. Standing up from the base is the short hollow post A' which serves to
support the work, and in it the whirl for laying the thread in the booked needle is
moanted. The bracket arm carries at its forward end the guides for the hooked
needle bar and presser bar as usual, and pendent from this arm is a bracket A²
which serves to support the shuttle carrier, and also a fixed cam for actuating the
mechanism for holding the shuttle in position. B is a vertical cam shaft mounted
in bearings in the standard and projecting below the base of the machine.
Upon this shaft are mounted the rotating cams employed for operating the
various parts of the sewing machine. C is the hooked needle fitted to the needle
bar C which is pivotted to a rock lever C mounted on the bracket arm. This
lever is operated as usual by a cam C³ on the cam shaft B.
Within the post A¹ is mounted the whirl D which is supplied with thread from
a bobbin E mounted on a stud axle carried by a projection from the base of the
machine.
The needle thread is led off the bobbin E to a guide pulley E*, thence down to
and around the pulley F¹ carried by a rock lever F which rocks on a fulcrum pin
carried by a hollow base. The thread leaving the pulley F passes up through the
centre of the whirl, which by its axial motion lays the thread in the hook of the
needle in the usual manner. The rock lever F carries at its rear a bowl which
enters a groove in the periphery of a cam F2 on the cam shaft B. This cam (which
is shewn as laid out in the diagram Fig. 3, Sheet II.) by its rotation imparts the
requisite rocking motions to the lever F for following the needle in its ascent,
drawing down the slack thread to tighten the stitch, and taking off a fresh supply
of thread from the bobbin E, and slackening the thread at the proper time relatively
to the motion of the feed bar and the whirl.
G is the presser foot carried by the presser bar which is held down by a helical
spring as usual.
His the feed bar which stands up in the post A¹ and projects through the slotted
cap or cover thereof to bear against or reach the work. The bar H is pivotted to a
slide which is free to work up and down in guides formed to receive it in a fixed

page_text: bracket Hattached to the base of the machine. The lower end of this feed bar is
connected by a ball and socket joint to a rock lever H2, the pivot pin of which is
carried by a vertical swivel pin H³ (within the base A) forked at its upper end to
receive the lever. By thus mounting the rock lever H³, it is free to move
horizontally as well as vertically under the action of a double acting feed cam
H*, H³, mounted on the cam shaft B. The rear end of the rock lever H2 is forked,
and each prong of the fork is fitted with an antifriction bowl, the one to enter a
groove in the periphery of the cam H* which is the lifting cam, and the other to
bear upon the periphery of the cam H³ which is the feeding cam. These cams are
shewn as laid out in the diagrams Figures 4 and 5, Sheet II., and their timed
relation to the stitch tightening cam F2 is indicated by the dotted line which
passes through the three diagram figures.
The bobbin E which carries the needle thread is held by a suitably adjusted
brake lever, so as to prevent its giving off its thread except at the moment when a
fresh supply is required.
Supposing it is required to sew two pieces of leather together these are placed
upon the post A', and the hooked needle C being caused to descend will pierce the
work, and passing down into the centre of the whirl D will receive its thread
therefrom. The needle then rising through the work will present its loop to the
shuttle to receive a locking thread therefrom.
When the shuttle has passed through the loop, the rock lever F will by putting
a tension on the needle thread draw down the loop and tighten the stitch in the
work.
The rock lever continuing its downward motion will descend to the dotted
position of Fig. 1, and thereby draw off a fresh supply of thread from the bobbin E.
The cam F which actuates this lever is so cut (see Fig. 3) as instantly to slacken
the tension when the fresh supply of thread has been obtained, and thereby to
provide sufficient slack for the feed of the work and the subsequent action of the
whirl.
This tightening of the stitch it will be seen is effected by the direct downward
pull of the needle thread by the lever F, and hence the indentation of the leather
by the thread in the line of the stitches is avoided. I also avoid another defect
which has hitherto attended the introduction of stitch tightening apparatus into
wax thread sewing machines, vist, the scraping of the wax from the thread which
is due to the needle thread coming in contact with and being strained over some
hard edge or surface between the work and the bobbin, where it is very liable to
be frayed. This injurious result I avoid by so timeing the feed that it shall
immediately follow the tightening of the stitch, and be contemporaneous with the
rise of the lever to slacken the thread for the next succeeding action of the whirl.
As this is clearly illustrated by the group of diagrams Figures 3, 4, and 5, no
further explanation of the relation of the motions of the feed bar and stitch
tightener to each other will be required.
In adapting the stitch tightening apparatus to the swivel "horn" sewing
machine, which, as is well known, is required for sewing the outer sole of boots and
shoes to the insole, I mount the apparatus upon the swinging horn in order that it
may follow the motions of that instrument.
Sheet III., Fig. 6, shews in sectional elevation, and Fig. 7 in sectional plan view
so much of a swivel horn machine as will explain the mode of applying my
Invention to such muchines; A is the swivel horn upon the elevated end of which
the work to be sewn is placed, and within this extremity of the horn the whirl is
mounted as usual. The horn A is carried by a hollow trunnion A¹ through which
motion is conveyed to the whirl as usual. Mounted on the horizontal extremity of
this horn A is the bobbin C, which carries the needle thread or thread for the
whirl. This bobbin is provided with friction surfaces to receive the pressure of an
adjustable forked brake lever C¹.
Standing up from the hollow centre A¹ of the horn is a pair of guides a for
guiding a sliding frame D, which carries a roller D' of a longth corresponding with

page_text: that of the bobbin C, and mounted parallel thereto; this frame D (see the detached
view, Fig. 8) is supported by a vertical rod D³, which passes down the hollow
trunnion A, and is fitted loosely at its lower end with a collar D³. Projecting hori-
zontally from this collar is a pin which passes through a vertical slot in a pendent
bracket, from the bearing in which the trunnion A' works. The pin after passing
through this vertical slot engages with a rock lever D, which is slotted at its free
end to receive the pin; this rock lever is mounted upon a stud pin projecting from
the main framing, and it carries at its side a bowle which enters a groove in the
periphery of a cam D³ of the cam shaft B.
By the rotation of this cam D° the rock lever is caused to impart an up and down
motion to the frame D, for the purpose to be presently explained. The thread from
the bobbin C is led under a guide pulley E carried by the horn, thence over the
roller D' and down under a guide pulley E on the horn to a guide pulley E², which
is also mounted in stationary bearings, and from this guide pulley the thread passes
up to the whirl.
If now the rise and fall of the roller in the frame D is properly timed it will be
caused to draw off thread from the bobbin C, deliver it to the whirl during the
formation of a new loop, and take up the slack so as to tighten the stitch as soon as
it is formed.
The diagram, Fig. 9, Sheet IV., shews the cut of cam required for properly rocking
the lever D' to produce these results, and its position in the machine with respect
to the feed motion is illustrated by the group of Figures 9, 10, and 11, the two
latter Figures representing respectively the lifting and feeding cams for a top
motion feed, such as is used in swivel horn machines.
By the employment of these cams in the manner indicated a reciprocating motion
is imparted at the proper inoment to the frame D, and the roller D' is thereby
caused to draw off thread from the bobbin, slacken the thread simultaneously with
the feed motion and supply it to the whirl, take up the slack of the loop formed
by the hooked needle, and tighten the stitch, as before described.
To enable the stitch tightening apparatus to do this the cams for actuating the
feed and for working the rock lever must be timed in the manner already
described.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in 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 the
application to waxed thread sewing machines having a hooked needle and a shuttle
above, the work of stitch tightening apparatus, as described, the action of the same
being so timed that the tightening of the needle thread to complete a stitch will
precede the feed motion, and the slackening of the thread following the tightening
of the stitch will be concurrent with the feed motion, as and for the purpose above
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alphonso Keats, have hereunto set my hand
and seal the Nineteenth day of June in the year of our Lord One thousand
ALPHONSO KEATS. (L.S.)