IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES." A communication from abroad,
Joan Hanzi Cazal Civil Enginear of 13 Boulevart St. Martin.
Sealed the 9th April 1869, and dated the 31st October 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville
Clark at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 31st October 1868.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as
follows:-
The chief objection to sewing machines is that the operator is made
the agent for producing the motive power, inasmuch as treadle sewing
machines have been proved to be prejudicial to the health of those using
them. Steam or compressed air motors have been in some few cases

page_text: employed in manufactories for driving these machines but which would
be inapplicable for family purposes.
This Invention relates to the application of electricity as a power for
driving sewing machines, to be transmitted by the aid of one or more
electric receivers attached to the machine.
The chief features of the self-acting electric sewing machines of this
Invention consist, 1st, in acting on one or more of the principal parts
of a sewing machine in a direct manner by means of a receiver or
reccivers of the electro-motive power which is transmitted from any
suitable battery; 2ndly, in making said receivers independent if desired
or acting in combination according to the arrangement of the machine
used; 3rdly, I dispense in this manner with the friction inherent where
the motion is transmitted by gearing; 4thly, in simplifying and
reducing the cost of the machine; 5thly, I combine in one machine
both the receiver and sewing mechanism. The power of the receivers is
applied direct to the sewing mechanism, viz., the needle carrier, hook,
or shuttle, wheel, or other feeder, thus producing a sewing machine of
essentially novel arrangement as regards the mode of operating the
working parts. The parts being thus arranged a maximum effect is
obtained from the electric receivers with a given amount of fluid.
I prefer to employ electro-magnetic receivers, as they possess but slight
power, and I will describe their mode of application with reference to
the three principal classes of sewing machines.
1st. The American machines in which the work is fed below either
by means of a wheel on Howe's system or by a foot on the Wheeler
and Wilson and Grover and Baker principles. In these machines the
rotary shaft for driving the shuttle or hook is placed underneath and
transmits to-and-fro motion to the needle earrier by means of a lever.
In applying the Invention to these machines I place a rotary electro-
motor on the driving shaft, the annular armature forming part of the
work plate if desired. 2ndly, in the French sewing machine where the
work is fed from above by means of a foot the rotating shaft is placed in
the head of the machine and communicates motion direct to the
needle carrier and feeder, as also to the shuttle or hook, by the aid of
levers, cams, or eccentrics. In this kind of machine a rotating electro-
motor is placed on the driving shaft, the cast-iron armature forming part
if desired of the head of the sewing machine. 3rdly, in machines where
two shafts are used connected together by toothed gearing the electro-

page_text: motor may be placed on each shaft and their effect combined by the aid
of gearing. 4thly, in the machines on Goodwin's principle the double
lever which operates the needle and needle carrier may be acted on
simply by a double electro-magnet having a to-and-fro motion, or
which is preferable, by combining said electro-magnet with a rotating
electro-motor mounted on the shaft carrying, the double cam of the work
feeder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd April 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing daté the Thirty-first day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Alexander Melville Clark, Her
special licence that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander
Melville Clark, 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 me from
abroad by Jean Henri Cazal, Civil Engineer, of 13, Boulevart St.
Martin, Paris, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alexander Melville Clark, 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 Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, 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 Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say)-
The chief objection to sewing machines is that the operator is made
the agent for producing the motive power, inasmuch as treadle sewing
machines have been proved to be prejudicial to the health of those using
them. Steam or compressed air motors have been in some few cases
employed in manufactories for driving these machines, which motors are
however inapplicable for family purposes.
This Invention relates to the application of electricity as a power for
driving sewing machines, to be transmitted by the aid of one or more
electric receivers attached to the machine.
The chief features of the self-acting electric sewing machine of this
Invention consist, 1st, in acting on one or more of the principal parts
of a sewing machine in a direct manner by means of a receiver or
receivers of the electro-motive power which is transmitted from any
suitable battery; 2ndly, in making said receivers independent or acting
in combination as desired and according to the arrangement of the
machine used; 3rdly, in dispensing in this manner with the friction
inherent where the motion is transmitted by gearing; 4thly, in simpli-
fying and reducing the cost of the machine; 5thly, in combining in
one machine both the receiver and the sewing mechanism. The power of
the receiver is applied direct to the sewing mechanism, viz., the needle
carrier, hook, or shuttle, wheel or other feeder, thus producing a sewing
machine of essentially novel arrangement as regards the mode of
operating the working parts. The parts being thus arranged a maximum
effect is obtained from the electric receivers with a given amount of
fluid.
I prefer to employ electro-magnetic receivers as they possess bnt
slight power, and I will describe their mode of application with reference
to the three principal classes of sewing machines.
1st. The American machines in which the work is fed from below
either by means of a wheel on Howe's system or by a foot on the
"Wheeler Wilson, and Grover and Baker principles. In these machines
the rotating shaft for driving the shuttle or hook is placed underneath

page_text: and transmits to-and-fro motion to the needle carrier by means of a
lever. In applying the Invention to these machines I place à rotating
electro-motor on the driving shaft, the annular armature forming part
of the work plate if desired. 2ndly; in the French sewing machine
where the work is fed from above by means of a foot the rotating
shaft is placed in the head of the machine and communicates motion
direct to the needle carrier and feeder, as also to the shuttle or hook
by the aid of levers, cams, or eccentrics. In this kind of machine
1 place a rotating electro-motor on the driving shaft, the cast-iron
armature forming part if desired of the head of the sewing machine.
3rdly, in machines where two shafts are used connected together by
toothed gearing the electro-motor may be placed on each shaft and
their effect combined by the aid of gearing. 4thly, in the machines
on Goodwin's principle the double lever which operates the needle and
needle carrier may be acted on simply by a double clectro-magnet having
a to-and-fro motion, or, which is preferable, by combining said electro-
magnet with a rotating electro-motor mounted on the shaft carrying the
double cam of the work feeder.
The foregoing description, assisted by the. Drawing accompanying the
same, sufficiently explains the novelty of the Invention and the numerous
ways in which the mechanical power of electricity may be applied
directly for operating sewing machines.
I have shown the Invention in the accompanying Drawing as applied
to what is known as an American sewing machine merely as an example
of the mode of carrying the Invention into effect.
Figure 1 shows a side clevation of a sewing machine with the
improvements applied; Figure 2, an end view showing the electro-
magnetic receiver; Figure 3 is a view of the opposite end of the
machine, showing the work presser and needle carrier, while Figure 4
is a plan of the machine. The same reference letters apply to all the
Figures.
a, frame of the machine; b, electro-motor or electro-magnetic receiver
of any suitable arrangement serving to transmit motion to the lower
shaft c by the aid of toothed wheels d, e, or other equivalent means;
f, grooved cam keyed on shaft c for transmitting motion to lever, g of
needle carrier h; i, work presser; j, circular Wilson shuttle; k, work
feeder with direct action.

page_text: It will be seen by referring to the Drawings that the frame of the
receiver is cast in one with that of the machine, but it may be fixed
thereto in any suitable manner. The position of the receiver varies
according to the kind of sewing machine to which it is applied
so as to enable it to act in the most direct manner on the working
parts.
Having described the nature of this Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the
combination of an electro-magnetic receiver or receivers with a sewing
machine in the manner and for the purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Meville Clark, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of April,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
Witness,
JAMES DAISH,
53, Chancery Lane.
London.
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)