CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Theodor Hur Menke, of No. 52, Aeter Wall,
Hamburg, in Germany, Manufacturer of Sewing Machines, for
the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."-
A communication from John Braundbeck, residing at No. 32, Thal
Strasse, Hamburg, Germany.
Sealed the 5th March 1872, and dated the 19th September 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Theodor Hur Menke
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 19th September 1871.
1
I, THEODOR HUR MENKE, of No. 52, Aeter Wall; Hamburg, in
Germany, Manufacturer of Sewing Machines, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES," (a communication from John Braundbeck, a person resident
at No. 32, Thal Strasse, Hamburg, Germany,) to be as follows:-
1

page_text: The following is a description of the accompanying Drawings:-
Fig. 1 (Sheet 1) is a sectional elevation of a sewing machine
embodying my Invention; Fig. 2 (Sheet 1) is a plan view of the same,
and Figs. 3 to 10 (Sheets 1 and 2) shew detached parts. Similar letters
of reference indicate similar parts in each of the Figures respectively.
a is the base of the machine, 6 is a casing covering the vertical plates
or framing a¹, a², a³, and all the driving gear of the machine excepting
the thread stretching mechanism. This casing 6 protects the parts of
the machine which it covers from dust, and may be made of any suitable
form and material. The plates a³, a³, have perforations forming bearings
for the driving shaft d. When the driving wheel c (placed on the outer
end of the shaft d, and adapted for working by hand by means of the
handle c', or by treadles by means of a belt in its groove c³) is set in.
motion, it actuates the shaft d, and thereby the whole mechanism.
The shaft d carries an eccentric e, the curve of which regulates the
reciprocating motion of the shuttle holder of the shuttle i by means
of the pendulum lever g fixed loosely on the plate a¹ by a bolt and
nut g¹.
The eccentric e has also a curve q, which gives motion to the
needle k, and to the parts q, q³, q³, q*, q³, r,
and s. The reciprocating
motion is given to the shuttle i in the following manner :-When the
shaft d and eccentric e arc set in motion by the driving wheel c, an
oscillating motion is given to the curved pendulum lever g by the
roller g² fixed upon it and running in the curve f. The motion of the
lever 9 gives movement in opposite directions to the shuttle rod h
linked with it by the pin h¹, and the piece fixed on the extreme end
of the shuttle rod / transmits this to-and-fro motion to the shuttle i in
its holder ¹. I prefer to use a glass shuttle (moulded or otherwise
made) instead of metal, as being more economical. The needle k
receives its motion in the following manner:-The stud q' on the
lever q' carried by the plate as is actuated by the curve q, in which travels
the roller q set on the lever q', and by means of the connection q³, q,
gives motion to the needle arm z, which has its pivot on a stud secured
in the boss b¹ by, a nut b². The needle bar a is connected with this
needle arm z by a roller s', having a swivel joint, which entering loosely
into the needle arm z follows its movement, and thereby secures the
vertical ascent and descent of the needle bar s. The thread comes from
the spool (see Fig; 2, Sheet 1) placed upon the spool pin passes
.

page_text: behind the thread stretcher m, and is drawn through the guide thread o,
fixed immovably on the frame, then through the guide thread o' (which,
is also a lever with two arms, the upper one of which forms a slide n¹),
the thread is then drawn through the guide thread o³ placed on the
upper end of the arm p. of lever p, p', through guide thread of fixed
on the needle screw ¹, and finally through the eye of the needle.
When the needle k is to act, the needle bar & carrying with it the
needle set in its lower end moves downwards as much as is necessary
for forming the loop which is to make the stitch. The loop of the
upper thread for giving passage to the shuttle i in the shuttle holder ¿¹
is thus formed, but is not large enough, my shuttle being considerably
larger than those hitherto used (if required the shuttle may be still
larger than that shewn) it therefore becomes necessary to enlarge the
loop in order that the shuttle may go through it.
My object in employing a large shuttle is that such a shuttle can
receive a larger bobbin, and possibly an original bobbin for the under
thread.
I will now explain the means by which the use of a considerably
larger shuttle becomes possible. The needle having been sufficiently
lowered by the motion given to the curve q, the jointed lever P, p',
being thereby also lowered by means of the upper thread which passes
through the guide thread placed on the lever arm p on the needle k
rising again, a loop, is formed to be taken by the point of the shuttle i,
but as above stated this loop is not large enough to give passage to the
shuttle i, and I therefore caused the size of the loop to be sufficiently
increased by the advancing shuttle itself, in the following manner :-
When the roller s³ travelling in the curve f has ceased to actuate the
parts immediately depending on the said curve, the level arm p, through
the guide thread o³ in which runs the upper thread, is lowered almost on
to pin x¹ fixed on the needle bar s (see Fig. 6), and it is this descent of
the lever arm p which enables the shuttle to enlarge the loop sufficiently
for its passage through it; the loop in enlarging moves the arm p of the
jointed lever, and necessarily its arm p¹ carrying a small stud which
enters a slot n' in the lever o² fixed by the screw n². This simultaneous
movement of the lever o² produces a motion to the left, whereby the
thread passing through the guide thread o' hitherto tight (Fig. 1)
becomes loose, and thus the lower lever arm p furnishes the upper
thread for enlarging the loop (Fig. 6). The upper thread given as

page_text: above set forth, so the lever arm p by the lever o' for the enlargement
of the loop is given out for the shuttle i, but this latter consumes only
the quantity required by the length of the stitch. The shuttle having
thus been enabled to pass through the loop the needle on the needle
bars dependant on the curve q is vertically raised with its upper thread,
the stitch being now formed during the enlargement of the loop for the
shuttle, the lever arm p has been lowered almost on to the stud of
the needle bar, it is therefore raised by this stud when the needle bar s
rises, and the lever o³ dependant by its slide n¹ on the motion of the
jointed lever, p, p', returns to its first position, whereby the thread again
receives the right amount of tension, the stitch being likewise drawn
sufficiently tight because the upper thread has suffered tension, but the
bobbin or spool 7 must give the same length of upper thread as has
been consumed for the stitch already made. I would here observe that
the manner of forming a suitable loop by the passage through it of the
shuttle whereby the stitch is produced is analogous to that of other
shuttle machines, but that in all such machines only small shuttles can

page_text: directed upwards the other downwards, it is easy to understand why
the free motion of part x, and the pressure of the pressing lever u
against it, are made dependant on the aforesaid position of the eccentric
to the rocking lever w. The spring y pressing with its full power
against the part a raises it a little, pressing it at the sanic time forward,
and bringing it into a vertical position, whereby the presser foot is
brought to bear upon the fabric. As this takes place the lug of the
eccentric will have passed the aforesaid stud u³, which together with
the pressing lever u dependant upon it then returns to its aforesaid
position, assisted by the spiral u fixed on its outer end, and presses
against the piece x of the machine until the circular periphery of the
eccentric v begins to operate. As soon as by the rotation of the shaft d
the flat part of the eccentric has passed the arm w¹ of the rocking
lever u, its circular periphery begins to act upon this arm w', pressing it
back, whereby the arm w² is by reason of the hinged construction of
this lever moved in the contrary direction, and the part of the
machine is in spite of the opposition of the spring y pushed back and
made to operate as presser foot, until the aforesaid intermittence of the
eccentric v coming into action, that is to say, until the arm w¹ is retired
from the pressure of the circular periphery, when the piece x, x, x,
again operates as fabric guide x. The screw placed on the slide 7²
operates as stitch controller, regulating the length of stitch in the
following manner :-When a small or a large stitch, but not the largest,
is to be made, the screw is turned until its point touches the arm w² of
the rocking lever; the smaller the stitch is to be the more the screw point
must be screwed up against the lever arm w³; and the larger the stitch
is to be the less the point of the screwz must press against this lever
arm. The submission of which to the action of the screw z results from
the oscillating motion of the lower part of the rocking lever w.connected
with the upper fixed part like a hinge (see Figs. 1, 9, and 10).
For making the largest stitch that can be sewn by my machine the
screw must be screwed back until its point no longer touches the lever
arm w². As the part a used as fabric feeder is dependant on the arm w³
of the rocking lever, and this by its arm wo¹ on the eccentric v, and as
the spring y can repel the part x, x, x, to the extent permitted by the
arm. the feeding of the fabric is necessarily subjected thereto.. The
screw 2 fixes the gauge on rule z³ for guiding the fabric.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Theodor Hur Menke, in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th March 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
THEODOR HUR MENKE, of No: 52, Aeter Wall, Hamburg, in
Germany, Manufacturer of Sewing Machines, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of September, 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 Theodor Hur Menke, Her special
licence that I, the said Theodor Hur Menke, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Theodor Hur
Menke, 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 "Certain ImprovemENTS IN SEWING MACHINES,"
a communication from John Braundbeck, a person resident at No. 32,
Thal Strasse, Hamburg, Germany, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Theodor Hur Menke, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Theodor Hur Menke, 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 :-
The following is a description of the accompanying Drawings :-
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a sewing machine embodying my
73°

page_text: detached parts. Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in
cach of the Figures respectively.
I
a is the base of the machine, b is a casing covering the vertical plates
or framing a¹, a³, a³, and all the driving gear of the machine excepting
the thread stretching mechanism. This casing 6 protects the parts of
the machine which it covers from dust, and may be made of any
suitable form and material. The plates a², a³, have perforations forming
bearings for the driving shaft d. When the driving wheel c (placed
on the outer end of the shaft d, and adapted for working by hand by
means of the handle c¹ or by treadles by means of a belt in its
groove c³) is set in motion it actuates the shaft d, and thereby the whole
mechanism. The shaft d carries an eccentric e, the curve of which
regulates the reciprocating motion of the shuttle holder of the
shuttle i by means of the pendulum lever g fixed loosely on the plate a¹
by a bolt and nut g¹. The eccentric e has also a curve q, which gives
motion to the needle k, and to the parts q', q², q³, q³, q³, r, and s; the
reciprocating motion is given to the shuttle in the following
manner: When the shaft d and eccentric e are set in motion by the
driving wheel c, an oscillating motion is given to the curved pendulum
lever by the roller g² fixed upon it and running in the curve f. This
motion of the lever g gives a movement in opposite directions to the
shuttle rod h and linked with it by the pin h¹, and the piece fixed on
the extreme end of the shuttle rod h, transmits this to-and-fro motion to
the shuttle & in its holder ¹; I prefer to use a glass shuttle (moulded or
otherwise made) instead of a metal, as being more economical. The
needle receives its motion in the following manner :-The stud q* on
the lever q' carried by the plate a³ is actuated by the curve q, in which
travels the roller q³ set on the lever q', and by means of the connection
q, q³, gives motion to the needle arm 7 which has its pivot on a stud
secured in the boss by a nut 12. The needle bar & is connected with
this needle arm 3 by a roller s¹, having a swivel joint, which entering
loosely into the needle arm ³, follows its movement, and thereby secures
the vertical ascent and descent of the needle bar s. The thread comes
from the spool (see Fig. 2) placed upon the spool pin ³, passes behind
the thread stretcher m, and is drawn through the guide thread o fixed
immoveably on the frame, then through the guide thread o' (which is
also a lever with two arms, the upper one of which forms a slide 1¹).
The thread is then drawn through the guide thread o³ placed on the

page_text: upper end of the arm p of lever p, p', through guide thread o fixed on
the needle screw and finally through the eye k² of the needle. When
the needle is to act, the needle bars carrying with it the needle k-set
in its lower end moves downwards as much as is nccessary for forming
the loop which is to make the stitch. The loop of the upper thread for
giving passage to the shuttle i in the shuttle holder is thus formed,
but is not large enough, my shuttle being considerably larger than those
hitherto used (if required the shuttle may be still larger than that
shewn) it therefore becomes necessary to enlarge the loop in order that
the shuttle may go through it.
My object in employing a large shuttle is that such a shuttle can
receive a larger bobbin, and possibly an original bobbin for the under
thread.
I will now explain the means by which the use of a considerably
larger shuttle becomes possible. The needle / having been sufficiently
lowered by the motion given to the curve q, the jointed lever p, p³,
being thereby also lowered by means of the upper thread which passes
through the guide thread placed on the lever arm p, on the needle k
rising again a loop is formed to be taken by the point of the shuttle i,
but as above stated this loop is not large enough to give passage to the
shuttle i, and I therefore caused the size of the loop to be sufficiently
increased by the advancing shuttle itself in the following manner:-
When the roller g² travelling in the curve f has ceased to actuate the
parts immediately depending on the said curve, the lever arm p through
the guide thread o³ in which runs the upper thread is lowered almost on
to pin r¹ fixed on the needle bars (see Figure 6), and it is this descent of
the lever arm p which enables the shuttle to enlarge the loop sufficiently
for its passage through it; the loop in enlarging moves the arm p of
the jointed lever, and necessarily its arm p¹ carrying a small stud which
enters a slot n¹ in the lever o² fixed by the screw n². This simultaneous
movement of the lever o² produces a motion to the left, whereby the
thread passing through the guide thread o', hitherto too tight (Fig. 1)
becomes loose, and thus the lowered lever arm p furnishes the upper
thread for enlarging the loop (Fig. 6). The upper thread given as
above set forth, so the lever arm p by the lever o² for the enlargement
of the loop is given out for the shuttle i, but this latter consumes only
the quantity required by the length of the stitch; the shuttle having
been thus enabled to pass through the loop, the needle on the needle

page_text: bars dependent on the curve q is vertically raised with its upper
thread, the stitch being now formed during the enlargement of the
loop for the shuttle 2, the lever arm p has been lowered almost on. to
the stud of the needle bar, it is therefore raised by this stud o³ when
the needle bars rises and the lever o² dependent by its slide n¹ on the
motion of the jointed lever p, p', returns to its first position whereby
the thread again receives the right amount of tension, the stitch being
likewise drawn sufficiently tight because the upper thread has suffered
tension, but the bobbin or spool / must give the same length of upper
thread as has been consumed for the stitch already made. I would liere
observe that the manner of forming a suitable loop by the passage
through it of the shuttle whereby the stitch is produced is analogous to
that of other shuttle machines, but that in all such machines only small
shuttles can be used.
+
The construction of my machine adapts it for sewing the thinnest
fabric or thickest leather, and it may be driven by hand or by treadles
by the simple addition of a table with treadles, the driving wheel c
being provided for this purpose with a groove c² to receive the driving
band; the fabric to be sewn is brought under the fabric guide or presser
foot x, x, x, in the same manner as in ordinary machines; but I would
particularly draw attention to this fact, that in my machine the fabric
guide and the fabric presser are one and the same piece instead of two
distinct pieces as in other sewing machines. I have marked it on the
Drawings with the letter x for its function as fabric guide, and with the
letters x, x, as presser foot. This piece a, or 'x, x, is dependent as
fabric guide on the eccentric t, but as presser foot on v, both set on the
shaft d. When the eccentric t presses with its lug against the stud u³
fixed below the pressing lever u, this lever is raised, its pivot being a
pivot u¹ with nut u² passing in the boss fixed above the covering plate
near the spool pin 13. The raising of the lever u by the eccentric t does
not give a free motion as to the part x, x, hitherto subjected to the
pressure of the lever u, this is done by the flat part v¹ of the eccentric v
driving the rotation of the shaft d. This lever being constructed like a
hinge with two arms w¹ and w³ placed on its lower parts, the one
directed upwards, the other downwards, it is easy to understand why
the free motion of the part x and the pressure of the pressing lever u
against it are made dependent on the aforesaid position of the
eccentric to the rocking lever w, the spring y pressing with its full

page_text: power against the part x raises it a little pressing it at the same time
forward and bringing it into a vertical position, whereby the presser
foot is brought to bear upon the fabric; as this takes place the lug t
of the eccentric t will have passed the aforesaid stud u³, which together
with the pressing lever u dependent upon it then returns to its aforesaid
position assisted by the spiral spring u fixed on its outer end, and
presses against the piece x of the machine, until the circular periphery
of the eccentric v belongs to operate. As soon as by the rotation of the
shaft d the flat part v¹ of the eccentric v has passed the arm w¹ of the
rocking lever u its circular periphery begins to act upon this arm w³,
pressing it back, whereby arm w² is by reason of the hinged construction
of this lever u moved in the contrary direction, and the part of the
machine is in spite of the opposition of the spring y pushed back and
made to operate as presser foot, until the aforesaid intermittence of the
eccentric v coming into action, that is to say until the arm w¹ is retired
from the pressure of the circular periphery when the piece x, x, x, again
operates as fabric guide x. The screwz placed on the slide » operates
as stitch controller regulating the length of stitch in the following
manner :- -When a small or a large stitch, but not the largest, is to be
made the screw z is turned until its point touches the arm w² of the
rocking lever; the smaller the stitch is to be the more the screw point
must be screwed up against the lever arm w³, and the larger the stitch is
to be the less the point of the screw z must press against this lever arm,
the submission of which to the action of the screw z results from the
oscillating motion of the lower part of the rocking lever w connected
with the upper fixed part like a hinge (see Figs. 1, 9, and 10).
'
For making the largest stitch that can be sewn by my machine the
screw must be screwed back until its point no longer touches the lever
arm w³. As the part x used as fabric feeder is dependent on the arm w²
of the rocking lever, and this by its arm w¹ on the eccentric v, and as
the spring y can repel the part x, x, x, to the extent permitted by the
arm w³, the feeding of the fabric is necessarily subjected thereto. The
screw z¹ fixes the gauge on rule z² for guiding the fabric.
My machine permits the following advantages over those in actual
use-
Firstly. My machine when driven simply by hand will sew the
thinnest fabric or the thickest leather. It is therefore suitable for a
variety of manufacturers as well as for every family requirement.

page_text: Second. Its construction renders it very cheap.
Third. The large shuttle permits the placing of a large quantity of
under thread, say five times as much as hitherto, the interruption of the
working for the placing of the new bobbin being thereby considerably
diminished, and saving time at each interruption in regulating the
tension of the thread. Further, the winding of the thread from the
wooden reel from which it is brought to the steel spool of the shuttle is
avoided because the original quantity of thread may be placed in my
shuttle if it be wound on a steel spool.
THEODOR HUR MENKE. (L.S.)