IMPROVEMENTS: IN SEWING MACHINES, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER. PURPOSES
Year: 1868

page_text: .PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Edwin Phillips at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd November 1868.
I, JAMES EDWIN PHILLIPS, of Grantham, in the County of Lincoln,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS:
IN SEWING MACHINES, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER.
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
The Invention has for its object improvements in sewing machines,
and relates, firstly, to that class of sewing machines in which a hook or
.looper is employed to hold the loops on the under side of the work whilst
,the needle rises for a fresh stitch. For this purpose I employ two shafts
or axes, one above and, one below the cloth plate of the machine, and give
motion thereto by means of toothed pinions fixed on the ends of shafts
or axes driven by an internal toothed ring or wheel as is now common
with some descriptions of sewing machines, but according to this part
of my Invention I employ india-rubber, gutta percha, or compounds

page_text: thereof, in the construction of the gearing in the following manner :-
For the toothed pinions I first cast a boss or foundation wheel in metal
with a ring or suitable projections thereon, I then place such boss or
foundation wheel in a mould, having suitable cavities formed therein for
the teeth, and I fill the space in the mould not already occupied by the
boss or foundation wheel with india-rubber, gutta percha, or compounds
thereof, and submit it to the action of heat to "cure" it, and cause the
compound to adhere firmly to the boss. For the internal toothed wheel
or ring, I first cast a plain ring of metal and then apply or form the
teeth therein in a somewhat similar manner to that above described; or,
if desired, for wheels of coarse pitch or for large teeth I first cast the
wheels in metal with smaller teeth than those required, and I then apply
a coating of india-rubber thereto in a similar manner to that above
described, or in some cases I place a band of india-rubber, gutta porcha,
or compounds thereof around the teeth, and draw it down between the
teeth by means of suitable bolts and nuts, or by other suitable means.
Gearing constructed as aforesaid is also applicable to other machinery.
In cases where the needle slide is operated by a crank pin entering a slot
in the needle slide I cover the pin, or line the slot with india-rubber,
gutta percha, or compounds thereof.
The improvements before described are also applicable to other
descriptions of sewing machines. This part of the Invention also
consists in the application of an under feed to this description of
machine. For this purpose I form the feed lever with an opening in
which an eccentric works, such eccentric having a crank pin fixed
therein to give motion to the hook or looper which is mounted on a fixed
axis below the lower shaft of the machine. The feed lever has a fork or
opening formed at the lower part thereof to embrace the axis of motion
of the hook or looper. Thus the requisite motions are given to the feed
lever to feed the work to the needle by the eccentric, whilst a suitable
spring operates it in the opposite direction, a cam, eccentric, or other
suitable means being employed to regulate the amount of motion given
to the feed lever. In sewing machines in which treadles, levers, and
cranks are used as drivers with pin joints I place around each pin
between the pin and the hole through which it passes a band of india-
rubber, gutta percha, or compounds thereof, and when bearings are used
I place a similar band or tube around the bearings in order to render the

page_text: bearings self adjusting to the shaft or axis passing therethrough, and in
shuttle sewing machines I employ a buffer or pad of india-rubber,
gutta percha, or of compounds thereof at each end of the shuttle carrier,
and I line the shuttle course or groove with similar materials to prevent.
noise.