IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Hewett, of Sheffield, in the County of York,
Public Accountant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING
MACHINES." A communication.
Sealed the 25th September 1857, and dated the 25th March 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Hewett at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th March 1857.
I, JOHN HEWETT, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Public Accountant,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
The Invention relates to improvements in certain sewing machines, for which
Letters Patent were granted to Auguste Edouard Loradoux Bellford on or
about the Thirteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-four, and on or about the First day of November One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five. In the Specification of the first of the
aforesaid Patents a mode is described of passing the loop of the thread of the
needle over a thread case by means of a lateral motion of the needle or by a
motion of the point of the thread case. In the Specification of the second of
the aforesaid Patents a mode is described of passing the loop of the thread
over a looper by the motion of the needle on its axis. By the present
Invention the needle is neither turned on its axis nor moved laterally, but has

page_text: merely the up-and-down motion. The point of the looper (or of the thread
case, when two threads are used) is made to lie close to the needle, and the loop
of the thread is passed over it by the up-and-down motion of the needle,
without the aid of the additional movements herein-before mentioned. To
facilitate and assist in conducting the thread in the proper direction, the needle
is made with an inclined or spiral groove, and a fixed hook or wire is placed
near it. The cloth or material to be sewn is advanced by means of the feeding
apparatus described in the second of the aforesaid Specifications, or other
suitable feeding apparatus may be employed: A simple and effective sewing
machine is thus obtained. The thread passes through eyes on the needle
carrier and on the frame, and it is kept to a proper degree of tension by
passing it round a pin and through a hole, and out at the end of the pin, where
it is pressed by a spring. By turning the pin round more or less the degree
of tension may be varied, as required. The machines may be driven by hand
or by power, and by wheels and pinions or bands, or otherwise, as may be most
convenient.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Hewett in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th September 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HEWETT, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Public Accountant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Hewett, Her special licence that I, the said John Hewett, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Hewett, 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," (communicated to me from abroad,) upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Hewett, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,

page_text: 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 John Hewett, 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 accompanying Drawing, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The Invention relates to improvements in certain sewing machines, for which
Letters Patent were granted to Auguste Edouard Loradoux Bellford on or
about the Thirteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-four, and on or about the First day of November One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
In the Specification of the first of the aforesaid Patents a mode is described
of passing the loop of the thread of the needle over a thread case by means of
a lateral motion of the needle or by a motion of the point of the thread case.
In the Specification of the second of the aforesaid Patents, a mode is described
of passing the loop of the thread over a looper by the motion of the needle on
its axis. By the present Invention the needle is neither turned on its axis
nor moved laterally, but has merely the up-and-down motion. The point
of the looper (or of the thread case, when two threads are used) is made to lie
close to the needle, and the loop of the thread is passed over it by the up-and-
down motion of the needle, without the aid of the additional movements herein-
before mentioned. To facilitate and assist in conducting the thread in the
proper direction, the needle is made with an inclined or spiral groove, and
a fixed hook or wire is placed near it. The cloth or material to be sewn is
advanced by means of the feeding apparatus described in the second of the
aforesaid Specifications, or other suitable feeding apparatus may be employed:
A simple and effective sewing machine is thus obtained.
The thread passes through eyes on the needle carrier and on the frame, and
it is kept to a proper degree of tension by passing it round a pin and through a
hole, and out at the end of the pin, where it is pressed by a spring. By
turning the pin round more or less the degree of tension may be varied,
as required. The machines may be driven by hand or by power, and by wheels
and pinions or bands, or otherwise, as may be most convenient.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is an elevation or side view of a
sewing machine constructed according to the Invention; Figure 2 is a front
view of the same.

page_text: a is the needle, which has an eye near its point, and which is fixed by
a screw or otherwise to the sliding piece B, which works up and down in a
guide or head D, and is driven by a connecting rod N from a crank O on the
spindle P. The spindle P is driven by a small winch or handle Q, or by
a multiplying wheel, or otherwise, and may be driven by hand, or by the foot,
or by steam or other power. b is the looper, which is of the form of a
triangular prism rounded or slightly bevilled at the top, and pointed and
curved at the bottom.
Figure 3 is a front view on a larger scale of the looper and needle;
Figure 4 is a side view; and Figure 5 is a plan of the same, also on a larger
scale than Figures 1 and 2. The looper 6 is placed parallel with the needle
a, with its bent point downwards, and with its rounded top touching the flat
under side of the table A, and in such a position that the side of the needle in
descending may run in contact with or in very close proximity to the curved
point of the looper. The looper 6 is held by a spring c in an angular groove
in a block of metal C, forming part of or attached to the frame or stand of the
.machine. The ends of the groove are bevilled or rounded to allow of the
passage of the thread. The needle a has a short diagonal or spiral groove
leading from one side of the eye, as shewn in Figure 3; it may also have a
straight longitudinal groove communicating with the other side of the eye.
The thread is conducted from a reel or bobbin R through an adjusting button
S, herein-after described, and through an eye on the back part of the frame of
the machine, and then through an eye k on the slide B, and an eye or perfora-
tion in the bottom of the slide B, and then down the longitudinal groove in the
needle and through the eye of the needle, and the end of the thread is drawn
out for a few inches. The work or material to be sewn is laid upon the table
A, which has a hole in it for the passage of the needle. The needle is then
made to descend through the work by turning the spindle P, and a little
tension or strain is put on the end of the thread by holding it with the fingers.
The needle descends with the thread lying in the longitudinal groove on one
side, and in the diagonal groove on the other side, until the eye and the diagonal
groove have passed a little way beyond the curved point of the looper b. The
needle then begins to ascend, and the thread bends out of the diagonal groove
into a loop which passes over the point of the looper b. As the needle con-
tinues to ascend, this loop is drawn up between the looper and the block C on
one side, and between the looper and the spring c on the other side, and
remains round the top of the looper and close under the table A. The work is
now advanced by the feeding apparatus, herein-after described, and the needle
descends to make the next stitch. In doing so it passes through the work and

page_text: through the loop formed by its previous descent, which loop is then drawn
between the top of the looper and the bottom of the table. A new loop
is formed, through which the needle descends at its next stroke, and so on. A
chain stitch is thus produced. The small bent wire or hook l assists in con-
fining and directing the loop in the required direction.
The button S is for the purpose of adjusting the degree of tension on the
thread; it has a small perforation through its axis, communicating with a
lateral perforation. The thread passes from the bobbin R through the lateral
perforation and out through the central perforation, and through a small hole
in a very weak spring m. Figure 6 is a separate view of the button, and
Figure 7 a separate view of the spring. These Figures are drawn to a larger
scale than Figures 1 and 2. The stem of the button fits rather tightly into a
conical hole in the frame, so that the button may be turned round by the
fingers and left in any required position. When the lateral perforation is
directed towards the bobbin R, and the thread passed directly through it,
there is scarcely any tension produced on the thread; but if the button be
turned round a little, the thread has to pass partially or entirely, or one or
more times, round the stem of the button. In this way the tension may be
increased until the thread breaks, and it may be adjusted to any less degree
that may be required by simply turning the button.
The work or material to be sewn is held down upon the table A by means
of a steel bar G, terminating in a shoe E, which is elastic, and presses upon
the material. The bar G is secured to the head D by screws n and T passing
through slots in the bar, which can thus be raised up and down to adjust it to
materials of different thicknesses, and then fixed by turning the screw T. The
feeding apparatus is constructed in a similar manner to that described in the
Specification of the Letters Patent granted to Auguste Edouard Loradoux
Bellford, and bearing date the First day of November One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five. f is the feeding dog or foot, having a serrated face,
and fixed to or forming part of an inclined bar F, which is connected to the
arm 1 of a lever L turning upon a pin d', which may be fixed on the bar G
or on the head D. The foot or dog f¹ is forked, and works through openings
in the shoe E on each side of the needle; or it may be single and work on
one side only of the needle. g is a screw, which passes through the bar G,
and is secured by a set nut. This screw forms a stop, against which the bar
F is pressed by light spring p. The arm 2 of the lever L stands in such a
position that it is thrown up during the ascent of the needle by a pin j,
attached to the needle slide B, and thrown down during the descent of the
ucedle by another pin j¹. When the arm 2 of the lever is depressed the
a

page_text: arm is raised, and with it the bar F, which then rests against the stop g.
When the needle rises out of the work, the pin j strikes the arm 2 of the lever
and depresses the arm 1, thus forcing the foot f¹ down on to the work, and
the foot then slides the work along the table to the extent of the space
between the stitches. When the needle again descends, the bar F is raised
and it drops against the stop g, and is ready to advance the work again at the
next stroke. The advance or feed thus takes place when the needle is out of
the work. The extent of the advance is adjusted by means of the screw stop g.
The elastic shoe E prevents the work from being lifted by the needle during
its ascent. The shoe E, with its bar G, is raised and lowered by hand, and
secured by the screw T, and it is adjusted so as to hold the work down without
preventing it from being advanced by the feeding apparatus. In lieu of the
feeding apparatus herein-before described, any other description of feeding
apparatus may be used with a needle and looper arranged and constructed as
herein-before described.
When it is required to form a stitch with two threads in lieu of the single
thread chain stitch herein-before mentioned, a thread case is substituted for
the looper 6. This thread case is of larger dimensions than the looper 6, but
of similar form; it is made hollow, and it contains a small bobbin of thread,
which passes through a hole or an eye or eyes in the top of the thread case.
The first or needle thread is passed round the thread case, as herein-before
described in reference to the looper, and by this means it becomes interlocked
with the second thread which issues from the thread case. The interlocked
stitch is thus produced.
Having now described the nature of the Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim
separately the feeding apparatus, or the looper or thread case, the same
having been already described in the Specifications of the aforesaid Patents of
Auguste Edouard Loradoux Bellford; but what I claim is,-
First, constructing sewing machines with a looper or a thread case, arranged
as herein-before described, in combination with a needle baving a simple
reciprocating motion in the direction of its axis, without any lateral motion or
angular motion upon its axis.
Second, constructing sewing machines with a looper or a thread case,
arranged as herein-before described, in combination with a needle having a
spiral or inclined groove, and having a simple reciprocating motion in the
direction of its axis, without any lateral motion or angular motion upon its
axis, and acting with or without the bent wire or hook l, herein-before
described.

page_text: Third, constructing sewing machines with a looper or a thread case,
arranged as herein-before described, in combination with a needle having a
simple reciprocating motion in the direction of its axis, without any lateral
motion or angular motion upon its axis, and combined with the feeding
5 apparatus herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hewett, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
JOHN HEWETT.(L.S.)