IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Waterston, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid
Lothian, North Britain, Sewing Machine Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 17th April 1877, and dated the 17th January 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Waterston at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th January 1877.
PETER WATERSTON, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain,
Sewing Machine Manufacturer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."
This Invention, which has for its object improvements in sewing machines, relates
in the first place to an improved wheel or driver from which motion is communi-
cated to all the working parts of the mechanism. In one side of the wheel, which
consists of a plain disc, an endless cam groove is cut, and into it rollers centred on
upper and under levers enter. The upper lever operates the needle, thread take-up,
and feed, whilst the lower lever actuates the shuttle, looper, or equivalent mechanism
provided in conjunction with the needle, in order to effect a complete stitch; the
levers swing or vibrate upon pivots fixed at suitable points in the frame of the
sewing machine. The cam groove in the driving wheel is so formed that for every
complete revolution of the wheel one stitch only is produced, or under another
arrangement the form or steps of the groove may be so multiplied in one
continuous groove on the wheel that for every revolution two, three, four, or a
greater number of stitches are made, and by this means the sewing speed of the
machine may be raised to any desired extent. This system of driving is equally
applicable to sewing machines, whether employed for light or heavy work, and
whether operated by hand, treadle, or other power.
The Invention relates in the second place to improvements in the details of
sewing machines, and in their combination with each other. The first part of the
combination consists of a spool similar to that employed in the Wheeler and Wilson
sewing machine, but extended to hold much more thread, and placed with its axis
perpendicular in lieu of horizontally, as in the said machine. The spool is steadied
by a spool holder, which is also employed to exert a tension on the thread, and the
said holder consists of a thin steel or other circular metal plate slightly turned up
at the edges. An upright projecting tongue on this plate has an eye made in it

page_text: through which the thread passes from the spool to the hole in the throat plate. In
the centre of the spool holder an upright tube is fixed on which the spool is placed,
so as to revolve as on an axis, and in the side of the tube an opening is made to
permit of a light spring being inserted. The spring is fixed to the bottom end of
the tube, at whose inside is placed a screw, which is employed to press the spring
with a greater or less stress upon the spool, and so increase or diminish the tension
on the thread. The spool and its holder rest upon a projecting platform, so shaped
as to keep them in place, the said platform being fixed in such a position as to
allow the needle to pass down somewhat from the circumference of the spool.
Another part of the combined apparatus consists of a vertical cylinder which
turns on pivot points in a frame consisting of the projecting platform above referred
to, and an arm which hangs downwards and then projects inwards, so that the
pivot points shall be directly below the centre of the spool. In the vertical
cylinder a spiral groove is cut, and a roller centred on the weight end of the under
lever, herein-before mentioned, is introduced into the said groove. The cam groove
in the motion wheel acting on the power end of the under lever makes the weight
end rise and fall, and the roller on this latter end acting in the spiral groove of the
vertical cylinder turns the said cylinder through an arc with a reciprocating motion
(the distance of travel of the weight end of the lever and the inclination of the
spiral groove in the cylinder are adjusted so as to cause the cylinder to turn through
an arc equal to 240 degrees or thereby).
Another part of the combined apparatus is a looper attached to the top of the
cylinder, and projecting outwards and upwards close to the outside of the needle.
This looper when the cylinder is moved carries the thread from the needle round
the spool till it passes a line reckoned diametrically from the needle through the
centre of the spool.
The action of the needle and looper is as follows:-The cam groove in the
motion wheel is so shaped and the other parts of the mechanism are so adjusted
that the needle is at its lowest point and the looper at its rearmost point at the
same instant of time, consequently when the needle begins to rise, so as to form the
loop, the looper moves forwards and catches the thread. When the loop has been
formed the needle either rests until the looper has carried the thread round past the
diameter (before referred to) of the spool, or whilst this is being accomplished the
needle may dip slightly, the cam groove in the driving wheel being formed to effect
this. When the loop has passed the spool the, needle ascends through the second
part of its upward stroke, and raising the thread take-up, the loop is drawn off the
looper, and up through the fabric being sewn. Whilst this is being performed the
looper is at rest, but as the needle again descends the looper is driven back to its
rearmost point to commence another stitch on the ascent of the needle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said Peter Waterston in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th July
1877.
PETER WATERSTON, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain,
Sewing Machine Manufacturer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."
My said Invention, which has for its object improvements in lock-stitch sewing
machines, relates in the first place to an improved wheel or driver from which
motion is communicated to all the working parts of the mechanism.
In the second place, my said Invention relates to improvements in the details of
lock-stitch sewing machines, and to improvements in the combination of such details
with each other.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I have here-
unto appended an explanatory Sheet of Drawings illustrating the system, mode, or

page_text: manner in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried
into effect, that is to say :-
On the said Sheet of Drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation; Figure 2, a plan;
and Figure 3, a front end elevation of the lock-stitch sewing machine constructed in
accordance with my said Invention.
Figure 4 is another plan illustrating some of the working parts of the machine
not seen at Figure 2, whilst Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are respectively detached
views of certain of the details.
The first improvement relates to the driving wheel A, which consists of a plain
disc centred loosely on the pin or stud B fixed in the frame C of the machine, the
wheel being retained in a position by a spring catch D, the point of which enters a
groove or channel made round the pin. Two grooves or channels are made in the
pin B, and when the catch D enters the inner one the wheel A is in position for
sewing; when it enters the outer one the wheel is in position for driving the
winder M by frictional contact, the sewing mechanism being meanwhile out of
gear.
Under a modification of this arrangement the wheel A may be fixed on the
shaft B, the said shaft being loose in the frame, and held in driving or winding
position by a spring catch attached to the frame. In the inner side of the wheel A an
endless cam groove E is cut, as seen at Figures 1 and 5, from which motion is com-
municated to all the working parts of the machine by means of the levers F, G,
and H, these latter being provided with rollers which enter the cam groove, as
indicated in dotted lines at Figure 1. The cam groove E, as it is illustrated on
the Drawings, has its essential parts so reduplicated or repeated in a continuous
groove that for every complete revolution of the wheel A three complete stitches or
actions of the sewing parts of the machine are produced. The groove, however,
may be so modified that for every complete revolution of the wheel A one stitch
only will be produced, or its essential parts may be twice repeated so as to make
two stitches for every revolution, or any other number of stitches greater than
three may be performed at cach revolution of the wheel, according to the number
of times the essential parts of the groove are repeated, such number of times being
limited only by the size of the wheel. By this means the sewing speed of the
machine may be raised to any desired extent.
The lever F operates the needle a, being attached by a link to the needle bar c,
and the said lever also actuates the feed d by means of a link e, which is at its lower
end attached to a cross bar (Figure 4) held in a slot made across the rearward
extremity of the shaft g. A crank h formed with a slot in its lower end is fixed
on the forward extremity of the shaft g, and into the said slot a roller i carried on
the feed enters, as seen more particularly at Figure 6 of the Drawings. By means
of this arrangement as the power end of the lever F is raised and depressed by
the cam groove E the shaft g is rotated through an arc, and so moves the feed
backwards and forwards, the length of the motion and the length of the stitch
being regulated by the position of the cross bar f in the slot of the shaft g. To
adjust the bar to the desired position a lever k is provided, and by pressing on a
pin projecting from the said lever to the upper side of the sole plate the bar fis
moved transverely, so as to give a greater or less throw to the feed.
The lever G, which is centred at the under side of the sole plate of the machine
operates a vertical cylinder J, which has the looper m formed at or attached to its
upper end. The cylinder J turns on pivot points in a bracket or frame K bolted
or fixed to the under side of the sole plate, and it has a spiral groove x cut in it
into which a roller or pin carried on the forward end of the lever G enters, as seen
at Figure 1 of the Drawings. The cam groove E, acting on the power end of the
lever G, makes its forward end rise and fall, and the pin or roller at this end acting
in the spiral groove turns the vertical cylinder J and the looper m with a recipro-
cating motion through an arc. The travel of the forward end of the lever G and
the inclination of the spiral groove in the cylinder J are so adjusted relatively as
to cause the cylinder and the looper m to turn through an arc equal to two hundred

page_text: and forty degrees, or thereby. The looper m, as seen more particularly by the detail
views, Figures 7 and 8 of the Drawings, projects outwards and upwards from the
cylinder J, and when at or near the extremity of its backward movement it occupies
a position close to the side of the needle. When moved in the opposite or forward
direction by the depression of the forward end of the lever G the looper m carrics
or draws the loop of thread from the needle round the spool n, which is similar to
the spool employed in the Wheeler and Wilson sewing machine, but extended to
hold much more thread. The spool instead of having its axis placed horizontally
(as in the said machine) is in the machine constructed according to my said Invention
placed with its axis vertically, and it is steadied or rests in a spool holder con-
sisting, as seen at Figure 9, of a thin steel or other metal circular cup or case o,
which is slightly deeper than the spool n. The case o has an eye made in its side,
through which the thread from the spool passes to the hole in the throat plate p,
and in the centre of the spool holder or case an upright tube r is fixed over which
the spool is placed, so as to revolve on it as an axis. In the side of the tube ra
vertical channel or slit is made to permit of a light spring s being inserted. This
spring is fixed at its lower end to the bottom of the case o, whilst its upper end
bears against the spool, and exerts a tension or drag on the delivery of the thread
therefrom. To render this tension variable as desired a screw t situated in the
lower interior part of the tube is provided to press the spring with a greater or
less stress upon the spool n. The spool and its holder o rest upon a projecting
platform u formed on the bracket or frame K, as seen at Figures 1 and 10, the said
platform being made with lips or catches at intervals in its circumference, so as to
retain the spool, case, or holder in such a position as to allow the needle to pass
down somewhat apart from its side.
?"
The action of the needle, the looper m, and the spool n in forming each lock
stitch is as follows:-The cam groove E in the motion wheel A is so shaped and
the other working parts of the mechanism are so adjusted that the needle is at its
lowest point, and the looper m is at its rearmost point (that is, at or about the position
marked V, Figure 4) approximately at the same instant of time, consequently when
the needle begins to rise, and thereby form a loop with the needle thread, the
looper moves forward in the direction of the arrow, Figure 4, and catching the loop
carries or draws it, whilst the needle is slowly ascending, round past that part of
the spool which is diametrically opposite to the needle (that is, to say, past the
position marked X, Figure 4). The third lever H, herein-before referred to as acted
upon by the cam groove of the motion wheel A, is the thread take-up, and after
the looper m has passed the position X the said lever, by its upper part moving
rearwards, draws the loop off the looper m, and causes it to perform the remainder
of its revolution round the spool n. During this action of revolving the loop
round the spool n one part of the loop passes over the spool, whilst its other part
passes between the bottom of the spool holder o and the platform u, and a lock
stitch is thus made by the loop being thrown completely round the spool thread.
The lock stitch partially so formed is completed by the thread take-up H moving
further rearwards, and drawing the loose thread constituting the loop up through
the fabric being sewn, and whilst this is being accomplished the looper m is driven
back to its rearmost position to commence another stitch on the ascent of the
needle. The thread in passing to the needle from the bobbin 'S is conducted under
the guide T, and between the tension discs U to the thread take-up H, from whence
it is led through the guides W, W¹, and W to the eye of the needle.
The system of driving sewing machines as herein-before described, as well as the
improvements in the details and in their combination with each other, are equally
applicable to lock-stitch sewing machines, whether employed for light or heavy
work, and whether operated by hand, treddle, or other power.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the system, mode, or inanner in or under which the same is or may be
used or carried out in practice, I would observe in conclusion that I am aware that
heretofore separate or different cams and cam grooves formed on or cut in dises or

page_text: wheels arranged on one or more shafts have in conjunction with other mechanism
been employed to drive the different working parts of sewing machines, and it is
therefore to be understood that I do not claim to have invented such systems of
driving sewing machines; but what I do consider to be novel and original, and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is,-
First. The cam groove E cut in the driving wheel A, and so shaped as to drive cach
and all of the working parts of lock-stitch sewing machines, also the re-duplication
or repetition in one continuous groove on the driving wheel of the essential parts
of the cam, whereby the sewing speed of the machine is increased, substantially as
herein-before described with reference to the accompanying Drawings.
Second. Effecting an adjustable tension on the under thread of the sewing
machines, wherein a spool or its equivalent is employed, by means of a spring and
a screw carried in a spool holder or case, and operating substantially as herein-
before described with reference to Figure 9 of the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Third. The new or improved combination of apparatus consisting of the spool n,
rotating on a vertical axis in the spool holder or case o of the platform u supporting
the same, and of the vertical spirally grooved cylinder J carrying the looper m, or
any mere modification of such combination, operating substantially as herein-before
described with reference to the appended Sheet of Drawings.
Fourth. The employment in a lock-stitch sewing machine of the improvements
herein-before described and claimed, in combination with the other or hitherto used
parts of the machine, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Waterston, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-seven.
PETER WATERSTON. (L.S.)