IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Blomfield, of Colchester, in the County
of Essex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 22nd October 1872, and dated the 11th June 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Blomfield at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th June 1872.
I, JOSEPH BLOMFIELD, of Colchester, in the County of Essex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:―
My Invention consists, first, in supplying the thread to the shuttles
or spools of sewing machines in the form of a ball or tube as wound by
the manufacturer, whereby the trouble of rewinding on the spool or on
a bobbin to be placed on the shuttle is avoided, whilst the shuttle or
spool is capable of containing a greater quantity of thread, and therefore
requires to be less frequently replenished than heretofore, a considerable
saving of time being thus effected.

page_text: Another important advantage consists in the facility obtained of
adjusting the tension of the under thread in the class of machine known
as the Wheeler-Wilson machine, which it has not been hitherto easy to
effect in a direct manner.
The spool or shuttle forms a case in which the ball of thread is
completely enclosed, the thread being led through a number of holes in
the case to obtain the necessary degree of tension, which may also be
further regulated by an adjustable spring fixed in the spool or shuttle.
As the thread is unwound or drawn out from the centre of the ball the
space in the shuttle may be completely filled, the ball being stationary
therein.
My Invention also consists in the application to the class of machines
known as the Wilcox of a shuttle to carry an under thread in the
following manner :-Beneath the work plate an oscillating shuttle
carrier is mounted to rock on a horizontal pivot; it is operated from a
crank on the driving shaft of the machine, and an adjustable plate or
curved shuttle race is fixed in front of the shuttle to confine it in its
carrier.
The shuttle may be curved to the arc of the circle in which it moves,
or it may be partly straight with a hooked or curved nose or point to
enable it to enter the loop of the needle thread which the shuttle is
enabled to readily pass through or throw off, as it moves in a circle of
small diameter.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Blomfield in the Great Scal Patent Office 2
on the 11th December 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
BLOMFIELD, of Colchester, in the County of Essex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of June, in the year of a
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Joseph Blomfield, Her special licence that I, the
said Joseph Blomfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such

page_text: others as I, the said Joseph Blomfield, 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," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Blomfield, 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 immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Bloomfield, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :-
My Invention relates, first, to an improved spool or thread holder for
sewing machines of the class known as the Wheeler-Wilson, or in
which a rotating hook is employed, and consists in a stationary spool,
in which the thread is supplied in the form of a ball wound by the
manufacturer to avoid the trouble of rewinding the thread on the spool.
The peculiarity of this spool is that it does not revolve as the thread is
drawn out, whereby the rattling noise made by the spool when the
machine is in operation is almost entirely avoided, and the thread is
not twisted as it leaves the spool, which is the case with some in which
the thread is contained in the form of a ball, as hercafter described.
It also consists in the application of an adjustable tension spring in a
spool of this description.
My Invention further consists in the application to the class of machines
known as the "Wilcox" of a shuttle to carry an under thread in the
manner hereafter more fully described.
In the accompanying Drawings I have illustrated both the improve-
ments of my Invention herein-before referred to. Figure 1 is an edge
view of the stationary spool or thread case; Figure 2 is a central section

page_text: of the same; Figure 3 is an inside view of one half of the case or spool
showing the tension spring; and Figure 4 is a view of the two halves
of the case or spool, whilst Figure 5 is a view of the ball of thread to be
placed in the spool or case; Figure 6 is a side elevation; and Figure 7,
a front elevation of a Wilcox machine with my improvements applied;
Figure 8 is a detached view of the shuttle race; and Figure 9, a view of
a shuttle detached.
a, a', Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, are the two halves of the thread case, which
is of thin metal, fitted or it may be hinged together, and closed by a
spring catch. In the Figures the edge of the one part a of the case
is sprung over the edge of the other part a', so as to grip it slightly,
and hold the two parts securely together when in the machine, but yet
so as to admit of their being opened or readily taken apart to insert a
fresh ball when the thread is exhausted. This spool is intended to be
used in combination with the ordinary rotating hook of a Wheeler-
Wilson machine, the flat side a being placed against said hook with
the ordinary adjustable ring-shaped holder against the bulged side a².
-b-is-the-ball-of-thread-enclosed-therein.;-it-is-an-ordinary_flattened ball.
of thread wound in the usual manner. The thread is drawn out or
unwound from the centre of the ball through a central hole c in the
half a of the case, which is furnished with a scries of holes c¹, through
which the thread is led, and under a spring d and out at an aperture c
in the edge of the half a of the case. The metal between the hole c'
where the thread passes outside the case is channeled to form a groove
for the th read to lie in to prevent its being frayed by contact with the
rotating hook in which the spool is placed. The spring & is a ring of
wire, soldered at d¹ to the inside of the case a, and an adjusting screw
or screws x may be provided to press on the spring d, and cause it
to nip the thread more or less as required, or any other suitable form
of spring may be employed. As the ball of thread unwinds from the
centre it does not require to turn within the spool or case, which may
consequently be completely filled by the ball of thread. Although I
may here observe that since filing my Provisional Specification I have
found that I cannot claim as new the application of such a ball of
thread in a spool or shuttle. My Invention therefore has reference
to leading out the thread from the edge of the spool casc, so that the
latter does not turn with the rotating hook, the aperture e, from which
the thread leaves, the case, being always upwards, so that the thread is

page_text: not twisted or caused to kink nor unravelled by the rotatory motion of
the spool, as is the case in other spools in which a ball of thread is
used.
The improvement illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 relates to a Wilcox
machine in which one thread only is usually employed.
My improvement consists in adapting to such machine a shuttle
carrying a second or under thread in the following manner :-In lieu of
the looper usually employed in the Wilcox machine I provide an
oscillating shuttle carrier k mounted to rock on a horizontal pivot A¹
beneath the work plate 7, as shown. This shuttle carrier is connected
by a bar m to a crank pin n on a disc o carried on the ordinary driving
shaft p of a Wilcox machine. The shuttle carrier k has a holder fixed
on it, as shown, shaped or recessed to receive the shuttlo r, which is
confined in the carrier by an adjustable plates or curved shuttle race
placed in front of the shuttle in the same way that the adjustable
holder secures the spool in a Wheeler-Wilson machine. This
adjustable shuttle race is seen detached in Figure 8. It consists of a
flat plate having a flange t at the circumference to prevent the shuttle
flying out of the race, and a groove n for the needle to pass down. If
the shuttle be supplied with thread in the form of a cop or tube the
shuttle may be curved, as seen in Figure 7, but if the thread is wound
on a bobbin placed in the shuttle in the usual manner the body of the
shuttle must be parallel, and have a curved or hooked point, as shown
in Figure 9. The shuttle is inserted in or removed from the carrier
through an opening in the work plate of the machine. As the shuttle
moves in a circle of small diameter it is enabled to readily pass through
or throw off the loop of the needle thread without requiring the needle
to pause longer than usual in a Wilcox machine whilst the shuttle is
going through the loop.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as my Invention
to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, -
1st. A stationary spool or case when combined with an ordinary
Wheeler-Wilson rotating hook, and containing a ball of thread, the
thread being led out from the case through an aperture at the edge or

page_text: 2ndly. I claim the combination with the said stationary thread case or
spool of an adjustable spring for regulating the tension of the thread,
substantially as shown and described.
3rdly. I claim the combination with a Wilcox machine of a shuttle r
mounted in an oscillating shuttle carrier k driven from the main shaft pi
of the machine, the said shuttle working against a curved shuttle races,
all substantially as herein-before set forth and shown in Figures 6 and 7
of the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Blomfield, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of December, in the year 1
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
JOSEPH BLOMFIELD. (L.S.)