IMPROVE- MENTS IN AND ADDITIONS TO SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Daniel Wanzer, of No. 4, Great Portland
Street, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN AND ADDITIONS TO SEWING MACHINES."-A communication from
abroad by Joseph Burt McCune, of Hamilton, Ontario, Dominion of
Canada.
Scaled the 21st December 1874, and dated the 9th July 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Daniel Wanzer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 9th July 1874.
I, THOMAS DANIEL WANZER, of No. 4, Great Portland Street, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND ADDITIONS TO SEWING MACHINES," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is reversing the "feed" of a sewing
machine to enable the operator to sew forward or backward, producing
the same length of stitch.

page_text: A bracket is fastened to the under side of the bed plate provided
with two parallel slots with a central opening between the said slots for
a screw to fasten the disc lever. A lever having its right end circular
and its extreme left flattened as a convenient handle for the operator
is employed. Two slots are formed through which screws pass and
also pass through slots first mentioned of the bracket, and serve to
keep the disc of the lever in its place.
A feed lever for the purpose of regulating the length of the stitch
one way has a pin attached to its left side, the pins being free to
slide in a groove of the swivel block.. A constructing rod passes from a
shaft to the swivel block, and has a cam on its upper end surrounding
the shaft which imparts motion to the rod and the cam. A rocker shaft
forms the bearing of the shaft above referred to, the rocker shaft being
used for the purpose of moving the feed. An arm of the rocker shaft is
fastened to the swivel block; this upper shaft has the eccentric or rod
attached to it, and the swivel block contains a groove in which slides a
pin attached to the lever for the purpose of regulating the length of the
stitch. A small pin is fastened to the lever immediately under the
bracket to act as a stop for the lever, its action being confined between
blocks. The sliding blocks are made to be adjusted near to or distant
from each other by means of the scroll slots, and the screws of the disc
of the lever, and the space between the said blocks is expanded and
contracted as the handle of the lever is raised or lowered.
The operation is as follows:-By having the pin in the groove of the
swivel block below the centre of a given point the feed moves the cloth
from the operator, and when the said pin is above the centre of the
swivel block the feed will be reversed and the cloth will be fed or moved
towards the operator.
The operation of the slotted lever and sliding blocks is to form
adjustable stops for the pin, said pin being firmly attached to the lever
so that the feed can be reversed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Daniel Wanzer in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
DANIEL WANZER, of 4, Great Portland Street, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Daniel Wanzer, Her
special licence that I, the said Thomas Daniel Wanzer, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Daniel Wanzer, 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 law-
fully 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 AND ADDITIONS TO SEWING
MACHINES," communicated to me from abroad by Joseph Burt McCune, of
Hamilton, Ontario, Dominion of Canada, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Thomas Daniel Wanzer, 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 Thomas Daniel Wanzer, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
The object of this Invention is a very simple device for reversing the
"feed" of a sewing machine to enable the operator to sew forward or
backward producing the same length of stitch.

page_text: Figure 1 represents a partial end view of a sewing machine; Figure 2.
is a portion of a side view of the same with the arm, cloth plate, and
shafts broken off.
A is the bed plate of the machine; B is a bracket shewn separately in
Figure 3 fastened to the under side of the bed plate A provided with two
parallel slots a, a, with a central opening between the said slots for a
screw d to fasten the disc lever C to it.
The peculiar form of the lever C is shown in the end view Figure 1,
its right end circular and its extreme left end is flattened out as a
convenient handle for the operator; its use will be fully shown hereafter.]
It is also provided with two scroll slots c, c, through which screws b, b,
pass, they also pass through slots a, a, of the afore-mentioned. bracket
and serve to keep the disc of the lever C in its place.
,
D, shown separately in Figure 4, is a feed lever for the purpose of:
regulating the length of the stitch one way, it has a pin K attached to
its left side, the said pin being constructed to slide in a groove of the
swivel block I; E is a connecting rod passing from the shaft H to the
swivel block I, it has a cam E' on its upper end surrounding the shaft H
which imparts motion to the said rod and cam; F is a rocker shaft that
forms the bearing for the shaft G, which is a lower rocker shaft used for
the purpose of moving the feed; G¹ is an upward arm of the rocker shaft G
and is fastened to the swivel block I (Figure 1), which on the end view
shows how the rocker arm G¹ and connecting rod E are connected to
the swivel block; H is the upper shaft to which the excentric or rod E.
is attached as mentioned aforesaid; I is a swivel block containing a 2
groove in which slides the pin K, which is attached to the lever D for -
the purpose of regulating the length of the stitch; i is a small pin:
fastened to the lever d, Figures 2 and 4, immediately under the bracket B..
for the purpose of a stop for the lever D, its action is confined between
blocks e, c, shown in Figure 2. The sliding blocks e, e, are made to be a
adjusted near to or distant from each other by means of the scroll slots
and screws b, b, of the disc of the lever C, and the space between the
said blocks is expanded or contracted as the handle of the lever C is
raised or lowered; J is a connecting rod from the drive wheel L to the
rocker shaft F, upon which however I claim nothing; K is the pin which is a
attached to the lever D, the outward end of which is made to fit in the
groove of the swivel block. I.; L is the drive wheel with its signal
attachments for driving the working parts of the machine.
..

page_text: The operation of the Invention is as follows:-By having the pin K
in the groove of the swivel block I below the centre of the point G¹
Figure 1, the feed moves the cloth from the operator, and when the said
pin K is above the centre of the swivel block the feed will be reversed
and the cloth will be fed or moved towards the operator.
The operation of the slotted lever C and sliding blocks e, e, is to form
adjustable stops for the pin i, said pin being firmly attached to the
lever D, so that the feed is reversed.
The advantages of this device are as follows: -To enable an operator
to sew the work running either way to or from, and to fasten all the ends
of the seams without stopping the machine and turning the cloth
around.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as this
Invention is, the appliances fitted in or to sewing machines as set forth,
in or by which the feed of sewing machines can be reversed by expanding
and contracting the space between the sliding blocks, equal distances
from the centre for adjusting the pin i by the arrangement and com-
bination of the following parts or their equivalents, viz., the movable
sliding blocks e, e, pin i on lever D, disc lever C, scroll slots c, c,
screws b, b, bracket B with slots a, a, all combined for the purpose
specified.
'
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Daniel Wanzer, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of November,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
H. GARDNER,
166, Fleet Street,
London.
T. D. WANZER. (L.S.).