IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES AND SEWING MACHINE STANDS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Walter Vosper, of Stoke Devonport, in the
County of Devon, Engineer, and George Porter Rogers, of Seaton
Terrace, Plymouth, in the County of Devon, Draper, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES AND SEWING MACHINE
STANDS."
Sealed the 9th July 1875, and dated the 22nd January 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Walter Vosper
and George Porter Rogers at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 22nd January 1875.
We, CHARLES WALTER VOSPER, of Stoke Devonport, in the County
of Devon, Engineer, and GEORGE PORTER ROGERS, of Seaton Terrace,
Plymouth, in the County of Devon, Draper, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINES AND
SEWING MACHINE STANDS," to be as follows:-
First Our.improvements consist in giving a parallel lateral motion to

page_text: and similar work. This motion will be produced by cams driven.by.cog
wheels or ratchets, the machine being constructed so that the work or
material being sewn may pass from the left to right, or over the machine,
as the case may be. An elliptic hook or looper will be placed under the
needle so that it will take the loop of thread and pass it either over a
shuttle or spool.
Second. The shuttle will also be made with two points, and will be
worked by a double-groove cam fixed on the driving shaft of the machine,
the cam being so constructed as to pause at cither side, the shuttle
remaining in one position meanwhile.
Third. The stand will be so constructed that a bar will be placed across
it in front of the operator, on which bar may be placed a heavy piece of
goods to be operated upon, such as a carpet or piece of canvass, the above
machine being so constructed so as to make sacks, sails, carpets, and
similar heavy work, as well as ordinary light work.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Walter Vosper and George Porter Rogers
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd July 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHARLES
WALTER VÓSPER, of Stoke Devonport, in the County of Devon, Engineer,
and GEORGE PORTER ROGERS, of Seaton Terrace, 'Plymouth, in the
County of Devon, Draper, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said Charles Walter Vosper. and
George Porter Rogers, Her special licence that we, the said Charles
Walter Vosper and George Porter Rogers, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Charles Walter Vosper
and George Porter Rogers, our 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

page_text: 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 AND SEWING
MACHINE STANDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Charles Walter Vosper and George Porter Rogers, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under 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 we, the said Charles Walter Vosper and
Charles Walter Vosper, do hereby declare the nature of our said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
First. Our Invention consists in causing the needle of a sewing
machine to vibrate in a parallel direction so as to do herring-bone work,
overseaming, &c., as shewn in Drawings hereunto annexed.
In No. 1 Sheet of Drawings, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, will be seen the method
we adopt to produce the vibrating motion herein-before mentioned, viz.,
the parallel lateral motion. As is seen at letter a, a, Fig. 3, a piece of metal
being dovetailed is worked in another piece, likewise dovetailed, care
being taken to allow it to work freely by its being well fitted. The needle
bar is made similar to the Drawing, as seen at Fig. 1, and has a loop or
slot c in it as shewn by dotted lines, either attached or cut out of one
piece. Into this loop or slot is passed a friction roller d, shewn in
Figure 1, and which, being attached to the needle arm e, e, causes the
needle bar to rise and fall according to the required motion of the
machine. It will be seen that this is a great advantage, inasmuch that
the needle bar will rise and fall precisely the same depth whether it is at
its extremity or otherwise. Machines hitherto constructed on this prin-
ciple have the loop or slot in the arm, which is a detriment, on account
of the needle bar not rising or falling the same depth at each stitch, and
consequently will miss stitches. Attached to this dovetailed head is a
lever, as shewn at letter f, which lever extends to the extreme end of the
arm e, and obtains its motion by being attached to another arm g, slicwn
more particularly in Fig. 4, which has an oscillating motion. This

page_text: lever can be moved from one extreme end of this ȧrm to the other, which
is directly over the centre of the part giving it the oscillating motion.
The lever when there will hold the dovetailed head stationary, though
the needle bar may still be continuing its work. When the head is held
in this position plain sewing can be done, but it will also be seen that-if
the lever be ever so little from the centre the vibrating motion will at
önce be given to the dovetailed parallel head. This arm 9 will have a
slot in it extending from the centre of the pivot to the extreme end, and
in this slot will move a screw, which may be tightened up so as to keep
the lever in one position. It will also be seen that the further the
lever is carried from the centre the greater will be oscillation be. The
radius of this slot will be taken from the end of the lever nearest to
the parallel head; on the lever will also be placed the tension and bobbin
wire h, h, shewn in Fig. 11, Sheet 2.
The motion given to the arm g before mentioned will be derived by
the following means:-A round bar or shaft i will stand in a vertical
position, as shewn in Figs. 1 and 2, this being connected at the top to
the oscillating arm g, and at the bottom to a short lever, shewn in dotted
lines in Fig. 5, which is again connected with a lever k, shown in dotted
linės, Fig. 5, and extended to the, fulcrum 1, Fig. 5. This fulcrum
obtains its motion by the following means, viz., at letter m is placed a
cross cam similar to that shewn in Vosper's Patent, dated 4th day of
April 1874, No. 1184, and is placed on the shaft of the machine, as
shewn at letter n, Fig. 5. On the end of the rod connected with the
fulcrum is a bead o, as shown, and placed in the groove N of the cam,
and will pass at each revolution of the machine from one groove to the
other, and will produce an alternate motion to the needle bar when
attached to the motions herein-before described. .
It will be seen by the Drawings that this machine will be constructed
so that the work may pass from left to right, as is the case with the
Wheeler and Wilson machine, and we adopt either a shuttle or spool in
order to produce a lock stitch or overseaming stitch. The shuttle will be
worked as in other ordinary shuttle machines, and will
from a crank on the main shaft, as shewn at letter G.
will have its motion from a cam being placed on the driving shaft, as
shewn at letters r, r, which cam will impart a swift motion to the needle
whilst it rises and falls, but will cause it to pause at the instant the
shuttle passes through the loop formed by the needle on the thread. But
obtain its motion
The needle arm

page_text: in the spool it will be otherwise. There will be no pause in the needle,
but the motion in every other way will be similar to that already described,
that is, in respect to the parallel lateral motion.
Figure 6 shows the shape of the cam which gives the pause to the
needle bar; Figure 7 illustrates shape of cam to substitute the cam m;
Figure 8 shows plan of bead and link motion, with the slot and lever
attached; Figure 9 shows the cam on the vertical shaft for the purpose
of giving motion to the shuttle; Figure 10 shows cam or horizontal
shaft for giving motion to the shuttle.
In Sheet No. 2, Figure 11, will be seen the method we adopt for
working the spools for overscaming and doing fancy stitching; the hook
letters will be so timed as to take the loop of thread formed by the
needle and pass it over the spool; this will be done when the needle is
in two positions, either at one side tho parallel motion or the other.
✓ Secondly. Our Invention further consists in adopting the same motion
to another kind, of machine, as shown in No. 2 Sheet of Drawings,
Figs. 12, 13, and 14.
0
This machine can be applied to various kinds of work, such as making
button holes, overseaming, and fancy stitching. It will also execute
6 crochet work. This work will be produced by means of an ordinary
crochet needle being put in the place of an ordinary sewing machine
needle. In that case there will only be one thread, which thread will be
placed on a bobbin underneath.. The thread is then passed through a
small hole in the end of the semicircle arm, as shewn at letter t. It is
then passed up through the throat plate u of the machine, and under-
neath the material to be sewn. The machine being set in motion will
bring the hook down, and at the same instant will cause the arm just
described to move and pass the thread over the crochet hook needle. It
will then return and take up a loop of thread to the surface of the
O material to be sewn. In doing button-hole work or fancy stitching,
crochet, &c., the needle will pass alternately through the work and
alternately over the edge, fastening the loop directly on the edge of the
piece, and so forming a good button-hole stitch. In order to produce
this alternate motion we have a connecting rod B₁ leading from the
5 parallel.motion to the end of a lever C. Another rod d' is connected to
this lever C', and is carried on to a slotted plate c', which is hinged at the
upper end with a pivot f¹, the top of which is shaped as shewn at Fig. 11.
•

page_text: This is shewn more distinctly in Sheet of Drawings No. 1, Fig. 2. The
same kind of slot is used in all places, taking their radius from the
extreme end of the connecting rod d, when the upper end is directly in a
line with the centre of the pivot, and is tightened with a screw,
as shown
at letter g¹. This when lowered ever so little will cause a vibrating
motion, and the lower it is the greater will the vibration be. The
vibration is caused by the doubled grooved cam, as before stated. This-
same kind of cam is adopted in Vosper's Patent, 1184, 1874, as shown
at letter m.
The method adapted for giving motion to the arm p' is by means of
a cam j¹, as shown in Sheet 2, Figures 12 and 14, it being parallel on one
side and deviating on the other. The reason for this is, that the arm.
may remain still whilst the needle is taking up the thread, and when the
needle begins to descend it will pass.1
s.back and return when the needle is
at its lowest depth. The object of this is that the thread may be passed
over the hook, as before described. To convey this motion from the cam
to this arm a straight rod with teeth on it will be used, as shewn at
letters j, the teeth fitting into the cog ', to which wheel the arm t is
attached..
To impart motion to the needle lifter we adopt a cam, as shewn at
letter j, very similar to that used in the Howe machine. We also pro-
pose to use a shuttle in this machine and employ the same cam as now
described for the buttón-hole work.
In Figures and 10 is shown the metliod we propose to adopt for the
purpose of giving a pause to the shuttle, a cam being placed on the
upper shaft at letter a², and a rod is extended to the base of the machine
as shewn at letter 72. Also in this same Drawing, Fig. 9, may be seen
the new link motion wo purpose to adopt and use both in connection
with Vosper's Patent, 1184/1874, the same as before described. At
Figure 9, letter c², is seen the method for causing a pause in the shuttle
motion by placing the cam on the vertical shaft, and a connecting lever
is extended to the shuttle..
Thirdly. We adopt for the purpose of overseaming and fancy stitching
a new kind of stand, as shewn and described in Sheet 2, Figures 17
and 18. The stand will be similar to an ordinary sewing machine stand,
but will have a bar placed across it so as to hold a roll of goods, such as
.a carpet, sail, canvas; or other material, as shown at letter a³.

page_text: -
We also use a break on the wheel, as shown at and is particularly
described in Figures 15 and 16, and also fully shewn at Figure 19. The
way in which we purpose to make this is, we purpose to place on the
driving or fly wheel of the machine a small flange, as shewn at Figure 19,
letters a; inside of this flange is placed a little catch just in a similar
position to that shown in the Drawing, and hinged as shewn at letter t
to a lever c; we then secure the lever to the side either of the stand or
machinery, and having secured the catch to the inside of the flanged face
it makes it impossible for the machine to turn the wrong way.
In Drawing No. 1, Figure 8, it shows the beaded link intended to work
in the cam, as shewn at letter m, Figure 12 and 14.
We also propose to place in the position of our cross cam a cam similar
to that shown at Figure 7. This cam will require two beads, as shown
at Figure 20, they being placed in the grooves of the cam as it revolves,
each alternate revolution changing it from the groove of the cam to the
outside and vice versa. The cam shewn at Fig. 6, No. 1 Sheet of
Drawings, in the needle bar cam used when the machine is constructed
with a shuttle.
Having thus described and illustrated our said Invention, and the
manner in which it is to be carried into effect, we would observe that it
will be seen by persons acquainted with sewing machines how far the
parts can be utilized to advantage in the manufacture of machines some-
what different in the outline of their construction. And we would also
observe that though we have mentioned the use of cog wheels and
ratchets in our Provisional we find them very noisy, and have substituted
for them the motions herein-before described, and we have also found
that the two-pointed shuttle mentioned in our said Provisional has not
proved so satisfactory as we anticipated, therefore we have abandoned it;
but what we claim and consider to be novel, and desire to be secured
to us by the herein-before partly recited Letters Patent, are the
following, namely:-
First. The overseaming and working fancy stitches done by means
of passing the work from left to right or vice versa, as lierein-before
described.
'
Second. The means of producing the oscillating motion to the needle
bar by means of the link motion as before described, and the plain

page_text: sewing being done when the end of the lever is directly over the centre
of pivot, as shewn in the Drawing.
Third. The cross cam as shewn in that position under the cloth plate
and on the driving shaft of the machine, as shewn in Figures 3
and 5; also the cam for giving motion to the needle bar, as shewn in
the same Drawing and herein-before described.
.
Fourth. The machine in its entirety, as shewn on Drawings, with the
exception of the dovetailed parallel head.
'
.
Fifth. The stand when made with a bar across it to carry heavy goods,
as shewn and before described.
Sixth. The check on wheel to prevent the machine turning the wrong
way, as herein-before described.
Seventh. The cams and attachments thereto, as shewn at Figures 7, 9,
10, and 20, all substantially as herein-before described, or any mere
modification thereof.
In witness whereof, we, the said Charles Walter Vosper and George
Porter Rogers, have hereunto set their hands and seals, this
Twentieth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-five.