IMPROVEMENTS. IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Henry Gosling at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th April 1870.
I, WILLIAM HENRY GOSLING, of Calthorpe Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS. IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows :-
My said Invention relates mainly to what are known as shuttle
machines, in which machines the stitches are formed by the combined
interlocking of two threads, one of which is carried by a needle while
the other thread is carried across the path of the needle by a shuttle..
The needle and shuttle are operated through the medium of two
horizontal shafts, each of which carries a toothed pinion at the rear
end of the machine, whereby it is geared in connection with a toothed
wheel attached to and turning with a driving wheel operated by hand
or any other power.
The said Invention consists, first, in a peculiar "take-up" mechanism
whereby I can tighten the stitches in a more perfect manner than has
heretofore been practicable in machines of this class, and whereby

page_text: without any change or adjustment of the tension the sewing of work
having any ordinary variations in thickness may be uninterruptedly
continued, that is to say, in sewing any garment or article of which
some portions consists of one thickness and some of two or many
thicknesses there will be no necessity for altering the tension or the
speed of the machine. For this " take-up" mechanism I employ a
peculiarly formed lever which is pivotied to a small projection on the
frame near the top of the needle bar slide. This lever is operated by
the same crank pin which gives the reciprocating vertical movement to
the needle bar, the said crank pin passing through a slot or aperture
in the lever into a slot or groove in a cross bar attached to the needle
bar. From this description it will be obvious that the lever is placed
between the crank disc and the needle bar, but as the said lever is
made very thin and light its interposition between these parts does not
occasion any inconvenience. The "take-up lever is a V shaped piece
whose pivot or fulcrum is at the outer extremity of the arm or part
wherein is formed the slot through which the crank pin passes, the other
arm of the V shaped lever is bent up and extends from the slotted part
to its outer extremity, which has a small eye or hole for the thread to
pass through. The slot or groove in the cross bar of the needle bar in
which the crank pin works is a simple straight slot, so that there is no
pause or return movement of the needle at any part of its motion. In
many shuttle machines and other double-thread machines as heretoforo
constructed it has been necessary that at certain parts of the stroke of
the needle there should be a pause, or short return movement thereof,
to allow the shuttle or thread carrier to pass properly through the loop
of needle thread, but in my improved machine such contrivances are
not needed, as the needle rises without drawing up the thread, which is
drawn up by the take-up lever. For this purpose the said lever is so
arranged in relation to the needle bar that the lever does not begin to
rise until the needle has moved upward some distance, the said lover
being then moved upward quickly.
"
The said Invention consists, secondly, in the peculiar construction
and arrangement of the shuttle carriage, and in the intermediate
mechanism for operating the same. The said shuttle carriage is a
tubular piece, which has two lateral projections at its ends between
which the shuttle lics. The tubular part is fitted to slide to and fro
upon a rod extending across the machine below the cloth plate, while

page_text: the shuttle rests upon another rod with its face in contact with the
surface of a flat guide bar which is parallel with the two rods and is
secured to the frame of the machine immediately below the cloth plate;
the said flat bar has a small vertical groove across its surface for the
passage of the needle. As the shuttle carriage is only supported on one
rod it must be restrained in some manner from turning round thereon.
For this purpose the carriage is connected by a small rod or link to its
operating lever which works on a fulcrum pin projecting from the base
of the machine. The said small rod or link is cranked or bent, or is
provided with laterally projecting pins, and the cranked portions or pins
which are fitted into holes in the shuttle carriage and in the free end
of the operating lever are of such a length that the link affords a firm
support to the shuttle carriage and keeps it in the proper position upon
its guide rod, while at the same time it works freely on its joints as the
said carriage is driven to and fro by the aforesaid lever. Motion is
imparted to this lever by means of a crank fixed on the projecting end
of the lower horizontal shaft, the said crank being connected to the
lever by a small rod or bar which is jointed to the said lever between
the fulcrum and the free end thereof.
The said Invention consists, thirdly, in the novel means for operating
the feed bar. This bar has the usual roughened surface projecting up
through a slot in the cloth plate. From the under side of the said bar
an arm extends downward and terminates in a forked portion which
overlies a cam fixed on the sleeve of the shuttle operating lever. This
cam gives the feed bar the required upward motion while its endwise
reciprocating motion is imparted to it in one direction by means of
another cam or excentric on the horizontal shaft, and in the other
direction by a spring acting against the said cam.