AN IMPROVED SEWING MACHINE
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for.
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SEWING MACHINE."-A communication
from abroad by John Paulding, of the City and State of New York,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 3rd August 1870.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
5 Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED SEWING MACHINE," a
communication, to be as follows:-
The said Invention relates to a machine for sewing overhand stitches.

page_text: The sewing machine is arranged upon a bed so that it may be moved
therein by a rack and pawl or cam movement to make the successive
stitches. The sewing machine frame has secured on its outer end the
needle holder plates; through these plates is a circular opening with a
marginal outlet therefrom; between these plates are arranged three cog
wheels in such positions as to permit two of the said wheels to act upon
the upper and back edge of an annular or ring-shaped needle also
arranged between the aforesaid plates and parallel with the circular
opening; this needle is preferably about two-thirds of a circle in length,
but may be made shorter or longer if desired. In its periphery is cut a
channel having a rack therein, so that it may be rotated by the cog
wheels engaging therein in the proper direction.. The thread is secured
in the eye of the needle, and there is a thread guide to keep it from
getting entangled with the cloth and at the same time in a proper
position for the spring looper to catch it to draw up the slack of the
thread; this spring looper is secured in a moveable head piece, having
upon it a cam; this head piece works in a guide box secured at or near
the centre of the thread-tightener wheel. A reacting spring keeps the
moveable head piece in its place in the guide box. A stationary arm
projects down from the frame for supporting the main propelling gear
wheels. The object of the arm is to act as a tappet to operate the spring
looper, and thus as the tightener wheel rotates project it outwards' into
the opening between the point and eye of the needle to take hold of the
thread and hold it till tightened by the rotation of the tension wheel;
this wheel is arranged in a horizontal position on a central spindle which
is rotated by a crank or other suitable propelling device. On the spindle
is a bevil cog wheel which gears into a second bevil cog wheel, and
thence by its connections through the three wheels transmits a rotatory
motion to the needle.
It will be obvious that the size, proportions, and relative positions of
the several parts herein-before described may be modified without making
any substantial change in the function or principles of the machine.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st February 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents;
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 "AN IMPROVED
SEWING MACHINE," a communication to me from abroad by John Paulding,
of the City and State of New York, United States of America, Councillor
at Law, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Robert Lake, 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 William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:
The nature of my Invention consists, first, in making an annular or
ring-shaped sewing machine needle.
Second. In making an annular or ring-shaped sewing machine needle
with a countersunk rack on its external periphery or sides.

page_text: Third. In the combination and arrangement of the said needle with a
needle holder plate having an opening in it to correspond with the
central opening of the needle, so as to admit the edges of the cloth
between the ends of the needle, to carry the thread over to form the
stitch.
Fourth. In the combination and arrangement of a series of three or
more cog wheels with the needle and needle holder plate for the purpose
of supporting and holding and propelling the needle through the
cloth.
5
Fifth. In combining with the annular needle a thread supporter or 1
looper guide for the purpose of keeping the loop of thread open to enable
the thread carrier or looper to take off the slack of the thread to complete
the stitch.
Sixth. In the construction of a rotatory thread tightener wheel in
combination with suitable gear wheels for rotating the same in connection 1
with the needle.
Seventh. In combining with the rotatory wheel a self-adjustable
thread carrier or looper, whereby the slack of the thread at each revo-
lution of the wheel will be taken up and drawn to its full length before
the needle completes the next stitch.
But to describe the said Invention more particularly, reference is made
to the accompanying Drawings forming a part of the same, the same
letters of reference wherever they occur referring to like parts.
2
Figure 1 is a side view of the machine; Figure 2 is a plan view,
shewing the position of the thread tightener wheel and looper spring 2
just on the point of taking the thread to form the stitch; Figure 3 is an
end view of the machine having the front of the needle holder plate
taken off so as to show the arrangement of the needle and propelling
cog wheels; Figure 4 is a detached plan view of the thread tightener
wheel and the looper spring, showing their position when drawing up the 3
slack of the thread to complete the stitch; Figures 5 and 6 are side and
edge views of the annular needle.
A represents the base, having on each side ledges B and B', as guide
ways for the feeding motion of the sewing machine. The feeding
may be effected by hand intermittently with the rotation of the needle 3
or by a wheel or rack and pawl or cam operated by the propelling cog

page_text: wheels of the machine as may be desired. Upon the ledge B' is secured
the cloth to be stitched. On the frame of the sewing machinė at its front
end are secured the needle holder plates D having a circular opening E
through them of corresponding area with the central opening of the
needle, and a marginal opening F. The object of these openings is to
admit of the insertion of the cloth between the ends of the needle, also to
admit of the thread being passed through the cloth by the needle, also to
admit of the looper spring taking up the slack of the thread to tighten the
stitch. Between the plates D are arranged three cog wheels, G, H, and I,
in such a position as to permit the wheels G and I to act upon the upper
and back edge of the needle J arranged in suitable guides or channels
in or on the inside edges of the opening E. This needle is ring shaped,
or circular, and rotates in a circle on its own axis. Its length may be
varied according to the number and arrangement of the propelling.
wheels. In its periphery or sides if desired is cut a channel K, having
in it a series of cogs or teeth L. Into these teeth the cogs on the
wheels G and I engage, so that when rotated in the direction of the
arrows they will cause the needle to rotate also. As the end of the
needle does not leave the wheel I, before the point of it engages in
the teeth of the wheel G it will be obvious that its rotation will be
continuous while the machine is in motion, and as the work is fed forward
it will make a succession of overhand stitches in the edges of the cloth.
Where a fine needle is-used and it is not practicable to cut teeth in its
periphery, a friction band will be arranged to run over the cog wheels G
and I, or suitable and equivalent wheels therefor, so as to cause the band
to run in contact with the back edge of the needle and thus propel it
through the cloth. It will be obvious that the thread M will be governed
in its length by the diameter of the thread tightening wheel. To secure
the thread in the needle it is knotted and drawn into a countersunk eye,
so as to permit its passing readily through the cloth. To prevent the
thread from getting entangled with the cloth a loop of wire N is
arranged so as to bisect longitudinally the opening E in the plates D.
By this arrangement the thread is held up so that the spring looper can
readily take hold of it to draw the slack through the cloth. This thread
carrier is composed of a small rod of spring steel P secured at its back
end into a head piece p³, having on its front edge a cam p³. This head
piece works in a guide box p' secured at or near the centre of the upper
side of the thread carrier_wheel Q. To keep it in the guide box p, a

page_text: reacting spring R is secured to the margin of the wheel Q.in such a
position as to permit its outer end to press against the outer end of the
head piece p², and thus keep it in the guide box. The operation of this
thread carrier or spring looper is shown in Figure 2 as it appears when on
the point of entering the opening E to take the thread, and in Figure 4
as it appears retracted in the guide box during the act of tightening the
thread. For operating the carrier or spring looper the cams p³ are
arranged so as to come in contact with the pendant arm S, forming a
portion of the frame S² for supporting the main propelling gear wheels.
By this means the thread carrier or spring looper is projected out from
the box p' so as to enter the opening E to take the slack of the thread,
while so soon as it passes beyond the opening F the cam p³ slips off
the arm S, and thus allows the looper to be retracted by the spring R
to let the thread slip off its point more readily when the tension wheel Q
has exhausted the slack of the thread. This tension wheel Q is arranged
in a horizontal position on a central spindle U which extends up through
the frame S². Upon its upper end is a crank u², which when rotated
rotates the bevel cog wheels V, and thence by connections through the
wheels G, H, and I rotates the needle J. W is a band of metal forming
the periphery of the tension wheel Q; this band extends nearly around
the wheel. The object of the space between its ends is to permit of the
operations of the looper spring beyond its periphery while the surface-
of the band affords a uniform and constant tension upon the thread,
whatever may be its length.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of January,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one
Witness,
E. C. JACKSON.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)