AN IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING MACHINES."-A communication
from Elias Howe, junior, of Brooklyn, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 14th June 1859, and dated the 17th January 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th January 1859.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING MACHINES," to be as
follows:-
This improvement in sewing machines has reference to that class of sewing
machines in which a shuttle is used to carry the lower or locking thread. In
such machines it has been customary to propel the shuttle to and fro by
applying force to it alternately at its opposite ends by means of a suitable
driving apparatus. This method is objectionable on account of the friction of
the parts, and consequent wear of the shuttle, which can be lessened only by
oiling the machine freely at parts where the presence of oil is liable to soil the
thread; it is also objectionable on account of its cost, and of the amount of

page_text: play between the shuttle and the drivers. The object of this Invention is to
obviate these defects, and it consists in a method of operating the shuttle so as
to cause it to move to and fro by means of a driver applied to one part only of
its length. The Invention also consists in so constructing and applying the
shuttle driver as to adapt it to this mode of operation.
The shuttle of the machine is formed of thin metal pointed at one end and
terminating at the other extremity in a rounded butt, to which a projecting
lip is secured in such a manner as to form a socket between the said lip and
the butt of the shuttle, into which socket the end of a reciprocating driver is
received. The shuttle lies in a shuttle race which is covered by a sliding cap.
The shuttle driver has a hammer-shaped head which is notched at its lower
side to fit loosely upon the edge of the shuttle race, but not to touch it; its
stock terminates in a pivot which drops into a tubular socket in the front
extremity of an arm, to which a suitable vibratory motion is imparted by the
rotating shaft of the machine for the purpose of impelling the driver to and fro.
The pivot is perpendicular to the table of the machine, and the depth of the
socket and the length of the pivot are such that any tendency in the driver to
sink out of its proper position is effectually prevented, and the shuttle driver is
at the same time sustained so that there is no pressure upon the shuttle race.
The shuttle driver is guided in moving to and fro by the opposite sides of a
race in which its hammer-shaped head is loosely fitted.
With this mode of construction it is evident that the shuttle is impelled to
and fro by the action of the driver alternately against the opposite sides of the
socket formed by the butt of the shuttle and the lip, so that the necessity of
employing a second driver to act at the point of the shuttle is dispensed with.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th July 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William

page_text: Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Edward Newton, 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
IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING MACHINES," being a communication by Elias Howe,
junior, of Brooklyn, in the United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument-
in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the.
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This improvement in sewing machines has, reference to that class of sewing
machines in which a shuttle is used to carry the lower or locking thread. In
such machines it has been customary to propel the shuttle to and fro by
applying force to it alternately at its opposite ends by means of a suitable
driving apparatus. This method is objectionable on account of the friction of
the parts, and consequent wear of the shuttle, which wear can be lessened only
by oiling the machine freely at parts where the presence of oil is liable to soil
the thread; it is also objectionable on account of its cost and of the amount
of play between the shuttle and the drivers. The object of the present
Invention is to obviate these defects, and it consists in a method of operating
the shuttle so as to cause it to. move to and fro by means of a driver applied
to one part only of its length. The Invention also consists in so constructing
and applying the shuttle driver as to adapt it to this mode of operation..
The improvement is illustrated in the annexed Drawing.. Fig. 1 is a
plan
of a portion of a sewing machine, which embodies the present improvement;.
Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section thereof at the line X, X; of Fig. 1.
The shuttle A is formed of thin metal, pointed at one end and terminating
at the other extremity in a rounded butt, to which a projecting lip b,. Fig. 1,
is secured in such a manner as to form a socket between the lip and the butt
of the shuttle, into which socket the end of a reciprocating driver D is received.

page_text: The shuttle lies in a shuttle race, which is covered by a sliding cap C. The
shuttle driver has a hammer-shaped head, which is notched at its lower side to
fit loosely upon the edge e of the shuttle race, but not to touch it; its stock
terminates in a pivot i, which drops into a tubular socket in the front extremity
of an arm F, to which a suitable vibratory motion is imparted by the rotating
shaft of the machine, for the purpose of impelling the driver to and fro. The
pivot is perpendicular to the table of the machine, and the depth of the socket
and the length of the pivot are such that any tendency in the driver to sink
out of its proper position is effectually prevented, and the shuttle driver is at
the same time sustained, so that there is no pressure upon the shuttle race.
The shuttle driver is guided in moving to and fro by the opposite sides g, h, of
a race in which its hammer-shaped head is loosely fitted.
With this mode of construction, it is evident that the shuttle is impelled to
and fro by the action of the driver alternately against the opposite sides of the
socket formed by the butt of the shuttle and the lip, so that the necessity of
employing a second driver to act at the point of the shuttle is dispensed with.
By imparting a reciprocating movement to the shuttle by the application of
a driver to one point only of its length, the driver may be applied continuously
to the shuttle, and the point of the shuttle which enters the loop of thread in
the needle of the sewing machine is left free at all times. The construction of
the driving mechanism is also exceedingly simple, and the method of guiding
the driver by a race parallel with the shuttle, and at the same time of preventing
it from sinking out of its proper position, by pivoting its stock in a deep socket
in the vibrating arm, is cheap and efficient, and enables me to dispense almost
wholly, if not entirely, with the use of oil at that part of the head of the driver
which is adjacent to the shuttle race.
Having thus described the Invention which has been communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, and explained the manner which is deemed best
for carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not
intend to limit myself to the precise construction of parts, herein shewn and
described, as they may be modified as circumstances may render expedient,
to adapt the Invention to different sewing machines, or to meet the views
of different constructors. Thus, for example, if a curved shuttle race is em-
ployed, as is the case in some machines, the arm F may be pivoted at the
centre of the circle of which the race is an arc, and its extremity may terminate
in the recess at the butt of the shuttle, thus driving the latter directly without
the interposition of the connecting bar or driver D.
I am aware that the shuttle of a sewing machine has been operated by
seizing it by one of its ends in a forceps, but the construction and operation of

page_text: the mechanism in this case is such as to render it necessary to apply the driving
apparatus to the shuttle, and disconnect it therefrom, at each movement of the
said shuttle. I do not therefore claim imparting motion to a reciprocating
shuttle by seizing one of its ends intermittently by a forceps; but what I claim
as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid is, imparting a
reciprocating movement to the shuttle of a sewing machine, by the application
of a driver to one point only of its length, in such manner that the driver need
not be disconnected from the shuttle.
I also claim constructing the shuttle driver in such manner that it is guided
by a race parallel with the shuttle race, or its equivalent, and is at the same
time supported and prevented from sinking out of its proper position by pivoting
its stock perpendicularly to the table of the machine, in a socket in the arm
which imparts motion to it.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)