BRITISH PATENT 831 - 1857
831 John Hewett, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Public Accountant, for an invention for improvements in sewing machines. A communication. The invention relates to improvements in certain sewing machines for which letters patent were granted to Auguste Edouard Loradoux Bellford on or about the 13th day of December, in the year of our Lord, 1854 (GB 2.618) and on or about the 1st day of November, 1855 (GB 2.442). In the specification of the first of the aforesaid patents a mode is described of passing the loop of the thread of the needle over a thread case, by means of a lateral motion of the needle or by a motion of the point of a thread case. In the specification of the aforesaid patents a mode is described or passing the loop of the thread over a looper by the motion of the needle on its axis. By the present invention the needle is neither turned on its axis nor moved laterally, but has merely the up and down motion. The point or the looper ( or of the thread case when two threads are used), is made to lie close to the needle and the loop of the thread is passed over it by the up and down motion of the needle, without the aid of the additional movements hereinbefore mentioned. To facilitate and assist in conducting the thread in the proper direction the needle is made with an inclined or spiral groove and a fixed book or wire is placed near it. The cloth or material to be sewn is advanced by means of the feeding apparatus described in the second of the aforesaid specifications or other suitable feeding apparatus may be employed. A simple and effective sewing machine is thus obtained. The thread passes through eyes on the needle carrier and on the frame and it is kept to a proper degree of tension by passing it round a pin and through a hole and out at the end of a pin where it is pressed by a spring. By turning the pin round more or less, the degree of tension may be varied as required. The machines may be driven by band or by power and by wheels and pinions or bands or otherwise, as may be most convenient.
Letters Patent sealed. March 25, 1857
