Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Feb., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 29th Sept., 1897-Accepted, 29th Jan., 1898
We, CHARLES LAURENCE, late of 28, Shaw Street, and now of 12, Albert Square,
Ella Street, Mariner, FREDERICK WILLIAM FISHER, of the Citadel, Engineer's Agent,
and THOMAS HENRY HORNER, of Billingsgate, Fish Salesman, all of Hull, in the
County of York, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to a device for threading ordinary hand sewing needles and
has for its object to provide a mechanical needle threader of simple construction
whereby ordinary hand sewing needles may be threaded more expeditiously and
easily than hitherto.
In carrying out our invention we provide an outer casing of any suitable shape,
preferably rectangular. Inside this casing is furnished a block which is free to slide
vertically and is held in position from side play by guides of suitable construction.
This sliding block is kept up to its normal position by a spiral spring and the vertical.
travel of the block is regulated by a suitable detent arrangement such as a pin fixed
on the casing and working in a slot in the block or a pin fixed on the block and
sliding in a groove in the casing. Through this block a small vertical hole is
machined for the reception of a threading rod which is preferably an ordinary needle
flattened out at its pointed end to enable it to pass through the eye of the needle to.
be threaded with the bobbin or eye end thereof pivotally or rigidly secured to the
bottom of the casing. On one side of the block a spring rod is provided the bottom
end of which is soldered or otherwise attached to the block so us to share the vertical
movement thereof. The top end of the spring rod is bent over and inserted into a
small hole drilled in the block at the proper distance above the botton and at right
angles to a horizontal slot or needle receiver provided in the head of the block. This
spring rod is so formed that when the block is pressed down the said rod encounters
a projection on the casing which causes its upper end to be withdrawn from the small.
hole in the block head. The object of the spring bar is to catch the thread after it
has been passed through the eye of the needle to be threaded, and to hold the thread
until it is pulled out and broken off to the desired length. The horizontal slot or
needle receiver is cut or grooved across the sliding block, for the reception of the
needle to be threaded in such a manner that the end of the said slot or groove forms
a stop to the needle to guide the needle eye directly over the threading rod. This
slot or groove is open from the top so that the thread may be simply laid on the
bottom of the needle receiver before the needle is placed therein, and the bottom of
the needle receiver is preferably made V shaped.
The action of our improved needle threader is as follows:-In order to thread a
needle, place the cotton or thread in the V shaped slot or groove and press down the
sliding block which causes the spring rod to be moved to one side so that the cotton
or thread may then lie at the bottom of the slot; insert the needle to be threaded
into the V shaped alot above the cotton or thread so far as it will go then press the
blook downwards when the threading rod forces the cotton or thread through the eye
•

page_text: of the needle in the form of a loop; then relieve the pressure on the block, which
a llows the spring rod to pass through the loop above the needle which then withdraw
and break off the thread to the desired length. Insert another needle and repent
the process.
A Novel or Improved Needle Threader.
We, CHARLES LAURENCE, late of 28, Shaw Street, and now of 12, Albert Square,
Ella Street, Mariner, FREDERICK WILLIAM FISHER, of the "Citadel," Engineer's
Agent, and THOMAS HENRY HORNER, of Billingsgate, Fish Salesman, all of Hull; in
the County of York, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
and
This invention relates to a device for threading ordinary hand sewing needles, and
has for its object to provide a mechanical needle threader of simple construction
whereby ordinary hand sewing needles may be threaded more expeditiously and
easily than hitherto.
And in order that our invention may be clearly understood and readily carried:
into effect, we will now proceed to describe the same with reference to the
accompanying drawing, in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts in all the figures.
Fig. 1 is a part sectional elevation, and Figs. 2 and 3 are transverse sectional
views of a mechanical needle threader constructed in accordance with our 2
invention.
Fig. 4 is a corresponding plan view thereof.
Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive are part sectional views intended to illustrate the action
of threading a needle by our improved device. Figs. 1 to 4 are approximately full
sized views of the apparatus but Figs. 5 to 8 are drawn to au enlarged scale for 3
the sake of clearness.
Referring to Figs. 1 to 4 a is an outer casing stamped out or manufactured in
any suitable way and preferably rectangular. Inside this casing is furnished a
block b which is free to slide vertically and is held in position from side play by
guides of suitable construction. This sliding block is kept up to its normal position a
by a spiral spring c and the vertical travel of the block is regulated by a suitable
arrangement such as the projection 61 on the foot of the block working in a
recess a¹ a¹ extending across the casing. Through this block a small vertical hole b¹
is drilled for the reception of a threading rod d which is preferably an ordinary
needle flattened out at its sharp end to enable it to pass through the eye of the 4
needle to be threaded with the eye or butt end thereof secured to the bottom of
the casing. On one side of the block a spring rod e is provided, the bottom end of
which is soldered or otherwise attached to the block b so as to share the vertical
movement thereof the top end of the spring rode is bent over and the part ei
inserted as a detent pin into a small hole 3 drilled across the block at the proper
distance above and crosswise to a horizontal slot or needle receiver 64 provided in the
head of the block. This spring rod is so formed that when the block is pressed
down the said rod encounters a pin extending across the casing which pin being
a fixture forces the upper end e¹ so far outwards as to be clear of the threading rod

page_text: as shown in Fig. 3. When the block b moves up again the part e¹ of the spring
rod returns to the position in hole 63 as shown in Fig. 2. The object of the
spring rode is to catch the loop of the thread after it has been passed through the
eye of the needle to be threaded, and to hold the thread until it is pulled out and
broken off to the desired length. The horizontal slot, groove or needle receiver 6* is
cut or grooved across the sliding block for the reception of the needle to be
threaded in such a manner that the end of the needle abuts against an incline at 65
which forms a guage to guide the eye of any sized needle directly over the threading
rod d. This slot or groove b₁ is open from the top as shown in Figs. 2 and 4 ɛO
that the thread may be simply laid on the bottom of the needle receiver before
the needle is placed therein, and the bottom of the needle receiver is preferably
made shaped, the angle of the said groove having such relation to the incline
at b6 that needles of a variety of sizes are guided thereby to the position in which
the eye of the needle is directly over the threading rod.
Referring to Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive, the action of our improved needle threader
is as follows:-In order to thread a needle place the cotton or thread g in the
V shaped slot or groove and press down the sliding block b which causes the spring
rode to be moved to one side, clear of the V shaped slot or groove so that the
cotton or thread may then be laid at the bottom of the slot b'. This is only necessary
for the first threading as the cotton or thread is always in position after that the
bobbin lying in the work basket or other convenient place: Insert the needle h to
be threaded into the V shaped slot above the cotton or thread g so far as it will go
as shown in Fig. 5, then press the block b downwards as shown in Fig. 6 when the
threading rod forces the cotton or thread through the eye of the needle in the
form of a loop; then relieve the pressure on the block as shown in Fig. 7 which
allows the detent pin e¹ of the spring rod to pass through the loop above the needle
which then withdraw as shown in Fig. 8 and break off the thread to the desired
length. Insert another needle and repeat the process.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is
1. A mechanical needle threader as hereinbefore described with reference to the
accompanying drawing and in which a block such as slotted across the head for the
reception of a needle and thread and having a detent pin such as e e¹ attached
thereto with crosswise movement relative to aud immediately above the said slot is
mounted on a spring within a case so as to slide up and down a threading rod d
secured to the casing whilst the detent pin moves out and in so that when the
block is pressed down the thread is passed through the eye of the needle in the
slot by the threading rod d to form a loop which is caught and held by the detent
pin e until pulled out and broken off to the desired length.
2. In a needle threader as herein before described the use of a V shaped groove b
and a guide in which the angle of the groove has such relation to the incline of
the guide that needles of a variety of sizes are guided thereby to the exact position
with the needle eye over the threading rod, substantially as required for the
purpose of our invention.
3. An improved needle threader provided with a combination of devices all
arranged and operating together substantially as described with reference to the
accompanying drawing.