Improvements in and relating to Shuttles for Looms."
Year: 1897

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by FAUSTINO DELL' ACQUA, of Legnano, in the Kingdom
of Italy, Manufacturer.]
"Improvements in and relating to Shuttles for Looms."
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents, of
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-―
This invention relates to shuttles for weaving looms and has for its object the
insertion of the threads into the eyes in such a manner as to obviate the risk of
danger to the health of the operator and to do away with the necessity for the
employment of special tools for this purpose.
The want which has long been so keenly felt, of rendering the work of female
weavers less injurious to their health than it generally is, has induced many inventors
to devise a variety of sanitary provisions intended to counteract or remove the many
causes of disease which unfortunately occur in the several departments of the textile
industry.
The object of the device to which this invention relates is to relieve operatives from
the necessity of drawing the threads through the eyes by their breath, the effect.of
which operation, as will be readily understood, is to convey to the lungs, together
with the air drawn in through the mouth, some of the dust deposited on the shuttle,
which in the long run proves extremely injurious to the breathing organs.
This object, the accomplishment of which has been attempted before, has however
never been fully attained, by reason of certain practical difficulties encountered in the
attempt; for whatever advantage could be secured from a sanitary point of view was
generally obtained either by means of complicated mechanism encumbering the
shuttle itself, or with the assistance of special tools or instruments which, whenever
einployed involved a considerable loss of time.
When it is considered that the work of the loom, to enable the full benefit to be
derived from it, should be capable of running on smoothly and automatically, without
requiring any personal attention, it will be readily seen that the shuttle should above
all be as simple as practicable in its construction.
In the accompanying drawing I have shewn by way of example two modifications of
the ordinary loom-shuttles, constructed in accordance with this invention and com-
bining the advantages above alluded to, the operator being, in the case of each of the
two arrangements, relieved of the necessity of drawing in the thread through the
shuttle eyes by respiration with the mouth.
Figures 1 and 2 are, respectively, a top view or plan, and a side elevation, of one of
the improved shuttle arrangements, and
Figures 3 and 4 represent a plan and side view of another form of the improved
arrangement, adapted to fulfil the same purpose as the first.
Referring to Figures 1 and 2, illustrating the first-mentioned arrangement,
a designates the spool or bobbin fitted in the shuttle, from which the thread b is to be
unwound.

page_text: At the forward end of the shuttle, close to its point, there is provided an off-set
recess c, as shewn in dotted lines in Figure 2.
In this recess there is embedded a'metal hook d, the peculiar shape of which is
also shewn in dotted lines in Figure 2 where it will be seen that the wire of which
the said hook is made is bent, arc-shaped at e, from which point it extends in a
horizontal direction to f, whence it rises at an angle, while its extremity g follows the
longitudinal outline of the recess c formed in the shuttle head.
On the right-hand side of the shuttle (See Figure 1) in coincidence with the eye,
there is attached' externally a small metal plate h, across which there extends down-
wardly a narrow slot. In the rear of the said metal plate, a vertical inclined slot is
formed in the thickness of the shuttle, following the direction of the slot of the
plate h, as is clearly shewn in Figure 1.
The groove in the plate / terminates below in an eye which is connected with the
recess c of the shuttle by a second slot provided in the right hand side of the shuttle
and extending in the horizontal direction, this second slot in its turn communicating
with the first, vertical slot, as represented in dotted lines in Figure 2.
It will readily be understood how the arrangement thus described enables the
'object in view to be attained.
In order to pass a thread through the eye it is only necessary to press the finger of
the left hand upon the part e of the hook d, and to insert the end 6 of the thread
under the extremity g of the hook d with the right hand.
When this is done, the thread is drawn, or made to slide along the hook, when it
will take up its position under the arc e. The end of the thread is then inserted into
the vertical slot or recess formed in the thickness of the side wall of the shuttle and
the plate h. The thread is next once more drawn out of the shuttle in the downward
direction, when it will pass from the vertical slot into the horizontal slot and eventually
issue from the shuttle through the eye in a direct manner as illustrated in Figure 1.
Referring now to the second or modified form of the improved arrangement (see
Figures 3 and 4), a designates the bobbin or spool placed in the shuttle, so that the
thread may be unwound from it.
>
The head of the shuttle, is provided with an off-set recess c, as is the form first
described; the longitudinal outline of which recess is indicated in dotted lines in
Figure 4.
From the dotted lines in Figure 3 it will be seen that this internal cavity or recess
is in communication with the outside of the shuttle through, an enlargement which,
externally, precisely coincides with the shuttle-eye.
In this second arrangement the eye is formed by a small metal ring k fitted in the
side of the shuttle,
A metal hook having a lance or spear-shaped point is fitted in the recess c and it
consists of an arm approximating in shape the hook d of the arrangement described
with reference to Figures 1 and 2. In other words, the wire constituting this arin of
the hook, at the point where it starts from, or is secured in, the wood of the shuttle,
is bent in the shape of an arc, rising from the point where such arc terminates, in a
somewhat oblique direction, following the longitudinal profile of the recess c.
At the point m of the said hook there terminates a second arm n which, from the
point m, is bent or folded over the right side (or straight portion) of the arm / within
the internal enlargement of the eye, and to its end, at o, there is externally-soldered
the ring k.
"
It will readily be seen how the desired object is attained by means of this
arrangement.
After having placed the finger of the left hand upon the part of the hook, the
thread b is with the right hand made to pass underneath the said hook. Then, by
drawing the end of the thread rearwards, such thread, sliding along the two arms of
the hook, will be caused to take up its position beneath the arc-shaped portion of the
arm, the result being that it will be located upon the arm n, at the exact point
where the end of such arm is soldered to the ring k. In this situation the thread is
visible outside the shuttle' eye and projects above the arin n in the centre of the ring.

page_text: Hence it is easy to draw the free end of such thread out of the eye with the finger
tips or finger-nails, after which the thread will be in its proper position and the shuttle
in readiness for immediate operation.
Having now particularly described. aud ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a shuttle for weaving-looms an arrangement whereby the threads may be
inserted in the shuttle-eyes without the necessity for the attendant to draw them in
with the breath; the said arrangement mainly consisting of a cavity or recess c
provided in the shuttle head, wherein is embedded a hook d, and of two slots or
grooves formed in the thickness of the shuttle between the eye and the said recess,
and communicating with each other, as above described and illustrated in the
drawings.
2. In a shuttle, for weaving-looms an arrangement whereby the threads may be
inserted in the shuttle eyes without the necessity for the attendant to draw them in
with the breath; such arrangement mainly consisting of a cavity or recess c, provided
in the shuttle head and communicating through a wide portion or enlargement with
the shuttle eye; a double-armed hook with a lance or spear-shaped point; and a ring
fitted in the eye, to which is soldered the end of one arm of the hook; all operating as
herein before described and illustrated in the drawings.
HASELTINE LAKE & Co.
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C. Agents for the Applicant.
on to foD IST DA