A New and Useful Attachment for Sewing Machines.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Apr., 1899-Accepted, 13th May, 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A New and Useful Attachment for Sewing Machines.
I, ABINA NOLAN, residing at 51, St. Nicholas Street, in the City of Toronto, in
the County of York, and Province of Ontario, Dress Maker, 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:-
Silk and other thread when used on a sewing machine, owing to its nature and
the manner in which it is spooled, is liable to become tangled and kinked as it is
unwound by the action of the needle; thus causing the operator considerable
annoyance and loss of time in addition to waste of material and the risk of spoiling
the work. To overcome this difficulty is the object of the present invention, which
consists of providing the spool-holder with a removable plate, preferably of metal
and of a larger diameter than the spool, and which is arranged to sit on the top
of the spool to prevent the thread being drawn from the top of the same as it is
unwound and to provide the plate with a swinging arm, normally hanging
perpendicularly, and arranged to be moved into a horizontal position in the same
plane as the top of the plate, by the unwinding action of the thread which passes
through an eye fitted in the lower end of the arm and the invention consists
essentially of the device hereinafter more fully set forth and more particularly
pointed out in the claims.
In the drawings:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a sewing machine frame showing the spool-
holder, spool, and attachment.
Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the attachment showing the swinging arm
extended horizontally.
Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a section of the spool-holder, spool,
and attachment, with the arm intermediate its perpendicular and horizontal
positions.
Like letters of reference refer to like parts throughout the specification and
drawings.
A represents a circular plate of slightly greater diameter than that of an ordinary
spool, used for holding sewing silk. Formed centrally in the plate A is a circular
bore B of slightly greater diameter than the diameter of the ordinary spool-
holler C, in order that the attachment. may move easily perpendicularly on the
spool-holder, and accommodate itself to the top of the spool, but not sufficiently
greater than the diameter of the spool-holder to allow of any lateral movement on
the part of the plate.
The plate A is provided with a radial lug D, the outer end of which is bent to
form a diminutive sleeve d.
E represents an arm having a loop e at one end. The loop e is substantially
triangular-shaped, having one side el at substantially right angles to the length
of the arm. The opposite end of the arm is provided with an eye f of com-
paratively large diameter; through which is adapted to pass the thread from the
[Price 8d.]

page_text: spool to the needle. When the plate and arm are assembled the side e¹ is con-
tained within the sleeve d, and serves as a pintle for the arm to swing upon.
The use of the invention is as follows; The spool F is placed upon the spool-
holder C, after which the circular plate is placed on top of it with the spool-holder C
passing through the bore B, and the arm E hanging perpendicularly from the
Jug D (on that side of the spool opposed to the needle) the thread being then fed
from the spool through the eye f to the needle. The operation of the needle
causes the thread to be unwound from the spool, and during the unwinding of
the thread the arm follows the position of the coil; that is, it swings from the
bottom to the top of the spool and back again, and so on alternately until the use
of the thread has been discontinued, when the attachment can be removed to
allow of the spool being replaced by a new one.
The attachment can as well be placed below the spool as above it, the arm work-
ing in exactly the same manner and accomplishing the same results.
The arm by continuously following the position of the coil maintains an even
tension on the thread, thus preventing the thread being drawn from the spool
any faster than the needle uses it, and also prevents the thread slipping off the
end of the spool and coiling on the spool-holder, and thus preventing the thread
tangling or kinking.
It is preferable to use the plate on top of the spool instead of below it, as by
its weight it assists in keeping the spool in its proper relative place on the spool-
holder, and also assists the arm in preventing the thread creeping off the end of
the spool.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim
is:-
1. An attachment for a sewing machine, embracing in its construction a disk
fitted with a bore through which the spool-holder is adapted to pass, and a swing-
ing arm horizontally pivoted to the disk at one extremity, and at the other fitted
with an eye for the thread to pass through, substantially as specified.
2. An attachment for a sewing machine, embracing in its construction a disk
fitted with a bore through which the spool holder is adapted to pass, and having a
radial lug fitted with a sleeve, an arm having at one end an eye through which
the thread is adapted to pass, and at the other end a loop, one side of which is
arranged to be pivotally held by the sleeve, substantially as specified.
3. The attachment for a sewing machine herein before described and illustrated
in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 1st day of April 1800
ABINA NOLAN,
By Lewis Wm. Goold,
Agent for Applicant.