Improvements in Shuttles for Sewing Machines.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Dec, 1896-Accepted; 1st May, 1897
[Communicated. From abroad by THE SINGER MANUFACTURING COMPANY,
of New York, in, the United States of America; Sewing Machine.
Manufacturers.]
Improvements in Shuttles for Sewing Machines.
I, WILLIAM HARVEY INSLEE, Manager of The Singer Manufacturing
Company, Kilbowie, Dumbartonshire, do hereby declare the nature of this
inveution- and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me to be particularly described and ascertained. in and by the following
statement.:-
My invention relates to that class of sewing machine shuttles for use in
machines having oscillating shuttle movements, and more particularly to multiple
shuttle machines requiring thin, flat shuttles to permit the needles of the machines
to be placed near together, although my improved, shuttle is also adapted for use
with single needle machines for manufacturing or family purposes.
In the cla-e of shuttles referred to cops of thread instead of bobbins have
heretofore been used to some extent, but in such use much trouble has been
encountered from breakage of the thread, and considerable difficulty, has also
arisen from inability to secure uniform tension on the shuttle thread, the breakage
of the thread and the uneven tension thereon being due to the fact that the
thread was drawn from the centres of the cops so that the latter were liable to
collapse when nearly used up and when only thin shells of thread remained,.this.
collapsing of the cops resulting in entanglement and breakage of the thread, or in
uneven tension tliereon.
My invention has for its object to avoid the difficulties above mentioned,,und to
this end my improved shuttle has in its thread cavity a ceutral fixed' stud-or post
which is preferably provided with a corrugated or otherwise roughened friction or
holding surface so that a cop of thread having a central opening closely fitting.
said stud or post will be held stationary thereon relative to the shuttle. The said
stud or post is made hollow or provided with a central hole or thread-passage.
extending through the side or rear wall of the shuttle, and the thread is drawn
from the outer edge of the cop inward nd is delivered through the said thread-
passage, the proper tension on the thread being preferably, secured by a spring-
pressed tension-slide or device which extends into a notch or recess cut in one
side of the said stud or post to said thread-passage, and thus the thread, being
delivered through the latter may be nipped by the tension device to give it a
proper tension. The thread cavity of the shuttle is preferably closed by a hinged
cover which comes in close proximity to but does not press against the side of the
flat cop of thread, and thus said cover will prevent the thread which runs inward
from the exterior of the cop to said thread passage from kinking even if it should
at times fall loose from the outer edge of the cop.
In the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a front side view of my improved shuttle,, with the cover lifted. Fig. 2
is a rear side view thereof.

page_text: A denotes the shuttle body a portion of which is formed with a suitable rim a
to run in the shuttle race, said rim having a loop-seizing beak a' of ordinary con-
struction, and the said shuttle body A is provided with a thread cavity b. The
shuttle body is provided at the centre of the thread cavity b with a cop holding
stud or post b¹ in the centre of which is a thread passage or hole c passing through
the side or rear wall a' of the shuttle. The stud or post 61 has preferably a
roughened or corrugated outer surface so as to have a frictional hold uponia cop
of thread having a central opening of suitable size to be closely fitted upon the
said pin or post, there being sufficient frictional contact between the cop of thread
thus fitted on the said pin or post and the latter to cause the cop to remain
stationary relative to the said stud or post and thus move with the shuttle.
. To provide a suitable tension device the rear wall a' of the shuttle is provided
with a slot or recess a³ in which is fitted a tension slide-plate d the inner end d¹ of
which is bent so as to fit in a notch or recess 6 formed in the cop holding stud' or
post . The radially movable tension slide d is forced inward, so that its inner
end d¹ will press against the wall at the bottoni of the notch or recess b³, by a
small coil spring e pressing upon the outer end of the said slide, said end d
being bent at a right angle to the body of the said slide: A regulating, screw f
tapped in the rim a of the sluttle serves to vary the stress of the coil spring e,
the inner end of said screw serving as a pin to support the outer end d² of the
tension slide.
The thread cavity b is closed by a hinged cover g which is provided with an
inturned lip 9 having a slight projection, which when the said cover is closed,
snaps into a slight recess a formed in the inner side of the wall of the shuttle
body, said cover being in close proximity to the cop of thread held on the stud or
pust b
In the use of my improved shuttle the thread is led from the exterior of the
cop through the hole c'in the cop holding stud or post b' and the wall a³ of the
h
shuttle, and thus the cop will remain stationary relative to the shuttle as the thread
is drawn therefrom until the cop is wholly used up, and entanglement or breakage
of the thread by collapsing cop-remuants is thereby avoided.
I do not wish to be understood as limiting my invention to the details herein
shown, as the form of the tension device, the construction for securing the friction
surface on the stud or post b', and other features of my improved shuttle might
be varied without departing from the essential features of my invention.
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. A sewing machine shuttle having a thread cavity provided with a central stud
or post having a special roughened or corrugated friction surfaco to hold a cop of
thread placed thereon stationary relative to the shuttle, said stud or post being
constructed with a central thread delivery passage.extending through the same
and the side or rear wall of the shuttle, and through which passage tho tliread,
drawn from the periphery of the cop, is led, and said stud or post having also a
notch or recess extending to said thread passage, combined with a radially movable
spring-pressed tension slide the inner end of which enters said notch or recess to
nip the thread' passing through said stud or post.
2. A sewing machine shuttle constructed with a thread cavity in which is a
ceutral stud or post provided with a thread passage running through the side or
rear wall of the shuttle and having a notch or recess extending to said thread
passage, combined with a radially movable spring-pressed tension-slide the inner
end of which extends into said notch or recess to nip the thread passing through
said stud or post.
3. The combination with the shuttle body A having the thread cavity b
provided with the stud or post 6' central of said thread cavity and having the
notch or recess 62 and the thread passage c, of the radially movable tension slide d

page_text: the inner end of which extends into said notoh or recess, the spring for yieldingly
pressing said slide inward, and the cover g..
Dated this 28th day of December 1896.
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,
Chartered Patent Agent,
62 S. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agent for the Applicant..
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,
Chartered Patent Agent,
Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agent for the Applicant..