IMPROVEMENTS IN WAX-THREAD SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention
of "
IMPROVEMENTS IN WAX-THREAD SEWING MACHINES." A communication
from abroad by Duncan H. Campbell, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United
States of America, Machinist.*
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th May 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN WAX-THREAD
SEWING MACHINES." A communication from abroad by Duncan H. Campbell,
of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States of America, Machinist.
In the Specification of former Letters Patent bearing date the 4th day of May,
A.D. 1878, No. 1795, for an Invention cominunicated by the said Duncan H.
Campbell, there was shown and described a wax-thread sewing-machine embodying
in its construction the combination of a hook-needle, a centrally pointed shuttle
grooved at its sides, and a pair of shuttle-rails, V-shaped at their edges and
occupying V-shaped grooves in the sides of the shuttle, and in the Specification
filed this 17th day of May, A.D. 1881, with the petition for other Letters Patent
for an Invention also communicated by the said Duncan H. Campbell, there is
described a novel combination of a hook-needle, a centrally-pointed shuttle, and a
shuttle rail so interlocked with the shuttle that the latter is limited to a strictly
longitudinal movement, with its axis and point occupying the plane of the path of
the hook-needle.
In this present Specification there is described a novel combination of a hook-
needle, a centrally pointed shuttle with a complex shuttle-race, which, although it
may be of varied construction, as hereinafter shewn, is novel as an element in the
combination stated, in that it is composed of three or more rails having their
bearing surfaces so arranged with reference to each other that they enclose a space,
which when occupied by the centrally-pointed shuttle will not only leave the latter

page_text: free to be moved longitudinally with its point and axis in the plane of the path of
the needle, but will also properly restrict the said shuttle against undue lateral and
vertical movements. Such a race, composed of three or more rails, requires no
grooving of the shuttle for securing the proper engagement of the said rails
therewith, although shuttles having webs for tension purposes and for operating as a
"cast off" may be employed there with, as will be hereinafter more fully described.
The said improvements are illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which
Figure 1 is a plan or top view of the front portion of the bed and adjacent parts
of a sewing-machine with its race-plate removed, and
Figure 2 represents an underside view of the same.
Figure 3 represents the same in vertical section on the line x, y, Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the shuttle-driver and its lever detached.
Figures 5, 6, and 7 represent the shuttle in side view, central longitudinal
section, and central cross section.
Figure 8 represents the race in vertical cross section with an oval shuttle therein,
also shewn in section.
The remaining Figures will be hereinafter described.
The hook-needle A is of the ordinary construction, and as usual is mounted in
the vertically reciprocating needle-bar a.
The race B, here shewn, is composed of four bars or rails b extending from one
side of the machine to the other, and at one end thereof is an opening in the frame of
the machine for the entrance and removal of a shuttle. These bars or rails at
their inner edges are slightly concave to conform to the periphery of the said
shuttle, and the lower rails or bars are mounted in adjustable guide-ways and
provided with screws, whereby the said rails or bars may be accurately adjusted
relatively to the axis of the shuttle, to its point, and to the path of the hook-
needle. The said rails have their bearings on the shuttle at diagonally opposite
points, and thereby properly control the shuttle against undue lateral and vertical
movement. As the said rails become worn at their bearing surfaces, the lower
rails by being advanced toward the centre of the race can be made to fully
compensate for the said wear from time to time. Each rail adjacent to the path of
the needle is recessed, as at 61, for affording abutting surfaces for the loop drawn
down by the said needle, and maintaining it in a vertical position during the
passage of the shuttle.
The shuttle-driver C, here shewn, has been specially designed for use with the
particular race described, although it is capable of being used with a race of
modified construction, as will hereinafter be shewn. It comprises a slide c provided
with upper and lower grooves fitted to be occupied by the guide rails c¹ at the
rear side of the race and parallel therewith. At its rear end the driver has. a fixed
finger d, against which the heel of the shuttle abuts, and at its front end there is
a pivoted finger e which engages with the said shuttle at one side of its point.
The said finger e is so pivotted to the slide that it may be swung toward and
away from the shuttle for connecting it to and releasing it from the driver, and
a spring latch f locks the said pivotted finger when a shuttle is placed in working
position.
"
Located below the lower rails b and midway between them, and directly in front
of the path of the needle, is a loop-stop "g, substantially as shewn in the
Specification of the said former Letters Patent hereinbefore referred to. The said
loop stop in this case is a piece of thin sheet metal attached to the front portion of
the frame of the machine and is bent upward at its inner end so as to stand as
shewn in the plane of the path of the needle and in line with the axis of the
shuttle, but below it, so as to occupy the longitudinally recessed web of the said
shuttle.
The shuttle D here shewn is substantially similar to that shewn in the said
prior Letters Patent, as shewn in Figure 8; the shuttle may be oval in its cross
section, and as seen in Figure 5 there is a recess on one side of the shuttle point or
neck which is loosely occupied by the end of the aforesaid pivotted finger e of the

page_text: shuttle-driver. The longitudinally recessed web h as here constructed serves as in
the said prior Letters Patent as a "cast-off," whereby the hook-needle is aided in
freeing itself from a loop, but, as hereinafter shewn, such a web is not always
essential for that purpose.
It will be seen that the shuttle-race described controls the shuttle against undue
lateral and vertical movements by the opposite engagement of the rails with the
periphery of the shuttle and practically encloses the latter, but such a race may
be composed of three rails, more or less varied in form, as will be hereinafter
described.
Referring again to the Drawing,
Figure 9 is a perspective view of the front portion of the bed and adjacent parts
of a sewing-machine with a portion of the frame broken away and the race-plate
removed, and
Figure 10 is a vertical section of the same in front of the needle and at right
angles to the shuttle-race.
Figure 11 is a perspective view of the race detached.
Figure 12 is a perspective view of a shuttle-driver and its lever detached.
Figures 13, 14, and 15 represent one novel form of shuttle in side view, plan or
top view, and central cross section.
Figure 16 is a central cross section of another form of shuttle having no web of
any kind.
Figures 17 and 18 represent in side view and cross section a shuttle having a
tension-web only.
Figures 19 and 20 are side views partly in section of a shuttle, loop, needle,
rail, and shuttle-driver, for illustrating the operation of the driver as a "cast-off."
As here shewn the needle A is similar to those heretofore employed, but it is
so timed in its movements that it does not rise while the shuttle is passing through
the loop, but does rise immediately after the shuttle has passed through the
said loop, as indicated in Figures 19 and 20, and as will be hereinafter more fully
described.
The shuttle-race B¹ here shewn has three rails b, the two upper rails being
substantially similar to those before described, and a single lower rail slightly
concaved laterally on its upper surface to afford a bed for the convex periphery of
the lower side of a shuttle. It is well in most cases to have a central longitudinal
channel in this concave bed so as to provide for the ready disposal of any excess of
oil liable to be applied.
The centrally pointed shuttles here shewn differ from those shewn in the
Specification of the said prior Letters Patent and in the Specification cotem-
poraneous herewith, in that they have no longitudinal recessed web on their
underside either for operating as a "cast-off" or as a means for connecting them
with a bed-rail. These shuttles (except that shewn in Figure 16) are however
cach provided with a tension web i on their upper surface, the said web, as shewn
in Figures 13, 14, and 15, being longitudinally recessed for the easy manipulation
of the waxed end protruding from the shuttle, but in Figures 17 to 20 inclusive
the web is a thin plate transversely perforated with holes for the passage of the
shuttle thread, the tension being proportioned to the number of the said holes
occupied by the said thread. This tension-web may or may not serve to prevent
the rotation of the shuttle in its race, the draught on the shuttle-thread being from
a point on top of the said shuttle renders the latter but little liable to rotate, while
the webless shuttle, Figure 16, being oval in its outline, is positively held by its
rails against such rotation. All of these shuttles have their points practically in a
line coincident with their axes.
The shuttle driver D' here shewn (so far as relates to its hinged bridle and
mode of mounting) is substantially similar to that shewn, described, and claimed in
the aforesaid cotemporaneous Specification; but as now organised with the shuttle
race and hook-needle the said driver performs a function entirely novel, in that it
operates as a "cast-off" for co-operating with the said hook-needle in freeing itself

page_text: from a loop. As seen in Figure 12 the rear plate k of the shuttle driver is projected
slightly downward, so that, as again illustrated in Figure 20, when the shuttle
has passed through the loop and the needle rises in the rear of the plate / of
the shuttle-driver, the lower edge of said plate by engaging with the loop
enables the book-needle to free itself therefrom. This plate is therefore termed a
" cast-off." The other form of shuttle-driver, herein before shewn, may, if desired, be
provided with the "cast-off" by projecting the lower edge of the rear finger
downward, substantially as here shewn with the shuttle-driver D¹.
As illustrating further how three rails may be organized to properly control the
shuttle without the concave bed-piece, hereinbefore described, even when the
"cast-off" web is also employed as a part of the shuttle, the Drawing is again
referred to, in which
Figure 21 is a plan or top view of the front portion of the bed and adjacent
parts of a sewing machine with its race-plate removed, and
Figure 22 is an underside view of the same.
Figure 23 is a vertical section thereof taken at right angles to the shuttle-race.
Figures 24 and 25 are reproduced views of the shuttle driver and shuttle first
herein described, they being well adapted for use in connection with the form of
race hereinafter described.
The hook-needle A operates as described in the Specification of the said prior
Letters Patent above referred to, and as described in the aforesaid cotemporaneous
Specification, the shuttle web serving as a "cast-off."
The shuttle-race B here shewn differs only from that last described in that it
has no concave lower rail, but in lieu thereof there is the thin flat surfaced lower
rail 6. The said lower rail is divided centrally to afford a path for the needle, and
instead of requiring the "loop-stop" g first hereinbefore described, the end of the
rail in front of the needle, and adjacent thereto, serves as a "stop," as described in
the said cotemporaneous Specification in connexion with rails which are interlocked
with the shuttle. As clearly shewn in Figure 22 the lower rail is divided centrally,
the two parts being connected by a ring-web, as described in the aforesaid
cotemporaneous Specification. This form of race is dependent for its best results
upon the employment therewith of a shuttle having the longitudinally recessed web
on its underside.
The shuttle C and driver D are substantially similar to those first hereinbefore
described.
It is not to be understood that anything is herein claimed as new which is
shewn and described in Letters Patent to Thomas, No. 12,221, A.D. 1848, wherein
was described a centrally pointed shuttle, a box-race, and separately actuated
drivers, which operated in the manner of a picker-motion in looms. In the said
prior box-race the four sides thereof were in loose but entire contact with the four
sides of the said shuttle so as to admit of the free "flight" of the latter, whereas in
the race of either of the forms herein described the rails engage closely with the
shuttle only at opposite points and with a limited area of contact, and therefore
with but little friction, and the single driver maintains constant control over the
shuttle during all its movements.
The usual heating apparatus can be employed with the mechanism herein shewn
and described as in wax-thread sewing machines heretofore constructed.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,-
First. The combination of a hook-needle, a centrally pointed shuttle, and a race
composed of three or more bars or rails engaging in bearing contact with opposite
portion of the periphery of the said shuttle, substantially as above set forth and
for the purposes specified.
Second. The combination with a centrally pointed shuttle and hook-needle, of
the shuttle-driver provided with a downward projection at its rear to operate as a

page_text: 'cast-off" in enabling the needle to free itself from a loop, substantially as above
set forth.
Third. A shuttle-driver provided with a movable finger for engaging with one
side of the neck of a shuttle and a latch for securing the said finger in position,
substantially as above set forth.
Fourth. The centrally pointed shuttle having a tension-web on its upper side in
combination with a hook-needle, and a race composed of three or more rails or bars
engaging in bearing contact with opposite portions of the periphery of the said
shuttle, substantially as above set forth and for the purposes specified.
Fifth. A centrally pointed shuttle having a convex race-face and a tension-web
on its upper side, substantially as above set forth.
Sixth. The combination with a centrally pointed shuttle having a longitudinally
recessed web on its underside, of a race composed of three rails or bars bearing
against opposite portions of the periphery of the shuttle, one of the said rails or
bars lying beneath the said shuttle and between the sides of the recessed web,
substantially as above set forth and for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
W KOD, LAKE,
(L.S.)