IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY, AND IN COPS TO BE USED THEREWITH
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Keats, of Wood Green, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY, AND
IN COPS TO BE USED THEREWITH."
Sealed the 4th February 1879, and dated the 19th August 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Keats at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th August 1878.
JOHN KEATS, of Wood Green, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer. "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY, AND IN COPS TO BE USED THEREWITH."
This Invention of improvements in sewing machinery relates to that class of
sewing machines in which an axially reciprocating or rotary shuttle is used for
laying a lock thread in the loop of the hook or needle thread.
These improvements consist partly in so constructing the shuttle as to enable it
to carry a coil or cop of thread of a greater length than hitherto, without necessi-
tating an increase in the dimension of the loop through which the shuttle has
to pass.
Further, in forming a coil containing a greater amount of thread than has hitherto
been carried by the shuttle spools, cops, or bobbins in ordinary use, and by compres-
sion changing the shape of such coil so as to enable it to be placed in the recess
within the improved shuttle.
And further, in an improved arrangement for driving rotary or axially recipro-
cating shuttles when mounted as described in the Patent granted to me, bearing
date March 17th 1877, and having for its object to so simplify the construction as to
lessen the wear of those parts of the mechanism by which the shuttle is driven,
while at the same time a positive and continuous connection between the driver
and the shuttle is maintained, and a steady and smooth driving of the shuttle is
ensured.
To attain the above objects I construct the improved shuttle of steel, of a cylin-
drical form, and recessed transversely in a curved or spiral direction from its

page_text: perimeter to and beyond its centre, so as to leave the shuttle partially annular, the
ends being shaped respectively to form the point and heel of the shuttle.
To this form of shuttle I give a diameter and depth sufficient to cut therein a
recess (also partially annular) to contain a cop or coil of thread of the desired size.
On the under side of the shuttle is a hinged lid which serves to cover in this
recess, and through which a hole is made for the outward passage of the thread at a
point intermediate of the two ends, and as near as possible to the axis of rotation.
This shuttle I prefer to mount in a rebated recess or race formed in a forked
bearing adjustably attached to the head of the machine.
The improved cop or coil intended to be carried by this shuttle I form by winding
the desired amount of thread in laps round a core of suitable size and shape, and
after removal of a core from the coil I press in one side of the hollow cylinder of
thread so that the central hole in the coil is changed from a circle to an elongated
slit, while the outer periphery is made to conform to the internal shape of the recess
provided in the shuttle to receive it.
An important advantage of this form of cop or coil of thread is that the thread
will be unlapped from the centre of the coil without kinks and in laps of increasing
length.
My improved arrangement for driving shuttles constructed and mounted as above
described consists in a nearly complete ring of inclined teeth formed on the upper
face of the shuttle, into which geer the teeth of a crown wheel. This crown wheel
is set at an angle to the shuttle so as to geer only with that portion of the
teeth on the shuttle which are opposite to the look or needle.
The relative sizes of the crown wheel and of the axially reciprocating shuttle
must be such that the teeth of the wheel may bridge over the recess in the shuttle
(as it passes the wheel during the rotation of the shuttle), and geer with teeth in
both sides thereof, whereby a positive and continuous connection between the driver
and the shuttle is obtained. The axle of the crown wheel may be operated from
a face cam on the driving shaft of the machine through a segment rack and
pinion.

page_text: OFECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters ratent nied by
the said John Keats in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th February
1879.
JOHN KEATS, of Wood Green, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer.
PROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINERY, AND IN COPS TO BE USED THEREWITH."
"IM-
This Invention relates to the use in sewing machines of a novel construction of
rotary shuttle which will admit a large supply of shuttle thread and thus prevent
the necessity for stopping the machine frequently to insert a fresh supply of thread
in the shuttle.
The Invention applies to shuttle machines in which the shuttle is above the work,
as in the Crispin sewing machine, and also to shuttle machines in which the shuttle
is below the work, as in the machines of the Singer Company and other well-known
makers, and it involves the use of a novel form of cop, the mode of preparing which
constitutes a part of the Invention.
In Sheet I. of the Drawings, Fig. 1 shews the improved shuttle in plan or top
view as constructed for use in a Crispin sewing machine, the shuttle being fitted in
a forked bearing or race after the manner described in Letters Patent granted to
me, and dated March Seventeenth, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven,
Number 1085.
At Fig. 2 the shuttle is shewn detached in an inverted position, and with its cover
(which is on the under side of the shuttle) thrown back to expose to view the cavity.
for the reception of the shuttle thread; a is the shell of the shuttle, and b is the
cover pivotted thereto. The perimeter of this shuttle is circular, or nearly so, and
the point and heel of the shuttle are formed by the intervention of a recess which
extends inwards to and beyond the axis of motion of the shuttle, for the purpose of
reducing what is practically the diameter of the shuttle to a minimum. This recess.
converts the shuttle into what may be termed a bent tube with closed ends, which
tube is pointed at one end to form the raised nose of the shuttle, and is rounded off.
at the other end to form a heel that will facilitate the sliding off of the loop of
the hook thread when the shuttle thread has been laid in the loop.
The bottom or cover b of the shuttle is secured to the shell by a pivot pin c, and
it is formed with a segment-shaped opening d for the passage outwards of the
shuttle thread. The thread for this shuttle is wound into a cop of a peculiar form.
This cop, and the means for preparing it, are illustrated in several views.
Figures 3 shew the cop in side and edge view as it is taken from the winder.;
and Fig. 4 shews it in section upon the winder.
This winder consists of a bobbin with a removable flange, which is held in place
by screwing on to the threaded end of the mandril, of which the bobbin forms a
part. The cop consists of a flat ring of thread which is formed upon the winder by
the aid of a traversing thread guide in a manner well known to cop winders: To
permit of its insertion in the shuttle the cop has to be crushed into a lenticular
form. For this purpose it is compressed by hand first to the shape shewn at Fig. 5,
and a core 1 being then inserted in the cop, it is further compressed by a hand press,,
as shewn at Fig. 6. When the cop is removed from the press, and the core 1 is
withdrawn, the cop will then have the form shewn at Fig. 7, and will fill the
space provided for it in the shell a of the shuttle. Before placing the cop in the
shuttle the inner end of the thread is drawn out to allow of its being passed through
the opening d of the cover b. A notch is formed in the periphery. of the shell, as:
shown at
* at Fig. 2, for the thread to lie in when the cover is being closed on the

page_text: inserted cop, and thus protect it from abrasion by the passage of the cover over it.
The end of the thread, as it is drawn from the opening d, is passed through an eye
or guide e on the cover situate near the axis of motion of the shuttle. From this
guide the thread passes to the work, as shown at Fig. 8, which represents the
shuttle in partial section as mounted in the machine, and having the driving
mechanism in gear with it.
Fig. 9 is an elevation of the same parts, taken at right angles to Fig. 8.
This mechanism consists of a crown wheel g gearing into a ring of rack teeth t
formed on the upper side of the shuttle: This ring of teeth is broken by reason of
the intervening recess before mentioned for receiving the loop of the hook thread,
and to ensure the maintenance of the connection between the crown wheel and the
shuttle a long tooth is formed on the crown wheel to enter the space in the ring of
teeth, as shewn best at Fig. 9. This elongated tooth has also another, and even
more important object, viz., that of ensuring the insertion of the shuttle in its race
or bearing in its proper relative position with respect to the vertical hook and other
operating instruments of the machine.
The crown wheel g is mounted on a slightly inclined shaft g', which carries at its
upper end a pinion g². In gear with this pinion is a segment rack h carried by a
lever h', which has its fulcrum at h², and it is furnished with a bowle h³ that enters
the groove of a cam i on the vertical shaft j. By the rotation of this shaft ja
reciprocating motion will be given to the segment rack lever, and thus the requisite
axial motion will be imparted to the shuttle.
In the Crispin machine, as is well known, a vertical hook is used for piercing the
work and drawing up through the work the thread which is laid into the work by
a whirl below the table. This vertical hook is shewn at k, Fig. 8, as having just
parted with its loop to the loop opener l, which is holding it in a position for the
nose of the shuttle to enter the loop; this will be best understood by reference to
the plan view, Fig. 1.
It should be remarked that the action of this shuttle is precisely similar to the
rotary shuttle described in the Specification of the before-mentioned Patent. The
amount of thread however which this shuttle will hold will be greatly in excess of
that which the rotary shuttle is formerly constructed with a cylindrical recess will
contain, the limit of the size of this class of shuttle being the capacity to pass
through a given size of loop.
By reference to Figures 10 and 11, which shew the shuttle in plan and edge view,
it will be understood what is practically the diameter of this new form of shuttle.
The point of the shuttle entering the loop of the hook thread will gradually
expand it until the loop has taken the position shewn in the plan view, Fig. 10;
this will represent the maximum practicable extension of the loop, and the measure-
ment of the shuttle at this part will be its maximum cross measurement or practical
diameter. Thus a comparatively small diameter of shuttle can be made to carry a
supply of thread nearly equal to that carried by the bobbin which supplies the hook
thread..
An advantage consequent on the use of the new form of cop, shewn at Fig. 7, is
that no waste of thread to avoid kinks will occur, and the thread being drawn from
the interior of the cop will come off from laps of gradually increasing length.
In applying the Invention to that class of sewing machines in which the shuttle
works below the table, I slightly modify the form of the shuttle to permit of its
being driven from its under face, and its giving off thread from its upper face; this
necessitates the use of a different arrangement from that above described for driving
the shuttle.
.In Sheet II. of the Drawings the Invention is shewn as adapted for and applied
to a well-known construction of sewing machine, Fig. 1 being a side elevation,
partly in section, of the machine in which an eye-pointed needle is used in conjunc--

page_text: tion with the rotary shuttle; Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view; and Fig. 3 is a
transverse section of the same.
The modified form of shuttle is seen best in the detached views, Figures 4 and 5,
Fig. 4 being a plan or top view of the shuttle, and Fig. 5 a cross section of the
same.
"
The perimeter of this shuttle is cylindrical, and to its shell a a cover b is attached
by a pivot pin c. The bottom of the shell is made thick, to permit of a circular
rack being formed therein to receive the teeth of the crown wheel g used to
impart axial motion thereto. The cover is slotted at d to allow of the thread of the
cop being drawn out, and an eye e is provided for guiding the thread near to the
axis of motion. This shuttle is mounted in a forked race or bearing A made fast to
the base of the machine, and having a central projection B, which forms the bearing
of the inclined short spindle g¹ of the crown wheel g. On the lower end of this
spindle g' is a pinion g², into which gears a segment rack C, the arm of which is
pivotted to the under side of the table at C¹. This arm is slotted longitudinally to
receive an adjustable coupling pin which connects the arm with a rod D. This rod D
passes through a swivel guide E fitted to the under side of the table, and it carries
a bowle which enters the groove of a face cam F keyed to the vertical cam shaft G,
which shaft receives rotary motion through bevil pinions from the main driving
shaft. By the rotation of the cam F the rod D is caused to vibrate the rack C,
and, through the pinion g² and crown wheel g, to impart an axial motion to the
shuttle.
In this machine, as in the ordinary shuttle machine, the loop of the needle thread is
opened out by the nose of the shuttle while the dwell of the needle takes place, and
as the shuttle completes its rotation the needle rises out of the work, and thereby
draws the loop off the heel of the shuttle, and tightens the stitch, which is secured
by the shuttle having laid its locking thread in the loop. Thus it will be under-
stood that the action of the machine fitted with my improved rotary shuttle, and
driven as described, is substantially the same as that of the ordinary shuttle
machines.
In order to ensure the insertion of the shuttle in the machine (after being filled)
in the proper position relatively to the movements of the needle, the crown wheel g
(a plan view of which is shewn at Fig. 6) is provided with an elongated_tooth
to enter the gap or space between the point and heel of the shuttle, as before
explained.
Figures 7 and 8 illustrate the practicability of enlarging the receptacle for the cop
without practically increasing the size of the shuttle. In this example the trans-
verse section of the shuttle, taken in the dotted line of Fig. 7, would be the same as
the section taken in the dotted line of Fig. 4, and therefore the open loop to pass
the shuttle would be no larger in one example than in the other; the measurement
of the perimeter, however, of the two shuttles it will be seen are very different, and
the shuttle, Fig. 7, will consequently take fully one-third more thread than the
shuttle represented at Fig.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in Sewing
Machinery, and in Cops to be Used therewith," and explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in
part recited Letters Patent I claim,―
First. Constructing rotary shuttles for sewing machines with a recess for receiving
the open loop of the hook or needle thread, such recess extending inwards up to
and beyond the axis of motion of the shuttle, as and for the purpose above set
forth.
Secondly. The means above described for driving the rotary shuttle above.
the table and below the table, and thereby adapting such shuttle to various kinds
of sewing machines.

page_text: Thirdly. The preparation of the compressed cop as above described for insertion
in the rotary shuttle.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Keats, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, the Seventeenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and seventy-nine.
JOHN KEATS. (L.S.)