AN IMPROVEMENT IN SHUTTING FOR SEWING MACHINES PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Anderson, Manager of the Singer
Manufacturing Company's Works, Glasgow, North Britain, for the
Tution
A TANAMANG TAT SHE FOD SEWING MACHINES
Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SHUTTING FOR SEWING MACHINES
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Anderson
.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th December 1875.
I, ALEXANDER ANDERSON, Manager of the Singer Manufacturing
Company's Works, Glasgow, North Britain, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SHUTTLES FOR SEWING
MACHINES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to simplify the construction of shuttles
for sewing machines, and at the same time to provide an efficient means
for securing the proper tension of the shuttle thread.
The shell of the shuttle is closed by a hinged cover, which is made
elastic, so as to constitute at once a cover for confining the cop or

page_text: bobbin within the shuttle, and a pressure spring for ensuring the
requisite friction or drag upon the thread as it is drawn out by the
reciprocating action of the shuttle. The cover is made of thin sheet
steel with one of its edges turned down at right angles to form a flange.
This flange is indented from the inside at a point opposite to a slot made
in the adjacent side of the shuttle for the purpose of forming a snap
catch to enter the slot. The cover may be hinged at any convenient
part to the shuttle case, and preferably to the back part thereof. When
the hinge is so arranged the free end of the cover is formed into an
elastic pressing piece, and it drops into a shallow recess made in the
solid part of the pointed end of the shuttle. Standing up from this
recess is an eye which constitutes a guide for the thread, and over this
eye the pressing end of the cover fits, it being slotted for the purpose.
In the rear of the shuttle case is a hole, through which the thread from
the cop or bobbin passes outwards. This thread re-enters the shuttle
through a second hole in the end thereof, and is led up to and through
the eye at the opposite end of the shuttle, from whence it passes to the
ordinary tension holes in the side of the shuttle. When the cover is
shut down it is held securely by its snap fastening, and the elastic end
of the cover is caused to bear upon the thread and put the requisite
amount of friction thereon as it is drawn through the eye or guide
before mentioned.
As a modification of my Invention I make the hinged cover virtually
rigid, and I form in the solid end of the shuttle a recess for a coiled or
other pressure spring, which underlying the thread at the thread guide
or eye will press it into contact with the hinged cover, and thereby
produce the requisite friction upon the thread.
To raise the cover for admitting a fresh cop or bobbin it is only
necessary to press back the catch by inserting the thumb nail in the
slot in the side of the shuttle, and the cover is free to rise when prized
upwards by the finger nail.
L

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Anderson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th June 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
ANDERSON, Manager of the Singer Manufacturing Company's Works,
Glasgow, North Britain, send greeting.
•
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Alexander Anderson,
Her special licence that I, the said Alexander Anderson, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Alexander Anderson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SHUTTLES FOR SEWING MACHINES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander
Anderson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Anderson, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):-

page_text: <
The shell of the shuttle is closed by a hinged cover, which according
to one part of the Invention is made elastic, so as to constitute at once
a cover for confining the cop or bobbin within the shuttle, and a presser
spring for ensuring the requisite friction or drag upon the thread as it is
drawn out by the reciprocating action of the shuttle. The cover is
made of thin sheet steel with one of its edges turned down at right
angles to form a flange. This flange is indented from the inside at a
point opposite to a slot made in the adjacent side of the shuttle for the
purpose of forming a snap catch to enter the slot. The cover may be
hinged at any convenient part to the shuttle case, and preferably to the
back part thereof.. When the hinge is so arranged the free end of the
cover is formed into an elastic pressing piece, and it drops into a shallow
recess made in the solid part of the pointed end of the shuttle.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a front view of a sewing
machine shuttle constructed according to the first head of my Invention.
Fig. 2 is a similar view with the elastic cover raised.
Fig. 3 is a side view of the shuttle with the cover open; and Fig. 4 is
a view of the rear end thereof.
a is the shell of the shuttle, similar in profile to the ordinary recipro-
cating shuttles; b is the elastic cover hinged to the rear end of the
shell; and c. is a hollow cop inserted in the shuttle.
In
1. In the face of the shuttle, at the pointed end thereof, a recess a* is
made to receive an extension 6* of the free end of the cover, which is
cranked (see Fig. 3) to allow it to bed in the recess. Standing up from
the recess a✶ but so as not to project from the face of the shuttle is an
eye a', which constitutes a guide for the thread, and over this eye the
pressing end 6* of the cover fits, it being slotted for the purpose.
the rear end of the shuttle (see Fig. 4) is a hole a², through which the
thread from the cop or bobbin passes outwards. This thread re-enters
the shuttle through a second hole a³ in the end thereof, and is led up to
and through the eye a¹ at the opposite end of the shuttle, from whence
it passes to the ordinary tension holes at in the side of the shuttle. b' is
the snap catch for securing the cover in its closed position. This snap
catch is made out of a flange, which is formed by bending down at
right angles one of the side edges of the cover, then slitting up the
flange for the greater portion of its length, and bellying out a part near
1

page_text: the free end of the flange that it may fit into a slot as formed in the
shell. When the cover is shut down it is held securely by its snap
fastening, and the elastic end of the cover is caused to bear upon the
thread, thereby putting the requisite amount of friction thereon as it is
drawn through the eye or guide before mentioned.
A modification of the improved shuttle is shown in front, side, and
end views at Figures 5, 6, and 7. In this example the cover 6 instead
of being hinged to the shell a at the rear is hinged at the opposite or
pointed end thereof. A recess is made in the rear of the shell to receive
the elastic pressing end 6* of the cover, and the eye a¹ of the first
described arrangement is in this case omitted. The thread passes out
of the shell at the hole a³, Fig. 7, then back to the shell under the
end 6* of the cover, from whence it passes to the ordinary tension
holes a. In this example therefore, as in the former, the thread is
nipped between the cover and the shell, and thus the requisite friction
is put upon it, the snap fastening serving to hold down the cover upon
the thread.
Fig. 8 shews a further modification, in which the elastic cover is
hinged so as to swing laterally. In this instance the cover is sprung
into and out of place for opening and closing the shuttle. The threading
of the shuttle is similar in this arrangement to that illustrated at
Figures 5 and 7.
Figures 9, 9, and Fig. 10 show arrangements whereby an elastic
pressure on the thread is obtained by the use of a rigid cover 6.
In Figures 9 and 9* a spring d is introduced into the shuttle for the
purpose of bearing on a flattened portion of the hinge of the cover, and
thereby giving it a tendency to close and press with its free end in a
recess formed at the rear end of the shuttle, or upon the thread laid in
the recess. Fig. 10 shows a modification of this arrangement, in which
0 a coiled spring d performs the duty of, the flat spring in Figures 9
and 9. This coiled spring d forces a conical ended plug d* into a notch
cut in the hinge of the cover b, and thus serves to retain it in a closed
position.
The second head of my Invention is illustrated by reference to
5 Figures 11, 12, 13, and 14. In these Figures it will be seen that the
hinged cover which I employ may be virtually rigid, as I form in the

page_text: solid or thick part of the case at either end of the shuttle a recess for
receiving a pressure spring, which underlying the thread at the thread
guide or eye will press it into contact with the hinged cover, and
thereby produce the requisite elastic pressure upon the thread.
In Figures 11 and 12 e is a spring fitted into a recess in the pointed
end of the shuttle for putting, with the aid of the cover b, which is
hinged to the rear end of the shell, an elastic pressure in the thread.
The thread as it leaves the cop c passes through a hole a¹ bored in the
shell a in a line with the axis of the cop (or thereabouts), then returns
to the shell by a diagonal passsge a², which terminates in a hole made
through the spring e. The thread as it is drawn through this hole is
laid over the spring e and passed to the tension holes a¹. When there-
fore the cover 6 is closed the thread will be nipped between it and the
spring, and it will thus receive the requisite elastic pressure.
Figures 13 and 14 show the cover hinged at the pointed end of the
shell, and pressing at its free end into a recess in the rear end thereof.
This recess is fitted with a flat spring e, over which the thread drawn
out from the cop c through the hole a¹ in the rear end of the shuttle is
laid on its passage to the tension holes a*.
When the cover is closed its free end will bear against the spring,
and thus an elastic pressure will be put upon the thread, as in the last
described example.
I
may remark that to ensure great delicacy of pressure on the thread
suitable for high numbers the cover instead of being rigid may be made
elastic, and in such cases the spring e may be made proportionately
delicate, both gripping surfaces yielding to the drag of the thread.
To raise the cover for admitting a fresh cop or bobbin it is only
necessary to press back the catch by inserting the thumb nail in the
slot in the side of the shuttle, and the cover is free to rise when prized
upwards by the finger nail. This remark applies to all the arrangements
of shuttle but that shown at Fig. 8, which is held in place not by a
spring catch, but by reason of the "set" given to the cover.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "An Improve-
ment in Shuttles for Sewing Machines," 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,―

page_text: First. The application to the shuttles of sewing machines of a hinged
cover for putting an elastic pressure on the thread in the manner
and for the purpose above described with reference to Figures 1 to 10
inclusive.
Secondly. The combination with the hinged shuttle cover of a presser.
spring for putting a drag upon the thread, as described with reference
to Figures 11, 12, 13, and 14.
Thirdly. Constructing the hinged covers of shuttles with a snap
fastening in the manner and for the purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Anderson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.
ALEXANDER ANDERSON. . (L.S.)