Improvements in Sewing machines.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Apr., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 25th Jan., 1900-Accepted, 3rd Mar.; 1900 -
Improvements in Sewing machines.
I, WILLIAM HENRY DORMAN, of the Green Hall, Stafford, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention is intended to be used in a sewing machine which produces
a lock stitch, and consists in an improved shuttle as follows.
The shuttle thread is wound upon a reel which is retained in a circular shell
or case by a spring.
The
The case is carried in a ring frame, which may have an internal bevel edge
and is hinged so that it may be opened to allow of removal of the case.
case is prevented from revolving by a projection which enters a notch in the ring.
The hook of the needle draws up a loop of thread through the work into the
vicinity of the case. This loop is then taken by a specially constructed loop
carrier from the hook of the needle and is carried over and around the case
and its contained reel--through approximately two thirds of a circle-to a point
where it is shed by the loop carrier and is then drawn down into the work by a
take up. The shedding of the loop is accomplished by giving to the loop carrier
a turn over movement when it has arrived at the end of its travel or point desired.
The loop carrier may be driven to and fro around the case-through about two
thirds of a circle-by an arm mounted on a little shaft concentric with the reel
and case, the arm, being operated by suitable gears and a shaft from a cam on
the main shaft of the machine. The arm is formed on a bevel edged disc which
supports the back of the reel case, the bevel being for facilitating the passage of the
thread.
The loop carrier may be retained in position. by a spring and be turned over by
a radial arm which strikes upon a suitable cam piece. Its acting portion may be
somewhat of the shape of the letter V or W and there is a depression into which
the needle point dips so as to cast off the loop from the hook.
If desired a continuously rotating movement may be given to the loop carrier,
a cam piece at the proper place actuating the turn over movement and the
rotating movement being of varying velocity.

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
This invention relates to improvements in shuttles and loop openers for lock
stitch sewing machines and is more particularly adapted to be applied to machines
of the class known as the "Empire Stitcher."
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a front view of a portion of a sewing machine shewing the shuttle
and connections:
Figure 2 is a left hand side view of the same:
Figure 3 is a plan of the shuttle and connections drawn to a larger scale:
Figure 4 is a front view of the same:
Figure 5 is a right hand side view:
Figures 6 and 7 are two views of the shuttle reel and thread:
Figures 8 and 9 are two views of the shuttle case:
Figures 10 and 11 are two views of the loop carrier:
Figures 12 and 13 are two views of the carrier arm:
Figures 14 and 15 are two views of the shuttle case retaining ring; and
Figures 16, 17 and 18 shew the carrier in different positions round the shuttle:
igures 19 to 33 shew my improvements applied to the machine described and
shewn in the Specification of my former Patent No. 23267 of 1892.
Figure 19 is a front view of the improved shuttle as applied to the machine:
Figure 20 is a plan thereof;
Figure 21 is a side elevation:
Figure 22 is a vertical section of the same:
Figure 23 is a front view of the shuttle case:
Figure 24 is a vertical section of the same:
Figures 25 and 26 are a front view and a section of the shuttle reel:
Figure 27 is a view of the reel retaining screw;
Figure 28 is a front view of the shuttle supporting disc and the thread carrying
arin:
Figure 29 is a plan thereof:
Figures 30 and 31 are a rear view and an underside view respectively of the
loop opener and carrier; and
Figures 32 and 33 are a front view and a plan respectively of the shuttle retain.
ing ring.
The shuttle comprises a reel a (Figures 6 and 7) upon which the thread a¹ is
wound and which is held in a circular tapered case b, (Figures 8 and 9) by a
spring, Figures 14 and 15, carried on a ring e.
internal bevelled edge cand receives the case b. It is hinged on a pivot c² and is
The ringe is formed with an
held either in the open or closed position by a spring d (Figure 3) acting in a
similar manner to the spring of an ordinary penknife. The ring is made to
open to the position shewn by the dotted lines in Figure 3 for convenience of
removing and inserting the case b.
The ring c is provided with a notch e and the shuttle case has a projection e
which enters the same so that the said case b is prevented from turning. The
read a¹ issues through the hole f.
A taper disc g (Figures 12 and 13) bears against the back 62 of the case b and
has an arm g¹ carrying a stem h having a loop opener and thread carrier h¹ shewn
in Figures 10 and 11 which takes the loop of thread i from the needle barb
(Figure 16) after it has been drawn up by the said needle through the work j and
carries it around and over the case b for about two thirds of a revolution and
then sheds it causing it to enclose the shuttle thread a¹ as hereinafter described.
The carrier h¹ is driven from the main shaft k of the machine Figures 1 and 2
through the medium of the cam groove which operates a roller and lever 1ª,
the said lever 12 being mounted on a pivot 13 and provided with teeth engaging
a pinion m mounted on a shaft m' carried in the bearings m³, m³ upon the machine

page_text: frame A. This shaft m drives the disc y and the carrier h¹ by means of a pair of
bevel wheels, n¹ mounted respectively on the said shaft m¹ and on a short
shaft n°. o, o¹ are covers or caps to retain the shafts m¹ and n² in their bearings.
In order that the carrier h¹ shall take the looped thread i from the needle barb i
it is provided with a sharp point 2 to enter the loop immediately below the needle
point (see Figure 16) and with a notch into which the needle point dips as the
carrier passes beneath it and so clears its barb of the loop which is then borne away
by the carrier.
To enable the carrier to shed the loop again it is rotated through an angle
of about 190° when it has arrived at the desired point in its travel (see Figure 18)
as follows:-
The said carrier h¹ is provided with a cam shaped piece p which, when the
carrier approaches the end of its forward travel, strikes a stationary arm q and is
turned over from the position shewn in full lines to that shewn in dotted lines
Figure 18 thereby casting off the loop of thread. A spring is wound upon
the stem and normally retains the cam piece p in contact with the portion
of the arm g' and the point 2 at about a right angle to a radial line drawn from
the centres of the shuttle; when, however, the cam piece p comes into contact
with the arm q and its edge slides under the same, the carrier h¹ is turned over to
shed the loop. The spring r returns the cam piece p to its normal position on
the return movement of the carrier.
In the arrangement shewn in Figures 19 to 33 the work table f, the looper h, the
channel gauge d, the needle e, the pawl, the gears 19, 110, the shaft 16, together with
the cam and connections are all the same as in my aforesaid Patent No. 23267
of 1892 and are illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 21 thereof.
The shuttle thread 1 is wound upon the reel 2 which is then placed within the
case 3, the stud 4 on the latter entering the hole 5 in the reel 2 and the screw 6
retaining the reel in the case with one face 7 level with the face 8 of the case.
The case 3 with the reel 2 and thread 1 are then placed in the machine with the
back 9 of the case against the face 10 of the disc, the said case being retained in
position by the ring 11 (see Figure 22). This ring 11 opens and shuts upon a
pivot 12 (Figure 19) being maintained in either the open or closed position by the
spring 13. In Figure 20 the ring is in the closed position in full lines and in
dotted lines in the open position in which the operator places it when desirous of
inserting or removing the case.
14 is a bracket secured to the main frame of the sewing machine and designed
to carry the ring 11, disc 15 and other parts. The disc 15 is provided with a
journal 16 free to turn in the bearing 17 and it is operated by the parts to 7¹
shewn and described in the Specification of my Patent No. 23267 of 1892.
18 is the arm (Figures 19, 28 and 29) provided upon the disc 15 for receiving
the loop opener and thread carried 19 (Figures 30 and 31), the journal 20 of which
is free to turn in the hole 21 of the arm. The face 22 of the carrier lies against
the face 23 of the arm and a clock spring 24 is coiled around a drum 25 and has
its outer end 26 made fast to the arm 18 by a screw 27, the said spring tending to
hold the wing 28 of the carrier against the arm 18 as shewn in the full and
dotted positions A and B in Figure 19. The projection 31 prevents the wing 28
from passing the arm 18 inwardly, that is to say, in a direction towards the centre
of the shuttle.
The point 32 of the carrier opens the loop of thread 33 drawn up by the needle e
and the gap 34 receives the point of the needle when it dips to cast off the loop from
the barb, the notches 35 and 36 carrying the loop 33 around and over the case 3,
reel 2 and thread 1 so as to form the lock stitch. Sufficient freedom is allowed
between the case 3 and the ring 11 and face 10 of the disc to permit of the passage
of the thread. A fixed wing guard 37 (Figures 19 and 22) is also provided, the
said guard being carried upon the frame of the sewing machine.
The shuttle operates as follows:-
The bevel gears 1°, 10 and the parts in connection with the aforesaid cam "

page_text: reciprocate the arm 18 and carrier 19 through an angle of about 250° from the
position on the radial line A to the position on the line B Figure 19 and back
again. The needle e draws up a loop of thread 33 and the point 32 advances to
open the same. As the point 32 advances through the loop the threads 40 and 41
which form the loop sides slide back into the notches 35 and 36 (Figures 30 and 31).
The carrier continues to move forward in the direction of the arrow Figure 19 and
the needle point dips into the gap 34 of the carrier so as to cast off the loop from
the barb, upon which the carrier travels up around the shuttle and carries
the loop of thread with it.
As the carrier moves round, the tip of its wing 28 bears upon the inside of the
guard 37 being held thereto by the tension of the thread 33 while the loop is being
elongated and drawn upwards through the substance of the work, see the position
on the radial line C. The guard 37 prevents the carrier 19 from turning over on its
journal 20 and throwing off the loop which it would do under the tension of
the thread were the guard not provided.
After the carrier 19 has passed the top of the shuttle and has descended some-
what on the other side the continued pull of the thread 33 turns it over as shewn in
dotted lines and the said thread is then pulled down into the work around the left
hand side of the shuttle by the action of the take up of the machine which is
described and illustrated in the specification of my above mentioned patent. As
soon as the loop has pulled itself free from the carrier 19 the spring 24 throws the
carrier 19 and wing 28 over through about half a revolution in which position it
is retained whilst the carrier 19 is moved back from the position on the line B
to the position at the line A.
The projection 46 of the case takes against a corresponding projection 47 on
the ring and prevents the rotation of the case within the ring.
A spring 48 is secured within the case, which said spring bears against the
reel 2 and puts tension upon the unwinding thread The thread issues from the
case through the holes 49 as shewn, the number of which may be varied according
to the tension it is desired to put upon the thread 1.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is: :-
1. In a sewing machine in which a barbed needle is employed, a shuttle thread
reel located within a stationary case situated in proximity to the needle and having
a needle thread carrier reciprocating about the case and which takes the loop of
thread from the needle barb, carries it partially around the case and then turns over
so as to cast off the loop for the purpose of forming a lock stitch, substantially
as set forth.
2. In sewing machines the employment of a shuttle comprising a circular reel
upon which the thread is wound, a tapered case into which the said reel is fitted and
a bevelled ring in which the case is retained, the said ring being hinged to the
inachine frame and having a notch in which engages a projection upon the case,
substantially as hereinbefore described.
3. In sewing machines, the combination with the shuttle of a loop opener com-
prising a disc or the like adapted to be partially rotated by suitable means and
having an arm carrying a pointed loop opener which travels with the disc so as to
loop the needle thread over the shuttle and shuttle thread, substantially as herein-
before described.
4. In a loop opener of the kind described in the preceding claiming clause
the arrangement of a disc bearing against the shuttle and having an arm carrying
a stem provided with a pointed loop opener which is normally held against the
arm by a spring but which at a predetermined point in the rotation of the disc is
turned over and sheds the thread, substantially as hereinbefore described.
5. In sewing machines having a loop opener of the kind described in the
preceding claiming clause, the arrangement, for driving the said loop opener, of

page_text: a bevel wheel mounted upon a spindle attached to the disc and which gears with a
bevel wheel upon the spindle actuated by a toothed segment on a pivoted arm
oscillated by a roller engaging in a cam groove upon the main shaft of the machine,
substantially as herein before described.
6. In a sewing machine the arrangement of shuttle, loop opener and means for
actuating the same, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in
Figures 1 to 18 of the accompanying drawings.
7. In a sewing machine the arrangement of shuttle, loop opener and means for
actuating the same, substantially as herein before described and illustrated in
Figures 19 to 33 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 95th day of Januan 1000
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.