IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND WINDING OR MANUFACTURE OF THREAD SPOOLS FOR AND IN ADAPTING THEM TO SEWING MACHINE SHUTTLES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Joel Livsey, of the City of Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Consulting Engineer and Patent
Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND
WINDING OR MANUFACTURE OF THREAD SPOOLS FOR AND IN ADAPTING THEM
TO SEWING MACHINE SHUTTLES."—A communication from abroad by
Timothy Merrick, of Holyoke, County of Hampden, State of
Massachusetts, United States of America.
Sealed the 22nd December 1871, and dated the 7th July 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Joel Livsey
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th July 1871.
I, PETER JOEL LIVSEY, of the City of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
AND WINDING OR MANUFACTURE OF THREAD SPOOLS FOR AND IN ADAPTING THEM
TO SEWING MACHINE SHUTTLES," a communication to me from abroad by

page_text: Timothy Merrick, of Holyoke, County of Hampden, State of Massa-
chusetts, United States of America, to be as follows:-
Sewing machine shuttle spools have hitherto been made of metal, having
pivots upon which they rotate in the shuttle as the thread unwinds in
sewing. These spools have been filled with thread by the sewing
machine operator by means of devices or mechanism connected with
the machine, and the thread has been hitherto distributed upon the
spools in winding by the hand of the operator. This not only gives
trouble and causes loss of time in winding, but the work is very
imperfectly accomplished, and the thread is so irregular in its coils as
to produce corresponding irregularities and variations in the tension,
and consequent unevenness in the stitching. Moreover, from imperfect
guiding by hand, a shorter length of thread is put upon the spool than
it would hold if the winding was close and perfectly regular, and this
bad winding thus necessitates a more frequent replenishing of the
shuttle.
The object of the Invention communicated to me is to dispense with
the ordinary shuttle spools, and with the necessity for hand winding
in the sewing machine, and thus remove the objections and attain the
advantages above referred to by supplying a new article of manufacture;
namely, very small spools of thread wound in the most perfect and
uniform manner by machinery properly adapted and arranged for the
purpose, such thread spools. being supplied as a marketable article by
the thread manufacturer, ready to be introduced immediately into
sewing machine shuttles, the spools being so constructed of cheap
material (such as wood) that wlien empty they may be thrown aside
the same as common spools for sewing thread.
The Invention therefore consists of the new sewing machine shuttle
thread spools, which may be constructed in various ways to suit the
ordinary sewing machine shuttles, or the shuttles and spools may be
adapted to each other (that is to say) the spool may be made with
a hole through its axis to fit a spindle provided with a flange and spur
at one end, this spindle forming the pivots of the spool when placed
in the shuttle. The spool may also be made solid to give increased
strength, and with heads to fit metallic caps or pivots to be applied to
the spool before being inserted in the shuttle, or the spool may be made
with short metal pins at each end, or (which is preferable) the spoo
may be made entirely of one piece of solid wood with short pivot
turned on it. The spool may also be made with shallow holes or socket.

page_text: at each end, and the shuttle with fixed centres or pivots, one centre or
pin being moveable axially and acted on by a spring to allow the spool
to be inserted in the shuttle.
It is preferred to turn the spools out of wood, but any other cheap
material may be used, such as papier mâché rubber compounds, in which
case the spools may be moulded to the form required if the composition
is plastic in the first instance.
The Invention also consists in winding the thread upon the sewing
machine shuttle spools, by mechanism somewhat similar to that used
for winding ordinary sewing thread spools, so far as the winding and
distribution of the thread by a screw and thread guide is concerned;
but the spools being very small and some of them not having any hole
through their axes, the ordinary spooling head cannot be employed,
the Invention therefore consists in forming a concave or convex centre
upon the end of the rotating driving spindle, and a corresponding
concave or convex centre in a tail part, moved axially by a lever and
acted upon by a spring, and in placing the empty spool between these
.concave or convex centres, and driving it by a spur "in the face of
the rotating spindle so as to wind the thread upon it. The driving and
tail spindle or centre will be provided with sockets when the heads
of the spools are made with bosses for metal cap pivots, and the rotating
spindle is provided with type or letters to stamp the end of the spool
when inserted in the winding head when required, and the tail socket
has a reducing tooth which trims, and smooths the boss when required
as the bobbin rotates.
66
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Peter Joel Livsey in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th December 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
JOEL LIVSEY, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Peter Joel Livsey, Her special

page_text: licence that I, the said Peter Joel Livsey, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as, I, the said Peter Joel Livsey, 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 lawfully 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 "Im-
.PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND WINDING OR MANUFACTURE OF THREAD
SPOOLS FOR AND IN ADAPTING THEM TO SEWING MACHINE SHUTTLES," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Timothy Merrick, of Holyoke, County
of Hampden, State of Massachusetts, United States of America, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Peter Joel Livsey, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Peter Joel Livscy, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement and the accompanying Drawings (that is to
say):
:-
Sewing machine shuttle spools have hitherto been made of metal
having pivots, upon which they rotate in the shuttle as the thread
unwinds in the sewing. These spools have been filled with thread by
the sewing machine operator by means of devices or mechanism con--
nected with the machine, and the thread has been hitherto distributed
upon the spool in winding by the hand of the operator. This not only
gives trouble and causes loss of time in winding, but the work is very
imperfectly accomplished, and the thread is so irregular in its coils as
to produce corresponding irregularities and variations in the tension
.and consequent unevenness in the stitching. Moreover from imperfect
guiding by hand shorter length of thread is put upon the spool
than it would hold if the winding was close and perfectly regular, and
this bad winding thus necessitates a more frequent replenishing of the
.shuttle.
. The object of the Invention communicated to me is to dispense with
the ordinary, shuttle snoals and with the ransocity fan hard winding

page_text: in the sewing machine and thus remove the objections and attain the
advantages above referred to by supplying a new article of manufacture,
namely, very small spools of thread wound in the most perfect and
uniform manner by machinery properly adapted and arranged for the
purpose, such thread spools being supplied as a marketable article by
the thread manufacturer ready to be introduced immediately into sewing
machine shuttles, the spools being so constructed of cheap material
(such as wood), that when empty they may be thrown aside the same as
common spools for sewing thread.
The Invention therefore consists of the new sewing machine shuttle
thread spools filled with thread by spooling mechanism, which spools
may be constructed in various ways to suit the ordinary sewing machine
shuttles, or the shuttles and spools may be adapted to cach other, that
is to say, the spool may be made with a hole through its axis to fit
a spindle provided with a flange and spur at one end, this spindle
forming the pivots of the spool when placed in the shuttle. The spool
may also be made solid to give increased strength and with heads to fit
metallic caps or pivots to be applied to the spool before being inserted
in the shuttle, or the spool may be made with short metal pins at each
end, or (which is preferable) the spool may be made entirely of one
piece of solid wood with short pivots turned on it. The spool may also
be made with shallow holes or sockets at each end and the shuttle with
fixed centres or pivots, one centre or pin being moveable axially and
acted on by a spring to allow the spool to be inserted in the shuttle.
It is preferred to turn the spools out of wood, but any other cheap
material may be used, such as papier-mache or rubber compounds, in
which case the spools may be moulded to the form required, if tho
composition is plastic in the first instance.
The Invention also consists in winding the thread upon the sewing
machine shuttle spools by mechanism somewhat similar to that used
for winding ordinary sewing thread spools, so far as the winding and
distribution of the thread by a screw and thread guide is concerned, but
the spools being very small and some of them not having any hole
through their axis the ordinary spooling head cannot be employed, the
Invention therefore consists in forming a concave or convex centre upon'
the end of the rotating driving spindle and a corresponding concave or
convex centre in a tail part moved axially by a lever and acted upon
by a spring, and in placing the empty spool between these concave or

page_text: re
"in the face of the rotating
spur
.convex centres and driving it by a
spindle so as to wind the thread upon it. The driving and tail spindle
or centre will be provided with sockets when the heads of the spools
are made with bosses for metal cap pivots and the rotating spindle is
provided with type or letters to stamp the end of the spool when
inserted in the winding head when required, and the tail socket has a
reducing tooth which trims and smooths the boss when required as the
.bobbin rotates.
Fig. 1 of the Drawings is a side view, Fig. 2 is a section, and Figs. 3
and 4 are end views of a sewing machine shuttle spool according to one
modification of the Invention communicated to me. This spool (a)
has a hole through it axially to fit a spindle (b), (shown detached by
Fig. 5), having a spur b¹ upon it and a flange b², which may fit a recess
in the head of the spool as shown. When this spool is empty the
spindle (b) is withdrawn and is inserted in another full spool.
Fig. 6 shows one end of another shuttle spool and the mode of fitting
metal caps to the ends of the spools, and Fig. 7 shows the spool in
its place in the shuttle. a is the spool; b, metal caps having centre
points that fit the ordinary recesses in the shuttle and admit of the
spool rotating therein, same as those of ordinary construction.
Fig. 8 shows another modification where each cap b fits a recess on
the head of the spool (a), and Fig. 9 shows the spool in the shuttle.
Fig. 10 is a section and Fig. 11 an end view of another form of metal
caps (b), cach having a centre (6) to fit a hole in the head of the spool,
as shown.
Fig. 12 is a section and Fig. 13 a side view of a shuttle spool (a)
made of wood or other suitable material with metallic pins or pivots b³,
as shown.
Fig. 14 is a side view and Fig. 15 a section of a shuttle spool (a),
made by preference of wood, with centres or pivots be turned out of the
solid wood, as shown.
Fig. 16 is a side view and Fig. 17 an end view of a spool made with
centre holes or sockets to fit centres in the shuttle.
Fig. 18 is a section of the shuttle and spool held in the centres, one
centre c moves axially to admit of the spool being inserted; this centre
being brought back to its place by a spring c¹, as shown.

page_text: The machine for winding the thread upon the shuttle spools is illus-
trated by Fig. 19, a plan; Figs. 20 and 21 show the tail stock and the
end of the spool rotating arbor in elevation; Fig. 22 shows the same
parts in central vertical section; Fig. 23 is an end view of tail stock;
and Fig. 24 is an end view of the rotary bobbin driving spindle or shaft.
a denotes the frame; b, the driving shaft that rotates the bobbin to
be filled with thread; c, the traversing guide that "lays". the thread,
this guide being operated or reciprocated from end to end of the bobbin
by a right and left-handed screw shaft d, and a suitable connection of
the sliding guide shaft thereto, as in. other thread-winding, machines.
On the end of the driving shaft is a centre point or pivot e that
enters a socket formed in the centre of one liead of the bobbin in the
lathe in which the bobbin is turned. The bobbin f is solid or has no
axial bore, and when brought to the machine to be thread wound it has
the socket in but one head, the other head being sawed off square in
severing the bobbin from the end of the stick (from which it is formed)
in the lathe. To hold it in the machine with its axis coincident with
the axis of the shaft b and tail stock g and insure its rotation the end
of the bobbin arbor and the tail stock are constructed and arranged as
follows: On the end of the arbor is the pivot pin e, which enters the
socket in one end of the bobbin. On one side of this pin a spur
projects from the end of the arbor. In the centre of the head i is a
pivot pin (stationary with respect to the tail stock), and sliding in
the tail stock is a guide l, the front end of which formed as a ring
embraces the boss upon one end of the bobbin, the guide being forced
forward by a suitable spring and the tail stock being drawn forward by
a lever m and forced back by a spring n. The bobbin to be wound is
secured in the machine by first placing its socketed end against the
pivot pin e, then (holding the bobbin in axial line with the stock),
throwing forward the tail stock, which forces the pin k into the opposite
end of the bobbin and presses the first end against the spur and
causes such spur to penetrate the bobbin head, the tail stock being
locked in position by a spring catch o springing up behind a pin.p
projecting from the tail stock. In thus securing the bobbin the boss.
upon its outer end is embraced by the flange or tubular end of the
guide, which in normal position lies just beyond the end of the pivot
pink, and causes the pink to correctly enter the centre of the bobbin
head and form the shuttle journal socket therein, the guide retreating,

page_text: or rather remaining stationary, while the pin advances with the tail
stock and penetrates the head. The spur entering one head and on
one side of the pivot thereof prevents the bobbin from turning on the
pivot or ensures its rotation therewith, while the opposite pin having
been made to correctly enter the centre of the opposite head by the
boss embracing guide the bobbin is securely fixed ready to be rotated
for reception of the thread. When the bobbin is wound the spring
catch o is depressed, allowing the tail stock to be thrown back by its
spring and releasing the filled bobbin. As the boss embraced by the
guide flange or ring 7 is apt to be left somewhat rough by the lathe
the guide ring is or may be provided with a cutting or reducing tooth x,
which trims down and smooths the perimeter of the boss as the bobbin
rotates. In the end of the driving arbor a type or types q are inserted,
the outer projecting ends of such types having upon them the numbers
or other characters indicating the size, name, or quality of the thread,
so that the same pressure which clamps the bobbin in the machine
stamps such number or characters upon one end thereof. To fasten
the end of the thread to be wound the arbor 6 may be slightly cut away
so as to form a shoulder r, from which projects a pin s between which
and the arbor the end of the thread is passed and secured, or the arbor
may be provided with one or more deep slits t, into which the end of
the thread may be drawn, being pinched in the slit, so that as the
bobbin turns the thread will wind.
It will also be observed that the machine at one operation sockets
the plain head of the bobbin, stamps the number of the thread upon the
opposite head, and accurately winds the thread, and also, if necessary,
trims the boss to be socketed.
Instead of the pivot pin e the end of the shaft b may be provided
with a flange or ring to centre the head of the bobbin and with a
suitable device to prevent rotation of the bobbin ; and for the opposite
pivot pink may be substituted a flange or ring directly on the end of
the tail stock, (in which latter case the sliding ring or guide will be
unnecessary) but the arrangement shown is preferred.
I have now particularly described the nature of the Invention com-
'municated to me, and the mode of carrying it into effect, and claim as
the Invention secured to me by the said Letters Patent,―
Firstly. The manufacture of sewing machine shuttle spools filled with
thread by a thread spooling head" and adapted for direct use in

page_text: sewing machine shuttles, substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated by the Drawings.
Secondly. The several modes of constructing sewing machine shuttle
spools, substantially as herein before described and illustrated by the
Drawings.
Thirdly. The arrangement of sewing machine shuttles with centres to
fit sockets or centre holes in the ends of shuttle spools, substantially as
herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
Fourthly. The arrangement and combination of mechanism for
winding thread upon sewing machine shuttle spools, substantially
as described. Also,-
1. The pivot pin e and spur or equivalent device or devices on the
end of the driving shaft, and the pivot pink and sliding guide ring 1,
or equivalent device or devices on the end of the tail stock (for clamp-
ing between them the opposite ends of the bobbin in combination with
a thread-winding mechanism, and designed to clamp therein a solid
bobbin to be wound, substantially as described.
2. A driving shaft of a thread-winding machine constructed with the
type or bobbin marking letters or figures on its end, substantially as
described.
3. The revolving shaft b provided with the thread end and retaining
slit or groove t or pins on its front end, substantially as set forth.
4. The moveable tail stock formed with a device, substantially as
described, for clamping a shuttle bobbin between it and the pivot pin
on the end of the driving shaft.
5. In combination with the sliding tail stock the lever m for forcing
it upon the bobbin and the spring catch o and pin p for locking it in
position, substantially as shown and described.
6. The tubular guide provided with the cutting tooth x, substantially
as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Joel Livsey, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one
PETER J. LIVSEY. (L.S.)