IMPROVE- MENTS IN SHUTTLES FOR SEWING MACHINES AND IN THE APPLIANCES CON- NECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Anderson, Manager of the Singer Manufacturing
Company's Works, Glasgow, North Britain, for the Invention of " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SHUTTLES FOR SEWING MACHINES AND IN THE APPLIANCES CON-
NECTED THEREWITH."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Anderson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd March 1878.
ALEXANDER ANDERSON, Manager of the Singer Manufacturing Company's Works,
Glasgow, North Britain. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHUTTLES FOR SEWING MACHINES
AND IN THE APPLIANCES CONNECTED THEREWITH."
This Invention relates to improvements in traversing and circular shuttles for
sewing machines and in the appliances connected therewith.
It is well known that the threading of shuttles is a somewhat tedious operation,
and that the obtaining of a nicely adjusted drag upon the thread is still a
desideratun. To facilitate the threading up of traversing shuttles I notch one side
of the hinged frame which holds the bobbin or spool in place, and also the adjacent
side of the shell of the shuttle, to which side externally of the shuttle a pressure
spring is applied.
The thread from the spool or cop I draw out from the shuttle, lay it over the
hinged frame, catch it in the notch of that frame and in the adjacent notch in the
edge of the shell, then lay it under the end of the spring, and the shuttlo is
threaded up.
To obtain the requisite drag on the thread I make the hinged fraine olastic, and
by expanding the frame laterally cause the thread to be nipped between the frame
and the shell of the shuttle.
The means for expanding this frame laterally and with a nice adjustment admits
of variations. Thus I may make the hinged frame of two strips of steel, and con-
nect the same together at the free end of the frame by a coupling screw in such

page_text: manner that by tightening up the screw and bringing the ends closer together the
notched side of the frame, one or both, will. be bowed out. This result is attained
by giving an outwardly inclined set to the extremity of the notched side of the
frame. The tightening up therefore of the coupling screw will have a tendency to
tip the outwardly inclined end inwards, and thereby force out the notched side of
the frame.
The like result will be attained (when the free end of the frame is without a joint)
by bringing a bearing piece to act upon the inner face of the end of the frame by
means of a tightening-up screw, and thus bowing out the sides of the frame.
Whon the elastic frame consists of a forked piece with the prongs bent inwards
a screw tapped into one prong and hearing against the other will, on being turned,
force the forks apart, and thereby produce the required pressure on the thread.
This screw should be made with a milled head to facilitate its being turned to
adjust the pressure.
A modification of this plan is to give the screw head a bearing against the shell
of the shuttle. In this case the turning of the screw will act upon that side only
of the frame into which it is tapped, pressing it outwards into close contact with
the thread.
•
When cops are used in the shuttle the hinged frame is converted into a close
cover, a plate being substituted for one of the side pieces composing the frame.
A hinged pin or clip is also provided for holding the cop in position in the shuttle
as the thread is boing drawn out. The hinged frames 1 notch in their inner face
(at opposite ends) to einbrace (when shut down) the ends of the cop spindle.
In attaining the above-described objects in connection with a circular shuttle I
make the centre pin on which the bobbin is mounted hollow, and fit therein a
cone-pointed screw, which bears upon a spring recessed into the hollow pin and
bearing upon the inner periphery of the bobbin. By the adjustment of this screw
the pressure of the spring on the bobbin, and consequently the tension of the thread,
will be regulated.
The thread from the bobbin is passed through a hole in the periphery of the
shuttle, drawn over the edge of the shuttle, and threaded through an eye formed in
the upper end of the centre pin, whence it passes to the work. This mode of
threading up the shuttle is more simple than that at present employed in circular
shuttles. This shuttlo I make specially available for boot and shoe work by
mounting it near the extremity of the projecting arm which carries the work. To
this shuttle I empart a reciprocating axial motion by means of a crank pin pro-
jecting from a disc which carries a pendent stud for receiving a spur pinion. This
pinion gears into a sector rack that receivos a reciprocating motion from a hori
zontal rod worked in any convenient manner and connected to the rack by a
joint pin.

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 18th
September 1878.
ALEXANDER ANDERSON, Manager of the Singer Manufacturing Company's Works,
Glasgow, North Britain. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHUTTLES FOR SEWING MACHINES
AND IN THE APPLIANCES CONNECTED THEREWITH."
This Invention relates to improvements in traversing and circular shuttles for
sewing machines, and also to the means for driving circular shuttles.
It is well known that the threading of shuttles is a somewhat tedious operation,
and that the obtaining of a nicely adjusted drag upon the thread is still a
desideratum. To facilitate the threading up of traversing shuttles I now propose
to notch one side of the hinged frame which holds the spools in place, and also the
adjacent side of the shell of the shuttle, to which side externally of the shuttle a
guide spring is applied.
The thread from the spool I draw out from the shuttle, lay it over the hinged
frame, catch it in the notch of that frame and in the adjacent notch in the edge of
the shell, then lay it under the end of the ordinary guide spring, and the shuttle
is threaded up.
To obtain the requisite drag on the thread I make the hinged frame elastic, and
by expanding the frame laterally I cause the thread to be nipped between the
frame and the shell of the shuttle.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings I have shewn in several views the
means by which I facilitate the threading up of the traversing shuttle, and obtain
the requisite tension on the thread as it is drawn out from the shuttle during the
action of the machine.
An examination of the Drawings will show that the expansion of the frame
laterally to obtain a nice adjustinent of the tension may be effected in several
ways.
Fig. 1 shews in face view a shuttle on an enlarged scale, fitted according to this
Invention ;
and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, with the hinged frame moved
outwards to illustrate more clearly the mode of threading up the shuttle.
In these views a is the shell of the shuttle, notched and slotted as at a¹ to receive
the thread; 5, the spool carrying the sewing thread; c, the hinged frame, which
when shut down serves to retain the spool in place. This frame is notched and
slotted, as at c¹, to permit of the thread being laid therein; and d is the ordinary
external spring, under which the end of the thread is laid. In this example the hinged
frame c is shewn as inade of two strips of steel, which are connected together at
one end by the hinge or pivot pin passed transversely through the nose of the
shuttle, the nose being slotted longitudinally to receive the frame end. At the
opposite or free end of the frame the steel strips are connected together by a
coupling screw e, which on being tightened up will bow out the notched side of the
fraine. This result is attained by giving an outwardly inclined set to the extremity
of the notched side of the frame. The tightening up therefore of the coupling
screw will have a tendency to tip the outwardly inclined end inwards, and thereby
force out the notched side of the frame, that it may bind the thread between it and
the shell.
Figures 3 and 4 shew a slight modification in the construction of the frame and
in the way of fitting it to the shell. In this instance the position of the frame is
inverted, and the strips of which it is formed are pivotted to the sides of the
shuttle; the means of expanding the frame is however precisely similar to that
above explained.
The method of threading up the shuttle is similar to that shown at Figures 1
and 2, and this remark applies to all the arrangements shewn in Sheet I. of the
Drawings, in which a spool is used. Thus the thread from the spool. 6 is brought

page_text: over the hinged frame c, then caught in the notch c¹ of the slotted side thoreof, and
laid into the notch a¹ of the shell a, then brought under the spring d, as usual, and
the hinged frame being now shut down, the shuttle is ready for insertion into the
machine.
Figures 5 and 6 shew a mode of giving lateral expansion to the frame when it is
mado in one piece, and its extremities are pivotted to the sides of the shuttle, its
free end being bowed and without a joint. In this case a bearing piece f is caused
to act upon the inner face of the end of the frame by means of a tightening-up
screw g, the effect of which will be to bow out the sides of the frame and cause the
thread to be nipped between the frame c and the shell a of the shuttle.
Figures 7 and 8 show another forin of hinged frame, the lateral expansion of
which will put an elastic tension on the thread. In this example, the frame, which
is forked, has its prongs bent inwards. Into the end of one prong is tapped a
screw h, the head of which bears against the other prong. By turning this screw
backwards it will force the prongs apart, and thereby produce the required pressure
on the thread. This screw should be made with a milled head to facilitate its being
turned to adjust the pressure.
A modification of this plan is to give the screw head a bearing against the shell
of the shuttle. This arrangement is shewn at Figures 9 and 10, the hinged frame
being partly in section at Fig, 9, the better to shew the bearing screw h. In this
case the head of the screw his fitted with a bearing point, which abuts against the
shell of the shuttle, and passing freely through one side of the frame c is tapped
into the notched side of that frame. The turning of the screw will therefore act
upon that side only of the frame into which it is tapped, pressing it outwards into
close contact with the thread.
When cops are used in the shuttle the hinged frame is converted into a close
cover, a plate being substituted for one of the side pieces composing the fraine.
This modification is illustrated at Figures 11 and 12, where c is the elastic side
piece which is to give tension to the thread; and c* is a plate constituting a
hinged cover and connected with the bar c by means of a screw e, similar to the
arrangement shewn at Figures 1 and 3. i is a hinged pin or skewer for holding
the cop in position in the shuttle. To facilitate the threading up of the shuttle, the
thread, which is drawn from the interior of the cop and out of one end thereof, is
guided by a slot (see the back view of the shuttle, Fig. 13) to a central hole k.
From this hole it is led up to a slot ', whence it passes again into the shell of the
shuttle. It is then laid in the notch a', and brought outside and laid under the
spring d as usual. When therefore the hinged frame is shut down the thread is
gripped between the frame and the shell of the shuttle, as in the preceding
examples. he hinged frame c is not notched to receive the thread, the slotting of
the back end of the shuttle being more convenient for the passage out of the thread
as it runs off from the end of the cop, instead of, as in the case of spools, from the
periphery thereof.
In attaining the above-described objects in connection with a circular shuttle
I adopt the arrangement shown in Sheet II. of the Drawings, where Fig. 1 is a plan
viow of a circular shuttle with its bobbin in place; Fig. 2 is an edge view of the
same; and Fig. 3, a cross section taken through the centre of the shuttle and
bobbin.
a is the shuttle; and the centre pin on which the bobbin b is mounted. This
centre pin is made hollow, with a closed upper end, and it is slit vertically and
reduced somewhat in thickness towards its base to allow of its yielding to internal
pressure, the object being to cause it to bind laterally against the bobbin, and
thereby to put the desired amount of friction thereon. Fitted into the lower end
of this centre pin, and enclosing therein a coiled spring d and a cone-pointed plug e
(which rests on the spring), is a regulating screw c; the spring stands between the
screw c and the cone-pointed plug e, and presses the latter up between the lips of
the hollow centre pin, thereby giving a lateral expansion of the centre pin, and
putting an elastic pressure upon the bobbin. By the adjustment of the screw c

page_text: the pressure on the bobbin, and consequently the tension of the thread, will be
regulated.
The thread from the bobbin is passed through a hole in the periphery of the
shuttle, drawn over the edge of the shuttle, and threaded through eyes formed in
the lips of the centre pin at right angles to the vertical slit made therein, whence
it passes to the work. This mode of threading up the shuttle is inore simple than
that at present employed in circular shuttles. Circular shuttles of this class I make
especially available for boot and shoe work by mounting then near the extremity
of the projecting arm which carries the work, as shewn in the partial sectional
elevation, Fig. 4, and in the plan view, Fig. 5. In these Figures A is the projecting
arm, recessed at its forward extremity to receive an axially reciprocating shuttle
driver B, the recess being covered by a throat plate C. The short axle of the
shuttle driver carries a pinion D below the arm A (see the inverted plan view,
Fig. 6), and into this pinion gears a pinion E carried by a pendent stud axle. A
crank pin on this pinion E carries an arin I, which receives a reciprocating motion
from a cam shaft of the sewing machine, and through the gearing imparts an axial
notion to the shuttle driver. This shuttle driver B consists of a horizontal disc
with a vertical pin near its edge, which pin takes into a notch on the periphery of
the shuttle, and thereby gives it the desired axial motion.
Near the end of the arm A, and within the circumference of the recess which
receives the shuttle, a hole is drilled vertically through the arm to permit of the
descent of the vertical needle G, which is thus enabled to present its loop to the
shuttle to receive the locking thread.
By driving the shuttle in the manner shewn at Fig. 6 the provision heretofore
required for the play of the reciprocating rack bar is rendered unnecessary, and the
renewal of shoe tips can therefore be readily effected, the same being as easily
applied and secured to the upper after as before the shoe is closed.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in Shuttles
for Sewing Machines and in the Appliances connected 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 clain,-
First. The means described with reference to Sheet 1. of the Drawings for
facilitating the threading up of traversing shuttles, and ensuring an adjustable
tension of the thread.
Secondly. In connection with circular shuttles the means above described, with
reference to Sheet II. of the Drawings, for facilitating the threading up of the shuttle
and maintaining the tension of the thread.
Thirdly. Mounting circular shuttles in the projecting arms of sewing machines
and driving the same, as and for the purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Anderson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
ALEX ANDERSON. (L.S.)