Improvements in, or Additions to, Sewing Thimbles.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Feb., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 25th June. 1898-Accepted 30th July
1000
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in, or Additions to, Sewing Thimbles.
I, CHARLES EDWARD ILES, of Highgate Street, in the City of Birmingham,
Thimble Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to sewing thimbles, and consists in the making of the said
thimbles from celluloid, xylonite, ebonite, bone, compressed paper or other non-
metallic substances and in providing or arming the same with a metallic cap, or
a metallic covering partly or wholly enclosing the celluloid as an outer sheath.
The crown portion of the cap is roughened as usual with ordinary thimbles and
acts as a reinforcing medium in producing rigidity and durability of the article.
The said cap or outer metallic covering may either be fixed or loose, and when
made a fixture, it is secured in position by rolling or turning an edge of the metal
into an annular groove or over a beading on the outside of the celluloid or like
body, whilst when loose, the body may be annularly grooved or channelled to
give finish thereto and to form shoulders for the edges of the cap to rest upon,
whilst when the metallic covering entirely encloses the celluloid, then the edge of
the said celluloid is turned over the lower edge of the cap, or the metal cover may
be secured by indenting or grooving a part of it into a corresponding indentation
or groove of the body part.
As a further form of my invention, I may make up a thimble of three socketting
shells, with the middle one formed of thin steel, with roughened parts at points
surrounding the crown, whilst the inner and outer shells are made of celluloid,
compressed paper or wood, or like material, or the intermediate metal lining may
be in cap form only.
Improvements in, or Additions to, Sewing Thimbles.
I, CHARLES EDWARD ILES, of Highgate Street, in the City of Birmingham,
Thimble Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
-
This invention relates to sewing thimbles, and consists in making the said

page_text: thimbles from celluloid, xylonite, ebonite, bone, compressed paper or other non-
metallic substances and in providing or arming the same with a hardened or non-
penetrable cap or a covering preferably metal, partly or wholly enclosing the
celluloid as an outer sheath. The crown portion of the cap is roughened or grated
as usual with ordinary thimbles and which besides forming a resist for pre-
venting the thimble being penetrated by the needle, also acts as a reinforcing
medium in producing rigidity and durability of the article. The said hard cap
or outer metallic covering may either be fixed or loose, and when made a fixture,
it is secured in position by rolling or turning an edge of the metal into an annular
groove or over a beading on the outside of the celluloid or like body, whilst when
loose, the body may be annularly grooved or channelled to give finish thereto and
to form shoulders for the edges of the cap to rest upon or the metallic defence may
be made in pierced or reticulated metal such as fine wire gauze, whilst when the
metallic covering entirely encloses the celluloid, then the edge of the said cellu-
loid is turned over the lower edge of the cap, or the metal cover may be secured
by indenting or grooving a part of it into a corresponding indentation or groove
of the body part. Or the said defence may be embedded or inserted within the
material forming the body of the thimble.
By thus employing a non-metallic body part, the flesh of the finger of a person
using the thimble is prevented from coming in contact with any metallic surface
and the thimble is cleaner and more comfortable when in use.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents upon an enlarged scale, a
composite thimble, the body of which is made of celluloid, xylonite, vulcanite or
like non-metallic substance, provided or armed with a defence or resist against needle
penetration by a metallic shell or cap, with the one part secured to the other by
embedding the edges of the cap into the material of the celluloid or other non-
metallic body part, as best seen in the vertical section, Figure 2.
Figures 3 and 4 represent an elevation and a vertical section of the non-metallic
body part of the thimble separately,
Figures 5 and 6 represent an elevation and a section of the metallic cap or
shield part, separately.
a is the non-metallic body or shell of the thimble and is the metallic shell,
cap or shield, which protects the upper part of the body and is secured by the lip
or edge b', thereof being embedded into the celluloid or other material as at a³,
by a spinning or other process, at a point above the lip a³, and in order to pre-
vent relative rotation of the parts, the metal may be indented inwardly as at
Figure 7 represents an elevation and Figure 8 a section of a composite thimble,
in which the whole of the non-metallic body a, is enclosed or covered up by the
metallic shell or cap b, other than around the open end or mouth.
Figure 8 is a vertical section of a further modification in which the body a,
of the thimble is made in the form of an open-ended cylinder or taper barrel,
armed or provided with a grater or roughened cap b, which is secured to the said
body and both acts as a defence thereto and closes the one open end of the said
body.
Figure 9 is a section of a thimble, showing another method of securing the non-
metallic body to the shell, consisting in providing the lip ¹, of the metal outer
shell b, with a beading and rolling the lip a', of the non-metallic inner shell or
body part a, over the said beading as at a³.
In Figure 10, the converse arrangement is shown, in which the mouth edges b¹,
of the outer metal shell b, are rolled inwardly over the inward mouth a', of the
non-metallic body a, but only to such an extent as to secure together the parts
and yet not to be liable to come against the finger.
In Figure 11, the one part is secured to the other by an annular indentation b¹,
of the metallic shell or protector b, being made to embed itself into the softer
material of the celluloid or like body part a.
In Figure 12, the inner non-metallic shell a, and the outer protector b, are

page_text: secured together by rolling a ring c (preferably of celluloid) over the meeting
lip edges a, b, of the two parts.
Figure 13 shows another form of my invention, in which the protector or cap b,
of the non-metallic thimble body a, is made of wire gauze and in which the
material of the said body part forced into the interstices of the gauze cap (as
represented in the enlarged section in Figure 14) which is thereby secured in
position.
As a further form of my invention, I may make up a thimble of three socketting
shells, with the middle one formed of thin steel or other metal or of woven wire,
or wrapped wire, or other hard or non-penetrable material, whilst the inner and
outer shells are made of celluloid, compressed paper or wood, or like material,
or the intermediate metal insertion may be in cap form only. By thus locating or
embedding the metallic defence of the thimble within the material of the non-
metallic body part, no metallic parts whatever, whether external
internal, are exposed for the finger of the person using the article to come
in contact with.
or
Figures 15 and 16 represent an elevation and a section of a thimble made up
of three composite shells or parts.
Figure 17 is a section shewing the said shells before being closed together to
form the thimble.
á is the inner shell and 6 the outer one, both of these being made of celluloid,
compressed wood or like non-metallic material and c is the middle or inner shell,
which is made of steel or other metal and constitutes the means for reinforcing
or strengthening the thimble and also for preventing the same being penetrated
by the needle when in use. The metul insertion is preferably roughened or
grated for the purpose of preventing slipping of the needle.
The connection of the inner and outer celluloid or like shells may be made by
any means, such as by pressing them together in a press, or by pressing them
into one another when in a soft state, or by cementation or by screwing, or the
edge of the one shell may be beaded and the edge of the other shell may rest
upon or be closed. over around the said beading of the first-named shell.
Figure 18 represents a section of another form of thimble, in which the metallic
insertion is in the form of a cap b, made of wire gauze or pierced metal, through
the interstices of which the material of the inner and outer non-metallic shells
is forced when the said parts are closed together.
I wish it to be understood that the press tools, dies and the like employed in
the making up of the composite thimbles herein described are preferably heated
by steam or otherwise so as to keep the same at such a temperature as will ensure
the proper cohesion or solidification together of the component elements.
The connection of the non-metallic parts of the thimble to the defence by eye-
letting or rivetting and even where the connection between the metal and cellu-
loid is made mechanically, I may sometimes cement the said parts together in
order to make a more perfect union.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim
is:-
First In thimbles, making the same of celluloid or xylonite, and arming
them with a metallic or non-penetrable defence in the form of an outside cap
or shell.
Secondly: In thimbles, making the body part of celluloid or xylonite and
arming the same with a metallic or non-penetrable defence in the form of an
outside cap or shell, with one part secured to the other substantially in either
of the ways herein described and set forth.
Thirdly-In thimbles, making the body part of non-metallic material (other
than celluloid or xylonite as referred to in the preceding claims) and arming the

page_text: same with an outside metallic or non-penetrable shell or cap, with the latter
secured to the former substantially in either of the ways herein described and set
forth.
:-
Fourthly In composite thimbles, embedding or locating the metallic or non-
penetrable shell or cap defence within the material of the non-metallic body part,
substantially as described and set forth.
Fifthly In composite thimbles interiorly armed inserted or embedded metal-
lic cap or non-penetrable defence as referred to in the fourth claim, making the
same up of three shells or elements, viz., an inner and an outer non-metallic shells,
and a middle metallic or non-penetrable shell, with the said elements united
together in any of the several ways herein described and set forth.
Dated this 24th day of June 1898.
CHARLES EDWARD ILES.
By Henry Skerrett,
24, Temple Row, Birmingham,
Agent for Applicant.