US639044A - Sewing-machine shuttle. - Google Patents

Description

No. 639,044. Patented Dec. l2, I899.

P. H. HEWITT, E. A. COCKLE & C. MATTHEWS.- SEWING MACHINE SHUTTLE. (Application filed Mar. 29, 1898.) (No Model.)

J12 Zn/Arm:

THE NORRIS mans co. worm-Wm. WASNINGTON, 0:0.

TATES LATENT Prion.

PERCY HUGHES IIEXVITT, EDWIN A. OOOKLE, AND CHARLES MATTHEWVS, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

SEWING-MACHINE SHUTTLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 639,044, dated December 12, 1899.

Application filed March 29, 1898. Serial No. 675,559. (No model.) i

To CY/ZZ whom it may concern! Be it known that we, PERCY HUGHES HEW- ITT, barrister at law, of Oakley House, Spring Grove, Isleworth, London, W., and EDWIN ALLEN COCKLE and CHARLES MATTHEWS, bootmakers, of 34 Victor Terrace, Harrow r0ad,'Willesden, London, N. W., England, have invented a new and useful Sewing-Machine Shuttle, (for which an application for patent has been filed in Great Britain, dated the 1st day of October, 1897, No. 22,488,) of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to shuttle sewingmachines; and it consists, essentially, in an improved construction of shuttle whereby it is adapted to contain an ordinary commercial bobbin or reel of thread, so as to avoid certain well-known disadvantages incidental to the use of a special spool of small capacity,

such as is generally employed, these disadvantages including not only greater complication and conseqnentenhanced cost of the machine due to the necessity of providing special 1nechanism.for winding the spools, but also loss of time due to the necessityof frequently stopping, removing, and accurately replacing the work and of winding thread from the'ordinary reel onto the special spool, such lossbearing a high ratio to the total time worked.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, wherein- Figure 1 is a rear end View of a shuttle constructed according to this invention, and Fig.

2 is alongitudinal view, partly in section, of

the side of the shuttle which lies next to the shuttle-race and needle-groove. Fig. 3 is a cross-section on line 3 3, Fig. 4, the internal fittings being removed; and Fig. 4 is a horizontal section. Fig. 5 is a cross-section on line 5 5, 6; and Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the shuttle, showing the thread-guide and tension device. Figs. 1 to 6 are drawn to an enlarged scale.

The shuttle A, as' shown in Figs. 1 to 6, may conveniently be formed of a metal catsing, and is of the same general configuration as othersewingqnachine shuttles,except that instead of being of D form in cross-section and open at the fiat side it is of nearly circular cross-section, the flattened side a (which works,as usual, against the shuttle-race, so as to pass to and fro across the needlegroove) being closed and made of a width only sufficient to retain the shuttlein proper working position in the shuttle driver or cradle. The flattened side of the shuttle being closed (whereby risk of any loose thread accidene tally escaping from within the .shuttle, as well as liability of the needle-point catching in the shuttle, is obviated) and being of less breadth than the diameter of the contained reel the latter cannot be introduced into the shuttle in the ordinary way, and provision is made for introducing the reel in the longitudinal direction at the heel end by making the heel of the shuttle .a detachable cap B in the form ofa circular cup fitting snugly by its flange Z) into a correspondingly.circular seat in the rear end of the body part A of. the shuttle, so that the needle-thread loop in slipping over the body of the shuttle will encounter no obstacle and not beliable to catch on the detachable heel-cap. V r

The heel-cap is securely locked in. position preferably by inwardly-projecting studs 0, fixed in the body part A of the shuttle, engaging (by a partial longitudinal and rotary movement of the heel-cap) in bayonet-slots 0', out in theflange 12, these slots being of such shape that the outward pressure of the reel on the heel-cap due to the thrust of the intern al spring, hereinafterdescribed, will tend to retain the studs in engagement in the slots,

so as to prevent any tendency of the heel-cap the heel-cap and body portion will be pre-- vented.

The heel-cap B is provided with holes cl for turning it in its seat by means of the finger or a suitable tool and with an inwardly-projecting central cone 6, adapted to enter the bored center of the reel R. The reel R is held between the said cone 6 and a similar conefat the other end formed upon a disk f, fitted to slide upon a dead-spindle g, fixed in the body of the shuttle, the disk being prevented from turning with the reel by the angular section of the spindle, as seen in Fig. 5, and means (such as a head upon the spindle or a small cross-pin 9) being provided for retaining the disk and spring upon the spindle g when the reel is removed. Between the disk f and a suitable abutment formed by the boss 9 in which the spindle is fixed, a spiral spring h is confined, so as by its pressure against the disk f to retain the reel securely in position to rotate upon and between the cones ef as centers, with sufficient friction to check the rotation of the reel so far as may be necessary to prevent more than the requisite length of thread becoming unwound,

said friction also serving to impart tension to v the thread, while the range of elasticity of the spring and the length of the guide-spindle g are such as to adapt the shuttle to receive reels of various lengths less than that of the erture in the diaphragm a Will remain closed even should the disk project beyond the diaphragm, as would be the case when a short reel is used.

The body A of the shuttle has a slit t' leading from the open heel end to a holej at the upper side of the shuttle, partly covered by a spring tension-plate 7o, fixed to the exterior of the shuttle by an adjustable screw 76, which also serves as the means of regulating the tension given to the thread. A stud upon the under side of the plate 7.; and entering a hole in the shuttle forms a guide-stop for the thread during the forward movement of the shuttle, while a similar guide-stop during the backward movement is formed by the forward end of the plate 7c being curved inward and outward, as shown at Z in Fig. '2, and housed in an aperture l in the body of the shuttle. The form thus given to the forward end of the ten sion-plate 70, while offering no obstruction to the passage of the shuttle through the needle-thread loop, admits of the thread being easily passed beneath that end of the tension-plate during the operation of threading the shuttle, as hereinafter described.

In order to prevent any possibility of the shuttle-thread becoming caught under the rear end of the tension-plate 70, the rear portion of the plate is curved somewhat toward the fiat side of the shuttle, as shown in Fig.

6, and its extremity l is bent downward, so as to lie snugly against the body of the shuttle, as shown in Fig. 2.

m is a' thread-guide, of wire, fixed within the body of the shuttle by its angular bent end m being brazed or riveted in a hole in the side of the shuttle, the other end being free and projecting sufficiently beyond the open heel end of the body part A to admit of the thread being readily slipped behind it before the reel is introduced into the shuttle. This guide m is provided with a loop 077. at about the middle of the length of the reel, through which the loop -thread runs from whichever part in the length of the reel it may be drawn, the straight portion of the wire m lying in the upper of the two corner spaces formed by the meeting of the flat side a with the tangential portions a a connecting that side with the circular portion of the periphery of the shuttle, as shown in Figs. 1, 3, 5, and 6, while the loop m projects over the reel toward the slit 2' and holej, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

The operation of threading the shuttle may be very readily performed and is as follows: The reel having been introduced into the body of the shuttle, so that the thread in unwinding will cause the reel to rotate toward the left hand, (looking from heel to point of the shuttle,) the end portion of the thread which has been retained in the hand is slipped behind the guide-wire m from beneath, then through the slitt' up to the holej, then brought around, so as pass under the forward end Z of the tension-plate 7c, and finally emerge from under said plate at the side opposite to that at which the holej is situate. The thread M will now have assumed a position substantially as indicated in Figs. 5 and 6, and the heel-cap B having been inserted and locked, as already described, the shuttle is ready to be placed in the machine.

It will be observed that in the operation of threading the shuttle, as above described, there is no possibility of delay being caused through the difficulty of thrusting the end of the thread through a hole or holes.

It will be obvious that the heel-cap B may be secured to the body portion A of the shuttle by other means than those hereinbefore described without departing from the spirit of the invention. Thus, for example, the heel-cap might be arranged to screw into the body of the shuttle, or be held in position by a spring catch or catches, or be attached to the body of the shuttle by means of a hinge at the flat side of the latter and a latch at the opposite side, the essential characteristic of all the arrangements remaining the samenamely, that provision is made for introducing the reel into the shuttle in the longitudinal direction at the heel end and for retaining the reel in position substantially as already described.

We claim- 1. A sewing-machine shuttle open at the IIO heel end, a removable cap fitting said open end, the cap and shuttle being provided one with a pin and the other with a locking-slot, the inner end of the slot trending backward or toward the edge of the member containing it, whereby the cap must be moved inward to release it, a spring and means for transmitting the trend of the spring to the cap through the spool.

2. A sewing-machine shuttle open at the heel end for the insertion of a spool, a cap for closing this end the cap having an inwardlyprojecting conical spool-center, a cap and shuttle-locking means requiring an inward movement of the cap to free it, a similar outwardly-projecting spool-center within the shuttle and slidable longitudinally thereon and a spring acting upon the inner center to press it outwardly whereby when the spool is inserted the cap is held securely against'removal, substantially as described.

3. A sewing-machine shuttle open at the heel end for the insertion of a spool, a cap for closing this end having an inwardly-projecting conical spool-center, a cap and shuttlelocking means requiring an inward movement of the cap to free it, a center for the opposite end of the spool having an outwardly-projecting centering-cone and slidable lengthwise the shuttle, the shuttle having bearing-supports surrounding this center, a stop limiting the outward movement of the center, and a spring behind the center acting to press it outwardly whereby when the spool is between the centers the cap is held securely against removal, substantially as described.

4. A sewing-machine shuttle open at the heel end for the insertion of a spool, a cap for closing this end having an inwardly-projecting conical spool-center, means for locking the cap in place held against disengagement by outward pressure upon the cap, a complementary center within the shuttle mounted to slide longitudinally thereon and having an axial non'circular hole, a pin slidingly fitting within said hole and secured at,its inner end to the shuttle and provided with a stop outside the center, anda spring behind said cen' ter pressing it outwardly, whereby the cap is held securely when the spool is in place, substantially as described.

5. A shuttle, having an open end, and acap fitting the same having a spool-center thereon, a spring-held inner center, a spool between centers, and means for locking the cap and shuttle together held against disengagement by the pressure of said spring acting through the spool.

6. A shuttle having an end facing opening at the heel for the insertion of the spool, a cap fitting said heel-end opening, .and a springbar secured by its inner end within the shuttle and having its free end extending to the heel, said spring-bar having a thread guide or eye formed therein, substantially as described.

PERCY HUGHES HEWITT. EDWIN A. OOCKLE. CHARLES MATTHEWS.

In presence of- G. G; CLARK, T. W. KENNARD.

Images