Bobbin driver

Throughout history, lockstitch sewing machines have used a variety of methods to drive their bobbins so as to create the lockstitch.

{| border="1" class="wikitable" align="center" !Names !Invented !Description !Picture !Notes |- |'''Transverse shuttle'''<br /> Longitudinal shuttle |1846 by Elias Howe<ref>{{cite patent|country=US | number=4750| pubdate= 10 September 1846|status=patent }}</ref> center|thumb|200px|Figure 5 from Howe's patent 4750, showing transverse shuttle 'K' in its race |Transverse shuttles carry the bobbin in a boat-shaped shuttle, and reciprocate the shuttle along a straight horizontal shaft. The design was popularized in Singer's 'New Family' machine.<ref>{{cite book|author=Singer Sewing Machine Company |chapter=Monograph 5|page =[https://archive.org/details/mechanicssewing00compgoog/page/n49 49]|url=https://archive.org/details/mechanicssewing00compgoog|quote=mechanics of the sewing machine monograph 5. |title=Mechanics of the Sewing Machine|publisher=Singer Sewing Machine Company |year=1914}}</ref> The design became obsolete once the other bobbin driver designs were developed.<ref>{{cite book |page =152 |author=Grace Cooper|title=The Sewing Machine: Its Invention and Use|publisher=Smithsonian Museum |url=http://www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/hst/cooper/|chapter=1913 trade flyer offering a treadle cabinet and a choice of machines representing every bobbin driver design ''except'' the transverse shuttle|year=2004}}</ref> |center|thumb|200px|Shuttle from a '''transverse shuttle''' bobbin driver |Sometimes incorrectly called an "oscillating shuttle". Somewhat confusingly, the term "Transverse Shuttle" is usually used only to refer to a side-to-side motion of the bobbin. When moved in a front-to-back motion, as in the Howe machines, and the earliest Singers, the term "Reciprocating Shuttle" is used instead. |- |'''Vibrating shuttle''' |1850 by Allen B. Wilson<ref>Refer to Vibrating shuttle for full inventor credits with references</ref> center|thumb|200px|Figure 2 from Wilson's patent 7776, showing vibrating shuttle |Vibrating shuttle machines reciprocate their shuttle through a short arc. The earliest vibrating shuttles used boat-shaped shuttles, but bullet-shaped shuttles soon replaced them. The design was popularized in the White Sewing Machine Company's 'White Sewing Machine' and Singer's 27-series machines.<ref>All information drawn from the Vibrating shuttle article</ref> Now obsolete.<ref>Singer's last vibrating shuttle machine was built in 1962, according to the references on the Singer Model 27 and 127 page</ref> |center|thumb|200px|Shuttle from a '''vibrating shuttle''' bobbin driver |{{main|Vibrating shuttle}} |- |'''Rotary hook'''<br /> Rotating hook<br /> Rotary loop taker<ref>See e.g. {{cite patent|country=US |number=5617803|gdate=1997|title=Rotary Loop Taker with Replaceable Tip|status=patent}}</ref><br /> Revolving hook |1851 by Allen B. Wilson<ref>{{cite patent |country=US|number=9041|pubdate=15 June 1852|status =patent}}; but see Rotary hook for full inventor credits with references</ref> center|thumb|200px|Figures from Wilson's patent 9041, showing rotary hook and bobbin |Rotary hook machines hold their bobbin stationary, and continuously rotate the thread hook around it. The design was popularized in the White Sewing Machine Company's 'Family Rotary' sewing machine<ref>All information drawn from the Rotary hook article</ref> and Singer's models 95 and 115.<ref>{{cite book |author=Singer Sewing Machine Company|chapter=Monograph 5|pages =54–55|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chkLAAAAIAAJ&dq=mechanics%20of%20the%20sewing%20machine%20monograph%205&pg=PA49|title=Mechanics of the Sewing Machine|year=1914}}</ref> |center|thumb|200px|Hook from a '''rotary hook''' bobbin driver |{{main|Rotary hook}} |- |'''Oscillating shuttle''' |1877 by Lebbeus B. Miller and Philip Diehl<ref>{{cite patent |country=US |number= 208838|fdate=8 June 1877|gdate=8 Oct 1878|status=patent}}; and refinement {{cite patent |country=US |number=221338|fdate=21 November 1878|gdate=4 November 1879|status=patent }}. {{cite book |chapter=Monograph 5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/mechanicssewing00compgoog/page/n50 50] |author=The Singer Sewing Machine Company|url=https://archive.org/details/mechanicssewing00compgoog|quote=mechanics of the sewing machine. |title=Mechanics of the Sewing Machine|publisher=Singer Sewing Machine Company |year=1914}}, the date of invention is given as 1879, but the Miller/Diehl patent trail actually began in 1877.</ref> center|thumb|200px|Figure 10 from Miller/Diehl patent 208838, showing oscillating shuttle |Oscillating shuttle machines mount their bobbin on the hook, and reciprocate the hook through a short arc. The design was popularized in Singer's models 15 'Improved Family' and 31.<ref>{{cite book |author=Singer Sewing Machine Company|chapter=Monograph 5|page =[https://archive.org/details/mechanicssewing00compgoog/page/n52 52]|url=https://archive.org/details/mechanicssewing00compgoog|quote=mechanics of the sewing machine monograph 5.|title=Mechanics of the Sewing Machine|publisher=Singer Sewing Machine Company|year=1914}}</ref> ||center|thumb|200px|Shuttle and bobbin from an '''oscillating shuttle''' bobbin driver |  |- |'''Oscillating hook''' |? |Oscillating hook machines hold their bobbin stationary, and reciprocate the hook through a short arc. The bobbin lies horizontally, right under the needle plate. The design was popularized in Singer's model 66.<ref>{{cite book |author=Singer Sewing Machine Company|chapter=Monograph 5|page =[https://archive.org/details/mechanicssewing00compgoog/page/n53 53]|url=https://archive.org/details/mechanicssewing00compgoog|quote=mechanics of the sewing machine monograph 5.|title=Mechanics of the Sewing Machine|publisher=Singer Sewing Machine Company|year=1914}}</ref> |center|thumb|200px|Hook from an '''oscillating hook''' bobbin driver |  |}

=="Rotating shuttle"==

The term '''rotating shuttle''' is ambiguous. Sometimes it refers to a bobbin case,<ref>See e.g. {{cite patent |country=US |status=patent|number=3921553 |gdate=1975|title=Lock Stitch Rotating Shuttle}}, or {{cite patent |country=US |status=patent |number=3698333 |gdate=1972|title=Rotating Shuttle Drive Mechanisms}}</ref> and sometimes it refers to a rotary hook design.<ref>See e.g. {{cite patent |country=US |status=patent |number=36256|title=Sewing Machine}} (ironically filed by Wheeler & Wilson), or {{cite patent |country=US |status=patent |number=2257950 |gdate=1941|title=Sewing Machine}}</ref>

==References==

Category:Sewing machines