Throughout history, lockstitch sewing machines have used a variety of methods to drive their bobbins so as to create the lockstitch.
Names | Invented | Description | Picture | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Transverse shuttle Longitudinal shuttle |
1846 by
Elias Howe
[1]
![]() |
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. [2] The design became obsolete once the other bobbin driver designs were developed. [3] | ![]() |
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
[4]
![]() |
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. [5] Now obsolete. [6] | ![]() |
|
Rotary hook Rotating hook |
1851 by
Allen B. Wilson
[8]
![]() |
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 [9] and Singer's models 95 and 115. [10] | ![]() |
|
Oscillating shuttle | 1877 by
Lebbeus B. Miller and
Philip Diehl
[11]
![]() |
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. [12] | ![]() |
|
Oscillating hook | ? | Oscillating hook machines hold their bobbin stationary, and reciprocate the hook through a short arc. The bobbin lays horizontally, right under the needle plate. The design was popularized in Singer's model 66. [13] | ![]() |
The term rotating shuttle is ambiguous. Sometimes it refers to a bobbin case, [14] and sometimes it refers to a rotary hook design. [15]
mechanics of the sewing machine monograph 5.
mechanics of the sewing machine., the date of invention is given as 1879, but the Miller/Diehl patent trail actually began in 1877.
mechanics of the sewing machine monograph 5.
mechanics of the sewing machine monograph 5.
Throughout history, lockstitch sewing machines have used a variety of methods to drive their bobbins so as to create the lockstitch.
Names | Invented | Description | Picture | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Transverse shuttle Longitudinal shuttle |
1846 by
Elias Howe
[1]
![]() |
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. [2] The design became obsolete once the other bobbin driver designs were developed. [3] | ![]() |
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
[4]
![]() |
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. [5] Now obsolete. [6] | ![]() |
|
Rotary hook Rotating hook |
1851 by
Allen B. Wilson
[8]
![]() |
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 [9] and Singer's models 95 and 115. [10] | ![]() |
|
Oscillating shuttle | 1877 by
Lebbeus B. Miller and
Philip Diehl
[11]
![]() |
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. [12] | ![]() |
|
Oscillating hook | ? | Oscillating hook machines hold their bobbin stationary, and reciprocate the hook through a short arc. The bobbin lays horizontally, right under the needle plate. The design was popularized in Singer's model 66. [13] | ![]() |
The term rotating shuttle is ambiguous. Sometimes it refers to a bobbin case, [14] and sometimes it refers to a rotary hook design. [15]
mechanics of the sewing machine monograph 5.
mechanics of the sewing machine., the date of invention is given as 1879, but the Miller/Diehl patent trail actually began in 1877.
mechanics of the sewing machine monograph 5.
mechanics of the sewing machine monograph 5.