US3525460A - Sewing needle - Google Patents

Description

Aug '25; F. G. HENLEY ,4

SEWING NEEDLE Filed March 29, 1968 INVENTOR. #125052/016 G. Hf/VOX 51/2421 4! MML United States Patent 3,525,460 SEWING NEEDLE Frederick G. Hendy, 160 College Parkway, Winooski Park, Vt. 05404 Filed Mar. 29, 1968, Ser. No. 717,316 Int. Cl. A41h 31/00 U.S. Cl. 223-102 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A needle having an eye apertured to permit reception of a thread moving transverse the axial extent of the needle, said aperture having its bounding edges shaped to retain the thread despite the passage of a thread-bearing needle through one or more layers of cloth in either direction.

It is an object of this invention to provide a sewing needle which may be threaded Without resort to the ordinarily troublesome task of inserting a thread longitudinally through the necessarily limited area of the needle eye.

It is a further object of this invention to provide in a needle as aforesaid an eye having a lateral thread entryway so arranged that once the thread is engaged in the needle eye it cannot be dislodged involuntarily by passage of the needle through one or more layers of cloth in either direction.

The above and other objects will be made clear from the following detailed description taken in connection with the annexed drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a preferred form of needle;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the needle of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view of FIG. 1, showing the eye on a greatly enlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of another form of needle;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the needle of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 1, showing the eye of the needle on a greatly enlarged scale.

The origin of the conventional sewing needle with the conventional eye is lost in the midst of antiquity and almost as venerable are the efforts to improve the needle by making it easier to thread. The problem of aligning a miniscule eye with a microscopically thin thread and successfully introducing the thread into the eye is too Well known and obvious to require discussion here. Very obviously, if the thread were formed into a loop, the bight of which could pass into the eye of the needle transverse the length of the needle, it would be a much easier operation and the patented art shows attacks on the problem going back a hundred years or more. These efforts, however, have been without efiect on the commercial market, so that While the needle one buys today may be stiffer, stronger, more highly tempered, and more corrosion-resistant than those purchased in previous generations, they remain just as conventional in form and just as difiicult to thread as those of a hundred years ago.

The present invention makes the same attack on the problem as in the past, namely, the provision for side loading. It is applicants contention, however, that his needle not only achieves side loading but in achieving this overcomes most of the defects and deficiencies of previous designs having the same general objective.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a needle 10 is provided with an eye 12, the eye being formed, as shown in FIG. 2, by piercing a flattened portion of the stock of the needle. In FIG. 3, one side of the eye 12 forms substantially a prolongation of the needle body, as shown at 14. The

3,525,460 Patented Aug. 25, 1970 "ice opposite side of the eye 12 has an opening 16 bounded by curved portions 18 and 20 formed of the metal ofthe needle and defining oppositely presented hook portions lying in the plane of the flattened portion. The thread may be introduced through the opening 16 and moved to pass either of the portions 18 or 20. In either case, such engagement prevents accidental withdrawal of the thread through the opening 16 and will hold regardless of the direction of the passage of the needle through the cloth. It will be noted that the elements 18 and 20 offer no resistance to the passage of the needle through the cloth in either direction nor is the head of the needle containing the eye enlarged beyond the cross section of the needle.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a needle having an eye 52 formed by a flattened portion of the needle similar to that described in connection with FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. In this case, one side of the eye 52 is continuous as at 54 precisely like the portion 14 of FIG. 3. The opposite side of the eye has a lateral opening 56 inclined inwardly and forwardly. The opening 56 is a complete and permanent opening bounded by a portion 58 extending from the body of the needle and having a rounded end 60. The other side of the opening 56 is bounded by a finger 62 which overlies the portion 58- but is permanently spaced therefrom and has a rounded end 64. A thread is slipped through the opening 56 which, while it remains open at all times, presents virtually no opportunity for the thread accidentally to slip back out through the opening 56.

In general configuration, the forms of FIGS. 1 and 4 are the same, that is, there is no pronounced enlargement of the eye and of the needle nor is any resistance offered to passage of the needle through the cloth in either direction.

While certain specific details have been disclosed herein, it is not intended to limit this invention to the precise details herein shown and described but only as set forth in the subjoined claim.

What I claim is:

1. A needle having a body portion and a flattened eye portion at one end of the body portion, said eye portion being of less thickness than said body portion but of substantially equal width with said body portion, with all portions of said eye portion being coplanar, the perimeter of said eye portion having an opening at one side to admit thread moving substantially transverse to the length of said body portion, and means to restrain said thread from moving out of said eye portion through said opening, wherein the respective opposite parts of said eye portion at said opening are oppositely-bent in arcuate hook forms adjacent said opening and wherein the bight portions of the hook forms are spaced from each other to define a thread passageway.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,031,116 4/1962 Hunter et al 223102 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,110 1/1891 England. 384,457 11/1923 Germany. 487,395 11/1953 Italy. 1,013,362 4/1952 France.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner

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