Device for assisting with threading the eye of a needle

A device for assisting with threading an eyed needle, to facilitate the threading of the needle with a sewing thread, the eye of the needle being of a type peripherally delimited by a rim extending substantially in a plane, referred to as opening plane of the eye, the assistance device comprising:

• a solid body forming:
• a receiving portion, referred to as eye receiving portion, designed to be able to receive the eye of the needle and hold the needle in position in relation to the solid body;
• and
• a passage in the solid body and comprising a portion, referred to as guide portion;
• a first end of the guide portion emerging to the outside of the solid body;
• a second end of the guide portion emerging in the eye receiving portion;
• a filiform hook made of a material that is elastically deformable in flexion while it is being displaced through the eye of the needle and in contact with the guide portion;
• means for drawing the filiform hook into the guide portion of the filiform hook, in displacement along a direction parallel to an axis of elongation of the guide portion between a retracted first position, in which a free end of the filiform hook extends entirely in the guide portion, and another position, referred to as threading position, in which the filiform hook extends through the opening plane of the eye and in which at least part of the filiform hook extends out of the solid body of the device;
• a trigger forming part of the means for drawing the filiform hook, the filiform hook being mounted integrally with the trigger so as to be able to be drawn, by actuating said the trigger, in displacement between the retracted first position and the threading position;
• and
• a stiff frame for guiding the trigger and the filiform hook in displacement, the free end of the filiform hook being designed to interact with a wall of the guide portion so as to be guided toward the opening plane of the eye and pass through it when the filiform hook is being displaced between the retracted first position and the threading position, and to interact with a sewing thread such that the displacement of the filiform hook from the threading position to the retracted first position makes it possible to thread the needle,
• wherein the guide portion forms a first funnel for guiding the filiform hook to bring the filiform hook out of the retracted first position and into the threading position, and a second funnel for returning the filiform hook to the retracted first position from the threading position, each time through the eye of the needle, and drawing the sewing thread through when the filiform hook is being returned to the retracted first position from the threading position.