IMPROVEMENTS IN NEEDLES AND NEEDLE ARMS FOR SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International Patent
Office," Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN NEEDLES AND NEEDLE ARMS FOR
SEWING MACHINES."-A communication from abroad by Mrs. Mary
Pemellaia Carpenter, of San Francisco, California, United States of
America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
")
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 20th January 1870.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
5 Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN NEEDLES

page_text: AND NEEDLE ARMS FOR SEWING MACHINES," a communication, to be as
follows:-
The said Invention relates to certain improvements in devices which
have for their object the facilitating of threading the needle of a sewing
machine, and consists mainly in certain details of construction of the
needle, and the arm or bar to which the needle is attached, as will
herein-after more fully appear.
The said needle has a longitudinal slit or passage extending from
below the eye up through the body and out at the top, and has the
upper end flattened and provided with lugs or projections.
The arm differs essentially from other sewing machine arms in being
divided at its extremity by two intersecting slots terminating in a large
eye or hole. It thus opens into four parts, forming by means of a screw
a double clamp with an opening formed by the intersection of the slots.
To place the needle in position I first insert a small slip of paper or
other substance (about equal in thickness to the thread to be used)
between the faces of the slit or passage at the upper end of the needle,
and grasping the needle between the thumb and finger of the left hand
in such a manner as to close the said slit or passage, insert the needle so
that while the lugs thereof enter one of the intersecting slots of the arm
the paper will enter the other slot, then by turning the clamping, screw
the needle will be held fast and the paper can be withdrawn, leaving the
needle firmly secured, but with the slit open wide enough to allow the
thread to pass down to the eye of the needle.
From this description it will be observed that the object of the lugs on
the needle is to obtain sufficient bearing surface for the faces of the
clamp to press against. It will be obvious that the same object would be
attained without the lugs by flattening the upper ends of the needle.
The operation of threading this improved needle is performed by
passing the end of the thread through the eye or hole of the needle arm,
and downwards through the slot in the arm and between the yielding
faces of the slit or passage of the needle into the eye of the needle, the
passage or slit then closing sufficiently to prevent the accidental escape
of the thread.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 19th July 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the International Patent Office, Southampton Build-
ings, London, Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS, Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
* IMPROVEMENTS IN NEEDLES AND NEEDLE ARMS FOR SEWING MACHINES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake,
my exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent..
i
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same.
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification:-
The said Invention relates to certain improvements in devices which
have for their object the facilitating of threading the needles of sewing.
machines, and consists mainly in certain details of construction of the
needle, and the arm or bar to which the needle is attached, as will
herein-after more fully appear..

page_text: Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a needle and a portion of an
arm constructed according to these improvements; Figure 2 is a rear
elevation of the same; Figure 3 shews the under side of the same,
the needle being in section; Figure 4 is a side elevation of such a needle
drawn to an enlarged scale; Figure 5 is a front elevation of the same.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawing.
It will be seen that my needle differs from all others in having a
longitudinal slit or passage a extending from below the eye up through.
the body and out at the top, and in having the upper ends thus formed ]
flattened and provided with lugs or projections b.
It will also be seen by reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3, that the arm
differs essentially from all other sewing machine arms in being divided
at its extremity by the longitudinal slot c, and the transverse slot d and
opening e into four parts, forming with the screw f in the clamp a 1
double clamp with the passage a, slightly open at the top but closed
near the eye.
To place the needle in position, as shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3, I
first place a small slip of paper or other substance about equal in
thickness to the thread to be used between the faces of the passage a
at the upper end, then grasping the needle between the thumb and
finger of the left hand in such a manner as to close the passage I insert
the said needle so that while the lugs 6 enter the slot c the paper will
enter the transverse slot d, then by turning the screw f the needle will
be held fast and the paper can be withdrawn.
From this description it will be obvious that the object of the lugs b
is to obtain abundant bearing surface for the faces of the clamp to
press against; but it will also be seen that the same object would be
attained without the lugs by flattening the upper ends of the needle.
The operation of threading will be readily understood by supposing
the line
9, h, (Figure 2) to represent the position of a thread after its end
has been passed through the opening e and the line g', ', passing through
the eye the same thread after the operation of threading has been per-
formed, for it is plain that if the thread is grasped with one hand at g

page_text: and with the other hand at h it can be carried directly downward into
the slot d and passage a, and down between the yielding faces of the
said passage to the line g¹, h¹, and that when the thread has reached the
eye the passage a will again close and prevent it from escaping.
I am aware that needles have been devised with a slit or passage from
some point above to some point below the eye of the needle through
which the thread is admitted; but when both parts of the needle
forming this slit or passage are not firmly secured at both ends it is
evident that needles so constructed must be made very large in pro-
portion, to their strength, and therefore are not fit for fine sewing.
Furthermore, if the slit or passage does not extend up so high that the
loose end is never thrust through the cloth the needle will be liable to
catch therein. To obviate this difficulty a needle has been devised
having two eyes, a large and a small one, connected by a slit or passage
in which the operation of threading is about the same as in this
Invention; but the said two-eyed needle has an element of weakness
arising from its great length and peculiar construction, equal perhaps
to some of the other needles referred to.
By my Invention all the advantages attained by any of the others are
secured, and are combined with greater simplicity of construction, and a
needle is provided that can be used for the finest kind of work on
account of its great strength in proportion to its diameter.
The aforesaid two-eyed needle being necessarily longer than an
ordinary needle must have an arm constructed to correspond to that
length; but a needle arm constructed according to my improvements
may be used with any kind of needle.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. The slit or passage a extending from below the eye up through
the body and out at the top of a sewing machine needle, substantially
as described.
Second. The flattened ends k with or without the lugs or projections b,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Third. The double clamp 1, substantially as described for the purpose
set forth

page_text: Fourth. The combination of the slot c and screw ƒ in sewing machine
arms, substantially as and for the purpose described.
Fifth. The transverse slot d and opening e combined, as described.
Sixth. The passage a, the flattened ends k, and the lugs or pro-
jections b, with the double clamp in the arms and needles of sewing
machines, combined and arranged to operate substantially as described,
and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
D. L. WAGNER.
WILLIAM ROBERT: LAKE. (L.S.)