CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OR PROCESSES OP MANUFACTURING NEEDLES
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
WALKER, of Gresham Street West, in the City of London, Needle Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain and Ireland,
bearing date at Westminster, the Sixteenth day of December, in the eleventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Henry Walker, my exors, adñors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Henry Walker,
my exors, adñiors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Henry Walker,
my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OR PROCESSES OP MANUFACTURING NEEDLES;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso requiring that I, the said
Henry Walker, shall particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately

page_text: after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Walker, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is 'to be performed and carried into prac-
tical effect, to be fully described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the illustrative Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, forming part of this my said Specification, and to the
numeral figures and letters of reference marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in, and has reference,-
Firstly, to certain improvements in the manufacture of a particular descrip-
tion of needles, known in the needle trade as crôchets tambour, and sometimes
hook needles and crochet hooks. And,
Secondly, to improvements in the process of dry grinding or pointing needles.
And in order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I will
proceed to describe the means I employ for carrying my said Invention into
practical effect, and which has been found to answer extremely well.
As regards the first part of my said Invention, it is well known that the
means hitherto employed for forming crochet hooks has been by the use of
files, which has been found extremely slow and very uncertain, inasmuch as
that crochet hooks thus formed do not possess uniformity of size or shape,
whereas by these improvements the manufacture of such needles is rendered
more easy and expeditious, and greater uniformity of shape is ensured, The
modus operandi is as follows:-Having determined upon the shape and size
of the hook I wish to form, I proceed to make a tool called a hob' or
"hub" of the precise shape of the hooked part of the crochet, as shewn at
Figure 1, and having hardened the face thereof, which should be of steel, I
use such tool to strike or sink a die of the shape shewn at Figure 2, which
die, shewn at Figure 2, is sunk for two hooks, the second to be used when the
first is worn out; but the die may be sunk for any other number of hooks
required. And I strike or sink another die to correspond with the last-
mentioned one by the same means, taking care to form the "hob" or "hub"
with the hook the reverse way to that of the other "hob" or "hub," so that
when the sunken parts of the two dies are brought opposite to each other they
will coincide; and, having struck or sunk these dies, which should be com-
posed partly if not wholly of steel, I proceed to harden and temper them in
the manner usually practised. These dies may be made, as shewn at Figure 3*,
to strike two hooks at one time, head to head, in the manner sewing needles
are now struck, or to strike only one hook at one blow or fall, as herein-before

page_text: described, and shewn at Figure 2, leaving the waste or superflous metal
around it, which may be removed by the means hereafter described. The dies
thus formed I use with the ordinary stamp, such as is now employed for
stamping sewing needles; and I proceed with the process of manufacture in
the following manner :-I take round steel wire, and having cut it into
lengths, as determined upon, I anneal them in a fire, and before placing them
between the dies I sometimes grind or point to a blunt point, in the usual
manner of pointing, that end of the wire which is to be formed into the hook
of the crochet, so as to leave as little waste metal as possible around the hook;
or I reduce the size of the metal wire by an ordinary draw bench such as is
used by goldsmiths and others for drawing short lengths of wire; and I reduce
the size of the wire by drawing it through holes in the drawplate of the size
required, stopping when the required portion of the wire has been drawn
through; and in this manner I effect the reduction of the size of crochet
needles intended to be inserted into handles so far as the top of the handle,
the intention being to leave that part which is inserted in the handle larger
than the other part of the needle, whereby it is more firmly held in the handle
than it would otherwise be.. Or I flatten, by means of stamps and flat dies,
the thicker portion of the wire; or in some cases I flatten the whole of the
wire, with the exception of that part intended for the formation of the hook,
and that portion near to the hook which is intended to regulate the size of the
loop when the hook is in use: The flat part then serves for a handle, and the
other portion is reduced to the required size for the hook by the means before
described. The wire thus prepared is then placed between the dies, which are
operated upon by a stamp such as is commonly used for stamping sewing
needles, thereby producing the figure as exhibited at Figure 3, at which
Figure it will be seen that the hook is surrounded by waste metal, which I
remove by a pair of clipping tools formed accurately to the shape of the
hook, as shewn at Figures 4 and 5; or if to be used after using the dies
shewn at Figure 3*, they would be required to be made double. Figure 4.
is a hollow tool or die, and Figure 5 a punch, and by placing the hooked
part of the wire within the opening in the lower tool or die, Figure 4, and the
punch or upper tool immediately over it, I pull the handle of the press,
which is an ordinary needle press connected thereto, and thereby force the
hooked part of the needle through the underclipping tool or die, leaving the.
waste or superfluous metal on the top, which can be.removed; and in like
manner I operate upon each length of wire, or by reversing the action of the
clipping tools or dies, the waste metal will fall by its gravity and leave the
book of the needle upon the lower clipping tool or die. Should any roughness

page_text: remain on the hook after being clipped, it may be removed by filing, or such
other of the abrading processes as are now usually employed for similar
purposes.
Another mode I employ for removing the waste or superfluous metal which
surrounds the hook after the wire is stamped, is to eye out, in the manner
usually employed for such purposes in the making of sewing needles, a hole
or eye, as shewn in Figure 6, the position of such eye being marked by or
during the first process of stamping; the eye thus formed is intended for the
purpose of spitting or threading the needles side by side in rows, and then
removing the waste or superfluous metal by filing in the manuer usually
practised in the manufacture of sewing needles, first removing the waste metal
between the points a and b, Figure 6, and finally the remaining portions, or
the waste metal, may be removed by any other known abrading process, so as
to produce a perfect hook, as at Figure 10, which exhibits a finished crochet
made in its soft state, which is subsequently hardened, tempered, and polished
by the usual well-known processes.
I would remark that I do not intended to limit or confine myself to this
precise mode of using the dies and clipping tools lastly above mentioned, as
they may be used in other ways and actuated by machinery instead of manual
labor, or the stamps may be used instead of presses, and presses in the place
of stamps. I also reserve to myself such immaterial variations of form and
construction of the parts as experience may suggest, so long as the peculiar
character and principle of my Invention be retained.
Another improvement in the manufacture of crochet needles is to make
holes through them, and inserting therein and through the handle a fixed or
moveable rivet, for the purpose of securing the needle firmly in the handle,
whether the same be used as a fixture or as a moveable handle.
Figures 7, 8, 9, exhibit several views of tools employed for "knobbing," or
forming a knob on the heel or end of crochet needles, which I effect as fol-
lows: The wire is placed in the recessed portions 1, 1, of the spring clam,
shewn at Figure 7, leaving sufficient metal above the top of the clam to form
the knob; the clam is then firmly held between the jaws of a vice; the wire is
then upset by striking it with a flat or hollow hammer to form the head or
knob, which is afterwards rounded by being placed in the recessed part of the
die, Figure 8; and the punch, Figure 9, being placed upon it is operated upon
by a press, and by turning round the wire and pressing the head twice or three
times, the head is thus rounded and shaped, as at Figure 10.
And as regards the second part of my said Invention of improvements in
the process or processes of manufacturing needles, my Invention consists ir

page_text: the application of a certain material to the pointing stone in the following
manner. It is well known in the trade that the process of dry grinding or
pointing needles has been a very unhealthy operation to the workmen or
pointers, and a variety of appliances have from time to time been suggested
and introduced. To obviate this objection, amongst others, tin or metal covers,
opening like a jaw, have been placed over the pointing stones, and provision
has been made by means of fans, pipes, and blowers to carry the dust outside
the buildings, or to condense it at some distance from the workmon, to effect
which a considerable loss of power is sustained. My Invention consists there-
fore in surrounding the pointing stone at a convenient distance therefrom in a
somewhat similar manner to the tin or metal cover before mentioned, by a
blanket or other like fibrous material, but I consider woollen the best, and
I cause the top portion of this blanket to be moistened with water, the supply
of which should be so regulated that the top. of the blanket shall be kept fully
saturated, and pass off gradually at the under surface of the blanket, where it
shall be received by a suitable vessel. The effect of this arrangement is that
as the steel and stone dust strike against the wet blanket they will instantly
adhere thereto, and be removed therefrom by the water as it passes into
the receiver below. If the pores of the blanket become choked so as to
prevent its proper action, it should be taken off, rinsed, and replaced, another
blanket substituted in place thereof.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed and carried into practical effect, I desire
it to be distinctly understood, that I claim as my Invention of Improvements
in the Process or Processes of Manufacturing Needles,―
Firstly, the means herein-before particularly described, set forth, and
employed for reducing the size of the wire used in the manufacture of crochet
needles.
Secondly, the flattening of crochet needles in the manner herein-before
particularly described and set forth.
Thirdly, in the employment of tools in the manufacture of crochet needles
of the several shapes herein-before particularly described, set forth, and
represented by all the several Figures exhibited by the illustrative Sheet
of Drawings hereunto annexed, whether such tools be used by hand or
machinery.
Fourthly, and lastly, the improvements herein-before particularly described
and set forth for conducting that part of the process of manufacturing needles,
known in the trade as "dry grinding" or "pointing," by the use and appli-

page_text: ANDERSON.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid Henry Walker came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.