Improved Method of and Machine for Grinding and Polishing Needle-blanks.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 8th May, 1896-Accepted, 27th June, 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Method of and Machine for Grinding and Polishing
Needle-blanks.
I, ALBRECHT SCHOENEWEISS, Manufacturer, of Iserlohn, in the German
Empire, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
This invention has for its object to provide grinding machinery suitable for
forming on each piece of work two points at the same time, and to combine this,
if required, with a device for grinding or facing the piece of work in the middle.
The machine chiefly comprises a pair of grindstones placed side by side and
adapted to turn on vertical axes, each grindstone operating, not with its circum-
ference, but with its upper or lower face, which is bevelled off towards its edge,
or otherwise shaped to suit its purpose.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 is an
end elevation of the same;
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section along line C-D of Fig. 4, and
Fig. 4 a cross section along line.A-B of Fig. 3; while
Figs. 5 to 11 are detail views and diagrams.
The raw material to be treated in this machine consists of pieces of suitably
prepared wire of equal length. They are placed in a feeder 30, Fig. 4, where ther
form superposed layers and from which gradually they slide off on the inclined
plane, so as to get between the saddle 10 and the steel band 9.
As the former is stationary and the latter moves, the pieces of work are caused
to roll slowly forward. The said steel band is guided over a pulley 7 connected or
made of one piece with the driving pulley, and also over the pulleys 8, 8'. The
pulley 7 is mounted on an axle 24, held between a pair of studs 23, 231, by means
of centre points; each of these studs passes through a sleeve 22, supported in a
pair of stands 20, 201 by means of adjustable screws. The axle 24 can thereby be
placed at the desired height and will revolve with a minimum of friction.
The guide pulleys 8,8 are held in forks 25, fixed to the stand 20, and the
stands 20, 201 are connected at the top by a bridge piece 21.
A pair of grindstones, or grinding discs, S, S₁, are mounted on vertical axles at
the same height and symmetrically to the roller 8. The axles of these grindstones
are held in bifurcated bearings 3 and 3b connected with each other by cross rails
or stays 14. The bearings 3 and 3b, together with the grindstones S and S' are
adjustable in height, in the manner hereafter described and shown by Figs. 3, 4
and 5.
The bearing 3 is guided in a rectangular shackle 12, and rests on a cam 111
fixed on a horizontal cross bar 11, Figs. 3, 4 and 7, so that by turning the
said shaft 11 by means of a hand lever 11, the bearing 3b may be raised and
lowered.
Each of the cams 11 and 11' has an eccentric slot in which is guided a pin fixed
to the bearing 3ª or 3b, as shown by Fig. 7. When the bearings 3, 3b are up, the
lever 11 rests on an adjusting screw 11, which can be placed higher or lower,

page_text: according as the grindstones S, S₁ are required to be placed higher or lower. For
lowering the stones, the lever 11 is turned slightly sideways so as to move clear of
the screw 11°, and then lowered, for which purpose the lever must either have
sufficient elasticity to be bent sideways, or it must have a hinge joint.
In addition to the adjustment described, the entire shaft 11, together with the
cams 11 and 111, and the shackle 12, may be raised or lowered by means of screw
spindles 15, and may be secured in the desired position by means of upper screw
spindles 17 and lateral clamping screws 18 (Fig. 3).
The spindles 17 are supported by cross bars of the machine frame, Fig. 5, while
the clamping screws 18 pass through washers or plates 19 into the parts 121 of the
shackle 12, and serve to press the said plates 19 against the cheeks C of the
machine frame.
The grindstones S, S¹ are set in motion by small belt pulleys 3º, 3d mounted on
the axles of the grindstones.
As shown by Fig. 11 the grindstones, when revolving in the direction of the
arrows, will meet the needle points at acute augles and turn against the needles,
when the needles have arrived at the centre line of the stones, the latter act at
right angles to the needles, and afterwards again at acute angles, but from the.
middle towards the points of the needles, so as to produce a polishing effect.
The use of two grindstones arranged syminetrically so as to grind or sharpen the
two ends of a piece of work at the same time, not only doubles the working
capacity of a machine, but it also provides a uniform motion of the piece of work,
because the latter is drawn equally at both ends. Moreover, as there is room for
an emery coated leather belt either between the grinding discs or behind the same,
a flat face may easily be ground on the piece of work at the spot where the needle
eye is subsequently to be formed, and during this operation the transporting device
or feed motion may also serve to press the needles or needle bars against the
emery surface.
The saddle piece 10 (Fig. 9) is provided with an opening through which extend
the pulleys 5, 5' provided with guide flanges (Fig. 4). These pulleys are mounted
at different levels on an adjustable bracket, or they may be rendered adjustable
independently of each other, as illustrated by Fig. 8. The emery-coated belt 6 is
laid on these pulleys 5, 5¹ and on a pulley 4 connected with a driving pulley 29.
The endless band 6 may, of course, be faced with other suitable material, instead of
emery.
The pieces of work or needle bars, after having left the grinding discs, are
deposited on the grinding belt 6 and pressed by the latter against the steel band 9
supported by the guide roller 81, with the result that a flat face is produced on the
middle part of the piece of work or needle blank. The latter may serve as a raw
material for two needles placed back to back.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. Grinding or sharpening apparatus for producing points at the ends of needle
blanks or pieces of wire, comprising in its construction a pair of grindstones
mounted side by side on vertical axles, and means for guiding the pieces of wire
or needle blanks above or below the said stones in contact with the same, so that
the faces of the grindstones act on the said pieces of work at varying angles during
their passage through the said apparatus, substantially as described.
2. The combination of a pair of grindstones arranged as described, with an
emery-faced flexible band (6) and a transporting band (9) mounted between the
said grindstones, the whole being arranged and adapted to operate substantially as
described.
3. The method of grinding or pointing needle-blanks, substantially as
described.

page_text: 4. The combination of horizontal grindstones S, S¹ having adjustable bearings as
described, with an endless belt (6) guided over rollers 5, 51, and an endless
transporting band 9, guided over rollers 7, 8, 81, substantially as described.
Dated this 6th day of May 1896.
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
433, Strand, London, Agents.