IMPROVEMENTS IN INSTRUMENTS FOR THREADING NEEDLES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Bailey Surgey, of Lidlington Place, St. Pancras,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
INSTRUMENTS FOR THREADING NEEDLES."
Sealed the 25th September 1855, and dated the 31st March 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Bailey Surgey at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
.. 31st March 1855.
I, JOHN BAILEY SURGEY, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for" IMPROVEMENTS IN INSTRUMENTS FOR THREADING NEEDLES " to be as follows:-
In the ordinary instruments for threading needles, the thread is passed
through a conical or funnel-shaped aperture, which guides it into the eye of
the needle; the whole length or needleful of thread has then to be drawn
through the funnel. This is inconvenient, and in cases where the thread is
already attached to a piece of work, it cannot be done. Sometimes a radial
slit is cut in one side of the funnel to allow of the escapé of the thread, but
this has the defect of not properly guiding the thread into the eye. Now, by
my improvements the guide or funnel is so made as to form an efficient guide
for the thread, and yet to allow of its being readily released. For this
purpose
I construct the guide or funnel in two or more pieces, which, when together,

page_text: form a perfect guide, but which admit of being readily opened or separated
to allow of the escape of the thread. These pieces may be separated like the
jaws of a pair of pincers, or by hinges, slides, or screws, or in any other suit-
able manner. The pieces may be similar and equal, or they may be dissimilar
and unequal; thus, one piece may consist of a funnel with a slit in one side
and the other piece may fit into and close the slit; or, the funnel may be
made in one piece-with-a-slit -or- slits, and -having-sufficient-elasticity to admit
of the slit or slits being opened or closed by a screw or otherwise. I also
construct the funnel or guide with an oblique slit or of a scroll form, so that
the thread may be passed through the axis of the funnel into the eye of the
needle, and may afterwards be liberated and passed out through the oblique
opening by inclining-its position with regard to the funnel. The funnel may
be smooth on the inside, or with grooves directed towards its aperture. I also
construct the whole or portions of such instruments of steel magnetized, so as
to hold or assist in holding the needle in its place, or to cause close contact
between the parts of the instrument itself.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Bailey Surgey in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th September 1855..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BAILEY SURGEY, of Lidlington Place, St. Pancras, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
"WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Bailey Surgey, Her special licence that I, the said John Bailey
Surgey, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Bailey Surgey, 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,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN INSTRUMENTS FOR THREADING NEEDLES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Bailey Surgey, my executors or administrators,

page_text: 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 Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Bailey Surgey, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
In the ordinary instruments for threading needles, the thread is passed
through a conical or funnel-shaped aperture which guides it into the
eye of
the needle; the whole length or needleful of thread has then to be drawn
through the funnel. This is inconvenient, and in cases where the thread is
already attached to a piece of work it cannot be done. Sometimes a radial
slit is cut in one side of the funnel to allow of the escape of the thread, but
this has the defect of not properly guiding the thread into the eye. Now, by
my improvements the guide or funnel, is so made as to form an efficient guide
for the thread, and yet to allow of its being readily released. For this purpose
I construct the guide or funnel in two or more pieces, which, when together,
form a perfect guide, but which admit of being readily opened or separated to
allow of the escape of the thread. These pieces may be separated like the
jaws of a pair of pincers, or by hinges, slides, or screws, or in any other suit-
able manner. The pieces may be similar and equal, or they may be dissimilar
and unequal. Thus, one piece may consist of a funnel with a slit in one side,
and the other piece may fit into and close the slit; or, the funnel may be made
in one piece with a slit, and having sufficient elasticity to admit of the slit
being opened or closed by a screw or otherwise. By dividing the funnel in
this manner, and rendering it capable of. being opened or closed at pleasure,
it is made to form an efficient guide for the thread, and yet to allow of its
being readily released.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn two forms of my improved
instruments, drawn on an enlarged scale of four times the full size. The size
of the instruments may, however, be varied, although one instrument will
serve for several different sizes of needles.
Figure 1 is an elevation or front view of one of my improved instru-
ments; Figure 2 is a back view, and Figure 3 is a side view,, and
Figure 4 is a side view, partly in section, of the same. The same letters.refer
to similar parts in all the Figures. A and B are two pieces of metal hinged

page_text: together at d! A transverse conical hole or funnel f is formed at 'the junction
of the pieces A and B, and it is this divided funnel which forms the guide for
the thread. A longitudinal hole is drilled in the piece A to receive the needle
C, as shewn in Figure 4. This hole terminates in an open groove having a
stop at b. The part of the needle which is thus exposed is-pressed into the
groove by a spring D. E is another spring, fixed at one end to the piece B,
and "carrying a small conical point e, which enters the narrow end of the
funnel, when the spring E is pressed towards the piece B. F is a handle
for holding the instrument.
+
144
.
The mode of using the instrument is as follows:-The head of the needle
is inserted into the longitudinal hole in the piece A, and it is pushed in until
it comes in contact with the stop b. The spring E is pressed towards B, and
the point'e is thus pressed against the needle. The needle is then drawn up
gently until the point'e enters its eye," which prevents it from being drawn
any farther, as shewn in Figure 4. The spring E is then released, and the
needle is thus left with its eye exactly opposite the end of the funnel f. The
thread is now inserted in the funnel f, which guides it through the eye of the
needle. The piece A is then turned over on its hinge so as to divide or
separate the two portions of the funnel, as shewn in the back view, Figure 5,
until the needle can be drawn out by pulling the thread. In this manner a
complete funnel or guide is 'provided for guiding the thread; and yet the other
end of the thread may be attached to a piece of work or other object which
could not be passed through the funnel.
Figure 6 is a front view or elevation of another of my improved instru-
ments; Figure 7 is a back view, and Figure 8 is a side view, and Figure 9 is
a section of the same; Figure 10 is a plan of the same. The same letters
refer to similar parts in each Figure. A is a piece of metal, very similar to
that marked A in the instrument herein-before described, and having a
longitudinal hole for the reception of the needle C, which is pressed against it
by a spring D. An angular groove f is formed in the top of the piece A, and
the narrow end of this groove is covered by a flat spring B, so as to form a
triangular funnel for guiding the thread. E is a spring carrying a conical
point e for adjusting the eye of the needle as before. This spring may be
made in one piece with the spring D, as represented in the Drawing. The
head of the needle C is passed up through the longitudinal hole in A until it
is above the top of the piece A; the point e is then pressed against it, and
it is drawn down until the point e enters the eye; the point e and spring E
are then released, and the thread is passed through the funnel f, which guides
it through the eye of the needle. The thread is then slipped out sideways

page_text: through the division between the piece A and the spring B, which springs up
sufficiently to allow the thread to pass, and the needle is pulled out by the
thread; or, the needle is pushed up from below, and it can then be taken out
with the finger and thumb. The spring B may be screwed or soldered to the
piece A, or it may be made of the same piece of metal as the piece A. In
lieu of attaching the point e to a spring E, it may be attached to a piece of
metal hinged to the piece B or A, or sliding in a guide, or otherwise, so arranged
that it may be advanced to the narrow end of the funnel and again
withdrawn to allow of the passage of the thread. The point e and spring E
may also be omitted altogether, and the stop 6 so placed as to prevent the
needle entering beyond the proper distance, as in some of the ordinary
instruments. This arrangement, however, is only adapted for needles in which
the distance of the eye from the head is the same, whereas the former arrange-
ment with the conical point e is adapted for needles in which the distances of
the eyes from the heads are variable. The pieces A and B may be made of
brass or German silver, and the springs may be of steel, but I do not confine
myself to the use of those materials, as others may be employed.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I
claim is, the constructing instruments for threading needles with a divided
guide or funnel for the passage of the thread, which divided guide or funnel
is capable of being closed during the operation of threading the needle,
and readily opened to allow of the escape of the thread, as herein-beforo
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Bailey Surgey, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of September, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
year of
Witness,
CHARLES COWPER,
20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane.
J. B. SURGEY. (L.S.)