IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING NEEDLES FOR. SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Broderick, of No. 146, Fenchurch
Street, in the City of London, and William Rees, of No. 24, Little
Guildford Street, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING NEEDLES FOR. SEWING
MACHINES."
Sealed the 8th September 1864; and dated the 9th March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Broderick
and William Rees at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with .
their Petition, on the 9th March 1864.
We, WILLIAM EDWARD BRODERICK, of No. 146, Fenchurch Street, in the
City of London, and WILLIAM REES, of No. 24, Little Guildford Street, in
the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING NEEDLES FOR SEWING
MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for manufac-
turing needles for sewing machines. For these purposes the wire for making
sewing machine needles is fed through a hollow spindle, which is capable of
sliding within, but turns with an outer spindle, on which there is a pulley for
receiving an endless band, or the spindle may be otherwise driven. The inner
spindle is split or formed in two parts at one of its ends, at which end the
outer surface.is formed tapering or conical, in order that the split end may be
closed together so as to nip and hold the wire by moving it into a hollow cone

page_text: of the other spindle. The moving of the inner spindle to and fro within the
outer spindle is by means of a lever, which works in a grooved pulley which
is connected to the inner spindle by a pin, which passes through slots in the
outer spindle. The wire for making a needle, whilst held and turned by the
spindle is supported at its outer end by a fixed bearing having a hole through
it; this bearing is carried by a slide that is capable of being moved to or from
the spindle, and the outer end of the wire passes progressively through the
fixed bearing, as the slide on which the fixed bearing is fixed is slid up towards
the spindle. The cutting of the needle or wire is accomplished by means of
a cutter, which is caused to act on the wire as it progressively comes beyond
the fixed bearing. The cutter is mounted on a lever, the fulcrum or axis of
which is fixed on the slide which carries the fixed bearing, and the cutter is
made capable of being adjusted by a screw or other proper means so as to
make a deeper or less deep cut, as may be required. The form of the stem
of each needle and the head thereof is regulated by a fixed plate or guide,
the position of which is capable of being adjusted. The opposite end of the
lever to that at which the cutter is carried is constantly pressed by a spring
towards the fixed plate or guide, so that this end of the lever is caused to
follow the contour or form of the edge of the fixed or guide plate. The cutter
commences to act on the outermost end of the wire on its moving beyond the
fixed bearing, and the cutting continues as the slide with the fixed bearing
and cutter are moved up to the spindle, the quantity cut off from the wire
depending on the form of the guide plate. By these means great truth is
obtained, and the stem of the needle is ensured to be in the centro of the
head or end. by which it is held.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Broderick and William Rees in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 9th September 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
EDWARD BRODERICK, of No. 146, Fenchurch Street, in the City of London, s
and WILLIAM REES, of No. 24, Little Guildford Street, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of St
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto

page_text: ns, the said William Edward Broderick and William Rees, Her special licence
that we, the said William Edward Broderick and William Rees, our execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William
Edward Broderick and William Rees, our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING NEEDLES FOR SEWING
MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said William
Edward Broderick and William Rees, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand
and seal of one of us or them, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 William Edward Broderick, on behalf
of myself and the said William Rees, 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, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for manufac-
turing needles for sewing machines. For these purposes the wire for making
sewing machine needles is fed through a hollow spindle, which is capable of
sliding within but turns with an outer spindle, on which there is a pulley for
receiving an endless band, or the spindle may be otherwise driven. The inner
spindle is split or formed in two parts at one of its ends, at which end the
outer surface is formed tapering or conical, in order that the split end may be
closed together so as to nip and hold the wire by moving it into a hollow cone.
of the other spindle. The moving of the inner spindle to and fro within the
outer spindle is by means of a lever which works in a grooved pulley, which
is connected to the inner spindle by a pin which passes through slots in the
outer spindle. The wire for making the needle whilst held and turned by the
spindle is supported at its outer end by a fixed bearing having a hole through
it; this bearing is carried by a slide that is capable of being moved to or from
the spindle, and the outer end of the wire passes progressively through the
fixed bearing, as the slide in which the fixed bearing is fixed is slid up towards
the spindle. The cutting of the needle or wire is accomplished by means of

page_text: a cutter, which is caused to act on the wire as it progressively comes beyond
the fixed bearing. The cutter is mounted on a lever, the fulcrum or axis of
which is fixed on the slide which carries the fixed bearing, and the cutter is
made capable of being adjusted by a screw or other proper means so as to
make a deeper or less deep cut, as may be required. The form of the stem
of each needle and the head thereof is regulated by a fixed plate or guide;
the position of which is capable of being adjusted. The opposite end of the
lever to that at which the cutter is carried is constantly pressed by a spring
towards the fixed plate or guide, so that this end of the lever is caused to
follow the contour or form of the edge of the fixed or guide plate. The cutter
commences to act on the outermost end of the wire on its moving beyond the
fixed bearing, and the cutting continues as the slide with the fixed bearing
and cutter are moved up to the spindle, the quantity cut off from the wire
depending on the form of the guide plate. By these means great truth is
obtained, and the stem of the needle is ensured to be in the centre of the
head or end by which it is held.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention we will proceed more fully
to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a plan, and Figure 2 a side elevation of a machine con-
structed and combined according to the Invention.
a is a spindle, which slides within but turns with the spindle b, on which
there is a driving pulley c, which receives rotatory motion by an endless band d,
or motion may be communicated to such spindle by other means. At the
end a' the inner spindle a is split, and is formed conical exterior, so that when g
the spindle a is drawn back within the spindle b, the wire, whether it be a
short length suitable for a needle, or a long piece passed through the spindle a;
will be held securely by the parts a³, and will consequently cause the wire to
rotate with the spindles a and b. The spindle a is slid within the spindle b
by the lever e, which has a projection 6' thereon, which enters the groove
around the boss f, which is keyed to the spindle a through a slotted passage
in the outer spindle b. The wire thus held by the parts a¹ is supported by a
bearing 9, which is fixed to the sliding plate h, which slides on and is guided
by the guides ' fixed to the bed of the machine. The bearing 9 presents a
constant and fixed bearing or support in respect to that part of the wire which s
for the time is being acted on by the cutter. By the use of this fixed or
constant point of bearing even comparatively thin wire may be acted on by a
outter. The hollow passage through the fixed bearing g is bushed, and such

page_text: bushing is caused to rotate with the wire in the fixed bearing 9 by means of
the stems a³, which are fixed to the bushing, and such stems are driven by the
projecting pins fixed to the parts a' of the spindle a. The cutter i is
carried by the lever j, which turns on an axis at j¹ on the sliding plate h. The
cutter i with the fixed bearing 9 is carried to and fro by a lever k, to which
the slide is pin-jointed. The lever k turns on an axis or pin k', by which it is
attached to the link 7, which turns on a fixed pin or axis l¹. The lever which
carries the cutter is composed of two parts j and j', which move on the same
axis. The part to which the cutter is actually fixed is constantly pressed on
by a spring j tending to press the cutter end of the part; of the lever against
the end of an adjusting screw j³ carried by the part of the lever. The
cutter is secured by the screw jo to the part of the lever.
lever is constantly pressed on by a spring jo, the end of which rests against
the pin by which the lever handle is attached to the slide, so that when the
stud m on the hinged plate n on the part 1 of the lever comes to the inner
end of the template o the stud m will be caused to enter the groove o¹ in the
template, and the cutter will be away from the work, but when the slide is
moved again up towards the end of the spindle a the stud m will pass outside
of the template, and the position of the cutter in respect to the central axis
of the wire will be governed by the template, and the contour to which the
wire is cut will be governed by the template. The hinged plate carrying the
If the stem of a needle is to
The part j* of the
stud mis constantly pressed on by a spring m³.
have a particular taper, or to be parallel for any portion of its length, the
template will be formed accordingly, and the cutter in passing along the wire
will be caused to cut in a line inclined to a parallel with the central axis of
the wire according to the form to which the template is made.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same, we would have it understood that we make no claim to any
of the mechanical parts separately; but what we claim is the combined
arrangement herein described for manufacturing needles for sewing machines.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Broderick, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
W. E. BRODERICK. (L.s.)