AN IMPROVED MACHINE INTENDED TO MAKE THE POINTS OF NEEDLES, PINS, AND ALL OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1858

page_text: Sealed the 30th September 1858, and dated the 3rd May 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Schleicher at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd May 1858.
I, CHARLES SCHLEICHER, of Bellevallée, near the Town of Aix-la-Chapelle,
in the Kingdom of Prussia, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "AN IMPROVED MACHINE INTENDED TO MAKE THE POINTS OF NEEDLES,
PINS, AND ALL OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
This machine can make speedily and without any stoppage the points of
needles, pins, or other similar articles made of wire, by a mechanical con-
trivance, and without manual labour.
The annexed Drawing is an end view of this machine. A, grooved grind
stone; B, grindes the ends of the wires applied to it, so as to form the point.
The shaft of the grindstone revolves on two pointed screws e, carried by cast-
iron stands A, A, tied together by the tie bolts D, D, so as to form a solid
frame.

page_text: The pieces of wire intended to be pointed being previously placed evenly
togother, are placed by handfulls on an inclined plane, whence they naturally
roll down as far as n, showing one of the pieces of wire which has been caught
by a rolling disc G surrounded with caoutchouc, which disc rolls it along a
convex piece K, which is also furnished with caoutchouc; as it rolls on, the
end of the wire meets the grindstone B, which grinds the point. The pieces
of wire follow each other without stopping, and on arriving at the end of the
surface K they drop down. The disc G, which draws along the wires n for
needles, pins, and other similar articles, turns on points carried by stands E,
which can be raised or lowered at pleasure, by means of a suitable lever,
according to the thickness of the wire submitted to the pointing process.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Schleicher in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
SCHLEICHER, of Bellevallée, near the Town of Aix-la-Chapelle, in the King-
dom of Prussia, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant. unto me, the
said Charles Scheicher, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Schlei-
cher, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Charles Schleicher, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "AN IMPROVED MACHINE
INTENDED TO MAKE THE POINTS OF NEEDLES, PINS, AND ALL OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Schleicher, my
executors 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 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said Charles Schleicher, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My Invention consists in an improved mechanical apparatus for making the
points of needles, pins, and similar articles, instead of by hand, as has been
done hitherto.
In order to have my Invention well understood, I have given the annexed
Drawing as an illustration of my apparatus. There are two cast-iron framing
stands A, A, which support all the other pieces or organs.
Figure 1 is a front elevation; Figure 2, a vertical section; Figure 3, plan.
These 3 Figures are one-fourth of the real size, and Figure 4, which shews a
part of Figure 2, is half the real size. In all the Figures the same pieces are
represented by the same letters.
The stands A, A, are bolted together by tie pieces a, a. The shaft of a
hollow steel grindstone runs on the points of screws, supported by bearing
nuts, which are inserted in vertical slots of the stands A; the said nuts are
raised or lowered when required by setting screws C, C. D is an iron plate,
which can be raised by the hand lever E. Two supports H, H, are bolted
upon the plate D. The shaft of a wheel or disc I runs on the points of
screws F, F, supported by adjustable nuts, which can play up and down the
supports H, H; the position of the said nuts is regulated by the setting
screws k, k. The circumference of the wheel or disc I is covered with an
india-rubber band J; under this wheel there is a concave piece L concentric
with it, and covered also with india-rubber.
An inclined plate M is suitably disposed in front of the wheel I, and the
pieces of wire intended to be pointed, having been previously cut to the same
length, are placed evenly by handfulls at N, on the inclined plate M, between
two small adjustable guides. A rotative motion is given to the wheel I by a
strap G, and the pieces of wire placed at N are drawn singly by the motion of
the wheel I between the two indian-rubber bands, and the wire travel thus as
far as the end of the concentric piece L, which guide them; they then drop
out and fall at O. In their passage between the two indian-rubber bands, one
end of the pieces of wire is brought to touch the steel grinding-stone B, as
seen in Figure 1, and the points are thus ground.
The grinding stone is driven by a strap d running over a pulley b. The
grinding stone ought to be run with great speed, about 1,500 revolutions in a
minute, whilst the disc or wheel I should revolve only once in a minute.
Their shafts are not quite at right angles to one another, as may be seen in

page_text: Figure 3, which is for the purpose of having the fore part of the point touching
first the grinding stone when entering between the bands, and the back part
of the said point touching last when getting out.
The working action can be stopped at any moment by bearing on the lever
E, which raises the plate D; the needles are then raised away from the
grinding stone, which runs alone, whilst the wheel I stops because its belt is
slacked. This machine can point about 500 needles of common size in a
minute, or 30,000 in one hour.
The smaller details of this machine might perhaps be slightly modified if
found advantageous.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Schleicher, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Signed, sealed, an delivered in the
presence of
HERMANN PELTZER.
CHARLES SCHLEICHER. (L.S.)