NEW OR IM- PROVED MACHINERT FOR MANUFACTURING NEEDLES AND From Hoone
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Milward, of Redditch, in the County
of Worcester, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "NEW OR IM-
De Hawn"
LETTERS PATENT to Henry Milward, of Redditch, in the County
of Worcester, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "NEW OR IM-
PROVED MACHINERT FOR MANUFACTURING NEEDLES AND From Hoone,"
Sealed the 27th February 1854, and dated the 19th December 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Milward
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 19th December 1853.
I, HENRY MILWARD, of Redditch, in the County of Worcester,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING NEEDLES AND FISH
Hooks," communicated to me by a foreigner residing abroad, to be as
follows:-
The new or improved machinery for manufacturing needles consists
of a stamping and piercing machine, constructed as follows:-The
partially formed needles or blanks to be pierced are put in a box which
is capable of being lengthened and shortened, so as to suit needles or
blanks of different lengths. One of the sides of this box is capable of
rising and falling (being fixed on the end of a lever), and in rising

page_text: permits of the falling out from the said box of only two needles or
blanks. The said two blanks are taken hold of by a carrier, and
conveyed to the press, which contains two pairs of dies, one pair for
impressing, and another for piercing the eye of the needle. The said
press consists of two arms or levers, jointed together somewhat after
the manner of a pair of tongs, one die of each pair being affixed to one
of the said arms, and the other die of each pair being affixed to the other
arm. The needles or blanks held by the carrier are brought, first, between
the impressing dies, and the said dies close thereon; the dies open, and
the carrier takes forward the impressed blank between the piercing dies,
and brings forward the second blank between the impressing dies; the
press at each closing impresses one and pierces another blank. The
pierced blanks are loosed by the carrier, and fall from the machine.
The machinery for manufacturing fish hooks is as follows:-The
wire is supplied to the machine from the coil, and is straightened
before entering the machine; the distance to which the wire enters the
machine is regulated by a moveable guide, so as to suit the different
lengths required. A vice or forceps closes upon the wire, and holds it
in a horizontal position, while a cutter descends and beards the wire by
cutting it obliquely. A second cutter cuts off the partially formed
hook, which is loosed by the vice or forceps, and falls from the machine.
Besides being bearded and cut off, the partially formed hook may be
curved by being pressed against a suitably formed bender or die. The
machines described are composed of the essential parts herein ex-
plained, the said parts being actuated by driving shafts, with levers,
cams, eccentrics, and other necessary mechanical adjuncts, which I do
not consider it necessary here to describe.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Milward in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th June 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, 30
HENRY MILWARD, of Redditch, in the County of Worcester, Manu-
facturer, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three,
in the eighteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Milward, Her
special licence that I, the said Henry Milward, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Milward,
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
"NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING NEEDLES AND FISH
Hooks," (communicated to me by a foreigner residing abroad), upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Milward, by an.
instrument in writing under my hand and scal, 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 Henry Milward, 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):-
Figure 1 represents in plan the said new or improved machinery for
manufacturing fish hooks; Figure 2 represents the same in side eleva-
tion; Figure 3 represents the same in end elevation; and Figure 4
represents the same in longitudinal vertical section, the said section,
Figure 4, being taken through the line a, Figure 1; the other Figures-
represent portions of the said machine. As the said machinery for
manufacturing fish hooks, and that for manufacturing needles very
much resemble cach other, and, as I believe, the construction of the
machine for manufacturing needles will be readily understood, after I
have described the said machinery for manufacturing fish hooks, I have
thought it well to describe, first, the said machinery for manufacturing.

page_text: fish hooks. b, is the main shaft of the machine by cambs, on which
said shaft all the motions herein-after described are effected; c, is a
hopper or feeder, the construction of which is herein-after particularly
described; the wires of which the fish hooks are to be formed are
placed in the said feeder, and are delivered singly from the bottom of
the said feeder, in the manner herein-after explained, one of the said
wires being delivered at each revolution of the shaft b. The said wire
is received by a carrier d, situated on the sliding rod e; the said carrier
is represented in plan and transverse section in Figure 5, the wire f
falling from the hopper c, drops between the blocks g, g, and springs
h, h, of the carrier; the said carrier by the motion of the sliding rod e,
see Figure 1, lever i, and camb k, is carried from under the feeder c,
and brought over the blocks or supports 1, 1, see Figure 4. The punch
or plunger m descends vertically, and tho cutter n descends obliquely
upon the wire f, the dio m holding the wire, and impressing any required
device thereupon, and the cutter cutting the barb. The descending
motions of the punch or plunger m, and cutter n, are effected through
the camb o, and levers p, q, the lever q, acting upon the bolt », which
in its descent communicates vertical motion to the punch or flunger m,
and an oblique motion to the cutter n; the return motion of the punch
or plunger m, and cutter n, may be effected by springs or otherwise.
During the acting of the punch or plunger m, and cutter n, the carrier,
Figure 5, descends vertically, and leaves the wire upon the blocks 1, 1;
this vertical descent of the carrier is effected by the wedges (see
Figure 8), entering the space t (Figure 5), and depressing the bar u,
on which the parts g, h, of the carrier are fixed; the said bar u is
raised by springs v, v, bearing on the pin w. After the wire has been
liberated from the carrier, Figure 5, but while held on the blocks 1, 1,
by the plunger m, and cutter n, a second carrier, shown separately in
Figure 6, advances and takes hold of the wire; this carrier is marked
x, in Figure 1, and is situated upon the sliding rod e, on which the
carrier d is situated, but as the carrier is situated on the opposite side
of the wire to that on which the carrier d is situated, that motion of
the rod c, which effects the retirement of the carrier d, effects the
advance of the carrier a. The construction of the carrier, and the

page_text: manner in which it holds the wire, will be readily understood by an
inspection of Figure 6, the said carrier consisting of a pair of forceps,
the mouth y of which is pushed against the wire, when the said forceps
close upon the wire and hold it firmly. When the wire is liberated
from the plunger m, and cutter n, it is carried by the feeder x, to that
part of the machine in which the bend or hook form is given to it.
This part consists of an axis, Figure 2, carrying a pinion 1; 2, is a
small drum on the axis ; 3, is a catch or holder affixed to the said
axis. By the motion of the carrier x, the barbed end of the wire is
introduced between the catch 3, and drum 2, and the slide 4, being
urged forward by the camb 5, the rack 6, engaging in the teeth of the
pinion 1, communicates a partial rotation thereto, and twists the barbed
end of the wire half round the drum 2. The barbed wire thus bent
into a hook only requires to be kirbed, that is to say, the barbed end
to be bent somewhat obliquely to the body of the hook, as is well un-
derstood, in order to be completed. This is effected. by the camb 7,
lever 8, and hook 9; the said hook 9 being urged forward in the
direction of the arrow, Figure 1, engages with the carrier x, the said
carrier being at the time at the point marked 10, Figure 1, and in its
return motion draws the carrier along with it; the end of the hook
being still held between the parts 2 and 3, the body of the hook being
pulled in the direction described, the said body becomes twisted or
placed obliquely to the barbed part of the hook. As the inclined side
of the hook 9 acts against the wedge 10', the said hook becomes dis-
engaged from the carrier x; the return motion of the bar e, on which
the carrier is affixed, is effected by means of the spring 11, see
Figures 2 and 3. The feeder c is shown separately in Figure 7. It
consists of a hopper having an inclined and a vertical side, the vertical
side being double, as represented at 12, 13; the said sides are capable
of sliding one upon another vertically, and are kept in their place by
springs 14; the camb 15, Figures 1 and 4, acting through the lever
16, raises the outside door 13, by bearing against the under side of the
corner 17, and the wedge d', on the carrier d, at the same time bears
against and raises the corner 17', as the outer side 13 rises; the blocks
18, acting against the levers 19, cause the said levers to depress the
:

page_text: blocks 20, and the side 12, to which they are connected. The ascending
motion of the side 13, and the descending motion of the side 12, permit
the escape only of one wire at a time.
The improved machinery for manufacturing needles resembles, in
most essential respects, the machine herein-before described, and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, for manufacturing fish hooks,
excepting that the needle is operated upon by two punches instead
of one punch, and a cutter m, n, Figure 4, and that the bending and
kirbing machinery is omitted. The pointed wires supplied by the feeder
care received by the carrier d, and brought under the punch or die
m, by which said dic, and its counterpart the fixed die on which it
descends, the impression on that part of the wire where the eye is to
be stamped is effected. The impressed needle is then taken hold of by
the carrier a, and carried between another pair of dies where the eye is
pierced; the moveable die of the last-mentioned pair of dies is actuated
by a camb and lever similar to the cam o, and lever p, Figure 4.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to bo understood
that I do not limit myself to the precise methods herein described, and
illustrated by the accompanying Drawing, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of tho said Invention; but I claim
as the said Invention the methods herein described, and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawing, of impressing and piercing needles, and
impressing, barbing, and kirbing fish hooks by machinery.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Milward, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
WILLIAM DUNN,
Warehouseman, Redditch.
HENRY MILWARD. (L.B.)