NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR GROOVING SEWING MACHINE NEEDLES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Affifi Lely, of Redditch, in the County of Wor-
cester, Engineer and Machinist, for the Invention of "NEW OR IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR GROOVING SEWING MACHINE NEEDLES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Affifi Lely at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th August
1860:
I, AFFIFI LELY, of Redditch, in the County of Worcester, Engineer and
Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "NEW OR
IMPROVED. MACHINERY FOR GROOVING SEWING MACHINE NEEDLES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists of the new or improved machinery herein-after
described for forming the grooves required on the opposite sides of sewing
machine needles. The said machinery is thus constructed :-The needle to be
grooved is fixed at one end in a tubular holder, the said needle being fixed
by a clamping screw. The holder turns in a collar, and by means of a winch
the holder can be made to perform a semi-rotation so as to bring one or other
side of the needle uppermost. The said holder slides in a dovetail on the bed
of the machine. Over that part of the bed of the machine on which the needle

page_text: holder slides a circular saw is situated, the said saw being carried by a frame,
which turns on centres at one end and may be raised and lowered by hand.
An adjustable guide or stop screw fixes the distance to which the saw can
descend. The circular saw is driven by a train of wheels actuated by a winch,
and the shaft of the said winch carries a bevil pinion, which drives an axis
under the bed of the machine. The last-named axis gives motion to the
screw, which actuates the holder carrying the needle. The said screw may
be ungeared from the said axis when the slide carrying the holder has to be
drawn back. The needle having been fixed in the holder the frame carrying
the circular saw is brought down and the winch of the main shaft is turned.
The saw is thereby made to cut a groove in the needle, the said needle travelling
under the saw.. The groove having been cut of sufficient length, the holder
is drawn back and the needle turned by the winch of the holder. The other
side of the needle is thus brought uppermost, and by again putting the machine
in operation the second groove is cut.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Affifi Lely in the Great Seal Patent Offif on the 12th
Offi'on
February 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AFFIFI
LELY, of Redditch, in the County of Worcester, Engineer and Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Affifi Lely, Her special licence, that I, the said Affifi Lely, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Affifi Lėly, 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 GROOVING SEWING MACHINE NEEDLES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Affifi Lely, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
par-

page_text: ticularly 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 Affifi Lely, 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 :-
•
My Invention consists of the new or improved machinery herein-after
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing for forming, the grooves
required on the sides of sewing-machine needles.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is a side elevation of a machine
constructed according to my Invention; Figure 2 is a plan of the same;
Figures 3 and 4 are end elevations of the same, taken at different ends of the
machine; and Figure 5 represents a longitudinal vertical section of the same..
The same letters and figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in the
several Figures of the Drawing.
The said machine is constructed and worked as follows:-The needle to be
grooved is fixed at one end in a tubular holder a, that part of the needle to be
grooved lying in a groove in the small bed 6 of the slide c. The end of the needle
in the holder a is fixed by the conical clamping nut or screw d, working upon
the screwed end of the holder a, as best seen in the section, Figure 5. The
said holder a turns in a collar e, and by means of a small arm or handle f
(best seen in Figure 2) the said holder can be made to perforin a semi-
rotation, so as to bring one or other side of the needle uppermost. The said
holder a and small bed 6 are carried upon the slide c, the said slide working in
the manner berein-after described, in a dovetail g, on the bed h of the machine.
Over the bed b, upon which the needle is supported, a circular saw i is situated,
the axis k upon which the said saw is fixed being carried by a frame l, which
turns on centres at m at one end, and may be raised and lowered by hand. An
adjustable guide or stop screw n fixes the distance to which the saw i can
descend. The circular saw i is driven, and the slide c carrying the needle
actuated, in the following manner :-A winch o, on one end of the main shaft
p, gives motion to a large toothed wheel 9 on the opposite end of the said
shaft, the motion of the said toothed' wheel being transmitted through the
toothed wheel to the shaft k, carrying the rotating saw i. Upon the main
shaft p is a bevil toothed wheels, which gears with the bevil toothed wheel-t,
and the motion of the said toothed wheel t is transmitted through the.vertical

page_text: shaft to the bevil gearing v, and thence, through the horizontal shaft w, and
pinions x, y, to the quick-threaded screw z, which actuates the slide c, carrying
the needle. Underneath the said slide c, carrying the bed 6 and holder a, is a
screw box 2 (see Figure 5) working upon the screw z. When the said screw
is turned in one or other direction, the slide c advances or retires in the dove-
-tail g on the bed of the machine.
The action of the machine is as follows: -The needle having been fixed in
the tubular holder a, the frame 1 supporting the circular saw i is brought down
and made to bear upon the needle on the bed b, the depth to which the said
*saw can cut being previously adjusted by the stop screw n, which screw is firmly
fixed by the lock nut n². By turning the winch o, a rotatory motion is given
to the saw i and a groove cut in the needle, the said needle at the same time
travelling slowly under the saw i by the action of the slide c, screw box 2, and
'screwz, a rotatory motion being communicated to the said screw in the manner
*herein-before explained. When the groove has been cut of the required length
on one side of the needle (the length of the groove being regulated in the
manner herein-after explained), the frame is raised into the position repre-
*sented in dotted lines in Figure 5, and the slide c and parts carried thereby
'drawn back by turning the winch or handle 3 on the square end 3 of the screw
2. Before turning the winch 3, it is necessary to ungear the pinion y from the
pinion. This is effected by sliding the pinion y and winch 3 upon the square
end of the screw z, until the head of the winch comes in contact with the
screw head. After the slide c has been drawn back, the holder a is turned,
by the arm or handle f, so as to bring the opposite side of the needle upper-
'most. The frame l is now brought down and the pinion y thrown into gear
'with the pinion x. By turning the winch o motion is given to the saw i and
slide c, and a second groove cut in the opposite face of the needle. The frame
is again raised, the slide c drawn back, and the grooved needle removed by
loosening the holder a by turning the clamping nut d; a fresh needle is
inserted and fixed in the said holder a, and the operations described are
repeated.
i
The distance to which the slide c is advanced by the workman under the
rotating saw and withdrawn after the groove has been cut is regulated by
means of the fixed index or pointer 4 (see Figure 2) on the bed of the
*machine, and lines or graduations drawn or cut on the said slide c.
.Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of carrying
'the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to
the precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same may be varied

page_text: without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my Inven-
tion the new or improved machinery for grooving sewing-machine needles
constructed essentially in the manner herein-before explained and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Affifi Lely, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eleventh day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
AFFIFI LELY. (L.S.)