AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR MAXING SEWING NEEDLES
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Francis William Mallett at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th February 1869.
I, FRANCIS WILLIAM MALLETT, of New Haven, in the County of.
New Haven, and State of Connecticut, United States of America, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
MACHINE FOR MAXING SEWING NEEDLES," to be as follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists in a peculiar combination of
mechanism by which two sewing needles are made by one operation
and at one and the same time in the following manner :-
In the first place the wires or blanks being cut to the desired length
for two needles are thrown into a hopper which has in connection with
the same a feeding device. This device conveys one blank at a time
to the first set of a series of progressive carrying rollers which take
up the blanks in turn and carry them from one to the other; while
being so carried by the rollers the said needle blanks are stamped, the
eyes punched, and the eyes tested by a feeler, which will detect a blank
not properly eyed and will stop the feed mechanism for its removal.

page_text: Second. The blanks being properly eyed and burnished the last of
the series of progressive rollers will deliver the blank by means of a
conductor to two parallel rotating carrying screws, which carry the
blank over needle pointing grinding rollers, the needle blanks at the
same time being rotated during the operation of pointing the same by an
endless friction belt.
Third. The stamping, eyeing, and pointing being performed the said
parallel screws will introduce the blank to two other parallel rotating
carrying screws. These screws aid in carrying the said blank (which
is in like manner rotated by endless belts) up against a cutter wheel,
which cuts the blank between the eyes, separating the needles, at the
same time removing the burr from the needle heads, and finally the
said screws discharge the finished needles at the end of the machine.
Thus I produce an automatic machine for making two needles by one
operation and at one and the same time. The driving shaft of the
machine carries a bevel wheel, worms, a spur wheel, and pulley. The
bevel wheel engages with another bevel wheel rotating a short shaft
which carries on its inner end a spur wheel. The latter engages with
another wheel on the end of the feed shaft. The said feed shaft carries
a double-acting cam which operates the feed mechanism consisting of
a forked arm (embracing the feed shaft), a pin projecting from the said
arm, a coiled spring, a lever, and a bifurcated feed plate which receives
the needle blanks alternately from the hopper and delivers the same
to progressive carrying rollers which rotate on stationary shafts sustained
in a bearing on the table of the machine. The said rollers carry toothed
wheels which engage with carrying wheels and with wheels on the
feed shaft, and by this means motion is imparted to the series of
progressive carrying rollers. The said carrying rollers are furnished
with catches and springs and are operated by cams on their stationary
shafts which serve to throw out the catches for the reception of the
needle blanks and for the delivery of the same. A stamp is arranged
to fall on a block for stamping the blank preparatory to punching
the eyes in the same. This stamp is operated by a cam on the end
of a short shaft and a spring, the said shaft being rotated by the first-
mentioned short shaft and intermediate wheels. Punches and a
perforated block are provided for punching the eyes in the blank
needles. The punches are carried by a sliding bar which is operated
by an eccentric attached to a shaft geared with the second short shaft.

page_text: The detector consists of a long bar swung on a pivot and having on
its inner end an arm surmounted by points or feelers which enter the
eyes of the needle blanks, and on its outer end a catch, so that when
a blank is not properly eyed the end of the detector will be borne
down by the blank and the catch end raised so as to stop the feed
plate until the imperfect blank is removed. Buffers are provided
whose shafts are belted to a countershaft below the table of the machine,
the purpose of these buffer wheels being to remove the burr from the
eyes of the blanks and burnish the same after the punching operation.
The conductors guide the needle blanks delivered by the progressive
rollers to the parallel rotating carrying screws, which carry the blanks
over and on a double set of grinding, pointing, and finishing rollers
whereon the extreme ends of the needle blanks are pointed and bur-
nished, the said blanks being rotated in their passage by an endless
friction belt. The latter has a tightener composed of a pawl and a
ratchet wheel, the said belt being driven by connections with the main
shaft, the carrying screws being also connected with the said main shaft.
Another set of parallel carrying screws provided with 'friction belts
for rotating the needle blanks is placed on opposite sides of the first
set of carrying screws for the purpose of aiding them by additional
bearings to hold the blanks during the operation of separating the
needles and polishing the needle heads by the cutter wheel. The
threads of this second set of rotating carrying screws are made of a
finer pitch than those of the other set of screws for the purpose of
deflecting the blank from a straight line, thereby affording the cutter
wheel an opportunity to cut and polish the heads of the needles.
The said screws deliver the finished needles at the end of the machine.