IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NEEDLES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Chauncey Orrin Crosby, of the City and County of
New Haven, State of Connecticut, United States of America, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF NEEDLES."
Sealed the 6th February 1866, and dated the 10th August 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Chauncey Orrin Crosby
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th August 1865.
I, CHAUNCEY ORRIN CROSBY, of the City and County of New Haven, State
of Connecticut, United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF NEEDLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements in machinery or apparatus for making
sewing needles, whereby the wire from which the needle is to be made is
supplied to an organized machine, which receiving the wire automatically,
passes it through the several operations required to form the needle perfect
and complete, in which condition the needles are discharged from the
machine.
To enable others to construct and operate my machine, I will proceed to
fully describe the same, as illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
A is the bed plate upon which the operative mechanism of my machine is
placed; B, the driving shaft supported and revolving in proper bearings C, by
the application of power to the pulley W; D is the feeding device, which con-
sists of a lever a hung beneath a slide b, and extending up through the said
slide, as seen in Fig. 2. To the upper end of the said lever a, the lever E is
attached (see Fig. 1), the said lever E being hung upon a fulcrum F, and

page_text: operated by a cam 1. As the said lever E moves in towards the centre of the
machine it will force the lever a forward until the arm c of the said lever
presses upon the wire which passes through the said lever a, as denoted in
blue, Fig. 2, thus grasping the wire, and the continued movement of the
lever E will carry the wire into the machine the required length for a single
needle. When thus carried in the wire is cut off by a cutter d, operated
through a lever G by the action of the cam 2, and the return of the lever E
by the reaction of a spring or otherwise will release the grasp of the lever a
upon the wire, and carry the lever and slide back to re-grasp and carry another
length of wire into the machine as before. H is a circular plate fixed to a
shaft I, and upon the said plate H at equal distances from each other, I fix
holding or carrying dies e, see Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The upper surfaces of the
said dies are V-shaped, as seen in Fig. 3; and into these V-shaped dies the
wire is fed as before described and seen in Fig. 2. f is a die A-shaped upon its
under side, as seen in broken lines Fig. 3, which lies in the said die e, as seen
in Fig. 2, and is attached to or made a part of a spring 9, which said spring
when free to act (as hereafter described) forces the die down upon the wire to
firmly hold it in the said die; when thus one length of wire is fed into and
held by the said dies, the plate H is moved in the direction denoted by arrows
by means of a pawl K by the action of the cam 9, through the levers Land M,
as seen in Fig. 1, to present the next dies to receive a second piece of wire in
like manner as the first, and so continuing, wire will be successively supplied
to each of the dies as they are presented to the feed for that purpose.
A1, A2, A3, A4, and A³, are instruments of similar construction for forming the
head of the needle, a single one of which is shewn in Fig. 5, and consisting of
a pair of die holders a', a³, the lower die holder a³ firmly fixed to a bed O, the
upper attached to or made a part of a spring N, and secured to the bed O as
far back as it conveniently may be in order to lessen the angle of its vibration.
A¹ is a lever hung upon a fulcrum P, its one end bearing down upon the
die holder a¹, the other resting upon the cam which operates it, and as its cam
revolves to raise its longer arm, the die holder a¹ will be forced down to
perform the work required of the dies placed therein.
In order to place the several wires which are carried in the dies, as before
described, properly between the dies a¹ and a³, I prefer to raise the plate H
sufficiently to allow the wire to pass in between the two; this I do by means
of a cam 8 and a lever beneath the bed plate, denoted in red, upon which the
shaft I rests in similar manner as denoted in Fig. 14, and hereafter more fully
explained.
The first operation performed by the dies in the instrument A' is to flatten

page_text: the wire, as denoted in Fig. 6; that in A² to groove the head, as seen in
Fig. 7; that in A' to countersink or partially punch the eye, as seen in Fig. 8;
that in A to complete the eye, as seen in Fig. 9; and that in A5 to cut the
surplus metal from the head, as seen in Fig. 10; this completes the eye, but
the edge of the head requires other operations to finish it, and for which
operations I prefer to turn the needle one-fourth over in the holding dies;
this I do by means of a rotating clamp seen in Fig. 11, which consists of two
jaws, one R fixed to or a part of a spindle S, the other R¹ hinged to a pivot r,
and held open by means of a spring. T is a collar around the said spindle,
which when forced forward by the action of the cam 12 through the lever T¹
closes the jaw R¹, as denoted in red. The said spindle S is supported so as to
revolve in bearings St, and is caused to make a partial revolution by the action
of the cam 10 through a segmental gear S working in the pinion S2 on the
spindle S. As each of the wires with their heads formed as before described is
placed between the open jaws R, R', the collar T is forced forward to grasp
the said wire, when by the action of the cam 10, as before described, the said
jaws R will make one-fourth of a revolution, turning the wire with them; this
done, the jaws will be opened by the reaction of the cam 12 to withdraw the
collar T; this operation will leave the edges of the head up and down; thence
the wire is carried forward, as before described, and presented to the
mills m, m.
The said mills are circular files made to revolve by power being
applied to the pulleys 14 and 15; they are supported in bars B¹ resting in
frames B³, and caused to advance by the action of the cam 13 through
levers C¹ and C³. As the said mills advance to act upon the upper edge of
the head, they should rise from the position in black to that denoted in red
(see Fig. 12), or for the under edge from the position in black to that denoted
in red, Fig. 13. This is done by means of the inclined plane B, upon which
a shoe 6¹ upon the under side of the bars B¹ and B¹ ride to guide the mills
either up or down as the case may be; the mills return to the position denoted
in black by the re-action of springs or other known device to accomplish the
object; the two mills m, m, are made concave or V-shaped; from these two mills
the wires are advanced to two other mills n, n, operated in similar manner,
for the purpose of finishing the head; these mills should be very fine, and I
prefer vulcanite emery wheels for this purpose, with square faces, as seen in
Figs. 1 and 13. When using square-faced wheels, it is desirable to use the
whole surface of the wheel; for this purpose I place an inclined plane upon
the bar B¹, as seen in Fig. 13, so that as the mill advances it will be forced
to one side, and in its retreat it will return to its former position, and thus
use the whole surface of the face of the mill; this finishes the head and com-

page_text: pletes the operations formed upon the wire while it is held in the dies upon
the plate H.
To form the point, it is necessary to remove the wire from the said plate H;
for this purpose I introduce a second plate H', upon which are placed
spindles P¹, supported in bearings X, and made to revolve by means of the
wheel H³ revolving against the pulleys Z (see Fig. 14) on the said spindle P¹
by the application of power to the pulley H on the said wheel H².
The outer ends of the spindles are fitted to receive and hold the wires in the
following manner, as seen in Fig. 14. A hole of the proper size and depth
is formed in the end of the spindle, a lever / hung within the spindle upon a
fulcrum bears down upon the wire (denoted in blue) by the force of the
spring, denoted in red; around the said spindle and passing over the lever lis
placed a collar 2. When the said collar is forced back in the manner here-
after shown to the position denoted in blue, it will press down the inner end
of the lever, opening the outer end, in which position it is ready to receive
new wires or discharge those which have been finished. P³ is an inclined
plane or frustrum of a cone fixed to a shaft P, and caused to rise and fall by
means of the cam 11 acting through the lever P5 below the bed plate (denoted
in red, Fig. 1) upon which the said shaft P' rests; the upward movement of
the said inclined plane P³, as from the position in black to that denoted in
red, bearing against the inner end of the spindles P¹, will cause the said
spindles to move outward as denoted in red, and its descent will allow them to
return by the reaction of the spring denoted in blue. The plate H¹ on which
the spindles P' are placed is turned in the direction denoted by arrows, by
means of the pawl R' operated by the cam 9 through the levers L, M. The
plate H carries the wires until it presents them opposite a spindle P¹, as seen
in Fig. 1. At this point the inclined plane P³ is raised, as before described,
forcing the spindles outward, and the one to which the wire on the plate H is
presented, as in Fig. 1, being open as hereafter described, receives the wire
through the hole in its end, as before described. In this position the collar
is forced forward to release the lever / by the action of the cam l, through
the levers and 13, which allows the lever to firmly grasp the wire, so that as
the spindle retreats on the descent of the inclined plane P³, it will draw the
wire from the holding dies on the plate H. By the action of the pawl R5 the
plate H' with its spindles is turned sufficiently to present the next spindle to
receive a second piece of wire in like manner as the first, and so on, each
successive spindle withdrawing one of the wires from the holding dies on the
plate H, and passing on present the wires successively to one or more ham-
mering dies T. The said hammering dies are shewn in Fig. 14, constructed

page_text: in similar manner to the dies shewn in Fig. 5, and before described, with this
difference, that the lever T3 is caused to vibrate rapidly by the action of a
cam T resting in bearings T, and caused to revolve rapidly by the application
of power to the pulley T. As the spindles are advanced by the action of the
inclined plane P³, as before described, they will insert their wires between the
dies a, a, the spindles P¹ revolving; while the wire is between the dies it
will be hammered upon every side and gradually drawn down to the form of
the dies. If allowed to remain in the first dies sufficiently long, the desired
form may be obtained by a single hammer, but I prefer more hammers and
less labor for each, and illustrated as using four. When the wire is with-
drawn from the first hammer, the spindles are again advanced by the action
of the pawl R, presenting the wire to the second hammer, while the second
wire is being operated upon by the first hammer, and so on, presenting the
several wires to each hammer until the last, where it is finished so far as can
be done by the hammers; thence advancing they are presented successively to
mills m¹ and m³, which are revolving rapidly by the application of power to
pulleys n'. For the mills I prefer fine vulcanite emery mills, yet others may
be used.
I construct the supports of the said mills as seen in Fig. 15, so that they
may be raised or lowered as occasion may require, thence advancing, the
point thus hammered and polished is presented to a revolving burnisher m²
supported in like manner as the mills m¹ and m¹ described. The said
burnisher is a hardened steel surface corrugated as seen in Fig. 16, which
rapidly revolving upon the surface of the revolving needle finishes it com-
pletely, thence advancing until the collar comes in contact with the inclined
plane t, which forces the said collar back to the position denoted in blue,
Fig. 14, raising the lever 1 from the needle, thence passing on to the dis-
charging device N³, shewn in Fig. 17, when the spindle still retaining the
wire forces it beneath a spring n' (as denoted in blue, Fig. 17), which is
sufficiently strong to retain the wire while the spindle retreats; the next spindle
leaves its needle in like manner, the second needle forcing the first out from the
spring, and so on, the spindle passing on to grasp a new piece of wire.
It may be necessary
in performing some of the operations upon the wire
while in the spindles, to force the spindles outward a greater or less distance
than in other operations; to do this, the inclined plane should be formed
accordingly, that is, a less angle or greater as the distance required for the
movement of the spindle is to be more or less. As the plate H advances the
holding dies to receive new wires, the spring g is raised to allow the wires to
be inserted below the die f by a projection t³ on the spring, see Figs. 2 and 3,

page_text: riding up upon an inclined plane t, and as the plate advances the said pro-
jection leaves the inclined plane and permits the spring 9 to force the die f
down upon and hold the wire. The plate H', with its spindles, the hammer-
ing dies, and discharging device, are similar to the machine for pointing and
reducing wire, for which I applied for Letters Patent on the 16th day of May
1865, No. 1363.
The point of the needle may be formed by cutting off the surplus metal
instead of reducing it by hammering as before described; an arrangement of
machinery for thus forming the point is seen in Fig. 18.
In the machine as first described the eye of the needle was first formed,
but in this machine the point is first partially formed on a plate H³, similar to
the wheel H¹ first described; into this plate H³ the wire is fed and cut off in
like manner as first described. The plate H³ being rotated as before described,
presents the end of the wire to the first die or press A, which flattens the point,
as seen in Fig. 19, thence passing on to a second die or press A', where the
point is formed, as seen in Fig. 20, leaving a fin or feather upon both sides of
the point, thence passing on to the third die or press As, which clips or cuts
the feather from the point, leaving it in the form nearly as seen in Fig. 21,
thence passing on until the holding dies of the first plate H³ are opposite
corresponding dies upon the plate H, when the wire from the first plate is
carried into dies upon the plate H by the translator Aº. The second plate H
carries the wires thus inserted in its dies to the several instruments to form
the eyes in like manner as before described and illustrated in Fig. 1, and
thence, in like manner as before described, the needle is translated into the
spindles of the plate H¹, which severally present the pointed wires to the
polishing wheels m², which finish the point; thence the finished needles are
carried on and discharged in like manner as before described.
Another modification of the mechanism is shewn in Figs. 22 and 23, the
change consisting principally in arranging the carrying plate H with its axis
at right angles with the axis of the plate H¹; and upon the edge of the plate
H are formed grooves to receive the wires; around the said plate is placed a
band W passing from the said plate H around a pulley W¹. The wire is fed
into the grooves on the edge of the plate, and cut off in similar manner and
by a similar device, as before described and illustrated in Fig. 1.
The instruments which form the head of the needle are fixed upon a bed
plate A in front of the said plate, as seen in Fig. 23, so that as the plate H is
rotated in similar manner as described for the plate H, Fig. 1, the wires are
successively presented to the several instruments, and the head formed and
finished in like manner as before described.

page_text: For the purpose of properly inserting the several wires to the instrument, a
lateral movement may be given to the plate H instead of the perpendicular
movement given to the plate H in Fig. 1. The wires are carried around until
the first is presented to a spindle P' on the plate H', which said plate is con-
structed as before described and illustrated in Fig. 1, and in like manner the
spindles advance, each spindle drawing one of the wires from the plate H, and
by the said spindles presented to the several instruments to form the point, as
before described. The band around the plate H moving with equal velocity
with the said plate, the several wires are retained in the same relative position
to the axis of the plate unless purposely turned for the purpose of finishing
the head, as before described and illustrated in Fig. 1.
I have described the countersinking of the eye, as also the forming of the
eye by means of punches, instead of which may be inserted a revolving drill to
form the eye, and a revolving countersink.
The adjustment of the several parts of my machine for the manufacture of
needles of different sizes will readily suggest itself to those skilled in the use
of similar machinery.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Chauncey Orrin Crosby in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th February 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHAUNCEY
ORRIN CROSBY, of the City and County of New Haven, State of Connecticut,
United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Chauncey Orrin Crosby, Her special licence that I, the said Chauncey Orrin
Crosby, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Chauncey Orrin Crosby, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NEEDLES,"

page_text: upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Chauncey Orrin Crosby,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 Chauncey Orrin Crosby, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement (that is to say) :-
My Invention relates to improvements in machinery or apparatus for
making sewing needles, whereby the wire from which the needle is to be
made is supplied to an organized machine, which receiving the wire automa-
tically passes it through the several operations required to form the needle
perfect and complete, in which condition the needles are discharged from the
machine.
To enable others to construct and operate my machine, I will proceed to
fully describe the same as illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, which
represent in Fig. 1 a plan view; Fig. 2, the feeding device; Fig. 3, the
carrying dies; Fig. 4, an enlarged view of the blanks; Fig. 5, the instru-
ments for forming the eye and head; Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, the wire as
operated by the several eye and head forming instruments; Figs. 11, 12, 13,
and 13, instruments for completing the head; Figs. 14, 14, 15, and 16,
instruments for the formation and completion of the point; and in Fig. 17,
the discharging device. Similar letters and characters indicate corresponding
parts in the several Figures.
A is the bed plate, upon which the operative mechanism of my machine is
placed; B, the driving shaft, supported and revolving in proper bearings C by
the application of power to the pulley W; D is the feeding device, which
consists of a lever a hung beneath a slide b, and extending up through the
said slide, as seen in Fig. 2. To the upper end of the said lever a the lever E
is attached (see Fig. 1), the said lever E being hung upon a fulcrum F, and
operated by a cam 1. As the said lever E moves in towards the centre of the
machine it will force the lever a forward, until the arm c of the said lever
presses upon the wire, which passes through the said lever a, as denoted in
blue, Fig. 2, thus grasping the wire, and the continued movement of the
lever E will carry the wire into the machine the required length for a single
needle. When thus carried in the wire is cut off by a cutter d, operated

page_text: through a lever G by the action of the cam 2, and the return of the lever E
by the reaction of a spring, or otherwise, will release the grasp of the lever a
upon the wire, and carry the lever and slide back to re-grasp and carry
another length of wire into the machine, as before. H is a circular plate
fixed to a shaft I, and upon the said plate H at equal distances from each
other I fix holding or carrying dies e, see Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The upper
surfaces of the said dies are V-shaped, as seen in Fig. 3, and into these
V-shaped dies the wire is fed, as before described, and seen in Fig. 2. f is a
die A-shaped upon its under side, as seen in broken lines, Fig. 3, which lies
in the said die 6, as seen in Fig. 2, and is attached to or made a part of a
spring 9, which said spring, when free to act (as hereafter described), forces
the die down upon the wire to firmly hold it in the said die. When thus one
length of wire is fed into and held by the said dies the plate H is moved in
the direction denoted by arrows, by means of a pawl K, by the action of the
cam 9 through the levers L and M, as seen in Fig. 1, to present the next
dies to receive a second piece of wire in like manner as the first, and so con-
tinuing wire will be successively supplied to each of the dies as they are
presented to the feed for that purpose. A¹, A2, A3, A', and As, are instruments
of similar construction for forming the head of the needle, a single one of
which is shown in Fig. 5, and consisting of a pair of die holders a¹, a², the
lower die holder a² firmly fixed to a bed O, the upper attached to or made a
part of a spring N, and secured to the bed O as far back as it conveniently
may be, in order to lessen the angle of its vibration; A' is a lever hung upon
a fulcrum P, its one end bearing down upon the die holder a¹, the other resting
upon the cam which operates it, and as its cam revolves to raise its longer
arm the die holder a¹ will be forced down to perform the work required of the
dies placed therein.
In order to place the several wires which are carried in the dies, as before
described, properly between the dies a¹ and a³, I prefer to raise the plate H
sufficiently to allow the wire to pass in between the two; this I do by means
of a cam 8, and a lever beneath the bed plate, denoted in red, upon which the
shaft I rests in similar manner as denoted in Fig. 14 and hereafter more
fully explained.
The first operation performed by the dies in the instrument A³ is to flatten
the wire, as denoted in Fig. 6; that in A³ to groove the head, as seen in
Fig. 7; that in A³ to countersink or partially punch the eye, as seen in Fig. 8;
that in A' to complete the eye, as seen in Fig. 9; and that in A' to cut the
surplus metal from the head, as seen in Fig. 10; this completes the eye; but
the edge of the head requires other operations to finish it, and for which

page_text: operations I prefer to turn the needle one-fourth over in the holding dies
this I do by means of a rotating clamp, seen in Fig. 11, which consists of two
jaws, one R fixed to or a part of a spindle S, the other R', hinged to a pivot r,
and held open by means of a spring. T is a collar around the said spindle,
which when forced forward by the action of the cam 12 through the lever T
closes the jaw R¹, as denoted in red. The said spindle S is supported so as
to revolve in bearings S¹, and is caused to make a partial revolution by the
action of the cam 10, through a segmental gear S working in the pinion S
on the spindle S. As each of the wires, with their heads formed as before
described, is placed between the open jaws R, R¹, the collar T is forced
forward to grasp the said wire, when by the action of the cam 10, as before
described, the said jaws R will make one-fourth of a revolution, turning the
wire with them; this done, the jaws will be opened by the reaction of the
cam 10 to withdraw the collar T; this operation will leave the edges of
the head up and down; thence the wire is carried forward, as before described,
and presented to the mills m, m, seen in Fig. 12. The said mills are circular
files, made to revolve by power being applied to the pulleys 14 and 15; they
are supported in bars B', resting in frames B2, and caused to advance by the
action of the cam 13 through levers C¹ and C. As the said mills advance
to act upon the upper edge of the head they should rise from the position in
black to that denoted in red (see Fig. 12), or for the under edge from the
position in black to that denoted in red, Fig. 13. This is done by means of
the inclined plane B, upon which a shoe b¹ upon the under side of the bars
B¹ and B' ride to guide the mills either up or down, as the case may be; the
mills return to the position denoted in black by the reaction of springs or
other known device to accomplish the object. The two mills m, m, are made
concave or V-shaped; and from these two mills the wires are advanced to two
other mills n, n, operated in similar manner for the purpose of finishing the
head. These mills should be very fine, and I prefer vulcanite emery wheels
for this purpose, with square faces, as seen in Figs. 1 and 13. When using
square-faced wheels it is desirable to use the whole surface of the wheel; for
this purpose I place an inclined plane upon the bar B', as seen in Fig. 13,
so that as the mill advances it will be forced to one side, and in its retreat it
will return to its former position, and thus use the whole surface of the face
of the mill; this finishes the head, and completes the operations formed upon
the wire, while it is held in the dies upon the plate H.
To form the point it is necessary to remove the wire from the said plate H;
for this purpose I introduce a second plate H', upon which are placed
spindles P', supported in bearings X, and made to revolve by means of the

page_text: wheel H, revolving against the pulleys Z (see Fig. 14) on the said spindle P',
by the application of power to the pulley H on the said wheel H³.
The outer ends of the spindles are fitted to receive and hold the wires in the
following manner, as seen in Fig. 14. A hole of the proper size and depth
is formed in the end of the spindle; a lever l, hung within the spindle upon a
fulcrum r, bears down upon the wire (denoted in blue) by the force of the
spring denoted in red. Around the said spindle, and passing over the lever l,
is placed a collar r, and when the said collar is forced back in the manner
hereafter shown to the position denoted in blue, it will press down the inner
end of the lever l, opening the outer end, in which position it is ready to receive
new wires or discharge those which have been finished. P³ is an inclined
plane or frustrum of a cone, fixed to a shaft P, and caused to rise and fall by
means of the cam 11 acting through the lever Ps below the bed plate (denoted
in red, Fig. 1) upon which the said shaft P* rests. The upward movement
of the said inclined plane P³, as from the position in black to that denoted in
red, bearing against the inner end of the spindles P¹, will cause the said
spindles to move outward, as denoted in red, and its descent will allow them
to return by the reaction of the spring denoted in blue. The plate II', on
which the spindles P¹ are placed, is turned in the direction denoted by arrows
by means of the pawl R³ operated by the cam 9 through the levers L, M.
The plate H carries the wires until it presents them opposite a spindle P', as
seen in Fig. 1. At this point the inclined plane P³ is raised, as before
described, forcing the spindles outward, and the one to which the wire on the
plate His presented, as in Fig. 1, being open, as hereafter described, receives
the wire through the hole in its end, as before described.
In this position
the collar is forced forward to release the lever by the action of the cam l¹
through the levers 12 and 13, which allows the lever to firmly grasp the wire,
so that as the spindle retreats on the descent of the inclined plane P³, it will
draw the wire from the holding dies on the plate H. By the action of the
pawl R³ the plate H³, with its spindles, is turned sufficiently to present the
next spindle to receive a second piece of wire in like manner as the first, and
so on, each successive spindle withdrawing one of the wires from the holding
dies on the plate H, and passing on, present the wires successively to one or
more hammering dies T³. The said hammering dies are shown in Fig. 14,
constructed in similar manner to the dies shown in Fig. 5, and before described,
with this difference, that the lever T³ is caused to vibrate rapidly by the action
of a cam T', resting in bearings T³, and caused to revolve rapidly by the
application of power to the pulley T. As the spindles are advanced by the
action of the inclined plane P³, as before described, they will insert their wires

page_text: between the dies a, as, the spindles P¹ revolving. While the wire is between
the dies it will be hammered upon every side, and gradually drawn down to
the form of the dies. If allowed to remain in the first dies sufficiently long,
the desired form may be obtained by a single hammer, but I prefer more
hammers and less labor for each, and illustrated as using four. When the
wire is withdrawn from the first hammer, the spindles are again advanced by
the action of the pawl R³ presenting the wire to the second hammer, while
the second wire is being operated upon by the first hammer, and so on,
presenting the several wires to each hammer until the last, where it is finished
so far as can be done by the hammers; thence advancing they are presented
successively to mills m¹ and m³, which are revolving rapidly by the application
of power to pulleys n¹. For the mills I prefer fine vulcanite emery mills, yet
others may be used. I construct the supports of the said mills, as seen in
Fig. 15, so that they may be raised or lowered as occasion may require, thence
advancing, the point thus hammered and polished is presented to a revolving
burnisher m², supported in like manner as the mills m¹ and m¹ described.
The said burnisher is a hardened steel surface corrugated as seen in Fig. 16,
which rapidly revolving upon the surface of the revolving needle, finishes it
completely; thence advancing until the collar ² comes in contact with the
inclined plane t, which forces the said collar back to the position denoted in
blue, Fig. 14, raising the lever 7 from the needle, thence passing on to the
discharging device N2, shown in Fig. 17, when the spindle still retaining the
wire forces it beneath a spring n* (as denoted in blue, Fig. 17), which is
sufficiently strong to retain the wire while the spindle retreats; the next
spindle leaves its needle in like manner, the second needle forcing the first
out from the spring, and so on, the spindle passing on to grasp a new piece of
wire. It may be necessary in performing some of the operations upon the
wire while in the spindles to force the spindles outward a greater or less
distance than in other operations; to do this the inclined plane should be
formed accordingly, that is, a less angle or greater, as the distance required
for the movement of the spindle is to be more or less. As the plate H advances
the holding dies to receive new wires, the spring g is raised to allow the wires
to be inserted below the die f by a projection t³ on the spring, see Figs. 2 and 3,
riding up upon an inclined plane t, and as the plate advances, the said
projection leaves the inclined plane, and permits the spring g to force the dief
down upon and hold the wire.
The plate H', with its spindles, the hammering dies, and discharging
device are similar to the machine for "pointing and reducing wire" for which
I applied for Letters Patent on the 16th day of May 1865, No. 1363. The

page_text: point of the needle may be formed by cutting off the surplus metal instead of
reducing it by hammering, as before described; an arrangement of machinery
for thus forming the point is seen in Fig. 18. In the machine as first described
the eye of the needle was first formed, but in this machine the point is first
partially formed on a plate H³, similar to the wheel H' first described; into
this plate H³ the wire is fed, and cut off in like manner as first described.
The plate Hs being rotated, as before described, presents the end of the wire
to the first die or press A6, which flattens the point, as seen in Fig. 19; thence
passing on to a second die or press A', where the point is formed, as seen in
Fig. 20, leaving a fin or feather upon both sides of the point; thence passing
on to the third die or press As, which clips or cuts the feather from the point,
leaving it in the form nearly as seen in Fig. 21; thence passing on until the
holding dies of the first plate H³ are opposite corresponding dies upon the
plate H, when the wire from the first plate is carried into dies upon the plate HI
by the translator A³. The second plate H carries the wires thus inserted in
its dies to the several instruments to form the eyes in like manner, as before
described and illustrated in Fig. 1, and thence in like manner as before
described the needle is translated into the spindles of the plate H¹, which
severally present the pointed wires to the polishing wheels m¹, which finish
the point; thence the finished needles are carried on and discharged in like
manner as before described.
Another modification of the mechanism is shown in Figs. 22 and 23, the
change consisting principally in arranging the carrying plate H with its axis
at right angles with the axis of the plate H¹; and upon the edge of the plate H
are formed grooves to receive the wires. Around the said plate is placed a
band W, passing from the said plate H around a pulley W¹. The wire is fed
into the grooves on the edge of the plate, and cut off in similar manner and
by a similar device as before described, and illustrated in Fig. 1. The instru-
ments which form the head of the needle are fixed upon a bed plate A in front
of the said plate, as seen in Fig. 23, so that as the plate H is rotated in
similar manner as described for the plate H, Fig. 1, the wires are successively
presented to the several instruments, and the head formed and finished in like
manner as before described. For the purpose of properly inserting the several
wires to the instrument a lateral movement may be given to the plate H
instead of the perpendicular movement given to the plate H in Fig. 1. The
wires are carried around until the first is presented to a spindle P¹ on the
plate H', which said plate is constructed, as before described, and illustrated
in Fig. 1; and in like manner the spindles advance, each spindle drawing one
of the wires from the plate H, and by the said spindles presented to the several

page_text: instruments to form the point, as before described. The band around the
plate H moving with equal velocity with the said plate, the several wires are
retained in the same relative position to the axis of the plate unless purposely
turned for the purpose of finishing the head, as before described, and illustrated
in Fig. 1.
I have described the countersinking of the eye, as also the forming of the
eye by means of punches, instead of which may be inserted a revolving drill
to form the eye, and a revolving countersink.
The adjustment of the several parts of my machine for the manufacture of
needles of different sizes will readily suggest itself to those skilled in the use
of similar machinery.
Having, therefore, thus fully described my Invention, what I claim as new
and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,―
Firstly, the combination of a feeding device with a carrier constructed to
receive the wires, substantially as described, and having an intermittent pro-
gressive movement as and for the purpose specified.
Secondly, the carrier having an intermittent progressive movement in com-
bination with flattening dies, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Thirdly, a carrier having an intermittent progressive movement in com-
bination with grooving dies, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Fourthly, a carrier having an intermittent progressive movement in com-
bination with countersinking dies, substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
Fifthly, a carrier having an intermittent progressive movement in combina-
tion with eye-punching dies, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Sixthly, a carrier having an intermittent progressive movement in com-
bination with trimming dies, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Seventhly, a carrier having an intermittent progressive movement in com-
bination with flattening and grooving dies, substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
Eighthly, a carrier having an intermittent progressive movement in com-
bination with flattening, grooving, and countersinking dies, substantially as
and for the purpose specified.
Ninthly, a carrier having an intermittent progressive movement in com-
bination with flattening, grooving, countersinking, and eye punching dies,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Tenthly, a carrier having an intermittent progressive movement in com-
bination with flattening, grooving, countersinking, eye punching, and trimming
dies, substantially as and for the purpose specified,

page_text: Eleventhly, a carrier having an intermittent progressive movement in com-
bination with grooving, countersinking, eye punching, and trimming dies,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Twelfthly, a carrier having an intermittent progressive movement in com-
bination with countersinking, eye punching, and trimming dies, substantially
as and for the purpose specified.
Thirteenthly, a carrier having an intermittent progressive movement in
combination with eye punching and trimming dies, substantially as and for
the purpose specified.
Fourteenthly, a carrier having an intermittent progressive movement in
combination with one or more finishing mills, buffs, or burnishing mills, or
their equivalents, as and for the purpose specified.
Fifteenthly, a carrier having an intermittent progressive movement in com-
bination with a carrier provided with revolving spindles, and having an inter-
mittent progressive movement, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Sixteenthly, the combination of the cone, or its equivalent, with the spindles,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Seventeenthly, the combination of the cone with a carrier provided with
revolving spindles, and having an intermittent progressive movement, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose specified.
Eighteenthly, the combination of a revolving spindle or spindles with one
or more intermittent hammers, and one or more grinding, filing, polishing, or
burnishing wheels, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
And, nineteenthly, an organized automatic or self-acting machine con-
structed substantially as herein described, so as to feed and present the
wire to the several instruments for their action, and discharge the needles
completely formed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Chauncey Orrin Crosby, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
CHAUNCEY ORRIN CROSBY. (L.B.)