IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINE AND OTHER NEEDLES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINE
AND OTHER NEEDLES."- A communication from abroad by Henry
Josiah Griswold, of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of
America.
Scaled the 18th March 1870, and dated the 22nd September 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,.
on the 22nd September 1869.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, do-
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SEWING MACHINE AND OTHER NEEDLES," a communication, to be as
follows:-
The purpose of this Invention is to facilitate the threading of a needle
when as is often the case by reason of imperfect light, failure of eyesight,
or otherwise, such threading becomes a matter of time and difficulty..
Needles having a slot or opening into the eye to allow the thread to be

page_text: introduced into the same laterally instead of being inserted endwise
therein have been already used.
This Invention consists in the peculiar formation of the opening
through the side of the needle into the eye thereof.
The principal advantages resulting from the adoption of the said
Invention are that the needles may be produced at a very slight cost,
and when used are not liable to catch the threads of the fabric through
which they pass.
In carrying the said Invention into practice. I cut an opening through
the metal at one side of and extending into the ordinary eye of the
needle and at about the centre of the same. The two portions of this
divided side have their adjacent ends reduced to a point or nearly so;
the two points or projections thus formed are turned inward with such
a curvature or bend that the opening between them permits the entrance
of the thread into the cye (the said opening being slightly enlarged by
the pressure exerted in introducing the thread), but will not allow it to
return and escape therefrom. This lateral opening should vary in size
according to the size of the thread which the needle is destined to carry,
and should be in all cases slightly less than the diameter of such thread.
The opening into the eye may be made at either side of the needle, but in:
needles for shuttle sewing machines the said opening should be made
on the side opposite to that at which the shuttle takes the loop, so that
the shuttle shall draw the thread against the undivided side of the needle
eye. Sewing machine needles for some purposes have more than
one eye, and each of these eyes may have a lateral opening, as above
described. This lateral opening is usually be preference made in the
centre of the needle eye, but in some cases, especially in hand sewing
needles, it might be preferable to make this opening nearer to one end
than the other of the eye, and in some cases to omit one of the inward
curving points, the other being found sufficient to keep the thread from
passing out.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd March 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert
Lake, 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEWING MACHINE AND OTHER NEEDLES,"
munication to me from abroad by Henry Josiah Griswold, of Boston,
Massachusetts, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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.
.
a com-
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification :-
The purpose of this Invention is to facilitate the threading of a needle,
and it is especially designed for use when as is often the case by reason
of imperfect light, failure of eyesight, or otherwise, the threading in the

page_text: ordinary manner would be a matter of time and difficulty. Needles
having a slot or opening into the eye to allow the thread to be introduced
into the same laterally instead of being inserted endwise therein have
been already used.
This Invention consists in the peculiar formation of the said opening
and of the adjacent portions of the needle.
The principal advantages resulting from the adoption of the said
Invention are that the needles may be produced at a very slight cost,
and when used are not liable to catch the threads of the fabric through
which they pass or to allow the thread to escape accidently from the
eye.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I cut an opening through
the metal at one side of and extending into the ordinary eye of the
needle and at about the centre of the same. The two portions of this
divided side have their adjacent ends reduced to a point or nearly so;
the two points or projections thus formed are turned inward with such
a curvature or bend that the opening between them permits the entrance
of the thread into the eye, (the said opening being slightly enlarged by
the pressure exerted in introducing the thread,) but will not allow it to
return and escape therefrom. This lateral opening should vary in size
according to the size of the thread which the needle is destined to carry,
and should be in all cases slightly less than the diameter of such thread.
The opening into the eye may be made at either side of the needle, but
in needles for shuttle sewing machines the said opening should be made
on the side opposite to that at which the shuttle takes the loop, so that
the shuttle shall draw the thread against the undivided side of the needle
eye. Sewing machine needles for some purposes have more than one eye,
and each of these eyes may have a lateral opening, as above described.
This lateral opening is usually by preference made in the centre of the
needle eye, but in some cases, especially in hand sewing needles, it might
be preferable to make this opening nearer to one end than the other
of the eye, and in some cases to omit one of the inward curving points,
the other being found sufficient to keep the thread from passing out.
This modification I consider in no way interferes with the spirit of my
Invention.

page_text: looking through the eye; Figure 2 shews the same needle on the edge.
from which the aperture is cut through into the eye; Figure 3 shews
a portion of a needle with two eyes constructed according to my said
Invention.
The part a of the needle may be of the ordinary form; the eye b is
made proportionate to the size of the needle and the diameter of the thread
to be used therewith; c is the opening for admitting the thread into the
eye; d are the guards formed by turning the divided portions of the side
of the eye inward. These guards prevent the accidental removal or
escape of the thread from the eye b. The corners are all rounded so
that there are no sharp points or edges to catch in the work, and it will
be observed by referring to Figure 2 that the divided portions which
form the guards d are not only made taper from the front inwards, but
are also tapered from each side to the point, whereby the liability of the
needle to catch and injure the fabric being sewn is still further
diminished.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and shewn how a needle having
an opening to admit the thread laterally into the eye may be cheaply
and conveniently constructed, I wish it understood that I claim, the
opening c with guards & formed by turning in the divided portions of
the side of the eye, and the peculiar formation of the said divided
portions, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of March,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy.
0
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)
Witness,
JAMES TEARE,
Clerk to Messrs. Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Southampton Buildings,
London.