New or Improved Machinery to be used in the Manufacture of Sewing Needles.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Oct., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 10th July, 1900-Accepted, 11th Aug., 1900
New or Improved Machinery to be used in the Manufacture of
Sewing Needles.
We, HENRY MILWARD AND SONS, LIMITED, of Washford Mills, Redditch, in the
County of Worcester, Needle, Fish Hook and Fishing Tackle Manufacturers, and
SAMSON DAVIS, of Other Street, Redditch, aforesaid, Needle Tool Maker, do
hereby declare the nature of. this invention to be as follows:-
The said invention consists of the construction and arrangement or combina-
tion of parts hereinafter described constituting new or improved machinery to
be employed principally in the manufacture of hand-used sewing needles, the
object of the said invention being to facilitate the grinding of the heads of the
said needles after the piercing of the eyes and by the said grinding to remove the
burr made by the piercing operation.
The machinery constituting the said invention is constructed and worked as
follows:-
A wheel rotating in a vertical plane has in its periphery a series of grooves parallel
to the axis of the said wheel which said grooves are of a size and depth suitable
for the reception of the needles to be operated upon and situated as close to one
another as is compatible with their isolation from one another. We will herein-
after call the said wheel the needle carrier. The needles fed into the machine in
the manner hereinafter described, are carried down by the motion of the said
needle carrier to a rotating cutter or grinding stone by which cutter they are
operated upon, the said needles being supported in their descending motion in
the grooves of the rotating needle carrier by a fixed curved plate concentric
with the needle carrier, which plate is coated with india rubber. The said
needles as they are carried down are made to rotate on their axes by their bearing
upon the said india rubber and the heads of the said needles are brought within
the range of the action of the said rotating cutter or grinding stone. By the
rotation of the needles the rotating cutter or grinding stone operates only upon
the projecting burrs which require to be removed. After having been operated
upon by the cutter or grinding stone the advancing and rotating needle is
brought over a platform on which it falls from the machine and is finished in the
ordinary manner.
The feeding of the needles into the grooves of the rotating needle carrier is
effected in the following manner.
At the descending side of the said wheel is a guide or hopper in which the
partially formed needles to be operated upon are placed. The bottom of the said
guide or hopper on which bottom a layer of the said needles is placed, may be
slightly inclined so that the needles will descend by their own weight into the
grooves of the rotating needle carrier. Or the bottom may be horizontal in
which case the needles are pushed forward by hand or otherwise.

page_text: The slow rotation of the needle carrier and the rapid rotation of the cutter or
stone are effected by steam or other motive power.
Dated this Seventeenth day of October 1899
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.
New or Improved Machinery to be used in the Manufacture of
Sewing Needles..
We; Henry MilWARD AND SONS, LIMITED, of Washford Mills, Redditch, in the
County of Worcester, Needle, Fish Hook and Fishing Tackle Manufacturers, and
SAMSON DAVIS, of Other Street, Redditch, aforesaid, Needle Tool Maker, 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:
-
The said invention consists of the construction and arrangement or combina-
tion of parts hereinafter described constituting new or improved machinery to
be employed principally in the manufacture of hand-used sewing needles, the
object of the said invention being to facilitate the grinding of the heads of the
said needles after the stamping and piercing of the eyes and by the said grind-
ing to remove the burr made by the stamping and piercing, operations.
The machinery constituting the said invention is constructed and worked as
follows.
A wheel rotating in a vertical plane has in its periphery a series of grooves parallel
fo the axis of the said wheel which said grooves are of a size and depth suitable
for the reception of the needles to be operated upon and situated as close to one
another as is compatible with their isolation from one another. We will herein-
after call the said wheel the needle carrier. The needles fed into the machine in
the manner hereinafter described are carried down by the motion of the said
needle carrier to a rotating cutter or grinding stone by which cutter they are
operated upon, the said needles being supported in their descending motion in
the grooves of the rotating needle carrier by a fixed curved plate concentric
with the needle carrier, which plate may be coated with india rubber or other
slightly yielding material. The said needles as they are carried down are made
to rotate on their axes by their bearing upon the said concentric plate or upon
the india rubber or other coating thereof and the heads of the said needles are
brought within the range of the action of the said rotating cutter or grinding
stone. By the rotation of the needles the rotating cutter or grinding stone
operates only upon the projecting burrs which require to be removed. After
having been operated upon by the cutter or grinding stone the advancing and
rotating needle is brought over a platform on which it falls from the machine
and is finished in the ordinary manner.
The feeding of the needles into the grooves of the rotating needle carrier is
effected in the following manner.
At the descending side of the said wheel is a guide or hopper in which the
partially formed needles to be operated upon are placed. The bottom of the said
guide or hopper on which bottom a layer of the said needles is placed. may be
slightly inclined so that the needles will descend by their own weight into the
grooves of the rotating needle carrier. Or the bottom may be horizontal, in
which case the needles are pushed forward by hand or otherwise.

page_text: The slow rotation of the needle carrier and the rapid rotation of the cutter or
stone are effected by steam or other motive power.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents in side elevation; Figure 2
in front elevation and Figure 3 in plan, machinery constructed according to the
said invention, for grinding the heads of sewing needles after the piercing of
the eyes. Figures 4, 5 and 6 represent parts of the said machinery drawn to a
larger scale than Figures 1, 2 and 3; Figure 7 represents a needle after the
piercing of the eye but before the grinding operation by which the burrs or fins
are removed and Figure 8 represents the finished needle.
Figures 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 represent views of modified arrangements of the ⚫
said invention hereinafter described.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of
the drawings.
We will first describe the arrangement Figures 1 to 6 both inclusive.
a is the hopper in which the needles to be operated upon are placed and is
the wheel or needle carrier (shown separately in plan in Figure 6) into the grooves
in the periphery of which wheel or needle carrier the needles are received singly
or one by one from the hopper a; c is the base plate or support for the needles
in the grooves of the needle carrier the said base plate being curved on its upper
side concentric with and encircling about one half of the needle carrier b, as will
be best understood by reference to Figures 2 and 4. The face or bed of the
curved base supporting the needles is preferably covered with india rubber,
maked and best seen in Figures 4 and 5, which india rubber face or bed ensures
the rotation of the needles as they are moved by the needle carrier over the
curved base c. Situated under the lowest part of the needle carrier 6 but not
in the same vertical plane as the said needle carrier is a rotating grinding
stone which acts on the heads of the needles as the said needles, projecting
beyond the needle carrier bare carried down and rotated by the needle carrier b
and supporting plate c. The heads of the needles as they pass over the rotatory
grinding stone are ground and the burrs or fins at opposite sides of the eyes
(see Figure 7) produced in the stamping and piercing operations are removed as
will be understood by reference to Figure 8. The finished needles are received
in a second hopper or receiver e the needles being pushed out of the grooves of
the needle carrier when they reach the level of the said receiver e by a fixed
tappet or tappets (see Figures 2 and 4).
Instead of arranging the feeding hopper at one side of the needle carrier, as
is represented in Figures 1, 2 and 4 a vertical feeding hopper may be employed
as is represented in side elevation (partly in section) in Figure 9 and plan in
Figure 10.
And instead of grooving the needle carrier from side to side it may, by
making the middle part somewhat smaller in diameter than the end parts as is
represented in Figures 11 and 12, so as to leave flanged edges, be grooved only
at the said flanged edges of its periphery.
Or the needle carrier may be built up of three parts, a plain middle part bl
and two separate side discs 12, 12 of somewhat larger diameter than the middle
part 6, the peripheries of the side discs 2 alone, being grooved. The three
parts are secured together by screw bolts and nuts as is represented.
Although we have only described and represented an inclined and vertical
hopper or feeder for supplying the needles to the needle carrier yet we wish it to
be understood that other feeding arrangements may be applied to the rotating
grooved needle carrier without departing from the nature or essence of the
invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that
we claim as the said invention:-
First:-In machinery to be used in the grinding of the heads of sewing

page_text: needles the employment of a rotating grooved needle carrier, whether the grooves
of the said carrier cross the whole face or periphery of the carrier or only Hanged
edges of the same and whether the said needle carrier is made of one or of
several parts, in combination with a concentric curved support or plate prefer-
ably with a slightly yielding or elastic face or bed substantially as and for the
purpose herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Secondly: The combination with a grooved needle carrier and curved sup-
port, or plate of the kind claimed in the prior claim, of a vertical or inclined
feeding hopper, a second or receiving hopper, the latter being preferably pro-
vided with a tappet or tappets, for ensuring the removal of the needles from the
grooves of the needle carrier, and a rotating cutter or grinding stone arranged
between the two hoppers and in a different plane to that of the needle carrier,
the several parts being constructed and arranged or combined in the manner
herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 29th day of June 1900.
HENRY MILWARD & SONS, LIMITED.
J. F. MILWARD,
VICTOR MILWARD,
SAMSON DAVIS.
Directors.