IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR POLISHING NEEDLES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Victor Milward, of the Firm of Henry Milward
and Sons, of Redditch, in the County of Worcester, Needle and
Fish Hook Manufacturers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR POLISHING NEEDLES."
Sealed the 24th March 1876, and dated the 27th October 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Victor Milward at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th October 1875.
I, VICTOR MILWARD, of the Firm of Henry Milward and Sons, of
Redditch, in the County of Worcester, Needle and Fish Hook Manu-
facturers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “Iм.
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR POLISHING NEEDLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the construction and combinations herein-
after described of the parts of machinery for polishing needles.
The said machinery consists essentially of a series of pairs of carrying
rollers by which the needles under operation are carried through the

page_text: machine, a carrying plate passing from end to end of the machine for
supporting and rotating the needles during the polishing operation, and
a series of polishing rollers or buffs.
The pairs of carrying rollers are situated above the carrying plato
described, and the polishing rollers or buffs are situated below the said
carrying plate, the acting portions of the said polishing rollers or buffs
working through slots in the said plate.
The pairs of feeding rollers are situated side by side, that is, their
axes are in the same horizontal plane, and a polishing roller or buff is
situated between but below two pairs of feeding rollers. The feeding
rollers have a slow rotatory motion given to them, while the polishing
rollers or buffs are driven at a high velocity.
The supporting or carrying plate by which the needles are supported
and rotated has a slow limited reciprocating sliding motion given to it,
the said plate moving backwards and forwards at right angles to the 1
advancing motion of the needles. The said reciprocating sliding plate
is provided with guide bars at each end which slide through the frame of
the machine and guide the plate in its motion.
The needles to be polished are fed by preference by means of the
feeding mechanism herein-after described between the first pair of 2
feeding rollers, and the carrying or supporting reciprocating plate by
which they are seized and carried to the first polisher or buff working
through the slot in the carrying plate, the needles having a rolling
as well as an advancing motion given to them by the movement of the
sliding plate under the rotating feeding rollers. Before the needles 2
leave the first pair of feeding rollers they are seized between the second
pair of feeding rollers and the carrying plate by which they are rotated
and advanced, and carried to the second polishing roller or buff, and
so on through the machine, every part of the needles being brought
by the rolling and advancing motions which are communicated to them 3
under the operation of the several polishers before the said needles leave.
the machine.
I prefer to employ three sets of feeding rollers and two polishing

page_text: to the reciprocating sliding plate in the following manner :-At the
end of the machine is a horizontal driving shaft provided with two cams.
These cams act upon the ends of the guiding rods connected with the
reciprocating plate, and move the said plate in one direction. The
return motion of the said plate is effected by coiled springs; or both
the advance and return motions of the plate may be effected by cams
on the driving shaft. Geared with and parallel to the driving shaft
is a second shaft having upon it a long worm.. This worm gears with
worm wheels on the ends of the feeding rollers, and communicates to the
said feeding rollers a slow rotatory motion.
The machine may be modified in the following ways:-Instead of
giving a reciprocating sliding motion to the plate for carrying and
rotating the needles the said plate may be stationary, and the frame
supporting the carrying rollers have a to-and-fro motion given to it for
producing the required rolling motion in the needles, and instead of
using a pair of carrying rollers on either side the polishing roller or buff
a single carrying roller may be employed; but I prefer the arrangement
herein first described.
I feed the needles to be polished to the machine by the following
mechanism—At the front or feeding end of the machine I fix a rect-
angular receptacle or hopper in which the needles are placed. At the
bottom of the front plate of the said hopper and along its whole length
is an aperture of the same width as the diameter of the needles to be
operated upon, and underneath the said hopper are two rollers of india-
rubber, the tops of which are in the same plane as the reciprocating
plate of the machine. These hopper rollers are driven from the feeding
rollers of the machine, but have motion in a direction contrary to the
motion of the feeding rollers. By the motion of the hopper rollers the
bottom layer of needles in the hopper is carried through the aperture
at the front thereof on to the reciprocating plate of the machine. The
next layer of needles takes the place of the layer last fed, which in its
turn is fed into the machine, and so on.
This feeding mechanism is applicable to other polishing machines than

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Victor Milward in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 22nd April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, VICTOR
MILWARD, of the Firm of Henry Milward and Sons, of Redditch,
in the County of Worcester, Needle and Fish Hook Manufacturers,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Victor Milward, Her
special license that I, the said Victor Milward, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Victor
Milward, 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 FOR POLISHING NEEDLES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Victor Milward, my
executors or administrators, 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 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 Victor Milward, 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 construction and combinations herein-
after described of the parts of machinery for polishing needles.
The said machinery consists essentially of a scries of pairs of carrying
rollers, by which the needles under operation are carried through the

page_text: machine, a carrying plate passing from end to end of the machine for
supporting and rotating the needles during the polishing operation, and
a series of polishing rollers or buffs.
The pairs of carrying rollers are situated above the carrying plate
described, and the polishing rollers or buffs are situated below the said
carrying plate, the acting portions of the said polishing rollers or buffs
working through slots in the said plate.
The pairs of feeding rollers are situated side by side, that is, their axes
are in the same horizontal plane, and a polishing roller or buff is situated
between but below two pairs of feeding rollers. The feeding rollers have
a slow rotatory motion given to them, while the polishing rollers or buffs
are driven at a high velocity.
The supporting or carrying plate by which the needles are supported
and rotated has a slow limited reciprocating sliding motion given to it,
the said plate moving backwards and forwards at right angles to the
advancing motion of the needles. The said reciprocating sliding plate
is provided with guide bars at each end, which slide through the frame
of the machine and guide the plate in its motion.
The needles to be polished are fed between the first pair of feeding
rollers and the carrying or supporting reciprocating plate, by which they
are scized and carried to the first polisher or buff working through the
slot in the carrying plate, the needles having a rolling as well as an
advancing motion given to them by the movement of the sliding plate
under the rotating feeding rollers. Before the needles leave the first
pair of feeding rollers they are seized between the second pair of feeding
rollers and the carrying plate, by which they are rotated and advanced,
and carried to the second polisher or buff, and so on through the
machine, every part of the needles being brought by the rolling and
advancing motions which are communicated to them under the
operation of the several polishers before the said needles leave the
machine.
I prefer to employ three sets of feeding rollers, and two polishing
rollers or buffs, but I do not limit myself thereto.
I drive the polishing rollers or buffs by means of guts working over
pulleys in the usual way, and I give motion to the feeding rollers and
to the reciprocating sliding plate in the following manner :-At the end

page_text: of the machine is a horizontal driving shaft provided with two cams.
These cams act upon the ends of the guiding rods connected with the
reciprocating plate, and move the said plate in one direction. The return
motion of the said plate is effected by coiled springs; or both the
advance and return motions of the plate may be effected by cams.
Geared with and parallel to the driving shaft is a second shaft having
upon it a long worm. This worm gears with worm wheels on the ends
of the feeding rollers, and communicates to the said feeding rollers a slow
rotatory motion.
The machine may be modified in the following way-Instead of
giving a reciprocating sliding motion to the plate for carrying and
rotating the needles the said plate may be stationary, and the frame.
supporting the carrying rollers have a to-and-fro motion given to it for
producing the required rolling motion in the needles, and instead of
using a pair of carrying rollers on either side the polishing roller or buff
a single carrying roller may be employed, but I prefer the arrangement
herein first described.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in
which the same may be carried into effect.
Figure represents in plan, Figure 2 in transverse vertical section,
and Figure 3 in side elevation, a machine for polishing needles con-
structed according to my Invention. The same letters of reference
indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
a is the bed plate of the machine, to which the uprights b, b, are
affixed. These uprights, besides carrying the polishers or buffs also
support the frame c, c², in which the series of pairs of carrying or
feeding rollers are supported. de, fg, hi, and j k, are four pairs of
feeding rollers, the ends of which turn freely in their bearings. The
said feeding rollers have a slow rotatory motion given to them in the
manner herein-after described. The said feeding rollers are situated side
by side, as represented in the Drawing. l, m, n, are three polishing
rollers or buffs situated below the said feeding rollers, a polishing roller
being situated between two pairs of feeding rollers (see the section,
Figure 2). The polishing rollers or buffs l, m, n, work in centres in the
ordinary way, and are driven at a high velocity by guts or bands passing
over the driving pulleys 12, m², n². p is the reciprocating sliding plate

page_text: on which the needles are supported as they are carried through the
machine, and by which, in conjunction with the feeding rollers de, fg,
hi, and j, a rolling motion is given to the said needles. The said
reciprocating sliding plate p has a slow motion given to it, the said plate
moving backwards and forwards at right angles to the advancing motion
of the needles, that is, the said plate p moves endways to the feeding
and polishing rollers, or in the direction of the axes of the said rollers.
On the ends of the said reciprocating sliding plate p are guide bars p², p²,
which slide through the frame of the machine, and guide the said plate
in its motion. Slits or openings p³, p³, are made in the reciprocating
sliding plate p, through which slits the acting parts of the polishers or
buffs l, m, n, work (see the cross section, Figure 2). A is the feeding
side of the machine, at which any desired kind of feeder may be applied,
the said feeder being worked by preference from the machine; and B is
the delivering side of the machine, at which the polished needles as
they issue from between the last pair of carrying rollers jk, are
received in a receptacle placed at the said side for that purpose.
The moving parts of the machine are worked by the following
mechanism: The polishers or buffs l, m, n, are driven by guts or bands
working over the pulleys ², m², n², as before described. The feeding
rollers de, fg, hi, and jk, are driven by a long worm q passing across
the machine, the said worm q gearing with worm wheels on one end of
cach of the feeding rollers, as best seen in the side elevation, Figure 3,
where the worm is marked q, and the worn wheel on the end of the first
feeding roller d is marked r. Each feeding roller has a worm wheel on
its end, similar to the worm wheel on the end of the roller d. The
shaft of the worm q is driven from the driving shafts through the spur
gearing t, u.
-
The reciprocating sliding plato p is worked in the following way:
On the driving shafts are two cams v, v, which act upon the ends of
the guide bars p², p², connected with the said reciprocating plate (sec
Figures 1 and 3). By the operation of the cams v, v, the advance
motion or motion in one direction is given to the said plate p. The
back motion or motion in the opposite direction is given to the said
plate by the coiled springs wo, w, one end of each spring being con-
nected to the fixed framing of the machine, and the other end being
fixed to a peg on the sliding plate (see Figure 3); or the coiled springs
may be dispensed with, and the back motion of the sliding plate p be

page_text: given by cams on a shaft at the end C, Figure 1, of the machine, the
said shaft being driven by any convenient gearing from the driving
shaft s.
The action of the machine is as follows:-The needles to be polished
are fed by preference by an automatic feeder situated at the side A to
the first pair of feeding rollers de. This automatic feeder may be
worked from the end of the roller d by the toothed wheel x. The needles
are received on the carrying or supporting reciprocating plate p, between
which and the feeding rollers dc, they are seized and carried to the
first polisher or buff 7, the needles having a rolling as well as an
advancing motion given to them by the movement of the said sliding
plate p under the rotating feeding rollors de. Before the needles leave
the last roller of the first pair of feeding rollers de, they are seized
between the first roller of the second pair of feeding rollers fg, and the
carrying plate p, by which they are rotated and advanced and carried to
the second polisher or buff m, and in like manner the needles are carried
to the third polisher or buff », and delivered by the last pair of feeding
rollers jk, into a receptacle at the delivering side B of the machine.
By the combined operations of the reciprocating plate p and feeding
rollers every part of the needles are by the rolling and advancing motions
which are communicated to them brought under the operation of the
several polishers or buffs before the said needles leave the machine.
The direction in which the needles are carried through the machine is
indicated by the arrows in Figures 1 and 2. It will be readily seen by
reference to the section, Figure 2, how the needles before they leave the
last of one pair of feeding rollers are seized by the first roller of the next
pair so as to carry the needles through the machine.
Although I have represented a machine as composed of four pairs of
feeding rollers and three polishers or buffs, in combination with the
reciprocating sliding plate, yet I do not limit myself to that number of
feeding and polishing rollers, as a greater or less number may be com-
bined together in the manner represented. However for ordinary
purposes I have found that three pairs of feeding rollers and two
polishers or buffs answer well.
Instead of the arrangement of feeding rollers described and represented
the following arrangement may be adopted :-The first roller of the first
pair of rollers may be dispensed with, and the second roller of the last

page_text: pair of feeding rollers may also be dispensed with. This arrangement of
feeding rollers will then be as follows, namely:-One feeding roller
followed by two pairs of feeding rollers, and the said pairs followed by a
single feeding roller.
In order to permit of the escape of dust which accumulates on the
carrying plate p a slot may be made in the said plate between the rollers
of cach pair of feeding rollers, the said slot having the same length as
and parallel with the slot through which the polishing rollers work.
The dust referred to falls through the slot or slots described.
Figure represents in plan, Figure 5 in side elevation, partly in
section, and Figure 6 in clevation partly in section a modification of my
Invention, in which the plate on which the needles are advanced and
on which they are supported is stationary, and the frame supporting the
carrying rollers has a to-and-fro motion given to it. In the said
Figures 4, 5, and 6 the frame A' carrying the feeding rollers x is
supported on the side frame of the machine by the enlargements or
dovetails a' (best seen in Figure 6) which work in dovetail seats in the
fixed framing of the machine. The advance motion of the sliding
frame A' carrying the feeding rollers a is effected by the cams v, v, on
the driving shafts, and the return motion is effected by the bow spring v².
wo is the fixed plate on which the needles are rolled by the reciprocating
motion of the feeding rollers x carried by the to-and-fro frame A¹.
The worm gearing q, r, by which a slow rotatory motion is given to
the feeding rollers a, does not follow the motion of the reciprocating
frame A', but is fixed, that is, has no sliding motion. The worm
wheels work in check brackets 72, and the cyes of the said worm
wheels are square, and the shafts of the feeding rollers, which are of a
corresponding figure, slide in the said eyes when the reciprocating
frame A' makes its to-and-fro motion. The rotatory motion of the feed-
ing rollers is thereby uninterrupted by their sliding motion. By the
reciprocating motion of the feeding rollers x the needles on the fixed
plate wo have a rolling motion given to them as they are carried through
the machine.

page_text: trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention, but I claim as my Invention,— .
The improvements in machinery for polishing needles, herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say,
the combination of a series of slowly rotating carrying rollers, by which
the needles under operation are carried through the machine, a recipro-
cating carrying plate for supporting and rotating the needles and a
series of polishing rollers or buffs situated below the said reciprocating
plate, through slots or openings in which plate the acting portions of the
polishing rollers or buffs work the several parts, being arranged and
operating substantially as described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2,
and 3.
Also the modification described and illustrated in Figures 4, 5, and 6,
in which the carrying plate is stationary, and the frame supporting the
carrying rollers has a to-and-fro motion for producing the required
rolling motion in the needles.
In witness whereof, I, the said Victor Milward, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-six.
Witness,
J*°. MORRIS,
Hampton Park,
VICTOR MILWARD. (L.S.)
Hereford.