IMPROVEMENTS IN THE POINTING OF STEEL OR OTHER WIRE FOR TEETH OF CARDS, AND IN SETTING AND FIXING SUCH OR SIMILAR TEETH INTO SHEETS OR FILLETS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO THE PINS FOR HACKLES AND GILLS, AND IN PART TO THE POINTING OF NEEDLES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Richards Harding, of Leeds, in the County
of York, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE POINTING
OF STEEL OR OTHER WIRE FOR TEETH OF CARDS, AND IN SETTING AND FIXING
SUCH OR SIMILAR TEETH INTO SHEETS OR FILLETS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE
APPLICABLE TO THE PINS FOR HACKLES AND GILLS, AND IN PART TO THE
POINTING OF NEEDLES,"
Sealed the 17th December 1861, and dated the 21st June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Richards
Harding at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 21st June 1861.
I, THOMAS RICHARDS HARDING, of Leeds, in the County of York, Machinist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE POINTING OF STEEL OR OTHER WIRE FOR TEETH OF CARDS, AND IN SETTING
AND FIXING SUCH OR SIMILAR TEETH INTO SHEETS OR FILLETS, WHICH IMPROVE-
MENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO THE PINS FOR HACKLES AND GILLS, AND IN PART TO THE
POINTING OF NEEDLES," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist in introducing the wires (cut into lengths as at
present) into a hopper or receptacle from which they are fed by the action of
a travelling sheet, and retained in parallel rows by travelling guides, which
may be circular discs or endless chains indented to receive the wires or screws,
with the wires retained in position by the threads of the screws. This travelling.
sheet is caused to press upon the wires, and hold them against the action of
the stone, or by a slight access of speed, to cause them to revolve during the:

page_text: operation of grinding. These travelling guides are so arranged in con-
nection with the grinding stone, that the pins are passed over the face of
the stone at such an angle and elevation as may be necessary to produce the
form of pin and point required. In order to insure uniformity in the grind-
ing faces of the stone, I prefer the system of double stones recently introduced.
As the pins pass from the grinding process, they are cut to the required
length by circular or other shears, and, when it is desired, may be flattened
for the purpose of fixing them more firmly in the fillet or sheet in which they
are to be set. In the setting of these pins, I use leather or other flexible
material of such solidity that (the ordinary method of pricking being im-
practicable) I adopt the method of drilling, by which I am also enabled to
set the pins at any required inclination. And in order to retain pins in the
position in which they are first set, I apply a mixture to the surface of the
sheet at the root end, which oxydizes the pius, and thereby causes them to
become firmly fixed in the leather or other material adopted.
In the process of drilling, this leather in the form of a long strap is passed
in front of a row of drills extending to the width of the strap, and actuated
simultaneously, which drills are set at such angle as may give the requisite
inclination to the pins. A side motion is also given to the row of drills so
as to produce the variation in line technically termed the twill.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Richards Harding in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 21st December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
RICHARDS HARDING, of Leeds, in the Connty of York, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Richards Harding, Her special license that I, the said Thomas
Richards Harding, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas Richards Harding, 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

page_text: and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE POINTING OF STEEL OR OTHER WIRE FOR TEETH OF CARDS,
AND IN SETTING AND FIXING SUCH OR SIMILAR TEETH INTO SHEETS OR FILLETS,
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO THE PINS FOR HACKLES AND GILLS. AND
IN PART TO THE POINTING OF NEEDLES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Thomas Richards Harding, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 Thomas Richards Harding, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The first head of my Invention relates to various improvements in the
pointing of steel or other wire for the teeth of card pins or hackle, or gill
pins, needles, or other analogous pointed articles, and consists, first, in a
novel arrangement or combination of parts for carrying forward the pieces
of wire to be operated upon.
Fig. 1 in the accompanying Drawings represents a front view of that
portion of the pointing apparatus which I call a "feeding head; "Fig. 2 is
a plan or bird's-eye view of the same. The wires previously cut into suitable
lengths are placed in a hopper or receiver a, and are delivered therefrom under
a travelling endless belt d, made of vulcanized india-rubber or other flexible
material. This endless belt presses the wires down on to a stationary plate, and
keeps them in the threads of two screwed shafts b and c, one of which is
placed on one side, and the other on the other side of the travelling belt d.
These screws or screwed shafts are made with right and left-handed threads,
and are so placed that when the wires are brought forward by the motion of
the travelling sheet or belt. d, they are caused to enter into the threads of the
screws, and are carried forward in regular succession, and in a position
parallel to each other, as seen in Fig. 2. Fig. 3 is an elevation of this part of
the apparatus drawn upon an enlarged scale; Fig. 3ª is a cross section of
the same; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the machine complete, shewing the
manner of adapting the feeding head to the grinding surfaces. The wires a¹
(Figures 1 and 2) are supported from beneath on a stationary table or plate e,
which is covered with leather, india-rubber, or other soft or yielding material

page_text: j'
and is provided with a thin or bevilled edge, as seen in Fig. 4. This stationary
table or plate is so placed as to bring the ends of the wires a¹ at such an angle
across the face of the rotating stone or grinding surface f, as to enable the
latter to give the form of points required. The travelling sheet d (Figures 1,
3, and 3*,) is stretched upon the two rollers g,g, which are actuated by causing
the two worms h, h, to gear into the two worm wheels g', g', fixed alongside
or on the shafts of the two rollers g, g. The shaft of the two worms h, h, is
actuated by the pulley i, and carries a pinion j, which is connected by an
intermediate wheel with two wheels b' and c' mounted on the screwed shafts
b and c, and gearing into each other. The relative speeds of the two worms
h, h, with the screws b, c, and of the travelling sheet d, are so regulated that
the travelling sheet d is made to work at double the speed of the advance of
the wires a', which are retained between the threads of the screws b and c. By
this means a rolling motion is communicated to the wires between the tra-
velling sheet d and the stationary table or plate e, and by this process the
points of the pins are formed in the course of their passing across the face of
the grinding stone f. When one of the ends of the wires has been pointed,
the wires are delivered into the receptacle / (Fig. 1), from which they are
taken and placed a second time in the receiver a, but with the other end of
the wire outwards, so that this end of the wires may be submitted to the
grinding action of the stone f.
In order to ensure sufficient pressure between the travelling sheet d and
the plate or table e, so as to obtain the rolling motion of the wires, and retain
them longitudinally against the action of the stone f, a series of pressing
rollers 7, 1, (Fig. 3,) is mounted in a metal frame or plate l, and these rollers
are so arranged that their pressure can be applied in an uniform manner on
the inner surface of the travelling sheet d, by means of the two set screws
m, m, simply by screwing the screws m, m, down on the plate . This
arrangement of feeding head for carrying the wires to the grinding surface is
shewn in the Drawing as applied to a stone having a straight face or grinding
surface parallel to the axis of the stone f. In order to obtain any desired
form and length of point, it is necessary that the plate e, in conjunction
with the entire head or apparatus just described, should be adjustable in every
direction in relation to the grinding surface of the stone; and in order to
obtain this power of adjustment, the plate e is carried on two arms n, n,
(Fig. 4,) projecting from the vertical slide o, which is mounted in guides q,
and may be lowered therein at pleasure by means of the adjusting screws p,
whereby the amount of grinding action applied to the wires may be regulated
with the greatest nicety; at the same time the power is given of instan-

page_text: taneously stopping the grinding action on the wires by raising them off the
stone by simply turning the screw p, and thereby lifting up the whole head
with the plate e, on which the wires rest. The vertical guide q, which carries
the slide o, is made to rock on the lower of two bolts q', (shewn by dots in
Fig. 4,) which connect it with the vertical standard r. At the upper end of
this standard are two lateral set screws q2 (Fig. 2), by which the vertical
guide q may be adjusted to any inclination. The lower face or under side of
the base of the standard r is turned or planed to fit the upper surface of the
slide s, to which it is bolted; this slide s rests on the top of the framing t,
which carries the stone f, and is capable of being moved and adjusted thereon,
and secured in any given position by the screw bolts, t, Figures 2 and 4.
By this arrangement the standard" may be turned to any angle on the slides,
which may be moved backward or forward on the top of the framing t, as
required. By these various motions the plate e may be adjusted to any incli-
nation, either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally with the grinding surface
of the stone f, which in this instance is, as before mentioned, parallel to the
axis of the stone.
Fig. 5 represents a side view (some of the parts being shewn in section),
and Fig. 6 a front view, of an arrangement which is a modification of that
just described. In Figures 5 and 6 the grinding surface of the stone fis
curved, and instead of the construction of feeding heads shewn in Figures 1,
2, and 3, being employed, circular discs are applied to the hollow-faced
stones f, for the purpose of holding the wires or pins in a similar manner to
that just described. The apparatus for holding the pins consists of two
circular discs b and c, between which there is mounted a circular presser
wheel a. All round the edges of the discs b and c there are a series of notches,
which are shewn only in the lower part of the circular disc b, in Fig. 6 ;
these notches receive and retain the wires or pins in the parallel position in
the same way as the threads of the screws b and c, in the Figures previously
described. Between the discs b and c, the circular presser d is made by means
of suitable gearing to revolve at double the speed of the discs; this motion is
effected by means of the gearing shewn in Fig. 6, and thereby produces the
rolling action of the wires against the strap x (Figures 5 and 6). This
strap a takes the place of the table or plate e, in the arrangement previously
described, and the circular presser d effects the same object as the endless
band d, in Fig. 3.
Fig. 5 also represents the position in which I apply a second feeding head
to the curved grinding surface of the stone f, for applying two feeding heads
to the same grinding surface; I make these heads feed in on opposite sides of

page_text: the stone so as to equalize the wear of the stone, which is necessarily greater
during the heavier cutting on the first entrance of the wires than when the
wires leave the stone. When a stone with a curved or concave grinding
surface is used, two heads with notched discs, as described, may be applied in
the positions represented in Fig. 5; but the second or lowermost head, shewn
in Fig. 5, represents a somewhat different construction of head to that shewn
above it in the same Figure.
The head marked A represents an arrangement or construction of parts
applicable to a straight-faced stone. In this arrangement, adrum or cylinder u
is provided with an elastic surface d, which is capable of being flattened, as
represented in elevation in the detached view, Fig. 7. By causing the elastic
surface d of this wheel to bear against a fixed plate similar to the plate e, in
the arrangement previously described, the wires or pins a¹ will be firmly held
and rubbed against the plate e, and thereby caused to rotate on their axes as
they are carried forward. The notched discs b and c, shewn in section in
Fig. 5, are replaced in the head A of the same Figure by two screws and c
(Fig. 5) similar to the screwed shafts b and c, in Figures 1, 2, and 3. These
screws b and c are adapted one on each side of the compressible cylinder ",
which takes the place of the travelling sheet d in the previous description, as
already mentioned. In the case of using a straight-faced stone, a pair of
heads with compressible cylinders u, or travelling sheets d and screws b and c,
may be used, if desired, in the positions occupied by the feeding heads in
Fig. 5.
In the mode of grinding by machinery above described, it is necessary to
maintain on the stone an uniform grinding surface, whether straight or
concave. In the case of a straight face, a second stone f¹ is applied to the
grinding stone f, as represented in Fig. 4, and the bearings of the axles of
each stone are connected together, and the bearings of both stones are made
adjustable by the action of the screws f2 and f³. By gearing together the
screws which act on the bearings on each side of the stones, the bearings
belonging to each stone are made to move simultaneously. By means of the
screws f, the large stone is moved upwards towards the heads as it decreases
in diameter, whilst the smaller stone f¹ may be moved forward by the screw f",
and made to keep in contact with the larger stone f, the face of which it
maintains uniformly straight by imparting to the stone f¹ a slight lateral
motion to and fro in the direction of its axis. In order to maintain
uniformity in the face of a stone with a hollow or concave grinding surface, I
mount the axle of the smaller stone f¹ (Fig. 5) on a sliding apparatus or
moveable bed, the lower part of which is made to oscillate on a pivot 1, which

page_text: pivot 1 is also made to slide in grooves cut in the sides of the framing a,
represented in Figures 5 and 8. The slide f4, which carries the stone f¹, is
actuated by a screw v, by which, as the stone decreases in diameter, its
working face may be maintained at an uniform radial distance from the axis
of the pivot 1, on which it oscillates, which distance must be equal to the
radius of the discs b and c, which apply the wires to the hollow or concave
grinding surface of the stone. As the larger stonef decreases in diameter,
the slide which carries the pivot 1 (Fig. 5) may be moved forward by the
screw w, so as to maintain the small stone f¹ in contact with the large or
grinding stone during the constantly decreasing diameter of the latter.
slow oscillating motion may be communicated to the small stone f¹ by a
small crank or excentric (not shewn in the Drawing), but attached by means
of a connecting rod or otherwise to the ball y, attached to an arm projecting
from the slide 4, which carries the bearings of the stone f¹.
A
Although I have described my improved machinery as applicable more
particularly for pointing steel or other wire for the teeth of cards, it will be
evident that my Invention is equally applicable for pointing the pins for
hackles and gills, and also for pointing needles, I wish it to be understood,
therefore, that I reserve to myself the right to apply my Invention to any of
such or other analogous purposes.
The second head of my Invention relates to the setting or fixing of the teeth
or pins in sheets or fillets. After the pins have been pointed by the machinery
above described, they are to be cut off to the proper length, and their butt
ends may be flattened (when desired) for the purpose of assisting in retaining
them more firmly in the fillet or sheet in which they are to be set. These
fillets or sheets are made of leather or skin, either tanned or cured, or
untanned or other flexible material, and as the material may be of such
solidity that the ordinary method of pricking will be impracticable, I employ
a drill or drills for the purpose of making the holes for the butt ends of the pins
instead of using the ordinary prickers for making the holes in the fillets. By
means of these drills I am enabled to penetrate the hardest and toughest
material suitable for the purpose,such as untanned or cured hides,ora flexible
sheet of metal. When the pins are driven into the fillets, a solution of sal-
ammoniac or other oxidizing substance is applied to the butt end of the pins
in order to fix them more firmly in the leather or other material employed.
When the coarseness of the pitch of the teeth or pins admits of it, I use a
row of drills, which may be acted simultaneously so as to drill several holes at
once, and thereby accelerate the operation of setting and fixing the teeth or
pins. I would observe that the sheets or fillets of leather, untanned or

page_text: uncured hides, or other analogous substance, may, if desired, be covered with
a sheet of brass or other metal, which will add considerably to the strength of
the fillet, and also strengthen the pins, and assist in securing them in their
place.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Pointing of
Steel or other Wire for Teeth of Cards, and in Setting and Fixing such or
similar Teeth into Sheets or Fillets," and having explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I would observe, that although in the above
description of my several improvements I have shewn and described some
parts which, taken separately, have been heretofore employed for somewhat
analogous purposes, I do not mean or intend to claim such parts as consti-
tuting part of my Invention, except when combined, arranged, and operating
in the manner herein set forth; but that which I consider to be new in the
above-described improvements, and therefore desire to claim as the Invention
secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, is,-
First, the use of the screws b and c, in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, for carrying
forward the pins or wires to be pointed, and the combination of the travelling
endless belt d with the pressing rollers behind it, to keep the pins or wires
down while being carried forward by the screws 6 and c. I also claim the
combination of the screws b and c, (Figs. 5 and 8,) with cylinder or roller u
and flexible plate x. I further claim the mode herein set forth of adapting
the feeding heads to the grinding surface.
Second, I claim the adaptation to the same stone or grinding surface of two
or more feeding heads, whereby the wear of the grinding surface is rendered
more uniform. I also claim the mode herein set forth of mounting and
adjusting the stones f and f¹ to compensate for the wear.
Third, I claim the mode herein set forth of setting and fixing the teeth or
pins in sheets or fillets of leather, uncured hides or skins, or other suitable
flexible material.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Richards Harding, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
THOS. R. HARDING. (L.S.)