IMPROVEMENTS IN NEEDLE MACHINES
Year: 1876

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edward Thomas Hughes at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 25th February 1876. A com-
munication from abroad by The Cook and Porter Needle Company, of Boston,
Massachusetts, United States of America.
EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents, 123,
Chancery Lane, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN NEEDLE MACHINES." A com-
munication from abroad by The Cook and Porter Needle Company, of Boston,
Massachusetts, United States of America.
This Invention relates to the construction of a machine for the manufacture of
that class of sewing machine needles in which the body of the needle is reduced
from the shank, the object of the Invention being to present the needles to and
rotate them in their passage over the longitudinal surface of a grinding cylinder,
and the Invention consists in the mechanism herein-after described.
In the accompanying Drawings A. is the bed plate of the machine; B the driving
shaft arranged in suitable bearings B', and caused to revolve by the application of
power thereto in any known or convenient manner; C is the bed or way on which
the needle blanks are laid. Upon this bed plates D, D¹, are arranged, and so as to
be longitudinally guided on the surface of the said bed. These plates are constructed
with a series of transverse notches a upon their forward edge, the said notches
corresponding in width to the diameter of the needle skanks or slightly larger, and
the ends of the plates are formed with a dovetail or other convenient connection, so
that one end of one plate may be readily attached to or detached from the corre-
sponding end of the other, and they are caused to move longitudinally on the bed C
Ly means of a worm E driven from the shaft B, and working in corresponding teeth
on the rear edge of the said plates, as seen in Fig. 1. Above these plates is a
reciprocating plate F, see Figures 1 and 4, the reciprocating motion being imparted
to it by a crank F1 from the driving shaft, as seen in Figures 1 and 3. This
reciprocating plate is above the bed C a distance equal to or slightly less than the
diameter of the needle shank, and the plate extends over the notches a in the
plates D, as seen in Figures 1 and 4.
Directly beneath the reciprocating plate F there is a corresponding reciprocating
plate C, see Fig. 2, and which is in the same plane or flush with the surface of the
bed C. The reciprocating movement is imparted to this plate C₁ by means of a
lever C², its lower end in connection with a projection F from the reciprocating

page_text: plate F, the upper end in connection with the plate C¹.and with an intermediate
stationary fulcrum d, as seen in Figures 3 and 4, so that the movement of the
plate F will impart a corresponding movement to the plate C, but in the opposite
direction, hence the needle shanks lying between these two oppositely reciprocating
plates will be rotated back and forth corresponding to such reciprocating movement
of the plates F and C, and at the same time the traversing plates D will carry the
needle blanks along between the plates, so that they advance while they are so
rotated. There is arranged an adjustable guide G, distant from the rear end of the
notches in the plates D equal to the length of the needle blanks, and so as to prevent
longitudinal movement of the blanks.
'
In front of the reciprocating plates F and C¹ the grinding cylinder L is arranged
and caused to revolve rapidly by the application.of power thereto in any convenient
manner. This cylinder is substantially parallel with the plates F and C¹, and is
arranged on a carriage L², the said carriago constructed so as to be moved trans-
versely between suitable guides L³, and a reciprocating movement is imparted to the
carriage by a crank L' on the driving shaft, so as to move the cylinder toward and
from the reciprocating plates F and C¹, and above the cylinder there is arranged a
pressure bar P made adjustable relatively to the longitudinal surface of the cylinder,
but so as to move with the carriage toward and from the reciprocating plates, and
so that the cylinder will pass below the needle blanks and the pressure bar above.
The needle blanks are laid into the notches, say, in the plate D¹, and the machine
put in motion; these blanks will be carried between the reciprocating plates F
and C, and there receive a rotative movement, while at the same time the grinding
cylinder will pass beneath the several blanks, commencing the grinding so soon as
the blanks arrive upon the cylinder, and continuing it until the blanks are carried
off the opposite end, thereby gradually grinding the blanks until they are reduced
to the required size; and to insure such regular reduction the pressure bar P should
be set at the last grinding end of the cylinder, distant from the cylinder only the
diameter of the finished blank. As the plates D, D¹, pass through beyond the
opposite end of the reciprocating plates they are removed and reset at the other
end to take new blanks, the finished blanks being thereby discharged from the
machine.
It will be understood that the advance of the grinding cylinder toward the
reciprocating plates is so far as to grind the blanks up to the shanks. By this
construction it is only necessary to introduce the blanks at one end of the machine,
and they pass out completely shaped at the other end.
To facilitate the rotation of the blanks it may be desirable to coat the working
surface of the reciprocating plates with leather or other substance which will
produce a greater friction than the metal itself.
The adjustment of the different parts of the machine for different sizes or grades
of work will be readily understood by those familar with similar machines.
While it is preferred to make the notched plates detachable one from the other it
will be evident that these may be used in the form of a band, and have a continuous
movement and the same result be obtained. These detachable notched plates are
applicable to carrying blanks, whether they be rotated or not for presenting the
blanks for other parts of the work, as for grooving, eye punching, &c., or to other
machines in which a progressive feed is desirable.
The plates for rotating the blanks are both represented and thus far described as
revolving, and while this is preferred one may be stationary and the other
reciprocating, and give the required rotation of the blanks.
The machine may be used for pointing the needles, and in that case the grinding
cylinder would not necessarily have the reciprocating movement described, and in
that case the pressure bar may also be dispensed with. A hopper may be applied
for feeding the blanks to the notches if desirable.