AN IMPROve- MENGIN SAWING MARINE
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Rice Allwood, of Alcester, in the County
Warwick, Needle Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROve-
MENGIN SAWING MARINE "
Sealed the 9th June 1876, and dated the 15th December 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Rice Allwood
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th December 1875.
I, ALFRED RICE ALLWOOD, of Alcester, in the County Warwick,
Needle Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING MACHINE NEEDLES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates to the needles employed in sewing machines, and
has for its object to render such needles capable of being more readily
adjusted. When fixing such a needle in position in or on the needle bar
or arm it is of importance in nearly all cases that a particular side of
the needle shall "face" a specified part of the machine, and that the

page_text: eye of the needle shall be at a fixed distance from the end of the said
bar or arm. To facititate this adjustment I form a flat side on a portion
of the shank of the needle, and I also form a groove or recess in the
said shank.
When my improved needle is applied, say for example, to a "Howe
machine," it is simply necessary to pass the needle up with the flat side
towards the screw until the needle is stopped by the end or side of the
said rccess coming in contact with the end of the screw, and then to
turn the screw so as to hold the needle fast. The flat end of screw
bearing on the flat bottom of the said recess ensures the correct adjust-
ment of the eye.
When withdrawing an old needle, if the screw has only been turned
sufficiently to permit the needle to be withdrawn which would usually be
the case, it would not be possible to insert a fresh needle wrongly
without turning the fixing screw in the direction to give more space for
the passage of the needle shank.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Rice Allwood in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th June 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
RCE ALLWOOD, of Alcester, in the County of Warwick, Needle Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of December, 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 successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Rice Allwood, Her special
license that I, the said Alfred Rice Allwood, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Rice
Allwood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter

page_text: 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 SEWING MACHINE NEEDLES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said 'Alfred Rice Allwood, my executors or admini-
strators, 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 Alfred Rice Allwood, 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 (and accompanying Drawings, that is
to say):
:-
My Invention relates to the needles employed in sewing machines, and
has for its object to render such needles capable of being more readily
adjusted. When fixing such a needle in position, in or on the needle bar
or arm it is of importance in nearly all cases that a particular side of
the needle shall face a specified part of the machine, and that the
eye of the needle shall be at a fixed distance from the end of the said
bar or arm. To facilitate this adjustment I form a flat side on a portion
of the shank of the needle, and I also form a groove or recess in the
said shank.
When my improved needle is applied, say for example, to a "Howe
machine," it is simply necessary to pass the needle up with the flat side
towards the screw until the needle is stopped by the end or side of the
said recess coming in contact with the end of the screw, and then to
turn the screw so as to hold the needle fast. .
· And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I have
appended hereunto a Sheet of Drawings, in which to obtain greater
clearness the improved needles are drawn about three times the actual
sizes of the needles selected for illustration.
Referring to the said Drawings Fig. 1 represents a front view, and
Fig. 2 a side view of a sewing machine needle. In the said Figures a.

page_text: is the aforesaid flat side formed on the shank of the needle, and 6 is
the aforesaid groove or recess. The bottom of the said recess is made
flat and in a plane parallel with the surface of the flat a or thereabouts.
In the example the said recess is formed on the same side as the
long groove c which receives the thread when the needle is in use.
In some cases or in most cases the said recess would be formed on
the same side as the shorter groove, that is to say, on the side of the
needle which is nearest to the shuttle race when in use.
In other cases the said recess would be formed on one side or the
other of the said shank, as indicated by Fig. 3, and also in Fig. 4, to
which reference will be made hereinafter. The said recess will vary
in position according to the description of machine for which the needle
is required, but in every case it is intended that the said recess shall be
formed in such a position as that when the needle is fixed in the arm in
the manner herein-after indicated, the said needle will be in the correct:
working position.
needle bar, and e
In Figs. 4, 5, and 6, d represents the lower end of
the screw by means of which the needles are fixed in position. In Fig. 4
the needle is represented as fixed in position, the end of the screw
entering the recess in the shank of the needle, and pressing against the
flat bottom of the said recess. When the needle is to be withdrawn the
screw e is slackened until the flat a can clear the end of the screw, as
scen in Fig. 5, and if the said screw has only been slackened sufficiently
to enable the needle to be withdrawn, as would usually be the case, it
would not be possible to reinsert the needle or to insert a fresh needle in
a wrong position without slackening the screw to a further extent, in
order to give more space for the passage of the needle shank.
Fig. 6 illustrates the manner in which the end of the screw arrests
the needle when it has been pushed up into position. When so inserted
the screw e is tightened up, the end of the screw then bearing forcibly
against the flat bottom of the recess and thereby ensuring the correct
adjustment of the eye supposing the position of the recess to be correct.
Having now fully set forth and indicated the nature of my said
Invention and the manner in which I carry the same into practical
effect, I would have it to be understood that I claim,―
First. The recess b and the flat a, substantially as and for the purposes
herein-before set forth and indicated,

page_text: And Secondly. The formation of needles for sewing machines, sub-
tantially as set forth and indicated herein-before and in and by the
ccompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Rice Allwood, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this 13th day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
ALFRED RICE ALLWOOD. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered
by the above-named Alfred
Rice Allwood, in the pre-
sence of
COURTENAY C. PRANCE,
Solicitor,
Evesham.