NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NEEDLES, A PART OR PARTS OF WHICH SAID MACHINERY MAY ALSO BE USED FOR POINTING PINS AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Robinson Nicholson, of Redditch, in the County
of Worcester; Doctor of Medicine, for the Invention of "NEW OR IMPROVED
MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NEEDLES, A PART OR PARTS
OF WHICH SAID MACHINERY MAY ALSO BE USED FOR POINTING PINS AND OTHER
LIKE ARTICLES."
Sealed the 31st August 1859, and dated the 9th March 1859..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Robinson Nicholson
FICATI
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 9th March 1859.
J, JOHN ROBINSON NICHOLSON, of Redditch, in the County of Worcester,
Doctor of Medicine, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NEEDLES,
A PART OR PARTS OF WHICH SAID MACHINERY. MAY-ALSO BE USED FOR POINTING PINS
AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists of the machinery herein-after described to be
used for pointing and impressing the eyes and gutters of needles, and also for
pointing pins and other like articles, that is to say, such articles as consist
essentially of pointed wires. I carry my Invention into effect as follows:-
For convenience of description I will describe my Invention in its application
to the manufacture of needles only. The feeding apparatus by which the

page_text: wires are supplied to the machine consists of an inclined plane, down which
the wires descend by their own weight. An endless band receives the wires
at the bottom of the incline, and carries them by a rolling motion over a
table covered with leather or other soft material, the said wires being held
between the endless band and table, and made to roll by the motion of the
band over the table; each wire is of a length suitable for the manufacture
therefrom of two necilles. The wires are first brought by their motion
between two grinders, the said grinders being situated opposite to each other
on either side of the table along which the wires are moving. The acting
surfaces of the said grinders are cylindrical and parallel to the edges of the
table, and as the wires pass between and are operated upon by the grinders,
the said wires are all made of the same length. After passing from the said
grinders, the wires are brought under the operation of a second pair of
grinders, by which the said wires are pointed. The second pair of grinders
have a conical figure, and the ends of the wires are carried over them from
the small to the large end. The pointed wires are next received one by one
between the teeth of a toothed wheel, the said wires lying in the depressions
between the teeth and being parallel to the axis of the wheel. The teeth do
not extend all across the wheel, but only occupy the ends. In the space
between the teeth a roll engages, which said roll forms a pair of rolls with
the untoothed portion of the toothed wheel. The pointed wires are carried
between this pair of rolls, and receive in their passage the impress of the eyes
and gutters from suitable dies fixed in the cylindrical surfaces of the toothed
wheel and roll respectively. After having been thus impressed, the partially
formed needles fall from the machine to be finished in the ordinary manner.
That portion of the machinery which effects the grinding of the wires may be
used for pointing pins and pointing wires in general. The motions of the
several parts of the machinery may be taken from any convenient driving
power, but I do not think it necessary here to describe the detailed con-
struction of the said machinery.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Robinson Nicholson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th September 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ROBINSON NICHOLSON, of Redditch, in the County of Worcester, Doctor of
Medicine, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Robinson Nicholson, Her special licence that I, the said John
Robinson Nicholson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Robinson Nicholson, 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 "NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NEEDLES,
A PART OR PARTS OF WHICH SAID MACHINERY MAY ALSO BE USED FOR POINTING
PINS AND OTHER LIKE. ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,.
the said John Robinson Nicholson, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 John Robinson Nicholson, 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 said Invention consists of the machinery herein-after explained and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings to be used for pointing and impress-
ing the eyes and gutters of needles, and also for pointing pins and other like
articles, that is to say, such articles as consist essentially of pointed wires.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents in side elevation a machine constructed
according to my Invention, and Figure 2 represents the same in plan. The
same letters are employed to indicate the same parts in both Figures.
For convenience of description I will describe my Invention as applied to
the manufacture of needles only. The feeding apparatus by which the wires.
are supplied to the machine consists of an inclined plane a, down which tho
wires descend. An endless band 6 passing over the pulloys c, c, receives the
wires at the bottom of the incline a, and carries them by a rolling motion over
the table d. In Figure: 1 portions of the table d are broken away in order to
exhibit other portions of the machine, but it must be understood that the said..

page_text: table d is continuous from one of the pulleys c to the other. The wires are
held between the endless band b and the top of the table d, and are made
to roll along the said table d; each wire may be of a length suitable for the
manufacture therefrom of two needles. The wires may be first brought by
their motion between two grinders e, e, the said grinders being situated in a
position proper to receive them.
In the Drawings I have represented tho said grinders placed with their
axes nearly parallel with the sides of the table d, but the said grinders may
either be placed transverse or at right angles to the table with the same or
nearly the same effect. As the wires pass between and aro operated upon by
the grinders e, e, the said wires are all made of the same length. After
passing from the grinders e, e, the wires are brought under the operation of a
second pair of grinders f, f, by which the wires are pointed; the said grinders
ff, may either have a conical or a cylindrical figure. The pointed wires are
next received between the teeth of toothed wheels g, and are thereby con-
ducted to suitable dies fixed in the rolls h, h; the said dies are of a figuro
proper to form upon the pointed wires the gutters and the impress of the
eyes of the needles. After having been thus impressed, the partially formed
needles fall from the machine to be finished in the ordinary manner. That
portion of the machine which effects the pointing of the wires may be used for
pointing pins and pointing wires in general. Where necessary, both pairs of
grinders may be employed, and the length of the wires to be pointed may be
adjusted properly preparatory to pointing the said wires. The grinders c, fi
may either be made of steel, stone, or other cutting material, or may be made
of iron or brass, and have a cutting composition applied to their surfaces.
The motions of the several parts of the machinery may be taken from any
convenient driving power, but I do not think it necessary to describe the con-
struction of the driving machinery, as it differs in no essential respects from
that commonly employed for analogous purposes.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
. myself to the precise details herein described and represented in the Drawings,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention;
but I claim as my Invention the new or improved machinery to be used in
the manufacture of needles and for pointing pins and other like articles,
hercin-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is
to say, machinery in which the wires to be operated upon are pointed 'by the.
action of grinders, the said wires being previously cut or ground of uniform.

page_text: length, where necessary; and when the said wires are to be converted into
needles, operated upon after the grinding processes by means of dies which
produce the gutter and the impress of the eye of the needle.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Robinson Nicholson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOHN ROBINSON NICHOLSON. (L.s.)