AN IMPROVEMENT IN NEEDLES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN NEEDLES."-A communication from
abroad by William Penn Hyde, of Warren, in the County of Bristol,
State of Rhode Island, United States of America.
Sealed the 11th September 1863, and dated the 8th June 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th June 1863.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN NEEDLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in forming the eye of a needle by turning over the
end and forming a lap joint through which the thread may be slipped sidewise
without the necessity of inserting its end into the eye in the usual way. The
object is to facilitate the threading by the blind, or the aged, or other persons
with impaired or defective sight.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th December 1868.
5 TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting..

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as I,
the said William Edward Newton, 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 "AN IM-
PROVEMENT IN NEEDLES," being a communication from abroad, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an in-
strument 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 William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention consists in forming the eye of a needle by turning over the.
end and forming a lap joint through which the thread may be slipped
sideways without the necessity of inserting its end into the eye in the usual
way.
The object of the Invention is to facilitate the operation of threading the
needle by the blind, or the aged, or other persons with impaired or defective
sight.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a side view of a needle constructed
according to the Invention. In this Figure the lap joint is shewn as closed.
Fig. 2 is another view shewing the passage of the thread through the lap into
the eye of the needle, similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts
in both Figures.
In manufacturing the needle the part a forming the whole of one side of
the eye and the upper part of the other side is first drawn out straight and
thin, and the part 6 which forms the remainder of the last-mentioned side of
the
eye is formed into the required shape as represented in the Drawing by a

page_text: rotary burr, or a punch, or by other mechanical means, and the ends a and b are
bevilled to form the lap joint c when the part a is bent and turned under b in
the manner shewn in Fig. 1. This joint is kept closed by the elasticity of the
parts when not forced back or opened by pressure. To thread the needle thus
constructed it is held by the thumb and finger of one hand with the lap joint c
upward and the thread (held in the form of a loop between the thumb and
finger) is placed over the head and drawn down to the lap joint c and made
to depress the end of a and so pass the lap into the eye. The lap closes by
the elasticity of the parts when the thread has entered the eye.
Instead of being made as herein-above described the needle may be first
formed with a solid eye and then cut diagonally on one side of the eye to
form an open lap to admit the thread into the eye without any depression of
the joint, but I consider the first-described construction to be the most perfect.
The advantage of this needle over other open-eyed needles, consists in its
greater strength and its less liability to catch in the work or to allow the
thread to slip out.
Having now described this Invention of an improvement in needles,
and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as
the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid making needles
with a lap joint c or diagonal opening in one side of the eye substantially as
herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
5
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)