IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BARBED AND OTHER NEEDLES FOR KNITTING AND SEWING
Year: 1860

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Tomlinson Bousfield at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th June 1860. A communication from abroad by J. J. Greenough, of
6, Wall Street, New York.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BARBED AND OTHER NEEDLES FOR
KNITTING AND SEWING," to be as follows:-
The purposes of the said improved machinery are to form needles complete
from wire, by cutting off proper lengths of wire, and grinding, polishing,
flattening, and bending the same, without removing or handling them until
the needles are finished.
The combination and construction of the machinery are as follows:-On a
suitable frame a horizontal shaft is fixed, on which there are three parallel.
discs, which are capable of rotating on such fixed shaft. Two of these discs
are connected together at a suitable distance apart, and they are retained from
sliding lengthwise on the fixed shaft. The third disc, which is nearest the
back of the machine, is arranged in such manner as to admit of its sliding
along the fixed axis, as well as of turning thereon. In each of these discs
holes are formed, which are equidistant from each other. The number of
these holes is determined by the number of distinct operations to be performed
upon each piece of wire to form it into a needle, and they form the bearings

page_text: of a series of tubes of the following construction :-Each tube is hollow from
end to end, and is of a length to pass through a hole in each of the three discs.
Over that part of each of the tubes between the two first-mentioned discs,
which are connected together, there is an outer tube with a pulley thereon,
by which the interior tubes can be caused to revolve each on its own axis, by
reason of each of such tubes having a stud or projection, which enters a slot
formed in the tube surrounding it. The several inner tubes are connected by
collars to the third disc, which allow of the ends of such tubes turning in the
holes formed in that disc, but cause the tubes to slide with that disc when it is
slid on the fixed shaft. The front end of each inner tube is contracted on the
interior, so as only to leave a hole just large enough to admit the wire freely.
In one side of this hole or mouth-piece there is a recess, into which is fitted
a piece of metal, which acts as a wedge to hold the wire, and prevent it turning
except with the tube into which it is passed. The wedge is connected by a
stem (which passes through the inner tube) to a button at the rear end.
thereof, a spring forces forward the stem and wedge, and the wedge is drawn
back by the button, as hereafter described.
The first operation to be performed is to feed the wire into one of the tubes
of the machine. This is done by passing the wire through stationary holders
of any convenient construction, consisting of a gripe that slides to and fro at
proper intervals a sufficient distance to feed in a length of wire for one needle.
When this gripe is forced forward it holds the wire, and carries the wire with
it; in returning, the gripe slides over the wire, which is then held by a
stationary holder. The feed is preferred to be made by means of a lever that
has its fulcrum at its lower end, its upper end being jointed to the feed gripe.
Just above the fulcrum there is a connecting rod that connects.it with an
excentric on the cam shaft, by the revolution of which the lever receives its
motion.
The next operation is to cut off the wire to the right length, and to stamp
the groove or recess therein, which operations may be performed at the same
time the cut-off is effected, by a moveable shear operating against a stationary
one. This shear is on the upper end of a rod, which is forced upward by a
lever, and it is actuated by a cam, so as to cut off the wire at the proper time.
The grooving die and its rod are connected with the same lever, and are at
the same time actuated by it. Simultaneously with this operation, the inner
tubes, which rotate, are made to advance, and one of them, having its centre
exactly opposite the projecting end of the wire, slips over it. This particular
tube is held when receiving the wire, so as not to revolve, which is done by a
catch affixed to the frame, against which a projecting pin on the tube is

page_text: brought into contact. The wedge is also drawn back by its button and stem,
and held by a trigger or catch affixed to the third disc, so as to allow the
wire a free entrance into the tube. When this inner tube has passed on to
the wire sufficiently, the tail of the trigger strikes the middle disc, and trips
it, thus allowing the wedge to be moved by the spring, and so cause the wedge
to hold the wire in the tube.
The advancing of the inner tubes is effected by a lever connected by a fork
and collar with the third rotating disc, and its lower end is acted on by a cam.
The proper length of wire having been cut off and treated as above explained,
the inner tubes are drawn back by a spring on the said lever or otherwise, the
discs are then turned so as to bring the next succeeding inner tube to the
point for receiving a wire, as above described. This process of turning the
dises is effected by a band which passes over a pulley on the driving shaft.
The tendency of this band is to continuously revolve the discs if not checked.
On the exterior circumference of the centre disc are projections that come into
contact with projections or cogs on a small wheel placed just below it and at
right angles thereto. The wheel is on a short shaft, on which there is a second
cog or ratchet wheel; this latter wheel is actuated by a catch or pawl con-
nected with a lever; thus when the projections are in contact with a cog or
wheel the discs are at rest, but when the cog passes, the projection on the disc
passes, and the discs revolve until the next one is stopped by a cog. The cut
wire held by the first tube having by the rotation of the dises passed on to the
second position, and its tube become free from the catch, the tube commences
to revolve; and as the tubes again advance in order that the next tube may
be fed with a length of wire, the end of the wire held by the first-mentioned
tube comes into contact with the first grinding surface. The grinding or
pointing of the wire is effected by the face of a revolving steel cutting disc or
emery wheel; the end of the wire is pressed against the surface of said disc or
wheel by a block or gauge, which is adjusted by a set screw into the exact
position, so as to properly bring the end of the wire into contact with the
grinding surface. The tubes then again retreat and the discs again revolve
one more step, and thus bring another piece of wire to the grinder, at the same
time that another tube is brought into position to receive another piece of
wire, the first piece of wire being by its tube brought into position to be acted
on by another grinder finer than the previous one, where the point is made
more perfect. At the next step in the rotation of the discs the first mentioned
tube is stopped in its revolution by a catch similar to that above described; the
partly finished needle is then brought forward by its tube without revolving,
and is ground flat on the same side as the groove formed by the first operation.

page_text: At the next step of the discs this wire is smoothed and polished by a polishing
wheel while revolving; this wheel acts at its periphery on the needle against
which the needle is borne by a spring, the spring being adjusted by set screws.
The wire is now shaped and ready for bending into form. The next step of the
discs brings the smooth incomplete needle opposite to the bending apparatus,
its point is then pressed forward through a stationary guide. The point of the
needle after passing the stationary guide passes along beside a straight die, of
which the guide forms a part, and projects beyond this stationary guide just
far enough for the bend; at this point is fixed a vertical shaft, the central line
of which is just beyond the end of the straight die, two sides of which shaft
are cut away to the centre so as to present, when the point of the needle is
inserted, a straight surface continuous with the straight stationary part of the
die, and on a line therewith is an arm affixed to the shaft against which the
point of the needle comes. Affixed to the stationary die there is a thin steel
piece, between which and the stationary die the needle passes, and around
which the barb is bent into the form required, by revolving the shaft about a
half turn. This movement bends the barb short around the steel piece, and
the arm on the axis makes the necessary bend in the end of the barb for
entering the groove of the needle. In advancing the tubes, the button of the
one which presents the needle for this last operation, is brought within the in-
fluence of a stationary piece on the framework, by which when the tubes are
advanced the button is caught, and the hold on the shank of the needle released
by drawing back the wedge, as before fully described, after which the tubes
are again moved back, and the revolving discs are rotated to their first
position.
In making needles that are not barbed the bending apparatus is omitted.