IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NEEDLES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Walker, of Gresham Street, in the City of
London, Needle Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF NEEDLES."
Sealed the 1st September 1858, and dated the 19th May 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Walker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
May 1858.
I, HENRY WALKER, of Gresham Street, in the City of London, Needle
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NEEDLES," to be as follows:-
Needles are usually made with grooves or indentations commonly called
"gutters" which join the eyes B thus ✓05; they are also made without
the grooves A, and are then called "grooveless;" but in cach case they
have usually the grooves C, which serve as recesses in which the thread lodges
when the needle and thread have to pass through the cloth on which they are
used. Needles, however, with or without grooves, have a disadvantage, which
is that the metal is considerably reduced in thickness immediately before the
eye, and what is left is not enough to keep the hole open in a circular form
(as made by the needle in sewing) until the thread is close to it on its way
through the cloth. I propose to change the structure of that part marked A
by making a double groove or gutter somewhat like an elongated horseshoo

page_text: (as thus
; A, the new arrangement; B, the eye; C, the groove
above the eye), the metal in the interior of which is left nearly or quite as high
as it was originally in the cylinder of the wire, or it may even be slightly raised,
because if left high, it could be reduced in the subsequent process of scouring.
This double groove gives sufficient hold to the dies or bits of the stamper to
strike the needles well, and enables him to leave the metal before the eye, and
the needle is in consequence better suited for its work, as it will pass more
easily with its thread through the cloth than needles made by the old process.
It is not, however, necessary to adhere strictly to the shape given for the
double grooves in order to keep the metal raised instead of depressed as in
the existing makes of needles, for a double groove need not join as a horse-
shoe, but may join as a point, a cone, a square, or some other shape, or
separate lines, or grooves, or indentations may be used for the purpose before
described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Walker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th November 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, IIENRY
WALKER, of Gresham Street, in the City of London, Needle Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Пer reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Walker, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Walker,
my exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Walker, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF NEEDLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry
Walker, my executors or administrators, 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

page_text: 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 Henry Walker, 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 follow-
ing statement, reference being had to the annexed Drawing, and to the figures
and letters marked thereon, similar letters being placed upon and denoting
similar parts, where such parts appear or can be seen at each of the Figures
respectively:-
The beads and eyes of needles are usually made while the wire is in the soft
state by the use of dies and punches actuated by stamps and presses, the
surplus metal which has been spread by the dies being afterwards filed away.
I do not alter this mode of manufacture except in so far as alteration is
necessary for the purpose of my Invention, the object of which is to raise a
portion of the metal in front of the eyes of needles on that side of the eyes
which is towards the point; and I do this by so forming or shaping the dies
that a blow from a pair of them will form a groove somewhat like an elongated
horseshoe, and raise the metal within it in front of the eyes of the needles, as
shewn in the Drawing, in which, in Figure 1, a represents the groove or sunken
part before the eye; b, the eye; and c, the groove above the eye, where the
thread falls in the act of sewing. Needles are also made with grooves above
the eye and without grooves below the eye, as shewn at Figure 2; a being the
part without a groove; b, the eye; and c, the groove above the eye. It will be
observed that Figures 1 and 2 in the Drawing represent needles as manu-
factured prior to my improved needle shewn at Figure 3. In sewing with a
needle made as Figure 1, the cloth or fabric on which it is used has a tendency
to fall in over the part a, and thereby to obstruct the passage of the thread.
Needles made as Figure 2 (called grooveless) are liable in the manufacture to
have the part of the wire at a rather flattened or made thinner before the eye,
and they are in consequence liable to the same and often to greater objection
than needles made as Figure 1. Figure 3 shews my improved needle; the
part a instead of being sunken or depressed (as at Figure 1) is raised, and I
prefer to raise therein all the metal which the original cylinder of the wire will
furnish, or as near that as it is practicable. Around this ridge or raised part a
is a small indentation somewhat like an elongated horseshoe, the formation of
which enables the stamper to leave the part within it (a, Figure 3,) raised or
Somewhat forced up, and which being before the eye b, keeps open the hole
which is formed by the needle in sewing, and thereby enables the needle with

page_text: its thread to pass through the cloth or fabric more easily. The groove c,
Figure 3, above the eye is made as in the older kinds of needles, the Figures 1,
2, and 3, being all alike at the part c. The needles represented by the
Figures 1, 2, and 3 are all drawn of a large size in order to shew the Inven-
tion more distinctly. The elongated horseshoe form need not, however, be
strictly adhered to, for it may be shaped as a cone, a triangle, or a letter V, or
a letter Y, or other form, or a mark, a line or lines dotted or continuous, or
dots or lines parallel or intersecting may be used for the purpose of giving
a holding power to the dies to raise up the part of the metal before described,
the intention of which raised part is to assist the passage of the needle with its
thread in sewing. I adapt my improvement to eyes of any desired shape, as
square, long, oval, round, and other, and to all kinds of needles, however
large or small.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which I carry it into effect, I would observe that I claim the exclusive
privilege and right to manufacture and vend needles made with a portion of
the metal (cylinder of the wire) raised on the side towards the point in front
of the eye, of whatever form such raised portion may be, as herein-before
detailed, illustrated, or described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Walker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
W. E. GEDGE,
4, Danes Inn, Strand.
II. WALKER. (L.S.)