IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR POLISHING NEEDLES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Hughes, of the Firm of Hughes
and Son, Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR POLISHING NEEDLES."-
A communication from abroad by Chauncey Orrin Crosby, of the
City and County of New Haven, State of Connecticut, United States
of America.
Sealed the 18th December 1868, and dated the 22nd June 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas
Hughes at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 22nd June 1868.
"
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent
Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR POLISHING NEEDLES,'
a communication to me from abroad by Chauncey Orrin Crosby, of the
City and County of New Haven, State of Connecticut, United States of
America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in the process of finishing
needles after they have been tempered, and consists, first, in the

page_text: peculiar manner of scouring the needles, whereby the roll or bag is
kept in constant revolution, and, secondly, in mechanism for polishing
the needles after they have been scoured.
The process of scouring is a substitute for the tables and recipro-
cating plates heretofore in general use for this purpose, and in order
that the Invention may be clearly understood I will proceed to
describe the first or scouring process as illustrated by Sheet I. of the
accompanying Drawings, in which Fig. I. is a side view, and Fig. 2
a transverse sectional view of the apparatus for giving the first polish
to the needles.
In a suitable frame and in adjustable bearings are arranged two
cylinders or rolls A and B, and so as to be adjusted nearer to or farther
from each other, as the case may be, and above the said two rolls A
and B is arranged a third roll or cylinder C in proper bearings so as
to be self-adjusting up and down upon the lower rolls, and this is
preferably done by arranging the bearings of the roll C upon a
swinging frame D, the said frame pivoted at a so as to swing up and
down from or toward the lower rolls. Through a convenient driving
shaft E power is communicated to revolve the several rolls in the
same direction as denoted by the arrows. The needles are prepared
for polishing in the usual manner, that is to say, the needles are laid
upon canvas, then rolled up into a bundle containing the requisite
quantity (say 500,000), and strongly bound with cord. The bundle thus
prepared (or prepared in any other manner) is placed upon the two
rolls A and B, as denoted at d, then the upper roll dropped on to the
bundle and the several rolls set in motion as before described cause a
continuous revolution of the bundle d until the needles are suitably
polished as far as may be by this process; they are then removed from
the machine and taken from the bundle and cleaned in any convenient
manner by barrel tumbling or otherwise. More than three rolls may
be employed in this process, yet three are beleived to be the most
practical, and these may by the common adjustment of the belt be
made to give a certain number of revolutions in one direction, and
then to reverse if such reversal of the revolution should be deemed
necessary; this would give to the bundle the same action as is given
in the old method of rolling upon a table. Then after inspection, which
operation leaves the needles with the eyes and points in the same
direction, they are ready for the final polish which is given by a machine

page_text: which constitutes the second part of this Invention, and which I will
now proceed to describe as illustrated by Sheet 2 of the accompanying
Drawings, on which Fig. 3 is a top view of the machine; Fig. 4, a
front view of the same; Fig. 5, a transverse section on line x, x;
5 Fig. 6, a transverse section through the carrying screws enlarged.
A is the bed plate, upon which, in proper bearings B, the driving
shaft C is arranged so as to be revolved by the application of power
thereto in any convenient manner; C' is the hopper, its lower end or
mouth a being of the width of the diameter of the needles to be
polished. Beneath the said mouth are arranged two slides 6 and d,
operated respectively by cams D and E on the driving shaft through
levers 6 and d', the said slides being shewn through the hopper in
Fig. 3, the hopper broken away for the purpose. The lower slide d
passes under the mouth of the hopper so that the column of needles
rest therein; then the upper slide 6 which is adjusted to the proper
relative position of the slide d so as to pass in above the first needle
and between that and the second; then the lower slide d is drawn back,
and a single needle is then delivered; then the slide d returns beneath
the hopper, the slide b is withdrawn, the column of needles falls upon
the lower slide, the upper slide again enters as before and a second
needle is delivered, and so continuing delivers a single needle at each
complete operation of the two slides. Beneath the mouth of the hopper
and longitudinally across the machine extend two screw shafts F and H,
the front or H being a right-hand, and the other or F a left-hand
screw, or may be vice versa, and arranged beneath the mouth of the
hopper, so that the needles are delivered into the thread of the screws
lying at right angles to the axes of the screws. The said screws aro
arranged in a proper support G, and are caused to revolve by connection
with the driving shaft, as seen in Fig. 3, so as to draw the needles
delivered into the said screws across the machine from the hopper.
Near the hopper is arranged a transverse shaft I, and at the other
end of the machine a corresponding shaft K caused to revolve by
worms ff on the driving shaft, and upon each shaft respectively is
arranged a pulley I' and K', the said pulleys being in a position central
etween the screws, as seen in Fig. 3, and a band L around the two
ulleys, its lower surface lying in close proximity to the bed or support
etween the screws, as seen in Fig. 6, enlarged, and the direction of
be revolution of the said pulleys being such that the lower side of

page_text: the band moves in the direction of the draught of the screws but at
a velocity twice as fast as the draught of the screws, so that the needles
rolled along by the revolving screws and beneath the band L (the said
band L lying upon the needles) and moving twice as fast as the
needles, they will, by the combined action of the revolving screws and
moving band L be caused to revolve and roll along the surface or bed
between the screws, the depth of the thread in the screws relative to
the bed or rest between the screws being such that the needle will
rest upon the said bed, and this bed may be of any suitable material
to prevent injury to the needles while rolling thereon. The needles
are fed into the screws so that their head ends project upon one side,
here represented as the back side. Upon the back side is arranged a
polishing cylinder M hung in a frame N, and caused to revolve rapidly
by the application of power thereto in any convenient manner. The
said cylinder is coated with any suitable material for polishing purposes,
and the frame N is caused to vibrate so as to carry the polishing
cylinder toward and from the screws by means of a cam P on a shaft R
through levers S and T, see Fig. 3. This vibration passes the cylinder M
over the surface of the needles, which while passing thereunder and
slowly revolving are polished by the polishing cylinder M. In order
to securely hold the needles in their position while being polished as
well as to guide the band L, I arrange upon the upper surface of the
under belt shoes i, the said shoes being constructed with a flange
projecting down over each edge of the band, as seen in Fig. 5, and
borne down by springs m with sufficient force to sustain the needles in
their proper position and yet so as to allow the band to be drawn freely
thereunder; the shoes also serve to guide and hold the band in its proper
path while rolling the needles, and on the frame N in the rear of the
revolving cylinder I arrange a bar n, which as the frame advances
strikes the heads of the needles, and forces them into an even position,
if they shall in the their transfer have been displaced, the said bar being
adjustable for different lengths of needles and beneath the needles upon
the support G or at other convenient point is arranged a cushion
see Fig. 6, upon which the needles bear as the polishing cylinder M
passes over their surface, the cushion being arranged upon springs &
or their equivalent, so as to be self-adjusting. The frame N is supported
ia bearings R, so as to be adjusted to change the arc of the circl
through which the polishing cylinder moves while passing over th
needles. Passing from under the first cylinder M the needles ar

page_text: forced through so that their points project upon the opposite side to
be in their turn polished, and are so forced by a bar U actuated by
a cam W arranged so as to operate against the heads and gradually
force the needles through as they advance, until having arrived at the
end of the bar U, they are forced sufficiently far through that the
remainder of the needle not polished by the first operation may be
polished by the second, and this is done by the arrangement of a
cylinder M in a frame N¹ in like manner as the first cylinder, the
frame hung and adjusted in like manner in its bearings R³, and
provided with its cushion ¹ beneath, and with the shoes and adjusting
springs m', also in like manner as the first, the frame N¹ being actuated
by a cam P¹ through levers S and T", the needles passing under the
polishing cylinder M', their point ends are finished up to and
meeting the first polished surface, and thus pass from beneath the
cylinder M complete, thence carried on from under the band and
discharged from the machine. During the last polishing the needles
are retained in position to be properly guided by a bar Y arranged
in the rear of the screws, so that the heads bear against the said bar
as they pass along the second polishing cylinder. The two cylinders
may be reversed, or the needles may be polished either end first. I.
prefer however the arrangement or manner of proceedure described. In
some cases there may be objections to the using of screws for carrying
the needles over the polishers, such objections existing, the machine is
constructed as illustrated by Sheet 3 of the accompanying Drawings, on
which Fig. 7 is a top view of the machine; Fig. 8, a front view of the
same; Fig. 9, a transverse section on line x, x; Fig. 10, a transverse
section through the carrying band, enlarged; and: Fig. 11, a longitudinal
section through the hopper.
The general construction of the machine in this illustration is the same
as the last described, and in this illustration I show an attachment at the
mouth of the hopper, that is, at the exit of the hopper into the con-
ductor where the needles are liable to clog, so as to prevent them passing
into the channel. To avoid this I attach upon the upper slide or
plate a wedge-shaped slide d², so as to enter the hopper about the
intersection of the hopper with the channel, so that as the slide b
moves into the column of needles this wedge d² will enter at the top
of the column at that point where the needles are liable to clog, the
wedge shape of the slide d forces up the body of the needles, then
as it returns allows the needles to fall again, and so at each operation

page_text: agitates the needles at that point and so prevents their clogging.
Beneath the mouth of the hopper and longitudinally across the machine
extend two endless bands F and H grooved correspondingly, each of
the grooves being formed so as to receive the needle, and so that a needle
lying in the grooves of the two belts will be at nearly right angles
across the bands, the two bands passing over a pulley on the shaft I,
the said shaft I revolving by connection through the shaft J with the
driving shaft C, see Fig. 7, the band passing over the pulley K of the
other end of the machine, and between the two said pulleys is arranged a
bed or support G, upon which the upper run of the said endless bands
rest, as seen enlarged in Fig. 10, so that the said upper run of the
band traverses along the upper surface of the support G. To retain
the bands postively in a position so that the groove of one corresponds
to the groove of the other, and so as to hold the needles at nearly
right angles to the band, I arrange at any convenient point (here
represented at the end of the machine) toothed wheels K', the teeth
cut to correspond to the grooves in the two bands, and so that the two
bands work upon the wheels K' similar to gear wheels upon each other,
as seen in Fig. 8, the two wheels K being fixed upon the same shaft
or together, so that the grooves in the two bands are postively retained
in the same relative position to each other. The said grooved bands
passing beneath the mouth or channel of the hopper receive a needle
into each groove in their passage beneath the hopper, the needle
delivered thereto as before described, and thus carry the needles from
the hopper along over the bed or support G. It is advantageous in
delivering the needles from this machine that they be retained in the
same position as they are delivered, that is, the head ends all one way,
in order to facilitate putting up the needles for market. To do this a
pair of endless belts are arranged upon pulleys 2 and 3, and 4 and 5,
so that the needles as they pass from the delivering apparatus, whether
it be screws or bands, will pass in between the two said endless bands,
meeting the surfaces of the said two endless bands, move in the same
direction, and receiving the needle between their two surfaces transfer
the needles, and carrying them over the pulley 5, drops them into a
receiver 6; the said two bands are caused to travel at the proper
velocity by connection with the machine. The receptacle 6 for the
needles is placed upon an endless band 7 beneath the lower of the two
delivering bands, the band 7 travelling at a slow velocity, or so that
the receptacle after having received a certain number of needles will

page_text: pass from under the delivery, when another receptacle replaces the
first, and so on, the needles continuing to drop from the delivery bands
into the receptacle, their eyes and points respectively always in the
same direction. It is not essential that the receptacle be arranged so
as to receive a certain number of needles, but it will be a convenience
so to do where the needles are put up by count, but the receptacle
may remain to receive an indefinite quantity, and replaced at intervals
the only object being to retain the needles in the proper position.
This arrangement for delivering the needles may be applied to the first
described or screw feed with equal facility.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Thomas Hughes in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st December 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents, 123,
Chancery Lane, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, Her special
licence that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, my exccutors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward
Thomas Hughes, 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 MACHINES POR POLISHING NEEDLES," a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Chauncey Orrin Crosby, of the City
and County of New Haven, State of Connecticut, United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward
Thomas Hughes, 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 In-
vention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause

page_text: 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 Edward Thomas Hughes, 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 accom-
panying three Sheets of Drawings (that is to say) :-
:
This Invention relates to improvements in the process of finishing
needles after they have been tempered, and consists, first, in the peculiar
manner of scouring the needles, whereby the roll or bag is kept in
constant revolution; and, secondly, in mechanism for polishing the
needles after they have been scoured.
The process of scouring is a substitute for the tables and reciprocating
plates heretofore in general use for this purpose, and in order that
the Invention may be clearly understood I will proceed to describe the
first or scouring process as illustrated by Sheet 1 of the accompanying
Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side view, and Fig. 2 a transverse
sectional view of the apparatus for giving the first polish to the
needles.
In a suitable frame and in adjustable bearings are arranged two
cylinders or rolls A and B, and so as to be adjusted near to or farther
from each other, as the case may be, and above the said two rolls A
and B is arranged a third roll or cylinder C in proper bearings so as
to be self-adjusting up and down upon the lower rolls, and this is
preferably done by arranging the bearings of the roll C upon a swinging
frame D, the said frame pivoted at a so as to swing up and down from
or toward the lower rolls. Through a convenient driving shaft E
power is communicated to revolve the several rolls in the same direction
as denoted by the arrows. The needles are prepared for polishing
in the usual manner, that is to say, the needles are laid upon canvas,
then rolled up into a bundle containing the requisite quantity (say
500,000), and strongly bound with cord. The bundle thus prepared
(or prepared in any other manner) is placed upon the two rolls A and B
as denoted at d, then the upper roll dropped on to the bundle and the
several rolls set in motion as before described cause a continuous
revolution of the bundle d until the needles are suitably polished as
far as may be by this process. They are then removed from the machine

page_text: and taken from the bundle and cleaned in any convenient manner by
barrel tumbling or otherwise. More than three rolls may be employed
in this process, yet three are believed to be the most practical, and
these may by the common adjustment of the belt be made to give a
certain number of revolutions in one direction, and then to reverse if
such reversal of the revolution should be deemed necessary. This would
give to the bundle the same action as is given in the old method of
rolling upon a table. Then after inspection, which operation leaves the
needles with the eyes and points in the same direction, they are ready
for the final polish which is given by a machine which constitutes the
second part of this Invention, and which I will now proceed to describe
as illustrated by Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings, in which
Fig. 3 is a top view of the machine; Fig. 4, a front view of the
same; Fig. 5, a transverse section on line X, x; Fig. 6, a transverse
section through the carrying screws enlarged.
A is the bed plate, upon which, in proper bearings B, the driving
shaft C is arranged so as to be revolved by the application of power thereto
in any convenient manner; c' is the hopper, its lower end or mouth a
being of the width of the diameter of the needles to be polished.
Beneath the said mouth are arranged two slides 6 and d, operated respec-
tively by cams D and E on the driving shaft through levers b' and d¹, the
said slides being shewn through the hopper in Fig. 3, the hopper broken
away for the purpose. The lower slide d passes under the mouth of
the hopper so that the column of needles rest therein; then the upper
slide 6 which is adjusted to the proper relative position of the slide d
so as to pass in above the first needle and between that and the second;
then the lower slide d is drawn back, and a single needle is then
delivered; then the slide d returns beneath the hopper, the slide > is
withdrawn, the column of needles falls upon the lower slide, the upper
slide again enters as before and a second needle is delivered, and so
continuing delivers a single needle at each complete operation of the
two slides. Beneath the mouth of the hopper and longitudinally across
the machine extend two screw shafts F and H, the front or H being a
right-hand and the other or F a left-hand screw, or may be vice versa,
and arranged beneath the mouth of the hopper, so that the needles are
delivered into the thread of the screws lying at right angles to the axis
of the screws. The said screws are arranged in a proper support G,
and are caused to revolve by connection with the driving shaft, as seen

page_text: in Fig. 3, so as to draw the needles delivered into the said screws across
the machine from the hopper. Near the hopper is arranged a transverse
shaft I, and at the other end of the machine a corresponding shaft K
caused to revolve by worms f, f, on the driving shaft, and upon each
shaft respectively is arranged a pulley I' and K', the said pullies being
in a position central between the screws, as seen in Fig. 3, and a
band L around the two pulleys, its lower surface lying in close
proximity to the bed or support between the screws, as seen in Fig. 6
enlarged, and the direction of the revolution of the said pulleys being
such that the lower side of the band moves in the direction of the
draught of the screws but at a velocity twice as fast as the draught of
the screws, so that the needles rolled along by the revolving screws
and beneath the band L (the said band L lying upon the needles)
and moving twice as fast as the needles, they will, by the combined
action of the revolving screws and moving band L be caused to revolve
or roll along upon the surface or bed between the screws, the depth of
the thread in the screws relative to the bed h or rest between the screws
being such that the needle will rest upon the said bed, and this bed
may be of any suitable material to prevent injury to the needles while
rolling thereon. The needles are fed into the screws so that their
head ends project upon one side, here represented as the back side.
Upon the back side is arranged a polishing cylinder M hung in a
frame N, and caused to revolve rapidly by the application of power
thereto in any convenient manner. The said cylinder is coated with any
suitable material for polishing purposes, and the frame N is caused
to vibrate so as to carry the polishing cylinder toward and from the
screws by means of a cam P on a shaft R through levers S and T,
see Fig. 3. This vibration passes the cylinder M over the surface of
the needles, which while passing thereunder and slowly revolving are
polished by the polishing cylinder M. In order to securely hold
the needles in their position while being polished, as well as to guide
the band L, I arrange upon the upper surface of the under belt
shoes i, the said shoes being constructed with a flange projecting
down over each edge of the band, as seen in Fig. 5, and borne
down by springs m with sufficient force to sustain the needles in
their proper position and yet so as to allow the band to be drawn
freely thereunder; the shoes also serve to guide and hold the band
in its proper path while rolling the needles, and on the frame N in
the rear of the revolving cylinder I arrange a bar n, which as the

page_text: frame advances strikes the heads of the needles and forces them
into an
even position, if they shall in their transfer have been
displaced, the said bar being adjustable for different lengths of needles,
and beneath the needles upon the support G or at other convenient
point is arranged a cushion », see Fig. 6, upon which the needles bear as
the polishing cylinder M passes over their surface, the cushion » being
arranged upon springs 8, or their equivalents, so as to be self-adjusting.
The frame N is supported in bearings R, so as to be adjusted to change
the arc of the circle through which the polishing cylinder moves while
passing over the needles. Passing from under the first cylinder M. the
needles are forced through so that their points project upon the opposite
side to be in their turn polished, and are so forced by a bar U actuated
by a cam W arranged so as to operate against the heads and gradually
force the needle through as they advance, until having arrived at the
end of the bar U they are forced sufficiently far through that the
remainder of the needle not polished by the first operation may be
polished by the second, and this is done by the arrangement of a
cylinder M in a frame N' in like manner as the first cylinder, the
frame hung and adjusted in like manner in its bearings R', and provided
with its cushion beneath, and with the shoes and adjusting springs m',
also in like manner as the first, the frame N' being actuated by a
cam P through levers S¹ and T", the needles passing under the polishing
cylinder M', their point ends are finished up to and meeting the first
polished surface, and thus pass from beneath the cylinder M complete,
thence carried on from under the band and discharged from under the
machine. During the last polishing the needles are retained in position
to be properly guided by a bar Y arranged in the rear of the screws, so
that the heads bear against the said bar as they pass along the second
polishing cylinder. The two cylinders may be reversed, or the needles
may be polished either end first. I prefer, however, the arrangement or
manner of proccedure described. In some cases there may be objections
to the using of screws for carrying the needles over the polishers, such
objections existing, the machine is constructed as illustrated by Sheet 3
of the accompanying Drawings, in which Fig. 7 is a top view of the
machine, Fig. 8 a front view of the same, Fig. 9 a transverse section
on line y, y, Fig. 10 a transverse section through the carrying band,
enlarged, and Fig. 11 a longitudinal section through the hopper.

page_text: same as the last described, and in this illustration I shew an attach-
ment at the mouth of the hopper that is at the exit of the hopper into
the conductor where the needles are liable to clog, so as to prevent
their passing into the channel. To avoid this I attach upon the upper
slide or plate a wedge-shaped slide d³, so as to enter the hopper about
the intersection of the hopper with the channel, so that as the slide b
moves into the column of needles this wedge d² will enter at the top of
the column at the point where the needles are liable to clog, the wedge
shape of the slide d² forces up the body of the needles, then as it returns
allows the needles to fall again, and so at each operation agitates the
needles at that point and so prevents their clogging. Beneath the
mouth of the hopper and longitudinally across the machine extend two
endless bands F and H grooved correspondingly, each of the grooves
being formed so as to receive the needle, and so that a needle lying in
the grooves of the two belts will be at nearly right angles across the
bands, the two bands passing over a pulley on the shaft I, the said
shaft I revolving by connection through the shaft J with the driving
shaft C, see Fig. 7, the band passing over the pulley K of the other
end of the machine, and between the two said pulleys is arranged a
bed or support G, upon which the upper run of the said endless bands
rest, as seen enlarged in Fig. 10, so that the said upper run of the band
traverses along the upper surface of the support G. To retain the bands
positively in a position so that the groove of one corresponds to the
groove of the other, and so as to hold the needles at nearly right angles
to the band, I arrange at any convenient point (here represented at the
end of the machine) toothed wheels K³, the teeth cut to correspond to
the grooves in the two bands, and so that the two bands work upon the
wheels K similar to gear wheels upon each other, as seen in Fig. 8, the
two wheels K' being fixed upon the same shaft or together, so that
the grooves in the two bands are positively retained in the relative
position to each other. The said grooved bands passing beneath the
mouth or channel of the hopper receive a needle into each groove in
their passage beneath the hopper, the needle delivered thereto, as before
described, and thus carry the needles from the hopper along over the
bed or support G. Near the hopper is arranged a transverse shaft J,
and at the other end of the machine a corresponding shaft K' caused
to revolve by worms f, f, on the driving shaft, and upon each shaft
respectively is arranged a pulley J' and K³, the said pulleys being in a
position central between the bands F and H, as seen in Fig. 7, and a

page_text: band L around the said two pullies; its lower surface lying in close
proximity to the bed or support between the bands F and H, as scen
in Fig. 10 enlarged, and the direction of the revolution of the said
pulleys being such that the lower side of the belt moves in the direction
of the draught of the bands F and H, but at a velocity twice as fast
as the draught of the screws, so that the needles drawn along by the
bands F and H and beneath the band L (the band lying upon the
needles) and the said band L moving twice as fast as the needles,
the needles will by the combined action of the bands F and H and
moving band L be caused to revolve or roll along upon the surface
or bed between the screws, the depth of the groove in the bands F
and H relative to the bed h, or rest between the screws, being such that
the needle will rest upon the said bed, and this bed may be of any
suitable material to prevent the rolling of the needle thereon from
injuring the surface of the needle. The needles are fed into the grooves
in the bands F and H, and passed over the polishing cylinders M
and M' in like manner as before described and shewn in Figs. 3, 4, 5,
and 6. It is advantageous in delivering the needles from this machine
that they be retained in the same position as they are delivered, that
is, the head ends all one way, in order to facilitate putting up the needles
for market. To do this a pair of endless belts are arranged upon pullies
2 and 3, and 4 and 5, so that the needles as they pass from the delivering
apparatus, whether it be screws or bands, will pass in between the two
said endless bands, meeting the surfaces of the two said endless bands,
move in the same direction, and receiving the needle between their two
surfaces transfer the needles, and carrying them over the pulley 5, drops
them into a receiver 6; the said two bands are caused to travel at the
proper velocity by connection with the machine. The receptacle 6 for
the needles is placed upon an endless band 7 beneath the lower of the
two delivering bands, the band 7 travelling at a slow velocity, or so that
the receptacle after having received a certain number of needles will
pass from under the delivery, when another receptacle replaces the first,
and so on, the needles continuing to drop from the delivery bands into
the receptacle, their eyes and points respectively always in the same
direction. It is not essential that the receptacle be arranged so as to
receive a certain number of needles, but it will be a convenience so
to do where the needles are put up by count, but the receptacle may
remain to receive an indefinite quantity, and replaced at intervals, the
only object being to retain the needles in the proper position. This

page_text: arrangement for delivering the needles may be applied to the first
described or screw feed with equal facility.
Having fully described the Invention, what I claim as new and useful,
and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,--
First. The process described for the first polish by means of revolving 5
rolls arranged and operating so as to cause the bundle to revolve between
the said rolls, substantially as set forth.
Second. The arrangement of the two screws F and H revolving
toward each other, and their axes parallel to each other and both in
the same plane, so as to receive and transfer the needles, substantially 1
in the manner set forth.
Third. The two slides b and d combined together, so as to receive
and deliver the needles or blanks from the receptacle, substantially in
the manner herein set forth.
Fourth. The combination of the two slides b and d with the two 1
screws F and H, arranged and operating substantially in the manner
described.
Fifth. In combination with the two screws F and H I claim the
band L moving in the same direction as the force of the screws, and
in relative velocity to the screws, so that the needles between the screws 20
and band are caused to revolve, substantially as set forth.
Sixth. In combination with the screws F and H and band L operating
as described I claim the polishing cylinder or cylinders M operating so
as to polish the surface of the needles, substantially as described.
Seventh. In combination with the screws F and H and band L 2
I claim the shoes i arranged upon the band L, so as to create a pressure
upon the band, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Eighth. The shoes i in combination with the band L when the said
shoes are constructed as described, so as to guide and hold the said
band in the proper path for revolving the needles, substantially as set 30
forth.
Ninth. In combination with the polishing cylinder or cylinders M and
carrying or revolving device for the needles I claim the cushion » to
support the needles, substantially in the manuer and for the purpose
set forth.
35

page_text: Tenth. In combination with the first polishing cylinder M the carrying
or revolving device for the needles and the polishing cylinder M' I claim
the bar U, arranged so as to move the needles, substantially in the
manner and for the purpose set forth.
Eleventh. In combination with the carrying device for the needles
and the polishing cylinder M. I claim the bar Y, arranged so as to
guide and sustain the needles, substantially in the manner and for the
purpose set forth.
Twelfth. The arrangement of the two bands F and H grooved corre-
spondingly, and arranged so as to traverse across the machine parallel
to each other, so as to receive and transfer the needles, substantially
in the manner set forth.
Thirteenth. The combination of the two slides b and d with the two
bands F and H, arranged and operating substantially in the manner
described.
Fourteenth. The wedge-shaped slide d' arranged near the mouth of
the hopper, so as to operate to prevent the choking of the hopper,
substantially as set forth.
Fifteenth. In combination with the two bands F and H I claim the
band L, the lower run of which moves in the same direction as the
upper run of the bands F and H, and in relative velocity to the bands
F and H, so as to revolve the needles, substantially as set forth.
Sixteenth. In combination with the bands F and H and band L
operating as described, I claim the polishing cylinder or cylinders M,
operating so as to polish the surface of the needles, substantially as
described.
Seventeenth. In combination with the bands F and H and band L
I claim the shoes i arranged upon the band L, so as to create a pressure
thereon, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Eighteenth. In combination with the grooved bands F and H I claim
the correspondingly toothed wheels K³, so as to operate to govern the
relative position of the two bands, substantially in the manner hercin
set forth.
Nineteenth. The arrangement of the two endless delivering bands
operating respectively upon the pullics 2, 3, and 4, 5, so as to receive
and transfer the needles from the carrying device, substantially in the
manner and for the purpose set forth.

page_text: Twentieth. In combination with the two endless delivering bands
I claim the arrangement of the band 7 and receptacle 6 thereon, so
as to receive the needles from the said endless band and retain them
in proper position, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
E. T. HUGHES. (L.S.)