NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NEEDLES
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Richard Schleicher at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
September 1864.-A communication to him from abroad by Joseph
Wolters, of Aix-la-Chapelle.
I, RICHARD SCHLEICHER, of Belle-vallée, near Aix-la-Chapelle, but at
present residing at Redditch, in the County of Worcester, Needle Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "NEW OR
IMPROVED MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NEEDLES," to be as
follows:-
In the manufacture of needles pieces of steel wire of sufficient length to
make two needles are pointed at each end, and impressions for two eyes are
made near the middle of each of the said pieces of wire. The wires thus
treated have nearly the figure of two needles joined together head to head.
In making the said impressions for the eyes, the pressing tools flatten out
the wire near the said impressions, making a wing or waste piece on either
side; these waste pieces are ordinarily removed by filing.
The said Invention consists of the machinery, herein-after described, for
grinding away these waste pieces. The said machinery is constructed as
follows:-A grindstone is mounted on a horizontal axis in the frame of the
machine, the axis of the grindstone being capable of being raised and lowered
by means of screws for the purpose of adjusting the said grindstone. The
top of the grindstone projects through an opening in the top plate of the
machine; on either side of the said opening is a rail, the said rails being

page_text: parallel with each other and with the axis of the grindstone. On these rails
the holder herein-after described, and in which the needles to be ground aro
fixed, is supported, and by pushing the holder containing the needles across the
rotating grindstone and back again the waste pieces are ground away. Tho
holder, which is independent of the grinding machine, is constructed as
follows: The body of the holder consists of a plato to which the other parts
are attached. On the under side of the said plate, and parallel thereto, are
two caoutchouc or other clastic cushions, against which cushions the pointed
ends of the partially formed needles aro pressed. The needles aro held
ngainst the cushions by plates turning upon a hinge; these plates aro pressed
up against the cushions by means of cams on an axis on the top of the body
of the holder. By means of a handle or lever the said axis can be made to
perform a partial rotation, and its cams are thereby made to press the plates
against the cushions or liberate them therefrom. In fixing the needles in
the holder, a number of the needles (say from thirty to fifty) are strung or
threaded upon wires passed through their eyes. The holder is inverted so
that its cushions may be uppermost, and the needles are placed in the holder,
their points resting on the cushions. By means of the handle described tho
needles are pressed upon the cushions by the plates, and thereby fixed in
the holder. The holder is now taken to the grinding machine and placed
(cushions downwards) upon the rails of the said machine. By pushing the
holdor backwards and forwards on the rails the waste pieces on one side of
the needles are ground off by the rotating grindstone. By removing the
holder and reversing the needles, and operating on them a second timo by the
grinding machine, the waste pieces on their other sides are ground off.