IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE NAILS AND OTHER NAILS, AND IN MACHINERY USED THEREIN
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Huggett and John Albert Huggett, of 54. Ter-
minus Road, Eastbourne, in the County of Sussex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE NAILS AND OTHER NAILS,
AND IN MACHINERY USED THEREIN."
Sealed the 20th March 1868, and dated the 27th September 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Huggett and John
Albert Huggett at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 27th September 1867.
We, JOHN HUGGETT and JOHN ALBERT HUGGETT, of 54, Terminus Road,
Eastbourne, in the County of Sussex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE NAILS AND OTHER
NAILS, AND IN MACHINERY USED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of horse
nails and other nails, and in machinery used therein. We employ a hammer
worked by steam or by other power, by which a regular reciprocating motion
is given to it. On the face of the hammer are two dies, one corresponding in
form to the side of the nail, and the other to its edge. This hammer works
upon an anvil having the incline or bevil of the head of the nail formed upon
it, and receiving a slow rotatory movement about an axis to prevent it wearing
irregularly. The bar of iron which is to be drawn down to form a nail is

page_text: received into a holder which turns it one quarter round, and shifts it sideways
from one dié of the hammer to the other after each blow, so that the bar may
be alternately struck on the side and edge, and alternately by one and the
other of the dies which the hammer carries. The holder for the bar to be
drawn down may conveniently be an axis carried by a slide; the axis is
connected with the hammer so that it turns one quarter round between each
stroke, first one way, then the other, and the slide also receives motion from
the hammer so as to traverse the distance between the dies on the hammer
between the blows alternately in one direction and the other. The hammer
also carries a cutter for cutting the nail off the bar when it has been drawn
down.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Huggett and John Albert Huggett in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 27th March 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
HUGGETT and JOHN ALBERT HUGGETT, of 54, Terminus Road, Eastbourne, in
the County of Sussex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said John Huggett and John Albert Huggett, Her special licence, that
we, the said John Huggett and John Albert Huggett, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Huggett and John
Albert Huggett, our 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 HORSE NAILS AND OTHER NAILS, AND IN
MACHINERY USED THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said John Huggett and John Albert Huggett, our executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the
band and seal of one of us or them, 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

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Albert Huggett, on behalf of myself
and the said John Huggett, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion,, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that
is to say:
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
horse nails and other nails and in machinery used therein. We employ a
hammer worked by power by which a regular reciprocating motion is given
to it; on the face of the hammer are two dies one corresponding in form to
the side of the nail and the other to its edge, this hammer works upon an
anvil also having the incline or bevil of the nail formed upon it. The bar
of iron which is to be drawn down to form a nail is received into a holder
which turns it one-quarter round and shifts it sideways from one die of the
hammer to the other after each blow, so that the bar may be alternately
struck on the side and edge and alternately by one and the other of the dies
which the hammer carries. The holder for the bar to be drawn down may
conveniently be an axis carried by a slide; the axis is connected with the
hammer so that it turns one-quarter round between each stroke, first one
way, then the other.
And in order that our said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect we will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure is a side view of the apparatus which we employ; Figure 2 is
a plan partly in section of the same.
a, a, is the frame of the machine it has upon it a standard a' carrying the
main axis b, on which there are fast and loose pulleys 6', to receive a driving
belt; 62 is an eccentric on this axis receiving an eccentric rod c which at its
other end is jointed to the spring arm d; this arm d at one end pivots upon
a spring standard a fixed to the frame a. At its other end the spring arm d
is jointed to a cylindrical hammer head e, which is capable of rising and
falling within a corresponding cylindrical guide alx forming part of the
standard a'. At the upper end of the hammer head e, a piston is formed
which works in a corresponding cylinder at the top of the standard a', and
the space enclosed under this piston communicates with an air passage
fitted with a valve which is worked by the. descending rod f. All these

page_text: parts are not shown in any great detail in the Drawings because they are not
in themselves new and they form no part of the present Invention. Their
action is as follows:-As the axis b revolves the eccentric 6 gives a vibrating
motion to the spring arm d, and the hammer heade is thus worked up and
down in its guide striking a blow upon the anvil g at each reciprocation, and
during this time air is alternately received into and expelled from the space
underneath the piston upon the hammer head. When it is desired to
prevent the hammer striking upon the anvil the air valve which allows
the ingress and egress of air as above explained is closed, and the air
being trapped underneath the piston prevents the descent of the hammer
head, the spring arm d and the spring standard as then bending under
the action of the eccentric 6. The anvil 9 has set into it two steel
dies gand g which are shown separately in the Figures 3 and the
Figures 4 respectively, and also in Figure 5, which is a side view of the
hammer head and anvil. One of the dies, g', g, has upon it an incline or
taper corresponding with the face of the nail, and the other an incline or taper
corresponding with the side of the nail. The hammer head also carries two
steel dies corresponding in form to the dies g', 9, and working with thei
respectively. h, h¹, are two guide blocks, bolted to the table of the frame a,
and between them is a rectangular opening; in this opening they hold a slide
which is drawn on a larger scale in Figure 6, which is a side view, and in
Figure 7, which is a plan. The slide consists of two parts and. * fitting
together with small studs, and working as one piece when in the guides h, h².
k is an axis passing through the slide, and embraced by it for about. of its
circumference; kis a disc on the front end of the axis k; it has a rectangular
notch cut out of it at k, and this notch is continued from end to end of the
axis parallel with its centre line. In the angle or notch * the nail rod to be
forged lies, and it is securely held there by the spring clip k³ encircling the
disc, and which tends constantly to spring inwards so as to nip with its
head the rod which is laid in the notch or angle k. 1 is a stop fixed upon
the bent lever; it is interposed between the disc k¹ and the spring clip k³;
when this stop is in the position in which it is seen at Figure 6, that is to say,
inclined at a considerable angle to the radius of the.axis k, then the head of
the clip will be bearing upon the nail rod, but by bringing this stop / into a
more nearly radial position the spring clip is forced outwards from the
centre, and the bar is released; this motion is given to the stop by means of
a pusher m, which is lifted by a spiral spring n when the workman removes
his foot from the treddle o; this pusher coming against the vertical limb of
the bent lever raises it as far as the pin * admits, and so the desired change

page_text: of position of the stop is effected. The pin passing through the slotted hole
in the lever is fixed into the disc k, and so the lever is supported. At the
rear end of the axis k a pulley is fixed, and to it are attached the two cords p
and 9; the cord p passes to a spiral spring r, which constantly keeps it
distended whilst the cord 9 passes to a spring arm s having a friction pulley or
truck s¹ upon it, and being jointed to the frame at its lower end.
t is a spiral
spring connected to the arm s, in consequence of its strength and position it is
able to overpower the spring r, and to keep the truck s¹ constantly in contact
with the cam u, the axis of which is driven by a spur wheel u¹ upon it gearing
with a pinion 6 of half the size upon the axis 6; thus it will be seen that the
action of the cam u is to partially rotate the axis k first one way and then the
other between the successive blows of the hammer, and the parts are so
adjusted that the axis k may make a quarter rotation. The slide 1, 3, has a
rod v jointed to it having at its other end a truck or roller which bears against
the incline w carried by the frame. x is a connecting rod descending to the
lever y, which turns with an axis y¹, and is linked to the treddle o. The
spring n and pusher m are also jointed to the lever y, and the rod f is connected
with an arm upon its axis. z is a spiral spring linked with the connecting
rod x, and serving to draw the slide 1,, towards the left hand.
The action of the machine is as follows:-The parts being in the position
in which they are shown in Figure 1, the workman places a nail rod into the
notch or angle of the axis k, and pushes it through until its end rests against
the stop g, as is shown by the red lines in Figure 2. The workman then
depresses the treddle o, and the pusher m being drawn down the spring clip k³
takes hold of the rod; at the same time the rod v being drawn down the
incline w, it causes the slide 1, 2, to traverse a distance such as to bring the
end of the nail rod on to the anvil die g', and here it is struck by the hammer,
the air valve having been simultaneously opened by the action of the rod f;
then as the hammer head e continues to strike upon the anvil the axis k is
partially rotated as already described by the cam u, and this partial rotation
carries the bar from one die to the other, and at the same time it turns it a
quarter round between the blows, and in this way the rod is pointed. It is
removed from the machine, and the pointed end being shorn off forms the
nail required. A is a wedge capable of sliding upon the anvil g; it is worked
by the hand lever B, and the spring C holds it down in its place; this wedge A
is used to limit the descent of the hammer, which strikes down upon it when
the nail is complete.
We would remark that although we have shown our Invention as applied

page_text: to a hammer worked from a rotated axis, it is evident that it is also applicable
when other sorts of power hammers are used.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Albert Huggett, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of March, in the year
of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
JOHN ALBERT HUGGETT. (L.S.)