IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isaac Gray Bass and William Bass, both of Broughton
Little, in the County of Cumberland, and carrying on Business at Work-
ington, in the said County, under the style or firm of J. G. Bass & Son,
Nail Manufacturers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Isaac Gray Bass and
William Bass at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 13th June 1863.
We, ISAAC GRAY BASS and WILLIAM BASS, both of Broughton Little, in
the County of Cumberland, and carrying on Business at Workington, in the
said County, under the style or firm of J. G. Bass & Son, Nail Manufacturers,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF NAILS AND SPIKES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is so to construct nails and spikes that they may
be driven into wood, irrespective of the direction of the grain, without risk of
splitting the wood, and without the wood being prepared for their reception by
boring. To this end we make the nail or spike, by preference, four sided,
hollowing out or grooving all sides, so as to ensure cutting edges at the angles.
The point or substitute therefor we obtain while still retaining the cutting edges,
by tapering the nail or spike towards its end in the following manner :-Two
opposite edges of the nail, if, for example, it is four sided, we preserve nearly
at their original parallelism from the head to the extremity of the nail, but
as the edges near the extremity or "point" we reduce them in thickness so as
to form "feathers." To the other edges we give a rapid taper towards the

page_text: point, at the same time retaining somewhat of their original wedge shape in
cross section. The point of the nail or spike, therefore, in plan view will
appear somewhat like a splayed or elongated diamond form, and will under all
circumstances, when driven into wood, open a way for the passage of the shaft
or stem of the nail or spike.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Isaac Gray Bass and William Bass in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th December 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ISAAC
GRAY BASS and WILLIAM BASS, both of Broughton Little, in the County of
Cumberland, and carrying on Business at Workington, in the said County,
under the style or firm of J. G. Bass & Son, Nail Manufacturers, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Isaac Gray Bass and William Bass, Her special license that we, the said
Isaac Gray Bass and William Bass, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Isaac Gray Bass and William Bass, 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 NAILS
AND SPIKES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Isaac
Gray Bass and William Bass, by an instrument in writing, under our hands
and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Isaac Gray Bass, on behalf of myself
and of the said William Bass, do hereby declare the nature of our 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, (reference being

page_text: had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say)
The object of this Invention is so to construct nails and spikes that they
may be driven into wood, irrespective of the direction of the grain, without risk
of splitting the wood, and without the wood being prepared for their reception
by boring. To this end we make the nail or spike, by preference, four-sided,
hollowing out or grooving all sides so as to ensure cutting edges at the angles.
The point or the substitute for the point we obtain, while still retaining the
cutting edges, by tapering the nail or spike towards its end in the manner shewn
in the accompanying Drawing, where Fig. 1 is a side view of a nail enlarged,
or a spike, and Fig. 2 is a view taken at right angles to Fig. 1; Figures 3 and 4
are cross sections of the nail or spike, taken at the dotted lines of Fig. 1. In
these Figures it will be seen that the two opposite edges, a, a, of the nail (which
is four-sided) are preserved nearly at their original parallelism from the head
6 to the extremity c of the nail, that is, the breadth of the nail is but slightly
diminished, and that, as these edges near the extremity or "point" they are
reduced in thickness, so as to form "feathers." To the other edges d, d, how-
ever, a rapid taper is given towards the point, while at the same time they
retain somewhat of their original wedge shape in cross section. The point
of the nail or spike, therefore, in plan view somewhat resembles a splayed or
elongated diamond form with.concave sides. The effect of this peculiar con-
figuration of tapering, and parallel or nearly parallel edges, will be to enable
a nail or spike under all circumstances, when driven into wood, to open for
itself a way or passage, the tapering edges facilitating its insertion and progress,
and the parallel edges or "feathers" guiding the nail or spike in a direct
course in the wood desired to be pierced.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improvements in the
Manufacture of Nails and Spikes," and explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, we wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent we claim, manufacturing nails and spikes with tapering
and feather cutting edges, in the manner and for the purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Isaac Gray Bass have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eleventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
I. G. BASS. (L.S.)