IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF HORSE-SHOE NAILS AND MACHINERY USED THEREIN
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Homan Price Fenby, of Leeds, in the County of York,
Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF HORSE-SHOE NAILS AND MACHINERY USED THEREIN."
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Homan Price Fenby at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd November 1879.
HOMAN PRICE FENBY, of Leeds, in the County of York, Mechanical Engineer.
'IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE SHOE NAILS AND MACHINERY
USED THEREIN."
My Invention relates to an improved process of manufacturing horse shoe nails
and machinery for the purpose.
The bars (of Swedish iron or mild steel) I use for making nails are rolled to a
cross section resembling two unpointed nails with their smaller ends abutting, and
may with advantage be pickled by immersion in an acid bath to remove the scale
caused by rolling, and be then brightened by shaking with sharp sand and gravel
or analogous materials in a revolving shaking drum.
According to my Invention bars of a section such as above referred to are at one
operation divided longitudinally and formed into three, namely, two bars bevilled
or chamfered to a suitable section, to form (when divided cross wise) pointed
horse shoe nails, and one narrow strip or wire of square or rectangular section
suitable for making tacks or wire nails.
Such division and bevilling or chamfering of the bars at one operation I effect
by passing them through a combined slitting and rolling machine constructed with
a pair of compound rollers, whereof one consists of two conical parts arranged on
a shaft with an interposed thin steel washer or slitting disc of larger diameter than
the said conical parts whose bases (or largest diameters) abut against its respective
sides, and the other (which I will call the counter roll) is in two parts with an
interposed washer of a less diameter than the roll, and equal in thickness to the
slitting disc of the first named compound roll, so as to leave an annular space in
which the periphery of the said slitting disc works. The bar presented to these
rolls is seized between the slitting disc and counter roll, and thereby slit in two
parallel lines, the portion of metal between which is a wire of square or rectangular

page_text: section, and each of the two outer portions is of a width corresponding to the
length of the intended horse shoe nails. As the slitting proceeds the inner part of
each of the two wider portions of metal comes under the operation of one of the
conical parts of the compound pointing roll, and is thereby bevilled or chamfered
to the required angle.
For cutting into nails bars of a cross section corresponding to the longitudinal
section of a finished nail, as described, I use an arrangement of two pairs of knives
carried by an oscillating frame, such knives having the contour or figure of one
side of the required nail up their cutting faces, one pair corresponding to the one
side of the nail, the other pair to the other side of the nail.
I construct machinery for this purpose as follows:-
Upon a suitable standard I mount a frame having in plan the form of a sector
and able to oscillate in a horizontal plane on a vertical pivot at its focus. The
outer end of the frame I make with two faces, representing in plan tangents to an
are described by a point within the radial centre line of the frame. Upon these
faces I arrange side by side two knives which have the contour of the sides of a
nail along their entire faces, one knife having the figure of one side of the nail, the
other knife the figure of the other side of the nail.
The sector like frame has oscillating movement imparted to it by a cam pro-
vided with two dwells at opposite ends, and has a pair of trunnion bearings on its
top side in which rocks a beam carrying a pair of knives arranged to work in
conjunction with the bottom knives.
The action of the cam is to bring each pair of knives alternately into position
for operating upon the nail bar as it is fed to the knives by a weight and cord or
chain through a fixed channel immediately in front of the knives. The amount of
metal cut off by each knife is determined by a hinged gauge at the back of each
knife, each such gauge having a set screw behind it for adjustment.
To make the knives meet and sever the metal I connect the top beam at its rear
end to an eccentric on the main shaft of the machine by means of a connecting
rod with a ball and socket joint in the beam. The eccentric is made as part of a
sphere, the eccentric strap being hollowed out to suit. Each time the cam brings
the bottom knives to a stationary position opposite the nail bar, the top knives
descend and sever the bar. One pair of knives cuts the waste iron off, the other
pair cutting a nail off at the next dwell of the cam.
The eccentric shaft runs at double the speed of the cam shaft, so that two cuts
may be made to one revolution of the cam in order to get the alternate action of
the knives on the nail bar, the said shafts being connected by gearing.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Homan Price Fenby in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd
May 1880.
HOMAN PRICE FENBY, of Leeds, in the County of York, Mechanical Engineer.
'IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE-SHOE NAILS AND MACHINERY
USED THEREIN."
My Invention relates to an improved process of manufacturing horse-shoe nails,
and machinery for the purpose.
The bars (of Swedish or mild steel or other homogeneous metal) I use for making
nails are rolled (hot in the ordinary manner) to a cross section resembling two
unpointed nails with their smaller ends abutting, and may with advantage be
pickled by immersion in an acid bath to remove the scale caused by rolling, and be
then brightened, and have any burr there may be removed from their edges by
shaking with sharp sand or gravel or analagous materials in a revolving shaking
drum or barrell.
According to my Invention bars of a section such as above referred to are at one
operation first divided longitudinally and formed into three, namely, two bars
bevilled or chamfered to a suitable section to form (when divided cross-wise) pointed
horse shoe nails, and one narrow strip or wire of square or rectangular section
suitable for making tacks or wire nails.
Such division and bevilling, or chamfering, of the bars at one operation I effect
by passing them (in a cold state) through a combined slitting and rolling machine,
constructed with a pair of compound rolls, whereof one consists of two conical parts
(of hardened iron or steel, and of the same angle as the points of the nails to be made)
arranged on a shaft with an interposed thin steel washer, or slitting disc of larger
diameter than the said conical parts whose bases or largest diameters abut against
its respective sides and nip it firmly between them, and the other (which I will call
the counter roll) is in two parts (each consisting of a plain roll) with an interposed
washer of a less diameter than the roll, and very slightly thicker than the slitting
disc of the first-named compound roll, such interposed washer being nipped firmly
between the two parts of the counter roll, so as to leave an annular space in which
the periphery of the said slitting disc works. The bar presented to these rolls is
siezed between the slitting disc and counter roll, and thereby first slit or divided in
two parallel lines the portion of metal between which is a wire of square or rectan-
gular section, whilst each of the two outer portions is of a width corresponding to
the length of the intended horse shoe nails. As the slitting proceeds the inner part
or edge of each of the two wider portions of metal (which have been divided as
described from the central portion or strip) is seized between the two compound
rolls and comes under the operation of one of the conical parts of the compound
pointing roll, and is thereby bevilled or chamfered to the required angle. By
severing the bar as described before bevilling or chamfering the edges of the two
outside portions are enabled to readily give way to the squeezing action of
the rolls.
A thin stripper or guard g (Fig. 1*) is provided which fits into the annular recess
of the counter roll to prevent the square wire which is cut from the centre of the
bar from wrapping round the roll.
1.
Referring to Figs. 1 and 1*, a is the shaft or axis; b, b, are the conical parts, and
c is the interposed thin steel circular washer or slitting disc nipped between them;
d is the counter roll shaft; e, e, are the two plane rolls, and f is the interposed
washer of less diameter nipped between them; the whole together forming the
counter roll.
For cutting into nails the bars of a cross-section corresponding to the longitudinal
section of a finished nail as described I use an arrangement of two pairs of knives

page_text: carried by an oscillating frame, such knives having the contour or figure of one
side of the required nail up their cutting faces, and one pair corresponding to the
one side of the nail, the other pair to the other side of the nail.
Fig. 2 illustrates in side elevation a machine embodying this part of my Invention
and shews the nail bar being fed in towards the knives; Fig. 3 is a plan view with
the top beam carrying the top knives removed.
Upon a suitable standard I mount a frame g (Fig. 3) having in plan the form of
a sector and able to oscillate in a horizontal plane on a vertical pivot at its focus x.
The outer end of the frame I make with two faces, representing in plan tangents to
an arc described by a point within the radial centre line of the frame. Upon these
faces I arrange side by side two knives h, h, which have the contour of the sides of
the nail along their working faces, one knife having the figure of one side of the
nail, the other knife the figure of the other side of the nail. The oscillation of the
sector like frame is imparted to it by a cam i upon a shaft k, the said shaft being
driven at half the speed of the main shaft l. This cam has two dwells, one at each
side, so as to allow the knives to come to a stationary position as regards any side
movement during the operation of cutting. The sector like frame has on it a pair
of trunnion bearings m, m, Fig. 3, in which a top beam carrying the corresponding
knives h¹, h¹, to those on the sector like frame rocks. The rocking of the top
beam is effected by a connecting rod n, Fig. 2, having a ball and socket joint in
the rear end of the said beam, the other end of such rod being screwed into an
eccentric strap o. This strap is hollowed out to fit an eccentric j, Fig. 5,
keyed fast upon the main shaft l, the periphery of such eccentric resembling a
portion of a sphere. This arrangement allows the top beam carrying the top knives
to freely rock from side to side with the sector-like frame which carries the bottom
knives without in any way affecting its vertical motion due to the throw of the
spherical eccentric.
The cam shaft k is driven from the main shaft by a pair of spur wheels of the
ratio of two to one, and so geared together that the top knives only come in contact
with the bar to be cut after the dwell of the sector like frame has commenced, when
the bottom knives are stationary for the time being. The bar to be cut passes
through a guide in front of the knives having adjustable sides p, p, Fig. 6, which
can be set to suit any required width of bar, while the feeding of it forward is
effected by the action of a falling weight through a cord or chain which passes over
idle pulleys r, r, r, out to the front of the machine. This end of such cord or chain
has a hook attached to it which is drawn back by the person attending to the
machine every time a new bar is put in. On the outer end of each bar I fix a kind
of tongs 8 by set screws t, t, so that the bar may be used up nearly to the end and
avoid scrap.
The amount of metal to be cut off by each pair of knives is determined by a
hinged gauge u, Fig. 2, at the back of each top knife, each such gauge baving a set
screw v for adjustment behind it, and passing through the trunnion boss of the top
beam, see Fig. 2.
One pair of knives cuts the nails off and the other the waste between the nails,
the nails falling down at one side of the machine and the waste at the other, for
which purpose there is a dividing bar cast across the sector like frame in such wise
that whatever the one pair of knives cuts off drops at one side of the bar, and that
cut by the other pair drops at the other side of the bar. To prevent the bar from
being fed in between the two gauges u, u, during the oscillation of the sector like
frame and top beam I provide a guard w, Fig. 2, fixed to the top beam and lying
between the two gauges u, u. Fig. 4 is a part plan of the top beam, shewing the
knives and the recesses in which the gauges u, u, lie; Fig. 4* is a sectional diagram
shewing the action of the knives carried by the oscillating frame, the bar pressing
continually against the gauges u, u, and guard w.
The nails are lastly brightened in a small revolving drum with sawdust or other
suitable materials, any burr left from the knives being thereby removed by the
abrasion of the nails against each other.

page_text: In some cases it may be convenient to dispense with the pointing roll, and simply
slit the channelled bar in two down the centre by ordinary means, or use a single
section of bar so that after such bar has been cropped or divided into blanks by the
cutters h, h, h', h', as hereinabove described the blanks may be pointed by the farrier
with a hammer, as is now often done.
Having described the nature of my said Invention, and explained in what
manner the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, I
desire to have it distinctly understood that what I consider to be novel and original
and therefore claim as secured to me under the Letters Patent hereinbefore in part
recited is,--
1. The method, substantially as described, of at one operation slitting or dividing
a channelled bar of metal and bevilling the edges where cut.
2. The severing from the central portion of the channelled bar of metal a
continuous narrow strip or wire of square or rectangular section suitable for making
tacks or wire nails, substantially as described.
3. Dividing bars of metal into nails by two pairs of knives having up their
working faces respectively the contour of the one side, and that of the other side of
a nail, and caused to act alternately on the bar by means of an oscillating frame
carrying the said knives, and arranged and operated substantially as described.
4. The complete process, herein before described with reference to the accom-
panying Drawings, of making horse shoe nails by machinery from channelled
metallic bars.
In witness whereof, I, the said Homan Price Fenby, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
Signed, sealed, and delivered
by the within named
Homan Price Fenby, in
the presence of
BEN. R. BURRELL,
Solicitor,
Leeds.
HOMAN PRICE FENBY. (L.S.)