CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES POR FORGING HORSE- SHOE NAILS AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Silas Safford Putnam, of Dorchester, County of
Norfolk, and State of Massachusetts, United States of America, for the
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES POR FORGING HORSE-
SHOE NAILS AND OTHER ARTICLES."
Sealed the 10th October 1862, and dated the 22nd April 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Silas Safford Putnam at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd April 1862.
I, SILAS SAFFORD PUTNAM, of Dorchester, County of Norfolk, and State of
Massachusetts, United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of
the Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR FORGING HORSE-
SHOE NAILS AND OTHER ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object certain improvements in machines for
forging horse-shoe nails and other articles, the nature of which I will describe
by the aid of the Drawings herein referred to.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine; Figure 2, a side elevation of
the same; Figures 3 and 4, details to be referred to hereafter.
In the said Drawings A is the frame of the machine, from which rises the
standards B and C, the latter made in the form of a cross which carries the
hammers D, D, E, E¹, arranged in pairs and thrown together by springs a.
A shaft F having its bearings in these two standards is driven in the direction
of the arrow 1 by a belt over a pulley Ġ; it carries a pulley H with a cam

page_text: groove b on its face, and a disc I, shewn detached in Figure 3, on the inner
face of which is formed two cams c, d, which raise the hammers, and as the
shoulders e, e, pass the outer ends of the hammer helves the springs a are
allowed to throw them together. A lever K is pivotted at f to the frame, and
carries a friction roll i, which lies in the groove 6 of the pulley H, by which
this lever is vibrated; it is pivotted at its other end to a rod L which is
constantly vibrated longitudinally, and is caused to engage with a pin g on a
lever R attached to a shaft h, which has its bearings in the framework, by
being raised by a hand lever N, to the crank of which is pivotted a connecting
rod k. The pin g catches in a notch in the rod L, and whilst thus engaged
the lever R is vibrated, and the shaft h to which it is attached is rocked. To
the head of another lever M also attached to the shaft his pivotted at 3 a
friction roll, which plays in a slot m in a lever O, which is pivotted at 4 to a
standard P. To the outer end of this lever is attached the cutter n with
which the nail is cut off from the rod after being forged. The cutter is
attached to a block o, which is pivotted at 30 to the side of the lever O to
adjust the position of the cutter, and is held in place by a screw 33. It will
be observed that as the roll on the lever O approaches the end 5 of the slot m
the speed with which the cutter n is raised is increased, but when the roll
approaches the other end of the slot the cutter is brought down with gradually
decreasing speed, but with the power increased. In practice I find it of
advantage to move the cutter rapidly out of the way after the nail is cut off to
get the cutter out of the way of the hammers. A lever Q on which the nail
red p is laid is pivoted at 6 to a block which turns in the head of a post S
supported on the frame A; this lever is vibrated in the direction of the
arrow 2, to throw the nail under the cutter by a roller 7 on the head of an
arm r attached to the shaft h, the roller pressing on the cam or incline 8 on
the side of the lever; it is moved in the opposite direction by a spring 9
attached to the post S. The nail rod passes through a nozzle s on the end of
the lever Q, which is guided in an inclined slot 10 in the head of the standard
P. An anvilt for the cutter to strike against is attached to the front of the
standard P. The hammers are caught and held open at the proper time
when the nail is to be cut off by the following device:-A block T pivotted at
11 to the face of the standard C, has four projections or shoulders u, which as
the block is revolved in the direction of the arrow 3, catch under the
hammers whilst they are thrown open and hold them until the block is
revolved back again. A lever U pivotted at 12 to the framework of the
machine is vibrated by a roller 13 on the side of the arm R, which is attached
to the shaft h, the roller resting on a cam or incline 14 on the top of the
:

page_text: lever U. A connecting rod v rests on the end of this lever, and bears against
a projection 15 on the block T, this revolves the block T in the direction of
the arrow 3, and a spring w attached to the projection 15 and to the frame A
turns the block in the opposite direction to free the hammers when permitted
to do so by the revolution of the shaft h and the release of the lever U. This
lever U when depressed is caught by a stop x which is pivotted to the frame-
work, and is vibrated by a spring 16 which causes a notch in the end of the
stop to catch on a pin 17 on the outer end of the lever. The hammers are
thus held stationary though the cam wheel I continues to revolve until the
operator releases them, which he does by vibrating the stop by pressing
down with the foot on a rod 18 attached to the end of the stop, as shewn in
Figure 1. The lever U when vibrated by the arm R to cause the block T to
catch and hold the hammers also throws forward a gauge V, by which the
operator measures the proper length of nail rod to be pushed through the
nozzles to make a nail. This gauge V is a lever which is pivotted at 19 to
the framework, and rises alongside of the hammer D, the head of the lever
being bent over and somewhat flattened at the point where the nail rod strikes
it. A screw 20 which passes through an ear attached to the side of the
lever U presses against the lever V to vibrate it and throw forward the gauge
when the outer end of the lever U is depressed by the arm R, and a spring 21
attached to a brace 27 of the frame draws the gauge back out of the way
before the hammers are allowed to come together. It is requisite that the
hammers should strike so that each pair will meet in the plane in which the
nail rod is placed, and that each hammer be thrown an equal distance by its
spring a.
This is more particularly important with the two side hammers E, E¹,
as it is by these that the head of the nail is formed or rather the nail is
hammered down on each side; leaving the head of the size required; if these
two hammers are not accurately timed with respect to each other, the shoulder
under the head will be lower on one side than the other and spoil the nail.
As it is difficult to adjust the throw of the springs a exact enough, I have
devised a compensating attachment which operates as follows:-Two bent
levers A², one for each side hammer, are pivotied to a cross brace 22 of the
frame and extend' up so as to press against the inner ends of the hammer
levers, as shewn dotted in Figure 1. To the lower ends of these levers are
pivotted at 23 rods a² which meet at 24, where they are pivotted to a lever b
which is pivotted at 25 to a stud f' on the brace 26 of the frame, and is
drawn down by a spring attached to the brace 27 of the frame. By this
device the power of the supplementary spring is applied to both hammer

page_text: helves, and if the force of the spring a on one hammer tends to throw this
hammer faster than the opposite one, the greater part of the force of the
spring c will be applied to the slowest hammer, and will thus equalize and
adjust the blow as required. If found necessary the same device may be
applied to the other pair of hammers. Where there is much difference in the
strength of two of the springs a, it is desirable to throw more of the assistance
of the supplementary spring c² on one hammer helve than on the other one of
the pair, for this purpose I have made the pivot 25 adjustable in a slot * in
the stud f, as shewn in Figure 4, so that it can be moved towards either end
of the slot by turning the set screws e²; this carries the lever 63 and pivot 24
towards either side of the machine. The notch in the rod L is formed with a
shoulder 81 on one side higher than the other side of the notch, when the hand
lever N is released this end of the rod L falls so far that the the pin 9 clears
the lower side of the notch but not the other, so that although the pin is out
of the notch after the nail has been cut off, the shoulder 31 strikes it at the
next swing of the rod L and carries it back against a stop 32, where it is left
until the lever N is again vibrated by the operator. This insures leaving the
parts in the proper position with the cutter n up out of the way of the
hammers, and the nozzle s in the central line of the machine.
g
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Silas Safford Putnam in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th October 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SILAS
SAFFORD PUTNAM, of Dorchester, County of Norfolk, and State of Massa-
chusetts, United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most-Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of April, in the year of our Lord
1862, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Silas Safford Putnam, Her
special licence that I, the said Silas Safford Putnam, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Silas Safford Putnam, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN

page_text: MACHINES FOR FORGING HORSE-SHOE NAILS AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Silas Safford Putnam, 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 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 calender months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Silas Safford Putnam, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,.
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the machine; Fig. 2 a side elevation of the
same; Figs. 3 and 4, details to be referred to hereafter.
That others skilled in the art may understand and use my Invention, I will
proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried out the same.
In the said Drawings, A is the frame of the machine, from which rises the
standards B and C; the latter made in the form of a cross, which carries the
hammers D, D¹, E, E', arranged in pairs and thrown together by springs a.
A shaft F having its bearings in these two standards is driven in the direction
of the arrow 1 by a belt over a pulley G; it carries a pulley H with a cam
groove 6 on its face, and a disc I, shown detached in Fig. 3, on the inner face
of which is formed two cams c, d, which raise the hammers, and as the shoul-
ders e, e¹, pass the outer ends of the hammer helves, the springs a are allowed
to throw them together. A lever K is pivoted at f to the frame, and carries
a friction roll i which lies in the groove 6 of the pulley H, by which this lever
is vibrated; it is pivoted at its other end to a rod L, which is constantly
vibrated longitudinally, and is caused to engage with a pin 9 on the lever R
attached to a shaft h, which has its bearings in the framework by being raised
by a hand lever N, to the crank of which is pivoted a connecting rod k. The
pin g catches in a notch in the rod L, and whilst thus engaged the lever R
is vibrated, and the shaft h to which it is attached is rocked. To the head of
another lever M, also attached to the shaft h, is pivoted at 3 a friction roll,.
which plays in a slot m in a lever O which is pivoted at 4 to a standard P..
To the outer end of this lever is attached the cutter n, with which the nail is
cut off from the, rod after being forged. The cutter is attached to a block o
which is pivoted at 30 to the side of the lever O to adjust the position of the
cutter, and is held in place by a screw 33. It will be observed that as the roll

page_text: on the lever O approaches the end 5 of the slot m, the speed with which the
cutter n is raised is increased, but when the roll approaches the other end of
the slot the cutter is brought down with gradually decreasing speed, but with
the power increased. In practice I find it of advantage to move the cutter
rapidly out of the way after the nail is cut off, to get the cutter out of the way of
the hammers. A lever Q on which the nail rod p is laid is pivoted at 6 to a
block which turns in the head of a post S supported on the frame A. This lever
is vibrated in the direction of the arrow 2, to throw the nail under the cutter by
a roller 7 on the head of an arm r attached to the shaft h, the roller pressing
on the cam or incline 8 on the side of the lever; it is moved in the opposite
direction by a spring 9 attached to the post S. The nail rod passes through
a nozzle s on the end of the lever Q, which is guided in an inclined slot 10 in
the head of the standard P. An anvil t for the cutter to strike against is
attached to the front of the standard P. The hammers are caught and held
open at the proper time when the nail is to be cut off by the following device:-
A block T pivoted at 11 to the face of the standard C has four projections or
shoulders u, which, as the block is revolved in the direction of the arrow 3,
catch under the hammers whilst they are thrown open and hold them until the
block is revolved back again. A lever U pivoted at 12 to the framework of
the machine is vibrated by a roller 13 on the side of the arm R which is
attached to the shaft h, the roller resting on a cam or incline 14 on the top of
the lever U. A connecting rod v rests on the end of this lever and bears
against a projection 15 on the block T, this revolves the block T in the direc-
tion of the arrow 3, and a spring w attached to the projection 15 and to the
frame A turns the block in the opposite direction to free the hammers when
permitted to do so by the revolution of the shaft h and the release of the lever
U. This lever U when depressed is caught by a stop a which is pivoted to
the framework and is vibrated by a spring 16, which causes a notch in the end
of the stop to catch on a pin 17 on the outer end of the lever. The hammers
are thus held stationary though the cam wheel I continues to revolve until the
operator releases them, which he does by vibrating the stop & by pressing
down with the foot on a rod 18 attached to the end of the stop, as shown in
Fig. 1. The lever U when vibrated by the arm R to cause the block T to
catch and hold the hammers also throws forward a gauge V, by which the
operator measures the proper length of nail rod to be pushed through the
nozzles to make a nail. This gauge V is a lever which is pivoted at 19 to
the framework and rises alongside of the hammer D, the head of the lever
being bent over and somewhat flattened at the point where the nail rod strikes
it. A screw 20 which passes through an ear attached to the side of the

page_text: lever U presses against the lever V to vibrate it and throw forward the gauge,
when the outer end of the lever U is depressed by the arm R and a spring 21
attached to a brace 27 of the frame draws the gauge back out of the way.
before the hammers are allowed to conie together. It is requisite that the
hammers should strike so that each pair will meet in the plane in which the:
nail rod is placed, and that each hammer be thrown an equal distance by its
spring a. This is more particularly important with the two side hammers.
E, E, as it is by these that the head of the nail is formed, or rather the nail
is hammered down on each side, leaving the head of the size required; if these.
two hammers are not accurately timed with respect to each other, the shoulder
under the head will be lower on one side than the other and spoil the nail.:
As it is difficult to adjust the throw of the springs a exact enough, I have:
devised a compensating attachment, which operates as follows:-Two bent
levers A', one for each side hammer, are pivoted to a cross brace 22 of the
frame, and extend up so as to press against the inner ends of the hammer:
levers, as shown dotted in Fig. 1. To the lower ends of these levers are;
pivoted at 23 rods a³, which meet at 24, where they are pivoted to a lever b³
which is pivoted at 25 to a stud f* on the brace 26 of the frame, and is drawn!
down by a spring & attached to the brace 27 of the frame. By this device the
power of the supplementary spring c is applied to both hammer helves, and if
the force of the spring a on one hammer tends to throw this hammer faster
than the opposite one, the greater part of the force of the spring c² will be:
applied to the slowest hammer, and will thus equalize and adjust the blow as
required. If found necessary, the same device may be applied to the other
pair of hammers. Where there is much difference in the strength of two of
the springs a, it is desirable to throw more of the assistance of the supplementary
spring c on one hammer helve than on the other one of the pair, for this
purpose I have made the pivot 25 adjustable in a slot in the stud f³, as
shown in Fig. 4, so that it can be moved, towards either end of the slot by
turning the set screws 6³. This carries the lever 6 and pivot 24 towards
either side of the machine. The notch in the rod L is formed with a shoulder
31 on one side higher than the other side of the notch; when the hand lever
N is released, this end of the rod L falls so far that the pin g clears the lower
side of the notch but not the other, so that although the pin is out of the notch
after the nail has been cut off, the shoulder 31 strikes it at the next swing of
the rod L and carries it back against a stop 32, where it is left until the lever
N is again vibrated by the operator. This insures leaving the parts in the
proper position with the cutter n up out of the way of the hammers, and the
nozzle s in the central line of the machine.

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of this Invention, and explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the
above recited Letters Patent, I claim,-
First, the hollow disk I with its cams c, d, for operating the hammers
substantially as described.
Second, I claim the method substantially as herein described of operating
the cutter n, viz., by the lever M and slotted lever O.
Third, I claim interrupting the action of the hammers while open and
holding them open at the will of the operator for the purpose specified.
Fourth, I claim regulating the throw of a pair of hammers by applying
thereto the power of a supplementary spring substantially in the manner set
forth.
Fifth, I claim the employment of a gauge which is brought into position
between the hammers to gauge the nail while the hammers are stationary and
is withdrawn out of their way before they are again started by mechanism
under the control of the operator.
Sixth, I claim the block T and the parts by which it is operated to catch and
hold the hammers until released by the operator.
Seventh, I claim vibrating the table Q to move the nail-rod under the
cutter by the arm r and incline 8 substantially as described.
Eighth, I claim the rod L with its notch and shoulder 31 operating
substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Silas Safford Putnam, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of August, in the year of
our Lord 1862.
Witnesses,
SILAS SAFFORD PUTNAM. (L.S.)
WILLIAM W. WHITMARSH,
Abington, Mass.
LUCIUS H. DWELLEY,
Dorchester, Mass.