IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO THE MANU- FACTURE OF NAILS
Year: 1885

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
J, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co, Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare
the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO THE MANU-
FACTURE OF NAILS and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to the manufacture of nails, and comprises a peculiar
formation of continuous rods or lengths of wire and the production of the nails
therefrom.
In carrying the said invention into practice, a continuous metal rod or wire, that
is to say, a rod or wire of such length that a considerable number of nails can be
made therefrom, is formed with a spiral rib or screw-thread extending throughout
its length. The rod or wire thus formed is cut into sections or pieces constituting
blanks, which are headed and pointed to form the nails.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figure 1 represents a portion of a rod or wire formed as herein described, and
Figure 2 shews a finished nail made from the said rod or wire.
The surface a of the continuous spiral rib or screw-thread is bevelled or inclined,
that is to say, it forms an acute angle with the axis of the rod or wire, whilst the
surface 6 of the said rib or thread is at right angles, or approximately so, to the
axis of the rod or wire. As will be seen in Figure 2, the surface b is toward
the head of the nail, whilst the inclined surface a is toward the point thereof.
By forming the rod or wire with the peculiarly shaped rib or thread above
described, the following advantages are obtained, viz:-the nails made from the
said rod or wire can be readily driven into wood, but cannot be withdrawn like
ordinary nails without the application of great force, the form of the rib or thread
being such that each turn thereof acts as a ratchet-tooth or barb when once it has
entered the wood. The said nail may, however, be removed, if necessary or desirable,
without injury to the wood, by unscrewing it.
The rod or wire formed as above described is produced either by cutting with
dies, or by passing annealed wire of circular form in transverse section between

page_text: powerful edge-bearing rolls or between a series of grooved rolls each of which acts
upon a section or segment of the periphery of the said wire, or it can be produced
by swaging, or otherwise, as may be preferred.
The said rod or wire is cut into suitable lengths to form the blanks, which are
headed and pointed to form the nails; the process and machinery used for heading
and pointing the blanks being similar to those commonly employed in producing
wrought nails.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
4.
First A continuous metal rod or length of wire formed with a spiral rib or
screw-thread having one of its surfaces at right angles, or approximately so, to
the axis of the said rod or wire, and the other surface at an acute angle thereto,
substantially as, and for the purpose, set forth.
Second. The manufacture of nails by first forming a continuous metal rod or
length of wire with a spiral fib or screw-thread as above described; then severing
or cutting pieces therefrom, and heading and pointing the same, substantially as, and
for the purpose, set forth
5.