IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS AND SPIKES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Whittle, of Smethwick, in the County of
Stafford, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS AND SPIKES."
Sealed the 13th February 1863, and dated the 20th August 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Whittle at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
August 1862..
I, WILLIAM WHITTLE, of Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS AND SPIKES," to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists in an improved arrangement of machinery for
manufacturing nails from ordinary nail rods.. For this purpose the rods
are passed into a machine in a cold state, when a portion of the said rod of a
sufficient length to form a nail is cut off; it is then held firmly between a pair
of dies, "the one of which is stationary and the other moveable," whilst the
heading tool advances and forms the head; the moveable die then recedes and
allows the nail blank to fall from the machine. The blanks thus formed have
no points, that is to say, they are the same size transversely as the section of
the rods from which they are cut. The same process may be performed whilst
the rod is in a heated state, but I prefer using the rods in a cold state.. The

page_text: blanks thus formed are then inserted at the ends intended to be pointed into a
suitably arranged furnace containing fuel in an ignited state, and urged to a
white heat either by mechanical means or by the draught produced by a chimney
stack. The blanks are then withdrawn by an operator, and whilst in a highly
heated state are inserted between the dies of a forging or pointing machine,
the said dies being formed to suit the taper of the points intended to be given
to the nails. There are four dies in this machine, which may be arranged to
work in pairs in planes at right angles to each other, that is to say, two of
them may be made to advance in the same plane whilst the other two are
receding in a plane at right angles to the former, thus alternately beating or
compressing the nail or spike on the two opposite sides, or there may be two
moveable and two stationary dies used for the same purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Whittle in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th February 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WHITTLE, of Smethwick,, in the County of Stafford, Mechanical Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Twentieth day of August in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her reign;
did. for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Whittle, Her special licence that I, the said William Whittle, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Whittle, 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS AND SPIKES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Whittle, 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 Inven
tion, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Whittle, 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 fol-
lowing statement thereof, that is to say :-
My said Invention consists in an improved arrangement of machinery for
manufacturing nails and spikes from ordinary nail rods. For this purpose, to
forin blanks the rods are passed into a machine in a cold state, and a portion
of the said rod of a sufficient length to form a nail or spike is cut off. It is
then held firmly between a pair of dies, one of which is stationary and the other
moveable whilst the heading tool advances and forms the head. The move-
able die then recedes and allows the nail or spike blank to fall from the
machine. The blanks thus formed have no points, that is to say, they are of
the same size, excepting the heads, as the rods from which they are cut. The
sanie process may be performed while the rod is in a heated state, but I prefer
using the rods in a cold state. The blanks thus formed are then inserted at
the ends intended to be pointed into a suitably arranged furnace containing
fuel in an ignited state, and urged to a white heat either by mechanical means
or by the draught produced by a chimney stack. The blanks are then with-
drawn by the workman, and while in a highly heated state are inserted between
the 'dies of a forging or pointing machine, the said dies being formed to suit the
taper of the points to be given to the nails or spikes. There are four dies or
tools in this machine, which may be arranged to work in pairs in planes at
right angles to each other, that is to say, two of them may be made to advance
in opposite directions in a vertical plane while the other two are receding in a
horizontal plane, thus alternately beating or compressing the nail or spike on
the two opposite sides; or there may be two moveable and two stationary dies
used for the same purpose, as illustrated in the Drawings.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe
with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan a machine constructed according to my Inven-
tion for cutting off and heading the blanks of nails and spikes before they
are pointed, and Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same taken
through the line, Figure 1; Figure 3 is an end elevation of a part of the
same, and Figure 4 is a section of the same taken through the linė a³,
Figure 1.
.
The same letters and figures are employed to indicate the same parts in
Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4; A (see Figure 1) is the.. bed of the machine, on
which the whole of the moving parts are situated; B is the main shaft on

page_text: which the cams for giving motion to the several parts of the machine are
fixed; C is a slide carrying a moveable die d for holding the portion of metal
rod while it is being headed, and also for cutting off the piece from the rod
before it is headed. The said slide C is actuated by the cam 1; D is a fixed
die (but adjustable by the set screw c) corresponding with the moveable
die d; E is a slide for carrying the heading tool e, which receives its motion
while beading from the slide F, by the intervention of the connecting link f
and the toggle joint f. The slide F is worked by the cam 2; G (Figure 2)
is a slide which works under the slide C and carries the block g, on which
the nail or spike blanks rest when cut off by the cutter h. Before the portion
of rod about to be headed is held by the dies d, D, motion is given to the
slide G by the stud 3, fixed on the side of the cam 1, the said stud. 3 acting
upon the turned up end of the square bar m, attached to the said slide G by
the stud n; H, Figure 2, is a thin piece of steel fixed to the vertical slide I
for the purpose of holding down the nail or spike blank on the block g, before
it is pressed between the dies d, and D, and also for striking the blanks out of
the machine after they have been headed, and when the holding died and
the block g have been withdrawn; J and K are the feed rolls for carrying the
rods into the machine, as shewn in Figure 4, the upper one J being also
shown in Figure 1. These rolls receive their motion from the main shaft
by the bevilled wheels, and the counter shaft j; M is the fly wheel, and N, N,
are the legs or standards of the machine. The action of the machine is as
follows:-Motion being given to the main shaft B by any suitable power, a
length of nail rod is inserted between the feed rolls J, K, which rod is
carried forward into the machine until its motion is arrested by the end of the
rod coming in contact with the heading tool e, the slide G having been
previously advanced as before explained. The feed rolls still continue their
motion, but slip upon the surface of the rod. The slide C then advances, and
the cutter / cuts off that portion of the rod which is between e and the fixed
cutter k; the slide still continues its motion until the die d approaches
sufficiently close to the die D to pinch the blank, and hold it firm while the
heading tool e advances and forms a head upon that part of the blank which
projected beyond the holding dies d and D. The heading tool e, holding die
d, and block g then recede, the piece of steel H attached to the vertical slide
.I (Figure 2) now descends and strikes the headed blank out of the machine.
During the time that the heading is going on the nail rod is resting with its
end against the moveable cutter h, and when the striker H has returned to
its position, and the block 9 has come under the nail rod, the slide C, and
moveable cutter h then recede further back by a second fall of the cam 1, and

page_text: allow the nail rod to pass the end of the moveable cutter h, and to be again
fed into the machine by the motion of the feed rolls J, K, as before described,
until the said nail rod is arrested by the heading tool e, when the operations
described are.repeated. The return motion of the several slides are effected by
springs, which are not shewn in the Drawings such being well understood.
Figures 5 and 6 represent in elevation and section respectively a furnace for
beating the blanks previous to their being pointed. The same letters indicate
the same parts in Figures 5 and 6.
A is the body of the furnace containing, the fuel. The body A is made to
turn freely within the framing B, of which C are the legs or standards; D is
a hood or cover to the furnace, having a pipe or funnel passing out of the side
for carrying off the gases arising from the combustion of the fuel; E is a lid
on the top of the hood for closing the aperture, through which the fuel is
supplied to the furnace; F is a hollow cone pierced with holes, through which
air is made to pass to support combustion in the ignited fuel. The
direction of the current. of air is indicated by the arrows. The use of the
cone F is to cause the fuel in its descent to be kept in close proximity with
that part of the furnace where the greatest heat is maintained. The said
cone may be withdrawn at any time when it is necessary to clean out the
furnace, the fuel and refuse matters of the furnace falling down the pipe J, and
can be removed; G is a cross bar in the pipe J, carrying a female centre, and
resting on the upper part of the perpendicular rod H, on which the furnace
rotates. The rod H is firmly secured to the cross support I, attached to
the lower part of the standards C. The hood or cover to the upper part of
the furnace is kept in position by the rods K attached to the framing B and
flange.M; L is a sand joint for preventing the entrance of air into the
furnace; N are the apertures through which the blanks are inserted into the
furnace to be heated, as seen in the section Figure 6. Rotation is given to tho
furnace by a ratchet motion attached to the outside of the pipe J, but not shown
in the Drawing. The action of the furnace is as follows:-The furnace being
placed beside the pointing machine (herein-after described) a workman inserts
a blank into one of the holes N, pierced at equal distances round the lower
part of the furnace, and corresponding in number with the teeth of the
ratchet wheel, by which rotation is given to the furnace. The furnace is then
moved on one tooth of the ratchet wheel when another blank is inserted, and
so on as each aperture comes opposite the workman feeding the blanks into
the furnace. When the first blank has made about one half the circuit of the
furnace it is then sufficiently hot to be withdrawn by the workman attending
to the pointing machine. By this means the blanks are continually being fed

page_text: •
into the furnace on one side and withdrawn in a heated state on the other side.
The arrangement represented is an air furnace or one by which the combustion
is urged by the draught of a chimney stack, but the pipe J on the lower part
of the furnace may be closed up, thus forming an air-chamber, the upright
rod H being made in this case hollow, the air being forced into the furnace by
'mechanical means.
Figures 7 and 8 represent an arrangement of machinery constructed
according to my Invention for pointing nail or spike blanks after they have
been removed from the heating furnace; Figure 7 being an elevation and
Figure 8 a plan of the same; Figures 9 and 10 represent portions of the
same. The same letters are used to indicate the same parts in Figures 7, 8,
9, and 10.
A is the bed of the machine; B is the main shaft on which the cams are
secured for giving motion to the several parts of the machine; C is a standard
fixed on the bed of the machine; this standard carries the axle D, on which
the lever E works, which gives motion to the vertical slide bolt F. Into the
lower part of this slide bolt the vertical forging tool G is keyed. H is a hori-
zontal slide for carrying the moveable forging tool I. Opposite to the die I,
and in the same horizontal plane, is the fixed forging tool J; both resting on
the block or anvil K. The stationary tool J is adjusted by the draw wedge L,
shown in dotted lines in Figure 8, and the moveable tool I is adjusted by the
wedge M, shown in dotted lines in Figure 7. N is a square bar working on
the under side of the bed A; one end of the said bar is turned up and is acted
upon by the cam 2, as best seen in Figure 7, the other end of the said bar
being attached to the slide H by a stud h, the said stud h working through a
slot in the bed A, thus forming a counter motion for bringing back the slide H.
O, Figure 8, is a vertical lever attached to one end of the horizontal spindle
bar P, the said lever being acted upon by the cam 8; Q is a lever also
attached to the spindle bar P for giving a return motion to the vertical slidė
bolt F, by a connecting link 9 attached to the upper part of the said slide
bolt F. The parts F, Q, q, P, O, are represented separately in Figure 9;
S is the fly wheel and T, T, the pulleys on which the band works for giving
motion to the machine. The cams are double, thus giving two motions to
the machine for one revolution of the main shaft.
The action of the machine is as follows:-A heated blank k being inserted
between the tools I and J, and resting on the anvil K, the cain 1 by its
rotation causes the slide II and tool I to press the said heated.blank with
great force.against the tool J. The slide H and moveable tool I are then
withdrawn by the action of the counter cam 2 acting upon the turned up

page_text: end of the square bar N. The lever E is then acted upon by the opposite
end of the cam 1,, which causes the vertical slide bolt F and the forging
tool G to descend and press the nail or spike on its edge against the apvil K;
when the slide bolt F is raised by the action of the counter motion and cam 3
and the horizontal slide H and tool I again advance as before and the nail.
or spike is again compressed or beaten on its side, and so on until the point is
brought to the form and size required. The dies or forging tools make about
four hundred motions per minute, so that by slowly inserting the blanks between
the dies or tools by an advancing motion they receive a considerable number
of blows from the points upwards towards the heads before the points of
the nails come against a stop x, shown in Figure 10, placed at the back of
the dies or tools to prevent the points from protruding beyond the dies or
tools and keeping the points of the same length and taper.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated in the
Drawings, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention.
But I claim as my Invention,-Firstly, improved machinery for
heading rods for the manufacture of nails and spikes, the parts of which
machinery are combined or arranged and worked essentially in the manner
berein-before described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, of the
accompanying Drawings.
Secondly, improved machinery for pointing blanks for the manufacture of
nails and spikes, the parts of which machinery are combined or arranged and
worked essentially in the manner herein-before described and illustrated in
Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Whittle, have hereunto sct
my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
WILLIAM WHITTLE. (L.S.)