Improvements in Machines for Forging Horse-shoe Nails.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Forging Horse-shoe Nails.
We, SILAS SAFFORD PUTNAM, residing at Number 241 Neponset Avenue, in the City
of Boston, County of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, United States of America,
Gentleman, and GEORGE NICHOLS FLETCHER, residing at Number 814 Jefferson
Avenue, in the City of Detroit, County of Wayne, and State of Michigan, United
States of America, Lumber Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention has for its object to simplify the construction of machines for forging
horseshoe nails and reduce the number of working parts, whereby an effective, durable,
and rapidly working machine is produced, which will not be liable to get out of order.
And to this end the invention consists in certain novel combinations of parts and
details of construction as hereinafter set forth and specifically claimed.
In the accompanying drawings,—
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine for forging horseshoe nails, constructed
in accordance with this invention, a portion of the framework being broken away to
show the interior construction.
Figure 2 is a plan of the machine.
Figure 3 is a front elevation of the same.
Figure 4 is a similar elevation, with the parts in a different position.
Figure 5 is a transverse vertical section on the line of Figure 1.
Figure 6 is a transverse vertical section on the line y y of Figure 1.
Figure 7 is a longitudinal vertical section through the centre of the machine.
Figure 8 is a horizontal section on the line zz of Figure 3.
In the said drawings, A represents the bed or frame-work of the machine, and B
the driving shaft, which runs in suitable bearings and carries at one end the driving
pulley C, and at the opposite end a large cam wheel D, for actuating the hammers,
as hereafter described. From the bed A rises a frame G made in the form of a cross
and having four slots, two horizontal ones b, b, and two vertical ones c, c, in which are
placed the hammers H, H, I, I, which vibrate on pivots & passing through the frame, G.
These hammers, arranged as described, are operated alternately in pairs by the groove e
of the cam wheel D, within which fit the rear ends or helves a of the hammers, the
form of the groove e being such that when the two side hammers are thrown toward
each other to give the blow, the upper and lower hammers will be simultaneously
drawn back, and vice versa, the hammers being thus actuated in both directions without
the aid of springs or other auxiliary devices, and caused to act upon all four sides of
the nail being forged. The cam groove e, is provided at two points, diametrically
opposite each other, with recesses or enlargements f. into which the helves of each pair
of hammers enter a short time previous to their operative faces being brought together,
whereby sufficient play or loose movement of the hammers is produced previous to
their contact with the nail rod, to cause them to strike the same with a rebounding
blow similar to that struck with an ordinary hammer when held in the hand: the
greater part of the forward movement of each pair of hammers being produced
positively by the cam groove, while the remainder or latter portion of the forward
movement is effected by the momentum of the hammers themselves, which, causes
them when running at a high rate of speed, to be carried forward with sufficient force
to give a smart and powerful drawing blow, after which they are free to rebound or
recede from the heated nail rod, as the recesses fare of the proper length and shape
to admit of this movement.. The pivots on which the hammers oscillate, are located
near their rear, ends,, thus placing the larger and heavier portion, of each hammer in

page_text: front of its pivot, whereby the momentum of the hammers is increased as they are
thrown forward by the cam to give the blow. The faces of the hammers are provided
as usual with suitable grooves or dies, of the proper form to give the nail the desired
shape. By releasing the hammers from the positive action and control of the cam
groove, just previous to their contact with the nail rod, as described, and allowing
them to complete their movement by their own momentum, and then rebound before
being again acted upon positively by the cam groove, and brought under its control,
a more concussive and instantaneous impact is produced, whereby the character or
quality of the blow is improved and rendered much more effective, as it is a well-
known fact that a gradual or positive blow, even at a very high rate of speed will cool
heated iron much faster than an instantaneous blow from a hammer carried forward
by its own momentum, and free to rebound or recede at the instant of its impact, and that
a blow from a hammer of the latter description will do more effective work at a much
lower rate of speed than can be accomplished with a positively actuated hammer. It
will be obvious that in this improved machine, the absolute freedom of the hammers
to rebound or recede from the iron, at the instant of the delivery of the blow will
diminish the actual time of contact of the hammer face with the heated iron to a
minimum, and thereby proportionately reduce its cooling effect upon the nail being
formed; it being desirable to have the hammer faces in actual contact with the nail
rod for the shortest possible length of time, as it is of the utmost importance to main-
tain the nail rod at a white heat during the formation of the nail, as otherwise inferior
results will be produced, and it is evident that the greater the length of time that the
large cool body of iron composing the front end of the hammer remains in contact
with the small portion of iron which forms the nail, the sooner it will be reduced
from a white to a red heat, in which latter condition ile iron cannot be worked to
advantage.
The manner in which the nail rod is fed into the machine will now be described.
9, 9, are a pair of feed rolls, the peripheries of which are slightly concave, and are
provided with sharp teeth, to prevent them from slipping on the nail rod, as the latter
passes between them. These rolls are secured to the upper ends of a pair of vertical
shafts h, i, which are supported in long bearings 10 in a disk or carrier head K, which
is supported by and oscillates upon a centre pin or stud k, projecting from the front
of the framework A. The carrier head is steadied and guided as it is oscillated, by
slots 1, and screws or pins m, located on opposite sides of the centre, and which also
serve to limit the movement of the head in either direction. To the lower ends of
the shafts h, i, are secured the gears n, n, which engage with each other, and on the
shaft h, beneath its gear n, is secured a ratchet wheel o, with the teeth of which
engages a stationary spring pawl p, secured to the front of the frame A, whereby as
the carrier head K is oscillated on the pin as a centre, by mechanism hereinafter
described, the feed rolls are revolved intermittingly to carry forward the nail rod at
the required times, each movement of the lower end of the shaft h in the direction of
the arrow, Figures 3 and 4, causing the pawl p to engage a new tooth of the ratchet
wheel 0, while the movement of the shaft h in the opposite direction produces a partial
rotation of the said ratchet wheel, by reason of one of its teeth being engaged by the
stationary pawl p.
q, r, are the cutters by which the finished nail is severed from the nail rod after
being formed by the hammers. The upper cutter 9 is secured to a horizontal
projection or offset 12 near the upper end of a vertical bar s, which slides in suitable
guides or bearings 13, 14, 15 in the frame-work, and the lower cutter is secured to
the upper end of a vertical bar t, which also slides in suitable guides or bearings 16, 17
in the frame-work; the cutters being secured to the bars s, t, by means of screws
and slots, whereby they may be adjusted horizontally in the direction of the
length of the nail rod, to adapt them to cut off nails having heads of any desired
length.
The sliding cutter bars s, t, are moved simultaneously in opposite directions to cause
the cutters to advance to sever the nail from the rod, and then return to their

page_text: normal positions in the following manner: M is a horizontal sliding bar, the rear
end of which passes through an aperture in the frame-work. At the front end of
this bar is an enlarged portion or cam plate L, which is provided with two
oppositely inclined cam slots w. ", within which fit screws or pins 18, 20, passing
through and projecting from the lower ends of the sliding cutter bars s, t, to
which they are secured by nuts 21. The cam plate L is supported by and slides
in a guide 22 secured to the frame-work and thus as the bar M and the cam
plate L are reciprocated by mechanism to be hereafter described, the slots u, v,
acting upon the screws 18, 20, cause the cutter bars to be simultaneously moved
in opposite directions, whereby the required movements are imparted to the cutters.
The oscillating carrier head K is connected directly with the lower cutter bar t,
whereby the oscillation of the shafts A, i, with their feed rolls is produced, by
means of a pin a projecting from the inner face of the head K through a curved
slot 25 in the frame-work A, into an inclined cam slot. formed in a lug or
plate c', Figures 6 and 7, projecting from one side of the cutter-bart, and by this
construction the movement of the cutter bar is communicated to the oscillating
carrier head K, in the most simple, direct and effective manner, and at a point
where it is especially desirable to avoid the employment of complicated mechanism,
on account of its liability to get out of order. When the nail is finished and
ready to be cut from the nail rod, it is moved laterally out of the path of the
vertical hammers by the oscillation of the carrier head K and its feed rolls on the
centre pin previously described; this movement of the nail rod bringing it
within the path of the cutters just before the latter are brought together. These
movements are produced by the bar M as it is pushed forward in the direction of
the arrow, the return movement of the bar M, which takes place after the nail
has been severed from the rod, causing the feed rolls with the nail rod to be
swung back to their proper central position with relation to the upper and lower
hammers, and also causing the cutters to recede from each other; the feed rolls
being simultaneously rotated by means of the stationary pawl p and ratchet wheel o
sufficiently to feed the nail rod forward the exact amount required for the next
nail.
The horizontal bar M with its cam plate L is reciprocated to actuate the cutter
bars and feed mechanism at the required times, in the following manner. Upon
the driving shaft B is placed a cam wheel N, within the groove d' of which fits
an anti-friction roll el, placed on a stud projecting from the upper end of a rocker
arm or lever P, fulcrumed at "; the lower end of the lever P engaging with
the bar M when the rear end of the latter is raised sufficiently to cause the
foot g' of the lever P to enter a notch or recess on the upper side of the bar M.
The cam groove d' is of such form that each complete revolution of the cam
wheel N will produce two backward and forward oscillations of the rocker lever P.
The elevation of the rear end of the bar M is produced by a lever ¹, fulerumed
at, and having on its under side a shoulder, which rests on the periphery of
a wheel m', provided with a cam or projection n', Figure 1 and seen dotted
in Figure 7, the free end of the lever being connected with the bar M by a
spiral spring p. On the shaft q' of the wheel and contiguous to the latter, is
secured a ratchet wheel, ', which is actuated by a reciprocating pawl s', pivoted
to the rocker lever P near the upper end of the latter, whereby through the
connections described each half revolution of the cam wheel N causes the ratcliet
wheel to be moved forward one tooth, and with it the wheel m², and thus as
the latter is rotated its cam n' is brought up against the under side of the lever,
raising the same and putting a tension upon the spring p' to lift the bar M into
engagement with the rocker lever as soon as the foot g' of the latter is brought
into line with the notch by the movement of the cam wheel N. When this
engagement has taken place, the rocker lever P is moved by the cain N to push
the bar M forward in the direction of the arrow, Figures 1 and 7, which through
the connections described, oscillates the carrier head K with the feed rolls, to

page_text: move the nail rod laterally into line with the cutters and causes the latter to be
brought together to sever the finished nail from the rod. At the completion of
the forward movement of the bar M, the cam n¹ passes out of contact with the
shoulder of the lever, when the latter will drop and allow the rear end of
the bar M to descend sufficiently to disengage the notch from the foot g of
the rocker lever P, which on its return movement bears against a lug or projection.t
on the bar M, and this moves the latter back to its original position, when it will
remain stationary, until by the complete revolution of the ratchet wheel the
cam n is again brought into position to raise the lever, when the operation
will be repeated as before. The return movement of the lar M. in the direction
contrary to the arrow, Figures 1 and 7, causes the cutters to recede from each
other, and the nail rod to be swung over into its proper central position with relation
to the hammers, and fed forward the exact amount required for the next nail.
The number of teeth of the ratchet wheel corresponds to the number of blows
given by either pair of hammers, and consequentiy the number of blows to which
the nail is subjected previous to being cut off is regulated and determined by the
number of teeth in the said ratchet wheel r', as a complete revolution of said
wheel is required to bring the cutters and feed mechanism into action, and when
it is desired to vary the number of blows of the hammers to which the nail is
subjected, the ratchet wheel is removed from its shaft q', and another having a
different number of teeth substituted therefor.
The above described machine possesses very few parts and the connections
between the moving portions are of the simplest and most direct character, thus
relieving the machine of all unnecessary complication, reducing its cost, and
rendering it exceedingly durable and free from liability to derangement, while the
friction and wear and tear are reduced to a minimum, there being now powerful
hammer springs to be forced back against their own resistance, which has hereto-
fore caused a great waste and much unnecessary loss of power.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we'
claim is,
ог
1. The combination with the hammers arranged to operate alternately in pairs,
of the cam wheel D, adapted to actuate the hammers in both directions and having
a groove e for the reception of the hammer helves, provided with recesses
enlargements, whereby the hammers are released from the control of the cam
previous to giving their blow, and left free, after striking the heated nail rod, to
instantly rebound or recede from the same, before being again brought under the
control of the cam, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. The combination with the lower vertical sliding cutter bar t, provided with a
lug or plate c', having a cam slot 6, of the oscillating head K carrying the feed
rolls, and their connected shafts, and having a pin a¹ fitting within the cam slot b¹
of the lug c, whereby the movement of the sliding cutier bar t is communicated
directly to the oscillating carrier head K, substantially as and for the purpose
described.
3. The combination with the reciprocating bar M, having at its front end an
enlarged portion or cam plate L, provided with two oppositely inclined cam slots u, v,
of the vertically sliding cutter bars s, t, carrying the cuiters q, r, and provided
at their lower ends with screws or pins 18, 20, fitting within the sluts u, v, of
the cam plate L, all operating substantially in the manner and for the purpose
set forth.
4. The combination of the hammers and their operative cam wheel D, the
vertically sliding cutter bars s, t, and their cutters q,, the feed rolls g, g, with
their connected shafts and oscillating carrier head K, the latter connected directly
with the lower cutter bar t by a pin a' and cam slot ', the horizontal recipro-
cating bar M with its notch ', connected with and operating the cutter bars s, t,

page_text: the rocker lever P adapted to engage the notch of the bar M, the cam N on
the driving shaft B, engaging with the rocker lever P, the lever connected with the
bar M by a spring, the cam n¹ on the shaft q', the ratchet wheel ¹ on said
shaft q, and its actuating pawl s', pivoted to the lever P, all operating sub-
stantially in the manner and for the purpose described.
Dated this 22nd day of July 1890.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicants.