IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS
Year: 1885

page_text: I, 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 RELATING TO THE MANUFACTURE 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.
The object of the said invention is to produce, in a comparatively cheap manner,
nails which, when driven into wood, have greater holding power than those hereto-
fore usually employed, and which cannot be withdrawn without the application of
great force and injury to, or tendency to injure, the wood.
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 first formed with annular circumferential ribs or projections as
bereinafter described. The rod or wire thus formed is cut into sections or pieces
constituting blanks, and these blanks 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.
Figure 2 shews a finished nail made from the said rod or wire.
The surface a of each annular rib or projection is bevelled or inclined, that is to
say, it forms an acute angle with the axis of the rod or wire. The surface b of
each rib or projection is at right angles, or approximately so, to the axis of the rod
or wire. The said rod or wire has, therefore, the appearance of a series of pieces,
each having the form of a frustum of a cone, so united that the base of each piece
is joined to the apex of the adjacent piece.
As will be seen in Figure 2, the surfaces b of the said ribs or projections are
toward the head of the finished nail, whilst the inclined surfaces a are towards the
point thereof. Therefore, although the said nail can be easily driven into the

page_text: wood, its withdrawal therefrom will, as above stated, necessitate the application of
great force, the annular ribs or projections acting as barbs and tending to prevent
the withdrawal of the nail.
The rod or wire formed as above described, is produced either by turning an
annealed rod or wire, or by swaging, rolling, or otherwise, as preferred.
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
First. A continuous metal rod or length of wire formed with annular ribs or pro-
jections each of which has 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 annular ribs or projections as above described, then severing or
cutting pieces therefrom, and heading and pointing the same, substantially as, and
for the purpose, set forth.