IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FORGING OF BOLTS, SPIKES, AND NAILS
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EZRA
JENKS COATES, of Bread Street, Cheapside, in the City of London, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Thirtieth day of January, in the fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Ezra Jenks Coates, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho
rity, that I, the said Ezra Jenks Coates, my exors, admors, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Ezra Jenks Coates, my exors, admors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and yend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FORGING OF
BOLTS, SPIKES, AND NAILS," communicated to me by a certain Foreigner
residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that
I, the said Ezra Jenks Coates, should cause a particular description of the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: Ezra Jenks Coates, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say-
The Invention relates,-
First, to a mode of constructing and applying apparatus worked by ma-
chinery for forging the heads of bolts, spikes, and nails.
Secondly, to a mode of forging the points of bolts, spikes; and nails, by
drawing the ends thereof through peculiarly formed pressing surfaces, as
.hereafter described.
And thirdly, to a mode of using a series of circular cutters for cutting the
plates of metal to be forged by a machine in combination therewith. And
in order to give the best information in my power, I will proceed to describe
the Drawings hereunto annexed, in which the same letters and figures of
reference indicate similar parts.
".
i
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS..
The nature of each Figure shown by the Drawings of the machine, and the
parts thereof being written on the Drawings, it will not be necessary to repeat s
them here. a, a, is the framing of the machine. 6 is the main or driving
axle, which turns in bearings 6¹ at each side of the machine, and motion is
communicated to such axis 6 by means of a steam engine or other power,
there being a drawing pulley 63 affixed on the axis b, by which, and an
endless strap driven by suitable power, motion may be communicated to that
axis b. On the axis bare formed three cranks, as is shewn in the Drawings.
c, c, are two connecting rods attached to the outer cranks of the axis b, the
other ends of such connecting rods being attached to short necks or axes d, d,
of the lever e, such lever being formed by two plates e connected together
at each end, and the lever e moves on an axis or fulcrum at e¹. The lever es
works two levers f, f, up and down by means of two spring rods g, g, such
spring rods 9 having at all times a tendency to open the levers from each
other, the spring rods 9, 9, being connected one to each of the levers ƒ by
means of the straps f¹ and the set screws which pass through the straps, the
upper ends of the spring rods being bent at right angles to enter recesses
formed in the levers f, the lower ends of the spring rods g being connected
with the plates of the lever e by means of straps g' and the set screws which
pass through them, the upper ends of each strap 9' having an axis which

page_text: receives the end of one of the rods g, as is clearly shewn in the Drawing.
Hence it will be evident that the rotation of the main axis b will cause the
levers to move up and down, such levers moving on axes h, h, carried by the
cap or bar h, which is guided in its movement up and down by the guides h³
affixed to the side framing of the machine, as is clearly shown in various
Figures of the Drawing, a careful examination of which will not only enable
a workman to understand the mode of working of the parts, but he will
ascertain the shapes and nature of each of the separate parts. The levers f
may be called the holding levers, as they hold the metal when being forged,
and each of the levers f has a die or plate of chilled cast iron or of tempered
steel affixed thereto, as is shewn at i, i; such plates of steel (the shape of
which will be traced in the Drawing) I call the holding dies, and they are
adjusted in the levers by the screws 2, and they are held securely in the
levers by the fixing screws 2, as will readily be traced in the Drawings,
particularly in those Views where the levers f and parts working therewith are
shewn separate from the general machinery. Thus far I have described the
levers as being moved up and down by the rods g, which have, as above
stated, at all times a tendency to keep such levers opened away from each
other. I will now explain how they are closed towards each other to hold the
portion of a rod of metal during its being pointed and headed, and how they
again open out to let go of the bolt, spike, or nail, when formed, and remain
open to receive a fresh portion of metal to be forged into a bolt, spike, or nail.
On the other side of each lever f is formed a semicircular projection at j,
and k is a sliding bar composed of two plates fastened together at each end,
and such bar is guided by the guides h³ affixed to the side framing of the
machine, and between the two plates of which the bar k is formed the levers f
pass, and are capable of sliding through the same bar when the bark and the
levers are not moving together. The bar k carries two studs with semi-
circular surfaces, and between them and the projections ; of the levers fare
placed two filling pieces 7, which have semicircular grooves at each end,
which fit on the surfaces j, j'; by this means, when in the working of the
levers the centres of the parts j, j³, come on a horizontal line, the levers f
will be caused to hold the portion of metal between the dies i, and such
holding will continue so long as the centres of the parts j, j, are in a hori-
zontal line; but as the centres of the parts j, j, depart from that position, the
levers leave hold of the portion of metal which is being forged, and such
holding of the portion of metal during the process of forging, and leaving
hold thereof when it is complete, is effected by the joint working of the levers
f and the bar k. I will, therefore, now trace the mode of giving motion

page_text: from the main axis 6 to the bar k. The bark is affixed to and forms part of
the upright bar l, such bar being raised and lowered in the following
manner-Between the two plates of which the lever is composed a lever m
works, and on the same axis as the lever e. The bar is connected to the
lever m, as is shewn in the Drawings, there being adjusting means between
the lever m and the bar l, as is clearly shown. n is a link or frame affixed
to the horizontal plate n', which is guided in its movement up and down
between guide plates n affixed to the side framing of the machine. n³, n³,
are projecting plates, which are so formed on their under sides that when
acted on by the projections o affixed on the upper straps of the connecting.
rods c; the bark will be raised and retained in an elevated position so long:
as the dies are required to be in a closed state, and then will allow the bar
to descend and allow the dies i to be opened by the spring rods g, in order
that the dies i may part with the bolt, spike, or nail, which has been formed,
and remain open till a fresh portion of metal has been fed between the dies i,
all which will readily be traced, and the shapes and nature of each part readily
understood by a careful examination of the Drawings. p is a finger affixed to
the link or frame n, and rests under the centre crank of the axis b. by which
the frame and parts connected. therewith are caused to descend with certainty,
there being a set screw p¹ passing through a projection of the plate of the
finger p, such set screw p¹ resting on a filling piece ps between it and the
axis or neck embraced by the link n. On the cross bar a¹ of the framing a
is applied a short lever q, which moves on an axis or fulcrum carried by
the bar a¹. This short lever has a rod g¹ affixed thereto by a screw, as is
shown, the upper end of such rod being connected to the lever. r, which
moves on points carried by the plate or box s, which carries the back die t,
which back die consists of a plate of chilled cast iron or tempered steel,
having the front edge thereof formed to the figure or contour of one side of
the bolt, spike, or nail, to be formed in the machine. This back die t is
adjusted in a recess formed in the plate or box 8 by screws t, and is held
secured by the screw t, as is shown in the Drawing, and it will be seen that
the plate or box s is affixed to one of the levers f, and consequently moves
therewith, and is guided in its movement by the plates v, which are fixed to
the back cross framing of the machine, there being a recess formed in the front
edge of each of the plates v, and there is also a recess formed at the back of the
plate or box s, as is clearly shown by this arrangement. Although the guide
plates v prevent the box or plate from moving back so long as the forging pro-
cess is going on, yet when that is finished, and the dies require to be opened to
release the finished nail, bolt, or spike, and to receive a fresh portion of a rod of

page_text: metal to be forged, the plates and the levers of will be allowed to fall towards
the back of the machine, there being sufficient space allowed in the guides h³
for that purpose, and it will be seen that there is a set screw u passing through
the cross frame a'; hence, as the levers descend, the lower end of the rod q'
will rest on the screw u, and in the further descent of the levers f the heading
die, carried by the lever r, will be retained in such a position as to receive
the lower end of the rod, to which a point has been forged, as hereafter
explained, and by the descent of the dies i, i, and t, there will be a head forged
on to the end of the stem of the nail, bolt, or spike, all which will readily be
traced in the Drawings.
I will now describe the nature of the front die, and the mode of its work-
ing. wis a circular disc of tempered steel, which is carried in a frame x,
the nature of which is shown in the Drawings; it has a square recess of
a width just suitable for receiving the disc wand the two side plates, and
allow of the disc moving therein. is a filling piece of iron or steel, which
first goes into the square recess of the frame a, such filling piece having a
curved recess, within which the disc w can be received, and be embraced some-
what beyond half of its circumference; hence, when the filling piece ¹ and
the disc ware placed in the square recess of the frame x, the disc w will be
securely held in the frame a by a set screw passing through one side of the
frame x. The frame a is capable of a slight extent of movement in a direction
from front to back of the machine, by means of the spring y, which embraces
the short projecting rod a² of the frame a, such rod being received into a recess
formed in the bar, which is placed across the front of the machine; and
there are also side projections to the frame x, which enter into grooves
formed in the bar %, by which the frame is retained in its horizontal position,
and there are regulating screws 2¹ passing through nuts, which are retained
in their places by entering grooves in the side framing to regulate the distance
of the bar z from the front of the machine, and consequently the distance the
disc w may move, the object of such movement being to allow the disc w to
give way when feeding in of a portion of a rod of metal to be forged, and to
retain it between its perephery and the back die t, the frame a being securely
sustained-by the bar z, when forming, the point of the nail, spike, or bolt; and
it may here be stated that a portion of metal being fed in between the
dies i, i, t, and w, the dies i, i, will close on and securely hold two sides of
such portion of metal, and the back die will assume its proper vertical position,
and while in the dies i, i, and t, the metal may be said to lie in a vertical
trough, it having three sides supported, and in this condition the portion of
metal will come against the periphery of the disc or die w, and be drawn

page_text: against it, and the effect will be that the disc or die w will act for the most
part as if it were a fixed surface, and the portion of metal under process will
be drawn down into a point by sliding against the surface or edge of the disc
or die w. And it is important to remark, that the disc or die w does not act
by rolling along the surface of the metal to be drawn into a point, but the
'forging of the point of the bolt, spike, or nail, is caused by pressure and draw-
ing, and in this particular the use of the die or disc w is materially different to
when a roller or rollers are used, which, rotating at an equal surface speed to
the movement of the portion of metal under process, simply act by pressure.
And in place of using the circular dies or disc w, I sometimes only use a
curved fixed surface, but the same is not so useful, owing to the difficulty of
keeping the surface lubricated, which, for the time being, is acting to press the
surface of metal which is being forged, and it is important to have the rubbing
and pressing surface w oiled, that it may slide freely on the metal being
pointed thereby; and it will be found that in the working a circular dic, such
as w, although it does not generally move round when pressing to forge a
point, it moves a short distance round immediately after by the side surfaces
being pressed on by the dies i, by this means a fresh surface of the die w will
be presented to forge the point of the next portion of metal fed into the
machine, and, by having a hole in the upper part of the frame which carries
the die or disc w, oil or other lubricating matter may be constantly supplied to
the working edge or surface of the disc w. A, A, are two springs, which tend
at all times to force back the bar which carries the back die t, and they are
permitted to force back the diet at a proper period of the working; by the
recesses formed for that purpose, as above described; such springs A pressing
against the bar h, which carries the levers f, and consequently all the parts go
back with the diet when it is forced back by the springs A. It has been
stated that the portion of metal to be forged, being fed into the machine, is
held on two of its sides by the dies i, i, and is shaped by means of the back
diet and the front die w; hence, when the point has been forged, and the head
is to be made, there is one surface of the portion of metal which is unsupported,
and that is the front surface; and it is important, in the process of forging the
head, that that side, as well as the other three; should be well sustained and
supported. For this purpose, what may be called a front holding die B is applied,
which, coming in contact with the portion of metal under process, holds it
securely in front; hence, when the heading process is performed, the portion of
metal will be securely held at the two sides by the dies i, i, at the back by the
die t, and at front by the die B, and in this condition of the metal to be
headed, it comes in contact with the heading die, and the head is formed as

page_text: above explained, and the same will readily be traced, on a careful examination
of the various Drawings, where the bolt, nail, or spike is shown in different
states of process. The die B is caused to act in the following manner :-It is a
plate of tempered steel or of chilled cast iron formed in the manuer shown in
the Drawing; it is affixed in the frame C, the nature of which is clearly shown
in the Drawings, such frame being capable of movement up and down by its
front end resting in a semicircular groove or recess formed in the plate D
affixed to the cranked axis E, the spring F having a constant tendency to
raise the opposite end of the frame C upwards; G, G, being regulating screws
to adjust the height to which plate D, and consequently the frame C, may be
raised, there being slots formed in the plate D. On the frame C is affixed a
projecting plate H, which, in working, comes under one of the side dies i, and
by this means ensures the die B coming into the proper position, otherwise the
dies i and the die B might not work correctly together. S is a connecting
rod, which is attached to an arm S' affixed on the cranked axis E, such con-
necting rod at its upper end entering in a curved recess formed on the under
side of the arm S¹, and the connecting rod S is kept up to the under side of
the arm S¹ by means of a strap S2, which embraces the arm S¹, and is at its
lower ends attached by pin joints to the rod S, there being a set screw which
passes through the upper part of the strap, and rests on the upper surface of
the arm S¹. The lower end of the connecting rod S is forked, and at all times
rests on an excentric T affixed on the main or driving axis b, and by such
means a rocking motion is communicated to the cranked axis E, and the die B
is thereby caused to move towards the back die t, and to hold the metal when
the heading process is being performed, and then to move back; and in order
to remove the spike, bolt, or nail from the dies i, i, t, and B, the die B is
caused suddenly to be drawn downwards by means of the spring V, which has
a connecting rod attached to it, and to the projection from the frame C, by a
pin joint, and by passing and moving freely through the spring V, such spring V
only coming into action after finishing the head; for it will be seen that the
spring V is. affixed to the lever m, and the front end of the spring rests on the
projection on the upper surface of the front end of the lever m; hence, as the
dies i, i, t, rise, and as the bar k descends, the die B still being held in its
place, the front end of the spring V cannot descend to the lever m till the
dies i, i, open, the spring V will thereby be in a state of tension, and will, by
the die B, draw the nail, spike, or bolt suddenly down, when the dies i, i, begin
to open, and thus will the forged nail, spike, or bolt be ensured being removed
from the dies before fresh metal is .fed into the machine; and it should be

page_text: remarked that the front end of the lever of the heading die has a projecting
plate, against which the nail, spike, or bolt drops, and is guided off.
I will now describe the mode of feeding the machine with short rods or
portions of metal, to be forged into nails, bolts, or spikes. The Drawings
show a machine suitable for making nails, but smaller or larger dies may be
put into the machine, and machinery on a larger and stronger scale may bo
made suitable for receiving dies large and strong enough for forming spikes or
bolts. The sheets of metal are (what is called) split into rods by rotatory
cutters, as is well understood. I, I, are the rotatory cutters which are affixed
on axes 1, one of which axes receives motion from a steam engine or other
power, and has a fly wheel affixed thereon, as is well understood and clearly
shown in the Drawings. J, J. are what may be called two sides of a hopper,
into which the length of plate requisite for forming the nails, spikes, or bolts
is placed, one of the side plates J being a spring surface, by which the
metal is held in its passage to the cutters. I and J¹ are a series of plates
which stand between the cutters I, and in fact form a tube or continuation of
the hopper which guide the short rods as they are split from the plate, and
guide them down side by side so that they rest on their ends in the bottom of
the narrow trough K, in which a rammer works to force the portions of rods
against the back of the tube M, down which, the short rods are successively
forced in order to pass them into the dies to be there forged. N is a rod by
which the short rods of metal are successively forced down the tube M. This
rod receives motion in the following manner :-N¹ is an axis, having an arm
N³, to which the rod N is attached by means of a socket, which slides on the
fixed rod N'. The rod N passing through the socket is affixed therein by a
set screw, and the socket has projections or studs which enter square sockets,
and such sockets are received into forked ends of the arms Nº, as is shewn,
and the axis N¹ receives motion from the main axis b by means of a cam N³
affixed on that axis, which cam works against two friction surfaces N*, which
are carried by the connecting rod N", by which means in the revolution of the
main axis the connecting rod N³ will be moved to and fro, such movement
being governed by means of the square piece N° placed on the axis 6 so as to
allow that axis to turn freely, such piece No supporting and guiding the sides
of the rods No, there being a slot or long square opening in the end of the
connecting rod N³, as is shewn, the other end of the rod No being attached by.
a pin joint to an arm No, affixed to the axis N¹; by this means the rod N is
caused to move up and down, and it is guided in its movement, as is shewn, by
an upright fixed guide rod N. The plate or sheet of metal is forced into the

page_text: hopper by the rammer O, which is attached by a pin joint to the lever P, the
other end of the lever P working the rammer Q, and the lever P is at all
times pressed or drawn on by a weight, by which it causes the short rods of
metal to be forced into a position to be pushed down into the forging dies by
the rod N; and it will be evident that as the short rods are progressively
worked up, the rammer O will be raised away from the cutters I in such
manner as to allow of a fresh sheet or plate of metal to be put into the hopper
below the rammer O, and when the last short rod has been forced up to be fed
into the dies, the workman places a plate or sheet of metal into the hopper
and draws back the rammer Q by the lever P, by which means he will force
the plate or sheet of metal by the rammer O between the cutters I, and on
letting go of the lever P it will be again worked by its weight, which will press
the short rods, as above explained, till they are all worked up. I would
remark, that I have simply spoken of rods of metal, meaning thereby such
metals as are usually forged into nails, spikes, or bolts, and in working the
plates are first heated to a sufficient degree to allow of their being forged into
the sized nail, spike, or bolt desired.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, I would remark that,
although I have been thus particular in describing the various parts and their
modes of action, there may be variations made without departing from the
Invention; and although I prefer to have the back diet of the form of one
surface of the nail, spike, or bolt, which is to be produced in the machine, I
do not confine. myself thereto, as two dies w may be used and the back 'die
dispensed with, as is shewn in Drawing No. Z, where sufficient of the parts
are shewn combined to explain this alteration; and as there is only a repetition
of the front die w and parts connected therewith used as the back die, it will
not be necessary to re-describe the parts. And it will be seen that in this case
there is movement given to the front die to cause it to approach the back dies,
as the point to the metal is progressively formed, and the metal is drawn
between the two surfaces w, which may be circular, as above explained, or
may be similar to those shewn. It will also be seen that there is a variation
in the mode of working the heading die, and there are two holding dies B for
heading one at back and one in front. The Drawing shews those variations,
and the similar parts are marked with the same letters of reference, and the
difference of working of this machine will readily be understood by a workman
on examining the Drawing now under description, aided by the description of
the previous Drawings. And I would also remark that, although I prefer,
when using the back die t, that the front die should so act that the point should
be a drawn point, yet a die like w, placed on an axis and moving freely thereon,

page_text: might be substituted for the drawing die w before explained, in such case the
point produced would he formed by pressure only, the rolling surface having a
surface speed equal to the portion of metal which is being pointed.
I would have it understood that I make no claim to any of the parts
separately nor combined, other than is hereafter particularly pointed out; nor
do I confine myself thereto, so long as the Invention as herein claimed be
retained. But what I claim as the Invention is,―
First, the mode of combining dies i, i, and t, with a suitable front die for
forging points to nails, bolts, or spikes, as above described.
Secondly, I claim the mode of combining dies i, i, and t, and holding die B,
for forging heads to nails, bolts, or spikes..
Thirdly, I claim the mode of employing dies w with dies i, i, for forging
points to nails, spikes, or bolts, by drawing, as well as pressure, as above
described.
And, fourthly, I claim the mode of combining the circular cutters I with
the dies i, i, when working with other suitable apparatus, to forge nails, spikes,
or bolts.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ezra Jenks Coates, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of July, in the year of our
Land Ona thousand right hundred and fauter and