IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF NAILS, SPIKES, PINS, AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Bernard Peard Walker, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF NAILS, SPIKES, PINS, AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES, AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Bernard Peard Walker at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd March 1878.
BERNARD PEARD WALKER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS, SPIKES, PINS, AND OTHER LIKE
ARTICLES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
My Invention relates to a new method of manufacturing nails, spikes, pins, and
other like articles, and it consists in producing the same in pairs, point to point,
either by cutting, pressing, cross rolling, or otherwise operating on pieces of
material sufficiently long to make two nails by the one operation, the heads being
formed either before or after pointing. By means of this arrangement the nails or
other like articles as before mentioned are made pointed without any of the metal
from which they are formed being wasted by being removed by abrasion or cut
away as scrap; the productive power of the machinery is much greater than that
of the machines now in use, and a far greater variety of shape of the shaft of the
nail or spike can be attained than by the machinery at present in use, whilst
facility is afforded for the working up of waste metals into the before-mentioned
articles.
In carrying out my Invention as applied, for example, to the manufacture of
nails, a piece of metal detached from a suitably formed strip or wire having sufficient
length is formed into two nails by one operation.
The ends of the detached piece of metal are formed into heads by the action of
gripping dies and punchos similar to those of the well-known nail machinery in
ordinary use, excepting that I employ the heading apparatus simultaneously so as

page_text: to head at each end. By the action of cutters suitably shaped or by other con
venient means, I divide this double-headed blank so as to make two nails at one
operation.
The division of the blank may be effected in various ways, of which the following
are enumerated by way of example :—
1st. By a combination of cutting and moulding processes, as in the case of nails
made from wire, such as those known as "points de Paris."
2nd. By a plain cut across in cases when the material is rolled or otherwise
prepared of a section tapering from edges to centre.
3rd. By means of rollers revolving in opposite directions, between which the
blank in this instance made from round wire is to be passed with its length parallel
to the axis of the rollers between rolls of a suitable shape, that is to say, with
their periphery in contact, or nearly so, midway, and tapering off each way towards
their ends.
4th. By means of dies or hammers moving to and from each other in pairs having
their paths arranged at right angles so as to act on a rectangular shaft on its
opposite sides alternately. The acting faces of these dies or hammers are to be
counterparts of the nail points required.
The operation of dividing the blank and forming the points of the nails into
which it is resolved may be effected by parts of the same machine which
detaches the blank from the wire, rod, or plate, of material, and forms the two
heads; but in some cases I prefer to employ a separate machine, into which the
blanks are fed automatically, or by hand for the purpose of pointing.
The material may be fashioned in the first instance into blanks forming two
nails connected at their pointed ends, so that by making a head on each outer
end and cutting through the blank midway between those ends, two nails are
made.
"
When slit rods or rod iron rolled to a rectangular section as "squares" and "flats"
are used for making nails or spikes, I adopt this arrangement, employing any
suitable form of machine for actuating the double pair of hammers or stamps
before referred to, and regulating their stroke so as to gradually reduce the
original section of the rod to the form of two headless nails connected at their
points.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Bernard Peard Walker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st
September 1878.
BERNARD PEARD WALKER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS, SPIKES, PINS, AND OTHER LIKE
ARTICLES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
23
My said Invention relates to a new method of manufacturing nails, spikes, pins,
and other like articles, and it consists in producing the same in pairs, point to point,
by cutting and pressing or cross rolling in the manner herein-after described, pieces
of material sufficiently long to make two nails by the one operation, the heads being
formed either before or after pointing.
In carrying out my said Invention as applied, for example, to the manufacture of
nails of the description known as "pointes de Paris," I take a piece of wire of
suitable length to form two nails, and by preference, first form the ends of the same
into heads by the action of gripping dies and punches similar to those of the well-
known nail machinery in ordinary use, with the exception that I employ the
heading apparatus so as to head the two ends simultaneously; I then either subject
the double blank thus headed to the action of cutters so shaped as to divide it and
mould the points of the two nails thus formed at one operation, or I subject the
said double blank to the action of the pair of > rollers revolving in opposite
directions, and in close proximity the one to the other, the blank (arranged parallel
to the axis of the rollers) being brought into contact with the peripheries of the
rollers in a plane passing betweem them in such a manner that the said blank
shall be cut to the requisite shape to form the points of the two nails, and divided
in one and the same operation.
The wire used for each double blank may be cut from a suitable length of wire
by known means, and the apparatus for detaching the short lengths from the con-
tinuous wire and heading, the said lengths and pointing and dividing them may
form one combined machine, the blanks being headed before or after pointing; or I
may employ a separate machine into which the headed blanks are fed either by
hand or automatically for the purpose of pointing.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to
the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a sectional elevation illustrating a
preliminary operation upon a double blank, from which two nails are to be
made.
Figure 2 represents a plan of the lower of a pair of dies with the double blank,
which has been partially operated upon, in position to be divided into two nails and
pointed at one operation.
Figure 3 is a transverse section of the pair of dies with the upper die represented
as rising after having operated upon the blank.
Figures 4 and 4a represent detail plans of the lower and upper dies respectively.
Figure 5 is a plan, and Figures 6 and 7 are respectively views of opposite ends of
an apparatus having for its object pointing and severing the double blank without
the preliminary operation illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 8 represents an end sectional elevation of a inachine adapted for making
two nails from a double blank at one operation, according to another modification
of my said Invention, and Figure 9 is a side elevation of a portion of the
same.
According to one mode of carrying out my Invention, I take a piece of wire of a
sufficient length to form two nails, and which, by preference, has been previously
headed at both ends as before mentioned, and subject the same to the operation of

page_text: a pair of dies of a shape similar to that shewn at A, A', Figure 1, the lower die A
being stationary, and the upper dic A¹ movable. This Figure represents the wire
or double blank (marked B) as having been operated upon, the upper die A¹ being
in the act of rising from the lower die.
It will be observed that under the action of the dies A, A, the wire B is bent at 5
a in order to facilitate the succeeding operation of serving the double blank, and
pointing the two nails to be thus produced. The bending of the double blank or
wire may however be effected in any other convenient manner. The double blank
or wire thus bent is next submitted to the action of the dies C, C¹, (Figures 2 and 3),
the lower one C being stationary and the upper one C¹ noveable as before. These 1
dies are provided with cutting edges b, b', b, (as shewn in Figures 3, 4, and 4ª), by
the action of which the double blank or wire is divided along the dotted line b³,
Figure 2, and the two nails thus produced are pointed in one and the same
operation.
In Figure 3 the upper die C is represented in the act of rising after having 1
operated upon the double blank or wire c, c, in that Figure denoting the points of
the two nails thus shaped.
The two side cutting edges b, b, may be dispensed with, but the operation of
shaping the points is facilitated by the employment of the three b, b¹, b.
In some cases it may be desirable to perform the operation of bending the double 2
blank or wire, and severing the same, and pointing the two nails thus produced
simultaneously.
The apparatus shewn in Figures 5, 6, and 7, is designed to effect this object. B
is the straight length of wire forming the double blank, and C, C¹, are the cutting
and shaping dies as before. On each side of these dies I place a pair of guide 2
blocks, the two pairs being respectively marked D and D¹ in my Drawings. The
blocks D are made of a rectangular shape at their ends d, see Figure 6, whilst the
blocks D' are made of a curved form at their ends d, as shewn in Figure 7.
It will be apparent that when the wire B (which is placed in position in its straight
form, as shown between the blocks D, D, dies C, C¹, and blocks D¹, D¹) is operated g
upon by the descent of the die C', the portion a¹ of the wire will descend in a
vertical direction between the ends d, d, of the dies D, D, whilst the portion a² of
the said wire will be caused to descend in a curved direction between the ends
¹, d', of the blocks D', D', thus producing a bend in the wire at a, such as is shewn
in Figures 1 and 2, and simultaneously dividing the wire into nails, and pointing 3
the same in one operation.
By means of the arrangements herein-before described the nails or other like
articles as before mentioned are made pointed without any of the metal from which
they are formed being wasted by being removed by abrasion or cut away as scrap;
and the productive power of the machinery is much greater than that of the 4
machines now in use, whilst facility is afforded for the working up of waste metals
into the before-mentioned articles.
According to the modification of apparatus illustrated by Figures 8 and 9, I
perform the operation of shaping the double blank or wire to form the points of
the two nails, and severing the said double blank or wire at the points by means of 4
rollers arranged and operating in the following manner:-E, E¹, represent a pair of
rollers fast on shafts e, e¹, which are mounted in suitable bearings in the frame F
of the machine, and are driven by gearing G from a shaft f, to which motion is
imparted from any suitable prime mover.
The double blanks to be operated upon are contained in a hopper H which
allows one at a time to descend, or on to a carrier g consisting of two or more arms
arranged at opposite sides of the rollers, suitable provision being made if necessary
to maintain the double blanks contained in the hopper in motion to ensure their
descent one by one as required on to the carrier g. The function of this carrier is to
present each blank in succession to the peripheries of the two rollers E, E, which
revolving in opposite directions in contact, or nearly so, operate upon it, and by
reason of their bevel shape form the points for the two nails to be made, and sever

page_text: the blank at one operation; the nails then fall into a receptacle below and the
carrier returns for another double blank, and so on in succession. This recipro-
cating to-and-fro motion of the carrier may be obtained from the shaft ƒ through
the intervention of a crank h, connecting rod i, and lever k, or in any other con-
venient manner.
This modification of apparatus admits of a greater variety of shape in the shaft
of the nail than is attainable by the machinery at present in use.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said In-
vention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect,
I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original, and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is, producing nails, spikes, pins, and other like articles in pairs point
to point simultaneously by cutting and pressing or cross rolling pieces of material
of sufficient length to form two nails, substantially in the manner and by the means
herein-before described.
To witness whereof, I, the said Bernard Peard Walker, have to this my Specifi-
cation set my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of September, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-eight.
BERN. P. WALKER. (L.S.)