IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR FINISHING HORSE SHOE NAIL BLANKS
Year: 1883

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LETTERS PATENT to Raphael Hunter Brandon, of N° 1, Rue Laffitte, Paris,
France, Engineer and Patent Agent. for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINES FOR FINISHING HORSE SHOE NAIL BLANKS" communicated to
him by Frederick Myers a citizen of the United States of America
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Raphael Hunter. Brandon at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th October 1883.
5
RAPHAEL HUNTER BRANDON of N° 1 rue Laffitte Paris France Engineer and
Patent Agent IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR FINISHING HORSE SHOE NAIL
BLANKS communicated to me by Frederick Myers, a citizen of the United States
of America
This invention has for its object certain improvements as hereinafter described in
horso shoe nail blank finishing machines of that class wherein the blanks are
moved forward intermittingly by a chain to be acted upon by a roller die, and are
then beveled at the point & sheared to finish the point. This invention consists in
a carrying chain composed of links & nail holding plates provided with projections
having pockets to receive & retain the heads of the nail blanks and fit upon all
sides of the same, combined with means to hold the said chain substantially as will
be described. Also in sheaves to receive & sustain the blank carrying chain, and a
carrying chain having plates provided with projections & pockets to receive & hold
the heads of the blanks on all sides as described and means to move the said
carrying chain, combined with a discharging device to act upon the points of &
discharge the finished nails upward out from the said pockets, substantially as will
be described. Also in the combination with the elements referred to in the
proceeding paragraph with a roller die means to move it, and a die and die block.
Also in a die, a die block.provided with a too & a rest or support for the end of
the die block and a movable pivot for the said die block combined with a roller
die and with means to move the latter and its pivot in order that the die blook

page_text: may rock while the roller die is being moved as will be described. Also in a die
block, its pivot, a connected adjustable lever and means to adjust the said lever to
place the said pivot in a normally higher or lower position, combined with a
supporting block carrier. Also in a block carrier a beveled supporting block, a
lover and two links attached thereto and connected with a cup provided with a
roller die and die and pivoted die block, combined with means to act upon &
hold the block carrier while the die roller is descending in contact with the blank
then resting against the said die. Also in a rest, a die block having a toe to rest
thereon & pivoted on a movable link, and means to move the die block on the said
rest, combined with a spring to hold the toe of the die block on the said rest, as
will be described. In accordance with one part of this invention, the links of the
carrying chain have secured to them detachable nail holding plates having laterally
projecting ears provided with recesses or pockets, beveled internally to receive the
shank and beveled heads of the nail blanks the said ears being also beveled at their
outer faces as will be described, to allow the drawing roller to strike the blank
close to its head. To enable the fibre of the metal at the opposite faces of the
nail blank being rolled & thus drawn or elongated to be kept in a more uniform
condition and also to enable any desired curve to be given to the body of the nail
the dio block that holds the die which is opposed to the roll has been so made that
the face may rock or turn in the arc of a circle, and at the same time the said die
block is made movable horizontally toward and from the roller die to permit the
introduction singly between the dies of the blanks to be drawn or elongated.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, illustrating this invention: Fig: 1, is a
top or plan view partially broken out of a nail blank finishing machine embodying
this invention. Fig: 2 a section of fig: 1, on the dotted line -x. Fig: 3 a side
view of the machine looking at it in the direction of the arrow fig: 1, with the
cam d' removed. Fig: 4 is a side elevation of one of the links of the carrying
chain with the attached nail holding plate. Fig: 5, is a section of fig: 4, on the
line. Fig 6, is a top or plan view of fig: 4. Fig: 7, represents a nail blank
curved as it may be by the roller and bed-die to be described. Fig: 8 is a view
of the supporting block E to be described and Fig: 9, separate view of the nail
holding plate. The main shaft A driven by a belt, not shown, on usual friction
clutch pulleys A1, A2, has its bearings at A³, in the frame A. This shaft A has a
cam B, see figs: 1 & 3, which acts upon a roll B¹ of an arın B2, of the rock shaft B³
and turns the cam, the said shaft, see figure 2, having its bearings at B', and being
provided at its upper side with a cap piece B. The upper side of the rock shaft B
is concavod and the under side of the cap is also concaved to receive the round
end 2 of the yoke C, to the front end of which is attached the cap C¹ having ears
to receive the pin 3 which serves as the axis of the die-roller C². The rocking of
shaft B³ moves the yoke and die roller backward and forward longitudinally. The
arm Bª acts against a second arm D of a rock shaft D' having a cam or tappet D²,
see fig: 2, which bears against the rear side of the block carrier D³ forked at its
lower end to fit a reduced part of the bracket D³ the said carrier being attached to
the said bracket by tho pin 4. This carrior, at its front side near its upper end
is provided with a removable steel supporting block E see fig: 8, having a part 6,
of its face bevelled more or less according to the curve it is desired to give the body
of the nail. The rear side of the block carrier D³, near the upper end of the latter,
is shouldered or cut away as at 7, to permit the said carrier to fall back in the
direction of the arrow 9, under the action of the spring F when the tappet D is
turned in the direction of the arrow on it far enough to permit the end of the
tappet to rise above the corner of the shoulder 7. The arms D & B are held up
in the position fig: 3 by the strong spring F. The main shaft A, has an eccentric Ġ
which is fitted into a box G¹ which in turn is fitted to guide-ways in the yoke C, soe
fig: 2, so that rotation of the shaft A & eccentric G, causes the yoke to vibrate
about its fulcrum in the rock shaft B³, so that the cap and its roller die C, is
made to move up and down sufficiently to cause the said roller-die to travel from

page_text: end to end of the body of the nail, or from end to end of the die H opposed to
said roller-dic. The yoke, or rather the cap C has a link H pivoted to it at 10
which link at its lower end is joined by pin 13, with the die operating lever I,
having its fulcrum pin 12, adjustable in a slot I³, of a hanger I', of the frame A*
The lever I has pivoted upon it a link L baving at its upper end a bolt or pin a
which is extended loosely through a hole in the die block L having the steel die H
against which rests the back of the nail blank while the roller die C rolls over the
face of the same. This pin a has a roller b which bears on or against and rolls
over the block E, as the yoke is raised and lowered. The toe 22, of the block L²,
bears on a rest 13, herein shown as a roller to avoid friction, and the said toe is
kept in contact with the said rest, which serves as a fulcrum for the die block, by
means of the spring F one end of which is hooked to engage the said toe. This
hook is not needed when the roller dio is descending as the pressure exerted on
the die block at that time is sufficient to forco it strongly against the said rest.
In the operation of rolling a blank from near its head to its point, the thickness of
the block will be determined by the shape of the face of the die H, and the curve
of the body of the block will be more or less according to the shape of the block E
and the position of the fulcrum 12 of the lever I. When the roller die C³, descends
to act upon a nail blank, lever I, link. L, and pin a are also drawn down, and
during such movement of the die block L' is turned in the direction of the
arrow 16, fig: 2, causing the face of the die H to hold the said nail blank closely
against the roller die C which then moves only in the arc of a circle, the yoke EL
and roller die C, being then held forward by the cam B acting on the arm B². The
face of the die H is in substantially the are of a circle, it varying from a true
circle only to provide for the taper of the nail, the die being of greatest radius at
its lower end. The curve in the body of the nail depends upon the position of the
pin a and the face of the die H with relation to the path of movement of the
roller die C, the higher the pin a when the said roller die strikes the blanks, 'the
less the curve in the blanks, and consequently by adjusting the fulcrum I³ of
the lever I and changing the block E, the body of the nail blank may be given
any desired curve. The carrying chain is composed of links c provided with ears c¹
having holes to receive pins or bolts c', the ears of adjacent links being thereby
fitted together to form joints as usual. Each link is grooved transversely at its
top as at c³, to form a ratchet tooth which may be engaged by the pawl d, pivoted
on the reciprocating pawl carrier & having its shank guided in the guide box .
The head of the pawl carrier is provided with a roller ³, which is struck by the
cam d, fast on the shaft A, the said pawl carrier being normally held by the
spring with the roller d³, against the said cam. The pawl moves the chain tho
distance of one link at each forward thrust so as to properly place in succession'
each blank between the dies or devices to operate upon them. Each link has a
nail holding plate e attached to it by a screw e¹ and cach plate is provided with
projection e, in which is made a pocket, shown clearly in the drawings, and
beveled at its inner side to properly receive the head of the blank, the projection e³
holding the blank in position while being operated upon by the dies. The walls
of the said projection bear against and guard each of the four sides of the bead of
the blank and nail so that the same once dropped into the pocket in the projection
cannot be removed except by lifting the nail vertically therefrom which is done at
the proper time by the discharging device, shown as a plato faced with raw hide,
leather or other material which will not bruise the point of the nail, the said plate
being carried by a lever 1 pivoted at f, and having one end f³ extended back of
the said pivot to be acted upon by a cam, not shown, on the shaft S. This
discharging device is so pivoted with relation to the bottom of the chain that the
nails struck by the discharger will be knocked up through and from the top of the
pocket and so as to fall outside of the chain. In all other endless carrying devices
known to me, the heads of the blanks and nails have been held by the carrying
device ouly at their sides and side edges, a device not connected with or forming part

page_text: of the chain being depended upon to retain the blanks or nails in the notches of the
carrying device when being carried to and while being acted upon by the dies, but
in this invention the projection c³ surrounds the heads or blanks of the nails and
no other device or piece is required to retain or hold them while being presented
to the dies. The chain is extended over flanged sheaves g, g¹, and between the said
sheaves are chain rests g³. The die stock M receives through it an eccentric M³, on
the shaft A, and the tail of the die stock is extended through an opening in a
box M², mounted loosely on the shaft B, and having a cover or cap M³, the said
box oscillating as the tail of the dic stock is reciprocated through it. The die stock
carries a bevelling roller m which rolls over the blank near its lower end to form
the usual bevel, the rear side of the blank being supported on an anvil m³, made as
a circular block having a circular hub extended into the frame work and shaped
to receive a bolt by which to hold the bevelling block in adjusted position, the
said block being adapted to be rotated so as to bring an unworn part of it into
operative position. A spring n³, the lower end of which is attached to the frame
work is interposed between the side of the die m', and the punch n' to prevent the
blank from striking against the side of the said punch as the blank is being placed
by the carrier or chain between the shearing die and punch. The blank acted
upon by the die-roll C may be left curved as in figure 7, or more or loss curved by
simply adjusting the lever I and changing the shape of the supporting block E.
The shipper lever is marked o. By making the block holding projection e² act
upon all sides of the head, the machine is simplified and made more positive
in operation and as a means for accurately presenting the blanks to the several
dins
1. The carrying chain composed of links and nail holding plates provided" with
projections having pockets to receive and retain the heads of the nail blanks and
fit upon all sides of the same, combined with means to hold the said chain,
substantially as described.
2. The sheaves g, g', and carrying chain having plates provided with projections,
and pockets to receive and hold the heads of the blanks on all sides as described,
and means to move the said carrying chain, combined with a discharging device to
act upon the points of and discharge the finished nails upward out from the said
pockets, substantially as described.
3. The sheaves g, g¹, and carrying chain having plates provided with projections
having pockets to receive the heads of the blanks and enclose them on all sides,
combined with the roller-die means to move it, and the die H and die block, the
projections alone holding the heads of the blanks while the roller die is made to
travel over the shanks of the said blanks, substantially as described.
4. The die H, the die block L³, provided with the toc, and the rest or support
for the end of the dio block and the movable pivot a of the die block, combined-
with the roller-die and with means to move the said roller die and the said pivot,
in order that the die block may rock while the roller die is being moved,
substantially as described.
5. The dic-block, its pivot, a lever I and means to adjust the said lever to place
the said pivot in a normally higher or lower position, combined with the
supporting block E, and block carrier D³, to operate substantially as described.
6. The block-carrier D³, its beveled supporting block E, the lever I, the links
L & H³, the roller-die C3, the cap C' and means to move the said cap and roller-die
and the die H, and the die-block L³ pivoted upon the link L at a and the rest for
the other end of the die block, combined with means to act upon and hold the
block carrier while the roller dic is descending in contact with the blank then
resting against the die H, substantially as described.
7. The rest 13, the die block provided with the toc 12, and pivoted at a, tho̟.|

page_text: link L, and means to move it to slide and turn the die block upon the said rest,
combined with a spring to act upon the die block and maintain it on the said rost,
substantially as described.
In Witness whereof I the said Raphael Hunter Brandon have hereunto set my
hand and seal this 20th day of October in the year of our Lord 1883