Improvements in the Method of Forming Nail Blanks and in Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Aug., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 22nd May, 1890-Accepted, 21st Nov., 1890
PROVISIONAL, SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Method of Forming Nail Blanks and in
Apparatus therefor.
I, FREDERICK MYERS of 56 Huskisson Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
This invention relates to an improved method of and apparatus for forming nail
blanks, more especially the blanks of horse-shoe nails.
According to the two principal methods for forming horse-shoe nail blanks at
present in vogue, the blanks are either forged singly out of a bar having approximately
the same shape and size in cross section as the nail head, or they are cut one by one
from the end of a bar whose cross section somewhat resembles the shape of a nail
lengthwise (or two nails placed lengthwise side by side in reversed positions). By
the use of either of these methods it is only possible to forge or cut one blank at a
time, and consequently the speed of production is comparatively slow.
Now the object of my invention is to increase the speed of production by forming
a considerable number of blanks at one operation, and that without producing
more than the usual amount of waste," or introducing defects into the nails
themselves.
.
In carrying my invention into effect, I form a disc preferably of a circular shape,
and of the material out of which the nails are to be made. The shape of the dise
may be best described by supposing a number of nail blanks to be placed in a
circle with all their heads outwards and their points facing towards a common centre.
The radius of such a circle, which corresponds approximately to the radius of the
disc, is a little longer than the length of a blank, and a cross section through the
centre of the disc, would have a contour corresponding to two blanks placed with
their points towards each other, at a short distance apart, but connected together by
a small piece of material from the centre of the disc.
It will be seen that if a disc, such as set forth above, be placed between two dies,
the cutting portions of which correspond in shape and position to the alternate nail
blanks in the above named circle, there will be produced, at one operation of the
movable die, just half the total number of blanks which are capable of being formed
from the disc. The star shaped portion of the disc remaining, has each of its points
or arms made up of a nail blank, plus such portions of the material as it is necessary
to cut off the sides of the blank in order to give the said blank the proper shape from
head to point, and all these points or arms are united at their inner ends to a small
portion of the material forming the centre of the disc.
If now the above star shaped portion be turned through an angle corresponding
to the distance between the axes of two adjacent blanks in the circle of blanks before
mentioned, and the die be operated a second time, the second half of the total
number of blanks will be formed, and the only "waste" remaining will be the small
piece from the centre of the disc, and the small strips cut off from the sides of the
blanks in the said second operation.
Where the blanks are of such a shape that it becomes unnecessary to cut strips off
their sides, the above second punching operation may be dispensed with, and the
whole of the blanks formed at the one operation by simply punching out the central
connecting piece at the said first operation.
Instead of cutting out each alternate blank at each operation, I may cut out each
of the third, fourth, or fifth blanks, etcetera, as desired, or any desired number of
such blanks, or I may cut the alternate blanks at one operation, from only a half, a
third, a quarter, or other portion of the disc.

page_text: For the purposes of my invention, almost any well known punching machine or
press may be employed, provided it is sufficiently powerful.
In actual practice, when making horse-nail blanks, I propose to have the discs, of
the usual charcoal iron, stamped or forged hot to the desired shape, so that the only
operations which the metal has to undergo in its cold state are the cutting of the
blanks, a slight amount of rolling on the shanks, the cutting of the points and the
usual polishing operations.
The invention is also applicable to the cutting of other kinds of nails other than
horse-shoe nails.
L 2011
1000
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Patent Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Method of Forming Nail Blanks and in
Apparatus therefor.
I, FREDERICK MYERS formerly of 56 Huskisson Street, Liverpool, but now of
35 Pembroke Road Bootle, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, 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 relates to an improved method of and apparatus for forming nail
blanks, more especially the blanks of horse-shoe nails.
According to the two principal methods for forming horse-shoe nail blanks at
present in vogue, the blanks are either forged singly out of a bar having approxi-
inately the same shape and size in cross section as the nail head, or they are cut
one by one from the end of a bar whose cross section somewhat resembles the shape
of a nail lengthwise (or two nails placed lengthwise side by side in reversed
positions).
By the use of either of these methods it is only possible to forge or cut one blank
at a time, and consequently the speed of production is comparatively slow.
Now the object of my invention is to increase the speed of production by forming
a considerable number of blanks at one operation, and that without producing
more than the usual amount of waste, or introducing defects into the nails
themselves.
In carrying my invention into effect, I form a disc preferably of a circular shape,
and of the material out of which the nails are to be made. The shape of the disc
may be best described by supposing a number of nail blanks to be placed in a circle
with all their heads outwards and their points facing towards a common centre.
The radius of such a circle, which corresponds approximately to the radius of the
disc, is a little longer than the length of a blank, and a cross section through the
centre of the disc, would have a contour corresponding to two blanks placed with
their points towards each other, at a short distance apart, but connected together by a
small piece of material from the centre of the disc.
It will be seen that if a disc, such as set forth above, be placed between two dies,
the cutting portions of which correspond in shape and position to the alternate naiĺ
blanks in the above named circle, there will be produced at one operation of the
movable die, just half the total number of blanks which are capable of being formed
from the disc.
The star shaped portion of the disc remaining, has each of its points or arms made
up of a nail blank, plus such portions of the material as it is necessary to cut off
the sides of the blank in order to give the said blank the proper shape from head to
point, and all these points or arms are united at their inner ends to a small portion
of the material forming the centre of the disc.
If now the above star shaped portion be turned through an angle corresponding

page_text: to the distance between the axes of two adjacent blanks in the circle of blanks before
mentioned, and the die be operated a second time, the second half of the total
number of blanks will be formed, and the only waste remaining will be the small
piece from the centre of the disc, and the small strips cut off from the sides of the
blanks in the said second operation.
Instead of cutting out each alternate blank at each operation, I may cut out
each of the third, fourth, or fifth blanks, etcetera, as desired, or any desired number of
such blanks, or I may cut the alternate blanks at one operation from only a half, a
third, a quarter, or other portion of the disc.
For the purposes of my invention, almost any well known punching machine or
press may be employed, provided it is sufficiently powerful.
In actual practice, when making horse-nail blanks, I propose to have the discs, of
the usual charcoal iron, stamped or forged hot to the desired shape, so that the
only operations which the metal has to undergo in its cold state are the cutting of
the blanks, a slight amount of rolling on the shanks, the cutting of the points and the
usual polishing operations.
The invention is also applicable to the cutting of other kinds of nails than horse-
shoe nails.
In order that my invention may be readily understood reference is made to the
accompanying drawings in which my invention is illustrated as applied to the
manufacture of horse-shoe nail blanks, for which purpose it is especially
applicable.
Figs. I and II show the disc ready for being operated on by the dies, Fig. II
being a plan and Fig. I a sectional elevation on the line A A of Fig. II,
Fig. III is a plan of the disc showing the effect of the first operation of the
dies,
Fig. IV is a similar plan showing the effect of the second operation of the dies:
Fig. V is a plan view of the lower die and
Figs. VI and VII show a nail blank.
Throughout the drawings the same parts are indicated by the same reference
figures.
The disc 1 is made preferably of charcoal iron stamped or forged hot to the
desired shape. The dotted lines of Fig. II indicate the form and relative positions
of the nail blanks 2 to be formed from the disc, and show also the intermediate
portions 3 and 4 of the disc, which do not form part of the nail blanks.
The section of the disc from the heads 5 to the points 6 of the nail blanks
corresponds to the form of the latter as shown in Fig. VII; the thickness of the
central portion 4 may be uniform.
The diameter of the disc is determined by the form and dimensions of the nail
blanks and the number which it is desired to produce from the disc; their heads and
points preferably touch, as shown, so as to minimise the waste of material.
The discs are individually fed to and centred over the lower die shown in Fig. V.
The holes 7 therein correspond in form and position with the alternate nail
blanks indicated in Fig. 11, except that the outer bounding edges & stand a little
clear of the edge of the disc, as the nail blanks do not require to be sheared at
there edges.
Upon the descent of the upper die or punch which fits the holes 7, all the
alternate nail blanks are sheared from the disc and forced through the holes, whence
they fall into a suitable receptacle; the disc now presents the appearance shown in
Fig. III. Upon the ascent of the upper die or punch, the star shaped remainder of
the disc is rotated through the angle Y O X (Fig. 111) between the axes of adjacent
nail blanks, and on the next descent of the upper die or punch the remaining nail
blanks are sheared and forced through the lower die leaving as waste the pieces 3 as
shown in Fig. IV; the central circular piece 4 which is also left forms a saleable
washer when a hole is punched in it; this hole may be conveniently formed, if
preferred, during the manufacture of the discs.
I am aware that prior to my present invention it has been proposed to manufacture

page_text: horse-shoe nails by punching them individually in radial lines from a circular disc
of graduated thickness, by means of a die and punch of the size and shape of a
single nail, and I therefore do not make any broad claim to cutting or punching
nails from a circular disc, but :-
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The improved method of forming horse-shoe nail blanks which consists in
punching at one stroke, from a disc of appropriate size and section, an aliquot part
(symmetrically arranged) of the total number of blanks, then rotating the disc
relatively to the dies through the appropriate angle and repeating the stroke, and so
on until all the nail blanks have been formed, substantially as described.
2. The improved method of forming horse-shoe nail blanks which consists in
punching at one stroke, from a disc of appropriate size and section, the alternate
blanks, then rotating the disc relatively to the dies through the angle between the
axes of adjacent blanks and punching the remaining blanks at the next stroke,
substantially as described and illustrated.
3. In apparatus for forming horse-shoe nail blanks from a circular disc, the use
of a lower die having holes corresponding in form and position with an aliquot
part (symmetrically arranged) of the total number of blanks, together with an upper
die or punch fitting therewith which shears the blanks from the dise and forces them
through the holes in the lower die, substantially as described.
4. In apparatus for forming horse-shoe nail blanks from a circular disc, the use
of a lower die substantially as shown in Fig. V together with an upper die or punch
fitting therewith which shears the alternate blanks and forces them through the holes
in the lower die, substantially as described and illustrated.
Dated this 20th day of May 1890
SLOAN & LLOYD BARNES,
Castle Chambers, Castle Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.