A NEW OR IMPROVED NAIL SPIKE, OR BOLT, AND MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Carron, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Machinist, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED NAIL
SPIKE, OR BOLT, AND MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME,"
Sealed the 20th November 1857, and dated the 23rd May 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Carron at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd May 1857.
I, WILLIAM CARRON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Machinist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
NAIL, SPIKE, OR BOLT, AND MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in making nails, spikes, and bolts of a form which
in transverse section resembles more or less an equilateral triangle. Nails,
spikes, and bolts made of the said figure are stronger than when made of
the ordinary form. When nails made according to my Invention are driven
into wood they hold with greater tenacity than the ordinary nail, and do
not tear or fracture the wood to the same extent. My Invention is applicable
to every kind of nail or spike, and bolts or pins for railway and other pur-
poses. My improved nail, spike, and bolt may be manufactured either by
rolling, forging, or cutting..
The machinery by which I effect the manufacture of my improved nail,
[Price 8d.1

page_text: spike, or bolt by rolling, consists of three mitred rolls, the summits of which
are so engraved or sunk, that when the peripheries of the said rolls are
brought together and heated iron rods rolled between them, the said rods are
formed into triangular or nearly triangular nails, spikes, or bolts.
When I manufacture the said nails, spikes, or bolts by forging, I.employ a
"steady" or small anvil having taper grooves therein, into which the work-
man introduces the heated iron rod, and in which he fashions it by forging.
The heading may be effected in the ordinary manner.
When I manufacture the said nails, spikes, or bolts by cutting, I employ
the ordinary nail-cutting machinery, with the following alterations and addi-
tions. I give the cutting tool such a figure, and so incline the sheet of iron
thereto that the plane in which the cutting tool acts on the iron forms with
the under surface of the plate of iron two sides of a triangular prism, or
pyramid. The piece of iron when cut off is grasped in a die by a leveractuated
by a camb, and a side heading tool approaching forms the head.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Carron in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th November 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CARRON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Carron, Her special licence that I, the said William Carron,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Carron, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED NAIL,
SPIKE, OR BOLT, AND MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Carron, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing. under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature

page_text: of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Carron, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in making nails, spikes, and bolts of a
form which in transverse section resembles more or less an equilateral
triangle. The planes bounding the said nail, spike, or bolt may either be
flat, convex, or concave; I ordinarily, however, make my improved nail
spike, or bolt with plane or flat sides.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents, in elevation and
transverse section, a nail, bolt, or spike made according to my Invention.
Nails, spikes, and bolts constructed according to my Invention are stronger
than nails, spikes, or bolts made of the ordinary form. When nails, spikes,
or bolts made according to my Invention are driven into wood they hold with
greater tenacity than ordinary nails, spikes, or bolts, and do not tear or rupture
the fibre of the wood to the same extent.
My Invention is applicable to every kind of nail or spike, and bolts or pins
for railway and other purposes. My improved nail, spike, or bolt may be
manufactured either by rolling, forging, cutting, casting, or otherwise.
The machinery for manufacturing my improved nail, spike, or bolt con-
stitutes the second part of my Invention. The machinery by which I effect
the manufacture of my improved nail, spike, or bolt by rolling is repre-
sented in elevation in Figure 2 of the accompanying Drawing. It consists
of three mitred rolls a, a, a, the peripheries of which are so engraved or
sunk, that, when the said peripheries of the rolls are brought together and
heated, triangular or other formed iron rods are rolled between them;
the said rods are formed into triangular or nearly triangular nails, spikes,
or bolts.
Each of the rolls a is mounted on an axis b, and the said rolls a
are geared together by the bevilled toothed wheels c. One of the axes b
carries a toothed wheel d, through which said toothed wheel d the rolls
a, a, a, are driven. The bearings of the rolls are marked e, and f is an
annular foundation plate to which the whole is affixed. When I manufacture
nails, spikes, or bolts according to my Invention with extra projecting heads,
and form the said nails, spikes, or bolts by rolling, I employ two sets of rolls,
such as are represented in Figure 2, the said sets of rolls being placed at

page_text: such a distance apart that the partially formed nail, spike, or bolt formed by
the first set of rolls shall enter accurately the engraved or sunk depressions
in the second set of rolls. The first set of rolls into which the iron enters may
be sunk or engraved only half the depth of the finishing or second set of
rolls.
When I manufacture my new or improved nail, spike, or bolt by forging,
I employ a "steady" or small anvil having taper grooves therein. One of
these "steadies" or anvils is represented in elevation in Figure 3, and plan in
Figure 4. The workman introduces the heated triangular or other iron rods
into the grooves g, and fashions the nail, spike, or bolt, by forging. The
heading of the nail, spike, or bolt may be effected in the ordinary manner,
that is to say, by means of the tool represented in plan and elevation in
Figure 5, which said tool is similar to that ordinarily employed, excepting
that the hole or bore therein is triangular instead of square.
When I manufacture my new or improved nail, spike, or bolt by cutting,
I employ the ordinary nail-cutting machinery with the alterations and
additions represented in Figure 6. The cutting tool h has the figure
represented, and is so inclined to the strip of sheet iron i, that the plane
in which the said cutting tool h acts upon the iron forms with the under
surface of the plate of iron two sides of a triangular prism, or pyramid,
the third side being formed by the previously cut surface. The piece of iron
k cut off from the strip i is held by the arm and cutter h, and carried into
the die m, n, formed in two pieces. After the cutter has risen, the lever o
is moved horizontally in the guide p by means of a connecting rod q, actuated
by a crank or excentric, until the end o¹ of the lever o is immediately over
the triangular piece of iron in the die m, n. The rotation of the cam r lifts
the lever o, which turns upon the centre s, and the end o¹ is thereby pressed
upon the triangular rod, which is firmly held between m, n, and o¹; a heading
tool or die approaches laterally and forms a head. The strip of iron may
either be used in a hot or cold state. By the action of the cam r and con-
necting rod the lever o is withdrawn, the dies m, n, separate, and the nail,
bolt, or spike falls from the machine; the dies m, n, close again, and the
cutter h again descending, the operations described are repeated.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I
claim as my Invention,-
Firstly, the new or improved nail, spike, or bolt herein-before described, and

page_text: illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, a nail, spike, or bolt
which in transverse section has a figure resembling or nearly resembling an
equilateral triangle, or a prismatic or pyramidal figure, boundel by three
planes, whether the said planes be flat, concave, or convex.
Secondly, the machinery for manufacturing my new or improved nail, spike,
or bolt herein-before described, and illustrated in Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of
the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Carron, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
WILLIAM CARRON. (L.S.)