IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSESHOE NAILS
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EBENEZER
MAY DORR, of Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, Gentleman, 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 Twenty-fifth day of November, in the eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Ebenezer May Dorr, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Ebenezer May Dorr, my exors, admors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Ebenezer May Dorr, 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 vend the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF HORSESHOE NAILS," partly communicated to me by John
Miller when abroad, and partly of my own Invention; in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Ebenezer May Dorr,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of the Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Ebenezer May Dorr, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
Improvements in the Manufacture of Horseshoe Nails" to consist in

page_text: machinery set forth in the accompanying Drawings and described in this
Specification. The scale to which the Drawings are made is marked thereon
and the same letters and figures of reference indicate the same parts
throughout.
Drawing No. 1. A, A, Figure 1, represents the cast-iron framing for
supporting the wrought-iron rollers B, B, which revolve in suitable bearings,
the motion being communicated from any convenient source to the pulley C
and pinions D, D. At the extremity of the rollers B, B, are fixed steel dises or
rollers marked E, F, by means of which I am enabled to convert ordinary nail
rod iron into strips of the form shewn in Figures 3 and 4. The steel discs or
rollers will be understood by referring to Figure 5. The lower roller, marked F,
is composed of three separate plates or discs; the centre one, marked a, is of
the form shewn in the Drawing. The upper steel rollers, marked E, consists
also of three separate plates of the form shewn in the Drawing. The operation
of the machine is as follows:-The iron having been heated to a welding heat, is
made to pass through suitable guides G, G, as best seen in the end elevation,
Figure 2, between the rollers E and F, which revolve in the direction indicated
by the arrows. Now, it will be seen that the iron, in passing through these rollers,
is compressed, by means of the projections on the roller F, into the form shewn
by Figures 3 and 4. I should remark that the collars or projections x, x,
prevent the iron from expanding laterally, elongation only being permitted to
take place, by which means the fibre of the iron is greatly improved. The
collars b, b, b, b, on the rollers B, B, are turned perfectly true, and serve to
add solidity to the whole, as well as to regulate the position of the steel discs or
rollers by being kept in contact by means of adjusting screws d, d. The strips
of iron having been prepared as before described, is then subjected to the second
process, which consists in punching nails from them of the required form.
Drawing No. 2 shews a front and side view of a punching machine, which
I have successfully employed in making horseshoe nails, in which it will be
seen that an alternate motion is communicated to a punch by means of an
eccentric fixed to the main shaft of the machine. Those parts of the machine
of the Invention are shewn in detail in Drawing No. 1, in which Figure 6
represents a section, and Figure 7 a plan, of a cast-iron block of the form
shown in the Drawing, having plates at each end secured by the screws e, e, e, e.
The dies ff, are of the form shewn in the Drawing, and accurately adjusted
by means of the set screws g, g. The prepared strips shewn in Figures 3 and
4 are placed cold under the punch marked H, and retained in the exact
position by means of the guage I, which is held in one hand of the operator.
The guage I consists of a thin plate fixed in a convenient handle, having

page_text: projections to prevent its passing beyond a certain limit, and the iron being
made to move in the direction shewn by the arrow, the extremity of the
guage
is brought in contact with the projections on the prepared strips, as best seen
at Figure 6. The punch H is secured in a box shewn at Figure 8, lined with
pieces of copper marked k, k, k, k, and adjusted in their position by means
of the screws m, m, m, m. I should observe that the punch rises only
sufficiently high to allow the prepared strips to pass under it; the upper portion
of the die or matrix serves as a guide for the punch, and consequently obviates
the possibility of torsion. I would state that the nails, when punched out, are.
then annealed, if required, in the ordinary manner, when they are ready for use,
but I make no claim to such annealing.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the best means I
am acquainted with for performing the same, I would remark that I do not
claim generally to make horseshoe nails by rolling out iron plates, and cutting
out therefrom horseshoe nails by dies, that having been attempted before. But
what I claim is,-
First, the rolling rods of iron into strips such as are shown at Figs. 3 and 4,
by preventing the metal spreading laterally by the projections or collars x, x,
as above described; and,
Secondly, I claim the mode of arranging dies and apparatus, as described
in respect to Figures 6, 7, and 8, for cutting out horseshoe nails from such
strips.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ebenezer May Dorr, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-five.
EBEN MAY (L.S.) DORR.