AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF NAIL PLATE FEEDER
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF NAIL PLATE
FEEDER." A communication from abroad by John Waldron Hoard and
Thomas A. Searle, of Providence, Rhode Island, in the United States of
America.
Sealed the 14th August 1860, and dated the 14th March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton,"
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th March 1860.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF NAIL PLATE
FEEDER," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of mechanism for conveying
the nail plates toward the cutter which is. to cut up the plates to form nails..
The plates to be fed to the cutter are piled up in an inclined box, just below
which is an open inclined trough into which the plates are received one at a
time from the box, to be conveyed by gravitation into an inclined barrel or
conductor. The trough is attached at its upper end by a hinge or pin joint
to the bottom of the box, and its lower end rests within the mouth of the.

page_text: barrel. The lower plate of the pile in the box is pushed out into the trough
as often as it becomes necessary to keep up the supply of plates to the feeding
apparatus, through an opening in the side of and near the bottom of the box,
by means of two pins attached to the top of a swinging frame, and working
through suitable openings in the bottom of the box, so as to catch the edge of
the lowest plate, and touch no other plate of the pile. These pins are bevilled
on one side, and supported by a spring, which allows them to slip down out
of the way of the plates in the back movement of the.swinging frame. The
barrel or conductor is made of a circular form at its upper end, and it tapers
towards its lower end to a flat-mouthed funnel. Attached to its lower end is
a pair of tongs, which hold the plate that is under operation, and present it
properly to the cutters. The barrel also carries the bearings for a pair of
feed rollers which feed the plates to the cutters. The feed rollers are attached
to the cylinder by elastic arms which contain their bearings, the elasticity of
the arms serving to allow the rollers to yield to any inequality in the thickness
of the plates. On the exterior of the barrel there is a spur wheel or toothed
sector, which gears with and is driven by a toothed sector that receives a
vibrating motion from a cam on the driving shaft of the machine. By this
means an axial motion is imparted to the barrel, which is thus enabled to turn
the plate over between the successive operations of the cutter. This barrel
has also a longitudinal movement to draw the plate back out of the way of
the cutter as it turns, and a swinging or lever-like movement (with the
cylinder carrying it) on trunnions, to raise the plate for the purpose of
allowing it to turn freely, and letting it fall again on the die before the
operation of the cutter is produced. The longitudinal movement within the
cylinder is produced by the action of a pin in a groove formed on the periphery
of a cam affixed to the barrel. The movement of the barrel and cylinder on
the trunnions is produced by a pin acting on a groove in the upper end of the
cam. The feed rollers are fitted on either side with ratchet wheels, which can
be held to them by friction of contact. These wheels are worked by spring
pawls carried by rods, which are free to slide in guides on and longitudinally
of the barrel. The heads of these rods are so confined that the back move-
ment of the barrel will draw them into contact: with. the cylinder which forms
the bearing. for the barrel, and the rollers being drawn back also, the spring
pawls will slip over the ratchet teeth, but when the barrel moves forward,
carrying with it the rollers, the pawls engaging, the teeth of the ratchet
wheels will pull them round, and thus impart the feed motion to the rollers.
To enable the plate thus passed forward to regulate the action of the swinging
frame before mentioned, the cain which operates this frame is mounted on a

page_text: compound shaft, the two parts forming it being connected by a ratchet wheel
and pawl. At the opposite end of the shaft to that which carries the cam is
a bent arm, which stands opposite a. slotted portion of the barrel, this slot
being to allow the passing plate to project laterally therefrom, and bear up the
When this is passed, the arm will force forwards, a tendency being.
given thereto by a coiled spring on the shaft, and thus an axial motion will
be given to the cam through the ratchet wheel and pawl. A repetition of
these movements effected by the rotation of the barrel will cause the rotation
of the cam which operates the swinging frame.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFred
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of March in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns,. or such
others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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. King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an.Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF NAIL PLATE FEEDER," being
a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I.
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature 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 Alfred Vincent Newton do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner. the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the

page_text: following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
relates to a novel arrangement of mechanism for conveying nail plates to the
cutter which is to cut up the plates to form nails.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of the improved feeder; Figure 2 is
a plan of the same; Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section of the same in the
line x, x, of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a transverse section of the same in the
line y, y, of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a central section of one of the feed rollers
and its driving ratchets. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts in the several Figures.
A is a stationary framing supporting the inclined box B, which contains
the pile of plates represented in blue color, and containing bearings for the
horizontal driving shaft C for the inclined shaft D, by which the mechanism
for discharging the plates from the box B is operated, and for the trunnions
a, a, of a hollow cylinder E, to which is fitted the inclined barrel F, which
I constitutes the principal portion of the conductor, through which the plates are
conveyed to the cutters. The interior of the barrel is circular at the upper
end, and of funnel shape, but it gradually assumes toward the lower end the
form of the transverse section of the plates. The said barrel is arranged
with its upper end near the lower end of the box B, and with its axis parallel
with the sides of, but in a plane at some distance in a lateral direction from
the box, as shown in Figure 2. Above the barrel F or principal conductor
there is arranged beside, but just below, the box B an open inclined trough G,
which may be termed the auxiliary conductor, into which the plates are
received one at a time from the said box, to be conveyed by gravitation into
the barrel F. The trough G is attached at its upper end by a hinge or pin
joint b to the bottom of the box B, and its lower end rests within the mouth
of the barrel F. The lowest plate of the pile in the box B is pushed out
into the trough G as often as it becomes necessary to keep up the supply of
plates to the feeding, apparatus through an opening c (see Figure 4) in the
side of and close to the bottom of the box, by means of two pins d, d, which
are attached to the top of a swinging frame H, the bottom of which is hinged
at h, h, to the stationary framing A. These pins & work through suitable
openings in the bottom of the box, and are suitably arranged to catch the
edge of the lowest plate, but to touch no other plate of the pile. The
frame is acted upon to cause the pins to push out the plate by a cam J
on the shaft D, the manner of whose operation will be presently described,

page_text: and the frame is pushed back again to bring the pins d, d, into a position to
take the next plate by means of a spring K attached to the stationary framing.
The pins d, d, are bevilled on one side, and supported by a spring g, which
allows them to slip down out of the way of the plates in the back movement
of the frame H.
To the lower end of the barrel F there is attached a pair of tongs L, L,
which hold the plate that is under operation, and present it properly to the
cutters, and also a pair of feed rollers M, M, which feed the plates to the
cutters, such tongs and feed rollers being properly arranged relatively to
the flat lower portion of the interior of the barrel F, to receive the plates
therefrom. The feed rollers are carried by elastic arms u, u, which allow
the rollers to yield to any inequality in the thickness of the plates. On the
exterior of the barrel there is a spur wheel or toothed sector N, which gears
with a toothed sector 0 of greater radius, which is arranged to oscillate upon
a fixed pin i, and which derives an intermittent oscillating movement from a
grooved cam P on the driving shaft C. The sector O, by its action on the
wheel or sector N, is caused to impart to the barrel the necessary movement
on its axis within the cylinder E to turn the plate over between the successive
operations of the cutter, and it is by this movement of the barrel that its
other movements, viz., a longitudinal movement within the cylinder E, to
draw the plate back out of the way of the cutter as it turns, and a swinging
or lever-like movement with the cylinder E on the trunnions a, a, (to raise
the plate for the purpose of allowing it to turn freely, and letting it fall again.
on the die before the operation of the cutter,) is produced. The above-men-
tioned longitudinal movement within the cylinder is produced by the action of
a groove k in the periphery of a cam Q, which is fast on the barrel upon a
pin j, which is secured rigidly to the cylinder. The movement of the barrel
and cylinder on the trunnions a, a, is produced by a groove l in the upper end
of the cam Q acting on a pin n that is secured rigidly to or forms part of a
lever-like bar R, which is attached to the framing A by a fulcrum pin o.
The pin o is confined in the groove of the cam, notwithstanding the longi-
tudinal movement of the cylinder by a spring p, which presses upon the
bar R. It may be well to remark here, that it is only on account of the
longitudinal movement of the cylinder that the pin n is attached to the lever
R; and not made absolutely stationary.
The movement of the feed rollers is produced by the longitudinal movement
of the barrel in the following manner:-On each side of each feed roller there
is provided a circular ratchet, and to the two ratchets of each roller are applied
two spring pawls 2, 2, arranged in the form of a fork, and attached to the

page_text: lower end of two rods S, S, which are fitted to slide longitudinally to the
barrel in guides provided on or in the barrel. These rods have heads s, s,
which occupy positions between the lower end of the cylinder E'and the upper
face of a ring T, which is attached by lugs t, t, and screws r, r, to the cylinder.
As the barrel is moved longitudinally in a backward or upward direction to
draw back the plate from the cutter, the rods S, S, have their beads drawn
back into contact with the end of the cylinder, and the rods and pawls are
so: caused to be, arrested, and, the pawls by the continued movement of the
barrel, which carries the rollers with it, are caused to slip over the ratchet
teeth, but as the barrel moves forward again, the heads s, 8, of the rods S, S,
are brought into contact with the ring T, and the rods; and pawls are arrested,
while the barrel continues to move forward, carrying along with it the feed
rollers and the ratchets, and the latter being held by the pawls are caused to
turn, and move the rollers in a direction to feed the plate. In feeding the
plate it has always to be brought up to a stop gauge that the nails may be
cut of proper width, and in order to compensate for any inequality in the size
of the teeth of the ratchet, which would tend to give too great a feed move-
ment, and so press the plate against the gauze, and strain some part of the
feed apparatus if it were too positive in its action. The two ratchets of each
feed roller M are made on two separate wheels U, U, as shown in Figure 5,
which wheels are provided with conical faces v, v, to fit to conical recesses in
the sides of the rollers, friction of contact between the ratchet wheels and the
rollers (to make the latter feed the nail plate) being secured by means of
coiled springs w, w, applied outside of the ratchet wheels, around the spindle
V, to which each roller and its ratchet wheels are fitted. The pressure of
the springs is adjusted to produce the requisite friction by nuts a, a, fitted to
screw threads on the spindle. By this method of driving the feed rollers they
are enabled to stop when the plate arrives at the stop gauge, notwithstanding
that the movement of the ratchet wheels may continue. The journals of the
feed rollers may consist of the hubs. of the ratchet wheels, or the extremities
of the spindle.
The shaft D of the cam J, by which the discharge of the plates from the
box B is effected, has its movement produced by the following means: The
shaft is made in two pieces, of which one is fitted into the other as into a
sleeve, the one having rigidly attached to it the cam J and a ratchet wheel W,
and the other having rigidly attached to it arms Y and X, the latter arm
carrying a pawl 6, arranged to engage, with the said ratchet wheel, and the
former arm being arranged opposite to a recess. 7, shown in Figure 3, which
is formed in the lower part of one side of the cylinder F, and which is of

page_text: such depth as to meet the central passage of said cylinder, that the nail plates
in passing through that part of the said passage may project into the said
recess, as shown at 15, in Figure 3. The recessed portion of the barrel con-
stitutes a cam, by whose action on the arm Y the portion of the shaft D, to
which the arm is attached, is caused to move the arm X in a direction for
its pawl to turn the ratchet wheel W. The arm Y is pressed toward the
so-formed cam by a spring Z that is coiled round the part of the shaft D to
which the arm is attached, and this spring serves to carry the pawl 6 over
the teeth of the ratchet wheel. The arm Y is prevented falling into the
recess 7, while a plate is passing through the recessed portion of the barrel
as the arm rests on the edge of the plate while the recess is toward it, and
hence the operation of the pawl 6 on the ratchet wheel does not take place
till the rear end of the plate which is in the tongs is fed past the recess 7, and
the arm Y is permitted to fall into the recess when the cam-like operation of
the recessed portion of the barrel on the arm commences, and a few revolutions
of the barrel are sufficient to give the shaft D a sufficient portion of a revo-
lution to make the cam J, by its action on the frame H, force out the lowest
plate of the pile from the box B into the trough G, along which the plate
immediately slides by gravitation into the barrel F, down which it passes till
its lower end comes in contact with the upper end of the plate that is held by
the tongs and feed rollers, and from which the nails are being cut.
The new
plate now projects into the recess 7 of the cylinder, and so prevents for the
present any further action of the shaft D, but it is caused by gravitation to
follow up closely the plate under operation in advance of it, and to be seized
by the feed rollers as they give up that plate, and then serves the purpose, by
its being pushed against that plate, of continuing to feed it forward through
the tongs, in the same manner as though it were still held by the rollers, until
that plate is all cut up, and it takes the place of the said plate in the tongs,
and is itself subjected to the operation of the cutter; in this way the plates
follow each other down the trough conductor or barrel F, a new one being
supplied from the box B as soon as the rear end of the one under operation
passes the recess 7 in the barrel.
In the machine represented, the bearings of the cylinder trunnions are
represented as fixed, but it is proposed generally to arrange the bearings
in a swivel having a vertical axis, for the purpose of enabling the nail plates
to be adjusted against a side gauge in suitable proximity to the cutter.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved Con-
struction of Nail Plate Feeder," as communicated to me by my foreign cor-
respondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I

page_text: wish it to be understood that, under the above in part recited Letters Patent,
I claim the construction and arrangement of parts as above described for
conveying nail plates to the cutter employed in converting the same into
nails.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of September in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)