IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CUT NAILS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Heathfield, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CUT NAILS."-A communication
from abroad by Cyrus Dexter Hunt, of Fairhaven, Massachusetts,
United States of America.
Sealed the 4th April 1868, and dated the 15th November 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Heathfield at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th November 1867.
I, RICHARD HEATHFIELD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CUT NAILS," to be as
follows:-
The said Invention has reference to that part of machinery for the manu-
facture of cut nails which effects the feeding and turning over of the nail
plates or strips from which the nails are cut, and consists of the combination
or arrangement of the parts of mechanism herein-after described for effecting
the said feeding and turning over of the nail plates or strips.
The mechanism constituting the said Invention is arranged or combined
essentially as follows:-The plate or strip from which the nails are cut is held
by a pair of tongs which work in a bollow cylinder constructed as and having

page_text: the motion herein-after described.
On passing from the said hollow cylinder
the said nail plate or strip is directed by gnides connected to the said hollow
cylinder, by which said guides the said nail plate or strip is carried accurately
to the required position under the cutter of the machine. The hollow cylinder
herein before referred to is supported upon a table or rest, by preference in a
nearly horizontal position, the said cylinder working between collars situated
on the said rest and capable of a rotatory motion in the said collars. The sup-
port or cylinder rest is not rigidly fixed to the nail machine, but is connected
thereto by a joint which permits of the rest having motion in a vertical plane.
A connecting rod is jointed at one end by a crank pin to a pinion on the
framing of the nail machine, and is jointed at its other end to the cylinder
rest, or table. The said pinion is driven by a pinion on the shaft of the nail-
cutting machine, and communicates through the connecting rod a reciprocating
motion to the cylinder rest or table. The said reciprocating motion is made
to communicate a motion of partial rotation to the hollow cylinder, as well as
to advance or feed in the nail plate or strip in the following manner :-In the
hollow cylinder two grooves or slots are cut, the said grooves or slots com-
mencing at opposite points on that end of the cylinder most distant from the
cutter, and each groove proceeding, the one in the direction of the thread of a
right-handed screw, and the other in the direction of the thread of a left-handed
screw, until they meet and open into one another near the other end of the
cylinder. To the bed of the machine an arm or bracket is fixed, the upper
end of which carries a fixed pin with or without an antifriction roller, which
said pin engages in the slots described. When by the motion of the connecting
rod described the cylinder rest or table has a reciprocating motion given to it,
the slot on that side of the cylinder on which the fixed pin is situated advancing
on the said pin causes the said cylinder to move through a quarter rotation,
the momentum which the cylinder acquires carrying it beyond the dead point,
and on the return motion of the cylinder rest or table the other slot in the
cylinder advancing on the fixed pin communicates to the said cylinder a further
motion through a quarter rotation. By the action described the cylinder is
made to perform a semi-rotation each time the table carrying it is made to
perform a backward and forward motion, and the nail plate or strip is thus
turned over during the time it is retiring from the cutter and is being advanced
again to the cutter. The feeding or advance motion of the tongs and nai
plate or strip is effected in the following manner :-The said tongs rod has a
screw thread or a series of ring-like notches made upon it. To the cylinde
table or rest an arm is fixed parallel to the tongs rod; this arm has a leve

page_text: jointed to it, the upper end of which carries two catches or blades which are
made by springs to engage on opposite sides of the tongs rod respectively.
The said catches or blades escape over the screw threads or notches when the
said catches or blades are retiring from the cylinder, and no motion is com-
municated to the tongs rod, but when they move in the contrary direction
they cause the advance of the tongs rod and nail plate or strip. The required
motion is given to the said lever by means of a sliding rod nearly parallel to
the tongs rod, one end of which sliding rod passes through the lower end of
the lever; the other end of the said sliding rod terminates near the bed of the
machine, and during the motion of the cylinder rest or table sometimes bears
against the said bed and is sometimes free of it. When the cylinder rest or
table is performing its retiring motion, the end of the said sliding rod is kept
during the first part of the motion against the bed of the machine by a strong
spring, a head on the other end of the sliding rod acting on the lever, and
causing the blades to retire on the tongs rod. On the advance motion of the
cylinder rest or table the end of the sliding rod is brought against the bed
of the machine and the head on its end no longer acts on the lever, a light
spring now causes the lever to perform an advance motion, and thereby carry
forward the tongs rod and nail plate against the stop at the back of the cutter.
By the descent of the cutter the nail is cut off and the operations described
are repeated, the hollow cylinder performing its semi-rotation in a contrary
direction to that in which it was last performed. Instead of the slots in the
hollow cylinder described flanges of a similar figure on the curved surface of
the cylinder may be used with the same or nearly the same effect.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Heathfield in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th May 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
HEATHFIELD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Heathfield, Her special licence that I, the said Richard Heath-

page_text: field, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Richard Heathfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time an 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CUT NAILS," a communication to me from
abroad by Cyrus Dexter Hunt, of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard
Heathfield, 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 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 Richard Heathfield, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to he
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
The said Invention has reference to that part of machinery for the manu-
facture of cut nails which effects the feeding and turning over of the nail
plates or strips from which the nails are cut, and consists of the combination
or arrangement of the parts of mechanism herein-after described for effecting
the said feeding and turning over of the nail plates or strips.
The mechanism constituting the said Invention is arranged or combined
essentially as follows:-The plate or strip from which the nails are cut is held
by a pair of tongs which work in a hollow cylinder constructed as and having
the motion herein-after described. On passing from the said hollow cylinder
the said nail plate or strip is directed by guides connected to the said hollow
cylinder, by which said guides the said nail plate or strip is carried accurately
to the required position under the cutter of the machine. The hollow cylinder
herein-before referred to is supported upon a table or rest, by preference in a
nearly horizontal position, the said cylinder working between collars situated
on the said rest and capable of a rotatory motion in the said collars. The
support or cylinder rest is not rigidly fixed to the nail machine, but is con-
nected thereto by a joint which permits of the rest having motion in a vertical
plane. A connecting rod is jointed at one end by a crank pin to a pinion on
the framing of the nail machine, and is jointed at its other end to the cylinder

page_text: rest or table. The said pinion is driven by a pinion on the shaft of the nail
cutting machine, and communicates through the connecting rod a reciprocating
motion to the cylinder table or rest; the said reciprocating motion is made to
communicate a motion of partial rotation to the hollow cylinder as well as to
advance or feed in the nail plate or strip in the following manner:-In the
hollow cylinder two grooves or slots are cut, the said grooves or slots com-
mencing at opposite points on that end of the cylinder most distant from the
curter, and each groove proceeding the one in the direction of the thread of a
right-banded screw and the other in the direction of the thread of a left-
handed screw until they meet and open into one another near the other end
of the cylinder. To the bed of the machine an arm or bracket is fixed, the
upper end of which carries a fixed pin with or without an antifriction roller,
which said pin engages in the slots described. When by the motion of the
connecting rod described the cylinder rest or table has a reciprocating motion
given to it the slot on that side of the cylinder on which the fixed pin is
situated advancing on the said pin causes the said cylinder to move through a
quarter rotation, the momentum which the cylinder acquires carrying it
beyond the dead point, and on the return motion of the cylinder rest or table
the other slot in the cylinder advancing on the fixed pin communicates to the
said cylinder a further motion through a quarter rotation. By the action
described the cylinder is made to perform a semi-rotation each time the table
carrying it is made to perform a backward and forward motion, and the nail
plate or strip is thus turned over during the time it is retiring from the cutter
and is being advanced again to the cutter. The feeding or advance motion
of the tongs rod, and nail plate or strip is effected in the following manner:―
The said tongs rod has a screw thread or a series of ring-like notches made
upon it. To the cylinder table or rest an arm is fixed parallel to the tongs
rod; this arm has a lever jointed to it, the upper end of which carries two
catches or blades which are made by springs to engage on opposite sides of
the tongs rod respectively. The said catches or blades escape over the screw
threads or notches when the said catches or blades are retiring from the
cylinder, and no motion is communicated to the tongs rod, but when they
move in the contrary direction they cause the advance of the tongs rod and
nail plate or strip. The required motion is given to the said lever by means
of a sliding rod nearly parallel to the tongs rod, one end of which sliding rod
passes through the lower end of the lever; the other end of the said sliding
rod terminates near the bed of the machine, and during the motion of the
oylinder rest or table sometimes bears against the said bed, and is sometimes:

page_text: free of it. When the cylinder rest or table is performing its retiring motion
the end of the said sliding rod is kept during the first part of the motion
against the bed of the machine by a strong spring, a head on the other end of
the sliding rod acting on the lever and causing the blades to retire on the
tongs rod: On the advance motion of the cylinder rest or table the end of the
sliding rod is brought against the bed of the machine, and the head on its end
no longer acts on the lever. A light spring now causes the lever to perform
an advance motion and thereby carry forward the tongs rod and nail plate
against the stop at the back of the cutter. By the descent of the cutter the
nail is cut off and the operations described are repeated, the hollow cylinder
performing its semi-rotation in a contrary direction to that in which it was
last performed.
Having explained the nature of the said Invention I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which
the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal
section a machine for the manufacture of cut nails, the feeding and turning-
over mechanism of which is constructed according to one arrangement of the
said Invention; Figure 2 is a plan of a portion of the same, and Figure 3 is
an end elevation of a portion of the same. The same letters of reference are
employed to indicate the same parts in each Figure of the Drawing.
a is the bed of the machine; b, the cutter worked by the arm c, motion to
which is communicated from the principal shaft d through the connecting
rode. The plate or strip f from which the nails are cut is held by a pair of
tongs 9 (see Figure 2) which work in the hollow cylinder h, herein-after
particularly described. On passing from the said hollow cylinder h the said
nail plate or strip f is directed by guides i connected in the manner repre-
sented to the said hollow cylinder. By means of these guides the nail plate
or strip is carried accurately to the required position under the cutter b. The
hollow cylinder h is supported upon a table or rest k, by preference in a nearly
horizontal position, the said cylinder working in collars situated on the said
rest, and capable of a rotatory motion in the said collars. The support or
cylinder rest k is not rigidly fixed to the machine, but is connected thereto by
a joint which permits of the rest having motion in a vertical plane; the said
rest or table is carried by the bracket k³, which bracket is jointed by the
pins to the plate m fixed to the bed of the machine. A connecting rod n is
jointed at one end by a crank pin n to a pinion p on the upright of the
machine, and the said rod is jointed at its other end n³ to the cylinder rest or

page_text: table k. The said pinion p is driven by a pinion q on the shaft d of the nail-
cutting machine, and communicates through the said connecting rod na
reciprocating motion to the cylinder rest or table. The reciprocating motion
of the table or rest k may be effected by an excentric or other mechanical
equivalent driven from the principal shaft instead of by the arrangement
represented in the Drawing. The said reciprocating motion of the rest or
table is made to communicate a motion of partial rotation to the hollow
cylinder as well as to advance or feed in the nail plate or strip f in the
following manner:-In the hollow cylinder h two grooves or slots h³, h³, are
cut, the said grooves or slots commencing at opposite points on that end of
the cylinder most distant from the cutter b, and each groove proceeding the
one in the direction of the thread of a right-handed screw and the other in
the direction of the thread of a left-handed screw, until they meet and open
into one another near the other end of the cylinder, as seen in the plan
Figure 2. To the bed a of the machine an arm or bracket is fixed, the
upper end of which carries a fixed pin q' with or without an antifriction roller,
which said pin engages in the slots h2, h3, of the hollow cylinder h at the
proper times.
When by the motion of the connecting rod n the cylinder rest
or table & has a reciprocating motion given to it the slot h³ on that side of the
cylinder on which the fixed pin q³ is situated advancing on the said pin causes
the said cylinder to move through a quarter rotation, the momentum which the
cylinder acquires carrying it beyond the dead point, and on the return motion
of the cylinder rest or table k the other slot h* in the cylinder h advancing on
the fixed pin g³ communicates to the said cylinder ha further motion through
a quarter rotation. By the action described the cylinder h is made to perform
a semi-rotation each time the table k carrying it is made to perform a backward
and forward motion, and the nail plate or strip f is thus turned over during
the time it is retiring from the cutter and is being advanced to the cutter.
The feeding or advance motion of the tongs 9 and nail plate or strip f in the
cylinder his effected in the following manner :-The tongs rod g³ has a screw
thread or a series of notches made upon it. To the brackets of the cylinder
table or rest k an arm r is fixed parallel to the tongs rod g³, which arm
and parts carried by it are thereby made to partake of the reciprocating
motion of the said table or rest k. The said arm r has a lever s jointed to it,
the upper end of which lever carries two catches or jointed blades t, t, which
are made by springs t³ to engage on opposite sides of the tongs rod g³ respec-
tively (see Figure 2). The extreme end of the tongs rod is supported by the
expanded top of the support r³ on the end of the arm r; the said catches or

page_text: blades t, t, escape over the screw threads or notches on the tongs rod g when
the said catches or blades are retiring from the cylinder, and no motion is
communicated to the tongs rod, but when they move in the contrary direction
they cause the advance of the tongs rod and the nail plate or strip. The
required motion is given to the said levers by means of a sliding red u nearly
parallel to the tongs rod g³, one end of which sliding rod passes through the
lower end of the said lever s, as represented; the other end of the said
sliding rod terminates near the bed a of the machine, and during the motion
of the cylinder rest or table sometimes bears against the said bed and is
sometimes free of it. When the cylinder rest or table k is performing its
retiring motion the end of the said sliding rod u is kept during the first part
of the motion against the bed of the machine by the strong spring wa head
on the other end of the sliding rod u acting on the levers and causing the
blades t, t, to retire on the tongs rod 9. During the advance of the cylinder
rest or table the end of the sliding rod u is brought against the bed of the
machine, and the bead on its end no longer acts on the lever s.
A light
spring now causes the lever 8 to perform an advance motion, and thereby
carry forward the tongs rod 98 and nail plate f against a stop at the back of
the cutter. By the descent of the cutter 6 the nail is cut off and the operations
described are repeated, the hollow cylinder performing its semi-revolution in
a contrary direction to that in which it was last performed. Instead of the
slots h, ho, in the hollow cylinder h flanges of a similar figure on the curved
surface of the said cylinder may be used with the same or nearly the same
effect.
Figure 4 represents in side elevation, and Figure 5 in end elevation another
arrangement of the said Invention; Figures 6 and 7 represent parts of the
same. In this arrangement the table or rest carrying the hollow cylinder is
made to perform a reciprocating rectilinear motion instead of a motion about
a centre, as in the arrangement already described. The bracket 1 carrying
the cylinder rest or table 2 is fixed rigidly to the bed of the machine. The
collars 3, 3, in which the cylinder 4 is supported and turns are carried by a
dovetail 5, which dovetail takes into a corresponding slide 6 on the table or
A connecting rod 7 taking a reciprocating motion from the principal
shaft of the machine, as herein-before described, is geared to the dovetail 5
at 8, and by means of the handle 10 can be readily thrown into and out of
gear so as to throw the machine into work or bring it to rest. By means of
the said connecting rod 7 a reciprocating rectilinear motion is given to the
dovetail 5 and parts carried by it. 11 is a pin fixed on the table or rest 2, the
rest 2.

page_text: dovetail 5 having a slot through which the said pin 11 passes; the said pin 11
engages in the double slot 12 formed in the under side of the cylinder 4 (see
the separate view of the said cylinder, Figure 6), and by the reciprocating
motion of the said cylinder 4, and the action of the slots 12 upon the pin 11,
a reciprocating rotary motion through half a revolution is communicated to
the cylinder 4 and nail plate or strip 4* carried by it, as herein-before par-
ticularly described with respect to Figures 1, 2, and 3. The forward motion
of the nail plate 4* is effected by mechanism differing in no essential respect
from that already described; 12 is the arm fixed to the dovetail 5, to which
arm the lever 18 is jointed; 13 are the jointed blades of the lever; 14 is the
spring by which the advance motion of the lever 13 is effected; 15 is the rod
which by the motion of the bead 16 produces the retiring motion of the
lever 18; 17 is a strong spring by which the retiring motion of the rod 15 is
effected, the said spring keeping the end of the rod against the bracket 1
during part of the retiring motion of the cylinder 4 and parts connected
therewith.
As the construction and action of the feeding part of this arrangement
differ in no essential respect from that previously described I do not think a
detailed description of the same necessary. The support 18 of the tongs rod
is represented separately in end elevation in Figure 7; this support consists
of two spring plates between which the tongs rod is supported upon a cross
piece, as represented.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same may
be varied without departing from the nature of the said Invention ; but I
claim, as the said Invention of improvements in machinery for the manu-
facture of cut nails,-
Firstly. The arrangement or combination of the parts, herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, of mechanism for
turning over the nail plate or strip, that is to say, mechanism consisting
essentially of a hollow cylinder, having guides through which the nail plate or
strip passes, the said hollow cylinder being carried by a table, or rest, or
slide, and having a reciprocating rotary motion communicated to it (which
motion is communicated to the nail plate or strip), substantially in the ways
described and illustrated.
Secondly. The combination with, or the adaptation to the said turning-
over mechanism, of mechanism for feeding or advancing the nail plate or strip

page_text: to the cutter, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Heathfield, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
SAMUEL HENRY SURMAN,
181, Broad St.,
Islington,
Birmingham.
RICHARD HEATHFIELD. (L.S.)