IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT AND HORSE NAILS
Year: 1860

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Norris and Thomas Till at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the
29th March 1860.
We, JOHN NORRIS, junr., of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Nail Manufacturer, and THOMAS TILL, of the same Place, Machinist, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT AND HORSE NAILS," to
be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in certain improvements upon machinery for the
manufacture of wrought nails, for which Her Majesty's Royal Letters Patent,
bearing date the. 15th day of May, A.D. 1855, were granted to George Tom-
linson Bousfield, and the object of these improvements is the production of a
larger and more solid head than is effected by the machinery alluded to as
already in existence, and with reference more especially to what are known as
horse nails. The difficulty hitherto experienced in making large and solid-
headed nails has arisen from the fact that in the original machines the metal
left for the formation of the head of the nail has been confined only on two
sides, thus allowing an escape of the metal either in an upward or downward
direction. To obviate this, we propose to use a bottom or gripping die of
increased width, and of the form shewn in the Drawings at (Figs. A, B, & C).
The face of this die assimilates in form to the exact shape of head required,
the head being, in fact, formed by this die in conjunction with the top shear
and forcing slide acted upon by the heading punch, seen at L and M. The

page_text: forcing slide shewn at N and O by our improvements answers a double pur-
pose; it serves as the top die, confining the metal when struck by the heading
punch, the metal being held between the top and the bottom dies and top
shear B', and it also drives down the nail when finished. In the original
machine it serves only the latter purpose. The necessary strength, accuracy of
adjustment, and precision in working the forcing slide in order to make it
available as a top die, is thus attained. In place of the old link connecting the
sliding carriage holding the bed shears with the lever working the forcing
slide, and which has a single link in the original machine, we employ a
compound link of the form shewn at (D, E, F); this is furnished with a
right and left handed screw adjustment and lock nuts, by which the length
of connecting link may be varied to allow of adjustment in wear and tear
of dies.
Our next improvement lies in attaching to the lever or arm working the
forcing slide a spring, as seen at (2), which spring is for the purpose of
relieving the strain and preventing concussion or back lash, and keeping the
forcing slide or back die to its work. For the purpose of ensuring greater
precision in the working of the forcing slide, a set screw, seen at (H), is fixed
in a bracket over the centre of the forcing slide; this regulates the height to
which the slide will rise, and aids the lever in resisting pressure when the head
is formed. The back die, seen at I & K, is of the shape as seen at (h²); this
forms the mould to receive the head of the nail, and conforms in shape to that
of the bottom die. L & M shew the improved form of heading punch required
for making horse nails.
We have described our improvements thus far in reference to the manu-
facture of horse nails alone. For other descriptions of wrought nails, the
faces of the dies, the slide, and heading punch would of course require suitable
modifications. Fig. P represents in section a portion of the original machine
with our improvements attached, and lettered for reference in accordance with
the details already described.