IMPROVEMENTS IN NAILS AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International Patent
Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN NAILS AND IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME."-A com.
munication from abroad by Arlon Man Polsey, of Boston, Massachusetts,
United States of America.
Sealed the 8th February 1867, and dated the 18th December 1866.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 18th December 1866, pursuant to the 9th Section of
the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer,.
send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN NAILS
IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME," and have petitioned.

page_text: Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made soleran Declaration
that it has been communicated to me from abroad by Arlon Man Polsey, of
Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following statement,
reference being bad to the accompanying Drawings, forming a part of this
Specification :-
The first part of the said Invention relates to an iron or steel nail in which
the head is left substantially in that condition of softness produced by hot
working, while the shank in left in that condition of hardness, smoothness, and
rigidity which is produced by rolling it substantially throughout while cold;
nails produced by this method are superior for many purposes (especially for
shoeing horses) to any others ever before produced, because the whole shank of
the nail is rigidified and will not readily bend in any part under the action of
a hammer, as nails will often do when left in the condition produced by hot
working, especially when the metal is of good quality; moreover, the cold
rolled shanks are free from the scale produced by hot working, and have a
smoothness superior to that resulting from any other process, which smoothness
facilitates the driving of the nails. The softness of the head of this improved
nail facilitates its fitting into such grooves as are made in metal shoes for
animals, the head yielding and "up-setting" so as to fit and bear firmly in
its bed.
In Figure 1 of the Drawings A is a blank form from which the nail is
shaped, as seen at B, which shape is produced by cold rolling the shank A'
of the blank in a proper set of rolling dies, which leave the head unwrought.
The particular blank shown at A is formed by cutting or punching from a
hot worked plate of suitable sectional form so that the head and shank of the
said blank have that degree of softness due to metal so worked. This softness
is retained by the head of the nail, while the condition of the shank A¹ is
changed by cold rolling, the specific shape of the blank, however, and the
mean's employed for producing it form no material part of this Invention.
Nails produced as above described possess to a great extent the toughness of
cómmon hot wrought nails in their shanks, besides the other qualities
enumerated, and are also manufactured of uniform size and at slight cost.
The second part of the said Invention relates more particularly to mechanism
for producing these nails from the blanks, and consists in so arranging and

page_text: operating each pair of a series of pairs of die rolls, with reference to the
other pairs of the said series, that the nail blank shall have its sides and
edges acted on alternately without turning the said blank on its axis, and
that the nail shall be passed onward by each pair of die rolls, and shall be by
them delivered to the action of the next succeeding pair, by which pair it is
seized before being released by the preceeding pair, and so on through the series
of pairs of rolls. Where the article to be drawn and shaped is substantially
rectangular in cross section each pair of rolls is placed at right angles to the
pair which next succeeds in the drawing and shaping operation; but this Inven-
tion is not confined exclusively to such right-angled arrangement, for if the
article to be drawn and shaped is of other cross sectional form the pairs of rolls
may be placed at such angles with relation to the other pairs of the series as
will act successively on the different sides or faces of the article, it being sufficient
to illustrate the said Invention that two or more pairs of die rolls shall be placed
at angles with each other, the said rolls having the necessary relation to the form
of the article to be drawn and shaped. The said die rolls act to positively
pass or feed onward from one pair to the other the article in the manner
before stated, and operate on the different faces of the said article to cause it
to approximate more and more nearly to the shape desired at each successive
passage through the pairs of die rolls, and without turning the said article
on its axis as has been heretofore practised in drawing and shaping by
successive passes through series of die grooves made in one pair of rolls.
Figure 2 is a plan of the mechanism illustrating this part of the said
Invention; Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line x, x, Figure 2,
and Figures 4 and 5 are partial elevations of opposite sides of the same,
illustrating the system of gearing the rolls together. The die rolls a, a, are
mounted in suitable half boxes b sustained on the cross pieces c of the
cheeks d, which rise from the bed plate e; to this bed plate are secured the
bearings of the main driving shaft 9, and the bearings h of the shaft i,
arranged to be driven at right angles to the shaft g. By means of intermediate
toothed wheels shown in Figures 2, 3, and 4, all of the pairs of rolls a, a,
are rotated, all turning inward and downward, so that when one of the nail
blanks A is taken by its head into the grip of the die shaped recesses formed
in the upper pair of rolls the said blank is passed in a right line without
turning directly through every pair of rolls in the series which act alternately
on the sides and edges of the nail blank till it falls from the last pair of rolls
out of the machine at the bottom in the form shown at B, Figure 1.
The operation of this machine may be made very nearly continuous, for a
new blank may be fed into the upper pair of die rolls as soon as the die

page_text: grooves therein are so presented in their rotation that they can receive a
new blank after having discharged the blank previously received. It is
therefore obvious that in a machine having several pairs of die rolls several
blanks may be at the same time submitted to the action of the said rolls.
In the manufacture of horse shoe nails it is intended that the blank shall be
cut or punched from a suitably rolled plate, the head of the said blank being
of the exact size and form desired, and its body requiring no more reduction
than can be praticably-obtained-by cold rolling; but it will be evident that
the blank may be heated and rolled in that condition, in which case the shank
or body of the blank need not be formed with so near an approximation to
the finished nail.
It is unnecessary herein to describe minutely the forms given to the die
grooves in each successive pair of the series of pairs of rolls, it is sufficient
to say that the dies should be so formed that in the first pair of rolls the
blank shall be slightly drawn, and so on through the series of pairs, each pair
contributing to the drawing and shaping, the last pair giving the finished
shape. Between the said first and last pairs of the series the reduction of the
blank toward the final form of nail should be performed in as nearly equal
degrees by each of the intermediate pairs of rolls as possible. The diameter
of the last pair of die rolls must be sufficient to admit of the sinking directly
around each roll of the pair a die of a length not less than that desired for
the finished article, and this diameter should be such as to admit of a die
groove longer than the length of the finished article, so as to receive any surplus
metal which may happen to exist in the body of the blauk, and while the
diameter of these dic rolls should be as stated it is necessary that the first and
succeeding pairs should be of such diameters and so located that the partially
rolled article will reach from the die grooves of one pair into the die groove
of the next succeeding pair before the grooves of the preceeding pair relinquish
their hold on the said article; this ensures the absolute mechanical delivery
of the partially rolled blank from one pair of die rolls to the pair next
succeeding. It is desirable in the practise of this Invention that the die rolls
shall so move as to exert a slight tensile strain on the metal of the piece being
rolled between the points where any two adjacent pairs of rolls are performing
their rolling operation. Each pair of the die rolls must be so adjusted with
respect to the action upon the blank of the pair immediately preceeding that
the latter shall deliver the head of the said blank into the die formed recess
made for its reception in the succeeding pair. This adjustment being made
throughout the series each pair of die rolls is caused to revolve isochronously
with all of the other pairs. By having such means of adjustment of the pairs

page_text: of die rolls that the centres of each pair may be forced toward each other or
may be allowed to separate provision is made for elongating the nail blank
more or less within limited degrees by any pair or pairs of the said die rolls
and use may be made of this provision to secure the proper working of the
mill and to compensate in some degree for defects in other adjustments of the
parts and in the workmanship thereof.
The third part of this Invention relates to straightening, pointing, and
finishing that class of horse-shoe nails which are produced by cutting each
blank from a sheet of metal and drawing down the shank of the said blank to
form and toughen the point by means of a series of roller dies or die grooves.
The mechanism for accomplishing this may be employed either separately or
in combination with the rolling dies already described in the second part of
this Invention. As the action of these dies leaves the blanks more or less
bent and somewhat imperfect at or near the points they require a slight
trimming and a setting of the finished point to give it a sort of chisel termination.
This part of the said Invention consists chiefly in effecting the straightening
of the edges of the nail by the action of rolls and movable blocks, and in
combining with these rolls a guide or throat piece, through which the nails
are fed from the rolls, the action of this guide in connection with the action
of the rolls straightening the broad faces of the nail. This part of the said
Invention also consists in the mechanism for chamfering the nail at the point,
in combining with the straightening and pointing mechanism a cutter to trim
the end of the said nail, and in so arranging certain straightening and pointing
mechanism with reference to the roller dies which roll the blank into general
shape, that the nails are automatically delivered from the die rolls to the
straightening mechanism.
On a bed
Figure 6 is a plan of the mechanism illustrating this part of the said Invention,
and Figure 7 a vertical central longitudinal section of the same.
piece a housings are supported for the shafts of a pair of rolls b¹, c. In the
surface of one of these rolls a groove d' is formed, the said groove being made
up from two blocks or halves e', f', which in their normal position are held
slightly apart, as seen at Figure 6, but can be moved towards each other, so
as to bring the two parts into contact. When thus in contact the die groove
corresponds in width at all points to the width of the finished nail, while when
open the said groove is of a width sufficient to receive the nail in the state in
which it is left by the action of the shaping and drawing die grooves. On
the opposite sides of the rolls where they come together are two presser rolls g¹
placed at such distance apart that as the rolls 6', c', revolve the adjacent
surfaces of the said presser rolls act upon the sides of the rolls b, c, opposite

page_text: the groove, and force the parts e¹, f¹, together. The rolls b', c', rotate in the
direction of the arrows, Figure 7, and the movement of these rolls is made to
correspond with the movement of the pair of die rolls h' above; these die
rolls represent the last pair of the suit of die rolls which form the nail from
the blank, or draw down its shank, and the conjoint movement of the rolls h¹
and the rolls b, c, is such that as the head of the nail drops from these die
grooves it enters the head in the die groove d' and is carried in the groove d¹
by-the-straightening rolls. The lower face of the groove in the roll b¹ and
the face of the roll c' act upon and reduce any crooks in the sides of the nail,
while the opposite sides or walls of the groove being forced inwards as they
pass with the nail between the rolls g¹ act upon and straighten the opposite
edges of the said nail. At the head of the groove d' is a spring, against
which the head of the nail lies as it enters the groove. Just beneath the
die rolls and extending up between them is a guide piece ¹ having a vertical
thront or tube ¹. As the head of the nail passes beyond the action of the
rolls b, c, where the said rolls come together the spring throws out the
head and it enters the throat A. As the rolls b, c, continue their rotation
they press the nail down through this throat, the position of which compels
the nail to assume a straight form, taking out the long uniform curve left in
it by the action of the surfaces of the rolls b', c'. Near the point of the nail
there are apt to be fin pieces upon its edges and other general imperfection
or roughness of edge left by the drawing and shaping dies. A male die or
projection m' on the roll c¹ is provided to remove these imperfections, which
die as it comes into connection with the groove on the opposite roll presses
the nail into the groove, shearing or clipping off any undue projections or fins
from these edges, leaving them clean and smooth. In horse-shoe nails it is
usual to have upon the point of each nail a chamfer or chisel edge, which
causes the nail to turn as it is driven, and also causes its point to come out
upon the hoof at a short distance above the sole; this chamfer is placed
sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other (as seen at C) according
to the side of the nail which is presented outwards as it is driven. To produce
this chamfer an enlargement or extension n¹ is given to the die projection m³,
and as the dies bite and pass upon the end of the nail they draw down its end
into this chamfer. Finally the extreme end of the die projection presses the
end of the shank against a cutter o¹, and thus finishes the point. Where the
chamfer is to be made in the opposite direction the surface of the die projection
at the end is made retreating. The sides only of the die groove may be made
capable of lateral movement to straighten the edge of the nail, the bottom
being then made integral with the roll.

page_text: Having thus described the said improvements as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, and shown how the same may be conveniently and
advantageously carried into practise, I claim,-
First, a nail with its head and shank substantially in the condition
described.
Second, a series of pairs of die rolls arranged with reference to each other
and to operate together for the purpose and substantially as described.
Third, the mechanism for straightening the edges and faces of the rolled
shank and the mechanism for clipping or trimming the edges and chamfering
and finishing the nail at the point arranged either in combination with the
drawing dies or as a separate machine.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)
Witness,
HENRY WILLIAM GILBY.