Improvements in Machinery for Nailing Boxes and other Articles.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 30th July, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Mar., 1896-Accepted, 25th Apr., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery for Nailing Boxes and other Articles.
I, JOHN JOSEPH HAYES of 107 Broadway, Flushing, in the State of New
York, United States of America, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention is made for supplying nails automatically from a box, the nails
being delivered into dies by which they are guided as they are driven by the
reciprocation of plungers.
The nails are placed in a box that is slotted on the bottom and pivotted so as to
be rocked backwards and forwards for the nails to pass through the slots and hang
by their heads.
Adjacent to the ends of the slots in the box are inclined bars in pairs forming
race-ways and there are crossing bars connecting together all the bars at one side
of the race-ways and all the bars at the other side of the race-ways, and these
crossing bars are united in pairs at their ends and fitted with mechanism such as a
double-ended cam for moving the inclined bars of the race-ways simultaneously
and in opposite directions so as to make the slots wider or narrower and thereby
adapt the slots of the raceways to larger or smaller nails without changing the centre
lines of the slots of such raceways, and if any nails become obstructed, the inclined
bars of the race-ways can be opened to drop all the nails out and free the machine
from the obstructions.
At the lower end of the inclined race-ways a cross shaft is fitted with a screw
thread or screw thread sections into which the lower nail of each race-way is
received, and means are provided for giving to the shaft and screw sections a
progressive rotary movement so as to carry one nail away laterally each movement,
so that it may be free to drop through a notch or opening at the end of one of the
inclined race-way bars and fall into a tube or conductor leading to the driving
mechanism.
The screw shaft is turned by a connection to the motive power so that it is
moved at the proper time to drop the nail in harmony with the other movements of
the machine.
There is a second cross shaft and a rock shaft carrying fingers that may be moved
so as to throw them into or out of action, and the ends of the fingers come down
into the slots of the raceways when brought into action, so as to hold the line of
nails in the inclined raceways, and prevent them passing down into the feeding
screw, and the rock shaft carrying the fingers is moved intermittently by ratchet
gearing, so that any desired nails in the inclined raceways can be held back during
one or two strokes of the driving mechanism, and then moved to allow a nail to be
taken from such race-way. By this means the nails can be driven in one part
of a box closer together than in another part of the box, or the nails can be
kept from passing to the driving mechanism on one part of the box that may be
shorter than another part of the box, where a larger number of nails require
to be driven.
The nails as they slide down through each guide tube drop into a receptacle
and pass in between two guide dies that are drawn together by a contractile spring
passed around them, and these guide dies are so supported that they can open to
allow the point of a nail to pass, and open still further to allow the head to pass,
and there is a driving plunger reciprocated vertically, with the end coming down
upon the head of the nail, so as to drive the same through the guide dies into
the wood, and these dies close together ready to receive another nail in between
°

page_text: them, as the driving plunger rises. By this means the dies accommodate
themselves to the position of the driving plunger, and the plungers and the head
that holds the dies, can be moved along upon a support, so as to bring the nails to
the proper places where they require to be driven.
Dated this 30th day of July 1895
BREWER & SON,
London and Leeds, Agents for Applicant.
Improvements in Machinery for Nailing Boxes and other Articles.
I, JOHN JOSEPH HAYES, of No. 107 Broadway, Flushing, in the State of New
York, United States of America, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:—
This invention is made for supplying nails automatically from a box, the nails
being delivered into dies by which they are guided as they are driven by the
reciprocation of plungers.
The nails are placed in a box that is slotted on the bottom and pivoted so as to
be rocked backwards and forwards for the nails to pass through the slots and hang
by their heads.
Adjacent to the ends of the slots in the box are inclined bars in pairs forming
race-ways and there are crossing bars connecting together all the bars at one side
of the race-ways and all the bars at the other side of the race-ways, and these
crossing bars are united in pairs at their ends and fitted with mechanism such
as a double-ended cam for moving the inclined bars of the race-ways simultaneously
and in opposite directions so as to make the slots wider or narrower and thereby
adapt the slots of the race-ways to larger or smaller nails without changing the
center lines of the slots of such race-ways, and if the nails become obstructed, the
inclined bars of the race-ways can be opened to drop ail the nails out and free
the machine from the obstructions.
At the lower end of the inclined race-ways a cross shaft is fitted with a screw
thread or screw thread sections into which the lower nail of each race-way is
received and means are provided for giving to the shaft and screw sections a
progressive rotary movement so as to carry one nail away laterally each movement
so that it may be free to drop through a notch or opening at the end of one of the
inclined race-way bars and fall into a tube or conductor leading to the driving
mechanism.
The screw shaft is turned by a connection to the motive power so that it is
moved at the proper time to drop the nail in harmony with the other movements of
the machine.
There is a second cross shaft and a rock shaft carrying fingers that may be
moved so as to throw them into or out of action and the ends of the fingers come
down into the slots of the race-ways when brought into action so as to hold the
line of nails in the inclined race-ways and prevent them passing down into
the feeding screw, and the rock shaft carrying the fingers is moved intermittently
by ratchet gearing so that any desired nails in the inclined race-ways can be held
back during one or two strokes of the driving mechanism, and then moved to allow
a nail to be taken from such race-way. By this means the nails can be driven in
one part of a box closer together than in another part of the box, or the nails can
be kept from passing to the driving mechanism on one part of the box that may
be shorter than another part of the box where a larger number of nails require
to be driven.
The nails as they slide down through each guide tube drop into a receptacle
and pass in between two guide dies that are drawn together by a contractile

page_text: ing passed around them, and these guide dies are so supported that they can
en to allow the point of a nail to pass, and open still further to allow the head
pass, and there is a driving plunger reciprocated vertically with the end coming
wn upon the head of the nail so as to drive the same through the guide dies into the
od, and these dies close together ready to receive another nail in between them as
driving plunger rises. By this means the dies accommodate themselves to the
sition of the driving plunger, and the plungers and the head that holds the dies can
moved along upon a support so as to bring the nails to the proper places where
y require to be driven."
In the duamin
wood, and these dies close together ready to receive another nail in between them as
the driving plunger rises. By this means the dies accommodate themselves to the
position of the driving plunger, and the plungers and the head that holds the dies can
be moved along upon a support so as to bring the nails to the proper places where
they require to be driven.
In the drawings,
Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section at the line x, x.
Fig. 3 is an elevation of the machine, showing the gearing at one end.
Fig. 4 is an elevation of the gearing at the other end.
Fig. 5 is a section at the line y, y, showing the connecting-bars.
Fig. 6 is a diagram showing the screw at the lower end of the raceway.
Fig. 7 is an elevation with one side of the supporting box removed, and
Fig. 8 is a sectional plan at the line a¹¹.
The nail-receiving box A is generally quadrangular and hinged at 2 to the
frame B of the machine, and there is a cross-shaft C, that is oscillated by a
crank D and connecting-rod E to any suitable actuating device-such, for instance,
as a shaft and crank upon the machine that drives the nails-and the slotted
arms F upon the cross-shaft act upon a bar 3 that is across below the nail-box A,
so that as the cross-shaft C and slotted arms Fare oscillated, the nail-box A is
tipped or swung up and down upon its hinges 2, and in so doing the nails are shaken
and spread upon the bottom of the box, and such nails fall into the slots 4 in the
bottom of the box, and the nails are suspended by the heads, and when the box
is tipped into an upwardly-inclined position the nails that are in the slots 4, or
some of them, slide out into the channels between the bars G and H of the
inclined raceways and slide down such raceways to the delivering mechanism
hereinafter set forth.
In consequence of the receiving-box A being tipped first one way and then the
other the nails are not liable to become wedged in the channels, and one box is
adapted to use with several sizes of nails, and the boxes can be changed, if desired,
for different sizes of nails, or the slots may be varied in width in any known
manner.
It is important to accurately adjust the openings between the inclined bars G
and H, so as to adapt them to the sizes of nails that are fed to the nail-driving
mechanism; and with this object in view I provide cross-bars I and K, which are
notched or made as arches upon their under edges and are connected, the bars G
to the cross-bars I and the bars H to the cross-bars K, and the bars I are connected
at one end by the end bar l' and the bars K are connected by the end bar K', and
these bars I and K slide through bearings or boxes 5 upon the frame B, and in
order to accurately adjust the slots between the bars G and H, I act upon the
end bars 1K, and through them upon the cross-bars I and K and the bars G and H,
respectively, to move the bars G in one direction and the bars H in the other
direction in widening or narrowing the slots or channels between the pairs of
bars G and H.
To act upon the end bars 11 and K' simultaneously and uniformly, any desired
mechanism may be made use of. 1, however, prefer to provide studs L, passing
through holes in the end bars I' and K', and having springs 6 upon the studs
tending to force the end bars I' and K' toward each other, and to spread or separate
such bars I and K' more or less I provide a cam M, that can be moved by a lever-
handle 7 and act upon such end bars I'K'; and it is advantageous to make use of a
clamping-screw 8 to firmly hold the arbor of the cam M when the same has been
adjusted, so as to prevent the same turning and varying the adjustment of the
channel between the bars G and H.

page_text: By making the lower edges of the cross-bars I and K in the arched form
represented in Fig. 5 ample space is given for the passage of the nail-heads and
also for the insertion of the finger to act upon the head of any nail should the same
become obstructed in its passage down the inclined raceways to the separating
mechanism hereinafter described.
Across the lower ends of the bars G and H forming the inclined raceways
a shaft N is supported in suitable bearings upon the frame, and such shaft N is
screw-threaded, the screw-threaded portions being preferably in sections, so that
in the position of rest, a screw-thread or screw-formed groove coincides with the
channel between each pair of bars G and H. Hence the nails as they run down
such raceways are arrested by the shaft N, and one nail from each raceway is
received into the screw-thread of the shaft. In order, therefore, to deliver a nail
from each inclined raceway it is only necessary to give the shaft N a rotation and
carry the nails bodily and laterally from the ends of the channels to the openings 9
at the lower ends of the bars H, which openings 9 are immediately above the tube
or opening by which the nail is conveyed to the nail-driving mechanism of any
desired character, and it is advantageous that the openings 9 coincide with the
screw-thread groove when the shaft N has received a complete rotation. Thereby the
nails are allowed to drop out of the screw-thread grooves at the same time that other
nails are received into the portions of the screw-thread grooves at the ends of the
channels between the bars Ġ and H, and I remark that it is advantageous to make
the bars G and H L-shaped, as seen in the section, Fig. 5, so as to form walls to
the channels between the bars G and H to aid in keeping the nails substantially
vertical and in line with the screw-thread grooves, so that such nails pass directly
into the screw-thread grooves without any risk of standing crosswise to such grooves.
To rotate the shaft N any suitable mechanism may be made use of. I, however,
prefer to employ a pinion O, gearing into a wheel P, which is moved progressively
by the action of a lever Q and pawl 10 upon a ratchet-wheel 11, such ratchet-
wheel being upon the shaft or arbor N1, there being the proper number of teeth in
the ratchet-wheel 11 and the gears being so proportioned that the shaft N will
receive one complete rotation every movement of the lever Q, and this lever Qis
acted upon by a connecting-rod Q¹ to a suitable crank or other device upon the
nail-driving machine, and I employ a spring 12 and brake-segment 13 to apply
sufficient friction to the gear-wheel P to prevent the same turning backwardly by
friction as the lever Q is moved for the pawl 10 to take another tooth.
In nailing boxes it is generally necessary to drive a larger number of nails along
one side of the box than along another side or end of the box, and with this object
in view it is advantageous to feed the nail driving and supplying devices so as to
drive the largest number of nails required at any one time and to intercept or stop
the supply of nails alternately or every given number of strokes of the driving
mechanism, so as to only supply a smaller number of nails every second or other
number of strokes in the driving mechanism. I therefore provide a cross-shaft R,
upon which are collars 14 with set-screws 15 and fingers 16, so that by loosening
one or more of said screws, one or more of the collars and fingers can be turned up
and kept out of action, and this cross-shaft R is moved periodically, so as to bring
down the fingers that are in position to be operative against the lower nails in the
raceways between the bars G and H and thereby stop the nails from passing down
such raceways when the fingers are in position, thus lessening the number of nails
supplied at any one movement of the nail-driving mechanism.
To give the cross-shaft R the proper motions, I provide a lever S with an
actuating connecting-rod T, which is moved every stroke of the nail-driving
mechanism by any suitable crank or otherwise, and this lever S has a pawl 17,
acting upon a ratchet-wheel 18, and a gear-wheel 19, which gives motion to a
pinion 20 upon a cross-shaft 21, and there is a toe 22 upon the cross-shaft 21,
acting upon a toe 23 upon the cross-shaft R, to give to the cross-shaft R and the
fingers 16 a motion that will move the fingers 16 away from the lines of nails and
allow such lines of nails to run down into the notches of the screw-sha t N.

page_text: It will now be understood that the number of ratchet-teeth and the relative sizes
of the gear 19 and pinion 20 can be regulated as desired, so that the shaft 21 may
be rotated every one, two, three or more strokes of the nail-driving mechanism,
and when the toe 22 acts upon the toe 23 to swing the cross-shaft R and its
fingers 16, then nails will be supplied from all the raceways; but when the cross-
shaft R is not acted upon the fingers 16 will keep back the nails, so that the
number supplied will be less.
Either finger 16 may be brought into or put out of action by slackening the
set-screw 15 and turning the collar 14 upon the cross-shaft R, so as to determine
which nails are to be supplied to the driving mechanism.
If the shaft N has a screw-thread cut upon it so that the pitch thereof is adapted
to the positions of the channels between the bars G and H, the entire screw-thread
may be left between the frames of the machine, but usually it is advantageous to
turn off the metal, so as only to leave the screw-threads opposite the lower ends of
the pairs of bars G and H.
The supporting box is made of two parts A2 and B2 connected together by
screws at C as seen in Figs. 7 and 8, and there is within such supporting box the
channel D² down which the nails are allowed to pass, and the plunger E² is guided
by the recesses in such box as usual, and it is to be moved by any suitable.
mechanism such as ordinarily employed in nail driving machinery, and in the
supporting box the proper recesses are provided for the reception of the two-part
dies F2 F³, and in the adjacent faces of these dies there are recesses forming a
channel into which the nail drops and which channel is of a size to receive the
punch or plunger E2 when the same is forced downwardly upon the nail, and the
lower ends of the dies spread apart as the nail is forced through between them, and
they are still further spread apart by the passage of the nail head. These parts.
thus far described being well known, do not require further explanation.
In place of using any of the numerous spring devices that have heretofore been.
employed with the driving mechanism of nailing machines, I make use of an endless
contractile band G2, preferably of rubber, passing entirely around the two.
dies F2 F3 and tending to draw them firmly together, and the supporting box A² B²
is suitably recessed to give ample room for the reception of the endless contractile
band G2, and I make use of pins or lugs H2 preferably near the lower ends of the
dies F2 F3 and passing into horizontal slots in the supporting box A2 B2, such slots
being of sufficient length to allow the dies F2 F3 to open to any desired extent.
It will now be understood that the dies F2 F3 are controlled almost entirely by
the plunger E2, because such dies are free to move under the action of the
contractile band G2 and close and be guided by the plunger as such plunger is
drawn up, and the pins H2 simply support the dies in their proper positions while
the nail slides down and falls into the recess of the dies, and when the plunger is.
brought down to drive the nail, it forces the nail down so that the point separates.
the lower parts of the dies F2 F³, the upper parts of the dies being still guided by
the plunger E2, and the contractile band G is still further expanded as the dies.
are opened by the head of the nail passing down between the lower ends of such.
dies FF3
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The combination in a nail feeding mechanism of inclined bars in pairs, sets
of crossing bars connecting the respective inclined bars together in two sets, end
bars connecting the crossing bars and mechanism acting between the end bars
equally in both directions for adjusting the inclined bars to vary the width of the
channel between such inclined bars by one adjustment so as not to change the
relation of the nail channels to the other mechanism, substantially as set forth.
2. The combination in a nail feeding mechanism, of the inclined bars G and H,.
the crossing bars I connected to the bars G, the crossing bars K connected to the.

page_text: bars H, the end bar I¹ connecting the cross bars I, the end bar K' connecting the
cross bars K, a shaft with equal cam projections on each side to adjust the inclined
bars and vary the width of the nail channels and springs for pressing the parts.
toward the cam projections, substantially as set forth.
3. The combination in a nail feeding mechanism, of inclined bars in pairs with
the channels or raceways for the nails between them, a shaft passing across at
right angles to the channels and having a screw threaded groove for each channel
and coinciding with the same, means for rotating such shaft progressively to carry
the nails laterally from the lower ends of the respective channels and drop the
same so as to be conveyed to the nail driving mechanism, substantially as set
forth.
4. The combination in a nail feeding mechanism, of incliued bars in pairs with
the channels or raceways for the nails between them, a shaft at right angles to the
channels, screw thread grooves coinciding with the channels between the pairs of
bars, a pinion, gear wheel, ratchet wheel and pawl and means for moving the pawl
to give to the screw shaft a rotation for carrying the nails laterally away from the
channels and dropping the same, substantially as set forth.
5. In a nail feeding mechanism, the combination with inclined bars forming
channels or raceways for the nails and a shaft at right angles to the channels and
screw thread grooves on such shaft for moving the nails laterally from the lower
ends of the raceways and dropping the same, of fingers, collars and a shaft for
supporting the fingers, clamping screws for holding the collars and fingers upon
the shaft and mechanism for partly. turning the shaft periodically to move the
fingers and allow the nails to slide down into the nail delivering mechanism,
substantially as set forth.
6. In a nail feeding mechanism, the combination with the inclined bars forming
channels or raceways for the nails and a shaft at right angles to such channels and
screw thread grooves for receiving the nails from the lower ends of the raceways
and moving the same laterally for dropping them, of fingers, collars and a shaft
for supporting the fingers, clamp screws for holding the collars and fingers upon
the shaft, a shaft and toes for giving motion to the fingers and mechanism for
rotating the shaft progressively to bring the fingers into action every desired
number of strokes of the nail driving mechanism, substantially as set forth.
7. The combination in a nail feeding mechanism, of inclined bars that are
L-shaped in section and set together in pairs to form between them the nail
channels for suspending the nails by their heads and guiding the same vertically,
a shaft at the lower ends of the inclined bars and at right angles to the same,
screw thread grooves for receiving the nails and means for rotating the shaft and
screw thread grooves to carry the nails away laterally from the inclined bars and
dropping the same, substantially as set forth.
8. The combination with the inclined bars having channels between them for
the nails, of a shaft at the lower ends of the inclined bars and at right angles to
the same, screw thread grooves upon such shaft for the reception of the nails,
means for rotating the shaft and screw threads to carry the nails laterally from
the channels, there being a notch in the lower end of one bar in each pair of bars
through which the nail drops as it is delivered to the nailing machine, substantially
as set forth.
9. The combination with the nail supplying mechanism, of the nail driving
mechanism shown in Figs. 7 and 8.
Dated this 23rd day of March 1896.
BREWER & SON,
London and Leeds, Agents for the Applicant.