Improvements in and relating to Mechanism for Arranging Nails, previous to Driving them.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 26th July, 1898-Accepted, 15th Oct., 1898
Improvements in and relating to Mechanism for Arranging Nails,
previous to Driving them.
A communication from abroad by JAMES WILLSON BROOKS, of Petersham, County
of Worcester, State of Massachusetts, one of the United States of America,
Gentleman.
I, ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES, of 55 & 56, Chancery Lane, in the County of London,
Chartered Patent Agent, 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 has for its object to improve that class of nail assorting apparatus
wherein nails are to be delivered point-first into suitable pockets, from which
they are led into position to be driven.
The apparatus herein to be described contains a series of raceways, composed
essentially of a plurality of sections or parts, one above and in line with the other,
one of said parts or sections, hereinafter designated as the upper and lower parts
or sections, being laterally movable with relation to the other part or section,
thus permitting a nail resting on the lower part or section of said two part raceway
to be carried by the lateral movement of said part or section, or by a relative
lateral movement of one of said parts with relation to the other of said parts,
aside, to thereby remove the points of the nails to be discharged from their contact
with suitable stops, so that said nails may escape from the parts of the raceways on
which they rest, and be discharged into suitable pockets located at one side of
the vertical plane of the main body of the raceways.
Cooperating with the main bodies of the raceways, and at the upper ends thereof,
are a series of preliminary starts in communication with a hopper on which the
nails are poured in bulk, said nails coming onto the preliminary starts indiscri-
minately, head and point first, those nails coming onto the preliminary starts head-
first dropping therefrom through a suitable space made between the preliminary
starts and the upper ends of the main portions of the raceways, said nails so dis-
charged entering a suitable receptacle, but those nails leaving the preliminary
starts point-first enter the grooves of the main bodies of the raceways, and travel
down said raceways to a suitable end stop.
Fig. 1 in side elevation represents a sufficient portion of a nail assorting
mechanism to enable my invention to be understood.
Fig. 2 a top or plan view of the machine shown in Fig. 1, and
Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are details to be described.
The base or bed A has erected on it suitable legs B, said legs supporting the
working parts, including the hopper B, and the body B2 of the raceway frame.
Herein, I have shown the body or frame as provided with three raceways com-
posed of two parts or sections b, b', the sections being herein shown as laterally
movable with relation to the sections b above them.

page_text: The sections have, as shown, longitudinal grooves at their top sides for the
reception of the nails to be assorted, said nails being fed from said hopper onto
said raceways.
At the lower extremities of the two-part raceways I have placed a series of stops c,
they being located at the ends of the laterally movable parts b₁ of the two-part
raceways.
The parts are erected on a common actuating device or transferrer 62, shown
as a slide bar, and each of the shorter race sections has at one side of it, a
preliminary stop 63, which, when the raceway sections 6' are moved laterally out
of line with the main or longer parts 6 of the raceways, act as stops to hold back
and prevent the discharge from- the raceways of the next nails behind the nails
then resting on the movable shorter sections with their points against the
stops c.
When the shorter sections are so moved sideways or laterally out of line, the
points of the nails resting against said stops c are carried laterally away from said
stops, when the said nails slide from the said shorter sections, point first, into
suitable pockets d leading to any usual or suitable nail block or device to contain
the assorted nails to be subsequently driven.
The movable sections of the raceway may derive their movement, as herein
shown, from a lever d¹ pivotted at d², and actuated in one direction by a suitable
cam and in the opposite direction by a suitable spring d*.
The cam is fast on a short shaft ds having its bearings at do; said shaft having
at one end a suitable clutch as d', and also a grooved hub d8 which is entered by
a stud or roller 2 of a lever d pivotted at d¹o, said lever being used to move said
clutch to the left, viewing Figs. 1 and 2, to engage the continuously moving clutch
part e fast on shaft e having a worm toothed gear e², which is engaged and
rotated by a worm e³ fast on a crank shaft et, provided at one end with a pulley e
driven by any usual or suitable belt, said crank shaft having a connected link e
which is attached to the leg B and imparts a vibrating or shaking motion to the
hopper and the raceways, sufficient to keep the nails running down said raceways
one after another.
Herein I desire to load the nails in any usual block, point-first, and to provide
for this the raceway is permanently divided or separated as at f, to leave a space
through which any nails getting onto the raceway from the hopper head-first
may drop and so leave the raceway entirely, only the nails leaving the hopper
point-first coming onto the part 6 of the raceway.
The stops c may be attached, as shown, to a slide bar g having at its ends suitable
pins, projections, or equivalent means to enter suitable guideways 'g' on the
body Ba
The slide bar'g is shown as connected by a link g², with a lever g³ pivotted at g',
and the opposite end of said lever is herein shown as connected by a link g with a
suitable pin or projection g6 extended from the end of the bar g', having erected
on it the preliminary starts 6* of the twopart raceways b, bl.
By turning this lever g³, the bars g and g may be simultaneously moved in
opposite directions to thus adjust the position of the stops c with relation to the
portions 6 of the raceway, and the preliminary starts 6* with relation to the upper
ends of the ends of the raceways b, so that the apparatus may be readily adjusted
to enable any desired length of nail to be handled on the raceways.
When the shaft d³ has been given one complete rotation to thus move the race-
way portions b¹ laterally and then let them be returned into their normal position,
the said shaft must be instantly stopped, and to do this the collar de fixed on the
shaft d may be provided with a lug 3 to strike a cam 4 fast on the bearing do,
see detail Fig. 5.
It will be obvious from the foregoing description that the stops c act to arrest
the nails coming down the raceways b, and that said stops are a necessary co-
operative part of said raceway portions b, and it' will also be obvious that the
raceway portions 67 having the preliminary stops b³ also coact.

page_text: Herein I have shown the portions 61 as adapted to be moved laterally with
relation to the portions b, to effect the discharge of the nails point-first, but it
will be understood that the same result could be effected by a relative lateral
movement between the parts b and c on the one hand, and the parts 6 and bon
the other hand, so this invention is not necessarily restricted to moving a parti-
cular one of the said two portions.
It will also be understood that the movable sections b¹ will not exceed in length
the nails to be controlled by them, and, consequently, if the nails vary very much
in length, the lengths of the sections 61 will be changed to suit the particular nails
to be acted upon, and the stops c are therefore made adjustable, so that they may
occupy the desired position with relation to the portions 61, to adapt the said stops
to nails of the lengths being handled in the apparatus.
j
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The use in a nail' assorting apparatus, of a raceway separated into a plurality
of sections adapted to ensure the travel of a nail from one onto the other section
when the individual portions of said sections are in the same vertical plane, a stop
to arrest the leading end of the nail, and means to effect relative lateral movement
of one portion or section of said raceway with relation to the other, portion or
section thereof, to move laterally bodily the series of nails to be discharged, re-
moving their ends from contact with said stops, and a series of pockets one for
each of the nails so discharged, substantially as described.
2. The use in a nail assorting apparatus, of a raceway separated into a plurality
of sections located normally with relation to each other to ensure the travel of a
nail from one onto the other section of said raceway when the said individual
sections are in the same vertical plane, a stop located below the endmost section
against which the end of the nail lying thereon may rest, a preliminary stop form-
ing a part of the endmost section, it acting as a stop for the nail next back of the
one to be discharged, and means to effect relative lateral movement of one portion
or section of said raceway with relation to the other portion or section thereof,
to ensure the discharge of the endmost series of nails, substantially as described.
3. The use in a nail assorting apparatus, of a raceway separated into a plurality
of sections adapted to ensure the travel of a nail from one onto the other of said
sections when they are in the same vertical plane, a stop located below the end of
the lowermost section of the raceway, said stop receiving against it the end of the
nail lying on the lowermost section, a preliminary stop movable with the said
lowermost section, it acting as a stop for the nail next back of those to be dis-
charged, said nails lying on the section of the raceway above it, means to effect the
relative lateral movement of one portion or section, of said raceway with relation,
to the other portion or section thereof, a hopper, and a preliminary start therein,
said preliminary start being located above the uppermost section of said raceway
and separated therefrom by a space, to ensure the discharge of all nails leaving
the said starts head foremost, substantially as described.
4. In a nail assorting apparatus, a series of raceway sections or portions, and a
second series of raceway sections or portions, located below the same, said second
section being shaped to constitute preliminary stops for the nails lying on the
upper sections when the lower sections are being moved to discharge the nails
from them, and a suitable end stop for the nails resting upon the lowermost
section, substantially as described.
5. The use in a nail assorting apparatus, of a raceway separated into a plurality
of sections adapted to ensure the travel of a series of nails from one onto the other
of said sections, an end stop for the series of nails lying on the lowermost sections of
the raceway, means to effect relative lateral movement of one portion or section
of said raceway with relation to the other portion or section thereof, to ensure the
discharge of nails therefrom, and a series of pockets.normally out of line with said

page_text: raceway sections when the nails are travelling from one to the other section, said
pockets receiving the nails from the lowermost sections when the latter are put in
line therewith, substantially as described.
5
6. In a nail assorting apparatus, the use with a raceway having a series of
grooves to receive a series of nails, of a series of preliminary starts, a space being
left between the lower ends of said starts and the upper ends of said raceway
grooves, and a series of stops at the lower ends of said raceways, whereby the nails
leaving the starts head first are discharged from the apparatus before they get
upon the raceways, while those nails leaving the preliminary starts point first pass
into the raceways and travel down the same to said stops, substantially as described. 1
Dated the 25th day of July 1898
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicants.