IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE SHOE NAIL FINISHING MACHINES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sydney Pitt, of Sutton, in the County of Surrey, for
an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE SHOE NAIL FINISHING MACHINES."
A communication from abroad by Charles Wellington Woodford, of the City
of Montreal, in the District of Montreal, and Province of Quebec, Canada.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sydney Pitt at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th May 1880.
SYDNEY PITT, of Sutton, in the County of Surrey. "IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE
SHOE NAIL FINISHING MACHINES." [A communication from abroad by Charles
Wellington Woodford, of the City of Montreal, in the District of Montreal, and
Province of Quebec, Canada.]
This Invention has reference to that class of machines by which a forged horse
shoe nail blank is automatically drawn out, bevelled, and pointed, so as to be
ready for use, and provides for these purposes apparatus which will work steadily
and without undue vibration, thereby obviating the possibility of any imperfectly
finished nails being produced, and is further 60 constructed that the actuating
devices can be severally removed and replaced without interference with the other
parts of the machine.
The Invention may be described as follows:-
Upon or near one end of a frame suitably constructed is mounted rigidly a
horizontal ring, round which and carried upon segments of corresponding curve is
placed a moveable ring having its inner edge formed with pockets into which
the nail blanks are dropped, being held in place between the moveable and
a series of
stationary rings, the former of which has its periphery formed of
ratchet teeth, and is intermittently rotated by means of a pawl actuated by a bell
crank lever receiving motion from a cam on the main shaft.
This moveable ring is held in place by clamps provided with adjustable
compensating springs, and capable of being shifted so as to allow of its being
removed and replaced if desired, and preventing any springing of the ring during
its rotation.

page_text: The main shaft to which motion is imparted by any suitable power rotates
through an intermediate shaft suitably geared, a counter shaft running at right
angles to itself.
Upon the counter shaft is mounted a cam actuating a lever which gives the
necessary motion to the dies for drawing the nail bringing them up to the
periphery of the moveable wheel, so as to grip the nail blank and hold it while
the rollers, operated by an eccentric on the countershaft, pass up and down the
blank, thereby elongating it. In connection with these is also used a roll carried
in hinged bearings, and provided with a spring in order to compensate for wear of
the parts, and varying thickness of the nail blank.
The nail blank thus drawn is carried in the moveable ring round to where the
mechanism for bevelling and printing same is placed, this consisting as usual
of a stationary punch and moveable clipping dies carried in a head or guide, to
which the proper throw is given by a pitman and crank or like device from the
main shaft.
The nail blank is, however, centred in the dic, so as to secure exactness and
regularity of shape by means of springs placed either side of same, and holding it
between then, and an adjustable compensating spring on the top of this moveable
die raises the nail so as to clear it from the die and allow the latter to pass back.
An inclined hook or similar projection from the stationary ring releases the
finished nail at the desired point from the moveable ring.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Sydney Pitt in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd November
1880.
SYDNEY PITT, of Sutton, in the County of Surrey. "IMPROVEMENTS IN HORSE
SHOE NAIL FINISHING MACHINES." A communication from abroad by Charles
Wellington Woodford, of the City of Montreal, in the District of Montreal, and
Province of Quebec, Canada.
This Invention which has reference to that class of machines by which a forged
horse shoe nail blank is drawn out, bevilled, and pointed ready for use, has for its
object to provide an apparatus that from its construction and arrangement shall be
capable of converting such blanks into finished horse shoe nails more efficiently
than those hitherto in use for the purpose being free from undue vibration, and
therefore more certain and regular in its operation. By this Invention too each
of the actuating devices can be singly removed and replaced without interfering
with the others.
For full comprehension of the Invention reference must be had to the annexed
Drawings forming part of this Specification, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of
the machine; Figure 2 a back end view; Figure 3, front end view, partly broken
away to show rolling mechanism; Figure 4 a side view, and Figure 5, view of
other side of machine; and Figures 6 and 7 details of carrying ring.
Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.
A is the frame of the machine of any form found suitable for carrying the several
operating devices; 'B being the main driving shaft, to which motion is imparted
through a belt and pulley, or in any usual way, carried in plummer blocks of
ordinary construction, and preferably having mounted on it a fly wheel b.
C, C, are stationary concentric rings constructed and secured to frame in any
usual way, and arranged a little distance apart upon the outer ring C¹ resting a
ring D, all these parts being shown in detail in Figures 6 and 7. On the inner
edge of this ring D are formed recesses d, d, into which the blanks to be finished
are dropped, these recesses being so shaped or dished as to carry the heads.
The outer periphery D¹ of this ring D is formed into a series of ratchet teeth
through which intermittent rotary motion is given to the wheel as will now be
described. Upon the shaft B is mounted a cam disc E operating, as shown more
particularly in Figure 4, against a lever F rocking on a short shaft F1 carried in
bearings on the underside of the frame, this lever F being shaped on its upper end
as shown in Figure 2, and connected by a pivotted link G with one end of a bell
crank lever H mounted on a shaft H₁; the other end of this bell crank lever
carrying in a slotted head H3 a pawl or arm H³, preferably of the form shown,
and pressed up against the ratchet toothed periphery D₁ by any suitable spring.
The rotation of the cam disc E acts by means of the above devices to bring the
point of the pawl H³ up against the ratchet teeth of D¹ successively, thus rotating
the wheel. A spring h secured to the frame and to an arm projecting from the
under part of the spindle serves to restore the parts to their normal position, ready
to be again acted upon by the cam disc E.
To keep this ring D on a horizontal plane, and at the same time to secure that
it shall only receive positive motion without overthrow, thus securing even and
true operation, I arrange around this ring any suitable number of clamps, placed
preferably equidistant from each other, and constructed as follows:-Z is a standard
secured to or cast on the outer ring C₁, and having formed on it shoulders marked
respectively Z, Z³, Y being a pin or spindle passing through openings in said
shoulders, the top of which is, as shown at Y³, turned over so as to clip and hold

page_text: in place the revolving ring. Round the spindle Y is arranged an expansion
spring X, adjusted by a screw or jam nut X', so to give the exact amount of
friction required.
When the ends Y¹ of these clamps are turned outside of the ring the expansion
spring X draws them by its contractile force down and clear altogether of the
ring, thus allowing it to be easily removed at will without disarranging the other
parts.
The above description covers the mechanism for imparting motion to and
governing the motion of the revolving ring which carries the blanks, and in its
rotation brings them successively to the apparatus for rolling, bevelling, and pointing
them, the first of which will now be described.
Parallel to the shaft B, but below it, is placed the shaft B₁ carried in proper
bearings and rotated from B by any suitable gearing, at right angles to this
shaft B being arranged a counter shaft B³, receiving motion therefrom through
bevelled gears.
Upon the shaft B² is mounted a cam I, shown more particularly in Figure 3,
and operating by its rotation to rock a lever I¹ pivotted at i to the frame, and
carrying in its head dies K which when brought up under the revolving ring D
through an opening in the stationary rings seize and hold the blank firmly while
it is submitted to the action of the rolls which are thus worked. L is an eccentric
mounted on the shaft B2, operated by its rotation and carrying in a standard L' set
in it the rolls M, M¹, the former of which comes in contact with the blank, and the
latter carried in an arm L hinged to the standard L¹ serves as a friction wheel
between M and the block or rest shown in Figures 1 and 3, N being a spring
secured to an extension of the standard L' carrying the roll M, and N¹ another
spring secured to the frame, as shown in Figure 3, and serving through an arm to
keep the lower end of the lever I close up against the cam I.
The dies K are secured in place by set screws, so as to compensate for any wear,
and in all cases in which a cam works against another surface I prefer to set therein
rollers so as to obviate friction.
The construction and arrangement of the cam I are such that when by its action
against the lever I the dies K in the lever head are brought up against the roller M,
they are held stationary during the movement of the eccentric L which carries the
rolls up and down the face of the blanks, thus elongating them to the proper
extent.
The blank thus elongated is then carried round in the ring by the mechanism
herein before described, until it comes into position, where it is acted upon by the
devices for clipping off the superfluous metal, pointing, and finishing the nail.
The cutting and stationary dies for this purpose differ in no way from those now
in common use, but I propose to attach to the moving die a spring O, as shown in
Figures 4 and 5, or of any usual shape and description, and of such size that
before the dies move to the full extent of their stroke its free end will be pressed
against the nail, and therefore pass down its surface. The relaxation of the pressure
by the backward movement of the die allows the spring to expand, and in so doing
it rises, lifting the nail with it, and detaching it from the die as this moves back.
A curved arm or projection P from the periphery of the outer stationary ring
detaches the finished nails from the revolving ring at any desired point subsequently
to these operations.
Having thus described the Invention, what I claim is as follows:-
First. In a horse shoe nail finishing machine the combination with one or more
stationary horizontal rings of a ring carrying the blanks in pockets formed on its
inner periphery, and rotated intermittently, substantially as described.
Second. In a horse-shoe nail finishing machine the combination with an inter-
mittently revolving ring of friction clamps for securing even and positive motion,
substantially as described.
Third. The combination of the cam I, actuating lever I', carrying in its head

page_text: dies, spring N', and eccentric L, with standard L', all constructed and operating
substantially as described.
Fourth. In a horse shoe nail inachine the combination with the. intermittently
rotated carrying ring of pivotted lever carrying dies, the eccentric operating roller
and friction roller carried in hinged bearers, all substantially as and for the purposes
herein set forth.
Fifth. The combination in a horse shoe nail finishing machine with an inter-
mittently moving ring carrying the blanks in inside pockets of clipping and
bevelling dies, substantially as herein set forth.
Sixth. The combination with clipping and bevelling dies of the spring O for
releasing finished nail from die, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Sydney Pitt, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty second day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
SYDNEY
DIMT
SYDNEY PITT. (L.S.)