IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING NAILS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Newcomb, of 10, Cowley Place, Commercial
Road, Peckham, in the County of Surrey, Machinist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING NAILS."
Sealed the 11th August 1857, and dated the 16th February 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Newcomb. at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th February 1857..
I, THOMAS NEWCOMB, of 10, Cowley Place, Commercial Road, Peckham,
in the County. of Surrey, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING NAILS," to be.
as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for manu-,
facturing nails; for these purposes the portions of metal to be formed into
nails, may be cut from rods of the proper sizes or from the edges of plates of.
the proper thicknesses.
The machinery is arranged first to cut off a proper length or portion of
metal which has: parallel sides; and in order to forge or press such sides to
make them taper or come to a point, the portion of metal passes between two
rollers, one of which is placed eccentrically on its axis, or it may be fixed con-
centrically and its axis have a motion to and fro. The other roller is placed
concentrically on its axis, and it has two projecting flanches, between which
the circumference of the excentric roller. works.. The piece of metal is caused
by the working of the machine to be fed between the two rollers when their
outer edges or peripheries' are at the greatest distance apart, and as the rollers
rotate, they, by reason of their peripheries coming more and more nearly
together, cause the metal to be pressed more and more on two of its sides...

page_text: As the piece of metal passes from between the pair of rollers it comes against
a fixed die, between which and a moveable die (moved into position by an
excentric so as to come in contact with the piece of metal at the moment the
pointed end leaves the pinch of the rollers) the piece of metal is held, whilst
the heading die, acted on by a cam, causes the head to be produced; the
pointing or forging rollers continue their, rotation, another piece of metal is cut
off and is fed in. by the working of the machine, the holding dies open, the
header goes away, and the finished nail then drops out. The metal may be
worked hot or cold, according to the size and nature of the nails which are to
be made.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,, filed
by the said Thomas Newcomb in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th August 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
NEW COMB, of 10, Cowley Place, Commercial Road, Peckham, in the County
of Surrey, Machinist, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of February; in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for. Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Newcomb, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Newcomb, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Newcomb, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times: thereafter. during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
MANUFACTURING NAILS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I; the said
Thomas Newcomb, my executors or. administrators, by an instrument. in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals; should particularly a
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention; and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immédiately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
n
NOW KNOW YE; that I, the said Thomas Newcomb, do hereby declare s
the nature of the said Invention, and: in what manner. the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that 'is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for manu-
facturing nails; for these purposes the portions of metal to be formed into
nails may be cut from rods of the proper sizes or from the edges of plates of
the proper thicknesses.
The machinery is arranged first to cut off a proper length or portion of
metal which has parallel sides; and in order to forge or press such sides to
make them taper or come to a point, the portion of metal passes between two
rollers, one of which is placed excentrically on its axis, or it may be fixed con-
centrically and its axis have à motion to and fro. The other roller is placed
concentrically on its axis, and it has two projecting flanches, between which
the circumference of the excentric roller works. The piece of metal is caused
by the working of the machine to be fed between the two rollers when their
outer edges or peripheries are at the greatest distance apart, and as the rollers
rotate, they (by reason of their peripheries coming more and more nearly
together) cause the metal to be pressed more and more on two of its sides.
As the piece of metal passes from between the pair of rollers it comes against
a fixed die, between which and a moveable die (moved, into position .by an
excentric so as to come in contact with the piece of metal at the moment the
pointed end leaves the pinch of the rollers) the piece of metal is held, whilst
the heading die (acted on by a cam) causes the head to be produced; the
pointing or forging rollers continue their rotation, another piece of metal is cut
off and is fed in by the working of the machine, the holding dies open, the
header goes away, and the finished nail then drops out. The metal may be
worked hot or cold, according to the size and nature of the nails which are to
be made.
Having thus stated the nature of the Invention, I will proceed more fully to
describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING A.
Figure 1 is a side view, Figure 2 an end view, and Figure 3 a vertical
section, of a machine suitable for making nails according to my. Invention..
The same letters in all the Figures indicate like parts. The metal from which
the nails are to be made is fed in at the top of the machine, and passes first
through a suitably formed holding apparatus, arranged so as to hold the metal
as it is fed-in, which prevents it from rising, as it would have a tendency to do,
when the feeding slide rises to take a fresh hold of the strip or rod of metal.
The holding apparatus also acts as a guide, and offers but slight resistance.to

page_text: the downward passage of the strip or rod of metal into the machine. The
holding apparatus consists of a weighted lever a working on a pin a¹ on an
arm carried by the framing, and it is so situated as to be a little on one side of
the centre where the nails are formed; such distance between the point of
feeding in and the point where the nail is formed is to allow the shears to
work for the cutting off the lengths of metal. The metal is first passed
downwards through the guide until it comes against a stop, which regulates
the length of the metal to be cut off to form a nail, or the length may be
determined by the amount of motion given to the feeder; the shears then cut
off a length. The shears are worked by the cam 6 on the main shaft, which
drives up the lever 6', at the upper end of which is formed an incline 62, which,
working against the slide 3 of an opening in the moveable jaw 6' of the shears,
cuts off a piece of metal suitable for forming a nail, and carries it into position
to be passed down between the rolls c, c', by the driver d, carried by the arm
d', attached to the slide d². The slide d² (which carries the driver d) works
in the guides d³, d³, (attached to the framing of the machine), and receives
motion in the following manner :-The slides carries at its lower end a pin or
stud ds, which passes into the slot d* of the lever d³, working on a centre dⓇ,
carried by the framing. The lever d' receives an up-and-down movement by
reason of the pin 7 (affixed to it) being within the chase d³, formed in one
side of the cam d, fixed on the main shaft or driving axis. As the metal is
thus fed between the rolls c, c', by the downward movement of the driver d it
becomes tapered, in consequence of the roll c' being placed excentrically upon
its axis. The rolls c, c', receive motion in the following manner-Upon the
driving axis A there is a toothed wheel c', taking into another toothed wheel c'
on the axes of one of the rolls c, c¹; and c', c', are two pinions on the axes of the
rolls c, c', by which motion is communicated from the one to the other. The
metal having passed through the rolls is received between the dies e, e¹; the
die e is a fixed die; the die e' receives a slight up-and-down movement, and it
is so formed on one of its sides, that when it is raised by the lever e (which
carries it) being acted upon by the came (on the main shaft A), it presses the
partially formed nail against the die e carried by the framing, and thereby the
partially formed nail is held firmly while the head of the nail is formed by the
punch or header f, carried. by the lever f¹, working on the centre f². Attached
to the framing there is sufficient metal protruding beyond the dies e, e¹; to
form the head, when the rising of the header punch f takes place by the action
of the cam fs on the main shaft A; after which the header punch f retires, as
does also the die e', and the finished nail is allowed to drop out into a receiver
beneath the machine.

page_text: Figure 3 a transverse vertical section, of another machine for making nails
according to my Invention. This machine is in its essential features similar to
that just described, but it is more suitable for making larger classes of nails,
and in this instance the metal to be formed into nails is fed into the machine
horizontally instead of vertically. In this machine I prefer the metal rod or
strip to be made hot and fed in a heated state. a, a, are guides, somewhat
similar to those described in the other machine; they are provided with
nipping levers on axes a¹, a', formed so as to act to prevent a retrogade
movement of the metal which is being fed in. b is a cam or inclined surface
on the main shaft or driving axis A, which, by acting on the truck ³ of the
lever b³, causes it to move on its centre b, and give motion to the moveable
jaw * of the shears, by which a piece of metal is cut from the rod or bar
and is brought into position to be fed in between the rolls c, c', by the driver d.
The driver d works in guides carried by the framing, and receives motion by
being connected with the end d¹ of the lever d³, working on the centre d",
carried by the framing. The lever d² receives motion from the cam d*. The
diese, e, which receive and partially form the nail are similar to those of the
machine above described; the one is fixed to the framing, and the other
receives a slight movement by the action of the cam e³ on the shaft A. The
heading die f is carried by the lever f' moving on a fixed centre f³, its truck
or roller being operated on by the cam f³.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to any
of the mechanical parts separately, nor do I confine myself to the details
herein described; but what I claim is, the combining of the rolls c, c', the
dies e, e', with a heading die, together with cams and apparatus for actuating
the same, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Newcomb, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
THOMAS NEWCOMB. (L.S.)
FREDK HARRIS.