IM-. PROVEMENTS IN MAKING NAILS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR."
Year: 1877

page_text: .
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Bennie at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 9th June 1877.
JAMES BENNIE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain."
" IM-.
PROVEMENTS IN MAKING NAILS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES, AND IN APPARATUS
THEREFOR."
This Invention has for its object the making of superior nails and similar articles
in an improved and economical manner.
It has hitherto been a common practice when making nails by means of
machinery to employ strips of metal of uniform thickness, and to give the requisite
taper to each nail by cutting it off the strip at a slight inclination, the strip being
turned over between each cut, so that the successive cuts may be reversely inclined.
The feeding of the strip to suit this action requires special skill when done by hand,
or special complex mechanism when done by the machinery.
Une part of the present Invention consists in cutting the nails or similar articles
from a strip of metal rolled with a transverse taper in its thickness, or with the
thickness varying in any suitable and convenient way, from what may be termed
the head edge to the other or point edge. This arrangement admits of the simplest
possible feeding action, and consequent simplification of the machinery, and has
other practical advantages, as the successive cuts can be made parallel to each other,
the requisite taper being given by the varying thickness of the strip.
The arrangement would not be satisfactorily practicable with the wrought iron
ordinarily used in making nails, because if the metal were rolled the long way of
the strips its fibre or grain would be across the nails, which are cut off transversely,
and they would not have the requisite strength, whilst the rolling of the metal
transversely to the strips, although easily done with the ordinary uniform thickness,
would present serious difficulties with the varying thickness.
By the second part of the Invention, however, steel (or other iron compound of
suitable homogeneous nature) is used, being rolled the long way of the strips; and
whilst the cinployment of steel in this way yields nails which are in every way
superior to ordinary iron nails, the savings due to the use of the transversely
tapered strips, as herein-before described, are such as to reduce the cost of such
Price d

page_text: nails much below what would correspond to their practical value as compared with
ordinary machine made iron nails.
When making headed nails of the steel, it is by preference dealt with in a
moderately heated condition, but it can be used cold, whilst the heading apparatus,
and other parts of the machinery may be arranged as heretofore, but of adequate
strength.
The making of nails or similar articles in the improved manner herein-before
described is also advantageously applicable when copper or brass or other suitable
metal or alloy is employed for that purpose.
The Invention also comprises an improved arrangement of automatic feeding
mechanism contrived to imitate the action of the hand upon the rod, by means of
which the metal strips are ordinarily held and fed to the nail-making machines.
In this improved mechanism the rod lies between a pair of gripping bits, which
are curved on their outer sides, and are held between a pair of fork ends formed
with inclines or curves on their inner faces, so as to make the gripping bits
approach each other and seize the rod when moved in, the proper direction. The
fork ends are the upper parts of a pair of levers carried on fixed centres near their
middles, and fixed together at their bottom ends, at which part there is jointed to
and between them a third lever carrying the gripping bits at its upper end.
Springs, stops, and adjusting screws control and regulate the action, which is as
follows: A rod moved outwards by any suitable moving part of the machine bears
against the iniddle lever at a point below the centres of the two outer levers, and
causes the gripping action of the fork ends and gripping bits to take effect, and the
continued outward movement of the rod turning the combination of levers on
their centres makes their upper ends move inwards and feed in the strip of metal.
On the return movement the gripping of the rod is relieved by the action of the
springs.
This improved feed mechanisin is applicable to existing nail-making machines of
various kinds, and may when required be combined with mechanisın such as is in
use for turning over the metal strips.