Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Jan., 1887
Complete Left, 12th May, 1887.
Complete Accepted, 2nd Aug., 1887
[Communicated from abroad by HENRY EMANUEL RUSSELL Managing Director and
Secretary of the Russell and Erwin Manufacturing Company of New Britain,
Connecticut, United States of America.]
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co. Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to the manufacture of screws of the kind or class adapted
to be driven partially into wood by means of a hammer and then screwed home
by means of a screw-driver or other tool for turning them upon their axes, and the
chief object of my invention is to produce better screws than those heretofore
manufactured and particularly to improve the heads of such screws.
In the manufacture from a continuous rod or length of wire of nails having a
screw-thread or spiral barb, it has been customary to first barb the wire for at least the
whole length of a nail blank and to form the head by upsetting or heading a portion
of the wire thus barbed. The several coils of the barbs in the portion thus headed were
simply compressed together leaving the head full of seams. These seams evidently
impair the strength of the head and make it very liable to part or break under
the action of a screw driver. In the case of heads formed on wire which is very
deeply barbed, the defect in the heads will be greater than when they are formed
on wire provided with shallow barbs.
According to my present invention I make a screw from a continuous rod or
length of wire as follows, that is to say, I first form a screw-threaded or barbed
portion on the wire, leaving a contiguous plain portion which is long enough for
up-setting to form the head and also to form such length of unbarbed or threadless
body of the screw as may be desired. The screw-threaded or barbed portion is
provided with what is termed a ratchet thread, that is to say, a screw-thread having
the side thereof which faces the point bevelled or inclined, while the opposite side
thereof is practically at right angles to the axis of the screw. The pitch of the thread
is not very sharp and the screw is not intended to rotate to such an extent that
the thread thereon will follow the thread in the hole made by the said screw when
driven into the wood by a hammer. 1 form the thread by rolling or cutting a
spiral groove, the bottom of which extends below the original surface of the rod
Price Rd 1

page_text: or wire thereby producing what I term a sunken thread. The plain portion may
if desired, he only of sufficient length for forming the head, and the barbed portion
in that case will extend close up to the head of the finished screw. The plain portion
is headed by up-setting by means of heading dies. The head formed therefrom
will be seamless and solid throughout. It should, however, be provided with a driving
slot or groove.
After the head is formed I cut or sever the screw from the rod or wire.
at that end of the barbed portion which is farthest from the head, and at the same
time I form a diamond point at this end, the said point being of a pyramidal form,
preferably square in transverse section.
By my invention I produce a screw having a pyramidal point, a continuous ratchet
thread, and a head of solid stock, which head is seamless and therefore much stronger
than those of ordinary screws of this class. am also enabled to make the
screw-threads as deep as may be desired without in the least impairing the strength
of the head, and I can produce my screws at a small cost.
In using my screw, it may be driven into either hard or soft wood for its whole
length by means of a hammer, and if desired it may be withdrawn at any time
by turning the screw in the proper direction. My screw is, however, principally
intended to be used by driving it only partially into the wood by means of a hammer,
and then driving it home by means of a screw-driver, the pyramidal point and
the continuous spiral ratchet barb or thread being found efficient in causing the screw,
after first being started, to force its own way into the wood either hard or soft,
without previously preparing a hole for its reception. The pyramidal point, parts the
wood evenly, and prepares the way for the spiral ratchet barb or thread when the
screw is driven fully home by means of a hand hammer, but this pyramidal point
in connection with a head provided with means for rotating the screw is very
important when the screw is to be screwed home, the point then acts like a brad-awl,
to prepare the way for the thread.
Dated this 20th day of January 1887.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Screw-threaded Nails or
Screws.
A communication from HENRY EMANUEL RUSSELL, of New Britain, Connecticut,
United States of America, Managing Director and Secretary of the Russell
and Erwin Manufacturing Company.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co. Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be perforined, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to the manufacture of screws of the kind or class adapted
to be driven partially into wood by means of a hammer and then screwed home

page_text: by means of a screw-driver or other tool for turning them upon their axes; and
the chief object of my invention is to produce better screws than those heretofore
manufactured.
My improved screw is made with a continuous sunken ratchet thread and with
a pyramidal or "diamond" point, that is to say, a point which is angular in transverse
section, as for instance square or diamond-shaped.
I have found that, by making a screw with a point of this kind, it will enter
the wood far more readily than a screw having an ordinary conical or conoidal point.
The pyramidal or diamond point acts like a reamer, bradawl, or other borer.
and in combination with the continuous spiral ratchet barb or thread, is an important
improvement, as it enables the screw, when turned by means of a screw-driver after
being started or partially driven by a hammer, to force its way into the wood, whether
hard or soft, without a hole being previously bored for its reception. The pyramidal
or diamond point, moreover, parts the wood evenly and prepares the way for the
spiral ratchet barb or thread when the screw is driven either partly or fully home
by means of a hammer.
The head of my improved screw is by preference formed of solid or seamless metal
as hereinafter described and is preferably provided with a transverse slit or groove
to enable the screw to be turned by means of a screw-driver.
In the accompanying drawing I have shown one of my improved screws.
This screw is manufactured from a continuous rod or length of wire by first forming
a screw-thread or spiral barb a upon a portion of the said rod or wire, leaving
a contiguous plain portion b which is long enough for upsetting to form the head c
and, also to form such length of unbarbed or threadless body of the screw as may
be desired. There are, therefore, no seams in the head such as exist when the
rod or wire is screw-threaded or harbed for a length equal at least to the whole length
of a screw-blank and the head is formed by up-setting or heading a screw-threaded
or barbed portion of the wire. In the latter case, the several convolutions of the
threads or barbs in the portion thus headed are simply compressed together leaving
the head full of seams. These seams evidently impair the strength of the head
and make it very liable to part or break under the action of a screw-driver. Moreover,
in the case of heads formed on wire which is very deeply barbed, the defect in the
heads will be greater than when they are formed on wire provided with shallow barbs.
The screw-threaded portion of my improved screw is provided with what is termed
a ratchet-thread, that is to say, a screw-thread having the side thereof which faces the
point bevelled or inclined, while the opposite side thereof is practically at right
angles to the axis of the screw. The pitch of the thread need not be very sharp
as the screw is not intended to rotate to such an extent that the thread thereon will
follow the thread in the hole made by the said screw when driven into the wood
by a hammer. I form the screw-thread by rolling or cutting રા spiral groove, the
bottom of which extends below the original surface of the rod or wire thereby
producing what I term a sunken thread. If desired, the plain portion may be only
of sufficient length for forming the lead, and the screw-threaded portion, in such case,
will extend close up to the head of the finished screw. The plain portion is headed
by up-setting by means of heading dies. The head formed therefrom will be seamless
and solid throughout. It is, however, preferably provided with a driving slot or
groove d.
After the head is formed, I cut or sever the screw from the rod or wire, at that end
of the screw-threaded portion which is farthest from the head, and, at the same time,
I form the pyramidal or diamond point e at this end by means of suitable cutting and
swaging dies.
It will thus be seen that, by my invention, I produce a screw having a pyramidal
or diamond point, a continuous ratchet-thread, and a head of solid stock, which head
is seamless and therefore much stronger than those of ordinary screws of this kind
or class. I am also enabled to make the screw-threads as deep as may be desired
without in the least impairing the strength of the head, and I can produce my screws
at a small cost.

page_text: In using my screw, it may be driven into either hard or soft wood for its whole
length by means of a hammer, and, if desired, it may be withdrawn at any time
by turning the screw in the proper direction. My screw is, however, principally
intended to be used by driving it only partially into the wood by means of a hammer,
and then driving it home by means of a screw-driver.
My improved screws have been subjected with other screws to practical com-
parative tests, and it has been found that the drilling or boring action of the sharp
angular edges of the pyramidal or "diamond" point greatly facilitates the entrance
of the screw into the wood, instead of resisting the action of the thread of the screw
like the usual conical points hitherto employed. Therefore less downward pressure
than heretofore is required and there is no liability to twisting of the screws in driving
the same into wood by means of a screw-driver. My improved screws therefore
possess considerable advantages over those heretofore made.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I wish it understood that I am
aware that in the specification of former Letters Patent dated February 6th,
A.D). 1886, No. 1787, a screw is described which has a pyramidal point provided
at two of its corners with fins or projections so that it will act like a reamer or borer.
I therefore make no claim to a screw provided with such fins or projections. I have
found, however, that, when the point of a screw is made with sharp angular corners
as herein described, it will act like a reamer or borer without the aid of the said fins
or projections, and I claim :-
First. A screw whose point or pointed end is made square or of other angular form
in transverse section substantially as herein set forth and without fins or projections
such as those described in the said former specification.
Second. The improved screw formed from a continuous rod or length of wire, and
having a continuous sunken ratchet-thread, and a pyramidal or diamond point
extending from the end of the said thread (with or without the transverse slit
or groove in the head) all substantially as described, and for the purposes specified.
Dated this 8th day of March 1887.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.