A NEW AND USEFUL MACHINE FOR MAKING HORSE SHOES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Adams Cutler, of the State of Connecticut,
of the United States of America, for the Invention of "A NEW AND
USEFUL MACHINE FOR MAKING HORSE SHOES."-A communication from
Charles H. Perkins, a resident of Putney, of the State of Connecticut,
in the United States of America.
Sealed the 12th August 1859, and dated 16th June 1859.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Edward Adams Cutler at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Decla-
ration, on the 16th June 1859, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, BE IT
KNOWN, that I, EDWARD ADAMS CUTLER, of the State of Connecticut, of the
United States of America, am in possession of an Invention of "A NEW
AND USEFUL MACHINE FOR MAKING HORSE SHOES," and I hereby declare that
the nature of the said Invention and the manner in which it is to be per-
formed, or, in other words, its construction and mode of operation, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following Specification and the accom-
panying Drawings, of which Figure 1 denotes a top view; Figure 2, a bottom
view; and Figure 3, a side elevation of it; Figure 4 is a longitudinal and ver-
tical section taken through the hammer shaft, and so as to exhibit the parts in
a direction towards the fly wheel; Figure 5 is a similar section, but made so

page_text: as to represent the parts in a direction away from the fly wheel; Figure 6 is
a horizontal section of the benders, their cams, and slide; the same also
showing the top of the former B, the bed, and the die w; Figure 7 is a rear
end elevation. Such other Figures as may be essential to a correct delineation
of the said machine are herein-after referred to and described.
By means of the said machine a bar or piece of iron of a necessary length
may be bent around into a proper form and hammered out and creased, so as
to reduce it to the shape of a horse shoe. Slight changes in the form and
construction of some parts of the machine render it capable of manufacturing
shoes for oxen.
In the Drawings, A denotes the frame for supporting the operative parts of
the machine. Near the front end of the table A, and arranged therein so as
to slide vertically, is that part of the machine which I term the "former," it
being shown at B, in Figures 2, 4, and 5, and in top view in Figure 6.
The next part of the machine is what I term the." benders," they being
shown at C, C, as connected to a slider D. These benders are curved arms,
jointed at there rear ends to the slider D, and carrying rollers a, a, on their
front ends. The anterior part of the slider, or that portion which is between
the benders C, C, is made or constructed with a plane surface, or straight
die b, for forming on a horse shoe what is termed a "
square toe." Stationary
cams C, C, affixed to the anvil or top of the bed A, and in positions, as shown
in Figures 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6, govern the movement of the benders in lateral
directions towards the shoe blank, while such benders are being forced forward
by their slider D. Their lateral movements in opposite directions are effected
by curved stationary grooves d, d, into each of which a stud e from one of the
benders enters. The longitudinal movements and intervals of rest of the
benders slider D are produced by the operation of two cams f, g, (see
Figures 2, 4, 5, and 7), which are fixed on a horizontal and transverse shaft E,
one of them being made to act against a roller h fixed in the rear end of the
slider D. The other of the said cams acts against one arm of a bent lever i,
which turns freely on another shaft F, and has its other arm extended into a
notch or recess k formed in the slide, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. G is
another or third shaft, which is situated at or near the front part of the
table A, and with the other shaft E and F, receives rotary motion from a
driving shaft H by a train of gears, l, m, n, o, p, q, and r, arranged as shown
in the Drawings. The first of these gears being fixed on the shaft H, while
the last is carried by the shaft G. A set of fast and loose pulleys s, t, and a
fly wheel w, are applied to the driving shaft. Over the bed or table A is a
tripping or hammer shaft I, which at its front end carries a hammer K, and

page_text: a creaser L; they being projected from a heavy head or block of metal v
affixed to the shaft I, or arranged thereon, as shown in the Drawings.
Figures 8 and 9 exhibit seperate views of the working faces of the hammer
and creaser. The object of the hammer is to reduce the shoe blank to its
requisite thickness. This it accomplishes with the aid of the bed or anvil
and the former B, a raised die or projection w from the bed, and carried partly
around the former, as shown in Figure 6, serving under the blows of the
hammer on the shoe to hollow the shoe or make it concave in rear of the toe
in the customary manner. The purpose of the creaser is to form in the shoe
the usual recesses and places for the nail holes.
During the operation of the machine, the hammer is made to strike several
times on the shoe, after which the shaft I is turned around a semi-revolution,
so as to bring the creaser underneath the hammer. This having been accom-
plished, the shaft is made to play up and down so as to hammer the shoe
with the creaser; these operations being caused to follow that of bending the
shoe blank about the former B, which is effected by the action of the benders
after the shoe blank has been placed in rear of and with its middle against
the said former.
While the bending operation is taking place, the said former B should be
in an elevated position so as to carry its beveled top surface x entirely above
the shoe, in order that the vertical edgey of the said former may be presented
to the shoe for the purpose of supporting its inner edge while the shoe is being
formed by the benders. Soon after this has taken place, the former B should
be mooved downward so as to leave the beveled top surface a projecting
above the top of the table, where it should remain while the shoe is being
hammered and creased. The purpose of the beveled top surface or bevel a of
the top surface of the former B is to cause the middle part of the shoe or
that part near the toe to be spread out to a greater width than at the heels or
heel parts, and also to give to the shoe the proper form to prevent it from
balling" with snow when used while there may be snow upon the ground.
The mechanism for operating the former B consists not only of a cam,
fixed on the shaft G, and made to work against a projection a', from the foot
of the said former, but a spring 6', which serves to depress such former: The
tripping shaft I is supported by and so as to be capable of revolving axially
in a rocker frame K', which turns on pivots c¹, c, projecting from two
uprights d', d', arranged as shown in the Drawings. Within the said
frame K¹ is a grooved wheel e¹, which is fixed concentrically on the shaft I,
and carries a chain f' in the groove of its periphery, one of the links of the
chain being fastened to the periphery. This chain depends from the pulley.

page_text: and has one end fastened to a sectoral arm 9' projecting from the shaft L',
on which a pinion ¹ is fixed. To the other end of the chain a weight ¹ is
fastened, such weight being made to slide on a vertical rod k¹ extended down-
ward from the table A. The pinion h engages with a slide rack P, from
which a stud m¹ projects, as shown in Figures 2 and 4. A cam n', carried
by the shaft G, operates against the said stud. The object of the wheel e¹, the
cam, sectoral arm g', the pinion 4, the rack bar , the cam n', and weight i',
is to effect the semi-rotative motions of the tripping shaft at the proper times,
in order to bring the hammer and creaser into operation alternately on the
shoe blank, and at the tinies necessary. The mechanism for tripping the
shaft I may be thus described :-A shaft M, carrying a series of cams or
wipers o, o, o, and one part p¹ of a clutch turns on another shaft q', and is
arranged with respect to the rear end of the tripping shaft, as seen in the
Drawings. The other part or half of the clutch is affixed to the side of a
gear s¹, which is fixed on the shaft q', and receives motion from a pinion t¹,
attached to the inner end of a shaft u', whose outer end carries a gear m;
which engages with the gear or pinion of the driving shaft.
In connection with the said mechanism for tripping the shaft I is a
mechanism for clutebing and unclutching the two shafts M and q'. The
same consists of a forked lever w¹; a cam a¹, and a spring y'. The said forked
lever plays at one end in the groove of the sliding part of the clutch.
its lower end it is borne against the cam by the spring, the cam being fixed
on the shaft E.
At
The next portion of the machine is that for preventing the fall of the
tripping shaft or hammer shaft long enough to allow of the semi-rotation of
the hammer shaft and the withdrawal of the made shoe from its place about
the former B and the substitution of a shoe blank for such shoe. Such
mechanism consists of a catch a² (fixed on and projecting from the rocker
fraine K of the tilting shaft), a bent stop lever 62 (turning on a fulcrum c²),
a spring d, and a cam e', the whole being arranged as shown in the
Drawings. The cam is carried by the shaft E, and works the stop lever in
one direction, the spring serving to move it in the opposite direction. At a
proper time the stop lever is moved over the catch so as to latch it, and hold
the hammer shaft up or prevent it from falling; during such times as the
tilting cams are out of operation the made shoe is being removed from the
dies, and a blank substituted for it. The descent of the hammer shaft is
assisted by a spring f, which is connected with it and the table, and serves
by its retractive power to increase the downward velocity, and, of course, the
momentum of either the hammer or the creaser.

page_text: The above constitutes the mechanism or the machine for making horse
shoes. The toe or rear end of the former B is furnished with a series of
notches, as shown at 9² (Figure 6), the same being for the purpose as herein-
after stated.
In operating with the said machine, a piece of bar iron of sufficient size to
form a shoe, and heated or not as occasion may require, is to be placed in the
space between the toe die b and the former B. Soon after this may have
been accomplished, the benders will be advanced and bend the iron around
the said former, or the vertical sides of it next the former will descend a little,
as before mentioned, and the hammer shaft commence and continue to be
tilted until the shoe blank may be hammered down to its required thickness,
which having taken place, the hammer shaft will be turned suddenly around
a semi-revolution, and so as to bring the creaser into operation on the shoe.
After several blows by this creaser have taken place, the tripping of the
hammer shaft will be arrested; and it will be held up so as to enable it to be
rotated in a manner to bring the creaser over the hammer, which operation
next takes place. While it may be going on the made shoe should be with-
drawn from the machine, and a blank put in its place. Should the creaser be
provided with a small cutter around at its toe, it may be made to sever the
shoe into two parts, so as to enable it to be used for oxen, provided such shoe
be properly formed for such purpose, as it may be by suitably preparing the
dies and bending mechanism to make it.
Having thus described the said machine for making horse shoes, what I
claim therein is as follows:-
1st, I claim the combination and arrangement of the hammer K and the
creaser L, with one rotary tripping shaft I, so as to be operated thereby sub-
stantially in the manner and for the purpose specified.
2nd, I also claim the mode of constructing and operating the former B, that
is, making the said former with the vertical edge y and beveled top surface x,
and causing the said former to take two separate positions with respect to
the benders and hammer in manner and for the purpose set forth.
3rd, I also claim constructing the bed or anvil A, with the projection or
die w, for hollowing the shoe or making it concave in rear of the toe, as
specified.
4th, I also claim the combination of the straight toe die b, with the
benders C, C, and the former B.
5th, I also claim the combination of a set of notches or their equivalent, with
the rear end or toe, or other proper part of the former, and for the purpose of

page_text: maintaining the shoe blank in its proper place or position with respect to the
former during the process of bending the shoe thereon.
6th, I also claim, in combination with mechanism for giving to the hammer
shaft its tilting or vertical motions, mechanism for rotating the shaft at the
proper times, in order to bring the hammer and the creaser to operate
alternately on the shoe, as specified.
7th, And, in combination with the mechanism for tilting and turning the
hammer and creaser shaft, I claim a mechanism for arresting the operations
of the tilting mechanism, and for preventing the fall of the hammer shaft
long enough to allow of a semi-rotation of the hammer shaft, and the with-
drawal of the made shoe from its place about the former, and the substitution
of a shoe blank therefor.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my signature and seal, this
EDWARD ADAMS CUTLER. (L.S.)