Improvements in the Method or Process of and Apparatus for Manufacturing Rail Spikes and similar Headed Nails.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Aug., 1896-Accepted, 10th Oct., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Method or Process of and Apparatus for
Manufacturing Rail Spikes and similar Headed Nails.
I HEINRICH CHRISTIAN RUMPF of Dahlhausen an der Ruhr in the German
Empire, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to the manufacture of spikes for rails and chairs and other
similar headed nails of all sorts and consists in improvements in the method or
process of and apparatus for said manufacture.
The improved method or process of manufacturing said spikes and nails consists
in rolling a bar of iron or steel having a cross-section like th longitudinal section
of the nail to be made, and punching or shearing from this the separate nails or
spikes by means of punches having a profile corresponding to that of one side
of the bar-which is the essential point of the process-and suitable matrices
or dies.
The drawing appended hereunto serves to illustrate the process and shows one
form of apparatus adapted to carry it out.
Fig. 1, shows a portion of the profiled bar from which the spikes are punched.
Figs. 1 and 2, show a spike made from this bar by the improved method, in
side and end view.
Figs. 3, 4 and 5, represent a machine for carrying out the method or process in
longitudinal and cress section, and in plan.
In carrying out this invention a bar of iron or steel C is rolled having a profile
as shewn by Fig. 1, that is to say, corresponding with the longitudinal section of
the spike Fig. 1A but without the sharp edge of the finished spike C' at its point d
and without the serrations e which are only formed by the punching out of the
spike. For producing the sharp edge or pointing, the bar is passed under a
rapidly striking hammer and the edge drawn out while cold, whereby the
advantage is gained that each separate spike need not be pointed after being
cut off.
The bar is then placed upon a die or matrix consisting of two plates or cheeks a
corresponding in width and length to the spikes to be produced, and profiled
correspondingly to the back of the bar C, with a distance of the side cheeks a of
the die from each other equal to the breadth of the spike to be formed. The
punch b which moves up and down in the interstice between the cheeks a is like-
wise shaped corresponding to the front of the bar C and formed with recesses e' for
making the serrations or teeth e on the spike C1, Fig. 14. When the bar C
has been placed upon the die and the punch is pushed down under strong pressure
into the interstice between the cheeks of the die, a spike is punched out of
the bar C. By the great pressure under which the punch separates the material,
serrations or teeth e are pressed out into the recesses of the punch. It is evident
that by this method a considerable saving of labour and consequently of expense
is effected, compared with any other method of manufacture, as in this case
the spike is finished completely in three stages or operations, viz. :-The rolling
of the profiled bar C, the hammering out of the edge forming the points d and the
punching of the spikes C'.
If the spikes Care to have projections or ears at the side for drawing them out

page_text: of the sleepers, the bar C as shewn by Fig. 1, is rolled of such a section that after
punching there remains a projection f on the head k, which in a fourth operation
is pressed in a suitable die into lateral ears.
Figs. 3, 4 and 5, represent a machine for manufacturing spikes according to the
process or method herein before described. A multiple die is shewn, the separate
cheeks or plates a of which are each arranged for making two spikes as shewn by
Fig. 3. The die is formed with a number of cheeks or plates a and the punch
with a number of projections b arranged opposite the interstices between the
checks a. When the profiled bar C has been placed upon the die, the punch
is brought down by means of suitable mechanism with great force and punches out
a series of spikes. The cheeks or plates a are made of the same thickness as the
breadth of the spikes, so that there will be no waste, the material remaining on the
top of the die being likewise a series of similar spikes to those punched out.
The mechanism for actuating the punch may be arranged in any suitable ordinary
way as used for heavy punching machines or forging presses.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said iuven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
1. The method or process of manufacturing rail spikes and similar headed nails
by punching the same from a bar having a section corresponding with the longi-
tudinal section of said spikes or nails, by means of correspondingly profiled
punches and dies substantially as herein before described and illustrated.
2. The method of pointing spikes and nails manufactured in the manner claimed
in the first claim by drawing out the edge of the profiled bar while cold by means
of a rapidly striking hammer before punching the spikes substantially as herein-
before described and for the purpose set forth.
3. The construction or arrangement of an apparatus or machine for manu-
facturing rail spikes and similar headed nails with two or more single or double die
plates profiled correspondingly to one side of said spikes or nails and distant from
cach other by the breadth of the same, and with punches profiled correspondingly
to the other side of said spikes or nails and actuated so as to punch the same from
correspondingly profiled bar through the interstices between the die plates
substantially as hereinbefore described.
4. In a machine for punching rail spikes and the like from rolled bars having a
section corresponding to the longitudinal section of said spikes and the like, the
formation of the punches with cross grooves into which the material is pressed so
as to form serrations or teeth on the spikes, substantially as hereinbefore described
and illustrated by the drawings.
Dated the 13th day of Awon 1906
R. J. URQUHART,
57, Barton Arcade, Manchester, and 5, Clayton Square, Liverpool,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent.