CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING NAILS
Year: 1828

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
IIANCORNE, of Skinner Street, in the City of London, Nail Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth
did, by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Sixteenth day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and twenty-eight, in the ninth year of His reign, give and grant
unto me, the said Edward Hancorne, His especial licence, that I, the said
Edward Hancorne, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, and such others, as I, the
said Edward Hancorne, my exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend within England, Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING NAILS," (communicated to me
by a certain foreigner residing abroad,) in which said Letters Patent there is
contained a proviso, that I, the said Edward Hancorne, shall cause a parti-
cular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Hancorne, do hereby declare that the said Invention consists in the

page_text: combination, construction, and use of certain machinery for the formation of
nails and spikes of various kinds out of thin bar or rod iron, which is pre-
viously made, hammered, drawn, or slit, and prepared in convenient lengths.
and of a proper size or gauge for working, and which is to be applied in a hot
state to my said machine, which consists of the several parts herein-after
described, and which are also represented in the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and in which the same letters and figures of reference are used to denote the
same parts whenever they occur in the different Figures of the said Drawing,
that is to say-
Fig. 1 is a plan or bird's-eye view of the said machinery as the same
appears when viewed from above; and Fig. 2 a side view or elevation of the
same as seen from the sido furthest from the fly wheel. In these Drawings,
A, A, A, A, is the stationary framework of the machine, made of cast iron or
other sufficiently strong material; and B, B, Fig. 1, a strong sliding frame of
the same material, which fits in between the cheeks of the frame A, A, A, A,
and slides backwards and forwards horizontally upon the straight brasses
u, u, u, u, which are fixed for that purpose to the inside of the frame.
This sliding motion is produced by the revolution of the crank shaft C turning
in proper brasses on the two opposite sides or checks of the fixed frame by
means of the rigger F upon the said shaft, which is driven by a strap from any
prime mover of machinery. The said shaft likewise carries a fly wheel E for
regulating its movements. The throw or radius of the crank upon this shaft
must in every case be equal to half the length of the longest nail or spike that
is proposed to be made by the machine. A strong connecting rod D unites the
said crank with one end of the moveable frames B, B, so that as the crank
revolves the said frame is compelled to slide backwards and forwards in an
horizontal direction upon the cross piece t, B, of the moveable frame; a
box or projection v, v, is cast or otherwise formed and fixed, for the purpose
of holding one of the side steels I by means of the 4 set screws shewn in the
Figure, by which it is not only held but adjusted to its proper position, and s
another similar side steel J is similarly held by such screws in a similar box
or projection that is cast or formed upon the moveable jaw G, which moves
horizontally on the arbor or pivot 2, and is always forced open by a spring
at W. The side steel J is therefore made to approach towards or recede from
the other marked I, for the purpose of holding the nail while heading, and s
being pressed to the desired shape. These side steels or claws, although
called steels, may be made of cast iron or other sufficiently hard metal, and
the opening and shutting of the jaw G once in each revolution of the crank is
brought about by the button H, which turns upon a center pin, and is made of

page_text: such a length than when it stands in the position shewn in Fig. 1 its head may
press against a piece of hard and polished steel 2, let into the extreme end of
the jaw, and which will shut. the side steels I, J, together, in a sufficient
degree to hold. the iron of which the nail is forming; but as the frame B; B,
is moved by the turning of the crank, the tail 3 of the button will: strike
alternately against the stops. T, T, placed upon the fixed frame, by which the
pressure will be released from the jaw, and it will open. The shutting to a
greater or less, dégrec, as required, may be produced by introducing dovetailed
steels like 2, of different degrees of thickness. The rod of iron.is.cut off to
proper lengths by two chisels K and L; the one marked K being stationary,
except as to any notion it has in common with the jaw. G, upon which it is
fixed by set screws, in a box or. projection formed upon. the said jaw, while the
other chisel 'L is moveable backwards and forwards, for the purpose of cutting
off the iron.This: latter, or moveable chisel, is also fixed and adjusted by set
screws working through the sides, of a box formed. or! cast upon the bent
lever y, which has its center of motion at 4; and the, protrusion: or with
drawing of the chisel is brought about by a pin in the end of the chisel box
working or sliding behind the iron curb or bar M; which is fixed at both its
ends to the fixed frame A, A, A; as the moving frame; B, B, is drawn forward
towards the crank, the chisel: pin will therefore, slide behind the.bar M, and
will open or. withdraw the chisel, but as the moving frame returns again. into
the position shewn, in the Figure a tail or projection from the back of the
lever y will strike against the, stop or inclined' plane upon the fixed. frame,
and thus the chisel L.will be forced. forward to cut off the nail, which it is
permitted to do by a crank or turning in the iron curb M, which allows the
chisel pin to be pushed forward at the moment when it is wanted. The piece
of iron or other metal intended to be formed into a nail being so cut off and
held between the side steels I, J, is headed by the header or heading punch N,
which slides in proper holes or carriages formed upon the moveable frame B, B.
This heading punch must be faced with hard-steel at its end where it comes
into contact with the nail, and must be there sunk to any form which it may
be desirable to give to the head of the nail. Its opposite end is formed into a
strong screw, which passes through one end of the heading lever O, which turns
on a centre pin at 5, and has a long tail or handle O, g, for gaining purchase:
The screwed end of the heading punch N has a strong nut on each side of the
lever O, by turning which, the thickness of the head of the.nail may be varied
at pleasure. The motion of the heading lever is derived from the projecting
inclined plane on its tail coming into contact with the projecting cam or
excentric, Pupon the crank shaft C. This forces the heading punch forward

page_text: to produce the head, and as soon as the cam P has passed, the heading lever
and punch are thrown back again into their former position by the spring at t;
a stop screw at a likewise limits the motion of the tail of the heading lever, and
thus assists in adjusting the thickness of the head of the nail. It now only
remains to be shown how the piece of iron so cut off and headed is tapered or
pointed and made into a nail, and this is effected by the following means :-A
rack containing six or more teeth or cogs, which project upwards, is cast,
formed, or firmly fixed upon one of the rails of the moving frame B, B,
as at R, and these teeth or cogs act into the teeth of a long toothed segment or
part of a circular head f, Fig. 3, which has its centre in the lino 6, 6; and 6, 6,
are also two pivots or gudgeons fixed the opposite sides of a strong frame of
metal 7, 7, which I call a roller; a similar frame or roller 8, 8, has similar
pivots or gudgeons 9, 9, opposite to each other, and a similar toothed arch or
segment f, f, having its center in the line 9, 9, but it is not so wide, and there-
fore only takes into the first segment f, but is quite free of the rack R. The
points or arbors 6, 6, turn in brass bearings s, s, and are confined in the same
by strong caps, and the pivots 9, 9, of the other frame or roller turn in similar
brass bearings with caps directly under those at S, S, or upon the under sido
of the two side rails of the fixed frame A, A, as will be more distinctly seen in
the side view of the machine, Fig. 2, where it will appear that the frame or
roller 7, 7, is above the sliding frame B, B, and the other roller 8, 8, is below it;
and as the pivots of both these rollers work upon the fixed or external frame, it
will be evident that whenever the sliding frame moves backwards or forwards
by the turning of the crank shaft C, that the two rollers 7 and 8 will also move,
because the rack R will be drawn under the toothed segment f into which it
takes, and that will in like manner communicate motion to the under roller
on account of its segment f, f, taking into the long upper segment f. In that
part of the concave side of each of the frames or rollers 7 and 8, which is over
or under the division of the sido steels or clams I, J, a box is cast or constructed
as at 10, 10, Fig. 3 and 4, for containing a steel swage, which has a shank
and a nearly circular head of a peculiar form, which is best seen in Fig. 4.
These swages are held in their proper places, and adjusted thereto by the set
screw shown in the said Figures, and which pass through the sides and ends of
such boxes, and press against the shanks of the said swages, by which they are
not only held tightly in their places, but can be adjusted in their positions with
the greatest nicety. These nearly circular faced swaged are for pressing the
nail, and tapering it or squeezing it to a point, and for this purpose the thick-
ness of the curved ends of such swages must be only equal to that of the nail
they have to form, and they work in between the two side steels I, J, and are

page_text: always in close contact with the fixed side steel J. The manner in which
they operate will be more distinctly seen at Fig. 4, which is a sectional view of
a pair of these swages, with their holding boxes, set or adjusting screws, the
heading punch, one of the side steels, and a nail, which has been cut off and
headed, and is in its proper place for being formed, tapered, or pointed; the two
curved swages revolve or move by the means herein-before described in the
direction of the two arrows marked upon them; consequently, if both their
curved surfaces 12, 13, were portions of circles struck from the centers 14, 14,
upon which they revolve, (being the centers of their respective gudgeons, it is
evident that the nail O would not be tapered or brought to a point, but would
continue of one uniform size. But the surfaces of the said swages are
excentric to their centre of motion, or of a longer radius at the parts 13, 13,
than at 12, 12; consequently, as they turn, their surfaces approach each other,
and become in close contact and concentric with their centers of motion during
the latter part of their revolution, and in this way will the nail be gradually
tapered and pointed, while it is carried forward between the said swages, and is
then discharged from between them, and the side steels or clams which are to
prevent the nail from spreading laterevally; but at the moment when it is ready
to be discharged the advance of the sliding frame will also cause the jaw G to
open, by which the nail will be completely disengaged. To make nails or spikes
by this machine it is therefore only necessary to have the bars or rods of iron
rolled or slit according to the proper size or guage for the nails to be made, and
to supply such rods or bars in a hot state at the feeding end of the machine by
applying them at the proper moment when the side steels open by the working
of the inachine pushing the said bars or rods home against the end of the
heading punch, when the said iron will be laid hold of, cut, and made into a
finished nail or spike at every revolution of the crank shaft; and, of course, as
fast as the nails drop out the rod or bar of iron must be applied to con-
tinue the operation; the side sheets or claws I, J, must in every case be
equal in length to the longest nail required to be made, but shorter nails may
bo made in long clams by altering the positions of the cutting chissels by
means of their set screws, as herein-before described. The manner of making
the jaw G open to a greater or less degree for nails of different sizes has also
been described, but each variety both in length and thickness of nail will
require swages of different thickness and corvature. But these are easily
taken out or put in and adjusted to their places by the set and adjusting
screws herein-before described.
Such are the general principles and particular construction of the machinery
I make use of for making nails, but of course the particular form of the

page_text: parts admits of great variety, and it is not the particular form of the
parts above described which. I claim as the aforesaid improvements in
making nails, but the principles and combination of machinery by which
_ this process is brought about, and particularly the-application of the two
side steels with the curved swages working between them from the con-
cave or hollow sides of the frames that support them; likewise the
manner in which motion is communicated to those frames and swages
by the reciprocating motion of the sliding frame and its toothed rack;
likewise the manner in which the heading punch is brought down upon the
end of the iron to produce the head by means of a lever moved as above
described, or in any other manner, for I do not confine myself to that
particular means of producing the motion, since it may be brought about in
various ways: thus, for example, the heading punch may be pushed forward in
a direct line by a snail or excentric cam or wiper upon the crank shaft
without the intervention of a lever at all, or such an excentric cam or wiper
may be put upon the said shaft to act upon a lever by variation of the radius
of the said shaft instead of by operating laterally upon the said lever as in
Fig. 1. Thus Fig. 5 shows such an application, which I consider an
improvement upon that already.described, in which C is a transverse section
of the main or crank shaft, and P an excentric wiper or cam upon it, which
now operates to raise and lower the lever O, having its centre of motion in 5,
instead of pushing it laterally as before described. The arrangement and
fixing of the heading punch is likewise different to that which has been before
described, for in this way two distinct but parallel levers O, O, are made use of,
as shewn in end view by Fig. 6 and in plan by Fig. 7, both raised by the same
cam upon the crank shaft; but one lever drives the heading punch only, and
the other works the carriage or framing in which it is fixed, for the purpose of
allowing more or less iron to be put into the head of the nail. In Figs. 5 and
7, is the point of the heading punch, which comes into contact with the bead
of the nail to form it, and the heading punch itself is shewn by dotted lines
at N, N. It is thrown forwards by a steel, or other sufficiently herd inclined
or wedge-shaped head i, which is pressed forwards by another inclined plane
or wedge attached to a convenient. part of the lever 0, 0¹, as best seen in
Fig. 5; the raising of the tail of the lever O. by the cam P will therefore force
the heading punch forwards, and as the lever falls again the said punch 'may.
be driven back again .by a spring, or.in any other convenient manner. The
second lever O¹ operates only on the case or bed of the said heading punch,
and as the said two levers O and O' are not of the same length, and may be
varied in length at pleasure,. while they are both lifted by the same cam or

page_text: excentric, one will rise before tho other, and thus the punch may be kept
back or pushed forward so as to allow a greater or less portion of iron to be
introduced between the side steels for making a thicker or thinner head to the
nail. The connection between the lever O, O', and the bed or box of the
heading punch is maintained by the swivel bar r, s, Fig. 7, which is hung
upon two pivots, one of which is attached to the lever as at S, and the other to
the said carriage atr, and the adjustment of the length of this bar is regulated
by a screw at m. The said carriage is moveable by slots, or chased mortices,
and screw bolts, as at n, n, to the moveable frame B, B, before mentioned.
This frame is brought backwards by its end l, Figs. 5 and 7, coming into
contact with a projecting part of the lever O as it rises. These last Figures
refer only to a modification or alteration of the machine herein-before described
and shown in the Drawing in colours, which is the combination of machinery
constituting the improvements in the making of nails, which are completely
cut off from the bar and finished before they leave the machine, being, during
the same time of their formation, held between four surfaces, which gives them
a square and perfect shape, and constitutes a principal part of my Invention.
Figs. 5, 6, and 7, refer merely to the formation of the head without altering
any of the other processes and are introduced for the purpose of showing that
other means of motion than those first described may be resorted for altering
the size and thickness of the heads of nails without departing from the
principles of my machine.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Hancorne, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine.
Inrolled the Sixteenth day of April in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine.