Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application,-7th July,-1887–
Complete Left, 7th Apr., 1888
Complete Accepted, 11th May, 1888
I EDWIN STANLEY CLARK of Poullwyn, Wrexham, North Wales, Mining and Civil-
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is the construction of an improved shearing machine
whereby nail blanks for horse-shoe and other similar nails may be cut from the bar
with absolute certainty in a neater manner and with less waste than as hitherto
stamped or cut.
In performing my invention I employ a pair of shears, the upper blade of which is
operated by a cam or its equivalent and in order to properly support the blank as it is
being cut I employ a strong spring which so operates and acts as a support in front
of the stationary blade as to give the necessary sharpness and cleanness of cut to
the blank.
In action this spring rises to the same height as the top or cutting edge of the
stationary blade and is depressed with the blank as it is cut off. The cutting edge of
the shears are so formed as to cut the blank to the necessary bevil to form one side of
the nail at one operation-then by reversing the bar I secure the cutting of the other
side of the nail at a corresponding bevil at the next operation and so on successively
until the whole bar is cut into nail blanks.

page_text: Improvements in and Machinery for the manufacture or Nails,
I EDWIN STANLEY CLARK of Penllwyn Wrexham, North Wales, Mining and Civil
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my said invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
The object of this invention is the construction of an improved shearing machine
whereby nail blanks for horse-shoe and other similar nails may be cut from the bar
with absolute certainty in a neater manner and with less waste than as hitherto
stamped or eut.
In performing my invention I employ bars of iron or steel rolled to the section
required to produce certain sizes of finished nails-this bar is fed by hand or
automatically to a pair of shears the upper blade of which is operated by a cam or
its equivalent and in order to properly support the blank as it is being cut I employ
a strong spring which so operates and acts as a support in front of the stationary blade
as to hold the nail blank square to face of cutting edges and so to give the necessary
sharpness and cleanness of cut to such blank.
The cutting edges of the shears are so formed as to cut the blank to the necessary
bevil to form one side of the nail at one operation-then by reversing the bar I secure
the cutting of the other side of the nail at a corresponding bevil at the next operation
and so on successively until the whole bar is cut into nail blanks.
And in order that this my said invention may be the more readily understood and
carried into practical effect I have hereunto annexed a drawing illustrative of my
improved nail cutting process and of my improved nail blank shearing mechanism
employed therein and will now proceed to describe the same with the assistance of the
various Figures and letters of reference marked thereon. Fig. 1 is a front view and
Fig. 2 a plan view of my improved nail blank shearing machine Fig. 3 represents a
full sized front view of the cutting knives shewn separately. Fig. 1 represents a
section of the iron or steel bar from which my improved horse shoe nail blanks are
cut and Fig. 5 is a diagram or plan view of the same bar shewing how such bar by
being reversed at each cut beneath the shearing blade is so cut up into nail blanks in
accordance with my invention.
In all the views a is the foundation plate of the machine in which in suitable
bearings is mounted a fly wheel on driving shaft 6 capable of being driven by steam,
water or other motive power. This foundation plate also carries a pivot or fulcrum c
upon which the shearing plate lever c¹ is mounted and which lever has the necessary
vibrating or up and down motion imparted to it by its front extremity being passed
beneath the eccentric or cam d affixed upon the driving shaft and there held in contact
with such cam by means of a strong spring blade e upon the outer face of this
lever c¹ is a frame or casing fin which the vertical shearing blade g is secured and
adjusted by means of the set screws f'. The horizontal cutting plate or die h is laid
flat in the recess h³ formed in the foundation plate a and is also firmly secured by set

page_text: screws these two cutting surfaces g and h are illustrated separately and full size in
Fig. 3 and are peculiarly shaped the vertical blade g being cut to an angle of about 5° or
thereabouts whilst the horizontal stationary plate has two depressions formed in
its upper surface one circular and designed to cut the point of the nail blank and the
other angular and horizontal-this last named depression being always made to suit
the special size and section of nail to be produced. Below the last named depression
the point of the spring blade is fixed and so serves as a support to hold the nail
square to the face of the cutting surfaces as it is being cut. is a lever designed to
remove the nail from off the spring i after each successive cut and allow the same to
fall into a receptacle placed beneath the machine, this lever being lifted by a disc
cam k upon the driving shaft b.
The action of the shearing machine may be described as follows. The bar of iron
or steel to be cut into nail blanks is placed in position upon the horizontal cutting
plate being regulated in its distance from the front or cutting edge thereof by
means of a suspended guage rod / capable of adjustment by means of the set screw m.
It will now be apparent that as the eccentric cam d revolves it will cause the lever c¹
and vertical cutting blade g to be depressed so shearing off the end of the bar to the
desired thickness and angle to form one side of a nail the bar is then withdrawn and
reversed beneath the cutting blade g when the same operation being repeated the nail
blank falls complete into the receptacle placed below.
It will thus be observed that I am enabled by means of my improved process and
shearing machine to produce a perfect nail blank from cold iron or steel instead of
forging or punching the cold iron or steel as hereinbefore and that my said improve-
ments further enable me to utilize to the utmost extent all the nail iron operated upon
to obtain an increased yield from a given quantity of iron or steel and also to effect a
considerable saving in the time of manufacture. Although only hereinbefore described
as applied to horse shoe blanks it will be apparent that my improvements are equally
applicable to other descriptions of nails capable of being sheared the blade and cutting
plate being modified accordingly.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of this my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1st. The improved process of and machinery for producing horse shoe or other nail
blanks substantially as herein before described.
2nd. The improved combination and arrangement of shearing mechanism for the
manufacture of nail blanks substantially as and for the purposes herein before described
and illustrated on the accompanying drawings.
ärd. In the manufacture of horse shoe or other nail blanks the employment of a
shearing blade working against a stationary cutting plate and in combination with a
supporting spring when mounted and operating substantially as and for the purposes
hereinbefore described and illustrated on the accompanying drawing.
Th: Cal S Amil 1000
JOHN G. WILSON,
Agent for the Applicant.