AND EXPIDITIOUS METHODS OR MACHINES FOR MAKING NAILS, BOLTS, RODS, WATCH SPRINGS, CLOCK SPRINGS, AND METAL PLATES
Year: 1801

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Jony
BENNOCH, late of the Parish of Sanquhar, in the County of Dumfries, in North
Britain, but now of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty did, by His Letters Patent under the
Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing
date the Seventeenth day of February last past, give and grant unto me, the
said John Bennoch, His especial licence that I, the said John Bennoch,
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my "NEW AND EXPIDITIOUS METHODS OR MACHINES FOR MAKING NAILS,
BOLTS, RODS, WATCH SPRINGS, CLOCK SPRINGS, AND METAL PLATES;" in which
said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said John
Bennoch, under my hand and seal, to cause a particular 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 after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same may more fully appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Bennoch, do, by this instrument under my hand and seal, particularly
explain and describe the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in

page_text: which the same is to be performed, by the Drawings, references, explanations
and descriptions herein contained and set forth, that is to say:-
Figure 1. A and B, two iron or steel rollers; C, C, the bosses or collars
made solid; D, D, two iron or steel bosses or collars, they may be made of
either, according to what they have to do, but I have preferred having them
made of steel and hardened or tempered, and a round hole to be previously
made in the middle and turned in a lathe, exactly to fit on the rollers and to
the faces of the bosses or collars C, C; E, E, E, three screws in each of them
at equal distances, which go through the bosses or collars C, C, and screw nuts
D, D, which keeps C, C, fast; they may be made of a piece with the rollers,
and in that way will not require the screws, but when made seperate are easily
taken off and repaired or replaced by others. F, F, two grooves cut to the
width that the nails, bolts, rods, watch springs, clock springs, and metal plates
are wished to be made; the depth of the grooves to be regulated according to
the thickness of the article to be made, and should be always as much deeper
than the thickness of the article to be made, so as to allow a sufficient bearing
to the sides of the grooves against the ends of the bosses or collars at **,
when forced together by the cramp as in Figure 14, so that by having the
grooves turned to a 1readth and depth suitable for the article wanted, and the
rollers brought near enough each other, by the common methods practised in
rolling metals, to make the space betwixt the bottoms of the grooves the same
as the thickness of the article wanted, and the metal to be formed, being pre-
viously brought near the size and form by running it through any kind of
rollers or otherwise, and being brought into a proper state for rolling by
heating or otherwise, the guides being placed as described, Figures 3 and 4,
and the end introduced betwixt the rollers, which being turned the piece will
come out at the other side of the same shape or form that the groove is cut
or turned, such as flat, square, round, half-round, oval-pointed, notched, or any
other form that may be wished; and by the cramp being screwed tolerable tight
against the centre K, K, forces the ends of the bosses D, D, so close that the
metal is confined every way. After I have the outsides of D, D, and the
bottom of the grooves F, F, turned-exactly-to-the-same size and diameter in
each roller, which may be various sizes, according to the thickness and length
of the nails, &c., and the number to be made in one revolution of the rollers,
I have them cut out for nails or anything that requires a flat point, in the
manner as shewn by the section of the bottom of the grooves A, A, Figure 2,
but do not confine myself to three nails in a revolution as is there represented,
as there may be a greater or less number, according to the length of the nails
and the diameter of the bottom of the grooves F, F. G, G, two toothed

page_text: pinions or wheels to work into each other, of equal size and number of teeth
to make the rollers turn at the same rate; the pinion or wheel on A is put on
a round, up to a shoulder, and made fast by a forelock on the outside, so that
before it is made fast it may be turned round, so as to bring the places that
form the point of the nails to meet exactly. I, a square on which is put
a toothed. wheel, as represented and described, Figures 14, 15, and 16.
Figure 3, the guide to guide the rods, &c. into the grooves, F; F, Figure 1:
A, A, the chaps to keep the hole B (the other end of which is put in the rod or
bar, &c., is at D) opposite to the grooves F, F, Figure 1, between the rollers;
the hole to be of different sizes, according to the grooves C, a screw to raise or
lower it by two nutts at pleasure to the height required. Figure 4, another
guide to guide the nails, &c. from the grooves F, F, which must likewise be
proportioned to them and the article to be made. D, the chaps to fit into the
grooves, the points of which is opened so as nearly to touch their bottom:
A, A, two screws with nuts to raise or lower it, as Figure 3; B, a piece with
the sloats C to receive the bottom of the cutters, Figure 5, and keep them.
steady. Figure 5, the cutters for cutting or forming the points of the nails.
A, A, and B, B, I call the cutter slides, which slide on each other's edges
through the holes in the pieces C and D; C being made fast to the slide B;
and D to the slide A; E, F, two pieces of steel tempered; the cutting parts
G, HI, made in such a form as the point of the nail is wished to be, and the
edges so as just to pass each other; I, a piece to strike the trigger O, described
Figure 7; in the view there is an opening betwixt the cutting edges 'G,' H,
for the nails, &c. to go through; but when the slide B is forced in the direction
, and A in the contrary direction, forces the edges G, H, past each other;
and cuts whatever may be betwixt them. Figures 6 and 7, I call the carriers;
which take the nails from the cutters to the clams for heading, described
Figure 10; Figure 6 is a view of one side, and Figure 7 of the other, A, A;
a plate, to which is attached the curved piece B, with which the pieces 'C, C;
form a joint at N; D, D, a hole in the plate, the sides of which describe part of
of a circle from N; there are also two pieces rivetted to the pieces C; C; about
the same thickness as the plate A, the sides of which are circular, so as to
move in the hole D, D, when the pieces C, C, are opened or shut, which pieces
meet in the middle at an angle of about forty-five degrees; as seen through
the hole R, in plate Q, Q, Figure 7; which two pieces, when C, C; is opened,
recede from each other to such a distance as to allow the nails to go through
the hole R without touching them. Q, Q. Figure 7, a plate rivited or
screwed to the plate A, with the levelled hole R, the further part of which
is large enough to allow the nails to go through. E, a spring, the other

page_text: end of which is made fast near the joint L, on the left-hand side, the
part of which that is dark-shaded being thick, forms a catch at each end,
which, when the piece C, C, is opened far enough, falls-in and keeps them so ;
G is a helical spring, hooked on a hook at each end, which is fastened to C, C,
so that the middle of the helical spring does not touch them; H, H, a piece
of brass or other metal screwed or rivited to the plate A, A, with the angular
hole I through it and the plate A, A; the piece H, H, of a sufficient thickness
that it may slide easily on the polished bar of the same form as the hole, see
A, A, Figure 8; K, a piece with the hole F screwed or rivited to the
plate A, A, made wide at the further side and gradually contracting until it is
just wide enough for the nails to go through so as to keep them steady, that
they may go straight into the clams; L, L, L, three joints in the piece N.
S, Figure 7, a piece screwed or rivited to the plate A, A, to which the trigger
O is attached by the joint T. The lower end of the trigger O, represented by
P, has the end bent towards the spring E, Figure 6, so that when C, C, is
open, pressing O down, presses the end of P against the thick part of the spring
E, and throws the catches out, so that the helical spring G brings C, C,
together. Figure 8, A, the angular bar on which the carriers slide is rivited
into the piece B. C, C. two sloats for two forclocks to be in the inside of the
sides of the machine; D, D, two screws, with nuts to screw tight against the
outsides, by which means it may be placed exactly in the position wished for.
Figure 9, I call the openers; K, a plate on which the openers work; A, the
end of one of the two pieces, formed almost like a pair of nippers, the chaps
of which G is bent sideways, and of a size when shut so as to get easily
betwixt the pieces C, C, Figures 6 and 7; the joint is at B, so that when A is
forced in the direction >>, the piece I forces the end of the beam or lever
C in the same direction, which moves on the pin E, makes the other end D
force the piece I in a contrary direction, which joining to the other piece, like
the nippers at F, makes the chaps recede equally from the center at G, as
represented by the dotted lines; Figure 10, the clams, as fixed in the frame by
the two pins V, V, and going through their ends R, R, in the sloat T, and
quite through the flame. The space W, betwixt the clams, should be wide
enough to receive the head of Figure 12. -is-two-pieces of steel, dove-
tailed into the clams, and tapered the smallest part next to the eye, so that
when the head is pressed on they may not give way, which is made more
secure by leaving a shoulder of about one-eighth of an inch thick to rest on the
faces Y, which, when the frame is placed level, should be perpendicular. The
faces of the pieces X, X, which meet when the clams are shut, are made to
meet very close, and there is a place cut in each of them, as seen at the end

page_text: of the dotted lines from X, X, thus ◇, which holds the nails for heading, so that
by having a number of the above pieces to fit the dovetails, with places cut for
different sized nails, they are easily changed for the size wanted. The shape
or form of the head being cut out, and the die D, Figure 12, made so as to fit
into it, will make them all exactly alike, and of any form that ever was made,
by having dove-tails and dies of the form. The part V, V, is bent so as to
allow the under side to go over the heading roller, but not to touch it; they are
made thicker on the outsides, as is seen at D, D, which keeps their thickness
to E, E, from which they form two inclined, planes, the lowest parts of which
are at G, G, so that when the clams are opened enough to let the nails fall out
after healing the insides of the closers F, F, Figure 11, will just miss the
outsides of the clams at G, G, which should have them shut fast when F, F,
Figure 11, get to E, E, and hold them so until they get past D, D. H, H, two
holts, on which is hooked two chains, with a screw in the middle, to shorten or
lengthen them; the other ends being made fast below the machine, to keep
the clams from rising up. I, a hole to screw the frame to the bottom of the
machine; there is another on the other side, the same which is hid by the
clams. K, K, two places for supports to go against two projections on the
insides of the sides of the machine, and brought nearer or further from
the heading roller by a screw going through cach projection against the frame,
or by having pieces of different sizes to go betwixt them. There is also a hole
through the bottom of the frame for the nails to drop through. Figure 11, [
call the heading roller; F, F, the closers, which, as the roller turns round,
closes the clams; G, the head presser, which presses the header with the die
against the end of the dove-tail, Figure 10, to form the head; D, the square
for the fly-wheel; E, a toothed wheel which acts on that on the roller A,
Figure One; C, a tapet which works the openers. Figure 12, I call tho
header; A, a perpendicular piece suspended by the centers in the cross piece;
B, B, has a sloat for the top of A to go through, and is niade fast at any height
by the screw C; D, the die, let into a square hole in A, that it may be easily
taken out and replaced by another of a different size or form, if wanted; E,
the side which the head presser G, Figure 11, comes against; F, a sloat
through which the carriers are worked. Figure 13 is a representation of the
face of a boss or collar for making sharp-pointed nails, &c.; the bosses or collars
being done the same as for flat points; they are then cut out or otherwise
brought to the form represented from A to B, being the length of the nails; A
the head end and B the point, the sides of the grooves being taken out deepest
at. A, and gradually less to B; and the sides of the bosses or collars from C to
1 is the reverse, so that when another of the same as this is placed as directed,
-

page_text: Figures 1 and 2, the sides of the grooves A, B, will fit the faces of the bosses
or collars C, D, of the other, and vice versa. The head or large end always
comes first from the rollers, as represented by
Figure 2, and any
number may be made in a revolutoin of the rollers of the sharp points, as is
stated of the flat points. Figure 14, a corner view of the machine; Figure 15 a
side view, and Figure 16 an end view of it. The cramp is only represented in the
corner view, as one view is sufficient to shew its use, and in the other views it
would have hid some of the parts. In the side view, part of the wheels are left
out, to shew how the openers are worked. 1, 1, the rollers; 2, 2, the sides of
the machine; 3, the guide into the rollers; 4, 4, the ends of the guide from
the rollers; 5, 6, the cutter slides; 7, the carriers; 8, the piece in which the
angular bar is fixed; 9, the openers; 10, 10, the clams; 11, the heading
roller; 12, the head and die; 13, 13, the cramp; 14, the screw to tighten it,
a center point being at the other end, into the center of the other roller; 15,
the double motion which moves on the pius C, C, C, having the joints
D, D, D, D, so that by lifting the end A up, B, E, approach each other; 16,
the fly wheel, which, by being turned in the direction by any power
sufficient, puts the whole in motion; 17, I call the alternates, which swivel on
the pin at 16; F, G, two pieces, the other end II being connected by two
chains to the beam I, so that moving the end F in the direction the fly-
wheel turns, the other end H pulls the end of the beam I, which makes G
move in a contrary direction; and then by moving G in the direction of the fly,
the other end of the beam pulls F in a contrary direction, and so on alternately;
K, a piece with a joint at L at one end, and the helical spring M at the
other; on the under side is the catches O, which, when the end of the
alternate G is brought far enough in the direction of the fly, the end of
the catch next the spring falls in. and keeps G from rebounding, and when
taken far enough in the other direction, the catch next the joint falls on
the other side, and keeps it from rebounding the other way. N, a piece with an
inclined-edge made fast to K; P, a toothed wheel into which the toothed wheel
Qon the heading roller works, which, if the heading roller heads only one nail
in a revolution P, must have so many times the number of teeth of Q as there
are nails made in a revolution of the rollers; for instance, suppose the number
of teeth in the wheel Q fifteen for three nails in a revolution of the rollers, the
wheel P would require to have forty-five fine teeth; for four nails in a revolution,
sixty, and so on in proportion; but if the heading roller head more than one
in a revolution, which may be done by having it larger and having two closers;
a header a tapet for- the double motion, a tapet for the openers, and two
tapets for the alternates at proper distances on the fly-wheel and roller for cach

page_text: nail to be headed in one revolution of the heading roller, in which case the
number of teeth must be proportioned, so that if the rollers make three nails,
and the heading rollers head two in a revolution, the teeth.of the wheel P
must be to that of Q as forty-five to thirty, and so on 'in proportion. The
guide into the rollers 3, and the nail guide 4, 4, being placed in the grooves
with the center of their holes in the middle betwixt the bottoms of the grooves,
the angular bar being placed so that the bevelled hole R, Figure 7, when the
carriers slide on the bar, may more in a right line between the hole in the nail
guide and the places cut in the clams to take hold of the nail for heading the
openers 9, being then placed so that C, C, Figure 7, may go on each side of
the chaps of the openers when they are close, the cutters being likewise placed
that the opening betwixt the edges is on the same line as R, Figure 7, and
at such a length from the pins R, R, that when they cut they may not
bend the points of the nails; the head die so as to fit the place in the dove-
tails, Figure 10, which is done by the binding screw and center points at the
top, and the moveable piece s, on which the bottom end slides so as to keep it
steady. The closers, as described, Figures 10 and 11, and the clams so fixed
that the head presser C, Figure 10, may press the header sufficiently to form
the head and the chains T, T, that the end of them cannot rise up. The two
prominent parts of the grooves of the rollers being brought together, as in
Figure 2, by the means described, Figure 1, the rod will then go close up to
where the head end is formed, if of a proper size, to allow of which more easily it
may be a little smaller at the end; then turn the fly wheel; and the rod will be
drawn in by the rollers, which should not be so close forced together as to quite
seperate the points of the nails from the head ends, but so as to make the
points fine enough when cut off; the next nail will push that before it forward:
The carriers being close up to the cutters, it will go through the guide from
the rollers between the edges of the cutters, and enter the guide from the
rollers between the edges of the cutters, and enter the bevelled hole R, Figure 7.
The carriers being open, it will go through between the pieces that meet at
an angle of about forty-five degrees, and through the hole F, Figure 6, and
when the point comes exactly betwixt the edges of the cutters, the tapet 'U;
on the outside of the fly-wheel, should be placed so as to strike the lever V,
which being raised or lowered by the screw W, which has a joint with the
lever at X, makes the tapet strike harder or easier as required, which, by:
the lever V lifting up the end A, forces the slide 5 down and 6 up, so that
the edges cuts and forms the point, which, for flat points, is half round, or what
ever form the point is wished; and as soon as U is passed the point of V,
the spring q brings them back; at the same time the piece. I, Figure 5,

page_text: strikes on the trigger O, Figure 7, so that the catches in the spring F, Figure
7, being thrown out, the two pieces that meet at an angle of forty-five degrees
being brought together tolerably smart by the spring G, Figures 6 and 7, turns
the nail from this to this direction, which makes the angles correspond
with the angles in the places in the clams that hold it for heading; the tapet
Y being placed on the circular piece a, a, screwed to the arm of the fly and
made fast by a binding screw, so that at the instant the cutters have cut the
upper part of it 6 by coming under N, lifts it up and forces the alternate F of
the catch O, and takes the end of the alternate G along with it; and being con-
nected at the other end with F, it moves in a contrary direction, as before
explained'; the end of F being likewise connected to the carriers by the piece d
at e, which works in the centers at f. f, brings the carriers with the nail in them
to the clams, which, when it is far enough, the catch O falls in, and the tapet
is clear of the end of G, the closers being by that come to the inclined planes
G, G, Figure 11, of the clams closes them, and takes fast hold of the nail; when
the closers get to E, E, Figure 10, the head presser-presses the header with
the die against the head of the nail, so as to form the head; at the same time
that the presser is pressing on the head, the tapet g lifts the piece h, which
being connected with, lifts the ends of the openers A, Figure 9; the chaps at g,
Figure 9, being between the two pieces C, C, Figures 6 and 7, of the carriers,
opens them, so as to let the spring F, Figure 6, fall in so as to keep them open;
and the tapety quits the piece h, and the openers are shut by their spring. The
carriers being thus clear of the nail and the openers, the tapet is placed so
that it has freed F of the catch O by lifting up N with its upper part c, takes
Falong with it, which pushes the carriers by the picce d, and to the cutters, by
which time another nail is half through the nail guide; and when the carriers
go towards the cutters the head end enters the hole R, Figure 7, which being
bevelled makes it enter more certain. By this time the head is formed by the
dic, and the closers have got past D, D, Figure 10, when the springs m, m;
throws the clams open, and the nail falls down through a hole for that purpose
in the bottom of the machine; the header is brought back by the spring n:
which motions will be continued and be exactly in time, as the nails be all of a
length in one groove as long as wished for, or as long as the rod lasts; but
the above is calculated for three nails in a revolution of the rollers, and
to head one in a revolution of the heading roller; if there is more, the catches
and tapets must be in proportion, as already stated; there may also be more
grooves than one in one pair of rollers, and inay be either for the same, or two
or more different articles, by having two or more bosses and grooves in each of
them, so that the cramp may make them all close at the same time, by which

page_text: means, and by having the rollers, long nails, bolts, rods, watch springs, clock
springs, and metal plates of any description may be made at the same time,
r, y, a, the apparatus for throwing the lever V so that the tapet U shall not
strike it after the rod is done; r is a piece with a joint at one end to z, and a
joint at the other end f, to which is attached the cranked piece t, which
slides easily in the two pieces on each side of u; the piece y slides in the same
manner in two pieces of the same kind, so that while the rod is in the guide,
the end of t passes the end of y at a, and keeps the lever V so that the tapet U
cannot miss it; but as soon as the last of the rod passes the piece r, it falls.
down, there being a piece cut in z to let
end of t falling below it at r, the spring
cannot strike it. I have not been particular with respect to the frame, as that
will be understood by the Drawing by any person who understands mechanics,
and may be varied as circumstances may require; but I have had the frame
and wheels of cast iron, the other parts of brass, wrought iron, or of steel,
hardened or tempered according to what it has to do, which will readily occur
to any good workman. The scale of the Drawing, Figure 14, is nearly two
inches to a foot of the machine, more or less, and is calculated to make three
nails in a revolution of the rollers, and make nails of about three inches long.
it, and y being at liberty by the
brings it round so that the tapet
N.B. The nails, bolts, rods, watch springs, clock springs, and metal plates
may be made by it of any metal, or composition of metals, that is malleable and
fit for making the different articles enumerated above, and of any form and for
any purpose they ever have been used for.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Bennoch, have hereunto set my.
hand and seal, this Tenth day of August, One thousand eight hundred