Improvements in or in connection with Tacking-machines.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Feb., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Nov., 1890-Accepted, 14th Feb., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or in connection with Tacking-machines.
I, WILLIAM WILSON HORN, of the firm of Horn & Son, of 151, Strand, London,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention (a communication to me from abroad by Henry Wellington Dean, of
Norristown, County of Montgomery and State of Pennsylvania, United States of
America, Inventor), to be as follows:-
My invention is directed firstly to an improved machine for tacking in the
operation of lasting shoes, and in which a universally-moveable suspended tack-
driving head has its driver operated by compressed air. In such machine my
improvements are directed to provisions for producing a better organization of the
working parts of the machine, to facilitate the operation, and to give better and
more satisfactory results in the work.
My improvements are also directed to provisions whereby the universally-moveable
tack-driving head is suspended in spring-balanced relation to the last, and thereby
rendered more easy and convenient in handling while tacking around the edge of
the upper. This provision also relieves from all strain the flexible tubes which
connect the tack-driving head with the source of power, being understood that
these flexible tubes serve to convey the power from the accumulator to the
tack-driver, to convey the tacks to said driver, and to exhaust the air from the
driver-passage in front of the tack by the operation of the pneumatic power.
My improvements include an improved construction of the tack feeding and
delivering devices, an improved construction of device for preventing the clogging
of the tack-feeding raceway, an improved construction of the tack-containing
hopper, an improved construction of the universally-moveable tack-driving head,
including the tack-detent, tack-feeding passage, tack-driver passage, and air-
exhausting passage, and the valve by which the compressed air to operate the
driver is controlled.
I have made improvements in the organization of the complete machine, in its
construction, and in its various devices and combinations of devices, whereby the
functions separate and distinct and co-operative, are rendered effective for
satisfactory work.
The operating parts of the machine are supported in a suitable frame composed
of a base-frame, a standard and a swivelled head-frame mounted upon the latter.
The base-frame part supports a cylinder which contains air under compression for
operating the tack-driver, an air-pump for supplying air to the reservoir-cylinder,
operating gear for said air pump, the driving band-wheel and the standard. The
swivelling head frame supports and carries a revolving tack-containing hopper and
the tack-feeding and delivering devices. The swivelling head overhangs the
standard and carries a universally-movable suspended tack-driving head, which is
controlled in the hands of the operator in the operation of lasting a shoe, which may
be supported in a suitable lasting-machine, or upon an ordinary jack suitably
supported.
The head supporting standard is composed of two tubular parts, one of which is
fixed to the top plate of the bed-frame and contains the inner telescoping tubular
part upon which the head-frame is mounted and supported with freedom to be
swivelled thereon by means of a tubular cylindrical bearing projecting downward
from the under side of the head-frame. This swivelling capacity of the head-frame
permits the operator to turn it in the position he may desire in handling the
suspended tack-driving head. The telescoping of the standard permits of the vertical
adjustment of the swivelling head-frame to bring the nipple of the tack-driving

page_text: head in the desired relation to the bottom of the shoe being lasted, and when
such adjustment is effected it is maintained by the clamp-screw in the upper end of
the fixed standard part. The air-pump is connected to the air-reservoir by a pipe,
and also has a suction-tube to be presently explained, while the compressed air
reservoir has an outlet-tube, hereafter explained, and is also provided with a safety-
valve and a gauge.
I provide for operating the tack-containing hopper from the shaft of the band-
wheel by means of a sprocket pinion, from which a chain leads to a similar sprocket
pinion on a short shaft mounted in the upper part of the base-frame, and which
carries also a bevel-pinion, which engages with a bevel-pinion splined on the lower
end of a shaft which passes up through the standard and carries on its upper end a
bevel-pinion which engages with a bevel-gear rim fixed on the outer closed side of
the tack-containing hopper. In this construction the shaft is suspended within the
extensible standard by the hub resting on the upper side of the swivelling head-
frame, while the lower end of this shaft extends a short distance below the pinion
splined on its lower end to allow for the vertical adjustment of the swivelling head,
for a purpose hereinafter stated.
The tack-containing hopper consists of a cylindrical hollow shell mounted by a
short shaft in a standard bearing, rising from the head-frame at its swivelling end,
and is formed on its inner side with an open central hollow truncated conical pro-
jection into the open truncated end of which the upper end of the inclined tack-
feeding raceway extends. The inner cylindrical wall of the hopper is provided
with a series of pockets which, as it revolves, fill and carry up tacks from a
quantity which the shell always contains in its lower side, and drop them upon a
trough-shaped incline which is supported by a bracket fixed to the head-frame, so
as to stand within the conical projection of the hopper. The tacks are delivered
from the trough upon the upper end of the inclined tack-feeding raceway, within
which they adjust themselves so as to hang by their heads within the raceway.
The tack-feeding raceway is preferably composed of a bar, which extends from
the hopper downward at an angle of about thirty degrees and terminates at the
end of the head-frame just over the tack-feeding tube. A groove is made in the
upper side of this bar, which is open at both ends, is deeper than the length of
the tack, and is made widest at its upper part to suit the heads of the tacks. The
upper edges of the tack-feeding raceway are bevelled crosswise downwardly at
each side, so that the head of the tack will rest and slide down the edges, and thus
render the descent perfectly free. This raceway-bar is seated upon an elevated bed
part of the head-frame, with its upper end extended into the hopper, so that the
tacks, falling in quantities down upon it, will be caught, more or less, within the
groove, so that the latter will be kept filled with the tacks, which will slide down
as stated, and be taken therefrom one by one by means of a let-off slide, and be
delivered into the tack-feeding tube.
A plate covers the tackway and is held in place by a spring-arm, bearing upon
it and pivoted to the bar, so as to be swung to one side when it is required to remove
the cover-plate to examine the tackway. The upper end of the cover-plate is
reduced in width, and so is the upper part of the raceway-bar, and the raised parts
that form the wide groove, and on which the cover-plate rests, terminate beneath
the upper end of the cover-plate, and the latter at this end forms a stop over said
groove, against which end of the plate a clogging tack will lodge and be displaced.
The lower end of the raceway-bar terminates in a swelled extension having a vertical
opening into which the tack-feeding groove terminates, and the lower end of the
cover-strip is formed into a tongue which extends into this opening, so as to cover
the groove down to a point just above the let-off slide leaving the vertical opening
open at its top, where it is so formed as to receive and form a seat for the lower
end of the device for injecting air into the tack-feeding tube.
The tack-feeding-raceway bar is held securely upon its seat on the frame-head
by means of a clamp, which consists of two angle-jaws one placed on each side of
the head-frame seat part, their lower L-shaped ends extending under a rib of the
jazo

page_text: said seat, and their upper ends bevelled and extending over and fitting upon
correspondingly-bevelled recesses in the projecting sides or flanges of the raceway-
bar. A screw passing horizontally through the vertical arms of the clamp and
through the base of the said raceway-bar, serves, by means of the lock-nuts to clamp
the said raceway-bar hard upon its seat and allow for removing it when required.
As the tacks are dropped in quantities from the hopper-buckets and from the
fixed inclined trough upon the upper end of the tack-feeding-raceway bar, one or
more are liable to become lodged upon the edges or set improperly within the
raceway-groove, or to be caught by its head raised against the end of the
cover-plate, and thereby prevent the proper feeding of the tacks down the raceway-
groove.
Just above the upper end of the raceway-bar is mounted a revolving knocking-
off device which consists of radial arms slotted at their lower ends and adapted
to revolve over in line with the tack-feeding way, so that the slotted arms will
straddle the end of the cover-plate, and in revolving over it wipe or knock off a
tack or tacks which may have lodged against it, and throw them back into the
hopper. This revolving winged wiper or knocker is mounted upon the end of a
horizontal shaft which is mounted in suitable standards of a supporting frame
adjustably connected by means of an arm to the head-frame by a bracket-bearing,
through an opening in which the screw-threaded end of said frame-arm passes, and
is therein and thereto firmly clamped by means of two sleeve-screws having thumb
or milled heads and placed upon the screw-threaded end of said frame, one on each
side of said supporting-bracket. A bevel-pinion on the opposite end of the wiper-
shaft engages with a bevel-pinion on a counter-shaft supported upon said adjustable
frame by separate standards parallel with the periphery of the revolving tack-
containing hopper, and carrying on its other end a friction-wheel which is maintained
in contact with the circumference of said revolving hopper with sufficient pressure
to cause the rotation of the winged wiper by the rotation of said hopper. It is
to maintain such proper pressure upon the friction-wheel that I provide for adjusting
the frame which supports the connecting-shafts so as to carry said friction-wheel
toward or from the periphery of said hopper. In making this adjustment the
winged wiper or knocker will be adjusted upon its shaft so that its slotted wings
will revolve over and in exact line with the upper end of the tack-feeding raceway-
bar. The supporting-frame for this frictionally-driven wiper or knocker device is
pivotally connected to the bearing standard of the revolving hopper, so as to
support said frame and permit of its adjustment as stated. Suitably secured to the
lower end of the tack-feeding raceway is an irregularly-shaped plate, having a
horizontal guideway open at the top and at each end, and standing at right
angles to the tack-feeding raceway bar, which crosses said guideways and opens
into a chute formed in the wall of the guideway, so as to open into the side of the
latter. The chute opens into a lower vertical open way formed in a tubular
extension which projects downward from said guideway-plate and terminates in a
screw-30cket within which is secured the upper end of the tack-feeding tube. Into
this guideway is closely fitted a tack-let-off slide which exactly fits the depth
and width of the guideway, which has a depth greater than the tack-feeding
raceway.
The let-off slide has a longitudinal face slot which opens at its sides and is
widened or a portion of its length. The part above the said face-slot which con-
stitures the upper edge of the slide,.is formed with a slot somewhat like the letter V,
stan ing n the length of said slide and opening at its upper edge and at its under
side into the said face-slot. One branch of this edge slot opens at that side of the
slide which is next to the tack-containing hopper, while the other branch of this
edge slot opens at that side of the slide which joins that side of the guideway-wall
into whh the tack-chute opens... This slot is just wide enough to receive one tack
at the side of the slide against which the line of tacks rest suspended in the race-
way. The reverse movement of the slide carries the tack out of the slot on the
other side of the slide and delivers it into the chute. In this operation two things

page_text: co-operate with the slide to take from the line of tacks in the raceway one at a
time and deliver it as stated-that is to say the tacks descending the inclined race-
way by their gravity cross one at a time the slide within its slots by the same
force, first resting against the receiving side of the slide, then against the lower
side of the edge slot in every movement of the slide till the tack drops out at the
opposite side of the latter, and in this receiving and delivering movement of the
slide the lower part of the tack is maintained within the tack-feeding raceway by a
narrow flange-like projection on the end of the raceway-bar, exactly fitting into the
upper part of the face-slot of the slide and just equal to the thickness of said slide,
whereby the tack-feeding raceway is extended across the slide so as to open into
the chute. In this way the tacks cross the slide while being held within the race-
way and suspended by their heads. In effecting this operation the slide is moved
in harmony with the operation of tacking by means which I will now describe.
To one end of the slide is connected one arm of a bell-crank lever, which is
pivoted to a bracket on the head-frame, the other arm being pivoted to the lower end
of a vertically-moving piston-rod, the said lever-connections being made by screw-
pivots having anti-friction ring-rolls fitted in the slots of the lever ends whereby
the said slide is operated by the said piston-rod. The piston of this rod operates
within a cylinder supported vertically upon the head-frame, and the piston-rod is
tubular and has openings a little below the piston, which communicate with the
cylinder when the piston has been forced down to the limit of its movement. For
this purpose the piston moves in a closely-fitting air-tight portion of the cylinder
for the portion of its stroke, and then enters a portion of the cylinder provided with
several guide-ribs which form open wall-channels, and allow the air under com-
pression, and by which the piston has been depressed, to pass below the piston into
the lower larger part of the cylinder, and thence into and through the hollow
piston-rod. In this position of the piston-rod its open rounded end is seated in the
socket end of the opening at the terminus of the tack-raceway just above the feed-
chute, so that the air entering the top of the cylinder through the flexible tube
from the exhaust of a D-valve, having first driven down the tubular piston-rod so
as to close its socket-seat then acts instantly through said rod to aid in driving
down the tack which has been delivered from the slide within the chute. The
means for providing the air for this purpose will be presently described. A spiral
spring placed within the cylinder serves to return the piston to its normal condition.
This upward movement of the piston is limited by striking against an interior
collar at the upper end of the cylinder, which thus limits the inward movement of
the slide, while the seating of the piston-rod in its socket-seat limits the outward
movement of the slide, so that there is no striking or concussion of the slide upon
any part of the tack-feeding devices.
The tack-feeding tube is air-tight, and is secured to and hangs from the lower
end of the tubular projection of the slide-guideway. That portion of this tube
which connects with said tubular projection is of metal, and is screwed into the
metal socket of said projection and telescopes with an outer tubular metal section
to the lower end of which is secured the upper end of the flexible tubular section,
to the lower end of which is secured the tack-driving head and by which the latter
is supported. The flexible section of the tube is connected at its upper end with a
coil-spring, which connects with the head-frame, whereby the tack-driving head is
suspended in balanced relation to the last, and can be pulled down, with its
telescoping tube against the tension of the spring. This construction permits the
tack-driving head to be moved and handled with perfect freedom, and at the
same time relieves the flexible tack-conveying tube and the air-conveying tubes of
all strain. The flexible portion of the tack-feeding tube is provided with a metallic
lining composed of tubular sections joined together in such manner as to permit
flexure each section having its interior or passage so formed as to centre the tack
in passing the joint to prevent them. catching upon the walls and to render the tube
non-collapsible under the action of a vacuum produced therein to aid the swift
descent of the tack..

page_text: The tack-driving head is composed of a tubular hand part, by which it is grasped
and controlled in the operation of tacking, and which contains the tack-passage the
tack-driver passage, the detent for the tack, and a passage for exhausting the air
from the tack-driver passage, and is surmounted by a tack-driving device operated
by compressed air by mechanism controlled by the hand of the operator, as I will
now describe.
The tubular hand part of the tack-driving head has a central passage, which
forms the tack-driver passage and a continuation of the tack-feeding passage which
is formed in an oblique projection of the hand part, so as to form a junction with
the tack-driver passage at a point just below the lower end of the tack-driver when
the latter is at its highest point. The tack-driver passage extends through a plug
which is inserted and secured in an opening in the lower end of the hand part and
the said passage also extends through a nipple, screwed into the lower end of the
said hand part. This nipple part is placed at the point of the shoe-upper at which
the tack is to be driven, and it is serrated at its end to prevent its slipping when
placed upon the upper. The plug is below the junction of the tack feeding and
driver passages, and has a detent pivoted within its passages, which by means of a
spring is maintained in position at its lower end across the tack-driver passage, so
as to close said passage and to hold the tack in position to receive the blow of the
driver. This detent is fitted within a vertical recess in the wall of the driver-
passage, and when the tack is driven yields within the recess to let the tack and
the driver pass.
The driver consists of a piston, having a rod and works in a
cylinder, mounted upon a bracket of the said tubular hand part, and the piston is
operated by compressed air.
At the upper end of the detent containing plug, there is an annular space,.
which communicates with the tack-driver passage below its junction with the
tack-feeding passage. This annular space also communicates with an oblique
passage through which the air is sucked from the driver-passage, and hence from
the tack-feeding tube and passage which thereby forms a vacuum within the
said feed-passage in front of the tack to aid its descent. This sucking of the air
from the tack-feeding passage in front of the tack is effected by the flexible tube,
which connects with the air-pump, and it is through this tube that the pump is
supplied with air to supply the reservoir.
It will be understood that the exhaust communication between the tack-driver
passage and the exhaust-passage is made by a central projection of the upper end
of the detent-containing plug having radial grooves so that at this point the jont
in the wall of the tack-driver passage will be unbroken and the catching of the
tacks at this point is prevented. The detent is a flat piece of metal, and its
thickness is equal to the diameter of the driver-passage so that when it obstructs.
the driver-passage, the latter is thereby rendered air-tight from below in order that
the air may be exhausted from the lower part of the tack-passage through the
flexible tube, while from above the driver passage is rendered air-tight by the
driver itself, which always closes the upper end of the said passage so that the air
can only be sucked down from the tack-feeding tube.
The air under compression is taken from the reservoir to operate the tack-driver
by a flexible tube by means of a valve controlled by the hand.
The tack-driver passes through a stuffing-box at the lower end of the cylinder,
and is long enough to extend into and close the driver-passage when the piston is
at the limit of its upstroke. Air under compression is admitted into the cylinder
through ports at each end thereof by means of a D-valve, working in a valve-chest
on the side of the cylinder, and which connects with the flexible tube from the air-
reservoir. The piston is held up on its up-stroke by the air entering its lower port
from the valve-chest, while the air from above the piston passes out through the
chamber of the valve and the exhaust port, through the flexible tube into the top
of the cylinder to drive the piston down and escape through the hollow piston
into the tack-feeding tube to aid the descent of the tack. The stem of the
D-valve is connected to a lever which is fulcrumned on a bracket, rising from

page_text: the valve-chest, and the valve and its lever are constantly forced up against an
adjustable stop to maintain the tack-driver up in its position to drive the tack.
The operator, holding the tack-driving head in his hands, places the nipple at the
point he wishes to drive the tack and, depressing the lever, operates the valve, so
that the compressed air from the valve-chest enters the cylinder above the piston
and instantly drives the tack which has been fed down into the driver-passage.
This operation is repeated just as quick as the operator can change the position of
the tack-driving head from one point to another around the edge of the upper, and
the operation of the tack-let-off slide and of the tack-driver being so timed that a
tack will always be fed in position to receive the driver by the action of air unter
pressure let out at intervals by simply depressing the thumb-lever to move
the D-valve of the universally-movable tack-driving head suspended in spring-
balanced relation to the shoe to be lasted.
While my improved tack-feeding tube is specially adapted for use with a tack-
driving device operated by compressed air, as stated, yet it is obvious that it may
be used as a tack-conduit without such driver-head and in relation to any tack-
driving mechanism, or with said driving device operated by steam.
Dated this 22nd day of February 1890.
HORN & SON,
Applicant's Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or in connection with Tacking-machines.
I, WILLIAM WILSON HORN, of the firm of Horn & Son, of 151, Strand, London,
Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, (a
communication to me from abroad, by Henry Wellington Dean, of Norristown,
County of Montgomery and State of Pennsylvania, United States of America,
Inventor,) and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention is directed firstly, to an improved machine for tacking in the
operation of lasting shoes, and in which a universally movable suspended ta k-
driving head has its driver operated by compressed air. In such machine ny
improvements are directed to provisions for producing a better organization of the
working parts of the machine, to facilitate the operation, and to give better and
more satisfactory results in the work.
My improvements are also directed to provisions whereby the universally-
movable tack-driving head is suspended in spring-balanced relation to the last, and
thereby rendered more easy and convenient in handling while tacking around the
edge of the upper. This provision also relieves from all strain the Hexible tubes
which connect the tack-driving head with the source of power, it being understood
that these flexible tubes serve to convey the power from the accumulator to the
tack-driver, to convey the tacks to said driver and to exhaust the air from the
driver-passage in front of the tack by the operation of the pneumatic power.
My improvements include an improved construction of the tack feeding and
delivering devices, an improved construction of device for preventing the clogging
of the tack feeding raceway, an improved construction of the tack-containing hopper,
an improved construction of the universally-inovable tack-driving head, including
its tack-detent, tack-feeding passage tack-driver passage, and air-exhausting passage,
and the valve by which the compressed air to operate the driver is controlled.
I have made improvements in the organization of the complete machine, 'n its
construction, and in its various devices and combinations of devices, whereby the
functions, separate and distinct and co-operative, are rendered effective for satisfactory
work, all of which I will now describe, in connection with illustrations of Euch
machines, preparatory to a specific designation of the devices an1 combinations of
devices claimed as my invention.

page_text: The following is a description of the accompanying drawings, wherein is illustrated
my invention embodied in its preferred form.
Figure 1 represents in elevation a shoe-tacking machine containing my improve-
ments.
Figure 2 is a partial sectional elevation of a portion of the flexible and non-
collapsible tack-feeding tube.
Figure 3 is a sectional view of the same.
Figure 4 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale, of the upper or head portion of
the machine and its supporting standard, including the tack-feeding devices.
Figure 5 is a cross-section, showing the tack-feeding raceway and the clamp for
securing it to its seat on the head-frame, taken on the line a of Figure 4.
Figure 5 is a vertical section of the tack-feeding raceway shown in Figure 4,
showing its relation to the tack-let-off slide and to the device for projecting the
let-off tack down into the feeding-tube by compressed air.
Figure 6 is a front elevation of Figure 5º.
Figure 7 is a vertical section of the device for projecting the let-off tack down
the tack-feeding tube by compressed air.
Figure 8 is a top view of Fi
igure 5º
Figure 9 is an enlarged vertical section showing the relation of the tack-feeding
raceway to the let-off slide.
Figure 10 is a sectional detail of the device for adjusting the frictional wheel of
the revolving tack-clearer device in relation to the periphery of the revolving tack-
containing hopper.
Figures 11, 12, and 13 show the tack-let-off slide in side and edge views.
Figures 14, 15, and 16 show, respectively, different side views of the universally-
novable tack-driving head and parts of its tubular connections.
Figure 17 is a vertical central section of the tack-driving head.
Figure 18 is a vertical central section of part of the tack-driving head, showing
the tack-passage junction with the tack-driver passage.
Figure 19 is a vertical central section of the hand-holding part of the tack-driving
head, showing the junction of the tack-driver passage, the tack-feeding passage, and
the air-exhaust passage.
Figure 20 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the hand-holding part of the
tack-driving head, showing the tack-detent in the driver-passage.
Figure 21 is a horizontal section taken on the line of Figure 20, and
Figure 22 is a similar section taken on the line c of Figure 20.
Figure 23 shows in top view the tack-let-off slide in position to receive a tack in
its transferring-slot from a line of tacks in the tack-feeding raceway.
Figure 24 shows in top view the tack-let-off slide in position as having received
the tack in its transferring-slide in suspended position; and
Figure 25 shows in top view the tack-let-off slide in position as having transferred
the tack from its feeding-raceway and delivered it into the chute of the tack-feeding
tube, and also showing the next succeeding tack resting against the receiving
side of the slide in the feeding-raceway.
Figure 26 shows in elevation the lower end of the tack-feeding-raceway bar, the
let-off' slide being in the position it occupies in Figure 23.
Figure 27 shows in elevation, looking at the lower end of the tack-feeding-
raceway bar, the position of the let-off slide corresponding to that shown in
Figure 24, with the tack suspended at the junction of the receiving and delivering
branches of the slot of the let-off slide; and
Figure 28 shows in elevation, looking at the lower end of the tack-feeding-
raceway bar, the let-off slide in the position corresponding to that shown in
Figure 25, in which the tack is delivered from the slot of the slide into the chute
of the tack-feeding tube.
Figure 29 shows in vertical section the relation of the tack-feeding raceway to
the let-off slide and to the device for forcing the tack by compressed air down the
feeding-tube at the instant it is delivered from the let-off slide..

page_text: Figure 30 shows in top view the lower open end of the tack-feeding raceway
for receiving the device for forcing air therein above the tack.
Figure 31 shows in horizontal section the relation of the tack-feeding raceway
and its let-off slide to the chute of the tack-feeding tube.
Referring now to the drawings, from the following description the machine
therein represented will be understood as to its general construction and as to the
features which constitute my invention.
The operating parts of the machine are supported in a suitable frame composed
of a base-frame A, a standard B, and a swivelling head-frame C, mounted upon the
latter. The base-frame part supports the cylinder D, which contains air under
compression for operating the tack-driver, the air-pump E for supplying air to the
reservoir-cylinder, the operating-gear F and G for said air pump, the driving-band-
wheel G', and the standard B. The standard supports and carries a horizontally
swivelling head frame C, which supports and carries the revolving tack-containing
hopper H and the tack feeding and delivering devices. The swivelling head
overhangs the standard and carries a universally-movable suspended tack-driving
head, which is controlled in the hands of the operator in the operation of lasting a
shoe, which may be supported in a suitable lasting machine, or upon an ordinary
jack suitably supported.
The head-supporting standard is composed of two tubular parts, one B of which
is fixed to the top.plate of the bed-frame and contains the inner telescoping tubular
part B', upon which the head-frame is mounted and supported with freedom to be
swivelled thereon by means of a tubular cylindrical bearing C¹, projecting down-
ward from the under side of the head frame. (Seen in Figure 5.) This swivelling
capacity of the head frame permits the operator to turn it in the position he may
desire in handling the suspended tack-driving head. The telescoping of the
standard permits of the vertical adjustment of the swivelling head-frame to bring
the nipple of the tack-driving head in the desired relation to the bottom of the
shoe being lasted, and when such adjustment is effected it is maintained by the
clamp-screw B2, in the upper end of the fixed standard part. The air-pump is
connected to the air-reservoir by a pipe E', and also has a suction tube E² to be
presently explained, while the compressed air reservoir has an outlet-tube D³, to be
presently explained and is also provided with a safety-valve and a gauge.
I provide for operating the tack-containing hopper from the shaft of the band-
wheel by means of a sprocket-pinion J from which a chain J¹ leads to a similar
sprocket-pinion J on a short shaft mounted in the upper part of the base-frame,
and which carries also a bevel-pinion J³, which engages with a bevel-pinion J',
splined on the lower end of a shaft J, which passes up through the standard B
and carries on its upper end a bevel-pinion K, which engages with a bevel-gear
rim K', fixed on the outer closed side of the tack-containing hopper, as seen in
Figures 1 and 4. In this construction the shaft is suspended within the extensible
standard by the hub K³, resting on the upper side of the swivelling head-frame,
while the lower end of this shaft J' extends a short distance below the pinion
splined on its lower end to allow for the vertical adjustment of the swivelling head,
for a purpose which I will presently state.
The tack-containing hopper H consists of a cylindrical hollow shell mounted by
a short shaft H' in a standard-bearing H2, rising from the head-frame at its
swivelling end, and is formed on its inner side with an open central hollow truncated
conical projection H³, into the open truncated end of which the upper end of the
inclined tack-feeding raceway extends. The inner cylindrical wall of the hopper
is provided with a series of pockets H, which as it revolves, fill and carry up
tacks from a quantity which the shell always contains in its lower side, and drop
them upon a trough-shaped incline H' which is supported by a bracket H', fixed
to the head-frame, so as to stand within the conical projection of the hopper, as
seen in Figure 5. The tacks are delivered from the trough upon the upper end of
the inclined tack-feeding raceway, within which they adjust themselves so as to
hang by their heads within the raceway, as shown in detail, Figure 29.

page_text: The tack-feeding raceway is preferably composed of a bar L, which extends from
the hopper downward at an angle of about thirty degrees and terminates at the
end of the head-frame just over the tack-feeding tube. A groove 2 is made in the
upper side of this bar, which is open at both ends, is deeper than the length of
the tack, and is made widest at its upper part 3 to suit the heads of the tacks, as
seen in Figure 5. The upper edges of the tack-feeding raceway are bevelled cross-
wise downwardly at each side, so that the head of the tack will rest and slide down
the edges, and thus render the descent perfectly free. This raceway-bar is seated
upon an elevated bed part C2 of the head-frame, with its upper end extended into
the hopper, so that the tacks, falling in quantities down upon it, will be caught,
more or less, within the groove, so that the latter will be kept filled with the tacks,
which will slide down as stated, and be taken therefrom one by one by means of a
let-off slide, and be delivered into the tack-feeding tube, as I will presently
describe.
A plate 4 covers the tackway and is held in place by a spring-arm 5, bearing
upon it and pivoted to the bar, so as to be swung to one side when it is required
to remove the cover-plate to examine the tackway. The upper end of the cover-
plate is reduced in width, and so is the upper part of the raceway-bar L, and the
raised parts that form the wide groove 3, and on which the cover-plate rests,
terminate beneath the upper end of the cover-plate, and the latter at this end forms
a stop over said groove, against which end of the plate a clogging tack will lodge
and be displaced, as I will presently state. The lower end of the raceway-bar
terminates in a swelled extension 6, having vertical opening 7, into which the tack-
feeding groove terminates, and the lower end of the cover-strip is formed into a
tongue which extends into this opening, so as to cover the groove down to a
point just above the let-off slide, leaving the vertical opening 7 open at its top,
where it is so formed as to receive and form a seat for the lower end of the device
for injecting air into the tack-feeding tube, as seen in Figures 9, 29 and 30, as I
shall presently state.
The tack-feeding raceway bar is held securely upon its seat on the frame-head
y means of a clamp, which consists of two angle-jaws M, (shown in Figures 4
and 5) one placed on each side of the head-frame seat part C³, their lower
L-shaped ends extending under a rib of the said seat, and their upper ends
bevelled and extending over and fitting upon correspondingly-bevelled recesses 9 9
in the projecting sides or flanges of the raceway-bar. A screw 10, passing
horizontally through the vertical arms of the clamp and through the base of the
said raceway-bar, serves, by means of the lock-nuts, to clamp the said raceway-
bar hard upon its seat and allow for removing it when required.
As the tacks are dropped in quantities from the hopper-buckets and from the
fixed inclined trough upon the upper end of the tack-feeding-raceway bar, one or
more are liable to become lodged upon the edges or set improperly within the
raceway-groove, or to be caught by its head raised against the end of the
cover-plate, and thereby prevent the proper feeding of the tack down the raceway-
groove. I have made provision for maintaining a clear way in the groove, which
I will now describe.
Just above the upper end of the raceway-bar is mounted a revolving knocking-
off device, which consists of radial arms 11, slotted at their lower ends and adapted
to revolve over in line with the tack-feeding way, so that the slotted arms will
straddle the end of the cover-plate, and in revolving over it wipe or knock off a
tack or tacks, which may have lodged against it, and throw them back into the
hopper. This revolving winged wiper or knocker is mounted upon the end of a
horizontal shaft 12 which is mounted in suitable standards 13 of a supporting-
frame 14, adjustably connected by means of an arm 14', to the head-frame part C
by a bracket bearing 15, Figure 10, through an opening in which the screw-
threaded end of said frame-arm 14' passes, and is therein and thereto firmly
clamped by means of two sleeve-screws 16 16, having thumb or milled heads and
placed upon the screw-threaded end of said frame, one on each side of said
B

page_text: supporting bracket. A bevel-pinion 17 on the opposite end of the wiper-shaft 12
engages with a bevel-pinion 18 on a counter-shaft 19, supported upon said adjust-
able frame 14 by separate standards 20, parallel with the periphery of the revolving
tack-containing hopper, and carrying on its other end a friction-wheel 21, which
is maintained in contact with the circumference of said revolving hopper with
sufficient pressure to cause the rotation of the winged wiper by the rotation of said
hopper. It is to maintain such proper pressure upon the friction-wheel that I
provide for adjusting the frame 14, which supports the connecting-shafts 12 and 19,
so as to carry said friction-wheel toward or from the periphery of said hopper.
In making this adjustment, the winged wiper or knocker will be adjusted upon
its shaft so that its slotted wings will revolve over and in exact line with the
upper end of the tack-feeding raceway-bar. The supporting frame 14 for this
frictionally-driven wiper or knocker device is pivotally connected to the bearing-
standard H2 of the revolving hopper, so as to support said frame and permit of its
adjustment, as stated. Suitably secured to the lower end of the tack-feeding
raceway is an irregularly-shaped plate N, having a horizontal guideway N', open
at the top and at each end, and standing at right angles to the tack-feeding
raceway bar, which crosses said guideway and opens into a chute N³, formed in
the wall of the guideway, so as to open into the side of the latter, as seen in
Figures 29 and 31. The chute opens into a lower vertical open way formed in a
tubular extension N³, which projects downward from said guideway plate and
terminates in a screw-socket N₁, within which is secured the upper end of the
tack-feeding tube, which I shall presently describe. Into this guideway is closely
fitted the tack-let-off slide 22, which exactly fits the depth and width of the guide-
way, which has a depth greater than the tack-feeding raceway, as will be seen by
referring to Figures 9 and 29.
The let-off slide has a longitudinal face slot 23, which opens at its sides and is
made wider at 24 for a portion of its length, as seen in Figure 11.
That part
above the said face-slot 23, and which constitutes the upper edge of the slide, is
formed with a slot somewhat like the letter V, standing in the length of said slide
and opening at its upper edge and at its under side into the said face-slot, as seen
in Figure 12. One branch 25 of this edge slot opens at that side of the slide
which is next to the tack-containing hopper, while the other branch 26 of this
edge slot opens at that side of the slide which joins that side of the guideway-wall
into which the tack-chute N2 opens, as seen in Figure 25. This slot is just wide
enough to receive one tack at the side of the slide against which the line of tacks
rest suspended in the raceway, as seen in Figures 23 and 25. In the latter figure
the slide is in position to support the line of tacks against the arm which forms
the slot 25, and when moved in the direction of the arrow in said figure carries the
said arm past the line of tacks and brings one of the line in position to be
received into said slot, as seen in Figure 23. The reverse movement of the slide
carries the tack into the position shown in Figure 24 while the next movement of
the slide in the direction of the arrow in Figure 25 moves the tack out of the
slot 26 on the other side of the slide and delivers it into the chute N³, as seen in
Figure 25.
In this operation two things co-operate with the slide to take from
the line of tacks in the raceway one at a time and deliver it as stated-that is to
say, that the tacks descending the inclined raceway by their gravity cross one at a
time the slide within its slot by the same force, first resting against the receiving
side of the slide, then against the lower side of the edge slot in every movement
of the slide till the tack drops out at the opposite side of the latter, and in this
receiving and delivering movement of the slide the lower part of the tack is
maintained within the tack-feeding raceway by a narrow flange-like projection 27
from the end of the raceway-bar, exactly fitting into the upper part of the face
slot 23 of the slide and just equal to the thickness of said slide, whereby the
tack-feeding raceway 2 is extended across the slide, so as to open into the
chute N2, as seen in Figures 9, 31, and 29. In this way the tacks cross the slide
while being held within the raceway and suspended by their heads. In effecting

page_text: oms operation the side is moved in harmony with the operation of Lacking by
means which I will now describe.
To one end of the slide is connected one arm of a bell-crank lever O, which is
pivoted to a bracket O¹ on the head-frame, the other arm being pivoted to the
lower end of a vertically-moving piston-rod P, the said lever-connections being
made by screw-pivots having anti-friction ring-rolls fitted in the slots of the lever-
ends, whereby the said slide is operated by the said piston-rod, as I will now
describe. The piston P1 of this rod operates within a cylinder P', supported
vertically upon the head-frame, and the piston-rod P is tubular and has openings P³
a little below the piston, which communicate with the cylinder when the piston has
been forced down to the limit of its movement. For this purpose the piston moves
in a closely-fitting air-tight portion of the cylinder for a portion of its stroke, and
then enters a portion of the cylinder provided with several guide-ribs P', which
form open wall-channels, and allow the air under compression, and by which the
piston had been depressed, to pass below the piston into the lower larger part of
the cylinder, and thence into and through the hollow piston-rod. In this position
of the piston-rod its open rounded end is seated in the socket end of the opening 7
at the terminus of the tack-raceway just above the feed-chute, so that the air
entering the top of the cylinder through the flexible tube Q from the exhaust of a
D-valve, having first driven down the tubular piston-rod so as to close its socket-
seat, as in Figure 29, then acts instantly through said rod to aid in driving down
the tack which has been delivered from the slide within the chute. The means for
providing the air for this purpose will be presently described. A spiral spring R,
placed within the cylinder P2, serves to return the piston P to its normal condition,
as seen in Figures 5 and 7. This upward movement of the piston is limited by
striking against an interior collar at the upper end of the cylinder, which limits the
inward movement of the slide, while the seating of the piston-rod in its socket-seat,
as seen in Figure 29, limits the outward movement of the slide, so that there is no
striking or concussion of the slide upon any part of the tack-feeding devices.
The tack-feeding tube is air-tight, and is secured to and hangs from the lower
end of the tubular projection N' of the slide-guideway. That portion R of this
tube which connects with said tubular projection is of metal, and is screwed into
the metal socket of said projection and telescopes with an outer tubular metal
section R¹, to the lower end of which is secured the upper end of the flexible
tubular section R², to the lower end of which is secured the tack-driving head and
by which the latter is supported. The flexible section R² of the tube is connected
at its upper end with a coil-spring R, which connects with the head-frame, whereby
the tack-driving head is suspended in balanced relation to the last, and can be
pulled down, with its telescoping tube, against the tension of the spring. This
construction permits the tack-driving head to be moved and handled with perfect
freedom, and at the same time relieves the flexible tack-conveying tube and
the air-conveying tubes of all strain. The flexible portion of the tack-feeding tube
is provided with a metallic lining composed of tubular sections joined together in
such manner as to permit flexure, each section having its interior or passage so
formed as to centre the tack in passing the joint to prevent them catching upon the
walls, and to render the tube non-collapsible under the action of a vacuum pro-
duced therein to aid the swift descent of the tack.
The tube a, Figures 2 and 3, is preferably of rubber, and the metallic lining
consists of tubular sections b, preferably of equal length and about an inch or an
inch and a half long, and of a diameter to fit closely within the rubber tube.
These sections are joined by ball-and-socket joint, one end c of each section being
made spherical, or substantially so, and the interior of the other end d is made of
corresponding socket form to receive and fit exactly the spherical end of the con-
necting-section to form a continuous metallic passage for the tacks. The spherical
end is of less diameter than the body of the section, so as to fit within the joint-
forming socket of the next section to make a uniform exterior of all the sections
and to form an annular shoulder e at the junction of the spherical end with the

page_text: connecting-section, the purpose of which shoulder is to form a stop to limit the
flexure of the sections and prevent the opening of the joint in flexing the tube.
For this purpose the socket end of the section is caused to abut against the said
shoulder whenever the tube is flexed beyond a certain limit and thus prevent the
opening of the joint which would endanger the catching of the points of the tacks
and obstruct the passage.
The interior of each tubular section flares toward each
end that is to say, it has the form of two hollow cones f and g, the one ƒ flaring
toward the socket end of the section being preferably longer than the one flaring
toward the spherical end of the section. This gives a passage in each section
comparatively narrow near the spherical end and enlarged at the joint-forming
ends.
By having the flaring passage at the joint and the socket end of each section
standing uppermost in the tube, it will be seen that the sectional conduit forms a
passage, within which the tacks can have no point for lodgment in their passage to
the driver. This important advantage is due to the form of the passage of each
section, so that the tack in passing the joint when flexed will have ample room to
turn the bend, and cannot be wedged or bound, however quickly the tube may be
flexed in handling the driver. This construction gives a tack-passage narrow at
certain points and wide at certain points, with a joint capable of flexing at the wide
points within limits.
While I have described and illustrated my improved tack-feeding tube in con-
nection with lasting shoes, it is obvious that it may be used for other work-such,
for instance, as nailing on the tops of cigar-boxes. It is also obvious that the
metallic sections may be employed as a tack-feeding tube with any suitable inclosing-
tube as, for instance, when feeding tacks to a tacking-machine operated otherwise
than by compressed air.
I have put the metallic sections into the tube by pushing one section therein at a
time by means of the succeeding section, and this way I prefer for short lengths of
tubes.
The inclosing-tube is properly connected at each end with its operating parts.
The state of the art shows to be old an air-tight flexible tube having a lining
composed of metallic tubular sections, and each section having its bore enlarged at
one end for the reception of the small end of the adjacent section. It also shows
such a tube having a foundation composed of two distinct spiral lengths of flattened
metal, in which the interior surface is interrupted by the edges of the coils, and it
also shows such a tube having a foundation composed of interior and exterior band-like
rings, the said rings being provided, respectively, with inwardly end-projecting flanges
and outwardly end-projecting flanges, and in which the interior surface is interrupted
by the flanged ends of the said sections. In the construction in which the bore of
each section is, enlarged at one end for the reception of the small end of the coupled
section there is no provision for limiting the flexure of the coupled sections and the
bore is of uniform diameter throughout the length of the tube. These sections would
therefore be liable to open and catch upon each other at their ends, and the tacks
would be liable to catch at the open joints and to become stuck crosswise in the
tube in using the latter as a conductor for the universally-movable tack-driving
head manipulated in the hands of the operator.
The other constructions are not adapted for feeding tacks and it would be
impossible to use them for such purpose, because every tack would be liable to
catch at the joints, whether the tube be flexed or not.
By my improvement the inner walls of the sections are constructed in such
manner as to keep the points of the tacks centrally within the sections.
By my improvement the sections are joined so as to permit their flexure within
certain limits, and at the same time to maintain a practically smooth and unbroken
surface at the joints of the sections under all conditions of the flexure of the tube.
The tack-driving head is composed of a tubular hand part S, by which it is
grasped and controlled in the operation of tacking, and which contains the tack-
passage, the tack-driver passage, the detent for the tack, and a passage for

page_text: exhausting the air from the tack-driver passage, and is surmount Dy a tac
driving device operated by compressed air by mechanism controlled by the hand of
the operator, as I will now.describe.
The tubular hand part S of the tack-driving head has a central passage 28, which
forms the tack-driver passage and a continuation of the tack-feeding passage 29,
which is formed in an oblique projection of the hand part, so as to form a junction
with the tack-driver passage at a point just below the lower end of the tack-driver
when the latter is at its highest point, as seen in Figure 18. The tack-driver
passage extends through a plug 30, which is inserted and secured in an opening in
the lower end of the hand part, and the said passage also extends through a
nipple 31, screwed into the lower end of the said hand part. This nipple part is
placed at the point of the shoe-upper at which the tack is to be driven, and it is
serrated at its end to prevent its slipping when placed upon the upper. The
plug 30 is below the junction of the tack-feeding and driver passages, and has a
detent 32 pivoted within its passage, which, by means of a spring 33, is maintained
in position at its lower end across the tack-driver passage, so as to close said
passage, and to hold the tack in position to receive the blow of the driver, as seen
in Figure 20. This detent is fitted within a vertical recess in the wall of the
driver-passage, and when the tack is driven yields within the recess to let the tack
and the driver pass. The driver consists of a piston 34, having a rod 35, and works
in a cylinder 36, mounted upon a bracket of the said tubular hand part, and the
piston is operated by compressed air, as I shall presently describe.
At the upper end of the detent containing plug 30 there is an annular space 37,
which communicates with the tack-driver passage 28 below its junction with the
tack-feeding passage. This annular space also communicates with an oblique
passage 38, as seen in Figures 19 and 20, through which the air is sucked from the
driver-passage 28, and hence from the tack-feeding tube and passage 29, which
thereby forms a vacuum within the said feed-passage in front of the tack to aid its
descent. This sucking of the air from the tack-feeding passage in front of the tack
is effected by the flexible tube E2, which connects with the air-pump, as seen in
Figure 1, and it is through this tube that the pump is supplied with air to supply
the reservoir..
Referring to Figures 20 and 21, it will be seen that the exhaust communication
between the tack-driver passage and the exhaust-passage is made by a central
projection 39 of the upper end of the detent-containing plug 30, having radial
grooves 40, so that at this point the joint in the wall of the tack-driver passage will
be unbroken and the catching of the tacks at this point is prevented. The
detent 32 is a flat piece of metal, and its thickness is equal to the diameter of the
driver-passage 28, so that when it obstructs the driver-passage, as in Figure 20, the
latter is thereby rendered air-tight from below in order that the air may be
exhausted from the lower part of the tack-passage through the flexible tube E',
while from above the driver-passage is rendered air-tight by the driver 35 itself,
which always closes the upper end of the said passage, as seen in Figures 17 and 18,
so that the air can only be sucked down from the tack-feeding tube.
The air under compression taken from the reservoir to operate the tack-driver
by the flexible tube D', by means of a valve T, controlled by the hand, as I shall
now describe.
The tack-driver 35 passes through a stuffing-box at the lower end of the cylinder,
and is long enough to extend into and close the driver-passage when the piston is at
the limit of its upstroke. Air under compression is admitted into the cylinder
through ports 41 42 at each end thereof by means of a D-valve T, working in a
valve-chest U on the side of the cylinder, and which connects with the flexible
tube D' from the air-reservoir. In Figure 17 the piston is shown held up on its
upstroke by the air entering its lower port 42 from the valve-chest, while the air
from above the piston had passed out through the chamber of the valve and the
exhaust-port Q', through the flexible tube Q into the top of the cylinder P³, to
drive the piston down and escape through the hollow piston P into the tack-feeding

page_text: tube to aid the descent of the tack. Upon the piston moving downward the valve T
permits the escape of the air from below the said piston through an exhaust-port Q
in the valve-chest into the atmosphere. The stem V of the D-valve is connected
to a lever W which is fulcrummed on a bracket W, rising from the valve-chest and
the valve and its lever are constantly forced up against an adjustable stop W' to
maintain the tack-driver up in its position to drive the tack. The operator, holding
the tack-driving head in his hands, places the nipple 31 at the point he wishes to
drive the tack and, depressing the lever, operates the valve, so that the compressed
air from the valve-chest enters the cylinder above the piston 34 and instantly drives
the tack which has been fed down into the driver-passage. This operation is
repeated just as quick as the operator can change the position of the tack-driving
head from one point to another around the edge of the upper, and the operation of
the tack-let-off slide and of the tack-driver being so timed that a tack will always
be fed in position to receive the driver by the action of air under pressure let
out at intervals by simply depressing the thumb-lever W to move the D-valve of
the universally-movable tack-driving head suspended in spring-balanced relation to the
shoe to be lasted.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. In a tacking-machine for lasting shoes, the following instrumentalities co-
operating in the operation of tacking the inner sole to the upper: a swivelling
head-frame carrying tack-feeding mechanism, a universally-movable tack-driving
head having a valve-controlled driver, flexible tubes for conveying the tacks and the
motive power to drive them, an extensible tubular coupling for the tack-conveying
tube, a coiled spring which connects and suspends said tack-driving head from said
swivelling head-frame, and a lever for controlling the driver-operating valve,
substantially as described.
2. In a tacking-machine for lasting shoes, the combination of a head-frame carry-
ing tack-feeding mechanism, with a universally-movable tack-driving head, a flexible
tack-conveying tube connected with said feed mechanism, and a coiled spring
suspending said tack-driving head from said head-frame, substantially as
described.
3. In a tacking-machine for lasting shoes the combination, with a suspended
universally-movable tack-driving head and suitable tack-feeding mechanism therefor,
of a flexible extensible tack-conveying tube connecting said tack-driving head with
the tack-feeding mechanism, and a coiled spring which both supports and balances
said tack-driving head, whereby the tube is rendered extensible within certain limits
in manipulating the tack-driving head.
4. In a tacking-machine for lasting shoes, the combination of a vertically-
extensible standard or support, a head-frame having a swivelling connection with said
standard and carrying tack-feeding mechanism, a suspended universally-movable
tack-driving head, and a coiled spring connected with and depending from said
swivelled head-frame, and which both supports and balances said tack-driving head,
substantially as described.
5. In a tacking-machine for lasting shoes, the combination, with a head-frame
carrying tack-feeding mechanism and a universally-movable tack-driving head, of a
tack-conveying tube having a flexible connection with said tack-driving head and
a rigid extensible telescoping connection with said head-frame, substantially as
described.
6. In a tacking-machine for lasting shoes, the combination, with a head-frame
carrying tack-feeding mechanism and having a tack-conveying tube connected with
said feeding mechanism, of a universally-movable tack-driving head having both a
flexible and an extensible tubular connection with said tack-conveying tube, and a
coiled spring which suspends said tack-driving head from said head-frame,
substantially as described.

page_text: &
7. In a tacking-machine for lasting shoes, the combination, with a universally-
movable tack-driving head and swivelling head-frame carrying tack-feeding
mechanism, of a flexible tack-conveying tube, a coiled spring which both suspends
and balances said tack-driving head, and flexible tubes for connecting said tack-
driving head with the motive power for driving the tack, substantially as
deecribed.
8. In a machine for driving tacks for lasting shoes, the combination, with a tack-
feeding mechanism and a universally-movable tack-driving head, of a flexible tack-
conveying tube supporting said head, a telescoping coupling-tube between said
feeding mechanism and said tack-conveying tube and a coiled spring secured to
said tack-feeding mechanism and to said flexible tack-conveying tube, substantially
as described.
9. In a tack-driving machine, the combination with a base-frame and vertically-
extensible telescoping standard thereon, of a head-frame carrying tacking and
driving mechanism, and means for supplying the tacks, consisting of a tack-containing
revolving hopper, a shaft mounted within said extensible standard, having a bevel-
pinion on each end, a rim-wheel K' on said tack-containing hopper, a bevel-pinion J³,
mounted in said base-frame, and suitable means for operating the latter pinion,
substantially as described.
10. In a tack-driving-machine, the combination, with a base-frame, a vertically-
extensible telescoping standard thereon, a head-frame, tack-feeding mechanism
mounted thereon and a universally-movable tack-driving head suspended from said
head-frame, of a revolving tack-containing hopper having a face gear-rim K', a
shaft mounted within said telescoping standard and having the top pinion K and
the pinion J, splined on its lower end, and the pinion J³, mounted in said base-
frame, substantially as described.
11. In a tack-driving machine, the combination of a cylindrical revolving hopper
having an open projection upon one head, an inclined tack-feeding raceway having
a feeding-groove for the tacks and extending into said hopper projection a plate
covering said groove, and a revolving wiper having arms adapted to sweep close
to said plate and raceway, and suitable mechanism for feeding and driving the
tacks, substantially as described.
12. In a tack-driving machine, the combination of a cylindrical revolving hopper
having an open projection upon one head, an inclined tack-feeding raceway having
a feeding-groove for the passage of the tacks and extending into said projection, a
plate covering said groove, and a revolving wiper having radial arms slotted at
their ends to straddle said raceway and arranged above said raceway at the upper
end of said covering-plate, and suitable mechanism for feeding and driving the
tacks, substantially as described.
13. In a tack-driving machine, the combination of a cylindrical revolving hopper,
an inclined tack-feeding raceway projecting into the open head of said hopper, a
revolving shaft journalled above said raceway and provided with a wiper at one
end and a pinion at the other end, and a counter-shaft journalled parallel to said
hopper and provided with a pinion at one end meshing with said pinion and having
a friction wheel bearing against the periphery of said hopper, and suitable
mechanism for feeding and driving the tacks, substantially as described.
14. In a tack-driving machine, the combination of a revolving hopper, an inclined
tack-feeding raceway projecting into the open head of said hopper, a laterally-
adjustable supporting-frame having bearings at a right angle to the axis of said
hopper, a shaft journalled in said bearings and provided with a revolving wiper
above said raceway and with a pinion 17 at the outer end, and a counter-shaft 19,
journalled in bearings in said frame, provided with a pinion 18, meshing with said
pinion 17, and having a friction-wheel 21 upon said shaft bearing against the
periphery of said hopper, substantially as described.
15. In a tack-driving machine, the combination of a frame or support C, a
revolving hopper, an inclined tack-feeding raceway projecting into the open head
of said hopper, a bracket-bearing Cupon the under side of said raceway, a

page_text: supporting-frame 14, having one end pivoted to said frame or support C, its other
end screw-threaded and fitted through said bracket-bearing C² and having
bearings parallel with and at right angles to said hopper, clamping-nuts 16
upon said screw-threaded end at both sides of said bracket-bearing, a shaft 12,
journalled in said bearings at right angles to said hopper, having a revolving
wiper above said raceway and a pinion 17 at one end, and a counter-shaft 19,
journalled in said bearings parallel to said hopper and provided with a pinion 18,
meshing with said pinion 17, and having a friction-wheel bearing against the
periphery of said hopper, substantially as described.
16. In a tack-driving machine, the combination of a head-frame having au
elevated and inclined bed part C, a grooved tack-feeding-raceway bar L, two
angle-jaws M, having their lower L-shaped ends extending under said bed part
and having their upper ends clamping said bar to said bed part, and a screw 10,
passed through said angle-jaws and bed part, and suitable mechanism for feeding
and driving the tacks, substantially as described, for the purpose stated.
17. In a tack-driving machine, the combination of an inclined tack-feeding
raceway, a plate N at the lower end of said raceway, formed with a horizontal
guideway intersecting said raceway at right angles, and having a vertical inter-
secting chute, with a reciprocating let-off slide having a V-shaped slot in its
upper edge opening at each side of middle of said slide and into an opening at
the middle of said slide, and suitable mechanism for feeding and driving the
tacks, substantially as described.
18. In a tack-driving machine, the combination of an inclined tack-feeding race-
way having a longitudinal slot for the passage of the tacks and terminating in a
flange-like projection 27 at its lower end, a plate N, arranged at the lower end of
said raceway, formed with a vertical chute, and a horizontal guideway intersecting
said raceway and having said flange-like projection extending across said guideway,
with a reciprocating let-off slide formed with a longitudinal side slot for said flange-
like projection and with a forked or V-shaped slot having its branches opening at
the sides of said slide, and suitable mechanism for feeding and driving the tacks,
substantially as described.
19. In a tack-driving machine, the combination of the inclined tack-feeding
raceway L, the plate N, having the horizontal guideway N', the chute N³, and a
seat 7 at the upper end of said chute, with the let-off slide 22, having the face-
slot 23 24 and the forked-edge slot 25 26, the reciprocating piston, and piston-
rod PP, having its lower end adapted to fit into the seat 7 of the tack-chute N'
and having a passage for compressed air, means for reciprocating said slide 22 from
said piston-rod, and the tack-feeding tube, substantially as described.
20. In a machine for driving tacks, the combination, with a gravity tack-feeding
raceway and a tack-delivering tube of a let-off slide having communicating face
and edge slots 23, 25, and 26, and a guide for said slide, having a tack-chute N2,
the said tack-feeding-raceway bar having a tongue or flange projection 27, extend-
ing through the said face-slot 23 of the slide and opening into the said chute,
substantially as described, for the purpose specified.
21. In a machine for driving tacks, the combination, with an inclined tack-feeding-
raceway bar having an end flange or projection through which the tack-raceway 2
extends, of a slide having a face-slot 23 and a V-shaped-edge slot 25 and 26,
opening at the opposite sides of the slides and communicating with the said face-slot
and with the said tack-raceway, substantially as described.
22. In a tacking-machine for lasting shoes, a universally-movable tack-driving
head having a nozzled hand part provided with a central passage, a spring-detent
inclosed within the body of said hand part and closing the lower part of said
passage, a tack-driver arranged within and perpetually closing the upper part of
said passage, a tack-feeding passage, and an air-exhausting passage, in combination
with the tack-driving device surmounting said hand part, and the flexible tubes
conveying the power for operating said driver, substantially as described.
23. In a tacking-machine for lasting shoes, the combination of an inclined

page_text: tack-feeding raceway having a covering-plate, with a revolving tack-containing hopper,
a winged tack-knocking-off device arranged to revolve in the line of said raceway
and operated by said hopper, and suitable tack-driving mechanism connected with
said raceway, substantially as described.
24. In a tack-driving machine, the combination of a universally-movable tack-
driving head formed with a central passage 28, an inclined tack-feeding passage 29,
entering said central passage, an opening in the lower end of said head, and an
air-exhaust passage 38, opening into the bottom of said opening, a plug 30, fitted
and secured into said opening, and formed with a central passage, and with radiating
grooves in its upper end and forming an annular space 37 around said grooves, a
yielding valve in the central passage of said plug, and a reciprocating tack-driving
plunger in said central passage and closing the upper end of the same, substantially
as described.
25. In a tack-driving machine, the combination with a hand part having a central
passage and tack-feeding and air-exhaust passages, of a cylinder above said hand
part and formed with channels and ports at its ends, a piston reciprocating in said
cylinder and provided with a tack-driving plunger-rod which slides in the central
passage of said hand part, a valve-chest upon said cylinder, a sliding D-valve
within said chest and provided with an upwardly-extending stem; a thumb-lever
fulcrumed upon said valve-chest and pivotally connected to said stem, a coiled
spring around said stem, and an adjustable stop for limiting the upward throw of
said thumb-lever, substantially as described.
26. In a tack-driving machine, the combination of the hand part S, formed with
the central passage 28, the tack-feeding passage 29, the opening in the lower end
and the air-exhaust passage 38 extending to said opening, the plug 30, secured in
said opening and formed with radiating grooves in its upper end and a recess in its
central passage, a spring-actuated valve in said recess closing said central passage,
a nipple secured in the lower end of said plug, and a reciprocating tack-driving
plunger in said central passage and closing the upper end of the same, substantially
as described.
27. A metal lining for a flexible tack-feeding tube composed of metallic sections,
each section terminating at one end in a ball formation of less diameter than the
external diameter of the tube and forming a circumferential shoulder, the bore of
each section being contracted to flare toward each end from such contraction, one of
said flaring portions terminating at the ball end and the other ending in a socket
corresponding to the ball, whereby the flexure of the sections is controlled within
certain limits, in combination with a suitable casing, as set forth.
28. A metallic lining for a flexible tack-feeding tube, consisting of tubular
sections, each having a ball at one end of less diameter than the external diameter
of the tube, and a circumferential shoulder joining said ball, and a socket at the
other end corresponding to said ball, each section having a bore formed with a
contraction about coincident with said shoulder, and truncated conical portions of
unequal lengths extending from said contraction, in combination with a rubber
inclosing-tube, whereby the tack is centered in passing the joints of the sections
point foremost, as set forth.
Dated this 2nd dar of November 1890
HORN & SON,
Applicant's Agents.