IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE SHOE NAILS
Year: 1880

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME THE UNITED HORSE
SHOE NAIL COMPANY LIMITED send Greeting WHEREAS Her Most Excellent
Majesty Queen Victoria by Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of
Great Britain and Ireland bearing date at Westminster the Sixth day of January
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty in the 43rd year
of her reign did for herself her heirs and successors give and grant unto John
Henry Johnson of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex Gentleman
his executors administrators and assigns Her special license full power sole
privilege and authority that he the said John Henry Johnson his executors
administrators and assigns or such others as he his executors administrators or
assigns should at any time agree with and no others from time to time and at
all times thereafter during the term therein expressed should and lawfully might
make use exercise and vend within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland the Channel Islands and Isle of Man an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE SHOE NAILS"
a communication from abroad by Lyman Welcome Whipple of the City of Boston
County of Suffolk State of Massachusetts United States of America for and during
the term of Fourteen years thence next ensuing And whereas in pursuance and
performance of a proviso in the said Letters Patent contained the said John Henry
Johnson did within six Calendar months next after the date of the said Letters
Patent cause a Specification in writing under his hand and seal purporting to
particularly describe the nature of the said Invention and in what manner the
same was to be performed to be duly filed in the Great Seal Patent Office And
whereas by virtue of various Indentures of Assignment and finally by an Indenture
bearing date the first day of September one thousand eight hundred and eighty one
and duly registered in the Great Seal Patent Office made between the Acme Horse
Shoe Nail Company Limited of the one part and the United Horse Nail Company
Limited of the other part the said herein before recited Letters Patent and all rights
-

page_text: powers authorities privileges advantages profits emoluments and benefits to the
said Letters Patent appertaining or belonging became and are now vested in the said
United Horse Nail Company Limited And whereas since the filing of the said
Specification the said United Horse Nail Company Limited has been advised that
the subject matter of the tenth claim in the said Specification is of doubtful novelty
And the United Horse Nail Company Limited is therefore desirous of striking out
of the said Specification the said tenth claim and of altering the numbering of the
succeeding claims accordingly and is also desirous of correcting a clerical error
occurring in the said Specification in manner more fully hereafter appearing NOW
KNOW YE that the said United Horse Nail Company Limited by and with the
leave of Her Majesty's Attorney General and for the reasons aforesaid Doth alter
the Specification by striking out of the Specification printed by the Queens
Printers and published at the Great Seal Patent Office in one thousand eight
hundred and eighty the whole of the 10th Claim comprising lines 41 to 44 both
inclusive on page 8.
The said Company also desires to correct a clerical
error by substituting for the figures "12" which occur in line 43 of page 5 the
figures "14" and in order that the effect of the said Disclaimer may be clearly
understood a Copy of the said Specification as it will appear when so amended the
preamble and testing Clause being omitted is hereunto annexed.
The said Invention has for its object to provide an automatic machine adapted to
rapidly form a cold rolled Horse Shoe Nail from a strip or plate by successive
punching rolling and finishing operations without releasing the nail blank or
allowing it to change its position by gravitation or accident until it is finished
thereby ensuring the proper position of the blank with reference to the mechanism
which imparts to its successive changes of form. The Invention also has for its
object to provide an automatic machine whereby two or more nail blanks can be
punched simultaneously from a single plate and formed simultaneously by successive
operations into completed nails without being released until finished.
Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this Specification Figure 1
represents a front elevation of a machine embodying my Invention Figure 2
represents a side elevation of the same Figure 3 represents a plan Figure 4
represents a section taken along the line xx, Figure 2 looking downwardly:
Figure 5 represents a section taken along the line y y-Figure 2 looking
upwardly; Figure 6 represents a section taken along the line z z, Figure 2.-
Figure 7 represents a section on line ¹¹, Figure 1. The remaining Figures
represent views of parts in detail.
In the Drawings A represents the general framework of suitable construction to
support the parts herein after described. At the front of the frame is a gang of
punches B B two in number. These are attached to a cross head C which is
reciprocated vertically in guides in the frame A by eccentrics D D, on a shaft E
the said eccentrics being connected to the cross head by rods F F. The punches
B B are formed to cut separate blanks B approximating to the shape of a horse
shoe nail from a nail strip or plate, the said punches co-operating with corresponding
female dies G.G¹ in a stationary block H and forcing the blanks downwardly
through the said dies which are provided with suitable springs a whereby the
accumulated blanks are prevented from falling. The punches are so arranged that
of the blanks cut at one descent of the punches, the head of one will be adjacent to
the point of the other. The plate is presented to the punches by an automatic
feeding device composed of a reciprocating bed J and a shoe J' pivoted at K to ears
on the bed and adapted to swing vertically the plate being inserted between the
bed and shoe. The bed, J, reciprocates in fixed guides and is moved by a cam L
on the shaft E, and a lever M. pivoted at N to the frame A and at O to the bed J, and
held by a spring P in contact with the surface of the cam. The approach of the
bed to the punches is limited by adjustable screws Q. S is a cam journalled in
blocks on the bed J and operated to intermittently depress the shoe J¹ by
a crank T, a connecting rod U, and a cam groove V, in a disc on the
shaft E The shoe is pressed down and the bed and shoe are moved

page_text: forward while the punches are raised, the plate being thus moved forward.
When the plate is moved forward the bed and shoe stop and grip the plate
until the punches enter it; the shoe is then released by cam S and the
bed moves back while the plate is transfixed by the punches. The cam S is
supported entirely by the bed and therefore does not increase the pressure of the
bed upon its guides when it is bearing down upon the Shoe. The shoe J¹ inter-
posed between the cam S and the nail plate resting on the bed J receives the
pressure of the cam and prevents the latter from displacing or moving the plate
when it is rotated to clamp the plate. If the cam were allowed to come directly in
contact with the plate it would have a tendency to move the plate, particularly
when the latter is nearly consumed, and is therefore so light as to be easily
moved a a (Figures 11, 12, 15 and 16) represent a pair of rolls which I term a
rolling former, each roll having a cavity b cut in its periphery the said cavities
constituting rolling dies to form and move forward a nail blank. There may be
any desired number of these rolling formers arranged in a series, each adapted to
impart a different form to a nail blank and there should be as many series of
rolling formers as there are punches B, B-There are two series in the present
example (one being marked 1, 1 and the other 2, 2) and each series is composed of
two pairs of rolls a, a; the said rolls are attached to shafts c, c, arranged in pairs as
shewn in figure 7. The rolls a project outside of the frame A so that they can be
readily seen, the Shafts of each pair are geared together and the lower shafts mesh
with two sectors d, d, which mesh with each other. One of the sectors dis
provided with a crank e connected by a rod f with a crank g on the driving
shaft E and the Sectors are thereby oscillated and caused to oscillate or vibrate the
rolls a a.
The rolls on each pair of shafts I term a gang of formers and the two
pairs in each gang are constructed to impart substantially the same form simul-
taneously to two blanks. F1 F1 represent what I call distributing forwarders;
they are composed of curved and bent arms h. h. and separable spring jaws i i on
the said arms. The arms are located on vertical spindles jj which are adapted
both to rotate and move vertically in bearings in the frame A. The spindles are
rotated by a reciprocating double rack k engaging with pinions on the spindles
as shewn in figure 5 and reciprocated by a cam m and spring n the cam forcing
the rack in one direction and the spring pressing the rack against the cam.
rack rotates the spindles jj first in one direction and then in the other, causing the
forwarders to spring back and forth horizontally. The spindles are raised by a
rock shaft o jourualled in fixed bearings in the frame A and provided with arms pp
bearing against collars 9 on the spindles and an arm bearing against a rotary
cam S; the rock shaft is worked by the rotation of the cam S and caused to
intermittently lift the spindles j; springs t t on the spindles press the latter
downwardly and keep the arm r of the rock shaft in contact with the cain 8. By
the described mechanism the forwarders F' F' (supposing the same to be in the
position shewn in Figures 2, 3 and 4) are moved horizontally to points under
the dies G G¹ then raised to grasp blanks that are at the same moment forced
out of the said dies by the punches then depressed and caused to leave the
said dies and finally moved horizontally to the positions shown in Figures 2. 3
and 4 and thus caused to present the blanks to the first gang of rolling formers
which are then vibrated so as to grasp the blanks draw them from the
forwarders F¹ and move them forward, forming them at the same time and
forcing them into two forwarders F F which are waiting at the opposite
sides of the first rolls a. a. The forwarders, F. F'. consist of separable spring
jaws, v, v, v, v, (shewn in plan at figure 14 and enlarged side elevation and
end view at figures 10° and 10d) supported on the upper ends of levers u, u, which
are pivoted to the frame A at w, w, and their lower ends are rigidly connected by a
transverse rod ; the said rod is held is-held in a socket y on a sliding bar z which
is supported in guides a¹ a' on the frame A, and is reciprocated by a cam b' and a
spring c¹ so as to oscillate the levers u, u on their pivots and move the forwarders
FF back and forth between the rolling formers in such a manner that when the
The

page_text: nail blanks are released by the first gang of rolls the forwarders, F³, F' will move
them to the second gang of rolls by which the said blanks will be grasped, removed
from the forwarders formed and forced into two succeeding forwarders F³ F³ to be.
hereinafter described which move the nail blanks from the last gang of rolling
formers to the clippers or trimming dies h¹¹-Each of the said dies consists of
a vertically reciprocating punch 3 having the exact outline of a completed nail and
a correspondingly formed punch die in a bed or block attached to the frame A;
the said clippers are adapted to turn and remove the web or fin formed on a nail
blank by the rolling formers. Over the die 4 of each clipper is located a pair
of jaws or nippers ¹ which I term false jaws. These are adapted to open to permit
a nail head to be inserted between them and are formed with hooks or shoulders
jj which close against the shank of the nail behind the head after the latter has
passed the said shoulders. The false jaws hold the nail in the proper position
relatively to the punch and die constituting each clipper and form stops which
limit the forward movement of the nails. The punches 3. 3. are attached to a
vertically reciprocating crosshead k' which is located on a vertical bar sliding
in guides in the frame A and is reciprocated vertically by a cam m¹ on the shaft E
a rod n¹ connected to the said cam and a rocking shaft o¹ journalled in the frame A.
and provided with arms 02 03 connected respectively with the rod n' and the
bar The rotation of the shaft E rocks the rocking shaft o¹ and the latter
reciprocas the bar and its cross head vertically, the arms o³ of the rock shaft
being so connected to the har that the cscillating motion of the arm will cause
a rectilinear motion of the bar. Each of the forwarders F³ is composed of a pair
of separable spring jaws q' q' attached to a suitable reciprocating support and
adapted to move equally like the jaws vv. Figures 8 and 8" shew respectively
a plan and a vertical section of one of the forwarders F³ in which the
jaws qq are formed on plates q' q' which slide on a bar b³; the said
plates have openings which receive the ends of a lever q³ pivoted at g' to
the bar band connected by a spring 83 to a post on the bar. The bar b³ is
attached to a slide which moves in a groove or guide 8¹-This construction
causes the jaws, q' q¹ to move simultaneously and equally in opposite directions so
that an object introduced between the jaws will move or displace both jaws equally
and be centred or properly placed laterally with reference to the clipping dies.
The same construction may be employed in the forwarders F2 to ensure the proper
lateral position of the blanks with reference to the nail forming cavities of the
second gang of rolls, a, a- -The forwarders FS F³ receive blanks from the last gang
of rolling formers and remove the blanks to the false jaws i¹, the construction of
the jaws q q' insuring the proper lateral position of the blanks with reference to
the punches and dies of the clippers when the blanks are placed in the false
jaws. The forwarders F3 F are reciprocated by means of levers t¹¹, connected
to the said forwarders by links u u¹ rocking shafts v' rods w₁, sliding in
guides in the frame A and rotating cams x x¹. The rods w¹ w' are pressed by
springs y¹ y against the cams x¹ x¹..
During the entire operation of the machine the blank is at no time left to itself but
is continuously grasped and held in a predetermined position. The female dies of
the punching mechanism with the springs a³, first hold the blanks after they are
separated and from the said die to the clippers the blanks are alternately grasped by
the forwarders and the formers. This continuous positive control of the blanks
ensures the nearest possible approach to perfect uniformity in the nails produced.
The rocking or vibrating motion of the rolls a, a, causes a stoppage or dead point
of the rolls when they are in position to receive the blank as shewn in Figure 11,
and this ensures the entrance of the head of the blank between the dies or
cavities b, b, and obviates any accident which might occur with continuously
rotating rolls in case the blank were not presented at the exact moment when the
dies are ready to receive it.
The spring n which presses the rack against the cam m and the spring c' which
presses the bar z against its cam 6' also impart a yielding pressure respectively to

page_text: the forwarders F¹ F¹ and F' Ft. which pressure impels each of the said forwarders
in the direction of the arrow in figure 2. This yielding pressure produces the
following results:-First, it prevents a shock or jar when the head of the blank is
brought in contact with the dies b, b, and enables the forwarders F1 F1 and F2 F*
(in case they reach the formers to which they deliver the blanks before the said
formers are ready to receive them) to press the blank heads against the peripheries
of the rolls, a, a, as shewn in Figure 16, until the opening of the dies, and then
impel the said beads into the recesses formed by the opening of the dies; secondly,
in case a blank passing through the first former in one series has more material in
it than the blank at the same time passing through the corresponding former of
the other series and is therefore made longer by its former and caused to project
farther from the said former before being released, and is detained longer than the
period fixed for the forwarders, F F to move forward, the yielding pressure
enables the forwarders F F to wait until the longer blank is released and at the
same time to move forward with the longer blank as fast as the latter is moved by
its former, so that the forwarders F will not be injured as they would be if they
were positively moved before one or both of the blanks is or are released, and the
heads of the blanks are kept in line (that is to say) at the same distance from the
second gang of formers so that they are presented simultaneously to the said
formers. The springs y¹ y¹ impart a similar yielding pressure to the forwarders
FF enabling the same to forward the blanks in line to the clippers.
By the arrangement of the formers on the ends of their shafts c c the said formers
are exposed so that any defect in their operation can be readily seen.
If desired, one of the rolls a may have a plain surface as shewn in figure 15.
The strip or plate of metal from which the blanks are punched is rolled with its
edges thicker than its central portion, the thickened edges forming the enlarged
heads of the nails. These heads cause the blanks B' to be inclined in the dies
G G. as shewn in figure 10. The jaws i, i of the forwarders F¹ can therefore
grasp the blank only at the bead, and hold it in an inclined position as shown in
Figure 10. In order to level the blanks, I provide for each forwarder F' an
inclined surface, B³ attached to the frame of the inachine and arranged to strike the
blank while it is moving horizontally and depress its raised end until it is hori-
zontal as shewn in Figure 10b.
I prefer to interpose a plate a' between the spring a³ and the heads of the
blanks in the dies G G', the said plate being pivoted to the dies G, G'.
It will be seen that the yielding pressure afforded by the springs n, c¹ and y
does not enable the forwarders, F¹ F F to yield or move from the devices which
insert the blanks into the jaws of the said forwarders but the cams m, b' and x¹ x¹
and the intermediate mechanism described hold or support the forwarders rigidly
while they are receiving the blanks.
It is obvious that a single series of devices consisting of only one of each of
the punching, forming and forwarding devices shewn will embody the important
feature of continuously grasping and progressively moving a nail blank, and will be
thus no departure from my Invention.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and
original and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore
in part recited Letters Patent, is:
First, In a horse shoe nail machine, the combination of a punching mechanism
consisting of a reciprocating punch and stationary die adapted to hold one or more
blanks with a forwarder having yielding jaws and mechanism substantially as set
forth whereby the said forwarder is presented to the die, held to receive a blank
when the latter is ejected from the die and then moved to present the blank
properly to a succeeding device as hereinbefore described.
Second, The combination of punching mechanism, a forwarder having grasping
jaws, means substantially as set forth, whereby the forwarder is held to receive a

page_text: blank, emerging from the punching mechanism and then moved to carry the blank
forward and a former arranged and operated to grasp the blank and remove it from
the forwarder as hereinbefore described.
substantially
Third. In a horse shoe nail machine, the combination of a former consisting of
a pair of rotating or vibrating rolls, a, u,-a forwarder having grasping jaws and
mechanism, simultaneously, as setforth whereby the said forwarder is presented to
a preceding device held to receive a blank from such device and moved to present
the head of the blank properly to the rolls a a as herein before described.
Fourth. The combination of two formers, an intermediate forwarder having
grasping jaws and mechanism substantially as set forth whereby the said forwarder
is held to receive a blank emerging from one former and moved to present the said
blank to the succeeding former, as hereinbefore described.
Fifth. In an organized machine for making cold rolled horse shoe nails,
employing as elements a series of devices consisting of punching mechanism to
separate a blank from a plate and formers to successfully roll the blank, the com-
bination with the said devices of a series of intermediate forwarders having grasping
jaws and mechanism substantially as set forth, whereby the said forwarders are
held to receive the blanks and move to present the same properly to the succeeding
device as herein before described.
Sixth The combination of duplicate punching mechanism arranged to cut two
blanks simultaneously from a plate, two forwarders having grasping jaws, means
substantially as set forth, whereby the said forwarders are held to receive two
blanks emerging from the punching mechanism and to carry forward and distribute
the said blanks and two formers arranged to grasp the two blanks simultaneously
and remove them from the forwarders.
Seventh. The combination of a former consisting of a pair of rolls a a, adapted
to perform a part of the operation of forming a nail, a forwarder adapted to receive
a blank from a preceding device and to present the blank to the former, and means,
substantially as set forth, for imparting a yielding pressure to the forwarder,
whereby the said forwarder is enabled to yield when its blank comes in contact
with the rolls, a a, as hereinbefore described.
Eighth. The combination, substantially set forth, of the following elements, to
wit, first, a gang of former operating in unison to form and move forward two or
more nail blanks, second, a gang of forwarders, operating in unison to receive the
nail blanks emerging from the formers, and move the said blanks forward, and
thirdly, means, substantially as described, for imparting a yielding pressure to the
said forwarders whereby the alignment of the heads of the blanks and their simul-
taneous forward movement are ensured.
Ninth In a horse shoe nail machine a pair of journalled rolls, a a, having
coinciding cavities or dies b b and mechanism, substantially as described, to oscillate
or vibrate the said rolls and bring them to a point of rest at the moment when the
dies are properly opened, whereby the dies are momentarily held to receive the
blank before moving to roll the same, combined with a forwarder having grasping
jaws and mechanism, substantially as set forth, whereby the said forwarder is
presented to a preceding device held to receive a blank from such device and moved
to present the blank to the dies b b, as hereinbefore described.
Tenth In combination with the punching mechanism and the formers, the
forwarders, F1 F1, the rotary spindles jj, supporting the said forwarders and means,
substantially as set forth, whereby the said spindles are intermittently rotated and
raised and lowered as hereinbefore described.
Eleventh The forwarder having separable spring jaws and means, substantially
as set forth, for equalizing the movement of the said jaws as and for the purposo
hereinbefore described.
Twelfth In combination with the bed, J, supporting the nail plate and the
cam S journalled in ears on the said bed, the shoe J₁ pivotted to the bed and
adapted to be pressed by the cam against the nail plate as herein before described.

page_text: Thirteenth. The combination of the clipping mechanism, consisting of the recipro-
cating punch or shear and stationary bed or die, a forwarder, F³, adapted to move
forward and present a blank to the clipping mechanism and the false jaws i¹
pivotted to the bed die and forming a stop to limit the end movement of the blank
presented to the clipping mechanism, as herein before described.
In witness whereof the said United Horse Shoe Nail Company Limited have
caused their Common Seal to be affixed hereto the twenty fifth day of
April One thousand eight hundred and eighty three
I hereby grant my Fiat giving leave to the above named United Horse Nail
Company, Limited, as Assignees of the said Letters Patent, to file in the Office of
5 the Commissioners of Patents for Inventions, with the Specification to which the-
same relates, the above written Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alteration.
Dated this 31 day of May 1883.
TT
T

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE SHOE NAILS."
A communication from abroad by Lyman Welcome Whipple, of the City of
Boston, County of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 6th January 1880.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFAC-
TURE OF HORSE SHOE NAILS." A communication from abroad by Lyman Welcome
Whipple, of the City of Boston, County of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, United
States of America.
The Invention has for its object to provide an automatic machine adapted to
rapidly form a cold rolled horse shoe nail from a strip or plate by successive
punching, rolling, and finishing operations, without releasing the nail blank or
allowing it to change its position by gravitation or accident until it is finished,
thereby ensuring the proper position of the blank with reference to the mechanism
which imparts to it its successive changes of form. The Invention also has for its
object to provide an automatic machine whereby two or more nail blanks can be
punched simultaneously from a single plate and formed simultaneously by successive:
operations into completed nails without being released until finished.
The machine is provided with general framework of suitable construction to
support the parts hereinafter described. At the front of the frame is a gang of
punches, two in number; these are attached to a crosshead which is reciprocated
vertically in guides in the frame by eccentrics on a shaft, the said eccentrics being
connected to the crosshead by rods. The punches are formed to cut or separate
blanks approximating to the shape of a horse shoe nail from a nail strip or plate,
the said punches co-operating with corresponding female dies in a stationary block,
and forcing the blanks downwardly through the said dies, which are provided with
suitable springs whereby the accumulated blanks are prevented from falling. The
punches are so arranged that of the blanks cut at one descent of the punches the
head of one will be adjacent to the point of the other. The plate is presented to
the punches by an automatic feeding device composed of a reciprocating bed and a

page_text: shoe pivotted to ears on the bed and adapted to swing vertically, the plate being
inserted between the bed and shoe. The bed reciprocates in fixed guides, and is
moved by a cam on the shaft and a lever pivotted to the frame and to the bed, and
held by a spring in contact with the surface of the cam. The approach of the bed
to the punches is limited by adjustable screws. A cam is provided which is
journalled in blocks on the bed and operated to intermittently depress the shoe by
a crank, a connecting rod, and a cam groove in a disc on the shaft on which the
eccentrics are placed. The shoe is pressed down and the bed and shoe are moved
forward while the punches are raised, the plate being thus moved forward. When
the plate is moved forward the bed and shoe stop and grip the plate until the
punches enter it; the shoe is then released by the cam, and the bed moves back
while the plate is transfixed by the punches. The cam is supported entirely by the
bed, and therefore does not increase the pressure of the bed upon its guides when it
is bearing down upon the shoe.
A pair of rolls is employed termed a rolling former, each roll having a cavity cut
in its periphery, the said cavities constituting rolling dies to form and move forward
a nail blank. There may be any desired number of these rolling formers arranged
in a series, each adapted to impart a different form to a nail blank, and there should
be as many series of rolling formers as there are punches. In the example assumed
there are two series, each composed of two pairs of rolls which are attached to shafts
arranged in pairs. The shafts of each pair are geared together, and the lower shafts
mesh with two sectors which mesh with each other. One of the sectors is provided
with a crank connected by a rod with a crank on the driving shaft, and the sectors
are thereby oscillated and caused to oscillate or vibrate the rolls. The rolls on each
pair of shafts are termed a gang of formers, and the two pairs in each gang are
constructed to impart substantially the same form simultaneously to two blanks.
There are also employed what are termed distributing forwarders; they are curved
and bent arms, and separate spring jaws are provided on the said arms. The arms
are located on vertical spindles which are adapted both to rotate and move vertically
in bearings in the frame. The spindles are rotated by a reciprocating double rack
engaging with pinions on the spindles, and reciprocated by a cam and spring. The
rack rotates the spindles first in one direction and then in the other, causing the
forwarders to swing back and forth horizontally. The spindles are raised by a rock
shaft journalled in fixed bearings in the frame, and provided with arms bearing
against collars on the spindles and an arm bearing against a rotary cam. The rock
shaft is rocked by the rotation of the cam, and caused to intermittently lift the
spindles. Springs on the spindles press the latter downwardly and keep the arm
of the rock shaft in contact with the cam. By the described mechanism the for-
warders are moved horizontally to points under the dies, then raised to grasp blanks
that are at the same moment forced out of said dies by the punches, then depressed
and caused to leave said dies, and finally moved horizontally to such positions that
they are caused to present the blanks to the first gang of rolling formers, which are
then vibrated so as to grasp the blanks, draw them from the one set of forwarders
and to move them forward, forming them at the same time and forcing them into
two forwarders which are waiting at the opposite sides of the first rolls. These
forwarders consist of separable spring jaws supported on the upper ends of levers
which are pivotted to the frame, and their lower ends are rigidly connected by a
transverse rod. The said rod is held in a socket on a sliding bar which is supported
in guides on the frame and is reciprocated by a cam and a spring, so as to oscillate
the levers on their pivots and move the forwarders back and forth between the
rolling formers in such a manner that when the nail blanks are released by the first
gang of rolls the forwarders will move them to the second gang of rolls, by which
the said blanks will be grasped, removed from the forwarders, formed, and forced
into two succeeding forwarders, to be hereinafter described, which move the nail
blanks from the last gang of rolling formers to the clippers or trimming dies. Each
of the said dies consists of a vertically reciprocating punch having the exact outline
of a completed nail, and a correspondingly formed female die in a bed or block

page_text: attached to the frame. The said clippers are adapted to trim and remove the web
or fin formed on a nail blank by the rolling formers. Over the die of each clipper
is located a pair of jaws or nippers termed false jaws. These are adapted to open
to permit a nail head to be inserted between them, and are formed with hooks or
shoulders which close against the shank of the nail behind the head after the latter
has passed the said shoulders. The false jaws hold the nail in the proper position
relatively to the punch and die constituting each clipper. The punches are attached
to a vertically reciprocating crosshead which is operated by suitable connections
with the driving shaft. Each of these forwarders is composed of a pair of separable
spring jaws attached to a suitable reciprocating support, and adapted to move
equally like the jaws before referred to. The jaws may be formed on plates which
slide on a bar; the said plates have openings which receive the ends of a lever
pivotted to the bar and connected by a spring to a post on the bar. The bar is
attached to a slide which moves in a groove or guide. The forwarders receive.
blanks from the last gang of rolling formers and remove the blanks to the false
jaws, the construction of the jaws of the forwarders ensuring the proper lateral
position of the blanks with reference to the punches and dies of the clippers when
the blanks are placed in the false jaws. The forwarders are reciprocated by means
of levers (connected to them by links), rock shafts, rods sliding in guides in the
frame, and rotating cams. The rods are pressed by springs against the cams.
During the entire operation of the machine the blank is at no time left to itself,
but is continuously grasped and held in a predetermined position. The female dies
of the punching mechanism with the springs first hold the blanks after they are
pivotted, and from the said dies to the clippers the blanks are alternately grasped
by the forwarders and the formers. This continuous positive control of the blanks
ensures the nearest possible approach to perfect uniformity in the nails produced.
It is obvious that a single series of devices, consisting of only one of each of the
punching, forming, and forwarding devices, may be employed so as to continuously
grasp and progressively move a nail blank, in the manner herein before described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st July
.1880.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFAC
TURE OF HORSE SHOE NAILS." A communication from abroad by Lyınan Welcome
Whipple, of the City of Boston, County of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, United
States of America.
The said Invention has for its object to provide an automatic machine adapted
to rapidly form a cold rolled horse shoe nail from a strip or plate by successive
punching, rolling, and finishing operations, without releasing the nail blank or
allowing it to change its position by gravitation or accident until it is finished,
thereby ensuring the proper position of the blank with reference to the mechanism
which imparts to it its successive changes of form. The Invention also has for its
object to provide an automatic machine, whereby two or more nail blanks can be
punched simultaneously from a single plate and formed simultaneously by successive
operations into completed nails without being released until finished.
Of the accompanying Drawings forming a part of this Specification, Figure 1
represent a front elevation of a machine embodying my Invention; Figure 2
represents a side elevation of the same; Figure 3 represents a plan; Figure
represents a section taken along the line x, x, Figure 2, looking downwardly;
Figure 5 represents a section taken along the line y, y, Figure 2, looking upwardly;
Figure 6 represents a section taken along the line 2, z, Figure 2; Figure 7 represents
a section on line 2', z¹, Figure 1. The remaining Figures represent views of parts
in detail.
In the Drawings A represents the general frame work of suitable construction to
support the parts hereinafter described. At the front of the frame is a gang of
punches B, B, two in number. These are attached to a cross head C which is
reciprocated vertically in guides in the frame A by eccentrics D, D, on a shaft E,
the said eccentrics being connected to the cross head by rods F, F. The punches B, B,
are formed to cut separate blanks B2 approximating to the shape of a horse shoe
nail from a nail strip or plate, the said punches co-operating with corresponding
female dies G, G¹, in a stationary block H and forcing the blanks downwardly
through the said dies which are provided with suitable springs a³, whereby the
accumulated blanks are prevented from falling. The punches are so arranged that
of the blanks cut at one descent of the punches, the head of one will be adjacent to
the point of the other. The plate is presented to the punches by an automatic
feeding device composed of a reciprocating bed J and a shoe J¹ pivoted at K to
ears on the bed and adapted to swing vertically, the plate being inserted between
the bed and shoe. The bed J reciprocates in fixed guides and is moved by a cam L
on the shaft E, and a lever M pivoted at N to the frame A and at O to the bed J,
and held by a spring P in contact with the surface of the cam. The approach of
the bed to the punches is limited by adjustable screws Q. S is a cam journalled in
blocks on the bed J and operated to intermittently depress the shoe J' by a
crank T, a connecting rod U, and a cam groove V, in a disc on the shaft E. The
shoe is pressed down and the bed and shoe are moved forward while the punches
are raised, the plate being thus moved forward. When the plate is moved forward
the bed and shoe stop and grip the plate until the punches enter it; the shoe is then
released by cam S and the bed moves back while the plate is transfixed by the
punches. The cam S is supported entirely by the bed, and therefore does not
increase the pressure of the bed upon its guides when it is bearing down upon the shoe.
The shoe J¹ interposed between the cam S and the nail plate resting on the bed J,
receives the pressure of the cam and prevents the latter from displacing or moving

page_text: he plate when it is rotated to clamp the plate. If the cam were allowed to come
directly in contact with the plate it would have a tendency to move the plate,
particularly when the latter is nearly consumed, and is therefore so light as to
be easily moved. a, a, (Figures 11, 12, 15, and 16,) represent a pair of rolls which
I term a rolling former, each roll having a cavity b cut in its periphery, the said
cavities constituting rolling dies to form and move forward a nail blank. There
may be any desired number of these rolling formers arranged in a series, each
adapted to impart a different form to a nail blank, and there should be as many
There are two series in the
series of rolling formers as there are punches B, B.
present example (one being marked 1, 1, and the other 2, 2), and each series is
composed of two pairs of rolls a, a; the said rolls are attached to shafts c, c, arranged
in pairs, as shewn in Figure 7. The rolls a project outside of the frame A, so
that they can be readily seen, the shafts of each pair are geared together, and the
lower shafts mesh with two sectors d, d, which mesh with each other. One of the
sectors d is provided with a crank e connected by a rod ƒ with a crank g on the
driving shaft E, and the sectors are thereby oscillated and caused to oscillate or
vibrate the rolls a, a. The rolls on each pair of shafts I term a gang of formers,
and the two pairs in each gang are constructed to impart substantially the same
form simultaneously to two blanks. F¹, F', represent what I call distributing
forwarders; they are composed of curved and bent arms h, h, and separable spring
jaws i, i, on the said arms. The arms h, h,, are located on vertical spindles j, 1,
which are adapted both to rotate and move vertically in bearings in the frame A.
The spindles are rotated by a reciprocating double rack k engaging with pinions l, l,
on the spindles, as shewn in Figure 5, and reciprocated by a cam m and spring n,
the cam forcing the rack in one direction, and the spring pressing the rack against
the cam. The rack rotates the spindles j,j, first in one direction and then in the
other, causing the forwarders to swing back and forth horizontally. The spindles
are raised by a rock shaft o journalled in fixed bearings in the frame A, and
provided with arms p, p, bearing against collars q on the spindles, and an arm r
bearing against a rotary cam 8; the rock shaft is worked by the rotation of the
and caused to intermittently lift the spindles j; springs t, t, on the spindles
press the latter downwardly and keep the arm r of the rock shaft in contact with
the cam 8. By the described mechanism the forwarders F¹, F¹, (supposing the
same to be in the position shewn in Figures 2, 3, and 4) are moved horizontally
to points under the dies G, G', then raised to grasp blanks that are at the same
moment forced out of the said dies by the punches, then depressed and caused to
leave the said dies, and finally moved horizontally to the positions shewn in
Figures 2, 3, and 4, and thus caused to present the blanks to the first gang of
rolling formers, which are then vibrated so as to grasp the blanks, draw them
from the forwarders F', and move them forward, forming them at the same time,
and forcing them into two forwarders F, F, which are waiting at the opposite
sides of the first rolls a, a. The forwarders F*, F2, consist of separable spring
jaws v, v, v, v, (shewn in plan at Figure 12, and enlarged side elevation and end
view at Figures 10 c and 10 d) supported on the upper ends of levers u, u, which
are pivoted to the frame A at w, w, and their lower ends are rigidly connected by
a transverse rod ; the said rod is held in a socket y, on a sliding bar z, which is
supported in guides a¹, a', on the frame A, and is reciprocated by a cam b' and a
spring c, so as to oscillate the levers u, u, on their pivots, and move the forwarders
F, F, back and forth between the rolling formers in such a manner that when
the nail blanks are released by the first gang of rolls the forwarders F³, F2, will
move them to the second gang of rolls by which the said blanks will be grasped,
removed from the forwarders formed, and forced into two succeeding forwarders
F, F, to be hereinafter described, which move the nail blanks from the last gang
of rolling formers to the clippers or trimming dies h', h¹. Each of the Baid dies
5 consists of a vertically reciprocating punch 3 having the exact outline of a completed
nail and a correspondingly formed punch die in a bed or block attached to the
frame A; the said clippers are adapted to turn and remove the web or fin formed on
cam 8,

page_text: a nail blank by the rolling formers. Over the die 4 of each clipper is located a
pair of jaws or nippers i, which I term false jaws. These are adapted to open to
permit a nail head to be inserted between them and are formed with books or
shoulders,, which close against the shank of the nail behind the head after the
latter has passed the said shoulders. The false jaws hold the nail in the proper
position relatively to the punch and die constituting each clipper and form stops
which limit the forward movement of the nails. The punches 3, 3, are attached to
a vertically reciprocating crosshead k' which is located on a vertical bar sliding
in guides in the frame A, and is reciprocated vertically by a cam m¹ on the shaft E,
a rod n¹ connected to the said cam and a rocking shaft o journalled in the frame A
and provided with arms o², o³, connected respectively with the rod n¹ and the bar l
The rotation of the shaft E rocks the rocking shaft o¹ and the latter reciprocates
the bar and its crosshead vertically, the arms o³ of the rock shaft being so
connected to the bar that the oscillating motion of the arm will cause a rectilienear
motion of the bar. Each of the forwarders F³ is composed of a pair of separable
spring jaws q, ql, attached to a suitable reciprocating support and adapted to move
equally like the jaws v, v. Figures 8 and 8a shew respectively a plan and a vertical
section of one of the forwarders F in which the jaws q, q', are formed on plates
9, q, which slide on a bar 63; the said plates have openings which receive the ends
of a lever q pivoted at g' to the bar 63 and connected by a spring &³ to a post on
the bar. The bar 63 is attached to a slide which moves in a groove or guide 8¹.
This construction causes the jaws q', q', to move simultaneously and equally in
opposite directions so that an object introduced between the jaws will move or
displace both jaws equally and be centred or properly placed laterally with reference
to the clipping dies. The same construction may be employed in the forwarders F³
to ensure the proper lateral position of the blanks with reference to the nail forming
cavities of the second gang of rolls a, a. The forwarders F3, F3, receive blanks
from the last gang of rolling formers and remove the blanks to the false jaws i¹, the
construction of the jaws q, q', insuring the proper lateral position of the blanks
with reference to the punches and dies of the clippers when the blanks are placed
in the false jaws i, i. The forwarders F³, F, are reciprocated by means of levers
,, (connected to the said forwarders by links u¹, u¹, rocking. shafts v¹, v²;
rods wi, w; sliding in guides in the frame A, and rotating cams x; ¹. The rods
w¹, w¹, are pressed by springs y', y', against the cams x', x².
During the entire operation of the machine the blank is at no time left to itself,
but is continously grasped and held in a predetermined position. The female dies
of the punching mechanism with the springs as first hold the blanks after they are
separated, and from the said die to the clippers the blanks are alternately grasped
by the forwarders and the formers. This continuous positive control of the
blanks ensures the nearest possible approach to perfect uniformity in the. nails
produced.
The rocking or vibrating motion of the rolls a, a, causes a stoppage or dead point
of the rolls when they are in position to receive the blank, as shewn in Figure 11,
and this ensures the entrance of the head of the blank between the dies. or
cavities b, b, and obviates any accident which might occur. with continuously:
rotating rolls in case the blank were not presented at the exact: moment when tho.
dies are ready to receive it.
The spring which presses the rack against the cam m and the spring c¹ which
presses the bar against its cam 6 also impart a yielding pressure respectively to
the forwarders F, F, and F2, F2, which pressure impels each of the said forwarders
in the direction of the arrow in Figure 2. This yielding pressure produces the
following results:-First, it prevents a shock or jar when the head of the blank is
brought in contact with the dies b, b, and enables the forwarders F¹, F¹, and F2, F³,
(in case they reach the formers to which they deliver the blanks before the said
formers are ready to receive them) to press the blank heads against the peripheries
of the rolls a, a, as shewn in Figure 16, until the opening of the dies, and then
impel the said heads into the recesses formed by the opening of the dies; secondly,

page_text: in case a blank passing through the first former in one series has more material in
it than the blank at the same time passing through the corresponding former of the
other series, and is therefore made longer by its former and caused to project farther
from the said former before being released, and is detained longer than the period
fixed for the forwarders F2, F2, to move forward, the yielding pressure enables the
forwarders F, F, to wait until the longer blank is released, and at the same time
to move forward with the longer blank as fast as the latter is moved by its former,
so that the forwarders F will not be injured as they would be if they were
positively moved before one or both of the blanks is or are released, and the heads
of the blanks are kept in line, that is to say, at the same distance from the second
gang of formers, so that they are presented simultaneously to the said formers.
The springs y¹, y, impart a similar yielding pressure to the forwarders F³, F³,
enabling the same to forward the blanks in line to the clippers.
By the arrangement of the formers on the ends of their shafts c, c, the said
formers are exposed, so that any defect in their operation can be readily seen.
If desired one of the rolls a may have a plain surface, as shewn in Figure 15.
The strip or plate of metal from which the blanks are punched is rolled with its
edges thicker than its central portion, the thickened edges forming the enlarged
beads of the nails. These heads cause the blanks B to be inclined in the dies G, G³,
as shewn in Figure 10. The jaws i, i, of the forwarders F¹ can therefore grasp
the blank only at the head, and hold it in an inclined position, as shown in
Figure 10. In order to level the blanks I provide for each forwarder F¹ an inclined
surface b³ attached to the frame of the machine and arranged to strike the blank
while it is moving horizontally and depress its raised end until it is horizontal, as
shewn in Figure 10b.
I prefer to interpose a plate a between the spring a³ and the heads of the blanks
in the dies G, G', the said plate being pivoted to the dies G, G¹.
It will be seen that the yielding pressure afforded by the springs n, c¹, and y¹,
does not enable the forwarders F1, F2, F3, to yield or move from the devices which
insert the blanks into the jaws of the said forwarders, but the cams m, b¹, and x¹, x¹,
and the intermediate mechanism described hold or support the forwarders rigidly
while they are receiving the blanks.
It is obvious that a single series of devices consisting of only one of each of the
punching, forming, and forwarding devices shewn will embody the important feature
of continuously grasping and progressively moving a nail blank, and will be thus
no departure from my Invention.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
First. In a horse shoe nail machine the combination of a punching mechanism
consisting of a reciprocating punch and stationary die adapted to hold one or more
blanks with a forwarder having yielding jaws and mechanism, substantially as set
forth, whereby the said forwarder is presented to the die, held to receive a blank
when the latter is ejected from the die, and then moved to present the blank
properly to a succeeding device, as hereinbefore described.
Second. The combination of punching mechanism, a forwarder having grasping
jaws, means substantially as set forth, whereby the forwarder is held to receive a
blank emerging from the punching mechanism and then moved to carry the blank
forward, and a former arranged and operated to grasp the blank and remove it
from the forwarder, as hereinbefore described.
Third. In a horse shoe nail machine, the combination of a former consisting of a
pair of rotating or vibrating rolls a, a, a forwarder having grasping jaws and
iuechanism, substantially as set forth, whereby the said forwarder is presented to a

page_text: preceding device held to receive a blank from such device and moved to present
the head of the blank properly to the rolls a, a, as hereinbefore described.
Fourth. The combination of two formers, an intermediate forwarder having
grasping jaws and mechanism, substantially as set forth, whereby the said forwarder
is held to receive a blank emerging from one former and moved to present the said
blank to the succeeding former, as hereinbefore described.
Fifth. In an organised machine for making cold rolled horse shoe nails, employing
as elements a series of devices consisting of punching mechanism to separate a blank
from a plate, and formers to successively roll the blank, the combination with the
said devices of a series of intermediate forwarders having grasping jaws and
mechanism, substantially as set forth, whereby the said forwarders are held to
receive the blanks and moved to present the same properly to the succeeding device,
as hereinbefore described.
Sixth. The combination of duplicate punching mechanism arranged to cut two
blades simultaneously from a plate, two forwarders having grasping jaws, means
substantially as set forth, whereby the said forwarders are held to receive two
blanks emerging from the punching mechanism, and to carry forward and distribute
the said blanks, and two formers arranged to grasp the two blades simultaneously
and remove them from the forwarders.
Seventh. The combination of a former consisting of a pair of rolls a, a, adapted
to perform a part of the operation of forming a nail, a forwarder adapted to receive
a blank from a preceding device and to present the blank to the former, and means,
substantially as set forth, for imparting a yielding pressure to the forwarder,
whereby the said forwarder is enabled to yield when its blank comes in contact
with the rolls a, a, as hereinbefore described.
Eighth. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the following elements, to
wit, first, a gang of formers operating in unison to form and move forward two
or more nail blanks; second, a gang of forwarders operating in unison to receive
the nail blanks emerging from the formers, and move the said blanks forward; and,
thirdly, means, substantially as described, for imparting a yielding pressure to the
said forwarders whereby the alignment of the heads of the blanks and their simul-
taneous forward movement are ensured.
Ninth. In a horse shoe nail machine, a pair of journalled rolls a, a, having coin-
ciding cavities or dies b, b, and mechanism, substantially as described, to oscillate
or vibrate the said rolls and bring them to a point of rest at the moment when the
dies are properly opened, whereby the dies are momentarily held to receive the
blank before moving to roll the same, combined with a forwarder having grasping
jaws and mechanism, substantially as set forth, whereby the said forwarder is
presented to a preceding device held to receive a blank from such device, and moved
to present the blank to the dies b, b, as herein before described.
Tenth. In a horse shoe nail machine, one or more series of formers to form a nail
or nails by successive operations, and one or more series of forwarders to move the
blank or blanks between the formers, all so arranged as to expose the nail blank or
blanks to view, as hereinbefore described.
Eleventh. In combination with the punching mechanism and the formers the
forwarders F, F, the rotary spindles j,j, supporting the said forwarders, and means,
substantially as set forth, whereby the said spindles are intermittently rotated and
raised and lowered, as hereinbefore described.
Twelfth. The forwarder having separable spring jaws and means, substantially
as set forth, for equalizing the movement of the said jaws, as and for the purpose
herein before described.
Thirteenth. In combination with the bed J, supporting the nail plate, and the
cam S journalled in ears on the said bed, the shoe J1 pivotted to the bed and adapted
to be pressed by the cams against the nail plate, as hereinbefore described.
Fourteenth. The combination of the clipping mechanism, consisting of the recipro-
cating punch or shear and stationary bed or die, a forwarder F³ adapted to move

page_text: forward and present a blank to the clipping mechanism, and the false jaws " pivotted
to the bed die and forming a stop to limit the end movement of the blank presented
to the clipping mechanism, as herein before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this my Speci-
fication set my hand and seal, the Third day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and eighty.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)