IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS, AND IN MACHINERY TO BE WORD BY THE SAID MANUFACTURE
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Whittle, of Smethwick, near Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS, AND IN MACHINERY TO BE
WORD BY THE SAID MANUFACTURE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Whittle at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
November 1859.
I, WILLIAM WHITTLE, of Smethwick, near Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS, AND IN MACHINERY
TO BE USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE," to be as follows:--
My improvements in the manufacture of nails consist in using rods of iron
of a circular or elliptical cross section instead of the square rods ordinarily
employed. By the use of rods of the form described, there is little or no
tendency to the formation of burrs when the said rods are rolled into nails.
My improvements in the manufacture of nails consist further in rolling
strips or bars of iron, having on one side the figure of a series of steps or
wedges joined together. The said steps or wedges lie transversely on the strip,
so that when the said strip is cut or slit longitudinally, the rods produced
resemble a series of headless nails joined together. Before heading and cutting
off the nails produced from the said rods, 1 anneal the said rods in close
muffles or annealing chambers and pass them through a pair of plain rolls for
the purpose of planishing them on their sides, and correcting any twist that
may have been given to them in the process of slitting.

page_text: My improvements in machinery to be used in the manufacture of nails
consist as follows:-Instead of making the rolls used for rolling rods of iron
into partially formed nails, of a pair, one of which engages between fixed
flanges on the other, I make the said rolls as follows:-I make the flanges of
the flanged roll loose, so as to have a slight play upon the middle part of the
roll, the inner faces of the flanges being slightly conical, so that when pressed
towards each other at any point, the faces of the flanges are at that point
parallel. I add a pair of pressing rolls to press the loose flanges tightly against
the roll inclosed between them. By this method of construction the formation
of burrs is prevented. Instead of the pressure rolls, the flanges may work
against fixed bearings, and I sometimes employ fixed side supports instead of
the loose flanges. In the heading machine, by which the nails are headed and
cut off, I employ a stop, which by a reciprocating motion allows a sufficient
length of rod to pass to form a perfect nail, and then stops the rod during the
process of heading. The rods are fed into the heading machine by means of a
pulley having a continuous motion, but with a band so slack that the motion
may be arrested by the stop described acting upon the rod.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Whittle in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WHITTLE, of Smethwick, near Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Mechanical Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Whittle, Her special licence that I, the said William
Whittle, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Whittle, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS, AND IN MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE SAID
MANUFACTURE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William

page_text: Whittle, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
5 Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Whittle, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
My improvements in the manufacture of nails consist, firstly, in using rods
of iron of a circular or elliptical cross section in the manufacture of such nails
as are made by rolling. By the use of rods of the forms described there is
little or no tendency to the formation of burrs when the said rods are rolled
into nails.
My improvements in the manufacture of nails consist, secondly, in rolling
strips or bars of iron of the kind represented in plan in Figure 1, and in edge
view in Figure 2 of the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, strips or bars
baving on one side the figure of a series of steps or wedges joined together,
the summits of the said steps or wedges being marked a, in Figures 1 and 2.
The said steps or wedges lie transversely on the strip or bar of iron, so that
when the said strip or bar is cut or slit longitudinally as indicated by the
lines b, Figure 1, the rods produced resemble a series of headless nails joined
together; Figure 2 represents one of the said rods cut from Figure 1, as well
as representing an edge view of Figure 1. The grain or fibre of the iron is in
the direction of the length of the rods, thus preserving the toughness of the
wrought nail to the same extent as when made from the ordinary nail rods.
The machine by which I slit or cut the iron Figure 1 into strips to be after-
wards made into nails is represented in Figures 3, 4, and 5 of the Drawings;
Figure 3 is a side elevation; and Figure 4 an end elevation; Figure 5 is a
plan; and Figure 6 represents on a larger scale the cutting tools and the
sheet iron to be cut. The same letters are employed to indicate the same
parts in Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6. c is the lower or fixed cutter, the upper
surface of which is made of a figure suitable to fit the iron to be cut, as will
be understood by reference to Figure 6. The moveable cutter d is fixed in
the frame e, which rises and falls vertically in a dovetail in the frame f; the
iron g to be cut is forced against a fixed stop h, by means of a feeder con-
structed as follows:-A cranked lever i is weighted at k, and at its upper end
carries an arm, the forked end of which bears against the plate of iron g,

page_text: the said plate of iron is thereby constantly pressed forward when at liberty to
move against the stop h. The plate of iron g is held firmly during the cutting
process by the pressing plate m, which is pressed upon the plate of iron by
the cam n on the shaft o, the said cam n is shewn separately in Figure 7.
When the concave part p of the said cam comes over the screw q, the plate m
is no longer pressed down but is raised by coiled springs attached to the
hooks r, but not shewn in the Drawing. The upper cutter d is worked by
an eccentrics on the shaft o, the said eccentrics by its rotation raising and
lowering the said upper cutter. The shaft o carrying the cam n and eccentric s
is worked from the shaft t by the bevil gearing u, u; the cranked lever i may
be held back when required by the catch v. Before heading and cutting off
the nails from the rods, having the form of Figure 2, I anneal the said rods
in close muffles constructed in the manner represented in Figures 8 and 9;
Figure 8 representing a vertical longitudinal section, and Figure 9 a transverse
vertical section, the said section Figure 9 being taken through the line c,
Figure 8. The same letters are employed to indicate the same parts in
Figures 8, 9, and 10. The muffles d, d, made of iron or earthy matter
are supported so that the fire from the furnace e can circulate freely about
them, as will be understood by an examination of Figure 9. By making the
fire descend in the manner represented at f, Figure 8, the ends of the
muffles d, d, are heated to the same temperature as the other parts of the
said muffles. By this arrangement I am enabled to impart a regular and
uniform heat to such rods or strips of iron as I make use of for the formation
of nails without bringing them in direct contact with the fire or sulphur
arising from the combustion of the fuel. They are thereby kept from burning
and the quality of the iron is preserved or rather improved by the introduction
of a little ground charcoal among the rods while being heated. The stack g,
has a damper at its top by which the draught through the fire may be
regulated. After the rods have been annealed, and while in a heated state
pass them through a pair of plain rolls similar to those herein-after described
and represented in Figure 15, excepting that the peripheries of both rolls are
plain. The rods having the form of Figure 2 are passed through the rolls in
such a manner that the said rolls planish them on their sides only, and correct
any twist that may have been given to them in the process of slitting. Instead
of planishing and perfecting the edges of the rod by means of rolls the same
may be effected either by stamping or pressing.
I sometimes form blanks or rods of the shape represented in Figure 2 by
rolling plain strips or ordinary nail rods of iron by means of rolls as represented
in Figures 10 and 12. The strips or rods when heated in the muffles d, d,

page_text: are passed along the platform h, between the rolls i, k; the platform his
shown separately in plan in Figure 11; the said platform guides the rods into
the rolls. After leaving the rolls the rod passes through the channel 1, which
is square in cross section, and by this means the rod becomes straightened and
is delivered upon a second table or platform, and whilst still in a heated state
is passed into the edging or planishing rolls; it then passes through a second
straightening tube on to a receiving table, from whence the rods are conveyed
to the heading machine.
The manner in which the rolls, Figure 10, are constructed is illustrated in
Figure 12, which represents the said rolls in front elevation (partly in section).
Instead of making the said rolls for rolling rods of iron into partially formed
nails of a pair, one of which engages between fixed flanges on the other, I
make the said rolls as follows:-The flanges m, m, on the upper roll n are
loose so as to have a slight play upon the middle part of the roll n; the said
flanges m, m, on the upper roll n are, however, loosely keyed to the roll so as
to be carried round with it.
The inner faces of the flanges m, m, are slightly conical, so that when
pressed towards each other at any point the faces of the flanges m, m, are at
tbat point parallel; o, o, are fixed bearings underneath the upper roll, between
which the flanges m, m, work. The said bearings o, o, are made to press
tightly against the flanges m, m, and thereby to press the said flanges against
the side faces of the upper and lower rolls or discs at the point q. By this
method of constructing the rolls, rods of iron may be rolled into the
Figure represented in Figure 2, both on the flat and on the edge at the same
time without the formation of burrs. The bearings o, o, are fitted between
the housings of the rolls, and are adjusted by screws, one of which is shewn in
Figure 12, and marked o². Instead of fixed bearings o, o, I sometimes sub-
stitute pressing or friction rolls; I sometimes make the space q, Figure 12,
through which the iron passes rather wider than the iron rolled in it, so that
there is no lateral pressure exerted upon the iron until the flattening process
has expanded the iron at different parts into the shape represented in elevation
and plan at r and s, Figure 13. The space q, Figure 12, is of such a width
that no lateral pressure is exerted until the rod has acquired the width of the
part indicated by the line t, Figure 13. The rod may afterwards be planished
as herein-before described, so as to make the sides s³ and s³ parallel, as shewn
at u, Figure 13. The rods may also be passed between rolls of a sufficient
width to admit of the full expansion or flattening of the iron, but having no
side cheeks to control the lateral pressure, and afterwards passed through the
edging rolls; but I prefer controlling them when near the points by the

page_text: side cheeks. I sometimes modify the rolls, Figure 12, in the manner illus
trated in elevation (partly in section) in Figure 14, that is to say, I make the
flanges m, m2, cupped so as to permit the thick flange of the upper roll
partially to enter the said flanges m², m². I sometimes dispense altogether
with the loose flanges m, m, Figure 12, as shown in Figure 15, and cause the
flanges on the upper and lower rolls to work between fixed bearings v, v,
which are adjustable in the same manner as described with reference to
Figure 12.
Figure 16 represents in end elevation the fixed bearings against the loose
collars shewn in front elevation in Figures 12 and 14. In the heading
machine by which the rods, Figure 2, are headed and cut off, I employ
a stop in feeding the said rods, as represented in plan in Figure 17, which
said Figure represents a portion of a heading machine to which my Invention
is applied. The said beading machine is described in the Specification of a
prior Patent granted to me; and I do not think it necessary to describe it
further than with respect to the feeding apparatus.
Figure 18 represents the feeding rolls in end elevation. As the rod w is
fed into the machine between the rolls a, a, the sliding stop y is pressed
against the inclined side of the said rod by means of the coiled spring z, and
bearing against the point 2 of the said rod w, prevents the said rod advancing
further than is requisite between the gripping and cutting off' dies 3, 3.
After
the heading punch 7 has advanced and formed the head, and the nail has
been cut off, the dies 3, 3, open as indicated by dotted lines, the stop y is
momentarily withdrawn by means of the lever 4, and the point 2 of the rod
passes the end of the stop y. The said stop is immediately again pressed
against the inclined side of the rod w, and stops the said rod when it comes in
contact with the next of the projections 2 on the said rod. There is thus
allowed exactly the sufficient length of rod required to form a perfect nail to
enter the machine at a time. After the last end of the rod has passed the
gripping part of the rolls there will be two or more blanks still left in the
machine, but on the introduction of another rod, this part will be passed
forward to be in like manner headed; or a small tool may be inserted by the
workman to carry them forward into the machine before introducing the next
rod. The lever 4 is worked by a cam on the shaft of the machine, which I
have not thought it necessary to represent in the Drawing. The feeding
rolls x, x, are worked by means of a pulley 5, having a continuous motion;
but the band 6, which drives the said pulley, is so slack, that the motion of the
feeding rollers x, x, may be arrested by the stop y acting on the rod w, as
described, or if the band be tight, the rolls slip on the rods.

page_text: Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the
same may be varied without departing from the nature of my said Invention;
but I claim as my Invention,-
Firstly, making the rods of iron of which square machine made wrought
nails are manufactured of a circular or elliptical cross section.
Secondly, making strips or bars of iron to be afterwards cut or slit into rods
for making nails in the following manner, that is to say, rolling the said bars
plain on one side, and with transverse inclines on the other side, such inclines
being in the direction of the fibre of the iron, as herein-before described and
illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly, planishing or correcting the figure of the sides or edges of rods of
iron to be made into nails, as herein-before described with reference to
Figure 15 of the accompanying Drawings.
Fourthly, the new or improved machinery to be used in the manufacture of
nails, herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12,
14, 15, and 16 of the accompanying Drawings.
Fifthly, regulating the length of rod fed into machines for heading and
cutting off nails by means of a stop, as herein-before described and illustrated
in Figure 17 of the accompanying Drawing.
Sixthly, the method of heating and annealing small rods used in the
manufacture of nails, as herein-before described with reference to Figures 8
and 9 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Whittle, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw.
WILLIAM WHITTLE. (L.S.)