IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOT AND SHOE NAILING MACHINES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Greene Budlong, of the City of Providence, State
of Rhode Island, one of the United States of America, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOT AND SHOE NAILING MACHINES."
Sealed the 13th January 1880, and dated the 18th July 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Greene Budlong at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th July 1879.
WILLIAM GREENE BUDLONG, of the City of Providence, State of Rhode Island,
one of the United States of America. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOT AND SHOE
NAILING MACHINES."
This Invention has reference to that class of boot and shoe nailing or pegging
machines in which a metallic fastening device is used to secure the solos to the
boots or shoes, and in which the device is made from wire fed to the machine, cut
and driven automatically.
One object of the said Invention is to construct such a machine in such a manner
that the whole operation of securing the soles to boots or shoes will be performed
by automatically shaping and preparing the wire, cutting the point on one nail and
squaring the driving end of the previous nail, carrying the nail to the driver, and
driving the nail home by a blow.
Another object of the said Invention is to so construct the machine that the
length of the fastening devices can be regulated and varied whilst the machine is in
operation.
The said Invention comprises a peculiar and novel construction of machine by
which all the functions of shaping, cutting, carrying, and driving the wire, and also
of feeding the work, are performed through the means of cams secured to one
driving shaft, and all complicated machinery is avoided, whilst the various operations
are performed in their regular successions more perfectly than heretofore. The
Invention further comprises connecting with the wire feeding device a device for
regulating the length of the wires.
Machines for nailing or pegging boots or shoes are operated by persons who are
not skilled mechanics, and such machines have to exert considerable force in per-
forming their functions; they are therefore liable to wear and derangement. In
machines as heretofore constructed the slightest wear creates lost motion, and the

page_text: different parts of the machine fail to perform their functions consecutively at the
precise moment required, and thus cause the stoppage of the machine. By moving
all-the-parts-of-the-machine-either directly-by_the_cams on the driving shaft or by
_means of simple levers transmitting the motions directly to the parts, the whole
machine is reduced to the fewest possible-parts, and these parts are made strong
with broad-wearing surfaces, whilst the construction of the cams is such that con-
siderable wear can take place without interfering with the consecutive and accurate
working of the machine."
In carrying the said Invention into practice I provide-a-driving wheel by which
the machine is operated, usually by a belt driven by some prime motor; all the cams
-are-secured to a driving shaft, one cam operates a locking device, another cam
operates a rack by which the carrier is rotated, another cam operates a cutter bar,
another cam operates a rack by which wire corrugating rolls are rotated, a double
cam operates the work feeding device, and another cam is employed for raising the
driver. The first named cam is connected by a hinged lever with the locking bar,
which locking bar enters the nail-carrier in a slit or recess for locking the same
at the moment when the cutter cuts the nail off from the wire, and at the same
time points the succeeding nail, and also when the carrier has brought the
nail under the driver by entering another recess, the carrier is by these means
locked in each of these two positions, and the fastening device is accurately and
firmly held in the proper position both for cutting and for driving.
The cam operating the rack by which the carrier is rotated is connected' by
means of a lever with a slide the forward end of which is provided with the said
rack gearing into a pinion on the nail-carrier so that the reciprocation of the slide
rotates the carrier.
The cam to operate the cutter-bar is connected by a lever with the cutter-bar,
and each rotation of this cam produces one reciprocation of the cutter-bar, and as
the notion of the cutter-bar is but slight the cam acts with great force and the
cutter readily cuts the nail or fastening device off the wire. One of the said cams
raises an arm secured to a rod against the force of a coiled spring and allows. the
said rod to descend by the force of the said coiled spring; to the lower end of the
rod a rack is secured which gearing into a pinion turns two gear-wheels or rolls as
the rod descends, a clutch allowing the pinion to turn when the rod is raised without
turning the said gear wheels or rolls.
It is evident that when a wire is inserted between the rolls that the length of
the wire delivered by the rolls depends on the rotation of the same, and as they
are rotated by the descent of the rod and rack the length of the wire delivered
can be regulated by regulating the length of the vertical reciprocation of the said
rack to so regulate the length; a slide is provided with a serrated stop arranged to
arrest the descent of the rack at varying heights, for the farther the rack descends
the longer will be the wire delivered by the rolls to the cutter, and consequently
the longer the nail or fastening device,-and-the-contrary will be the case when the
rack is arrested in its descent at a higher point.
t.j
The slide may be operated by a pin secured to a bevelled gear wheel, and
working in a slot in the slide, which bevelled gear wheel is operated by another
bevelled gear wheel operated by a lever, but it is obvious that the slide may
be operated in various ways to regulate the length of the nail or fastening
device.
t
The double cam operates within a frame and imparts vertical as well as horizontal
motion to a feeder arm, the lower end of which is pressed against the solo
or other
work to be nailed, and being serrated carries the work, forward after each nail is
driven; the said feeder-arm is hinged near its upper end, and as the frame is made
to follow the double cam by the action of the spring a set-screw or other stop may
be arranged to arrest the return motion of the feeder arm, and thereby the feed of
the work and the distance between the nailing devices can be regulated.
The cam for raising the driver on the end of the shaft operates by coming in
contact with an arm secured to the driver; the upper end of the driver is provided

page_text: with a piston working in a dashpot and above the piston a spring is secured to the
bar of the driver which when the driver is raised comes in contact with arms
secured to a post so that the driver descends when released from the cam by a
strong quick blow exerted by the said spring.
The wire after being corrugated by the aforesaid rolls passes through a tube and
a cutter cuts the point on the end of the wire and a square cut on the nail held in
the carrier; under the carrier is a slide, on the top surface of which the nail is
carried by the carrier until it is over a hole in this slide, and under the driver the
slide is held in its place by a spring, so that when the feeder-arm comes in contact
with the slide the same will yield to the feeder arm, and when released will return
to its proper position.
This improved machine will automatically perform all the functions of preparing
the wire in the rolls, cutting the wire into nails, carrying the nail to its proper
place under the driver, drive and clinch the wire, whilst the length of the nails can
be regulated during the operation of the machine to suit the varying thicknesses of
the soles, and as all the nails are cut and pointed in the machine, and all in the
same direction, all the points when driven against the metal sole of the last will clinch
in the same direction, and thus produce more even and uniform work.
The locking slides enter the carrier-disc a sufficient distance to hold the same
firmly, and also to compensate for any possible wear or back-lash in the working
parts, as the locking slide will ensure the accurate position of the carrier in the two
positions where accuracy is required, by so adjusting the carrier when entering the
recess, which is slightly enlarged at the periphery of the disc, that the entering of
the locking slide will adjust the carrier should the wear of the rack and pinion or
of any other part of the machine fail to place it in the proper position for the
cutter or the driver.

page_text: by the said William Greene Budlong in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th January 1880.
WILLIAM GREENE BUDLONG, of the City of Providence, State of Rhode Island,
one of the United States of America. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOT AND SHOE
NAILING MACHINES."
Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved boot and shoe nailing machine, all
-the parts being shown in their relative positions at the moment when the driver is
at the highest point and is about to be released from the cam to drive the nail
home.
Figure 2 is a view showing the side of the machine; this view is partly in
section so as to show more clearly the connections with the cams of the locking
device and the carrier operating ratchet bar; it also shows the bevelled gears by
means of which the device regulating the length of the nails is operated.
Figure 3 is a skeleton view showing the arrangement for regulating the length
of the nails, the device for feeding the work and the operation of the cams.
Figure 4 is a plan, partly in section, showing the reciprocating cutter, the
reciprocating locking arm, and the reciprocating rack by means of which the
carrier is operated.
Figure 5 is a plan view of the cams operating the cutter, the locking and
the carrier devices with the movement of the driver, the path of which is shown
in broken lines.
Figure 6 is a bottom view of the nail carrying device showing the carrier as
locked directly under the driver, so that the nail may be driven into the boot
or shoe.
Figure 7 is a view of the device for corrugating and delivering the wire which
is operated by a rack and pinion controlled by a clutch.
Figure 8 is a view of the wire holder showing the end of the cutter bar.
Figure 9 is a side view of the wire holder and the cutter bar; and
Figure 10 is a view and section of a nail or fastening device such as may be used
in this machine; by changing the cutter a fastening device with any desired point
may be made, and by inserting proper rolls any desired sectional form or corru-
gation may be given to the device, so that this machine is not confined to any
particular nail or fastening device.
This Invention has reference to that class of boot and shoe pegging machines in
which a metallic fastening device is used to secure the soles to boots or shoes and
in which the device is made from wire fed to the machine, cut and driven auto-
matically.
"One object of this Invention is to construct such a machine so that the whole
operation of securing the soles to boots or shoes is performed by automatically
shaping and preparing the wire, cutting the point on one nail and squaring the
driving end of the previous nail, carrying the nail to the driver and driving the nail
home by a blow.
Another object of this Invention is to so construct the machine that the length
of the fastening devices can be regulated and varied whilst the machine is in
operation.
The Invention consists in the peculiar and novel construction of this machine by
which all the functions of shaping, cutting, and driving the wire, and also of feeding
the work are performed through the means of peculiar shaped cams secured to one
driving shaft, and all the complicated machinery is avoided, whilst the various
operations are performed in their regular successions more perfectly. The Invention
further consists in connecting with the wire feeding device a device for regulating
the length of the wires, all of which will be more fully set forth hereinafter.

page_text: Machines for nailing or pegging boots or shoes have to be operated by persons not
skilled mechanics and have to exert considerable force in performing their functions ;
they are therefore liable to wear and derangement; in machines as heretofore
constructed the slightest wear created lost motion, and the different parts of the
machine failed to perform their functions consecutively at the precise moment
required, and thus caused the stoppage of the machine.
By moving all the parts of the machine either directly by the cams on the driving
shaft, or by means of simple levers transmitting the motions directly to the parts,
the whole machine is reduced to the fewest possible parts, and these parts are made
strong with broad wearing surfaces, whilst the construction of the cams is such
that considerable wear can take place without interfering with the consecutive and
accurate working of the machine.
"
In the Drawing "A" is the driving wheel by which the machine is operated,
usually by a belt driven by some prime motor; "B" is the driving shaft to which
all the cams are secured; these cams are "C," operating the locking device; "D,"
the cam for operating the rack by which the carrier is rotated; "E," operating the
cutter bar; "F" operates the rack by which the wire corrugating rolls are rotated;
"G" is a double cam operating the work feeding device; and
H" is the cam
raising the driver. The cam "C" is connected by the hinged lever "c" with the
locking bar "c" which locking bar enters the nail carrier in the slit or recess "c² ”
for locking the same at the moment when the cutter cuts the nail off from the wire,
and at the same time points the succeeding nail, and also when the carrier has
brought the nail under the driver by entering the recess "c³," the carrier is by these
means locked in each of these two positions, and the fastening device is accurately
and firmly held in the proper position both for cutting and for driving.
"
The cam "D" is connected by means of the lever "d" with the slide "d'," the
forward end of which is provided with a rack gearing into the pinion on the nail
carrier so that the reciprocation of the slide "d" rotates the carrier.
"
The cam "
E" is connected by the lever "e" with the cutter bar "e'," and each
rotation of the cam E" produces one reciprocation of the cutter bar, and as the
motion of the cutter bar is but slight the cam acts with great force and the cutter
readily cuts the nail or fastening device off the wire.
The cam "F" raises the arm "f" secured to the rod "f1" against the force of the
coiled spring "f2" and allows the rod "f" to descend by the force of the coiled
spring "f2" to the lower end of the rod "f1" the ratchet bar "f" is secured which
gearing into the pinion "f" turns the gears "f6 as the rod descends, the clutch
'f5" allowing the pinion to turn when the rod "f1" is raised without turning the
gears "f"
33
ર
It is evident that when a wire is inserted between the rolls f6, f6, that the
length of 'the wire delivered by the rolls depends on the rotation of the rolls, and as
they are rotated by the descent of the rod "f1" and rack "f3" the length of the
wire delivered can be regulated by regulating the length of the vertical reciprocation
of the rack "f";" to so regulate the length the slide "f7" is provided with a serrated
stop arranged to arrest the descent of the rack at varying heights, as is fully shown
in Figure 3, for the further the rack descends the longer will be the wire delivered
by the rolls "f" to the cutter, and consequently the longer the nail or fastening
device, and the contrary will be the case when the rack is arrested in its descent at
a higher point.
The slide "f" is shown as operated by a pin secured to the bevelled gear "f""
and working in a slot in the slide, which bevelled gear is operated by another
bevelled gear operated by a lever, but it is obvious that the slide may be operated
in various ways to regulate the length of the nail or fastening device.
The cam "G" operates within the frame "g" and imparts vertical as well as
horizontal motion to the feeder arm "g'," the lower end of which is pressed against
the sole or other work to be nailed, and being serrated carries the work forward
after each nail is driven; the arm "g" is hinged near its upper end, and as the
frame "g" is made to follow the cam "G." by the action of the spring “g²," a set

page_text: y, and thereby the feed of the work and the distance be 05
can be-regulated:
"
The cam H on the end of the shaft operates to raise the driver "h by coming
in contact with the arm "h"-secured to the driver "h;" the upper end of the driver
is provided with the piston-"h2"working in the dashpot-" h³," and above the piston
the spring "4" is secured to the-bar-of-the driver which when the driver is raised
comes in contact with the arms "h5, h³," secured to the post "h" so that the driver
descends when released from the cam-by-a-strong-quick-blow-exerted-by-the-
spring "14"
The wire after being corrugated by the rolls "f6, f6," passes through the tube "¿,"
shown in Figures 8 and 9, and the cutter "e" cuts the point on the end of the wire
and a square cut on the nail held in the carrier "K"; under the carrier is the slide
," on the top surface of which the nail is carried by the carrier until it is over a
hole in the slide "l" and under the driver, the slide is held to its place by a
spring so that when the feeder arm "gl" comes in contact with the slide the
same will yield to the feeder arm, and when released will return to its proper
position.
This machine will automatically perform all the functions of preparing the wire
in the rolls, cutting the wire into nails, carrying the nail to its proper place under
the driver, drive and clinch the wire, whilst the length of the nails can be regulated
during the operation of the machine to suit the varying thicknesses of the soles,
and as all the nails are cut and pointed in the machine, and all in the same direction,
all the points when driven against the metal sole of the last will clinch in the same
direction and thus produce more even and uniform work.
The locking slide enters the carrier disc a sufficient distance to hold the same
firmly, and also to compensate for any possible wear or back-lash in the working
parts, as the locking slide will ensure the accurate position of the carrier in the two
positions where accuracy is required, by so adjusting the carrier when entering the
recess, which is slightly enlarged at the periphery of the disk, so that the entering
of the locking slide will adjust the carrier should the wear of the rack and pinion
or of any other part of the machine fail to place it in the proper position for the
cutter or the driver.
Having thus described my Invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by
Letters Patent,-
First. In a shoe nailing machine the combination of the following instrumentalities:
a device for feeding and corrugating the wire, a device for shaping and separating
the nail, an oscillating carrier, and a driver arranged to drive the nail by a blow, as
described.
Second. The combination in a shoe pegging machine of a device for feeding and
corrugating the wire, a device for regulating the length of the nails, a device for
shaping and cutting the wire into the varying lengths, a driving device and-a-work-
feeding device, arranged to operate substantially as described.
Third. The combination with the corrugating and feeding rolls of a fixed tube or
holder, a reciprocating cutter, and an oscillating carrier provided with a hole
arranged to hold the nail when it is separated from the wire, and carry the same
and hold it under the driver, as and for the purpose described.
Fourth. The combination with the corrugating and feeding rolls of a shoe nailing
machine of a device substantially as described for regulating the rotation of the
rolls and the length of the wire delivered, so as to vary the length of the nail during
the operation of the machine, as described.
Fifth. The combination with a nail carrier arranged to carry the nail from the
cutter to the driver, and a work feeding device of a yielding slide placed below the
carrier to prevent the falling of the nail from the carrier, and provided with a hole
to receive the nail arranged to yield to the work feeding device as and for the
purpose described.
Sixth. The combination with the driving shaft "B" of the cams “C, D, E,

page_text: F, G," and "H" arranged to operate the various parts, substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
Seventh. The combination with the carrier "K" provided with the segmental
gear of the slide "d" provided with the rack at its end, the lever "d" and cam
D," the whole arranged to oscillate the carrier alternately under the holding tube
"i" and under the driver, as described.
r
Eighth. The combination with the rack "f3" arranged to rotate the feeding
and corrugating rolls "f, f6" of the slide "f" provided with the serrated stops
arranged to arrest the descent of the rack and regulate the length of the nails, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Ninth. The combination with the cam "F," the rod "f1" and arm "f" of the
spring "f" rack "f" and adjustable stop "f"" the whole arranged so that the
rod and rack are raised by the cam and forced down by the spring until the rack is
arrested by the adjustable stop "f"" and the reciprocation of the rack is regulated,
as and for the purpose described.
Tenth. The combination with the carrier "k" and the work feeding arm "g¹" of
the spring pressed slide "" arranged to yield to the feeding arm, substantially as
and for the purpose described.
Eleventh. The combination with the slide "f1" provided with the graduated
stops of the bevel gears "f" connected with the slide by a pin and slot arranged
to regulate the length of the fastening device in a shoe nailing machine, as
described.
Twelfth. The combination with the spring pressed driver "h" of the oscillating
carrier " K," the work feeder arm "g," and the slide "," the whole arranged
to carry the nail under the driver and over the hole in the slide "," drive the
nail and feed the work, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Greene Budlong, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this the Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.
WILLIAM GREENE BUDLONG. (L.S.)
In presence of
JOSEPH A. MILLER,
Civil Engineer & Solicitor of Patents,
Providence,
R. I.