Improvements in Wire Nails and in Machinery for the Manufacture of Wire Nails.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Aug., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 5th May, 1890-Accepted, 21st June, 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wire Nails and in Machinery for the Manufacture
of Wire Nails.
We NETTLEFOLDS Limited of Broad Street Birmingham in the County of
Warwick Manufacturers and WILLIAM OSBORN TYERS of No. 130 Windmill Lane
Smethwick in the County of Stafford Machinist do hereby declare the nature of this
Invention to be as follows
The said invention has reference to nails made from wire and known in commerce
as wire nails and consists of the improvement or improvements herein after described
in wire nails and in machinery for the manufacture of wire nails.
The improvement or improvements in wire nails constituting part of the said
invention consists in making on one or more sides of the body of the nail a series of
cross projections the said series of projections extending through the whole length or
nearly the whole length of the body of the nail. The said projections are made by
the machinery hereinafter described.
Wire nails as ordinarily manufactured are made from cylindrical wire. When it is
intended that the body of the finished nail shall be cylindrical no preparation of the
wire is necessary previous to its being subjected to the operations of the nail making
machine. But where it is desired that the body of the finished nail shall be triangular
in cross section or of other figure different from that of the cylindrical wire the said
cylindrical wire has the required triangular or other figure given to it by rolling
before it is subjected to the action of the nail making machine.
In making wire nails according to the said invention the ordinary preliminary
treatment of the wire by which its sectional figure is changed is dispensed with and
the required sectional figure is given to the wire by the feeding rolls of the nail
making machine.
Where projections on one or more sides of the nail are required as hereinbefore
described for the purpose of giving the nail a better hold on the wood in which it is
driven the said projections are according to the said invention made by the feeding
rolls of the nail making machine.
The improvements in the machinery employed in carrying the new manufacture
described into effect consist in the use in the nail making machine of feeding rolls
having such a configuration that they give to the wire fed by them into the said
machine the required sectional figure and where required produce the desired
projection on one or on opposite sides of the body of the rail.
Where it is desired to produce from cylindrical wire nails having triangular bodies
the feeding rolls are made as follows. One of the said rolls is plain or cylindrical
and the other roll has a groove on its acting face. The said groove is in a plane at
right angles to the axis of the roll the two sides of the groove making with each
other an angle equal to the angle made by two adjacent sides of an equilateral
triangle.
When it is wished besides giving the body of the nail a triangular figure to make
projections on one or two of its sides depressions having a configuration the counter-
part of the projections to be formed on the nail are made in the face or faces of the
groove or grooves the said depressions being opposite each other or the reverse.
Where it is desired to make a triangular nail having projections on all three of its
sides the roll herein before called a plain roll must have on its periphery and preferably
at a uniform distance apart a series of cross depressions that is depressions the
counterpart of the projections to be made the said depressions being parallel to the
axis of the roll.
When it is desired to produce a nail the body of which is nearly square in cross

page_text: section and having projections on its opposite sides each of the feeding rolls has a
triangular groove concentric with its axis which grooves are provided with cross
depressions at regular intervals.
By varying the configuration of the feeding rolls great variety of configurations
may be given to the nails produced.
The said invention is particularly applicable to the manufacture of iron nails but is
also applicable to the manufacture of nails of copper and brass and such other metals
and alloys as are or may be employed in the manufacture of wire nails.
Dated this 17th day of August 1889.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wire Nails and in Machinery for the Manufacture
of Wire Nails.
We NETTLEFOLDS Limited of Broad Street Birmingham in the County of Warwick
Manufacturers and WILLIAM OSBORN TYERS of No. 130 Windmill Lane, Smethwick
in the County of Stafford, Machinist do hereby declare the nature of the said invention
and the manner in which the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The said invention has reference to nails made from wire and known in commerce
as wire nails and consists of the improvement or improvements hereinafter described
in wire nails and in machinery for the manufacture of wire nails.
The improvement or improvements in wire nails constituting part of the said
invention consist in making on one or more sides of the body of the nail a series of
cross projections the said series of projections extending through the whole length or
nearly the whole length of the body of the nail, the said projections being made
preferably by machinery of the kind hereinafter described.
Wire nails as ordinarily manufactured are made from cylindrical wire. When it is
intended that the body of the finished nail shall be cylindrical no preparation of the
wire is necessary previous to its being subjected to the operations of the nail making
machine. But where it is desired that the body of the finished nail shall be triangular
in cross section or of other figure different from that of the cylindrical wire the said
cylindrical wire has the required triangular or other figure given to it by rolling
before it is subjected to the action of the nail making machine.
In making wire nails according to the said invention the ordinary preliminary
treatment of the wire by which its sectional figure is changed is dispensed with and
the required sectional figure is given to the wire by the feeding rolls of the nail
making machine.
Where projections on one or more sides of the nail are required as herein before
described for the purpose of giving the nail a better hold on the wood in which it is
driven the said projections may be made by the feeding rolls of the nail making
machine.
The improvements in the machinery employed in carrying the new manufacture
described into effect consist in the use in the nail making machine of feeding rolls
having such a configuration that they give to the wire fed by them into the said
machine the required sectional figure and where required produce the required pro-
jections on one or more sides of the body of the nail.
Where it is desired to produce from cylindrical wire nails having triangular bodies
the feeding rolls are made as follows. One of the said rolls is plain or cylindrical
and the other roll has a groove on its acting face. The said groove is in a plane at
right angles to the axis of the roll the two sides of the groove making with each
other an angle equal to the handle made by two adjacent sides of an equilateral
triangle.
When it is wished besides giving the body of the nail a triangular figure to
make projections on one or two of its sides, depressions having a configuration

page_text: the counterpart of the projections to be formed on the nail are made in the face
or faces of the groove or grooves the said depressions being opposite each other or
the reverse.
Where it is desired to make a triangular nail having projections on all three of its
sides the roll hereinbefore called a plain roll must have on its periphery and preferably
at a uniform distance apart a series of cross depressions, that is, depressions the
counterpart of the projections to be made the said depressions being parallel to the
axis of the roll.
When it is desired to produce a nail the body of which is square in cross section
and having projections on its opposite sides each of the feeding rolls has a triangular
groove concentric with its axis which grooves are provided with cross depressions at
regular intervals.
By varying the configuration of the feeding rolls great variety of configurations
may be given to the nails produced.
The said invention is particularly applicable to the manufacture of iron nails
but is also applicable to the manufacture of nails of copper and brass and such
other metals and alloys as are or may be employed in the manufacture of wire
nails.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying. Drawings
the manner in which the said invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in elevation and section a wire nail the body of which has a
triangular figure in cross section the said triangular shaped body of the nail being
produced from cylindrical wire by the action of the pair of feeding rolls represented
in Figures 2 and 3 used in the nail making machine hereinafter described.
The roll represented in Figure 2 is a plain roll and the other roll represented in
Figure 3 has a groove in it situated at right angles to the axis of the roll the two
sides of the groove making with each other an angle equal to the angles made by two
adjacent sides of an equilateral triangle. When the acting parts of the two rolls
are brought together a groove having the triangular figure of the body of the nail to
be produced is formed.
square
Figure 4 represents in elevation and section a wire nail the body of which is
in cross section and is produced from cylindrical wire by the action of the pair of
feeding rolls represented in Figures 5 and 6 used in the nail making machine herein-
after described. Each of the rolls Figures 5 and 6 has a groove in its periphery the
two sides of the groove being at right angles to one another as represented.
Figure 7 represents in elevation and section a wire nail having a triangular shaped
body all the sides of the said body being provided with cross or rib like inclined pro-
jections a a as represented for giving the nail a better hold on the wood in which it is
driven.
The shaping of the body of the nail from cylindrical wire is effected by the use of
the pair of feeding rolls represented in Figures 8 and 9 combined in the nail making
machine hereinafter described. The rolls Figures 8 and 9 resemble those represented
in Figures 2 and 3 excepting that depressions are made in their acting parts the
said depressions having a configuration the counterpart of the rib like projections
to be formed on the sides of the triangular body of the nail as represented in the
Drawings.
Figure 10 represents a wire nail the body of which is square in cross section and is
provided with inclined rib like projections a, a of the kind described and represented
with respect to the nail Figure 7 having a triangular figure in cross section; Figures 11
and 12 represent the feeding rolls by which the nail Figure 10 is fashioned from the
cylindrical wire fed to the nail making machine.
Figure 13 represents a wire nail the body of which has a triangular figure in cross
section and is provided with cross or rib like projections on all of its sides the
said projections being situated at right angles to the axis of the nail instead of inclined
thereto as in the nails Figures 7 and 10; Figures 14 and 15 represent the pair of
feeding rolls for producing the body of the nail Figure 13 from the cylindrical
wire fed to the nail making machine.

page_text: Although we have shown the square and triangular wire nails having cross or rib
like projections on all their sides yet the projections may be confined to one or two
only of their sides in which case the grooves in the rolls have a corresponding figure;
and although we have only represented nails having a triangular and square form in
cross section and provided with two kinds of rib like projections yet by varying the
configuration of the acting parts of the feeding rolls the sectional figure of the body
of the nails and the form of the rib like projections thereon may be modified as
desired but we have found the sectional forms of the body of the nails and the kinds
of projections shown to answer well in practice.
Figure 16 represents in plan and Figure 17 in side elevation a portion of a nail
making machine with which is combined feeding rolls constituting part of the said
invention for shaping the cylindrical wire fed into the machine into the sectional
figure required to produce wire nails of the kinds hereinbefore described and
illustrated and of analogous kinds; Figure 18 represents the feeding rolls and the
parts carrying them detached from the machine and Figure 19 represents a cross
section of the machine exhibiting the gripping tools.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 16, 17, 18
and 19.
с
The pair of feeding rolls which also act as shaping rolls are marked c and d and are
carried by the upright e on the cross arm the latter being bolted to the slide g to
which a reciprocating sliding motion is given by the connecting rod receiving
motion from a crank pin i on the face or crank plate on the driving shaft of the
machine, the said crank pin i being adjustable on the said face or crank plate for
regulating the length of the stroke of the said connecting rod and the slide g of the
feeding rolls c, d.
The reciprocating slide g is guided in its motion by the pins and slots at m m (see
Figure 17) and is retained in its place by the retaining discs or plates n n.
The
feeding rolls c d are of the kinds we have hereinbefore described either for shaping
only the cylindrical wire fed to the machine or for shaping the wire and for producing
cross or rib like projections on one or more of the sides of the wire. The said rolls
are carried by the axes or spindles c², d² (see Figure 18) on which they are capable
of rotating. By means of the screw p the bearing in which the axis of the upper roll
turns can be adjusted nearer to or further from the axis of the lower roll.
By driving home the screw p the acting parts of the two rolls can be forcibly
pressed upon and made to grip the cylindrical wire fed into the machine. A length
of the cylindrical wire sufficient to form a nail is fed by the feeding rolls c, d to the
working tools of the machine at each advance stroke of the slide g each return stroke
of the said slide causing the rolls to rotate upon the gripped cylindrical wire and
shape it or shape the wire and produce the required rib like projections on one or
more of its sides.
The cylindrical wire is fed between two gripping tools 9, 72 as usual (see Figure 19)
the movable gripping tool g² being worked by a loose shackle motion consisting of the
arm q³ and lever the said arm q3 being actuated from the connecting rod q
worked from the cam 96 on the main shaft; are the cutting off and pointing tools
operated by the levers 22 and cams 3; s is the heading tool. As the gripping,
cutting off and pointing and heading tools constitute no part of this invention we do
not consider a further description of the same necessary.
The action of the machine is as follows:-
The cylindrical wire t being fed between the feeding rolls the said feeding rolls are
adjusted by the screw ? so as to cause them forcibly to grip the wire. By the advance
stroke of the slide g the rolls c d are moved forward without rotation carrying with
them the gripped wire; a length of wire sufficient to form a nail being thus fed into
the machine. The wire being gripped by the grippers at the heading of the inner
end of the wire is effected by the heading tools and by the operation of the cutters rr
a nail is cut off from the wire. While the wire is gripped by the gripping tools at q
the slide g makes its return stroke. The rolls c d are thereby caused to rotate by the
stationary wire gripped between them and in their rotation they shape and fashion a

page_text: length of the cylindrical wire sufficient to form a nail into the sectional figure which
it is desired the body of the nail shall have as herein before described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and the manner in which the same is to be performed we declare that we
claim as the said invention of "Improvements in wire nails and in machinery for the
manufacture of wire nails":-
First: Making on one or more of the sides of wire nails having a triangular or
other angular figure in cross section a series of cross or rib like projections either at
right angles to the axis of the nail or inclined thereto the said projections when made
on adjacent sides of the nail preferably alternating with each other for the purpose
and substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.
Secondly-The combination in machinery for the manufacture of wire nails of
feeding rolls which also act as shaping rolls, that is, give a triangular or other angular
figure to the cylindrical wire fed into the machinery and when desired form cross or
rib like projections on one or more sides of the shaped wire substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly The construction of the feeding and shaping rolls and the arrangement
or combination of parts for giving a reciprocating motion to the rolls for effecting the
feeding and shaping of the cylindrical wire and the formation of the cross or rib like
projections on one or more sides of the wire substantially as hereinbefore described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Dated the 23rd day of April 1890.
NETTLEFOLDS, LIMITED,
By Reginald Parker,
Secretary,
WILLIAM OSBORN TYERS.