IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING BOLTS AND NAILS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Lemuel Dow Owen, of No. 192, Tottenham Court
Road, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING BOLTS AND NAILS."-A
communication from abroad by Messrs. Buck and Company, Engineers,
of Lebanon, New Hampshire, in the United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Lemuel Dow Owen at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st June 1859.
I, LEMUEL DOW OWEN, of No. 192, Tottenham Court Road, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING BOLTS AND NAILS," to be as
follows:-
They consist of a machine or apparatus having suitable framework, with a
shaft of proper strength and material hung thereon. On that shaft I have an
excentric, which may be made self-adjusting, and to such excentric I attach a
chilled roller or roller of hardened steel, or other suitable material. On each
revolution of the shaft, the hardened roller is made to hammer or strike the
nail rod or iron a drawing or sliding blow from the head towards the point;
such nail rod or iron having been passed in a red hot state between the two
dies, and before the roller has made another revolution to give another such
blow, one of the dies which is movable is, by means of an excentric or cam,
caused to strike or hammer such nail sideways or horizontally, the other dio
which is fixed acting as a block or anvil for the purpose; the shaft may, if

page_text: desired, be arranged to move forwards and backwards, or to be stationary.
The nail rod or iron is made to pass through a holder which has a kind of
jigger or vibratory motion to prevent scales forming on the nail rod or iron,
and I guage the required length of nail rod or iron by means of a spring or
other suitable contrivance attached to or connected with such holder; the
holder and nail rod or iron is then drawn back by means of cams or other
convenient arrangement, and when the nail is formed it is cut off and finished
at each end if necessary. In some cases I make both the dies movable, and
in some cases, instead of employing the excentric and roller as before men-
tioned, I arrange a hammer in such a way as to give the drawing or sliding
blow required.
The details of the said Invention may of course be varied without departing
from the nature of the said Invention, and I claim the right to do so
accordingly.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Lemuel Dow Owen in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st December 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LEMUEL
Dow OWEN, of No. 192, Tottenham Court Road, in the County of Middlesex;
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of June, 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 Lemuel Dow Owen, Her special licence that I, the said
Lemuel Dow Owen, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Lemuel Dow Owen, my executors, administrators, and 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 for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING BOLTS AND NAILS," being
à communication to me by foreigners residing abroad, videlicet, by Messrs. Buck
and Company, Engineers, of Lebanon, New Hampshire, in the United States
of America, upon the condition (amongst others), that I, the said Lemuel
Dow Owen, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing

page_text: 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 Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Lemuel Dow Owen, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, and by reference to the four Sheets of Drawings which
accompany this my Specification, and which form part thereof, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon; the same letters and figures refer to the
same parts in each Drawing.
The said Invention, so communicated as aforesaid, consists of a machine or
apparatus having suitable framework with a shaft of proper strength and
material hung thereon. On that shaft I have an excentric, which may be made
self-adjusting, and to such excentric I attach a chilled roller or roller of hardened
steel or other suitable material. On each revolution of the shaft, the hardened
roller is made to hammer or strike the nail rod] or iron a drawing or sliding.
blow from the bead towards the point, such nail rod or iron having been
passed in a red hot state between the two dies, and before the roller has made
another revolution to give another of such blows, one of the dies which is
moveable is, by means of an excentric or cam, caused to strike or.hammer such
nail sideways or horizontally, the other die, which is fixed, acting as a block or
anvil for the purpose; the shaft may, if desired, be arranged to move forewards
and backwards, or to be stationary. The nail rod or iron is made to pass
through a holder which has a kind of jigger or vibratory motion to prevent
scales forming on the nail rod or iron, and I guage the required length of
nail rod or iron by means of a spring or other suitable contrivance attached
to or connected with such holder. The holder, and nail rod or iron is then
drawn back by means of canis or other convenient arrangement, and when the
nail is formed it is cut off and finished at each end if necessary.
In some
cases I make both the dies moveable, and in some cases, instead of employing.
the excentric and roller as before mentioned, I arrange a hammer in such a
way as to give the drawing or sliding blow required.
,
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 shews a plan, Fig. 2 a longitudinal section, taken through the
line 1-1 of Fig, 1; Fig. 3 is an end view with part of the framing removed;
Fig. 4 is the other end view, and Fig. 5 is a side view of a machine constructed;

page_text: according to my Invention, and arranged with tools or dies suitable for forging
horse-shoe nails, but other tools may be substituted suitable for forging bolts
or nails of other descriptions. The other Drawings show some of the parts full
size, together with separate views of the tools or dies, the nature of which
being written thereon, it will not be necessary for me to describe them more
fully here. a, a, is the framing of the machine; is an axis mounted in
bearings a', a. The axis b receives motion by means of a strap (from a steam
engine or other motive power) which passes over the pulley on the axis b.
The axis b gives motion to the revolving roller or hammer c, which strikes the
upper surface of the heated rod or bar when placed on the horizontal face e¹
of the die or anvil e. And I prefer to cast the roller c in chill moulds as.is
well understood, and a slight degree of clasticity may be given to the action of
the roller c by employing a strong spiral or other spring to force out the arm
which carries the roller as shown at Fig. 3*, by which arrangement the force
of the first few blows will be regulated. The axis also gives motion, by means
of the excentric d', and connecting rod d², to the vibrating hammer d, which
strikes the side of the heated rod or bar when moved or placed by its guide or
holder, as herein-after described, against the vertical face of the die or
anvil e.
The vibrating hammer d is supported and moves on axis d³, carried
by the main framing of the machine as shown in the Drawings, and the
hammer & carries an adjustable die or tool d*, which is held firmly in position
by the strap d', and screw nuts d. The dies or tools e, e, which form the
two faces of the anvil c, are capable of adjustment by means of set screws e³, es,
the plate being held firmly in position by the metal strap e, one end of
which passes through the fixed anvil, and is drawn up by the screw nut e³.
I will now describe the apparatus by which the rod or bar (previously
heated at one end in a suitable furnace to a proper heat for being forged into
nails) is fed or conducted into a position to be acted upon by the rotating and
vibrating hammers c and d just described, which apparatus afterwards moves
it back into a position to have the forged end cut off to a suitable length to
complete the nail by the two sets of cutters as herein-after described. f is a
slide which moves to and fro between the fixed guides; f', f', and f2, is a
strong spring plate or holder fixed at one end to the slide f, the other end
being formed with a vertical arm, which carries an adjustable piece f³, under
which the rod or bar is firmly held down upon the slide f, whilst the forging
operations take place, and the nail is cut off, after which the slide is moved
back to its furthest position, and the rod or bar is released from the pressure
of the spring plate or holder f2 by the lever arm f', on the axis f³ pressing
upwards the pin or stud f, carried by the slide f, thus releasing the rod or

page_text: bar from pressure, at which time the workman can remove the rod or bar if
required, and introduce a fresh one at a proper heat from the furnace.
The rod or bar whilst free from pressure is moved forward until the heated
end comes against the moveable stop or guage g, (the action of which will be
herein-after described), to regulate the distance to which the rod or bar is to
be passed into the machine for forging the next nail. I would here remark
that the successive feeding or moving forward of the rod or bar need not
necessarily depend on the workman, as self-acting apparatus may be applied
to the machine for moving the rod or bar up to its work after each successive
nail is cut off; and Fig. 6 shows a section of so much of the machine as will
enable une to describe an arrangement of apparatus for such purpose. In this
arrangement the guides f, f', are extended to some distance as shown, and
they carry a slide or shoef, to which a cord and weight is attached, which
passes over a pulley as shewn, so as at all times to have a tendency to draw
the slide towards the machine, and when the workman introduces a fresh
rod or bar into the machine, he draws back the slide f*, and places the end
of the rod or bar against the vertical plate and between the projections on the
slide f*, by which arrangement it will be moved up to the stop or guage g
when free to do so. By the time the rod or bar is moved up to the moveable
stop g, the spring plate f is allowed to close upon, and f* to hold the rod or
bar firmly, and by the forward movement of the slide, the end of the rod or
bar is passed through the conical mouthpiece or guide h into a position to be
again acted upon by the rotating and vibrating liammers. The slide f (and
parts connected therewith) is moved to and fro in the following manner :-6
is a small toothed wheel or pinion fixed on the axis b, which takes into and
drives the toothed wheel b, fixed on the axis i, on which is fixed the toothed
wheel or pinion 2, which takes into and drives the toothed wheel j', fixed on
the cam shaft or axis j, upon which is fixed the cam 1, which during its
revolutions acts on the lever arm ¹, fixed on the rocking shaft or axis k, which
moves on fixed centres on the end framings of the machine; and is another
lever arm fixed on the axis k, its upper end being connected by.a moveable
joint to the under side of the slide f, to move the slide with the heated rod or
bar to and from the rotating and vibrating hammers. The lever arm is
borne against the surface of the cam j by the bent spring 1, one end of which
5 is fixed to the framing, the other end acting against a projection on the
axis k, by which arrangement the lever arm and slide f with the heated
rod is borne towards the vibrating and rotating hammers when not otherwise
acted upon by the cam j. The lever arm f* is acted upon to release the rod
or bar from the pressure of the spring plate f by the cam f, fixed on the

page_text: axis j, which in its revolution acts on the lever arm f³, fixed on the axis fo,
which carries the lever arm f*, as before described. The moveable stop g,
against which the end of the heated rod or bar comes each time a fresh nail
is about to be forged (to guage and determine the proper distance to which
the end of the rod or bar is to be moved into the machine by the slide f) is
carried by and fixed on the top of the vertical axis g¹, which moves in bearings
on the framing of the machine, and a partial rotation is given to the axis g¹ to
move the stop g into and out of position by means of the cam g, fixed on the
axis j, a projection on which acts on the lever arın g³ fixed on the lower end of
the axis g', the lever arm being born against the surface of the cam by a
spring g', so as to keep the stop g in the position (shown in the Drawing until
acted upon by the cam g², to place it in a position) to arrest the passage of
the heated rod or bar into the machine. The stop g is capable of adjustment
by means of the clamp and set screw g* to vary the distance to which the rod
or bar may be fed into the machine, and the amount of movement of the slidef
may also be regulated by the adjustable stop f**, placed in a position to arrest
the movement of the arm k². The conical mouthpiece or guide h through
which the end of the rod or bar passés (and by which it is moved to and fro
sideways, so as to place the end of the rod or bar in a position to be acted
upon alternately by the rotating and vibrating bammers) is carried by the arm
hfixed to the spring h², which is bolted to the bracket ³, on the framing of the
machine, and as the vibrating hammer comes forward to strike the nail, a
projection thereon acts against the spring h², which carries the guide h and
moves it into a position to place the end of the rod or bar against the vertical
face of the die or anvil at the time it is struck by the face of the hammer, and
as the hammer recedes, the guide h is moved by its spring he into a position
for the end of the rod or bar to lie on the horizontal face of the anvil whilst
being acted upon by the rotating hammer c, and this movement of the rod or
bar by the mouthpiece or guide h prevents the accumulation of scale upon the
die or anvil, and also prevents the formation of fins or burrs on the nail whilst
being forged.
I will now describe the arrangement and action of the cutters for cutting
off the point of the rod or bar when forged, and the length from the rod or
bar suitable to form a head to the nail when cut off. m and m are bars
formed with cutting edges at their inner ends, and these bars are capable
of adjustment and are fixed to the framing of the machine by the clump
and set screws m³, m², and n, n' are the moveable cutters which act to
cut off the rough or burred end, and the length suitable for the nail when
forged from the end of the rod or bar. The moveable cutters n, n',

page_text: are carried by the lever arm 7 on the axis n³, which is supported and moves
on fixed centres n', ', carried by framing of the machine, and motion
is communicated to the axis n³, to actuate the cutters by the cam 25, fixed
on the axis j; a projection on the cam n³ in its revolution acting on the
lever arm n, fixed on the axis n³. The lever arm n', fixed on the axis n³ is
borne downwards so as to rest on the framing by the spring ns, which acts to
raise the cutters n, n', when out of action. The cutters n, n³, are also capable
of adjustment on the lever arm n³, and the cutter n is guided in its downward
movement by the fixed guide n* carried by the framing, and n³ is a plate fixed
behind the cutter n, to keep the rod or bar in position when the cutting off
takes place. The speed of the apparatus for moving the rod or bar up to a
position to be acted upon by the hammers is regulated by the toothed gearing
wheels 2, 63. and j', the cam shaft or axis j in the arrangement shown in
the Drawings, making one revolution to twenty revolutions of the shaft or
axis b, but this may be varied according to the amount of forging any par-
ticular description of nail may require. I am aware that certain combinations
and applications of known parts of machinery have been previously proposed
for the forging of four sided articles, but all such combinations have been and
are mechanically and essentially different to those which constitute the said
Invention so communicated to me as aforesaid.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I
claim as my said Invention is the combination and arrangement of mechanical
parts into a machine for manufacturing bolts and nails as herein-before
described, and the right to vary the details thereof without departing from the
nature of my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lemuel Dow Owen, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Lemuel Dow Owen in
the presence of
H. WICKENS, Solicitor,
L. D. OWEN. (L.S.)
4, Tokenhouse Yard, Bank, London.