Improvements relating to the Manufacture of Nails and to Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to the Manufacture of Nails and to
Apparatus therefor.
I, JOSIAH WILLIAM ELLS, of 218, Centre Avenue, Pittsburg, in the County of
Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, United States of America, Attorney, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
23
My invention relates to the production of that class of nails commonly known to
the trade as "hob nails; characterized by having a large, protuberant head
provided with an attenuated shank or stem.
Heretofore such nails were made entirely by hand, no machine having been
devised for that purpose, and it has long been the practice to form such nails by
forging the same from an iron rod after the manner well known to blacksmiths. So
tedious is the work and limited the production, that nails of this character command
a very high price notwithstanding their roughness and irregular shape.
My invention has for its object the production of hob nails in which the head and
shank are composed of two different pieces of metal united to form a complete nail.
This I. accomplish by means of a machine that will sever from a heated bar of iron
an imperforate blank of requisite size to constitute the intended nail head and
compress the same between properly constructed dies to shape the head and at the
same time drive or force a pointed wire through the head or blank and leave it there
as a shank to the hob nail.
The entrance of the pointed wire into the red hot blank spreads and turns the
fibres thereof, forcing the same a short distance outward beyond the original surface
of the nead, forming a collar or fillet inmediately around the shank or wire thereby
it is given a deep and increased bearing in the head, which in cooling shrinks on the
wire and holds it immovably fast. A nail thus produced possesses all the requisites
of one made from a single piece of iron, with the additional advantage of having a
more uniform head, a parallel, nicked and pointed shank, which enables them to
hold firmly in whatever they may be driven.
In the accompanying drawings I have shown how my said invention may be con-
veniently and advantageously carried into practice.
Figure 1 represents a top view of a machine used in making my improved hob
nail.
Figure 2, an elevation of that side of the machine nearest to the pulley to which
the driving belt is attached.
Figure 3, an elevation of that side of the machine farthest from its driving wheel
or pulley.
Figure 4, an enlarged transverse, longitudinal section of those parts comprising
the central portion of the machine showing the dies in an open position and ready
to receive the hot blank.
Figure 5, a similar view of the same dies and portion of the machine when closed
upon a blank having a nail forced therein.
Figure 6, a central, longitudinal vertical section through the machine, together
with a wire nail feeding device attached thereto.
Figure 7, an enlarged sectional view of so much of the nail feeding device
showing the nails therein preparatory to being pushed out one at a time.
Figure 8, a similar view of the same part showing the position of the feeder upon
pushing the nail out, preparatory to its final delivery into the machine.
Figure 9, face view of an octagonal box die wherein the hot iron is received,
compressed and held whilst a nail is being driven through the same.

page_text: represents an end and perspective view of octagonal punen made to o
and work in said octagonal die.
Figure 11, front view of square die box used in making square head nails.
Figure 12 perspective view of punch for use in said square die.
Figure 13 a blank head with pointed wire nail in position to pass through the
same.
"
Figure 14, same blank with wire nail driven through it a proper distance to form
a hob nail.
Figure 15, a view of the underside of said hob nail.
Figure 16, a perspective view of underside of finished hob nail.
66
Figure 17, a perspective view of the underside of a hob nail provided along one
edge of its head with a broad, downwardly projecting hook to extend over the edge
of a boot or shoe sole, which form of nail is known to the trade as a
clamp nail'
or "clinker."
Figures 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27, show a number of nails each
having a different shape or outer form of head.
To make hob nails in accordance with my invention I prepare a machine
consisting of a cast iron frame 1, across one end of which is arranged in suitable
bearings a strong shaft 2, fitted with an ordinary fly-wheel 3, and pulley 4, and
near the middle portion with two excentrics or cams 5, 5, of unequal size and
throw. Each cam is provided with a circumferential yoke, the one surrounding
the small cam 5, is attached by means of a connecting arm 6, to a carrier 7,
SO as to move it with a reciprocating, rectilinear action in suitable guides 8.
Within this carrier 7, is placed and firmly secured a detachable punch or male
die 9, having a small, round hole extending lengthwise and completely through
the same, and arranged therein is a small steel rod 10, one end of which is
secured and firmly held within a stationary post 11, by means of a suitable
pinch screw. This male die 9, being firmly held in the carrier 7, has a
movement back and forth corresponding thereto, and which movement agrees
with the size and character of the nail intended to be made. In the same
horizontal plane and directly in front of the projecting outer end of the male
die 9, is arranged and rigidly affixed to a solid portion of the machine by any
suitable means
a strong, steel box or female die 12, the opening in which
coincides with the size of the punch or male die 9, and is intended to enter
and fit snugly therein on its forward movement. The base or rear end of the
female die consists of a short, steel block 13, having a short movement within
the female die wherein it rests. And longitudinally through the centre of this
short block 13, is a round hole corresponding in size to the head of such wire
nails as may be used in the formation of my improved hob nail. In the same
horizontal plane closely against and just back of the short block 13, is arranged
in a suitable guideway a T-shaped bar of steel 14, the projecting arms 15, of
which extend laterally a short distance outside of the guideway or bearing block.
This T-shaped bar has a short movement back and forth in the direction of
the small block, and by pressing against the same forces the small block out-
ward through the opening in the female die until the end of the small block
is flush with the face of the female die and no farther.
The action of the punch causes the block and T-shaped bar to move in a reverse
direction, when the punch enters the female die. Longitudinally and centrally
through this T-shaped bar and in direct alignment with the rod 10, in the punch
is a hole corresponding to that in the small block in the female die. Through the
upper face of this T-shaped bar and extending downwardly into its central hole is
a slot 16, fully as wide and a little longer than the wire nails used.
Extending into the rear end of this longitudinal hole in the T-shaped bar is a
strong steel rod 17, of a length sufficient to pass through the T-shaped bar and the
short block within the female die and no farther, the outer end of this steel rod 17, is
firmly secured in the approximate end of a much larger rod 18, by a pinch screw or
other suitable means. This larger rod extends back a considerable distance and

page_text: through a substantial bearing 19, at that end of the machine most remote from its
main shaft.
This large rod is provided with a transversely projecting arm 20, against which
presses a powerful spiral spring 21, wound around said rod between said projecting
arm and the bearing part of the machine through which the rod is made to slide
endwise. And for the purpose of increasing or diminishing the tension of the
spiral spring it is fitted with a cross bar 22, through each end of which passes a
suitable screw 23, held by proper supports 24, and moved up or down the rods by
means of a nut 25, on the end of each said screws.
The transversely projecting arm 20, permanently attached to the large rod 18,
(around which the spring is wound) carries a forwardly projecting latch 26, pivotted
to the arm in such a manner as to have a movement up and down within short
range. Its free end being fitted with a short downward projection that when the
spring and its carrying rod are forced backward the latch will engage with a
permanent stop 28, and temporarily lock said parts holding the spring under com-
pression as long as the latch remains down or thus engaged. The outer cam 5', on
the main shaft, or that having the greater throw, has its yoke permanently con-
nected to a long bar 29, somewhat bent or turned inward a short distance towards
the machine and then straight in the direction of its length where it is widened and
provided with a longitudinal slot 30, of a length equal to a movement produced by
its cam, and through this slot the projecting arm 20, of the spring bar passes, the
outer end of the arm being provided with a substantial collar 31, held and made
adjustable thereon by means of a suitable pinch screw.
As the cam connected with this projecting arm by means of a slotted bar 29,
revolves, its action is such that when turning it will force the arm in a direction
away from the cam together with the rod 18, to which it is attached and compress
the spiral spring 26 thereon and enable the latch to engage with the fixed stop 28.
The cam may then continue its revolutions drawing its bar back and forth the
entire length of the slot therein, leaving the spiral spring in a state of compression
without further affecting it or the latch. On the same side of the machine and just
in front of the box die, but a little to one side of its central opening is arranged and
adjustably fixed to the bed of the machine an upwardly projecting finger 32,
constituting a stop; on the opposite side of the machine and adjustably fixed to the
frame thereof is an upwardly projecting guide 33, arranged also in front of the face
of the box die 12, its upper portion being separated therefrom a distance equal to
the thickness of the iron bar intended to be used for making supplemental heads to
the proposed hob nails, so that when the heated iron bar is inserted between the
guide and the face of the box die then pushed forward, its heated end comes in
contact with the upwardly projecting finger 32, or stop on the opposite side of
the die box and the advancing movement of the male die or punch 9, will
sever a portion of said heated bar and carry the same forward into the die
box, and by its action force the separated piece of hot iron against the short
block 13, contained within the die box and drive it backwards, thereby causing
the T-shaped bar 14, to move in the same direction and to an extent equalling
twice the thickness of the piece cut off and compressed. This action of the
T-shaped bar will cause its projecting arms 15, to have a like movement and
that arm underneath the latch 26, will press against the inclined or curved
surface underneath the latch at that end thereof and lift the same free from its
engagement. The spring 21, upon being thus released will drive the rod 18
and its projecting arm 20, together with the smaller rod 16, within the T-shaped
bar and nail in the pathway of its inner rod 17, its action being such as to
drive the nail completely through the piece of hot iron held under compression
within the dies, as shown in Figure 14. At this instant the punch will recede
or go back and just before completing its backward stroke will by means of
a retractor 34, operating against the other projecting arm 15, of the T-shaped
bar draw it forward and also the short block 13, within the die box outward
to the extent of crowding out the nail so provided with an additional or

page_text: supplemental head, and to prevent the nail from remaining in the punch-the
stationary rod 10, will expel said nail which in being thus released will fall
free therefrom through an opening in the base plate of the machine and to the
floor or into a receptacle placed to receive it.
As it is essential that the nails should be fed separately and one at a time into
the slot 16, of the T-shaped bar and into the pathway of the nail driver 17, pre-
paratory to each forward action, I have provided the machine with a nail feeding
device 35, consisting of a small hopper 35, into which pointed and headed wire
nails 36, may be promiscuously placed; underneath this bottomless hopper is
arranged a downwardly inclined chute 37, having a slot 38, along its entire bottom
of sufficient width to enable the body of the nails to fall readily through, and in this
slot the nails will arrange themselves by the agitation of the machine point down-
wards one after the other, each hanging by its head, which prevents them from
falling completely through the slot and serves to carry, guide and deliver the nails
downward with their points all in one direction into a narrow box 39, just
sufficiently wide to admit of the nails resting lengthwise one on top of the other.
The lowermost nails of the series are supported and kept up in the little box by
means of a flat, underlying spring 40, above this spring is arranged a flat plate 41,
the width and thickness of a nail. This plate is made to move forward, compress
the spring and by its further action force the lowermost nail outward into a short
inclined chute 43 as shown in Figure 8 placed in a suitable position to receive it.
And down this chute 43 the nail slides point foremost and is delivered into the
slot 16 of the T-shaped bar and into the pathway of the nail-driver at each
severance and compression of a blank nail-head is made from the heated bar.
After the lowermost nail has been forced out the plate 41 recedes a distance
sufficiently far to enable another nail to drop on the spring 40 ready to be forced
out by a repeated action of the plate in the manner just described. This plate
obtains its action by means of a link or suitable connection 42 with the T-shaped
bar and in such a manner as that when the T-shaped bar is drawn forward by the
retractor 34 to discharge the newly made nail from the die box a wire nail
immediately is deposited in the pathway of the nail driver, so as to fall in front of
it when the nail driver is forced back to be again released and thrown forward by
the action of the spring and drive the nail through the heated piece of iron whilst
compressed in the die box, in the manner heretofore set forth. Which operations
are intended and made to succeed each other rapidly and with great precision.
The opening in the die box herein shown is represented as being square or
quadrangular and the punch is also of a shape corresponding thereto but it is
obvious that the same may be octagonal, round or any other shape deemed better
or more desirable. By a reference to the drawings of the several completed hob
nails from 13 to 27 inclusive, it will be seen that in general outline the heads are
mostly angular, and each having a different configuration upon the top or outer
surface. It will also be seen by reference to these figures that the head of the wire
nails together with the transverse nicks in the shanks are imbedded in the supple-
mental head which in shrinking thereon becomes immovably united, one to the
other. It will also be observed that each nail is provided with a fillet or projecting
collar extending outwardly along the shank a distance increasing the original
thickness of the iron blank, from which the supplemental nail head was produced.
The corners of each nail head are also provided with downwardly projecting spurs
or sharp angular points for the purpose of preventing a turning of the head when
the nail is driven into any suitable material.
This machine is also adapted and constructed to produce nails having a supple-
mental head with spurs and fillet as aforesaid and in addition thereto a long
downward projection or broad clamp or hook 44 along one side thereof, which is
intended to overlap and secure the edges of such boots and shoes as require a use
of the same.
These several nails in addition to the supplemental head have a
parallel sided cylindrical shank pointed at that end most remote from the head, and
the shank may be corrugated wrinkled or roughened from the fillet to the taper of

page_text: the point if desirable. The several parts of this machine having been properly
adjusted and set in motion the operation of making hob nails thereby is as
follows.
A quantity of pointed wire nails of suitable size are placed promiscuously in the
hopper 35 whereupon some of them will drop directly in the basin beneath and by
agitation of the machine they will pass down into the inclined chute 37 their bodies
falling through the slot therein leaving them supported by their heads, whereby all
become arranged in the same position and as they slide down are deposited in the
narrow channel or little box 39 from which they are eventually pushed out and
dropped one by one in front of the reciprocating rod or nail driver 17. A bar of
iron of proper length, breadth and thickness having a considerable portion of one
end thereof red hot is then inserted between the guide 33 and the face of the female
die until the end of the bar comes against the stop 32 on the opposite side of the
machine. As the reciprocating male die 9 moves forward it will sever a blank
portion from the red-hot bar and carry it into the stationary die-box at the same
time bending or turning down the corners or other portion of the blank in such a
manner as to form along at each side or angle thereof a short pointed spur. The
severance of the blank from the heated bar and the carrying of it by the punch into
the die box increases the length of the punch to the extent of the thickness of the
bar and this increased length operates to force the small block behind the blank
farther away from the punch, and in turn push the cross bar in the same direction
an equal distance. This extra movement of the cross bar is what causes it to lift
the latch and release the spring to send forward the nail driver with a powerful
blow.
Without the intervention of this blank cut from the red-hot bar of metal the
cross arms will not be moved far enough back to lift the latch or operate the feeding
device consequently no nails will be fed into the machine until a piece of red-hot
iron has been properly inserted, cut off, and forced into the die box, thus avoiding
any loss of nails that would otherwise take place whilst the machine is in motion
and the iron for forming the supplemental heads on them is not being fed in. The
construction of the machine is such as to enable me to make hob nails having
supplemental heads firmly fixed thereon and of any shape size or configuration
cheaply and without loss or waste of material.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is :
First. A nail consisting of a shank having an integral head and a supplemental
protuberant head tightly shrunk upon the shank around the integral head.
Second. As a new article of manufacture a nail consisting of a cylindrical shank
of substantially uniform diameter and having an integral head at one end a tapering
point at its opposite end, and a supplemental protuberant head which is tightly
shrunk upon the shank, around the head thereof, and provided with spurs or
projections at points adjacent to the shank.
Third. As a new article of manufacture a nail consisting of a pointed shank
having an integral head at one end a supplemental protuberant head tightly shrunk
upon the shank around the head thereof and a fillet or collar integral with the
supplemental head and tightly shrunk upon the shank as set forth.
Fourth. As a new article of manufacture, a nail consisting of a cylindrical shank
of substantially uniform diameter having an integral head at one end, a point or
taper at its opposite end, and a series of nicks or notches along the face of said
shank a toothed supplemental head shrunk tightly upon the shank around the head
thereof and having an integral fillet or collar on its face which projects outwardly
from the head and is shrunk tightly upon the nicked part of the shank.
Fifth. The art of manufacturing hob nails consisting in cutting a flat imperforate
blank from a heated bar of metal forcing a headed shank centrally through said
blank, compressing the blank upon and around the shank and giving the blank the.

page_text: desired form or contour to provide a supplemental protuberant head to the nail, and
allowing the heated blank or supplemental head to contract and shrink upon the
shank and the head thereof, as and for the purpose described.
Sixth. The art of manufacturing hob nails, substantially as described consisting
of cutting a flat imperforate blank from a heated bar of metal, forcing a pointed and
headed shank centrally through the imperforate blank with its pointed end foremost,
subjecting said blank while in its heated state to compression between suitable dies
to force the heated blank upon and around the shank and its head and at the same
time impart to the blank the desired configuration of a supplemental protuberant
head of a nail, and finally allowing the heated blank to contract and shrink
tightly upon the shank and its head, substantially as and for the purpose
described.
Seventh. The art of manufacturing nails, substantially as described, which
consists in cutting an imperforate, flat, polygonal blank from a heated bar of metal,
forcing a headed and pointed shank centrally through said heated blank so that the
head on the shank is substantially flush with the outer face of the blank, bending
the angles or corners of the polygonal blank and compressing the same upon the
shank and its head, and allowing the blank or head to contract and shrink tightly
upon the shank and the head thereof.
Eighth. The art of manufacturing nails, which consists in cutting a flat, imper-
forate blank from a heated bar of metal, forcing a pointed and headed shank centrally
through the imperforate blank and turning the metal of the blank outward and
around the shank to form a fillet underneath the supplemental protuberant head
formed by the blank, subjecting said blank to compression between suitable dies to
compress the blank upon the shank and its head, and imparting to the blank the
desired configuration, and allowing the supplemental head to contract and cool upon
the shank and its head.
Ninth. The art of manufacturing hob nails, which consists in severing an
imperforate blank portion from a hot bar of metal, compressing said blank between
properly constructed dies and forcing a short piece of pointed wire centrally through
said blank by means of a steel rod or nail driver impelled against the blunt end of
the wire by the action of a suitable spring.
Tenth. In a machine for making hob nails, the combination of dies constructed
and adapted to sever an imperforate blank portion from a heated bar of metal and
compress the same, an opening in one of said dies through which pointed wire
shanks are driven into and through said imperforate blank whilst under compression,
a spring of suitable construction for driving said shank, a revolving shaft and
suitable means connecting it to the spring so as to compress the same, a latch for
holding back the spring until a blank is received between the dies, a device for
releasing the spring at a proper time to drive a pointed shank through the hot
imperforate blank, and a retractor for drawing the finished hob nail out of the
dies as they separate for repeated action.
Eleventh. In a machine for making hob nails, the combination of dies constructed
and adapted to sever an imperforate blank portion from a heated bar of metal and
compress the same, an opening in one of said dies wherein short pieces of pointed wire
are received and driven therefrom into and through said compressed blank by means
of a spring ram or nail driver, an automatically acting device that will select and
introduce a short, pointed wire properly into the pathway and directly in front of
the spring ram, whereby the wire will be driven point foremost through the blank
and thus form a hob nail having a large protuberant head, and a retractor for
drawing the hob nail out from said dies.
Twelfth. For making hob nails of two separate pieces of metal by driving one
part consisting of a short pointed wire, intended for the shank, into and through an
imperforate blank piece of hot metal and allowing the blank to cool and contract
upon the shank whereby it is provided with a large protuberant head, a machine
provided with dies for severing and compressing an imperforate blank portion of a
heated bar of metal, a receptacle for containing a quantity of wire nails, a slotted

page_text: inclined chute down which said nails are conveyed one after the other in regular
succession, a suitable device for separating and introducing the nails singly and one
at a time in front, of a nail-driver, and a suitable device for delivering the shank
with its newly made head from the compression and forming dies.
Dated this 17th day of October 1890.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.