IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH THE MANU- FACTURE OF STAPLES
Year: 1885

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COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I PHILIP MIDDLETON JUSTICE of 55 and 56 Chancery Lane in the County of
Middlesex Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents do hereby declare the nature
of said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH THE MANU-
FACTURE OF STAPLES a communication to me from abroad by John Thomson of
Brooklyn in the County of Kings and State of New York, United States of
America Engineer and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to staples and machines for making the same, and has for
its object the production of an improved staple that is practically self clinching
and to enable the manufacture thereof to be carried on practically and economically
by automatic machinery having a rotary, a combination of rotary and reciprocating
or a simple reciprocating movement all as hereinafter described.
To clearly indicate the nature of the invention, reference is made to the
accompanying drawings in which
Figures 1 to 7 show various views of different forms of staples, the remaining
Figures showing various views of the machines for making such staples.
The improvement in the construction of the staples consists primarily in forming
deflecting angles upon the extension of the prongs of the staples in such a manner
that the said prongs, when the staples are driven into wood and the like, are
forced inward towards each other, or away from each other in a direction sidewise
of the staple.
Such a construction is illustrated in Figs 1 to 4 in which a staple 7 of
ordinary form is represented, having the extensions or extremities of the prongs 8, 9
bevelled as at 10 11 in an inward or downward direction, and also at an angle to
the common centre line D, the angles being formed in an opposite direction each
to the other as shown in Fig 4. From this it will be seen that when the staple is
driven into any yielding material, as wood, the resistance against the bevels tends
to deflect the prongs differentially inwards towards each other and sidewise away
from each other, as best shown in Fig 2.

page_text: The extent of this deflection or curvature is directly dependent upon the degree
of obtuseness given to the bevels, the length of the prongs, and the character of
the material into which the staples are driven. It will therefore be seen that by
properly balancing the conditions the prongs of the staples will be forced into a
shape whereby they resist withdrawal to an extent limited only by the rigidity
of the prongs against flexure and the friction of the material in which they are
embedded.
To further increase the resistance of the staple against withdrawal a series of spaces
or barbs, as 12 are formed in one or more sides of the prongs It will be apparent
that the larger the volume which can be embraced by the spaces between the barbs
of the material encompassing the prongs, the greater will be the resistance offered
to the withdrawal of the staple. To this end the invention also consists in forming
the spaces in a manner best shown in Fig 5, in which the bottom of each space is
an arc of a circle preferably of the least diameter that will connect the bottom
as 14 with the top as 15 of any single space. The increased capacity of the spaces
and therefore the advantages of this improvement is clearly shown by the dotted
lines 16. 17. The arrows Figs 3 & 4 show the lines of force on the prongs at
different bevels while being driven and the dotted outline 18 arrows 19 indicate
the resisting material and lines of force.
Figs 6 & 7 show the position of forms of staples which may be made by the
machine hereinafter described, and in which the inner sides of the prongs of the
staples are beveled at right angles to the common centre line. In manufacturing
these and similar staples, various machines may be used with greater or less
advantage and my invention further consists in the construction of machines for
such purpose in which great speed of operation is attained and at the same time
the mechanism is simple in its movements, easily understood and operated durable
and convenient to adjust and repair.
The order and conditions of operation of a machine to produce each staple are as
follows: First, to feed the wire. Second, to form the barbs and bevels therein and
separate the blank from the wire. Third to bend the blank to the required shape
and discharge it from the machine. These operations are well performed by a
machine such as is illustrated in Figs 8 to 17 in which all the movements are
rotary and continuous and therefore may be very rapid. The wire 1 is conducted
by any convenient means to the grooved friction wheel 3.
In the illustrations the machine is arranged to produce two staples during each
revolution of the driving shaft 4 hence there are two feeds and two periods of rest
to the wire The feed wheel 3 is made with two sections of the periphery cut
away, leaving the arcs 5. 6 of greater radii, which bite the wire between the arcs
and the friction wheel and force it through the machine until its end impinges
against the stop piece 51.
The length of the arcs is such that they will ensure a complete feed slipping
slightly upon the wire before releasing its bite. The feed wheel is mounted on a
shaft 52 journaled in an extension of the frame, and motion is imparted to the
shaft by bevel gears connecting with the driving shaft of the machine. The
friction wheel is pivotally mounted upon a spring pressed lever 53 having means
for regulating the pressure of the friction wheel on the arcs of the feeding wheel,
to regulate the amount of friction necessary to ensure the feed of the wire, and to
yield under any uneveness of the wire, and to slip when the wire is against the
stop piece without destruction to the biting surfaces.
A disc 24 mounted on a shaft suitably connected to the driving shaft carries the
male dies or cutters 25 which engage with the female die 26 fixedly secured to the
base of the machine having a transverse slot 27 through which the wire is passed
and in which it is held. The forms of the cutting portions of the dies are such
that the barbs are cut on the end of the staple blank and the contiguous end of the
wire, the centre tooth or projection 28 of the cutter being elongated sufficiently to
fully cut the wire asunder and to produce, in the act of separating the desired
beveled end to the staple. Hence as the cutter in its revolution passes the wire

page_text: it is barbed, beveled, and separated, the blank thus separated being sustained by
suitable cheeks 29, 30, until the formers 32 or 33 mounted on the disc 31 on the
driving shaft strike the blank and force it between the cheeks, from whence it
drops a finished staple. By the use of rotary cutters as above described, the
tendency to twist the wire and to flatten the side of the wire, opposite the side
acted upon by the cutter, usually attendant upon reciprocatory cutters is avoided,
as in the instance of the said reciprocating cutters, the thrust is in a direct line
through the centre of the wire, as indicated at 34 causing the metal to rather swell
upward under the compression of the cutter and hence flatten against the flat
portion of the slot while with the rotary die even when the face of the cutter is in
à line coincident with the centre of the disc, as indicated by the arrow 30, the
tendency is to force the metal downward against the round bottom of the slot and
the wire is separated with little or no flattening to appear on the sides of the
prongs of the staple.
It is evident that by properly shaping the angle of the contact between the face
of the cutter and the wire any desired effect may be produced by the circular
action either to lift or depress the wire in the slot. It will be seen that all parts
of the machine as thus described are easily accessible for repair or adjustment.
The cutters may be removed and replaced without affecting their adjustment.
To accomplish this the side of the disc 24 is bored at its outer surface as 39. Into
this is secured a cutter which is formed by turning a disc of steel with the desired
form of barbs and cutter on its periphery and separating it transversely, forming
two half discs. A ring the outer diameter of which fits the counter bore, and the
inner diameter of which corresponds to the shape of the cutter is then separated
-like the cutter forming a section of a ring 40. The part 41 fixedly secured in the
counter bore by pins 42 which fill less than half of the area of the counter bore,
leaving room for the wedge 43 a screw 44 securing all from displacement sidewise.
The shock of cutting and separating the wire will thus be borne by a practically
solid structure, and as the cutter becomes dull it may be quickly removed by simply
withdrawing screw 44. The cutter is sharpened by grinding the face, hence when
replaced it is brought to the proper cutting angle by forcing up the wedge by the
serew 45 or by inserting thin strips of metal between the wedge and the solid
portion. As thus constructed the cutters can be produced with great accuracy
and are very durable and inexpensive. In Fig 15 the working faces of the
cutter 46 are ground back of the face, so that the entire cut is not effected at
a single instant. In Fig 16, the face of the cutter is ground bevelled producing a
shearing cut. In Fig 17 the cutter is formed of a series of plates. When speed is
not an essential to the operation of the machine it may be constructed substantially
as illustrated in Figs 18 to 22 wherein only a part of the operations are rotary a
part being reciprocating. The bending and discharging mechanism is substantially
like that just described, but the barb and bevel forming and blank cutting
mechanism is somewhat different as will be seen from the following description.
The wire is fed by any suitable mechanism through an opening in the side of the
machine, whence it is caused to traverse the slot 27 in the fixed female die 26. The
male die 25 is fixed to a reciprocating beam 20, to which motion is transmitted by
suitable cams 21 fast to the driving shaft, friction rolls being interposed if desired,
and the form of the cams is such that the thrust through the wire is slow and the
return movement is very quick, and the movements of the machine are so timed
that the cutting is done immediately after the wire is fed to position and one of the
formers 32 secured to the disc 31 will strike and bend the blank into a staple
immediately upon the withdrawal of the cutters.
Fig 22 shows the position of the dies as the wire is being barbed and the blank
severed therefrom. The male die 25 is secured to the beam 20 by bolt 22, so that
it may be readily removed for inspection or repair, and adjustment of the dies is
effected by the wedge 23, while a passage is formed in the frame for the metal cut
by the dies to pass to the floor. In Figs 23 to 26 is shown a machine which may

page_text: be used to manufacture the staples in which all the movements are reciprocating.
This form of machine is well known to those skilled in the art and needs no general
description. The wire 1 is fed by the continuously rotating rolls 47 one of them
being controlled by a lever 48 operated by a cam on the main shaft to feed the
required amount of wire.
The vertically reciprocating cutting off and shaping die 49 acts as one part being
operated from a cam on the main shaft and first cuts the blank from the wire and
then forms the staple by bending the ends of the blank downward over a former or
stud 50 and as it is immediately withdrawn the staple is prevented from following
by the projection of a reciprocating rod 54. The barbs are now formed by means
of the fixed female die 26 secured back of the staple A pair of locking blocks 55
and a stripper 56 are secured to a carriage 57 operated from the main shaft.
Within the back extension of each locking block is a spring 58 the thrust of which
is exerted between the blocks and the solid portions of the carriage.
A face plate 59 secures the locking blocks and the die in their bearings, and a
pin 60 from each locking block projects through slots in the plate to limit the
action of the springs. The stripper 56 is secured to the face plate by a bolt passing
through a slot in the main body of the stripper which is otherwise guided by the
forked portion 61 which embraces the cutting portion of the die. As the carriage
is forced forward the moment the forming die has been withdrawn from the staple,
it first brings the faces of the locking blocks, which project slightly beyond the face
of the male die in contact with the face of the female die and on the outside of each
prong of the staple. The staple is thus locked against displacement sidewise It is
also locked against displacement upward and downward by the projection 62 and
stud 63.
The continued forward movement of the carriage will now compress the springs
in the locking blocks and drive the die through the prongs of the staple, cutting the
desired bevels and barbs at any angle or depth to which the die may be adapted.
Upon the withdrawal of the die, in consequence of the action of the springs upon
the locking blocks, they will maintain their position against the face of the female
die during a portion of the return stroke of the carriage, or until the male die will
have been fully withdrawn from the female die and the termini of the slots reach
the pins 60, when the complete device will be carried back as one part. Meantime
the staple will have clung to the male die very snugly, and will be carried back
with the die until the extension of the stripper 56 impinges against the solid
cross piece 64 which thus arrests the further movement of the stripper with the
carriage the slot in the stripper allowing it to slide over the carriage and thus
forces the finished staple from off the die whence it drops down and out of the
machine. Just previous to, and at this time the projection of the rod 54 is
withdrawn, thus leaving a free space for the next "feed" of wire to take place
It will be
when the said rod will again be brought into position as before.
understood that that portion of the stripper which compasses the die approximates
the form of the staple.
In the practical working of the machine a considerable advantage is obtained by
the disposal of the parts, rendering them very accessible for repair or adjustment.
To remove either or both of the locking blocks, or the die, or all, it is simply
necessary to unscrew the bolts 65 when the face plate, and with it the stripper may
be displaced, thereby fully exposing the locking blocks and die free to be removed
either for inspection or repair This is especially valuable in the instance of the
male die which in rapid and continued use requires to be most frequently examined
and sharpened.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is
1. The improved self clinching staples having deflecting angles upon the
extremities of the prongs substantially as described.

page_text: 2. The improved self clinching barbed staples, having deflecting angles upon the
extremities of the prongs and the series of spaces or barbs formed in one or more
sides of the prongs, substantially as described.
3. The herein described machines for forming self clinching barbed staples
having stationary female dies and moveable male dies, and formers, substantially.
as described.
4. The staple forming machine in which all the motions of the operating parts
are rotary and continuous, wherein the wire is intermittingly fed, the blank is
severed, and at the same time the bevels and barbs are formed in one end of
the blank and the adjacent end of the wire and the blank is formed into a staple
substantially as described.
5. In a staple forming machine, the wire feeding mechanism consisting of a feed
wheel having portions cut away a friction wheel mounted on a pivoted lever, and a
spring bearing on said lever substantially as described.
6. In a staple forming machine the combination of a grooved feed wheel having
cut away portions, a grooved feed wheel, a pivoted lever carrying the feed wheel
and a spring connected to the frame of the machine and constantly bearing upon
said lever, substantially as described.
7. In a staple forming machine, a cutter consisting of a disc having the desired
contour for cutting the wire, said disc being severed transversely, substantially as
described.
8. In a staple forming machine in which all the motions are rotary and
continuous, the combination of a continuously rotating intermittent feed, a fixed
female die, a rotary male die, and a rotary former all arranged to operate in quick
succession and from a single driving shaft, substantially as described.
9. The improved male or cutting die formed and adjusted as herein set forth for
the purposes described.
10. In machines for forming self clinching barbed staples the arrangements
and combinations of the various parts substantially as described for the purpose
specified.
Dated this twenty fifth day of March 1885.
PHILIP M. JUSTICE.