Year: 1885

page_text: Engineer, do nereby declare the nature of, this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its principal object the improvement of that class of nail
making machinery for which Letters Patent were granted to Raphael Hunter
Brandin N° 5048 of 1883.
The following is a description in part of my experimental machine, those parts
which are already old and well known not being mentioned, except where necessary
to better describe the new parts.
I drive the feed motion by means of a cam and spring on the main shaft, pressing
forward a piece to which is linked a feed bar, a spring returning the same when
the throw of the cam is past. On this bar I place a spring buffer so that I can
give a little excess of feed, when the nail plate is being fed comes against the stop
gauge hereafter described, and stops the same, the spring shall be compressed. The
feed bar works (by notch and pin) an arm of a rocking shaft, and by lifting the
handle of the lever, the feed is at once thrown out of gear. Two upright arms on
the rocking shaft one on each side of the centre actuate the main lever of the feed
motion alternately by a push against the said lever at the required moment for
feeding the nail plate at the exact time, being regulated by the position and shape
of the driving cam.
From
The main lever of the feed motion is pivoted about three quarters of its length
from the point of actuation, on the oscillating rotating nail plate carrier.
Stops
are provided on the latter, to regulate the throw of the lever, if required.
the shorter end of this lever (which in my experimental machine is crooked to clear
the nail plate clamp, hereafter described,) two diagonal links connect it with the
ends of the two feed jaws which are pivoted on slides in a bracket on the oscillating
rotary nail plate carrier, and bearing against the nail plate to be fed into the
machine, at their other ends. These jaws are connected at their pivots by a cross
piece to prevent any strain to the slides, and this cross piece is united to the tubular
cam on the feed frame by means of a coiled spring, by which means the feed jaws
are brought back at each stroke. A safety guard on the frame is also added to
push back the main lever, if the coiled spring should fail to work. A suitable
gauge or fence is provided to prevent the nail plate being fed too far into the dies
D 0.77

page_text: and guides (one of them a spring guide) regulate the exact position of the nail plate
to the cutters or dies.
One end of the oscillating rotary nail plate carrier (nearest the machine) is
supported by a yoke having two rollers working against cam surfaces fixed to the
said nail plate carrier causing it to move back and forth at each half turning round
and back again enabling the nail plate to clear the cutting knives or dies.
The yoke has a reciprocating motion at right angles to the nail plate carrier, this
motion being taken indirectly from the back or rocking shaft working the parts
to give the necessary rotary motion to the nail plate carrier hereafter to be
described.
The nail plate carrier consists of a long trough or gantree with flat top, a hollow
cylindrical head or tube, and the brackets and tube requisite to guide the nail
plate and carry the levers, cams, and nail plate clamp stops etcetera described.
The cams already described for giving a withdrawing motion to the nail plate
carrier form part of a tube in the said carrier which acts as an accurate guide to
the nail plate. Guide rollers assist the nail plate in this action.
The apparatus for holding the end of the nail bar is as follows. A plate, the
same breadth as the nail plate is placed on the gantree and has one or more slide
blocks or pins fixed to it below, sliding in recesses in the gantree, so that when
the latter turns over, the plate shall not fall out. Fixed to this plate is a clamp
with a projecting jaw, extending beyond the end of the plate, so as to cover and
hold the end of the nail plate for a slight distance, when the latter is placed against
it. This plate is long enough to pass through the tube part already described to
within about half an inch of the cutting dies or shears. Then it is stopped by a
stop-pin and can be fed no further. By this means the nail plate can be utilized
for nail making almost to the very end. The plate is provided below with two
divergent springs, or hinged bars pressed apart by a spring or springs, and pressing
against the gantree so as to cause sufficient friction to prevent the nail plate
being brought back with the recoil of the feed levers. Rollers at intervals can be
used to guide the nail plate on the gantree. The motion for actuating the rocking
bar that raises the yoke already described, is worked from that used to rotate the
feed frame or gantree. On the shaft used to actuate the segmental gearing, I place
a salient angle cam, and on the connecting rod connecting an arm of the yoke
rocking lever with this motion, I place a roller working on this angle cam.
connecting rod is prevented from getting lateral motion by being formed with a
slot which slides on the shaft of the segmental gear, its action must therefore follow
the angle cain exactly, and thus a complete stroke is made for each side of the
angle, or two for each stroke of the intermediate shaft, and allow the nail plate
carrier and nail plate to remain stationary, a sufficient amount of time for the
operation of the cutting of the nail or nail blank to be fully performed.
The
In the foregoing description the arrangement of my experimental machine has
been carefully adhered to, but it is obvious that mechanical equivalents can be
used for many of the motions herein described. Thus, for instance, instead of the
angle cam apparatus, link motion or other varieties of cam motion could be used,
by which two strokes could be given to the yoke for every one of the actuating
gear, or the cam motion, used to withdraw the feed frame clear of the shears or dies
could be placed at the other end of the feed frame or consist of a single roller and
slotted cam.

page_text: Improvements in Feeding Apparatus for Horse Shoe and other
Nail Machines.
I, FREDERICK MYERS, of Chapel St. Bootle in the County of Lancaster, Engineer
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:―
This invention relates to improvements in that class of machinery for making
horse shoe nails described in the specification of Letters Patent N° 5048 of 1883,
granted to Raphael Hunter Brandon, as a communication from me.
The improvements refer chiefly to the mechanism for manipulating and feeding
the nail plates from which the blanks are cut, the cutting or punching apparatus
remaining substantially the same as heretofore described; for this reason therefore
the dies for cutting and shaping the nails are not shown or described herein as the
action of them, and the means for actuating them are fully set forth and described
in the specification and drawings of the aforementioned Patent N° 5048 of 1883.
Referring to the drawings annexed hereto,
Figure 1. is a sectional elevation of parts of the improved apparatus.
Figure 2. plan of same.
Figure 3. elevation of parts not shown in Figure 1.
Figure 4. section of nail plate carrier C on line X-X.
Figure 5. detail of feed mechanism in elevation.
Figure 6. ditto in plan.
Figure 7. ditto in cross sectional elevation.
Figure 8. end view of safety guard Y.
In these A is the framework of the machine, B is the stand or frame which
supports the outer end of the rotating oscillating nail plate carrier C. The nail
plate carrier C is at its outer end e supported in the bearing b of the frame B, and
at the other end by the yoke or bearing D. The nail plate carrier may be of any
suitable or required length, say about 10 feet, but in the drawings is shewn broken
to obviate the necessity of reducing the other parts to a smaller scale, and in the
position in which it appears, immediately after the blank has been cut and before
the plate has been withdrawn from the face of the die and raised for the purpose
of allowing it to be reversed for the next cut. It consists of a gantree E of trough
shape, preferably semi-circular in cross section, with a flat top and a hollow
cylindrical tubular head supported on wooden strengthening piece E. Instead of
the wooden piece E¹ the trough shaped piece E may be made sufficiently strong in
itself, but I prefer the construction shown as giving more rigidity for the same
weight of material The nail plate F is laid upon the flat surface of the trough
shaped gantree E and is securely clamped thereon by a clamp G. The clamp G is
mounted or pivoted upon a plate H of the same breadth as the nail plate, placed
upon the gantree E. The slide block G¹ is attached to the under surface of the
plate H which slides in the hollow of the gantree and below the edges of the top
plates e so that when the latter turns over, the plate shall not fall off. The
projecting jaw g of the clamp G extends beyond the end of the plate H so as to
•

page_text: cover and hold the end of the nail plate F for a short distance when the latter is
placed against it. At the other end the plate H is provided with two divergent
springs i or hinged bars, pressed apart by a spring or springs and pressing against
the gantree, so as to cause sufficient friction to prevent the nail plate being brought
back with the recoil of the feed levers, and being placed underneath as shewn,
prevent the end of the plate leaving the gantree when turned over. Rollers g
guide the plate on the gantree. The pin I which carries the spring or levers i
coming in contact with the pin or bolt I¹ serves as a stop to prevent the feed being
carried too far, or the plate H fed between the dies.
The nail plate carrier C supported in the bearing b at one end, and on the
bearing or yoke D at the other end receives a rotary oscillating movement as
described in the specification of the aforesaid Letters Patent No 5048 of 1883
J being the actuating strap or belt, N the rock shaft J₁ the segmental gearing,
K the crank or lever through which motion is conveyed by the connecting rod K¹
from the crank L on the second shaft L¹.
In order to raise the end of the rotary oscillating nail plate carrier, to allow of
the turning of the nail plate after each stroke of the die, the bearing or yoke D
has a vertical reciprocating motion imparted to it. The yoke is carried in a
slide D¹ below the nail plate carrier. A lever M attached to the rocking shaft M'
abuts against its under surface, a movement imparted to the rocking shaft M¹
causes the lever to rise and carry with it the yoke D. This motion is taken from
the rocking shaft N, carrying the segment J¹ which imparts motion to the nail
plate carrier. On the shaft N is placed a salient angle cam N¹, and on the shaft M¹
a crank or lever O a connecting rod O¹ pivoted on pin o to the crank O is actuated
by the cam N¹ working against a roller o¹ or pin on the other end of it.
The connecting rod O' is prevented from getting lateral motion by being formed
with a slot of which slides on the shaft N of the segmental gear, its action must
therefore follow the angle cain exactly, and thus a complete stroke is made for
each side of the cam, or two for each stroke of the intermediate shaft N, and also
allow the nail plate carrier and nail plate to remain stationary a sufficient length
of time for the operation of the cutting of the nail or nail blank to be fully
performed..
Before the nail plate carrier is oscillated after the cutting of the nail blank, and
before the yoke D is raised, it must be withdrawn a certain distance to prevent
the nail plate striking or abutting against the die during the operation of turning
This is effected by means of two rollers d on the yoke D, which work in a cam
groove d¹ on the nail plate carrier the position of which being such, that immediately
on the carrier C being rotated, the end of the plate is withdrawn. The yoke D is
then raised to allow the plate to turn freely. It is obvious that this tubular cam
could be combined with the bearing b, but I prefer to place it as shown.
The feed apparatus carried by the rotary oscillating nail plate carrier C receives
motion by means of a cam P on the main shaft R pressing forward a piece S to
which is linked a feed bar T, a spring Q returning the same to its normal position
when the throw of the cam is past. On the bar T is placed a spring buffer U to
prevent a little excess of feed damaging or straining any of the levers or parts of
the machine. Should the nail plate when being fed be forced against the stop
gauge Y¹ on the die Y, the spring u of the buffer U will be compressed. The
feed bar is notched at f to engage with a pin t¹ carried by a lever T¹ of a rocking
shaft V. Two upright levers V₁ V₁ are secured to the rocking shaft V and
oscillate with it, one placed on each side of the nail plate carrier. These alternately
actuate the lever W as the carrier is oscillated, and the lever presented first at one
side, and then at the other. The distance and time of travel of the arms in
levers V, VI, are regulated by the cam P on the driving shaft, which is adjusted
to give the required feed at the proper time. The main lever W of the feed motion
is pivoted on the nail plate carrier C at w about three quarters of its length from
its end. At the end is placed a roller W1 which comes in contact with the
levers V1, V. Stops may be placed to regulate the throw of the lever if required.

page_text: The shorter end of this lever is connected by two diagonal links X to the ends of
the two feed jaws x, which are pivoted to sliding pieces X¹ sliding in grooves
formed by the brackets or stationary pieces X' on nail plate carrier. These jaws
are connected by a cross piece x to prevent any strain to the slides, and this
cross piece is united to the tubular cam d¹ on the feed frame by means of a coil
spring, by which means the feed jaws are brought back at each stroke,
A safety guard Y on the frame is also added to push back the main lever, if the
coiled spring should fail to work. A simpler and more efficient arrangement of
the feed apparatus is shown in Figures 5, 6, 7. The diagonal levers X are pivoted
to the feed jaws x, which in turn are pivoted to the sliding block X¹. A spring ¹¹l
returns these to position at each movement of the lever. The adjustable guide y
and spring guide y¹ regulate the position of the nail plate with reference to the
cutters and dies.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be
understood that I do not herein claim the mechanism for making horse-shoe nails,
or any of the parts thereof taken separately, shown and described in the speci-
fication and drawings of the aforementioned Letters Patent N° 5048 of 1883, but
that as improvements thereon whether for making blanks for horse shoe or other
nails I claim the following:
•
1st. In a machine for cutting blanks for nails, a nail plate carrier, comprised of
a trough shaped gantree with cylindrical ends (with or without a wooden
strengthening piece) and having a tubular cam at one end, by means of which a
longitudinal motion is imparted, substantially as described.
2nd. In a machine for cutting blanks for nails, the combination with a rotary,
oscillating nail plate carrier of the plate H, the clamp G, the slide block G¹, and
the spring for the purpose of securing the nail plate to its carrier, substantially as
described and shown.
3rd. In a machine for cutting blanks for nails having a rotary oscillating nail
plate carrier, a yoke or bearing with vertical reciprocal sliding motion for
supporting the end of the nail carrier raised and lowered by lever which is actuated
by a cam on the rock shaft from which the nail carrier itself receives motion.
4th. In a machine for cutting blanks for nails the combination with a rotary
oscillating nail carrier of a tubular cam encircling it at one end in the groove of
which work one or more rollers substantially as and for the purposes described.
5th. The improved feed actuating mechanism for a machine for cutting nail
blanks, consisting of a rocking shaft with levers which alternately act against the
feed lever which is operated from a cam through a connecting rod with spring
buffer therein, substantially as and for the purposes described.
6th. The combination with the nail plate carrier C of the feeding apparatus
consisting of the pivoted lever W, the diagonal links ✗, the feed jaws x and sliding
pieces X, substantially as described and shown in Figures 1 and 2, and also in
Figures 5, 6 and 7, each taken separately.