IMPROVEMENTS IN NAÉL MACHINES.
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jacob Benjamin Kingham, of Dorchester, Norfolk
County, State of Massachusetts, in the United States of America,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN NAÉL MACHINES.'
Sealed the 17th October 1868, and dated the 11th May 1868.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Jacob Benjamin Kingham
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 11th May 1868, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JACOB
BENJAMIN KINGHAM, of Dorchester, Norfolk County, State of Massa-
chusetts, in the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I ȧm in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
NAIL MACHINES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent
for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that I am the true
and first Inventor thereof.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Jacob Benjamin Kingham, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement :-
The nature of my Invention consists in certain improvements made
by me in nail machines. The said improvements relate to the method
of holding the nail while being headed and of shaping the shank. The
ordinary machine cut nail is so griped while being headed that it is
pressed out of shape, being of different form and often smaller im-
mediately under the head than at a short distance below the head, while
the nail made by my improved machine is griped by dies so made and
operated that the symmetry of the nail is preserved, or in fact.improved,
the form of the shank being pyramidal, and thus suited for boat-building
and other purposes.
The following is a description of that form of embodiment of this
Invention which is shown in the Drawings accompanying and making
part of this Specification, and is sufficiently clear and exact to enable
others skilled in the art to practice the Invention.
In the Drawings Fig. 1 is a plan of the Invention; Fig. 2 is a
perspective view of a part, the cutting jaw, header, and lower knife being
removed; Fig. 3 is a perspective vertical section through the knives;
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the entire machine; Fig. 5 is an elevation
showing the action of the griping dies; Fig. 6 represents in vertical
and cross section an ordinary machine cut nail; Fig. 7 represents in
vertical.and cross section a nail made by my improved machine.
"
The machine represented in the Drawings is peculiar only in a device
for griping the nail; all the other parts are identical with the machine
well known in the United States, and there called the "Reed nail tool,"
and therefore do not require a detailed description.
I will now briefly describe the parts of my machine that are old and
in common use. F, Figs. 1, 3, and 4, is the cutter head holding the
knife or cutter G, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4; F is hung on pivots F, F,
Fig. 1, and is operated by a lever K", Figs. 1 and 4, which extends
rearward from it. The levers K" is operated by the link K' which is
connected by a pin to the disk K on the main shaft P. The header L',
Figs: 1 and 4; is connected to the cutter head F by means of a small
projection L" from the cutter head, and the toggle L, Figs. 1 and 4, so
:

page_text: that the header L' vibrates with the cutter head F. I, Figs. 1, 2, 3,
and 4, is called the nipper and serves to hold the nail blank after it
has been cut from the plate and before it is seized by the gripers ;
this nipper is actuated by the rod Hч, lever H, Fig. 2, and cam H on
the main shaft.
.
The parts of the machine which I now propose to describe are new,
or in combination with other parts serve a new use. B', B, Figs. 1,
2, 3, and 4, is a strong lever vibrating on pivots, one of which is shown
at C, Figs. 2 and 4; this lever is vibrated by the cam E on the main
shaft P. M, Figs. 2, 3, and 5, is a griping die made fast to and actuated
by the lever B¹, B; C, C¹, Fig. 3, is a bent lever vibrating on pivots,
one of which is shown at B", Fig. 4; upon this lever C the lower
griping die C is fastened so that the griping end c vibrates from the
position shown in Fig. 3, that is, under d, to a position directly under
the face a of the griping die M, see Fig. 5. The griping die M upon
the lever B, B, Figs. 3 and 5, is peculiar, that is, its end is rebated so
that it has two griping faces a, b, Figs. 2 and 3, and its motion is forward
and downward. N is the third die and is stationary and is made fast
immediately under the lower cutting knife G.
The operation of my machine may be set forth as follows:-The nail
is cut and passed down, being held by the nipper I in the usual manner,
until it comes in contact with the face c of the lower griping die, said
die being in the position represented in Fig. 5, then the die M moves
forward and downward until the faces a, b, gripe the nail firmly, the
faces d, c, of the other griping dies serving as buttresses so that the
nail is firmly held by a pressure which bears equally upon the planes
of its four sides. While the nail is thus held the header moves forward
and makes the head, which being accomplished the face c of the die O"
moves backward under d, shown in Fig. 3, and the die M retires, thus
leaving the nail which is now complete to drop from the machine. By
this arrangement and construction of dics I have a machine which will
run with all the rapidity of the ordinary nail machine, will clear itself
perfectly, and will make a nail with a perfectly square pyramidal
shank, the nail thus produced being as perfect in shape as the best
hand made nail and being perfectly adapted to supply the place of
hand made nails for boat-building and other purposes. My griping
and clearing device as above described may be applied to other nail
machines as well as to the "Reed" machine.

page_text: I claim as new in my machiné thé combination and arrangement of
the vibrating dies M, C", and N, operating substantially as described
and for the purpose set forth.
Also forming the vibrating die M with a rebate a, b, operating
substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.
Also arranging and adjusting die O so that when the nail is freed
from pressure the said die Ou may swing back under the die N, Fig. 5,
and allow the nail to drop out of the machine.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this
Ninth day of April, A.D. 1868.
JACOB BENJAMIN KINGHAM. (L.B.)