IMPROVEMENTS IN NAILING MACHINERY
Year: 1885

page_text: I ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES of the firm of Wm Brookes & Son of 55 Chancery
Lane in the County of Middlesex Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents do hereby
declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN NAILING MACHINERY and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of this invention is to improve the mechanism whereby sole fastening
nails placed in a hopper or reservoir, may be fed therefrom into a chute or shoot
and thence into a nose at the end of the shoot from the said nose be driven into
the sole and upper supported on a rising and falling, and rotating horn of usual
construction.
In this present invention but one length of nail is employed; a finger is made to
descend upon the heads of the two endmost nails of the column of nails in the
shoot, at the point where the heads of the said nails touch each other, to thus tip
the shanks of the said two nails in opposite directions throwing the endmost nail
against the driver while the latter is down, and thereafter a separator moving at
right angles to the length of the raceway is made to enter between the separated
nails, and keep in the raceway the nail just back of the one next to be driven as
the driver rises and again descends, spring actuated centering devices holding the
nail in central position in the nose. Specific features of my invention will be set
out herein and specifically stated in the claim.
Figure 1 is a partial front elevation of a nailing machine, embodying my
invention.
Figure a right hand side elevation of Figure 1, a portion of the nail receiving
drum having been added.
Figure 3 a detail showing the left hand side of the movable head and the
separator.

page_text: Figure 4 an enlarged detail of the lower end of the shoot its rigid cap, the
finger carrying lever and finger to act upon the heads of the endmost nails, and
the nose.
Figure 4 a section of Figure 4 on the dotted line x³-x².
Figure 5 a detail showing the lower end of the shoot.
Figure 6 a detail of one of the nail centering devices removed.
Figure 7 is a partial top or plan view of Figure 2 to show the devices for moving
the nail receiving drum.
Figure 8 a sectional detail of Figure 7 in the dotted line x-x.
Figure 9 a detail of the fly wheel and its check or brake device.
Figure 10 a detail to be referred to, and
Figure 11 is a side elevation of the lower part of the machine omitted from
Figure 1 a part of the feet of the machine being broken off.
The framework A of the machine has projecting from its front side a cylindrical
bub or bearing upon which is fitted and turns the recessed inner face of the
movable head B of the machine, a shouldered part thereof fitting the hub snugly,
which hub thus forms a fulcrum for the said head during its vibration. The
head B has a vertical passage to receive in it the driver-bar a, to which is attached,
by a suitable clamp and blocks, and set screw a³ the driver a, and awl a. The
head B, at its lower end, has a nose c connected with it by a screw, the said nose
having made in it the vertical passage which receives the nail to be driven, and into
which the driver enters in its descent to drive the nail.
The head B, retained on the hub by screws 68 in slots made in the head. but of
greater diameter than that of the said screws, has a fork, B³, see Figure 2, in
which rests a block, b, fitted upon an eccentric near the front end of the shaft C,
which has its bearings in the frame work A, the said eccentric, as the shaft is
rotated, vibrating the head B sufficiently in one direction to enable the awl, when
driven down into the stock, to feed it, and in the opposite direction to bring the
nose and driver above the hole last made by the awl in the said stock.
The said shaft of the machine has upon it the usual clutch-pulley, forced
together at suitable times by a wedge-block, C³, of usual construction.
Shaft C carries a face-grooved cam, C6, that vibrates a lever, C7, joined by
link, Cs, with the horn-depressing lever or treddle C, having its fulcrum at Ci⁰,
and connected by a globular joint C, (see Figure 11) with the lower end of the
horn-shaft, b, having the usual rotating horn 6 at its upper end, provided with a
nail-clinching surface. The horn-shaft has a collar, 65, which rests upon a strong
spiral spring, 66, the normal tendency of which is to lift the horn against the stock
as soon as the feed is completed.
The horn is pulled down positively and to a uniform distance below the under
side of the stock after driving each nail and while the awl is feeding the stock, by
means of the pawl d, pivoted on the pawl-carrier d², guided in guides d³, and
connected with the rod C8, which is attached by bolts d' with the lever C7 referred
to. This carrier d² is lifted once at each revolution of the shaft C³, just after the
bar a has descended and the awl a' is in the stock, and while the head B is being
moved to feed the stock, and as the said carrier is raised the pawl d engages a 4
toothed part of the rack do, (also held in the guides d³) connected by rod do with
the horn-depressing lever C, and depresses the horn. The cam-block d' disengages
the pawl d from the teeth of the said rack as the carrier is depressed, and the
spring be then acts to immediately throw the upper end of the horn against the
underside of the stock, whatever may be its thickness. By these devices the horn 5
will always be depressed a certain fixed distance from the underside of the stock
notwithstanding variations in its thickness.
The operator may depress the horn by the foot-treadle D, pivoted at C10, and
having its rear end resting against the lever C at the rear of its fulcrum.
The main shaft C2 is provided with a gear 2 which engages a larger gear 3, 5
which runs loosely on a stud 4 held at its ends in brackets 5 of the frame work,

page_text: he said gear 3 having attached to it a belt pulley 6, see Figure 7, which receives
belt 7 extended over a pulley 8 and rotates the shaft 9 to which is attached the
nail receiving drum E.
The shaft 9 is extended through a sleeve bearing 10 at the end of a bracket or
arm 12, suitably held in a rigid manner to the frame work. The front end of the
sleeve bearing 10 is enlarged to form a chambered disk 13 with an attached
hopper 14, the disk serving as the face plate over and against which the rear open
end of the drum rotates.
The disk is notched at 15 to receive the shoot 16 having upon it the usual
inclined shelf h². The chute or shoot 16 is a slotted bar cut entirely through at its
underside between the points 17, 18, Figure 4, to permit slivers and beadless or
imperfect nails to drop down through the shoot. The front end of the shoot is
attached to the head B (it being made movable so as to enable the awl connected
with the driver in the said head to feed the stock over the usual horn) by a
neck 19 and two bolts h and 20, so that the said shoot partakes of the same
movement as the head B, or rather moves in unison with it, the shoot sliding in
the notches 15 in the disk 13.
The shoot at its lower end is inclined upward from the main top of the shoot as
at 44, or is made to occupy a substantially horizontal position to serve as a shelf or
rest for the heads of one or two of the endmost nails in the groove or roadway of the
said shoot, such shelf or rest permitting the body or shank of the endmost nail,
when its head is acted upon by a finger 42 to be described, to be inclined or thrown
away from the mass of nails in the shoot so that it may be readily picked off from
the end of the shoot by a separator and be delivered into the driver passage in the
usual nose attached to and moving with the head B, the nose having usual
passages for both the awl and driver.
The shoot 16, at its rear side see Figure 4, has an ear 22 which receives the
bolt 23 that confines in place the rigid cover 24 V-shaped in cross section as shown
in Figure 4a to rest above the heads of the nails n in the shoot, the top of the latter
being also cut V-shaped.
The upper end 26 of the cover 24 is forked to receive between it the knocking
off wheel 27, which is acted upon by a pawl 28, pivoted at 29 on a lug of the
framework, and the said pawl is kept down upon the ratchet teeth of the said
wheel 27 by a spring 30.
The screw 32 serves to connect the nail cover 24 with the shoot, and also to
hold a spring 33 which normally keeps elevated the forward end of the finger
carrying lever 34, pivoted at 35 on the rigid cover.
The periphery of the wheel 27 extends into the nail receiving drum just above
the nail guiding slot in the shoot, and the space between the periphery of the said
wheel and the shoot is just sufficient to enable the heads of the nails which are
properly placed in the shoot to pass under it and out from the drum under the
rigid cover.
The wheel 27 mounted loosely on the pin 36 partakes of the same movement as
does the shoot and head B, and consequently as the shoot with the wheel 27 is
5 moved in the direction of the arrow shown thereon in Figure 1, the stationary
pawl 28, the hook of which engages a tooth of the said wheel as in Figure 1, will
cause the periphery of the wheel 27 next the top of the shoot to move in the
direction of the upper end of the shoot, and if the nails in the shoot under the
wheel 27 are properly suspended by their heads and are in proper condition to
O pass freely along in the shoot, the pawl 28, as the shoot, wheel 27, and head B, are
moved in the opposite direction, retains its position on the wheel and being held
in the base of one of the notches forming the teeth, by the spring 29, the said pawl
acts to slightly move the wheel 27 back into its first position:
In case the nails become clogged together under the wheel 27, the pawl 28 in
5. engagement with it as the shoot is moved in the direction of the arrow, will turn
the wheel. 27 as stated and cause the teeth next the shoot to act upon and push

page_text: •
backward the nails which are improperly lodged or thrown across the shoot, and
which are caught between the heads of adjacent nails and rest horizontally abov
the shoot.
If the wheel 27 during this first movement fails to push back the wrongly
lodged nails, the latter hold and prevent the reverse swing of the wheel 27 a
before referred to, and as the shoot and head B are moved in the direction opposite
the arrow in Figure 1, the next tooth of the wheel 27, beyond that engaged by the
pawl when the shoot was moved in the direction of the arrow referred to, will pass
under the pawl, and when the shoot is again moved in the direction of the arrow
the pawl engaging the second tooth will cause the wheel to have a quick movement
which will throw from under the wheel the improperly lodged nails.
The rotation of the wheel step by step in one direction by the pawl will continue
as long as the nails under the wheel are not properly suspended by their heads.
The finger carrying lever 34 is provided at its front end with a cam roll 38
which is acted upon by a cam 39 fast upon the reduced end of the shaft C, The
lever 34 has a rigid finger 42 fastened to it, by block 40 and screw 41.
The lever 34 is depressed by the cam roll 38, while the driver is being moved from
its lowest to its highest point, and just before the separator 45 is moved to cover the
end of the shoot, and during this time the finger 42 attached to the lever 34 is
made to descend through the slot 43 of the cover 24 and press, upon the heads
of the two endnost nails of the row of nails in the shoot at a point between the
centres of their heads as shown in the detail Figure 10, such pressure on the heads
of the said nails tending to throw the point of the endmost nail toward the driver
passage in the nose c, and the point of the nail next behind it back toward the
other nails in the shoot, thus leaving a clean open space for the entrance of the
separator 45, forked to embrace the ears 46 of the shoot 16 and attached to
the separator lever 47, by a bolt 48, the said lever being pivoted at 49 on the
movable head B and having a lug 50 acted upon by a strong spring 51 to cause
the separator to close the open end of the shoot 16.
The lever 47 has a suitable roller stud 52 which is acted upon by the rear side
of the cam 39, see Figure 3, to draw the separator from and to uncover the end of
the shoot to permit the endmost nail to be delivered to the driver passage.
The nose, shown partially in section, Figure 3, has the usual driver passage 55
into which enters the beveled ends 56 of the nail centering arms 57, see Figures 4
and 6, bent as shown and having flattened ends 58 which are acted upon by a
spring 60 attached to the nose by a screw 61, the said spring being forked or
having two arms one to bear on the arms 57 of the centering devices.
The arms 57 are held in grooves 59 in the nose, and the beveled ends 56 are
extended through holes 62 at the sides of the nose, and are normally kept pressed
together therein, by the spring 60 so as to prevent a nail delivered into the driver
passage 55 from falling through, but permitting the said nail to be driven down
between the centering devices by the driver in its descent, the said centering
devices being thus forced apart, the head of the nail passing below them.
When the driver at is way down, the separator 45 is drawn fully back or away
from the end of the shoot, and the column of nails slide down the shoot until the 4
foremost nail rests against the driver which then acts as a stop for the said fore-
most mail or the one next to be driven, the driver being the only stop used when
the separator is not acting to close the end of the shoot 16.
The foremost nail so comes against the driver during its ascent, and at such time
the finger carrying lever 34 is acted upon by the cam 39 and the finger 42 is 5
thrown down to press upon the head of the foremost nail in the shoot, at that side
of the centre of its head toward the nail next back of it in the road way of the
shoot 16.
The acting face of the finger 42 is of such size and shape with relation to the
diameter of the beads of the nails, that it acts upon the beads of the two foremost 5
nails in such manner as to press the shank of the foremost nail towards and against

page_text: the driver, and the shank of the nail next to it toward the column of nails in the
said road-way, thus causing the said shanks to be turned in opposite directions, or
away the one from the other in order that the separator when moved forward.by
the spring 51 may have a free entrance between the shanks of the said nails.
The separator enters and moves forward between the said nails as the driver
ascends, and by the time that the driver passes above the level of the head of the
foremost nail the said separator also reaches such position as to force the foremost
nail directly into the driver passage 55 under the driver, the finger 42 being lifted
from the foremost nail just as the latter is to be discharged into the driver passage.
The sole presser 6º and edge gauge d³ in the present instance of my invention are
mounted upon a lever 70, pivoted at 71, and provided with a roller stud 72 which
is acted upon by a cam 73 herein shown as forming part of the gear D³ such lever
being used only when the machine is run by foot power, it then acting to throw
down the horn. The fly wheel 75 fast on the shaft C is embraced by a flexible
strap 76, preferably of leather, which together with the metal brake band 77 is
riveted at one end to a block 78, attached to a rigid stud 80, provided with a
roller 79 over which the said strap 76 is passed at a point, as herein shown beyond
the outer end of the metal band 77, the said strap having a weight 81 attached to it.
The wheel 75 may be readily turned in the direction of the arrow on it, sce
Figure 9 but as soon the said wheel commences to rotate in the opposite direction,
the band immediately checks it. This prevents the possibility of any retrograde
motion of the shaft C³ and consequent slipping back of the driver before its proper
time.
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
1. In a nailing machine, a movable head an awl and driver-bar carried therein,
and a nail guiding shoot attached to and made movable in unison with the said
head, and provided with the nail rest, combined with a shield bar, for the heads of
the nails, and with an independently movable lever and finger thereon to act upon
the heads of the nails on the said rest, substantially as described.
2. The rotating nail receiving drum to deposit nails into a shoot, a shoot, and a
shielding bar above it, to cover the heads of the nails, combined with a toothed
wheel located above the shoot at the point where the nails pass from the drum,
into the shoot, and with means to operate the said toothed wheel when the
nails clog to throw from the shoot nails improperly lodged therein or thereon,
substantially as described.
3. The nail shoot provided with the nail rest at its lower end, the shielding-bar
located above the said shoot over the heads of the nails, and the finger carrying
lever, and finger, and means to actuate them to throw the finger against the head
of the foremost nail and at the rear side of its centre, and also on the head of the
nail next to the foremost nail, whereby the said two foremost nails are separated,
substantially as described.
4. The nail shoot provided with the nail rest at its lower end, the shielding bar
located above the said shoot over the heads of the nails, and the finger carrying
lever, and finger, and means to move the said lever, combined with the separator
and means to operate it at the proper time, substantially as described.
5 The nose, and the nail centering devices 57, provided with recesses to receive
the nails dropped into the said nose, and with shoulders 58, combined with a spring
O to operate upon the said centering devices and cause them to hold up the nails to
be driven until acted upon by the driver, substantially as described.
6. In a nailing machine, a nose having a driver passage, a shoot to conduct nails
directly into it, and a finger to act upon the head of the foremost nail in the shoot,
and throw its body out from the end of the shoot or toward the drivers, combined
5 with a driver bar and an attached driver, the latter acting to support the endmost

page_text: nail, and the column of nails back of it, when the separator is withdrawn, as
described.
7. The shoot provided with rest 44, and a cover, combined with an independently
movable rigid pivoted lever 34, and finger 42 to operate, substantially as described.
Dated this 20th day of January 1005
WM BROOKES & SON,
55, Chancery Lane,
Agents.