IMPROVEMENTS IN TACKS, PINS, SCREWS, OR NAILS, HOOKS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Powley Alexander, of 14, Southampton Buildings,
in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer and British and Foreign
Patent Agent, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TACKS, PINS, SCREWS,
OR NAILS, HOOKS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES." A communication
from abroad by William Rockwell Ciough, of Newark, New Jersey, in the
United States of America, Manufacturer.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Powley Alexander at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th December 1880.
EDWIN POWLEY ALEXANDER, of 14, Southampton Buildings, in the County
of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer and British and Foreign Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TACKS, PINS, SCREWS, OR NAILS, HOOKS, AND OTHER
William Rockwell
ANALOGOUS ARTICLES." A communication from abroad by
Clough, of Newark, New Jersey, in the United States of America, Manufacturer.
This Invention relates to an improved manufacture of tacks, pins, screws, or nails,
and other like articles, the same being combined or not with a hook, also to an
improved manufacture of hook alone, and has for its object the production of a
device at once cheap, ornamental, and effective. Its distinctive novelty consists in
fabricating the entire device, inclusive of a broad bead or shoulder, from a single
continuous piece of wire by bending, folding, coiling, and otherwise manipulating
the same, as hereinafter set forth.
Thumb tacks, nails, carpet tacks, upholsterers' nails, pins, and the like have
heretofore usually been constructed by rivetting, soldering, brazing, or otherwise
uniting a separate head to the stem or body of same.
Hooks and analogous
devices designed to be driven or screwed into the wall or other base, and provided
with a stop or shoulder, have heretofore been either cast in one piece, or the
shoulder has been a separate piece attached by various means to the shank of the
book. These constructions are generally unreliable and comparatively expensive,
and in the case of a draughtsman's tack or drawing pin, as it is commonly made, the
027

page_text: use of it is attended with danger, as the pin or stem is liable to push up through
the head of the tack into the thumb of the operator in the act of being forced into
the board. This Invention is designed to overcome all these objections and defects,
to simplify the construction of the class of devices to which it relates, and to render
practicable the production of tacks and books at once inexpensive, strong, and
ornamental.
In making my improved articles of the class above referred to, I take a piece of
wire of the desired length and diameter, one end for a suitable distance being
appropriated for the stem, and pointed, and if desired screw threaded, whilst the
other portion of the wire is fashioned into a volute or spiral coil perpendicular to
the stem so as to form a head to the pin. Where a hook is to be combined with
the article a portion of the same length of wire is suitably bent to form such hook.
If desired the parts can be duplicated, but all formed from a continuous piece of
wire, thus constituting a hook of extra strength having an ornamental head. The
hook part inay sometimes be made double, and the end of the wire continued on
from the end of the hook back through the spiral coil, its extremity forming the
stem whilst the opposite extremity is left at a point on the periphery of the coil or
head. Or the stem may be omitted and a hook formed from the wire composing
the coil, which may be left open at the centre to receive a nail for its attachment
to any required surface. In some cases a tip may be formed at the end of the
hook by coiling that end of the wire. Or the hook may be omitted entirely if
desired from the nail cr tack. The tack may also be made double pointed, one
point in the centre and the other at the periphery of the coiled head, or both points
projecting from opposite sides of the periphery, and the parts may be duplicated so
as to form a double headed and pointed tack from one and the same piece of wire.
In some cases the head may be concavo convex in lieu of flat.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edwin Powley Alexander in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th June 1881.
EDWIN POWLEY ALEXANDER, of 14, Southampton Buildings, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer and British and Foreign Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TACKS, PINS, SCREWS, OR NAILS, HOOKS, AND OTHER
ANALOGOUS ARTICLES." A communication from abroad by William Rockwell
Clough, of Newark, New Jersey, in the United States of America, Manufacturer.
The said Invention relates to an improved manufacture of the class of tacks, pins
screws, or nails, and other analogous articles having a broad head and a plain
pointed or screw threaded stem or shank, also of the class of hooks and such like
articles as are made with a shoulder combined with a plain pointed or screwed stem
or shank for fixing the article, or made without any stem or shank but simply
provided with a perforated base for the reception of separate fixing or attaching
screws or nails.
Thumb tacks, such for example as draughtsman's drawing pins and carpet or
drugget pins, also upholsterers' ornamental nails or "bosses," brass headed picture or
wall nails, and the like, have heretofore usually been constructed by screwing,
rivetting, soldering, brazing, or otherwise uniting or attaching a separate head to
the stern or shank; or when a broad headed nail has been made with the head and
shank in one piece, these parts have either been cast together or the head forged
on the shank by the aid of special forging or shaping dies, known in the nail trade
as headers." In the one case the stem or shank being of cast metal is more liable
to fracture and the bead to become broken off in driving, whilst in the other case
the machinery required is costly and the article produced rough and unsightly.
Hooks and analogous articles having a stem or shank provided with a shoulder,
and intended to be driven or screwed into a wall or other surface, have heretofore
usually been either cast or forged in one piece, or the body of the hook and its
shoulder have consisted of a separate piece attached or secured in various ways to
the stem or shank; or where the hook has been made without any stem or shank,
but with a flange or base for the reception of screws or nails for fixing the same,
the said flange or base has been cast in one with the body of the hook or specially
forged thereon, or it has been made separately and secured to the hook by rivetting
or otherwise.
All these modes of construction are either unreliable or comparatively expensive,
and in the case of a draughtsman's drawing pin or tack and carpet or drugget pins,
as commonly constructed, not only are the heads liable to become readily detached
from the stem or shank either on being inserted or withdrawn, but their use is
attended with danger as the stem or shank by the act of forcing it into the surface
to receive it is liable to be forced through the head of the pin into the thumb of
the operator. Moreover, in the case of books intended to be screwed into any
surface, the rigidity of the shoulder as heretofore constructed frequently renders it
difficuit to screw it completely home, and at the same time to leave the hook in its
proper position.
Now this Invention is designed to overcome all these objections and defects, to
simplify and cheapen the construction of the class of articles above referred to, and
to render practicable the production of certain new and useful devices applicable
as tacks, pins, screws, or nails and hooks, which, whilst being free from the
objections to this class of articles as ordinarily constructed, are cheap, durable, and
ornamental.
The essential feature of this Invention consists in forming the broad head,
shoulder, or base, and fixing stem or shank (where used), also the body of the

page_text: hook or hooks (where employed) of the before mentioned articles entirely from a
single piece of wire by suitably bending, folding, or doubling and coiling the same,
substantially as hereinafter described.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to
the several Figures on the explanatory Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
which represent examples of several varieties of the class of articles herein before
referred to, constructed according to this Invention, the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding or equivalent parts in all the Figures.
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 inclusive, represent each in elevation and plan the
simplest forms of articles constructed according to this Invention, namely, a broad
headed tack, pin, or nail, in which the broad head or heads a and fixing shank or
shanks b are made from one and the same piece of wire by suitably bending and
coiling the same, and pointing it at one or both ends. A, B, C, and D, Figure 6,
show the wire blank in its progressive stages, when making the single broad headed
tack or pin, Figures 1 and 2, for example; A is a straight piece of wire cut to the
length required; B shows the same wire pointed at one end, which pointed part
may also be screw threaded if desired; C shows the first bend at the part corre-
sponding to the junction of the broad flat head and stem b; D shows the coil
intended to form the head a of the article, such coil being made from the part a¹ of
the blank, which may be of any convenient length, to be further bent or otherwise
manipulated as required, according to the kind of article to he produced; but in
making the tack, Figure 1, the whole of the straight part of the blank is
consumed in making the coil or head a, which completes the article (Figures 1
and 2); E, Figure 6, shows the wire blank in its doubled form for producing the
article, Figure 4, and other devices hereinafter referred to.
Figure 7 is a sectional elevation of a tool, which I have found to answer well in
practice for bending the blank and producing the coiled or volute shaped heads,
shoulders, or bases a of the articles made according to this Invention; Figure 8 is
a corresponding front elevation of the same, and Figure 9 is a face view showing
the coil in the process of formation, and indicating more clearly how the coiling of
the wire is first commenced at the bend of the shank b or centre of the head a.
In Figures 7 and 8, E¹ is a block of metal, which may be fixed or held stationary
in any convenient manner; F is a rotary mandril turning freely in the block E¹
by means of the winch handle G, or by a wheel pulley or otherwise, the said
mandril having a hole f drilled centrally in it at the working end to receive the
pointed end of the blank B (Figure 6) to be operated upon, or the bent portion b of
the blank C, if already bent, but I prefer to bend the part b in the same apparatus.
On the working end of the mandril F, and as near as practicable to or in close
contact with the perforations therein, there is fitted or formed a projecting stud or
pin H of hard steel, of a height equal to the thickness of wire to be operated upon,
and of any suitable diameter. I is a holding plate and bending lever working on
the fulcrum K at one end in the block E', across and in contact with the face of
which it is free to be moved by the handle L. Across the inner face of this plate I
a recess or channel M is made, shown by the dotted lines in Figure 8, the depth of
such recess or channel being equal to the thickness of the wire to be operated
upon. In making the coiled head, shoulder. or base a of the article by this tool,
the pointed or threaded end of the wire blank (when a stem or shank b is required
in the article) is introduced into the perforation in the mandril F to the required
depth, according to the length of stem or shank 6 required; the bending lever I
is then brought forward under the heads of the two holding screws N, N, it being
slotted at m, n, for that purpose, thereby bending to a right angle the previously
inserted rod of wire and causing the blank to assume the condition shown at C in
Figure 6. On turning the mandril F the projecting stud or pin H in its rotation
will catch the side of the part a¹ of the wire blank just at the elbow or bend, and
cause it to be wound up in the form of a volute or coil, as shown more clearly in
Figure 9, the wire being guided in by one edge of the recess or channel M. The

page_text: width of this recess or channel should be sufficient to accommodate the size of bead
required. Having completed the coiling process, each lap of the coil being guided
and held in position by the lever I, the latter is moved back out of the way (see
Figure 8) when the shank b and head a will be found complete. When a doubled
wire coil is required, as shown in Figures 4 and 24, two studs or pins H may bé
fitted side by side, one on each side of the axis of rotation of the inandril F, at a
distance apart equal to the thickness of wire to be used, a straight single wire
blank is laid across between them at or near the middle of its length, and the
holding plate I brought into its working position as before. The rotation of the
mandril F and its pins H then first doubles the wire (see E, Figure 6), and on this
motion being continued winds up the double wire in the form of a double stranded
coil (see Figure 4). As in this case no central shank b is produced, the hole f in
the mandril will not be used. When the central stem or shank 6 is omitted (see
Figure 23) and a single coil is required, it is simply necessary to enter one end of
the single blank between the two studs or pins H, and to proceed with the coiling
as before described. Each coil may be laid evenly over the other so as to produce
a flat coiled head, as in Figure 1, or a concavo convex head (see Figure 2) may be
produced by pressing outwards or inwards the inner coils of the flat head. The
end of the outer coil may be left close up to the periphery of the head, as shown in
Figures 1 and 2, or it may be bent down and pointed, so as to form a second
shank b at the circumference of the head, as shown in Figure 3. If desired, the
wire blank may be of sufficient length to form a double headed and double shanked
pin, as shown in Figure 5, from one and the same piece of wire, the second head and
shank being formed in the same manner from the remaining portion or continuation
of the wire blank after the first bead and shank have been produced, as already
described. Or the wire blank may be first folded or doubled, as shown at E, Figure 6,
and the doubled wire coiled to form a broad flat head, shoulder, or base, the two
extremities of the wire at the circumference of the head a being bent down and
pointed to form two shanks b, b, as shown in Figure 4. Figure 10 shows a
hook and nail or pin combined, and embodies all the essential features of
this Invention. The head, shoulder, or base a and shank b are formed as herein-
before described, but the wire blank is leit of sufficient length to force the hook c,
such hook in this Figure cominencing at the circumference of the head or base a.
Figure 11 is a similar combination with a modified form of hook c, which may be
pointed to serve as a paper file, whilst the shank b and base or broad head a serve
to fix and steady the hook. Figure 12 is a modification of the last mentioned
device, the shank 6 being of sufficient leugth to be bent downwards to form in
itself a hooked pin by which the device may be readily attached to a woven fabric
or other soft surface, whilst the additional hook c may be used for suspending any
other article therefrom. Figure 13 shows a further modification in the form of the
shank b, which is here first bent upwards above the head a, and then downwards to
form a hook, it being pointed (as in Figure 12) so as to be readily inserted into any
soft fabric, the broad head or base a serving to maintain the hook firm and steady
when fixed. Figure 14 shows the book e situate well below the shank b and head a
to admit of driving by a hunmer or otherwise. Figure 15 is a modification of the
same, showing the formation of a button or enlargement ell on the head of the hooked
part c by coiling from one and the same length of wire. Figure 16 shows another
modification of hook c, combined with an attaching shank b and single coil broad
head or base a. In this arrangement the hook c is made from the part of the
blank C in Figure 6, which need not be pointed at this end, and which should be of
the length required, whilst the shank b of this device (Figure 16) is made from
the part a of the same blank which, in this case, should be pointed at the end. The
hook c (Figure 16) projects from the centre of the head or base a in lieu of from
the circumference thereof (as in Figure 10), and the attaching or holding shank b
is made from the outer coil of the head in lieu of from the centre, thus simply
reversing the positions of these parts. In some cases the said hook c, or the
additional hook c¹, hereinafter referred to, may for the sake of greater strength he

page_text: composed of doubled wire, as shown in Figures 17, 18, 19, and 20. In all these
modifications the double hook proceeds from the centre of the coil or shoulder a,
and may be bent into any desired shape. One of the strands forming the double
hook is employed in forming the shoulder a, and the other passes through the centre
of the coil and forms the stem or shank b. In this construction the free end of the
wire at the periphery of the coil or shoulder a may be left sufficiently long to form
a second hook c when required. In Figure 21 (showing elevation and plan) the
doubled wire which previously formed the double hook is expanded to form a loop
or guard d passing round the single hook c, which extends upwards through it,
thus forming a guarded hook. In Figure 18 a single wire book c and a double
hook c¹ are combined with a broad head or base a and a screw threaded stem or
shank b, all made from one and the same piece of wire. The wire blank is pointed
and screw threaded at one end to form the shank b, and is then folded or doubled
to a sufficient distance to form the hook c', which is of doubled wire, as shown, and
consequently stronger. The two portions of the wire forming the hook c¹ may
then, if desired, be twisted together as shown at e, to form a straight stem to the
hook. The remainder of the wire is afterwards coiled round the sbank b
as a fulcrum to form the head or base a, as before described; and, finally,
that portion of the wire blank which remains after the head or base a
has been formed is bent to form the second hook c,. which springs from the
circumference of the head a, and is of a single thickness. Figures 19 and 20
illustrate slightly modified forms of the double hook c¹ of the last modification, the
stem thereof being left plain or untwisted, and the book itself straighter and longer,
the device serving as a combined hat peg and coat hook when made of sufficiently
strong wire and of suitable dimensions. These two devices, Figures 19 and 20,
are each made like Figure 18 from one and the same piece or length of doubled
wire, as already described. In Figure 19 the bend or fold at the end of the
double hook c¹ is made in a vertical plane, so that one portion of the doubled wire
in the hook c¹ shall lie on the top of the other; but in Figure 20 the said bend or
fold is so made that both portions of the doubled wire shall lie side by side,
presenting a surface of double width in plan. The two hooks c and c¹ of Figures
18, 19, and 20, afford a firm hold in screwing the device into a door, wall, or other
surface, and I prefer in all cases that the coil should be right handed, in order that
the strain thereon in the act of turning or screwing in the article shall tend to
tighten such coils. When using the tool, Figures 7 and 8, for making the coil a on
the kind of hooks shown in Figures 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21, the mandril F should
have a central oblong shaped hole therein large enough to receive the doubled wire
from which the double hook or the guard d is formed, and to cause the saine to
rotate, and the lever I should be made with an additional slot, shown dotted at u³,
so as to allow it to be brought into its acting position without interfering with the
stem b, which in this case will project through or beyond the plate I in lieu of
being contained in the hole in the mandril F. The other strand of the doubled
wire is then bent at right angles, and the remaining portion thereof is coiled round
the stem b as a fulcrum by turning the mandril F. In Figure 22 I have shown a
double wire book c proceeding from the circumferences of duplicated coiled heads or
bases a, a, each having a central stem or shank b of its own for fixing the device,
the two shanks forming the two ends of the original wire blank. Figure 23 shows
a hook c and coiled wire or volute shaped base a, made from one piece of wire
without the stem or shank b, but with a central opening left in the base for the
reception of a separate nail or pin for fixing the device.
Figure 24 is a combination of Figures 4 and 17, and consists of a double hook c
(shown in elevation and plan) springing from the centre of the shoulder or base a,
as in Figure 17, combined with a doubled wire coil a and two pointed stems or
shanks b, b, at the circumference, as in Figure 4. In this modification the wire
blank is first folded or doubled, as at E, in Figure 6, and the doubled end of the
wire is then inserted into the oblong hole of the mandril F (Figures 7 and 8), after
which the two free ends or strands are bent at right angles to the mandril F by

page_text: the lever I, as before described, and the shoulder or base a thereof is produced by
coiling the wire in its doubled form in lieu of singly. The two pointed ends of the
outer coils are then bent, as in Figure 4, to form the fixing stems or shanks b at the
circumference of the volute or coil a. Figure 25 shows a peculiar shape of hook,
which from its peculiar formation presents greater security against the accidental
dislodgement of any article hung thereon, owing to the double or reversed bend in
the hook c itself. This particular form of hook may be applied to any of the hooks
herein before described. In all cases the coiled head or base may be made either
by coiling the wire round a fixed centre by the aid of a revolving carrier coil over
coil until the desired size of head or base is obtained, or by rotating the centre and
simply guiding the wire onto it as it is wound up or drawn in until the head,
shoulder, or base is completed; but the tool I have hereinbefore described operates
according to the latter system.
It is obvious from the improved construction of the class of articles herein before
described that the parts being homogeneous, they are not liable to become separated
in use, and that the heads, shoulders, or bases being in the form of coils will possess
a certain amount of elasticity, which will facilitate their adjustment to any desired
surface whilst adding to the ornamental appearance of the article.
Although I have described certain means which have been found to answer
well in practice for carrying out the most important part of this Invention, namely,
the formation of the coils a, I do not confine or restrict myself to, neither do I
claim any particular arrangement of tools or apparatus for effecting this operation,
or for the cutting, pointing, screwing, bending, folding, or doubling the wire blanks,
as various ineans for effecting these operations will readily suggest themselves to
those familiar with wire working.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein before in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
First. As new articles of manufacture, tacks, pins, screws, nails, hooks, and other
analogous articles constructed from single pieces of wire, and having their heads,
shoulders, or bases in the form of a volute or flat coil, substantially as herein before
described.
Secondly. The peculiar construction of tacks, pins, screws, nails, and hooks, as
hereinbefore described and illustrated by the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Powley Alexander, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
EDWIN P. ALEXANDER. (L.B.)