IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS, SPIKES, AND BOLTS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Carter, of Birmingham, in the County.
of Warwick, Accountant Clerk, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS, SPIKES, AND
BOLTS."!
Scaled the 2nd October 1868, and dated the 23rd April 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Carter at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition; on the
23rd April 1868.
I, ALPRED CARTER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Accountant Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS, SPIKES, AND
BOLTS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the arrangement or combination herein-after
described of the parts of machinery for the manufacture of nails and
spikes and bolts from bars or rods of heated iron or other metal.

page_text: The said machinery is constructed essentially in the following
manner-The feeding of the bar or rod of heated iron into the machine
is effected by a pair of rolls working in a nearly horizontal plane. To
one of the said rolls an intermittent rotary motion is communicated by
means of a ratchet wheel and pall, the pall lever receiving a
reciprocating motion from a cam on a side shaft geared to the principal
shaft of the machine. When motion is communicated to the roll
carrying the ratchet wheel it carries forward the heated nail rod between
it and the other roll. The nail rod is fed into the machine immediately
over the end of the heading die, the upper edge of which heading die
constitutes the edge against which the nail rod is cut off by the descent
of a moveable cutter, the heading die being stationary during the cutting
off of the length of nail rod. The cut-off length of rod is carried down
by a grip moving vertically, between which and a lower grip having
motion in a horizontal plane it is held immediately in front of the
heading die, which now advances and forms the head on the rod.
Simultaneously with the heading the pointing is effected. The
pointing machinery consists of an inclined upper tool which is brought
and supported over the end of the rod while a roll or a portion of a roll
moves under the end of the rod, and pressing it against the said inclined
tool inclines or tapers the said end of the rod, and thereby points the nail.
During the pointing of the nail the lateral spreading of the metal is
prevented by side tools pressed up against it by screws. After the
heading and pointing the heading and pointing tools retire, the side
confining tools are released, the upper grip rises, and the lower grip
slides horizontally from under the nail, and the latter falls from the
machine.
The motions of the cutter, the upper grip, and the inclined pointing
tool are effected by transverse levers worked by cams on the side shaft
herein-before referred to. The lower grip is also worked by a cam on
the said side shaft. The heading tool is worked by two connecting
rods actuated by cams on the principal shaft, and the roll which effects
the pointing of the nail is also worked by a cam on the principal shaft.
Where only a portion of a roll is employed it is necessary to com-
municate to it an oscillatory motion. This is done by a toothed

page_text: however confine myself to the particular method described of com-
municating motion to the several working parts of the machine.
When cylindrical nail rods are used the gripping tools are made to
work horizontally, and are made to advance and retire by means of
screws.
To the manufacts
of name lind
however confine myself to the particular method described of com-
municating motion to the several working parts of the machine.
When cylindrical nail rods are used the gripping tools are made to
work horizontally, and are made to advance and retire by means of
screws.
In the manufacture of some kinds of nails and spikes slight changes
have to be made in thé details of the machine; the said changes however
do not affect the essential action of the machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Carter in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd October 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
CARTER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Accountant Clerk,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of April, in the year.
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself,. Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Alfred Carter, Her special licence that I, the
said Alfred Carter, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Alfred Carter, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time, and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF NAILS, SPIKES, AND BOLTS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the 'said Alfred Carter, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Carter, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of the arrangement or combination herein-
after described of the parts of machinery for the manufacture of
nails and spikes and bolts from bars or rods of heated iron or other
metal.
The said machinery is constructed essentially in the following
manner: The feeding of the bar or rod of heated iron into the machine
is effected by a pair of rolls working in a nearly horizontal plane. To
one of the said rolls an intermittent rotary motion is communicated by
means of a ratchet wheel and pall, the pall lever receiving a recipro-
cating motion from a cam on a side shaft geared to the principal shaft
of the machine. When motion is communicated to the roll carrying the
ratchet wheel it carries forward the heated nail rod between it and
the other roll. The nail rod is fed into the machine immediately over
the end of the heading die, the upper edge of which heading die con-
stitutes the edge against which the nail rod is cut off by the descent
of a moveable cutter, the heading die being stationary during the
cutting off of the length of nail rod. The cut-off length of rod is
carried down and seized by a grip moving vertically, between which and
a lower grip having motion in a horizontal plane it is held immediately
in front of the heading die, which now advances and forms the head on
.
the rod.
Simultaneously with the heading the pointing is effected. The
pointing machinery consists of an inclined upper tool which is brought
and supported over the end of the rod, while a roll or a portion of a roll
moves under the end of the rod, and pressing it against the said inclined
tool inclines or tapers the said end of the rod and thereby points the nail.
During the pointing of the nail the lateral spreading of the metal is
prevented by side tools pressed up against it by screws. After the
heading and pointing the heading and pointing tools retire, the side
confining tools are released, the upper grip rises, and the lower grip
slides horizontally from under the nail, and the latter falls from the
machine.

page_text: The motions of the cutter, the upper grip, and the inclined pointing
tool are effected by transverse levers or beams worked by cams on the
side shaft herein-before referred to. The lower grip is also worked by a
cam on the said side shaft. The heading tool is worked by two con-
necting rods actuated by cams on the principal shaft, and the roll which
effects the pointing of the nail is also worked by a cam on the principal
shaft. Where only a portion of a roll is employed it is necessary to
communicate to it an oscillatory motion. This is done by a toothed
quadrant taking into a rack on the bed of the machine. I do not how-
ever confine myself to the particular method described of communicating
motion to the several working parts of the machine.
When cylindrical nail rods are used the gripping tools are made to
work horizontally, and are made to advance and retire by means of
screws.
In the manufacture of some kinds of nails and spikes slight changes
have to be made in the details of the machine; the said changes,
however, do not affect the essential action of the machine.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents a front elevation (with the feeder removed), and
Figure 2 a longitudinal vertical section of a machine constructed
according to my Invention for the manufacture of nails, spikes, and
bolts; Figure 3 is a side elevation, and Figure 4 a plan of the same;
Figure 5 represents a plan of a portion of the machine which is con-
cealed in the plan, Figure 4; Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9 are parts of the
said machine as herein-after described. The same letters and figures
of reference are employed to indicate the same parts in each Figure of
the Drawing.
.
a, b, are the feeding rolls working in a nearly horizontal plane.
The heated rod c to be made into nails (or spikes or bolts) is feed
down the inclined plate d, through the guide e, and between the
rolls a, b. The feed roll a is capable of moving laterally from the feed
roll 6 for the purpose of accommodating different sizes of rods to be
fed into the machine. I effect this lateral motion by supporting
the roll in a dovetail slide f, the said slide being pressed upon by the

page_text: spring fixed on the under side of the feed plate d. The roll 6 has
an intermittent rotary motion communicated to it by means of a
ratchet wheel h with which a palli engages. The pall lever / works
loosely on the axis of the roll b, and a reciprocating motion is given to
the said pall lever through the connecting rod acted upon by a cam m
on the side shaft n. The return motion of the connecting rod and
pall lever is effected by a spring not shown in the Drawing. By
the motion communicated to the roll b in the manner described the
heated rod is carried forward between it and the roll a, the inner
end of the suid rod a being fed to the position represented in Figure 2,
that is over the upper edge of the heading tool p, against which
edge the length of nail rod is cut off by the descent of the moveable
cutter (see Figure 2), the heading tool p being stationary during
the cutting off of the length of nail rod. As soon as the rod to form
a nail has been cut off and carried down by the cutter it is pressed
upon by a vertical grip r, between which and the grip s (having
motion in a horizontal plane) the said length of rod is held in front of
the heading tool p. The position of the cut-off length after it has
been carried down and held in front of the heading tool p is repre-
sented in Figure 8, which represents the heading tool grips and the
pointing tools (herein-after described) on a larger scale. The cut-off
rod is marked in Figure 8. After the cut-off rod o' has been gripped
between the grips r. and s the cutter q retires, and the heading tool p
now advancing forms the head on the said rod c³. During the heading
operation the rod c is pointed by the pointing tools t and u. The
upper pointing tool t is inclined on its under side and has a vertical
sliding motion. The lower pointing tool u consists of a portion of
a roll working in a slot in the bed v. The said roll or tool u has
both an oscillating motion and a reciprocating motion given to it.
The said tool u is carried by a block w working on an inclined
hed fixed on the under side of the bed plate (see Figure 2).
When the upper pointing tool t has been brought a little below
the position represented in Figure 8, and an advancing motion and
a rotatory motion have been given to the said lower pointing tool u,
the said tool u moves under the end of the rod c³, and pressing it
against the inclined tool t inclines or tapers the end of the said rod,
and thereby points the nail. One side of the nail is thus pointed
by the inclined upper tool t and the opposite side by the tool ",

page_text: which is slightly raised as it advances on the bed x. The lateral
spreading of the rod during the pointing operation is prevented by
means of the side tools y, y, pressed up against the rod. The position
of the side tools y, y, during the pointing of the nail is represented
in the end elevation of the said parts on a larger scale in Figure 9.
After the heading and pointing of the nail have been completed
the upper grip r rises, the heading tool p and pointing tools t, u,
and side dies y, y, retire; the lower grip & upon which the nail is now
supported slides horizontally from under the nail, and the latter falls
from the machine.
cutter rod q* slides in a dovetail
The parts herein-before described are constructed and their motions
obtained in the following manner:- is the main shaft of the machine,
1,1, are the fast and loose pulleys, and 2 is the fly wheel. The motion
of the driving shaft is transmitted through the pinion 3 and toothed
wheel 4 to the end shaft 5, and from the end shaft 5 through the bevil
gearing 6 to the side shaft n, on the end of which the cam m is
situated for working the feed rolls a, b. The motion of the cutter q
is thus effected. The cutter rod q* is attached in the manner represented
in Figure 1 to the transverse lever or cross beam 7, the said cross beam
turning on the centre 7. The said
in the upright 8. Motion is given to the beam 7 by the cam 10 on
the side shaft n working in the strap 11, the rod of the said 'strap
being jointed to the cross beam 7. The return motion of the beam 7
is given by a spring not shown in the Drawing. The motion of the
vertical grip is effected in a similar way, that is the said grip slides
in a dovetail in the upright of the machine, and is connected to the
cross lever or beam 12, motion to which is given by the cam 13 on the
shaft n working in the strap 14 jointed to the cross beam. The motion
of the upper pointing tool t is effected by the cross beam 15 to which
the slide is connected, the said beam 15 being worked by the cam 16
and strap 17. The manner in which the cutter q, grip r, and slide t³
of the pointing tool t are connected with their respective cross beams
will be readily seen by an examination of Figures 1 and 2. The motion
of the horizontal grip & is effected as follows:- The said grip works in a
cross slot in the bed of the machine, and the rod s³ of the said grip has
at its outer end an arm upon which a cam 18 on the side shaft n
acts to effect the return motion of the said grip 8. The advance motion'
of the said grip is effected by a spring 20 pressing on the end of the
grip rod (see Figures 1 and 5). The reciprocating motion and
°

page_text: oscillating motion of the lower pointing tool u are effected as follows:-
The axis of the said tool is connected through the connecting rods or
links 21 and axis 22 with the strap 23, the said strap receiving motion
from the cam 24 on the end shaft 5. By means of the said links, axis,
strap, and cam a reciprocating motion is given to the tool u. On the
axis u³ of the said pointing tool u is a toothed quadrant u³ which gears
with a fixed rack u on the bed v of the machine (see the separate view
of the quadrant and rack, Figure 6). As the block w of the pointing
tool travels on the inclined bed x in the manner herein-before
described the toothed quadrant 28 gears with the rack u*; an oscillating
motion is thereby given to the said quadrant and through it to the
pointing tool u. The motion of the heading tool p is thus effected :-
The said heading tool slides at p on the bed of the machine and is
connected to the upper ends of the cranked rods 25, the lower ends of
the said rods being connected to levers 26. These levers are acted upon
by cams 27 on the end shaft 5 for giving the advancing motion to the
heading tool and by springs 28 for withdrawing the said heading tool.
The side tools y, y, for preventing the lateral spreading of the nail during
the pointing are constructed and worked in the following manner:-The
parts for operating the said tools y, y, are best seen in the separate plan,
Figure 5, the said parts being concealed in the plan, Figure 4. The said
parts are also shown separately in side elevation in Figure 7, and in con-
nection with the pointing tools on a larger scale in Figures 8 and 9. The
said side tools y, y, are fixed in the sliding blocks 30 working in dove-
tails 31 on the bed of the machine. Secured to each of the said blocks 30,
but capable of turning therein, is a quick threaded screw 32 which works
in the fixed screw box 33. The manner in which the inner ends of
the screws arc connected by their heads to the sliding blocks 30 will
be understood by an examination of Figure 5. One of the screws 32
is right handed and the other left handed. On the outer end of each
of the screws 32 is an arm 35 which is connected by a connecting
rod 36 with the strap 37. By means of cams (one only of which,
marked 38, is represented in Figure 7) acting on the straps 37 a motion
through part of a circle is given to the screws 32, and the side tools y, y,
are thereby made at the proper times to advance towards or retire from
one another, and thus either prevent the lateral spreading of the nail
or release the nail.
Instead of making the lower pointing tool of a portion of a roll a
complete roll may be employed with nearly the same effect Bhan a

page_text: complete roll is used some changes in the details of the machine are
necessary. When the nail is required to be pointed on each of its sides
I give the side dies y, y, an inclined figure for tapering those sides of the
point against which they bear during the operation of the pointing
tools t, u.
The shape of the pointing tools t, u, is varied according to
the shape of the nail or article being made.
:
I will now briefly recapitulate the action of the machine. The rod c
being fed by the rolls a, b, to the position represented in Figure 2,
the cutter a descends and cuts off the length of nail rod between it.
and the upper edge of the heading tool p, the piece of rod cut off being
carried down by the cutter in front of the said heading tool, and held
there by the advance of the vertical and horizontal grips r, s, as seen in
Figure 8. While held by these grips and after the cutter has retired
the heading tool p advances horizontally and heads the nail, at the
same time the pointing is effected by the descent of the upper pointing
tool t and the advance of the lower pointing tool and the side dies y, y,
the said tool u also receiving a motion of partial rotation. The formation
of the head and point of the nail being thus completed the working
tools retire, the nail falls from the machine, and another length of nail
rod is fed into the machine by the rolls, when the operations described
are repeated.
:
Figure 10 represents in plan, and Figure 11 in elevation the arrange-
ment of the grips which I employ when the nails or articles are made
from cylindrical rods. In this arrangement both the grips are worked
horizontally. 40, 41, are the horizontal grips, each grip being provided
with a semi-cylindrical opening. The grip 40 has a projection 42, which
serves to support the rod as it is fed into the machine. The grip 40 is
worked from a cam 43 placed on the shaft n acting against the arm 44,
as described with respect to the grips, excepting that the cam 43 has
two rises upon it, one of which holds the grip 40 while the nail rod is
being fed across the support 42, and the other rise of the cam closes the
grip. The grip 41 is worked in a similar manner to that in which the
side confining dies y, already described, are worked, that is to say, the
outer end of the grip is connected with a block 45, motion to which
block is given by the screw 46, which screw is partially rotated by an
arm 47 taking motion from a connecting rod 48, strap 49, and a cam on
the shaft 5, the said strap and cam being situated on the shaft 5 between

page_text: the left-hand bearing and the toothed wheel 4. When this arrangement
of grips is used I prefer to effect the pointing by means of a complete
roll instead of by a portion of a roll as previously described. The
grip 40 may be worked by a screw similarly to the grip 41.
Although I have only described the manufacture of nails by my
improved machinery, yet spikes and bolts may be made by the said
machinery, in which case slight changes in the details and working tools
will be necessary according to the kind of spike or bolt it is wished to
manufacture, such changes however may be readily made by any
competent machinist.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do
not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but, I claim as my Invention of improvements in machinery
for the manufacture of nails, spikes, and bolts,-
Firstly. The arrangement or combination of parts, substantially as
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings,
for cutting off and carrying down the length of rod or bar and for
actuating the moveable cutter.
Secondly. The arrangements or combinations of parts, substantially
as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings,
for gripping the cut-off length of rod during the heading and pointing
operations; also the arrangements for actuating the said parts.
Thirdly. The arrangement or combination of the parts, substantially
as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings,
for actuating the heading tool.
Fourthly. The construction and arrangement, substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, of the
pointing tools, and the means for actuating the said pointing tools.
Fifthly. The construction and arrangement, substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, of the
side confining tools, and the means for actuating the said side tools.
Lastly. The general arrangement or combination, substantially as
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings,

page_text: of the feeding, cutting-off, gripping, heading, pointing, and confining
mechanism into a machine for the manufacture of nails, spikes, and
bolts.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Carter, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
ALFRED CARTER (L.S.)