NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS, SPIKES, BOLTS, RIVETS, SCREW BLANKS, AND NUTS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Ward, of Smethwick, in the County of
Stafford, Accountant Clerk, for the Invention of "NEW OR IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS, SPIKES, BOLTS, RIVETS, SCREW
BLANKS, AND NUTS."
Sealed the 25th May 1858, and dated the 17th March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Ward at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th March 1858.
J, WILLIAM WARD, of Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Accountant
Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "NEW OR
IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS, SPIKES, BOLTS, RIVETS,
SCREW BLANKS, AND NUTS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the new or improved machinery herein-after
explained for the manufacture of nails, spikes, bolts, rivets, screw blanks,
and nuts, the said machinery being so constructed that at each revolution of
the driving shaft two or more nails, spikes, bolts, rivets, screw blanks or nuts,
are made. The rods.to be made into bolts are fed horizontally into two pairs
of dies situated on the same level, the outer half of each dic is fixed, and the
iuner or moveable half of each dic is carried backwards and forwards.
horizontally by a double-acting cam on the driving shaft. Plungers carrying

page_text: heading punches, and working horizontally in a line with the axes of the dies,
are made alternately to advance and recede by means of excentrics on the
main shaft. The heated rods of iron for large bolts on being fed to the
machine are cut off after their ends have entered the dies by means of a double-
acting cutter or shears, and for small bolts the rods may be cut off in the
manner herein-after described with respect to nuts. One pair of dies closing
upon one end of the rod cut off holds it firmly, while the heading punch
advancing compresses the said end of the rod, so as to fill up the die and form
a head of the figure of the said die.
During the formation of the head the cut-off rod is supported by a stage
carried by the moveable part of the die, and the cut-off end of the rod is
supported against the fixed part of the cutters or shears. The head having
been completed, the heading die retires, the dies open, and the bolt falls from
the machine. During the retiring motions of that portion of the machine, the
action of which has been described, the advancing motions of the other parts
are performed, which said parts being duplicates of those already described,
I do not think it necessary to describe them further. The double-acting
cutters or shears are capable of adjustment by means of a screw to different
distances from the dies, so as to cut off rods of different lengths.
In making nuts by my new or improved machinery, I take a square, round,
or other shaped bar of heated iron, which I cut off in short pieces in planes
perpendicular to the axis of the rod, and I fashion the same into nuts by my
machine, in which, for the purpose of making the said nuts, I make the
following alterations:-I dispense with the before-mentioned cutters, and
effect the cutting off of the bar by means of the moveable portions of the die
and the fixed part of the feeding dies. The detached pieces of iron are carried
by the moveable die to the corresponding or fixed die, between which said dies
they are held. A centre-pointed perforating punch, which has been substituted
for the before-mentioned heading punch, approaches and enters the iron, the
said iron is expanded, so as to take the exact shape of the dies, and a clean
hole is made in the centre for a nut. The moveable die is firmly fixed during
the operation last described, and immediately it recedes the nut falls from the
machine. A second nut is formed by the duplicate parts during the retiring
motions of the parts described. I do not think it necessary here to describe
in detail the machanical arrangements by which the several motions are given;
and although I have only illustrated my Invention in its application to the
manufacture of bolts and nuts, it is only necessary to substitute dies and tools
of the requisite- sizes and forms, and to adjust the cutters to adapt the
machinery described to the manufacture of nails, spikes, rivets, and screw

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Ward in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WARD, of Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Accountant Clerk, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Ierself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Ward, Her special licence that I, the said William
Ward, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Ward, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "NEW OR
IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS, SPIKES, BOLTS, RIVETS,
SCREW BLANKS, AND NUTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Ward, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that T, the said William Ward, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of the new or improved machinery herein-after
particularly described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for
the manufacture of nails, spikes, bolts, rivets, screw blanks, and nuts, the
said machinery being so constructed that at each revolution of the driving shaft
two or more nails, spikes, bolts, rivets, screw blanks, or nuts are made.
Figure 1 of the accompanying. Drawings represents in side elevation a

page_text: machine constructed according to my Invention, and Figure 2 represents a
plan of the same, partly in section; Figure 3 represents in elevation the por-
tion of the machine which would be separated by a section of the base plate
made at the line a, Figure 2. Other portions of the machine are illustrated
by separate Figures, as herein-after explained. The same letters are employed
to indicate the same parts in the several Figures.
The main shaft b communicates motion through the bevil gear c to the
shaft d, and from the said shafts band d the motions of the several parts of
the machine are taken. The machine represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3 is
constructed to manufacture both bolts and nuts, but I wish it to be understood
that the said machine may be employed for the manufacture of bolts only
or of nuts only, by the use of the dies or tools proper to manufacture the said
articles, as well as for the manufacture of nails, spikes, rivets, and screw
blanks, by substituting dies of the requisite form for those represented. On
the shaft two hollow cams e, e, are situated; the figure of the hollow or
acting part of these cams is shown in Figure 3. By the rotation of the
shaft an alternating sliding motion is communicated to the connecting
rods ff. Rollers on the ends 1 of the rods f engage in the cams e, e, and
transmit motion from the said cams to the said rods. The bolts and nuts
formed by the machine are made respectively from the cylindrical and
hexagonal rods g, h, Figure 2. Instead of the hexagonal rod h² a cylindrical
or other formed rod may be employed. The said rods are supplied to the
machine and portions are cut off and fashioned in dics, one die of each of the
two pairs of dies being fixed, and the other die of each pair being moveable.
The fixed dies are connected with the framing of the machine, and the
moveable dies are fixed to the rod f.
I will first describe those portions of the machine by which bolts are made from
the rod g. The fixed die of the pair of dies by which the boltis made is marked
h, and the moveable die of the said pair is marked i. The fixed dich is con-
nected with the framing of the machine by a dovetail, as seen in Figure 2, and
the moveable die is connected with the tool box / by a dovetail, as is also seen
in Figure 2, the said tool box being carried by the connecting rods,f. The
dies h, i, are represented closed, and in the relative positions they occupy after
having formed a bolt 1. By the rotation of the shaft d the die i is withdrawn
until it has passed the end of the rod g, and on the further rotation of the
said shaft the die i returns to the position.represented. Before the return of
the die i, the rod g has been fed by the workman into the machine to the
proper distance, and on the return of the die i, the said die cuts off the end of
the rod g agair st the fixed edge marked m.. The cut-off portion of the rod y

page_text: is held between the dici and the spring bolt n, which said spring bolt n follows.
the die i, as the said die retires until the end of the said bolt n arrives at the
cutting edgem. The heated rods for large bolts on being fed to the machine are
cut off by a double-acting cutter or shears, the cut-off end of the rod being
supported against the fixed part of the cutter or shears. The cutter or shears
may be adjusted to suit bolts of different lengths by means of set screws. The
cut-off portion of the rod g is thus carried between the moveable die i and
the end of the spring bolt n until it is brought into the position of the finished
bolt . Whilst the cut-off rod is held between the dies and a heading
punch o advances, and entering the dies and i compresses the end of the
rod into a head. The heading punch o is actuated by the shaft by means
of an excentric p or cam and connecting rod 2. The dici and the heading
punch o retire, and the spring bolt n forces the bolt / from the die h. The
said bolt falls from the machine, or should it adhere to the die i it is pushed
therefroin by means of the slider actuated by the spring s, which said slide.
projects the bolt from the die i. The formation of nuts from the hexagonal
rod 2 is thus effected:-The said uuts are formed by the fixed diet and
moveable die u, the diet being fixed to the framing of the machine by a
dovetail, as represented, and the moveable die u being fixed to the tool box :
by a dovetail, as represented. The rod h² being fed by the workman to the
required distance into the machine, the die u advances and cuts off the rod
against the cutting edge v. The cut-off portion of the rod 2 rests in the die
u, and is carried therein to the diet; and while the said cut-off piece of
the hexagonal rod 2 is held between the dies
punch w advances and pierces a hole in the nut.
is actuated by an excentric at æ, or cam on the shaft and the connecting
rod y.
The piercing punch w carries upon it a collar z, which said collar is
capable of sliding upon the punch, the motion being limited by a pin on the
punch engaging in a slot in the collar. The said pin and slot are not seen in
the Drawing. The object of the collar z is to push the nut from the piercing
punch on the retiring of the latter, and to form one face of the nut. . The
action of the said collar is as follows:-The piercing punch w at first advances
through the collar z, but the shoulder 1 coming against the collarz, both
collar and punch advance together, and pierce and compress the nut. As the
piercing punch w retires, it carries with it the nut and the collar , until the
arms of the collar come into contact with the fixed stops 2, by which the
further motion of the collar z is arrested. The punch w retiring into the
collar z while the nut is prevented from moving, the said punch is withdrawn
from the said nut, which latter falls from the machine. The action of the
and u, the piercing
The piercing punch w

page_text: piercing punch w is further illustrated on a larger scale in the vertical section,
Figure 4. As the said punch first advances into the closed dies t, u, its first
action is to compress the metal so as to make it fill every part of the cavity of
the said closed dies, the opening in the plate or boulster 3 at the back of the
dies t, u, being, closed by the plug 4, the said plug 4 being kept to its bearing
by the plate 5. As the punch w advances further, the incline 6 coming under
the lever 7 lifts the said lever, and brings the hole S in the plate 5 opposite
the rod carrying the plug 4. The punch w now forces the superfluous metal
from the middle of the nut into the hole in the plate or boulster 3, the plug 4
retiring from the said hole, and the piercing of the nut is thus effected. As
the punch w retires, the lever 7 and plate 5 resume the positions shewn in the
Drawing, the metal pierced from the nut is forced from the hole in the plate 3
by the coiled spring 9, causing the plug 4 to resume the position represented.
The piercing punch, the pierced nut, and the piercing cut from the nut are
represented in full size in Figure 5, the nut and piercing being represented in
section. Instead of using a pointed piercing punch I sometimes employ a
punch having a chisel edge. A punch of this kind is represented in Figure 6.
The connecting rods ff, by which the moving dies i and are actuated, are
connected together and guided in the following manner:- A rod 10 connects
the ends of the rods, together, the said rod 10 engaging in a slot 11
represented in Figure 7, which said Figure 7 is an elevation of a portion of
the machine, the said elevation being of the side at which the rods are fed.
The rods, f, are further guided so as to preserve their rectilinear motion by
the dovetails 12,12, screwed to the said rods working in guides 13, 13, fixed to
the headstock 13ª of the machine. Springs 62 are placed under the journals
of the shaft to permit the said journals to yield in case too much metal is
fed to the dies. I sometimes actuate the moveable dies of the machine by the
mechanism illustrated in Figure 8, which said mechanism I prefer to employ
when the bolts or articles made by the machine are of large size and occasion
considerable strain upon the dies. The sliding frame 14 carrying the moveable
dies 15, 16, is made to perform an alternating sliding motion by means of the
heart-shaped cam 17, which said cam 17 works upon the axis 18. "The said
cam 17 engages in a rectangular frame in the sliding frame 14, as represented.
Motion is communicated to the cam 17 by means of a connecting rod indicated
by the line 19 connecting it with the slide 20, to which slide an oscillating
motion is given by the cam 21 on the axis 22. When the cam 17 is in the
position represented, the moveable die 15 is held firmly to its bearing against
the fixed die. That part of the surface of the cam 17 which bears against the
frame 14 when the dies are closed, being perpendicular to the line of resis-

page_text: tance 23, there is no tendency in the cam 17 to recede by turning upon its axis
when the dies are closed however great the pressure upon the die 15 produced
by the entrance of the piercing punch into the metal in the dies. By the
advance of the slide 20 the cam 17 is made to turn upon its axis 18, carrying
forward and closing the moveable die 16 upon the fixed die 162, with which it
works, and holding the said die 16 to its bearing in the manner which has
been described with reference to the die 15. I sometimes make two, three,
or more bolts, nails, spikes, rivets, screw blinks, or nuts simultaneously, by
having each fixed and cach moveable die properly formed. I have repre-
sented the moveable die 16, in Figure S, of a form proper to make three nuts
each time it closes upon the fixed die with which it works, which said fixed
dic 102 is properly formed to work with the triple dic 16. When the metal
is used in a heated state the dies are kept cool by a stream of water.
Although I have only described my machinery in its application to the manu-
facture of bolts and nuts of iron, yet my said machinery may be employed for
making nails, spikes, rivets, and screw blanks of iron as well as for making all
the said articles of copper and such other metals and alloys as are or may be
employed for the manufacture of the said articles, and capable of being made
into the said articles by my machinery. By nuts I mean either thick screw
nuts or the thin nuts used as washers, and although I have only described the
use of solid bars for the manufacture of nuts, yet hollow bars or tubes may
be employed instead of solid bars.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings, as the same may be varied without departing from the
nature of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention,―
Firstly, the general arrangement of the parts of the machine for the
manufacture of nails, spikes, boits, rivets, screw blanks, and nuts herein
described and represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Secondly, the method herein described, and illustrated in Figure S of the
accompanying Drawings, of actuating and holding to their bearings the move.
able dies of machines used for the manufacture of nails, spikes, bolts, rivets,
screw blanks, and nuts, that is to say, by the use of the locking can lever
marked 17 in the said Figure 8.
Thirdly, the method herein described, and illustrated in Figures 2, 3, 4, 7,
and S of the accompanying Drawings, of constructing the dies of machines
used for the manufacture of nails, spikes, bolts, rivets, screw blanks, and nuts,

page_text: that is to say, constructing the said dies so that the moveable die shall act as
cutter and carrier or partial carrier, and the fixed die act as partial carrier, in
addition to the said dies exercising the ordinary functions of dies; the said
dies also forcing or throwing out the bolts or other articles formed therein,
excepting nuts.
Fourthly, the method of removing the nut from the piercing punch hercin
described, and illustrated in Figure 2 of the accompanying Drawings, that is
to say, by the use of the collar marked z in the said Figure 2.
Fifthly, the moveable plug used in conjunction with the bolster herein-
before described, and marked 4 in Figures 2 and 4, of the accompanying
Drawings.
Sixthly, the taper-pointed and chisel-pointed piercing punches herein-
before described, and represented in Figures 5 and 6, of the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, 1, the said William Ward, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Fourteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
•
WILLIAM WARD. (L.S.)