IMPROVEMENTS IN FEEDING APPARATUS FOR NAIL. MAKING MACHINES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Finn of Haseltine, Lake, &
Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN FEEDING APPARATUS FOR NAIL. MAKING MACHINES." A
communication from abroad by John C. Gould, of New Jersey, United States of
America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th November 1876.
#f
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. IMPROVEMENTS IN FEEDING APPARATUS FOR
NAIL MAKING MACHINES." A communication.
The said improvements relate to the automatic feeders for nail making machines,
in which the forks which grip the nipper rod that feeds the plate through the nose
piece of the barrel to the knives for cutting the nails are worked by a push rod that
strikes the fraine of the machine as the feeder is worked to and fro.
The object of the said improvements is to facilitate the adjustment of the feeder,
and they relate to the several parts herein-after described.
The excentric by which the feeder is worked is not bolted or keyed on the shaft,
but is made with an oblong hole for the said shaft, and with slots on opposite sides
for tap bolts by which it is secured to a pinion on the shaft. The said excentric is
held in any desired position by the said bolts, and its throw may be adjusted in
extent by moving it backward and forward so that its centre may be more or less
distant from the centre of the shaft, and its "lead" or the relative time of its action
may be adjusted by moving it around on the said shaft, the adjustment in both
cases being limited by the slots. As the excentric and the wheel to which it is
bolted are both usually placed between the frames of the machine, it is convenient
to make them in halves which may be bolted together on the shaft.
I provide a nose piece and barrel through which the nail plate is fed to the
cutting dies or knives. The said barrel is made with a groove into which is fitted
a tongue on the inside of the nose piece which is made in halves that are bolted

page_text: together. By slackening the bolts the nose piece may be turned for adjustment,
and it may be easily changed for different sizes of nails without changing the
barrel.
A stop ring is fitted upon the nipper rod. In the ordinary stop which is required
to stop the feeding of the plate when it is cut down to a sufficiently small "butt,"
the key or set screw that has been hitherto used has dinted the surface of the rod
and interfered with the grip of the tongs or forks when it became necessary in
changing the machine to have that part of the rod pass between the forks. This
improved stop consists of a ring fitted with prongs and slipped over the nipper rod,
and jammed or clamped upon the rod by driving the ring upon the prongs.
The extent of the feed is generally a little more than is required to form the
width of the nail, and the push-up rod after feeding the plate between the cutting
knives and against the gauge set for it usually continues to push up the plate.
Where the surplus motion is taken up by an ordinary spring, the reaction of the
spring by which the plate continues to be forced forward is equal to the full amount
of the pressure required in the first place to compress the spring. By my method
of forming the push rod the same is pressed in between the spring parts of the rod,
and the reaction to force it out is necessarily much less than that required to force
it in, and the force with which the push-up rod is shortened is so much diminished
that it is effectually restrained by the springs on the nose piece, so that the plate is
not fed through the barrel until the proper time. The tension of the spring sides of
the rod upon the wedge may be adjusted by a bolt, so that the turning of this bolt
may regulate the force with which the feed is effected.
The said forks are constructed to slip loosely on the dipper rod when the upper
ends are moved back from the machine, and to grip it tightly when the upper ends
are moved forward and the fork is pressed by the push rod. If the bolt be moved
up the pressure of the grip is increased but the notion is less, and if the bolt be
moved down the motion is increased but the pressure is lessened. By mounting the
bolt on a spring which is held by a bolt in a slot, the position of the said bolt may
be easily adjusted, and the elasticity of the spring takes up the surplus motion of
the feed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th
May 1877.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN FEEDING APPARATUS FOR
NAIL MAKING MACHINES." A communication from abroad by John C. Gould,
of New Jersey, United States of America.
The said improvements relate to automatic feeders for nail making machines, in
which the forks that grip the nipper rod that feeds the plate through the nose piece
of the barrel to the knives for cutting the nails are worked by a push rod that
strikes the frame of the machine as the feeder is worked to and fro.
The object of these improvements is to facilitate the adjustment of the said
feeder.
The various parts of the said improvements are shewn in the accompanying
Drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the said apparatus; the other
Figures show the parts separately and in detail.
The excentric, Figures 2 and 3, by which the feeder is worked is not bolted or keyed
on the shaft a but is made with an oblong hole for the shaft and with slots on
opposite sides for the tap bolts b by which it is secured to the pinion c on the shaft.
The excentric is held in any desired position by the said bolts; its throw may be

page_text: adjusted in extent by moving it backward or forward so that its centre may be
more or less distant from the centre of the shaft, and its "lead," or the relative time
of its action, may be adjusted by moving it around on the shaft, the adjustment in
both cases being limited by the slots. As the excentric and the wheel to which it
is bolted (Figures 4 and 5) are both usually placed between the frames of the
machine, it is convenient to make them in halves which may be bolted together on
the shaft in the manner shewn in the Drawing.
Figure 6 is an end view, and Figure 7 a longitudinal section of the nose piece
and barrel through which the nail plate is fed to the cutting dies or knives. The
barrel is made with a groove into which is fitted a tongue on the inside of the nose
piece which is made in halves that are bolted together. By slackening the bolts the
nose piece may be turned for adjustment, and it may be easily changed for different
sizes of nails without changing the barrel.
Figure 8 represents the parts of a new stop ring that is fitted upon the nipper rod.
In the ordinary, stop which is required to stop the feeding of the plate when it is
cut down to a sufficiently small "butt," the key or set screw hitherto used has
dinted the surface of the rod and interfered with the grip of the tongs or forks when
became necessary in changing the machine to have that part of the rod pass
between the forks. The stop represented in Figure 8 consists of a ring e fitted with
prongs and slipped over the nipper rod, and jammed or clamped upon the rod by
driving the ring upon the prongs.
The extent of the feed is generally slightly more than is required to form the
width of the nail, and the push-up rod after feeding the plate between the
cutting knives and against the gauge set for it usually continues to push up the
plate. Where the surplus motion is taken up by an ordinary spring, the reaction
of the spring by which the plate continues to be forced forward is equal to the full
amount of the pressure required in the first place to compress the said spring.
By forming the push rod in the manner shown in Figures 9, 10, and 11, the
wedge is pressed in between the spring parts of the rod g at i, and the reaction to
force it out is necessarily much less than that required to force it in, and the force
with which the push-up rod is shortened is so much diminished that it is effectually
restrained by the springs on the nose piece, so that the plate is not fed through the
barrel until the proper time. The tension of the spring sides of the rod upon the
wedge may be adjusted by the bolt k, so that the turning of the said bolt may
regulate the force with which the feed is effected.
Figures 12 and 13 are side and end elevations of the forks which are constructed
to slip loosely on the nipper rod x, when their upper ends are moved back from the
machine, and to grip it tightly when the upper ends are moved forward and the
fork is pressed by the push rod g. If the bolt m is moved up the pressure of the
grip is increased but the motion is less, and if the bolt is moved down the motion
is increased but the pressure is diminished. By mounting the bolt m on a spring n
which is held by a bolt in a slot, the position of the bolt m may be easily adjusted
and the elasticity of the spring n takes up the surplus motion of the feed.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,
First. The excentric constructed as shewn and secured by the bolts in the slots
by which it may be adjusted as above described and for the purposes specified.
Second. The nose piece and barrel fitted with a tongue and groove, in the manner
and for the purpose set forth.
Third. The pair of rings constructed and combined as above described to form a
stop for the nipper rod.
Fourth. The combination of the wedge and the spring push rod, as above set forth
and for the purpose specified.
Fifth. The adjustable bolt in combination with the forks and either with or
without the spring, as above set forth and for the purpose specified.

page_text: Sixth. The mechanism or apparatus consisting of the parts shewn in Figure 1 of
the Drawing, constructed, combined, and operating, as above set forth and for the
purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One a
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)