Improvements in Horseshoe Nails, and in Blanks therefor.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Jan., 1896-Accepted, 7th Mar., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Horseshoe Nails, and in Blanks therefor.
I, DANIEL EDGAR KEMPSTER, of 113 Devonshire Street Boston in the County
of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, United States of America, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My invention relates to an improvement in horseshoe nails.
The object of my invention is to provide a horseshoe nail perfectly homogeneous
in its structure; not liable to split or sliver, sufficiently stiff and hard to adapt it
to be driven without buckling and soft and ductile enough to be easily clinched
and having smooth and rounding corners, and a highly finished surface.
With this end in view my invention consists in an improved horseshoe nail
having the features of form and construction hereinafter described and pointed out
in the claims.
In carrying out my invention the first or essential step. in the manufacture is to
provide a headed blank circular in cross-section and approximating the desired
shape of the nail; then flattening said blank upon two opposite sides or faces
which brings it to the proper width, thickness and curvature and forms the
indentation for the bevel on the point of the nail; and then shearing off the
superfluous metal to form the tapering bevelled point.
In the drawings hereto annexed and forming part of this Specification, similar
letters of reference indicate similar parts wherever they occur thereon.
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a severed wire blank for a single horse-
shue nail-blank.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the wire blank after having a head upset and
formed on one end thereof.
Figure 3 is an end elevation of the same, seen from the top of the head.
Figure 4 is a side elevation of the completed nail-blank, having a head and the
shank tapered so as to distribute the metal in accordance with my invention, and
having circular cross-sectional area throughout.
Figure 5 is a side edge view of said nail-blank after being flattened to the
proper thickness of a finished nail and indented to form the bevelled point.
Figure 6 is a face view of the same.
Figure is a face view of the same after being sheared or clipped to form the
tapering point of the finished nail and also shows the waste metal or clipping.
Figure 8 is a side elevation of a severed wire blank for a duplex or twin horse-
shoe nail-blank.
Figure 9 is a side elevation of the said wire blank after having a head upset and
formed on both ends thereof.
Figure 10 is a side elevation of a completed duplex or twin horseshoe nail-blank
baving circular cross-sectional area throughout and the metal distributed therein
in accordance with my invention.
Figure 11 is a side edge view of said nail-blank after being flattened to the
proper thickness of two finished nails and indented to form the bevelled points
meeting in the centre thereof..
Figure 12 is a face view of the same.
:

page_text: Figure 13 is a face view of the same after being sheared or clipped to form the
tapering points of two finished nails, and also shows the waste metal or clipping..
Figure 14 is a side elevation of a modified form of my improved duplex or twin
horseshoe nail-blank.
Figure 15 is a face view of a flattened duplex or twin nail-blank sheared or
clipped apart in a different manner from that shown in Figure 8.
Figure 16 is a face view of a finished nail from said nail-blank in Figure 15,
after having its point bevelled and thrown over central with its blade or shank.
Figure 17 is an enlarged face view of my improved nail.
Figure 18 is an enlarged side edge view of the same.
Figs. 19 to 23 inclusive, represent still further enlarged cross-sectional views of
different parts of the blade or shank of my improved nail on the respective
lines 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and show plainly the gradual order of progression and change
in form of the blade or shank of the nail and the consequent form of the hole
thereby when driven into the hoof.
I would state that for convenience in making drawings I have shown the flattened
nails and nail-blanks in Figs. 5, 11 and 18 as straight edge-wise, but it should he
understood that in practice the nails when flattened and stiffened are also given
the proper curvature or set required for this class of nails, as will readily be
understood by those skilled in the art to which said nails appertain.
In the drawings, a, a, a, respectively represent single and duplex round nail-
blanks which may be formed cold by swaging or upsetting the ends of wire blanks
to form heads thereon in the old and well known manner of making rivets and wire
nails, or they may be made from hot metal by any suitable mechanism for forging
them into shape, and they may, if preferred, have the blade or shank portion
formed straight longitudinally instead of tapering as shown.
I prefer to form the nail-blanks substantially as shown, with head and shank
forming portions circular in cross-sectional area, the shank forming portion of
greater length than the shank of the finished nail and tapering so as to reduce the
percentage of waste metal to a minimum in clipping or finishing the nail.
The head forming portion and preferably the greater part of the shank forining
portion adjoining the head are formed substantially equal in cross-sectional area to
the same portions of the finished nail, the remainder of the shank forming portion
being formed larger in cross-sectional area than the same portion of the shank of
the finished nail, so that when the blank is flattened to the proper thickness
edgewise, it will spread the same so as to leave a small margin of metal around
the edges to be removed or cut therefrom to produce the tapering point of the
finished nail.
a', a', a', are respectively single and duplex flattened nail-blanks, after being
brought to the proper thickness and taper edgewise of the finished nail by
compression, when cold to temper or stiffen them, between die surfaces suitably
shaped for this purpose..
The flattening die which forms the face of the nail may also, if preferred, be
provided with a projection the converse of the indentation all shown in the point
part of the flattened nail-blanks in Figs. 5, 6, 11 and 12, and thereby indent the
metal in the flattening operation, to form the levelled point of the nail when
sheared or clipped.
6 is the complete or finished nail, after being sheared or clipped by suitable dies
or cutters, and, as shown in the drawing, has a flattened face and back; a head
portion flush with the back and projecting laterally from the face and two side
edges; a tapering blade or shank portion of greater width than thickness, said
portion having laterally curved or rounded side edges; a point portion tapering
widthwise and having laterally flat or square side edges; and a bevelled point;
thereby constituting a new form of nail in which the side edges have laterally
curved or rounded surfaces combined with flat or square surfaces, which union
imparts to the nails new qualities or characteristics not found in any other nail.
It has been found in practical shoeing that some hoofs are much harder and

page_text: more brittle than others and very difficult to drive a nail into without splitting or
rupturing the hoof so as to roughen its surface and make it unsightly in appearance.
Such hoofs are more easily penetrated by nails having thin, smooth, flat or square-
edged gradually-tapering points, such as are attained by shearing or clipping the
nails; but such flat or square-edged nails when fully driven into the hoof, owing to
their cross-sectional size and shape, rupture and displace the horny fibres and
substance of the hoof and cause the nail holes therein to be larger than necessary
to receive the nails, which is objectionable aside from the unsightly appearance,
inasmuch as it impairs the power of the clinch on the nail to hold the shoe tightly
to the hoof; for it is found in practice that hard and brittle hoofs do not conform
to the surface of nails which are rectangular in cross-section when completely
driven, and this is due to the fact that the hoof is made up of layers of horny
substance, which layers are approximately edgewise to the tread surface of the
hoof and tend to separate under the wedge-like pressure of the body of a nail that
is square cornered.
These objections I have eliminated by forming the shank of the nail, in cross-
section, with two opposite flat sides or faces and two opposite laterally curved or
rounded edges; nails of this description when fully driven into a hard hoof do not
rupture the fibres thereof but leave the surface of the hoof smooth and of neat
appearance and the nail holes therein small so as to closely hug the rounded
corners of the shank of the nail and assist the clinch of the nail in securely holding
the shoe.
It is difficult however to practically form round edged nails with the points
uniform, and consequently to insure perfectly uniform easy driving nails, I shear or
clip the points of the round edged shanks as I will now further describe.
Hitherto all flat edged shanks have been laterally flat from head to point and
the sheared or tapering surfaces thereof have been the full width of the thickness of
the shank; but in my present nail the laterally flat tapering surface of the sheared
edges gradually merge into the laterally curved or rounded edges of the shank; as
shown at ein Fig. 18, and this gradual merging of the flat sheared edges is
approximately midway of the shank of the nail and is essential in the preferred
form of my nail to form the shank of the nail the proper taper widthwise and to
prevent the formation of shoulders on the side edges of the nail.
My improved nail presented in this application while combining in itself the
structural advantages possessed by both the nail having a flattened face and back
and laterally curved or rounded side edges, and a nail having a laterally flat or
square edged easy driving point formed by shearing, also possesses a new and
additional quality, characteristic or function not found in either of the above nails
separately, but which is a new result arising from the union of the elements found
in both, as for instance-my improved nail when driven into a hard and brittle
hoof easily penetrates the same, forming a small hole of rectangular area until it
has entered the hoof to about midway or thereabouts of the length of the blade or
shank of the nail and then by reason of the peculiar shape or form of its side edges
as clearly shown in Figs. 17 to 23 inclusive, enlarges the hole, and changes its
cross-sectional form by gradually expanding and rounding the corners thereof,
thereby causing the nail to progressively expand the hoof substance without
splitting or rupturing the same and insuring the driving of the nail with the least
possible amount of force or power.
is the superfluous metal or clipping removed from the point of the nail, and
which might extend the length of the blade or shark, or even the entire length of
the nail, if it were desirable to form the nails with square corners or edges but for
reasons already pointed out, I prefer to shear or clip the nails as shown with less
waste of metal.
It is evident the indentation a" in the point part of the nail-blank might extend
entirely across the blank if so desired, but I prefer to indent it as shown, as thereby
the metal forming the bevelled point of the nail is condensed and hardened without

page_text: harmfully spreading the fibres thereof, the side walls of metal around the indentation
helping to sustain the central portion or bevel from spreading laterally..
It also requires less power to bevel the point in this manner than in compressing
the metal across the entire nail-blank.
The round nail-blanks may be formed singly or in series, by any suitable
mechanism, and from either hot or cold metal as may be preferable for the quality
of nail desired to be made.
I prefer to make them of cold metal, preferably a soft grade of steel wire, and
by suitable mechanism, as for instance, a single or duplex rivet heading machine,
produce the headed blanks shown in Figs. 2 and 9.
I prefer to act upon the body or shank of the headed blanks shown in Figs. 2
and 9 to elongate and reduce them taperingly as shown in Figs. 4 and 10, by a
multiplicity of blows or pressures delivered around their periphery. This
operation may be performed by a wire pointing machine having reciprocating
hammers or dies, or it may be performed by cross rolling the body or shank
portion of the blanks between die surfaces suitably operated, as will be readily
understood by those familiar with the art of working metal.
I do not wish to confine myself to the use of any particular machinery for heading
and tapering the wire blanks, as it forms no part of the present invention, and any
kind of machinery may be used which will act upon all parts of the wire blank and
thereby form a tough, homogeneous headed nail-blank having circular cross-
sectional area throughout, and the metal of the body or shank distributed
taperingly substantially as shown.
Heretofore horseshoe nails having sheared or clipped peints, owing to flaws or
laminations in the nail engendered by their process of working the metal cold in
making the nail, have been very liable to the great objection of slivering or
splitting at the point when being driven, especially if driven into a hard brittle
hoof; but with my improved method of manufacture and construction of nail, the
admirable driving qualities and uniformity of taper and finish of sheared or clipped
points are retained and their former disadvantage or liability to split points is
entirely eliminated, and the superior advantages such as great strength, toughness,
clinching and driving qualities are positively insured.
By referring to the drawings it will be seen that my improved nail is flattened
upon its face and back to taper, stiffen and give it the proper thickness edgewise,
the side edges of the body of the blade or shank are smoothly curved or rounded
laterally and the point portion is sheared or clipped, forming a uniform gradually
tapering and bevelled point having smooth laterally flat or square side edges
extending approximately midway the length of the shank and gradually merging
into the laterally curved or rounded side edges thereof, thus well adapting the
nails for handling and easy driving into the hardest hoof as before described.
My improvement in the art of making horseshoe nails consisting in the combined
operations of first forming a headed nail-blank having circular cross-section
throughout; flattening and indenting the blank; and shearing or clipping the point
portion substantially as hereinbefore described; coustitutes a new and useful
method of manufacture, producing new results-viz. a new form of nail having new
and peculiar characteristics, making a more serviceable and better nail, and
also resulting in great economy and reduction in the cost of producing nails of
this class.
I prefer to make the nail-blanks in duplex form as shown in Figs. 10 or 14, as
by so doing the capacity of the blank-forming, flattening and shearing or pointing
machine is doubled, half the labour of handling the metal is saved and there is
also much less waste metal.
When using duplex nail-blanks similar to that shown in Fig. 14, the dies for
flattening said blank will be shaped accordingly and be provided with suitable
projections for forming the point indentation or bevels therein, and the dies for
shearing or clipping the points of the nails may have combined therewith suitable

page_text: dies or cutters for cutting apart or separating the two nails at one and the same
operation by which they are clipped or finished.
In Fig. 15 is shown the flattened duplex nail-blank cut apart by a diagonal cut
across the middle of the blade or shank portion thereof, thereby bringing the two-
nails to a point without waste of metal, with each nail having one laterally curved
or rounded edge, and one combined laterally curved or rounded and flat or square.
edge, and in some cases this might be a desirable way of cutting them apart, but
I prefer to operate upon the nails as first described and shown in Figs. 7 and 13, as.
by so doing I avoid the expense of the additional operation of throwing the
sheared point of the nail around in line with the centre of the blade or shank and
bevelling the point, as shown in Fig. 16.
I do not consider it necessary in this application to describe the dies or
mechanism for carrying out my improved method in the manufacture of my
improved nails, as such dies or mechanism forms no part of this present invention,
but such dies and mechanism as are necessary to perform the several operations.
required to produce the nails, will readily suggest themselves to those skilled
in the art to which my invention appertains.
It is of course evident that some parts of the nail or uail-blank may be slightly
varied in form from that shown and described herein without departing from or
evading the essential features and spirit of my invention.
If preferred, metal wire having polygonal, rectangular or square cross-section
may be used for the nail-blanks. It is preferable to anneal the completed nail-
blanks before flattening, shearing and finishing the nails.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. As a new article of manufacture, the improved horseshoe nail herein described
having a flattened face and back and side edges laterally curved or rounded from
the head to substantially midway the shank and the remainder of the side edges
sheared or clipped flat, the sheared or clipped flat portions of the shank
gradually merging into the laterally curved or rounded edges, substantially as set
forth.
2. As a new article of manufacture, the improved horseshoe nail herein described
characterized by a flattened face and back; side edges which are curved or
rounded laterally from the head to substantially midway the shank; flat side edges
from substantially midway the shank to the point; and a point bevelled on its-face,.
substantially as set forth.
3. A bevelled-pointed horseshoe nail of greater width than thickness, having the
head and shank flattened on the face and back, and the shank tapering widthwise
smaller towards the point with two tapers substantially as shown, the tapering part
adjoining the head having laterally curved or rounded side edges, and the tapering
part adjoining the point having laterally flat or square side edges extending
approximately midway the length of the shauk and merging into the laterally
curved or rounded side edges thereof, substantially as set forth.
4. A horseshoe nail having the head and part of the shank adjoining the head
formed in cross-section with two opposite flat sides and two opposite curved or
rounded edges, and the remaining part of the shank formed in cross-section with
two flat sides, and two flat edges, substantially as set forth.
5. A horseshoe nail-blank circular in cross-sectional area throughout, having
head and shank forming portions, the shank-forming portion being of greater
length than the shank of the finished nail and tapering substantially as described,
the head-forming portion and a part of the shank-forming portion adjoining the
head, being substantially equal in cross-sectional area to the same parts of the
finished nail, and the remaining part of the shank-forming portion being formed
larger in cross-sectional area than the same part of the shank of the finished nail,
so that when the blank is flattened to the proper thickness edgewise it will leave a

page_text: margin of metal around the edges to be removed therefrom to produce the tapering
point of the finished nail, substantially as set forth.
6. A duplex horseshoe nail-blank circular in cross-section throughout, having
two head and two shank-forming portions the shank-forming portions being of
greater length than the shanks of the two finished nails, the head-forming portions
and part of the shank-forming portions adjoining the heads, being substantially
equal in cross-sectional area to the same parts of the finished nails, and the
remainder of the sbank-forming portions being larger in cross-sectional area than
the same parts of the shanks of the finished nails, for the purpose substantially as
set forth.
7. The herein described headed nail-blank having a shank-forming portion
circular in cross-section, the shank of the blank being longer than required for
the shank of the finished nail, and the shank being largest in cross-sectional area
adjacent to the head, substantially as described.
8. As a new article of manufacture, a horseshoe nail having a head, the back of
which is flat and flush with the back of the shank, which is also flat, the head
being also flat on its face, but projecting beyond the flat intersecting face of the
nail, the edges of the head and shank being laterally curved, the face of the nail
being bevelled at the point, and the edges inclined at the point for a portion of the
length of the shank above the bevel, these inclines being flat and diminishing
upwardly in width and disappearing in the laterally curved edges of the shank,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
9. As a new article of manufacture, a horseshoe nail, the shank of which has
flattened sides, and the edges of which are laterally convex from the head portion
of the shank towards the point thereof, said convex edges being inclined and flat
at the point, and the inclines diminishing upwardly until they disappear in the
convex edges, a flat side edge being bevelled at the point, substantially as and for
the purpose set forth.
10. As a new article of manufacture, the improved horseshoe nail herein
described, baving a flattened face and back; a face bevel; the side edges which
are curved or rounded laterally from the head towards the point to substantially
midway the shank; and clipped side edges which merge and disappear in said
rounded edges and extend therefrom to the point, said clipped side edges being
flat, and the shank rectangular in cross-section above the face bevel towards the
middle of the shank, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
11. As a new article of manufacture, the improved horseshoe nail herein described,
the same having a flat face and back; a face bevel; rounded side edges from the
middle portion of the shank towards the head; flat side edges which merge with
and disappear in the rounded side edges and extend to the point; the shank
being rectangular in cross-section at the point and upwards above the bevel;
approximately octagonal in cross-section above the rectangular cross-section; and
of flattened oval cross-section above the octagonal cross-section; all in substance
as shown and described and for the purpose set forth.
12. As a new article of manufacture, a horseshoe nail having a flattened face and
back, and a bevelled point, the shank tapering widthwise smaller towards the point
with two edge tapers, the tapering part adjoining the head having laterally curved
or rounded side edges, and the tapering part adjoining the bevelled point having
laterally sheared flat side edges forming a rectangular tapering point of sufficient
length to penetrate through the hoof and then merging with the laterally curved
edges of the shank, so as to gradually change the cross-sectional shape of the hole
through the hoof from rectangular to flattish oval shape as the nail is completely
driven, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
13. As a new article of manufacture, the improved horseshoe nail herein described,
having a flattened face and back; a shank side edge which is curved laterally; a
bevelled point; and a flat point-end edge which merges above the bevel, with the
laterally curved shank side-edge, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
14. Á headed horseshoe nail-blank having its body or shank-forming portion,

page_text: circular in cross-sectional area, and of greater length than the body or shank of the
finished nail, for the purpose set forth.
15. As a new article of manufacture, a horseshoe nail having a head, a shank,
and point, substantially as shown and described, for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 14th day of January 1896.
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
18, Buckingham Street, Strand, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.