IM- PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE-SHOES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hugh Martin, of the Firm of Hugh Martin & Sons,
Iron Manufacturers, Contbridge, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, and
Robert Robertson, Roll Turner to the said Firm, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE-SHOES, AND IN THE MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR.”
Sealed the 23rd February 1877, and dated the 13th December 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hugh Martin and Robert
Robertson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th December
1870.
HUGH MARTIN, of the Firm of Hugh Martin & Sons, Iron Manufacturers,
Coatbridge, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, and ROBERT ROBERTSON,
Roll Turner to the said Firm. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE-
SHOES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
This Invention has for its object the rolling of bars of iron of the proper shapes
and sizes, sectionally and longitudinally, all ready for being cut and bent into curved
horse-shoes or blanks of that form, ready for being subsequently finished into these,
of the various sizes desired, either by hand or by a second operation and machine,
all so as to save much time and labour in the manufacture of these.
And the nature and novelty of the Invention consist in making the two rollers
for rolling this iron with the mean circumference of their rolling grooves equal to
the length of two, three, or more of the blanks or pieces of iron required to form a
single shoe of any particular size; and in making these rollers with two pairs or sets
of grooves, one to roll the iron into parallel bars of near the width and thickness to
form the solid plain parts of the heels, with a sharp raised part along one face and
edge (thus ) which is fed into and retained close up to the one edge of the
groove of the last shaping or finishing set of grooves so as to form the full, decp,
sharp edge of the front part of the shoes where the rolling surface of the one roller
has raised segmental projections at the parts to form the sharp indentations or
swaged grooves for the heads of the nails, while rounded, broad, segmental, raised
parts are formed on the proper or corresponding rolling surface of the other roller
to compress and roll the hollow or concave parts on the inner curved face of the iron
and shoe (next the hoof) from the one bearing part of the heel to the other, and
Price 6d1

page_text: which consequently thins and broadens out these parts of the iron and shoes, while
the parts of the rolling surface of both rollers forining the heel parts are left plain,
but with a projection or indentation to mark the place in the middle of the heel part
where each blank or piece is to be cut through to form each shoe, or cutters might
be inserted in one or both rolling surfaces to partially or wholly cut the blocks or
bars through after shaping them. When thus rolling or making the heavier class
of shoe iron or blocks, indentations are formed in the rolling surface of the same
roller that makes the curved, concave, or hollow parts at the opposite edge to form
the centre projection which rests against the crust of the hoof in front..
These new or improved rollers for so shaping and rolling bars for being cut into
their short lengths or blocks, and subsequently curved and bent into horse-shoes, are
geared together by pinions keyed on their spindles to prevent their working surface
from slipping, and to insure the proper shaping of the block by retaining the alter-
nating indentations and projections on the opposite sides and rolling surfaces always
in their true relative position. Each block so formed and cut off from these shaped
and rolled bars is either bent as heretofore by hand, as before stated, or when bent or
shaped into the horse-shoe forms by machinery, each hot blank is placed in the
centre of a drawing or bending table where it is caught in the middle by drawing
tongs or other equivalent gripor and drawn or pressed forward between two
stationary rollers or guides which turn the ends back to the horse-shoe shape; and
when desired an inward movement may be given to these side shapers just as the
heel parts reach them to close them somewhat at the extreme back ends.
These intermediate concaved and swaged, tapered, heeled, and clipped rolled
horse-shoes or blanks are then placed in a stamping machine, having punches over
the swaged grooves, which stamp or punch the holes for the nails nearly through the
shoe, so that the holes can afterwards be formed right through by a steel hand
punch while cold, or without requiring to be heated for that purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said Hugh Martin and Robert Robertson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th June 1877.
HUGH MARTIN, of the Firm of Hugh Martin & Sons, Iron Manufacturers,
Coatbridge, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, and ROBERT ROBERTSON,
Roll Turner to the said Firm. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE-
SHOES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
"
In order that the nature, novelty, and mode of performing our said Invention
may be properly understood, we shall proceed to describe the several Figures
on the Sheet of Drawings which we have hereunto appended, for the purpose
of showing the best modes and means we are at present aware of for putting the
Invention into effect or practice; the same reference letters and numerals indicating
the same or like parts in all the Figures where shown.
Figures 1 and 2 are a front elevation and transverse section of a pair or set of a
new or improved construction of rollers A, B, arranged and mounted in an ordinary
arrangement of housings" or screw side fraines 2, 21, and carrying blocks and
bearing bushes 2, on the strong sole plate or frame 3 for rolling and shaping
ordinary rectangular bars of iron into the new or improved bars all ready for
being cut off into lengths (as shown at 21, 1, 2, in top face view and transverse
section in three forms to one-half the full size in Figures 3, 4, and 5) and sub-
sequently stamped or punched with the nail holes a¹, as seen in Figures 4 and 10 in
a punching machine, as shown in longitudinal section and end elevation in Figures G
and 7 respectively, and then bent into the curved shape of a horse-shoe in the draw-
ing and shaping machine, one end of which is shown in sectional elevation and plan
in Figures 8 and 9 respectively, sufficient to show the construction and action of the

page_text: .new or improved mechanism connected therewith, all for the forming and bending
of the horse-shoes into the proper shapes and sizes required, ready for supplying to
farriers and smiths for fitting to all sizes of horse hoofs, one example being shown in
face view in Figure 10 as finished, from the size and form of iron shown in Figure 4
to one-half the real size.
Our said Invention has for its object the rolling of bars of iron of the proper shapes
and sizes, sectionally and longitudinally, in a new or improved arrangement of
rollers A, B, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, all ready for being cut, as shown in
Figures 3, 4, and 5, and bent into curved horse-shoes or blanks of that form, as in-
dicated in one example, shown in Figure 10, ready for being subsequently finished
into shoes of the various sizes desired, either by hand or by a second operation and
machine, or the arrangement of mechanism shown in Figures 8 and 9, all so as to
save much time and labour in the manufacture of these horse-shoes.
Referring to Figures 1 to 5, the nature, novelty, and mode of performing our said
Invention consist in the new or improved construction and arrangement of a set of
two rollers as A, B, shown in Figures 1 and 2, with two sets or pairs of a new or
improved construction of rolling grooves or surfaces a, b, and a¹, b₁, for the rolling
out of ordinary rolled rectangular bars of iron, or out of square iron flattened into
the rectangular form, as shown in end section and partial edge view in Figure 4 A,
in grooves such as those shown in two sizes at 1, 12, in these rollers A, B; in either
case while still hot and of the proper size or weight of iron, first rolled into parallel
bars with a sharp raised or projecting ridge along the one face close to the edge, as
seen in end section and partial face view at z, in Figure 4 B, and inserted on edge
and rolled out through one of the set of four different sizes of new or improved
grooves or rolling surfaces a, b, in the rollers A, B, into nearly the width and thick-
ness at the flattened section required to form the solid plain parts of the heels y,
Figures 3 to 5, and then pass or roll these bars & while yet hot through one of the
set of shaping and finishing grooves a, b, formed to the right hand in the
rollers A, B, in eight different shapes and four different sizes, to suit the four sizes
of bars z rolled by the four grooves a, b, that is, two forms of each size, one to form
the grooves for the heads of the nails right round from heel to heel, and the other
only at the two sides, leaving a solid part at the front, as seen respectively in
Figures 3 and 4, and the latter finishing grooves a, b, of these rollers A, B, being
formed with their rolling and shaping surface of an improved and proper shape as
will hereinafter be explained, and of a mean circumference at their acting perimeter
equal to the length of two (or it might be one, three, or more) of the shaped blanks
or forms required to make a single horse-shoe of any particular shape and size (as
shown in the three forms cut to their lengths in Figures 3, 4, and 5). Each revolu-
tion of these improved rollers A, B, forms two rectangular lengths or blanks of the
bar, thus rolling horse-shoe bars as easily as plain ordinary bars into any number of
blank lengths or sections the bar may contain ready for being cut off and shaped by
hand labour, as seen in these Figures 3, 4, 5, and 10, or by clipping machines at the
parts y between the heels, or shaped as herein-after explained.
The rolling and shaping surfaces or grooves 1, 1, a, b, and a, b, of these
rollers A, B, for flattening or reducing the square bars to the form shown in
Figure 4A, or rolling and shaping these bars to form or manufacture the straight
parallel bars shown in Figure 4 B, or the shaped bars, blanks, or forms for horse-
shoes shown in Figures 3, 4, and 5 are formed by the deep grooves 1, a, b, in the
lower roller A, and corresponding annular projecting and compressing rim or
collar 1, a, b, working in the former, all as seen in Figure 1, and to a large scale
in Figure 1A, giving a single example of the grooves a, b, and a¹, b₁, for rolling one
size of bar z, Figure 4b, and oue corresponding size and form of horse-shoe bars z¹¹,
Figure 4. The one edge of the collar b of each groove a, b, (Figure 1A) is rounded
off at 611 sufficiently that when the flat bar (Figure 4 A) is inserted into the groove
on edge, preferably kept close up to this edge by an ordinary guide in front of the
groove
and rollers; it is pressed and rolled hot up into the hollow to form the sharp
ridge at along the edge, and flatton down the rest to fill the groove a, b, and roll

page_text: it to near the size desired to form the plain heel parts y of the shoes, somewhat
narrower than the finishing groove a, b, which has its rim or collar surface 61 of
the roller B formed with broad raised rounded segments be in proper position to
roll or compress and form the hollow concave parts * between the heels y, y, on
the inside of the blanks or shoes next to the hoof of the horse, and shown by dotted
lines in Figures 4 and 10; while the bottom of the grooved part a¹ of the roller A
is formed with the raised segmental projections a sharp on the inner edge and
round towards the right hand edge, which forms the sharp angled indentations or
grooves for the heads of the nails for securing the shoe, and leaving a narrow
recess at this side of the groove a¹ for forming the bearing edge x* of the shoe (in
front or outside of the nail grooves ) required to be solid, and into which the sharp
edge of the bars Figure 4b, formed in the grooves a, b, are fed by turning them
over, and sliding them in close up to this right hand edge by a guide, so as to
insure the sharp and perfect forining of this front bearing part * and grooved
parts for the nails, the segmental part 3 of the upper roller B broadening and
thinning out the part * towards the inner side or edge of the iron and shoe, a
slight recessed part being cut away on the opposite edge of the rim b¹ at the centre
of the segment b² to form a projecting part on the upper central part of each
blank of the heavy class of horse-shoe bar iron for drawing out or welding thereto
the part which bears against the crust of the hoof in front.
The parts a, b, of the rolling surfaces or grooves of both rollers A, B, between the
segmental parts a and b are left plain or concentric for a space or distance equal
to and so as to form the rectangular flat parts y of the heels of two shoes or blank
forms for these, very little less than the size of the iron or bar z, as rolled in the
grooves a, b, but a cross indentation or projection is or might be formed at a² in
the middle of this heel part to make a mark on the bar at y¹ to show where the
blanks to form the shoes are to be cut, or otherwise; cutters might be inserted into
one or both rolling surfaces a, b, to partially or wholly cut the blocks or bars
through at this part while or after rolling and shaping them.
These new or improved rollers A, B, for so rolling and shaping horse-shoe bar
iron for being cut into their short blocked or shaped lengths, Figures 3, 4, and 5,
and subsequently curved and bent into horse-shoes, as shown in Figure 10, are
driven at the one end of their shafts A or B¹, as usual, by a long loose box
coupling from one of the other motive or mill roller shafts, and they are geared
together by pinions A", B", keyed on the other ends of their shafts to prevent the
working and shaping surface from slipping, and to insure the proper retention of
the alternating segments all and b2 (for formning the indentations and projections on
the opposite side and surfaces of each form or blank throughout the bar) always in
their true relative position.
Figure 5 shows a face view and section of a straight shaped blank form or
blocked shoe z¹¹ for hunting horses, rounded on the inner edge at 23, which requires
the left hand corner of the rolling surface or groove a' of the roller A to be curved
in a reverse manner, as seen at in Figure 1, and dotted in in Figure 1A, so as to
roll out the bars of block formed shoes in a form which will save inuch time and
labour in the finishing of this class of shoe, as compared with the usual method of
shaping or blocking by hand; and any size of these straight blocked horse-shoe
bars can be so rolled and manufactured in this new or improved construction of
grooved rollers A, B, suitable for cart or draught and carriage horses, or riding and
hunting horses, and either in the long bar form or cut into the short straight
blocked form shown in Figures 3, 4, and 5, ready for being bent and fitted to the
horses' hoofs, at one heat or so, by hand. But by a further improvement of this
Invention these short blocked forms, as cut from the bars in any ordinary motive
power plate or bar clipping or shearing machine, may be heated in suitable furnaces
(such as used for heating rod iron for the making of rivets, bolts, and nuts), and
removed by the tongs one at a time to either side of the new or improved nail hole
punching or stamping machines placed in front or adjacent to the furnaces.
This stamping machine, which is shown in Figures 6 and 7, consists of two strong

page_text: side frames C secured together by transverse stays or frames C¹, C¹, at the top and
ends, all portable, and carrying the bearings and moving parts of the machine, and
secured at a proper height on the top of a strong heavy cast-iron box frame D, or it
might be other suitable foundation or frame. The side frames C have formed in
them, near the upper central part, the two bushed bearing blocks or recesses carrying
the first motion transverse fly wheel shaft E, E, driven from any adjacent motive-
power transmitting shaft by a belt E", passed over the fast and loose pullies Es on
the opposite end of the shaft E to that on which the fly wheel E' and pinion F are
keyed, the latter gearing into and driving the spur wheel F¹, keyed on the over-
hanging end of the second motion shaft F1, carried in the bush bearing blocks F,
formed in the lower part of the frames C, leaving room between these and the shaft
E above for the working of the two powerful levers L, L', oscillating on strong
centres L", passing through them and the side frames C, near their short arms L', which
each pass through a slot in and actuate a vertical stamping slide K working in
guides K' formed and secured to each of the ends C¹ of the frame C. Both levers
L, L', are actuated by their long free arins L, crossing the shaft F" with two reverse
eccentrics G, with separating disc G₁ between them, keyed on it, each working
within an open rectangular box or flame H, screwed to the under free ends L of
the levers, so as to work the punching slides K in alternate sequence.
The punches or stampers are formed with points the shape of the head and neck
of the nail for securing the horse-shoes to the hoofs, and with their heads square or
parallel, so as to be secured by pinching screws in a slotted recess or box part J,
formed on or secured to the lower end of each slide frame K; the points of the
punches being, as shown, ranged all at proper distances apart, and at one level
length to suit each set of nail holes al required, as shown in the grooves & in Figures
4 and 7, to pierce the holes nearly through the iron down against the rests with
setting guide 1' for receiving, and setting, or steadying the straight blanks 2", for
being brought and held with the tongs below the punches, and which when properly
placed are instantly punched by the constantly reciprocating slides, only when the
hand sliding pressing block or bolster is shifted into the slot of the slide K by
the handle and left hand of the person holding the shoe blank with his right hand,
and taken out the moment the nail holes are formed by one action for each set of holes,
and two for each shoe. One edge of each guide K¹ is bevelled and fitted with a
wedge block tightened up by the screws and nuts at K" between the guide and the
edge of the parallel slide frame K, so as to make up for wear, and give accurate and
steady action, and the belt is fitted with the ordinary hand shifting spindle f, slide
and belt fork g, for stopping and starting the machine at pleasure. Each blank shoe
form, when so stamped with the nail holes, as described and shown in Figure +,
is removed while still red hot with the tongs to the new or improved horse-shoe
drawing and bending machine or mechanism (the essentially novel parts of which
are shown in Figures 8 and 9), which is erected in close proximity to or at one side
of the punching machine.
This Drawing or shaping machine, like those used for drawing tubes, consists of a
stong deep box or plate, side table, and carrying frame M, M¹, with an endless
drawing chain N working up the centre, carried on a pitch chain wheel or pulley N',
keyed on its spindle Nu, revolving loose in shifting screw tightening bushes N2,
carried in the two slotted or slide guide brackets M11, secured to the one end of the
frame M. The chain is driven by a similar pitch chain wheel on a driving shaft, carried
in stationary bush bearing brackets or pillow blocks at the other end of the frame M,
so that, as indicated by the arrows, the lower line of chain returns below the table
M of the frame M, while the upper line of the chain is drawn forward longitudinally
through a guide or slot above, or formed in the middle table or top M¹ of the frame M,
and is duplex like the punching machine, that is, two arrangements of the new or
improved mechanism are fitted thereto, one at each end, though only one is shown
in the Drawing, for the drawing and bending, or curving of the hot blanks into the
horse-shoe forin, shown in Figure 9, in the act of being formed, and as finished in the
detached view shown to a large scale in Figure 10,

page_text: The improved mechanism consists of the drawing bar O, working close over the
chain N, in the guides O¹, formed in the transverse box frame P, screwed to the top
of the side frames Al or plate M¹. The back end of this bar has the shaping block o
screwed to it above by a screw stud o¹, and it is jointed at the front end o¹¹ to the
hand lever hook n for engaging it to and disengaging it from the chain N; this
hook near its joint o¹¹ is connected by a bent link n to the short arm n¹ of the
weighted bell crank, retaining and disengaging pawl n¹, n², of and jointed to the
upper back arm of a gripping lever m, m³, jointed to the stud m", projecting from
the top of the bar O a little behind the shaping plate o, all so that when the front
handle end of the hook is pressed down to hook into an open or double link of
the chain N, it draws down the bell crank pawl by the link n³, so that its lower
curved arm 2, acting on the plate o, presses up the back end of the lever m, and
inakes the front griping end m¹ hold down the front middle part of the hot straight
blank or shoe iron, inserted in front of the centre shaping plate o, when the
gripper m' is drawn back to the dotted lines 2, in Figure 9, with its draw plate O
automatically pulled back by a cord or light chain attached to the eye ol at its
back end, and led over a pulley or other equivalent with an acting weight attached,
not shown in the Drawings.
On each side of the top back part of the transverse frame P, carrying the bending
or curving mechanism, two shifting plates p are fitted, set, and fixed in the desired
position by pinching screws 21 and 22, and rounded at the back corners p¹ in the
same plane as and in front of the central shaping block o when the hot blank ell is
inserted and fixed by the griper m² in hooking the draw bar O to the chain N,
which then draws forward the blank 21 against the rounded corners 2 of the
block p, so as to bend it round the front and sides of the central block o until they
come forward to near the position shown in Figure 9, when the long stud o¹ pushes
forward the two levers 7 keyed on the spindles of two eccentric wipers, carried in
the outer ends of two pressing blocks i fitted in slotted guide recesses q in the front
side parts of the box P, the wypers / acting on pressing steel or other plutes or
blocks i, fitted with setting-up pinching screws i behind, all so that as the draw
plate O brings the shoe forward to the position shown in Figures 8 and 9, the inner
ends of the pressing blocks i compress its back heel parts y into the back hollow or
narrow parts of the central shaping block o, so as to finish the shaping of the shoe,
which is then released by hand, or automatically by the front handle or curved-up
part of the hook n coming against and rising over the pin n², which lifts the hook
out of the chain N and lifts the griper m² off the shoe ", which is then removed
with the tongs while still hot, and laid into a smooth shaping or flattening die of
steel or hardened iron, with the face up, below an "Oliver" or other hammer, a blow
or two of which finishes the shoe.
h
For heavy shoes, when projecting heels y are required to be forged on the shoes,
they could be taken hot from this flattening mould and hammer and the two ends
kneed on the top of an oscillating anvil block with one blow of a corresponding
"Oliver" or other hammer above, when the anvil is tilted in one direction, and
straightened or squared with one or two blows with the anvil set in the other
direction, with the anvil face nearly fair to that of the hammer, and with another
blow on the outer side or edge of cach heel, completely finish a heeled shoe at one
heat, as shown at Figure 11.
Although the two sets of grooves or rolling surfaces a, b, for rolling the preparatory
parallel bars shown in Figure 4 B, and the finishing grooves or rolling surfaces a¹, b³,
have been shown and described as formed in the same set of rollers A, B, it is to
be understood that they might be formed in two sets of rollers placed in front of
each other in the said sequence, so that the bars after passing through the grooves a, b,
in the first set of rollers would be passed right on through the grooves a¹, b¹, in the
second set, and thus be finished without requiring to be returned over the rollers or
mill for that purpose. And although a separate machine, Figures 6 and 7, has been
shown and described for punching or stamping the nail holes a while the blank
forms are straight and before bending them, this being preferred for making a

page_text: smooth outer edge by the subsequent bending, still it is to be understood that these
holes night be so stamped after the blauks or rolled pieces are curved, as shown in
Figure 10, the flattening die under the hammer smoothening the slight bulges made
by the punches round the outer edge; and in some cases, as for the lighter class of
shoes, steel punches might be inserted into the grooved parts al of the roller A, or
in one with the segmental parts a" (for forming the grooves x for the nail heads)
when these are made of steel and inserted into the grooved part al of the roller A,
as they may be when preferred. The holes a¹ are then stamped nearly through the
grooved part of the shoe blanks 11, Figures 4 and 10, so that the farrier when
fitting them to the horses' hoofs can by the slight blow of a hand hammer on a
steel punch in each hole of the cold shoe pierce them right through to the proper
size of the nails with which the shoe is to be fitted on.
The shaping central blocks o and curved side plates p, p, are made portable, and
of the various sizes and shapes to suit the fore and hind feet of all sizes and classes
of horses, so that any of them can be removed and replaced by others in a few
minutes, to suit the particular shoes being bent or curved in the improved arrange-
ment of machine or mechanism shown in Figures 8 and 9, and when desired rollers
on studs may be used on a shifting plate instead of the curved plates p, p¹, described,
and shown in these Figures.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, we have to state that we do not confine ourselves to the precise details
herein described or delineated, but what we consider novel and original, and therefore
claim as the Invention secured to us by the hercin-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,―
First. The manufacture or rolling and shaping of bars of iron for horse shoes, all
ready in sectional blanks of any required sizo or form for being cut off into the
proper lengths, as shown in Figures 3, 4, and 5, or in the cut and punched or
stamped form, with the nail holes, and curved into the horse-shoe form, with or
without projecting heels y, as shown in Figures 10 or 11, and the general con-
struction of new or improved inachines or mechanism therefor, all substantially as
herein described in reference to and shown in the accompanying Drawings, or any
mere modification thereof.
Second. The forming of rollers A, B, with grooves a or a¹ and rims or collars b
or b' for working in the former, and forming the rolling grooved surfaces for rolling
bar iron ready for the making of horse shoes, all substantially as described in
reference to and shown in Figures 1 to 5 and 1A of the accompanying Drawings, or
any mere modification thereof.
Third. The general construction and arrangement of machine or mechanism for
punching or stamping the nail holes in the horse-shoe blanks or forms, either straight
or curved (as shown in Figures 3, 4, 5, and 10), all substantially as herein described
in reference to and shown in Figures 6 and 7 of the accompanying Drawings, or
any mere modifications thereof.
Fourth. The general construction or arrangement of drawing and bending
machine or mechanism for curving and shaping straight roll-shaped horse-shoe
blanks or blocks edge ways into the horse-shoe shape, all substantially as herein
described in reference to and shown in Figures 8, 9, and 10 of the accompanying
Drawings, or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, wc, the said Hugh Martin and Robert Robertson, have
hereunto set our hands and scals, this Twelfth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
Witness,
W. R. M. THOMSON,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
L
ROBERT ROBERTSON. (L.S.)