IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING NAILS, BOLTS, AND SPIKES
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MOSES
POOLE, of Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twelfth day of November, in the third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Moses Poole, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Moses Poole, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Moses Poole, my exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING NAILS, BOLTS, AND SPIKES,"
communicated to me by a certain foreigner residing abroad, in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Moses Poole, shall cause
a particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Moses Poole, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and the

page_text: manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings bereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
(that is to say) :-
The Invention relates to a mode of making forged nails, bolts, and spikes
by machinery. I would in the outset state that various attempts have been
made to forge nails, bolts, and spikes by machinery, but in such cases it has
been usual to employ rods of metal heated to a forging heat, and the machinery
has heretofore simply cut off lengths suitable for making nails, bolts, or spikes,
and then by means of swages or excentric rollers a point has been forged to
each of such lengths; and there have been other machines, wherein plates of
metal are progressively introduced, and have had strips successively cut
off from one side of a plate, and such nails are known as cut nails; but in
such machines the nails produced are not submitted to the process of forging
points or flattened ends thereon, but in some cases they have heads forced up
by suitable dies or punches acting on one end of the stem or strip of metal so
cut from one side of a plate of metal, the other end depending on the cut
to give it sufficient point or flattened end. Now, the object of this Invention
is so to arrange the various parts of the machinery that portions or strips
of metal, each suitable for a nail, spike, or bolt, may be cut from the edge or
one side of a plate of metal, and then be forged by compressing tools or
rollers into a point or flat end; and it is the combining of such cutting off
from one edge or side of a plate of metal, and then by means of compressing
rollers or dies to forge the points to the figure desired, which constitutes the
novelty of this Invention; and the machine is so arranged that it is also
capable of producing a head to each of such nails, bolts, or spikes. The
Drawings represent a machine suitable for making nails of about two inches
long, and in the event of longer and larger nails, called bolts and spikes, being
required, the machine is to be made larger accordingly. The Drawing repre-
sents the parts on a scale of two inches to a foot, and the machine is arranged
for making such points as are called chisel points, and it may be stated that
the punch by which the head is formed is sunk to produce a square head, and
the under portion of the head being forced by the punch into dies carried by the
holding levers, on the figure thereof will depend the shape of the under part of
the head. Having thus stated generally the nature of the Invention, I will
proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed in the various Figures,
of which the same letters are used to indicate similar parts wherever they
occur.

page_text: Figure 1 is a front view of a machine arranged according to the Invention ;
Figure 2 is a side view; Figure 3 is a section; and some of the parts are
shown detached from the machine, in order that their construction and mode
of working may be more readily traced. A, A, A, represent the frame of tho
machine. The power employed is applied by an endless strap or band to the.
drum B; on the axle of this drum B is the crank C; from this crank C, by
means of a connecting rod C', motion is communicated to the lever C², moving
on an axis at C³.
From this lever C motion is communicated by a connecting rod to the
sliding bolt or bar E. This bar moves in guides at the outside of the framing
to keep it steady, and extends upwards as is shown. The arm F is fastened to
the top of the bar E at right angles, and from that descends the rod G. The
axle of the drum B is so bent as to perform the offices of three other cranks,
the centre of one of which does not correspond with the centres of the
other two.
The two cranks with corresponding centres are marked H, H, in the
Drawings. In the operation of the machine the centres of the cranks H, H,
precede the centre of the other crank or bend. The cranks formed by the
bends H, H, convey motion by means of connecting rods to the horizontal
levers I, I. These levers are connected in front by the bar K, and they
extend back to the back part of the machine, where they turn upon a fulcrum or
axis. The connecting rod L is attached to the bar K, the other end is con-
nected to the arm M of the cutter N.
The operation of
cutting jaw, still
The cutter N moves on an axis carried by the bed piece P. This bed-piece
is in a horizontal position. In the front edge of it is a cutting knife, standing
in a perpendicular position parallel with the cutting knife in the cutting-jaw,
and its edge is in front. The cutting knife in the cutting jaw is represented
by Q, and is on the inner or back edge of the cutting jaw.
these knives is similar to that of a pair of shears. On the
further from the cutting knife in the bed-piece than the cutting knife in the
cutting jaw, is a moveable guage standing perpendicularly, and held in its
place by screws passing through slots in the adjusting plate or guage. The
design of the guage is to regulate the width of the piece of metal to be cut
from the plate. Under where the cutting knives meet is the upper end of the
This tube extends downwards in a perpendicular direction to
mentioned.
square tube R.
the rollers hereafter

page_text: This tube is sometimes made of one piece of metal, but generally of four.
The piece of metal cut off for the nail, spike, or bolt, is forced down this tube
by the forcing slide G, and when at its lower extremity the upper end of the
metal is held by the end of the tube, the two sides of the lower end of the tube
being capable of springing, the other two sides of the tube being removed at
their lower ends. Proceeding from each of the horizontal levers I, I, is a
spring connecting rod S, which connecting rods are connected to the levers
I, I, and to the lower ends of the holding levers T, T; these springs also tend
to keep the lower ends of the holding levers apart from each other; the
holding levers stand in a vertical position. To keep the holding levers in
their proper position, the upper end of each passes through a slot in the clasp
or cap U. Through this cap, near the outer edge of each of these levers, are
two bolts, one of which is the fulcrum of each lever, allowing their lower ends
to move to and from each other. Just below this clasp or cap there are set
screws, each passing horizontally through one of the holding levers to prevent
their closing together. In the edges of these levers below the lower end of the
tube R, are inserted heading dies, to give the requisite form to the under
part of the head of the nail, bolt, or spike to be made, and just above the
heading dies there are other dies inserted, in order to hold the piece of metal
when being forged. At a little distance below the heading dies the holding
levers pass through another clasp or cap V, each lever passing through a slot
in the clasp or cap longer than the width of the lever at that place, in which
slots they are moved towards each other by means of the toggle joints k.
The clasp or cap V moves on angular guides, in the same manner as the
clasp or cap U. The form of the connection between these levers and the
clasp U and V, the position of the heading and the shank holding dies, and
the toggle joint, may be seen in the separate as well as other Figures, under
the tube R, the heating punch or die W is inserted in the clasp or cap V.
This punch is a straight piece of metal, and moving up and down with a
clasp or cap V. From the middle crank 6 on the axle of the drum B, by a
connecting rod, motion is communicated to the horizontal lever c, which plays
between the horizontal levers I, I, on the same fulcrum. The motion of this
lever c, by a connecting rod d, is transmitted to the clasp or cap V, the upper
end of the rod d being attached to the cap V. The motion of this lever upon
the clasp or cap V operates upon the toggle joints of the holding levers.
There is an axle e in front of the holding levers, having an arm or finger f
moving thereon, so bent that its outer end may be brought against the side of
the head of the nail, and knock it out of the die, the arm or finger f being at

page_text: all times pressed outwards by a spring coiled around the axle, and attached to
the axle, the other end of the spring pressing against the arm or finger f; and
there is another arm f¹ attached to the socket of the arm f, which projects in
such a position as to stand under the cap V, and be operated on by the descent
of the clasp. On the cap U are applied two plates U¹, having slots therein,
which act as guides to the roller levers U, and according to the direc
tion or curves of the sides of these guides, so will be the shape of the point
and stem or shank of the nail, spike, or bolt. These plates U₁ are placed
between the roller levers U³, which move with their axes at their lower ends;
and as cach lever is made of two plates, and connected together by a stud or
pin, on which there is a truck or roller, the plates U₁ are placed between
the plates of the levers, move in the slots of the plates U¹, and cause the
rollers to come together more quickly or slowly, according as the chisel point
of the nail is desired to be made more or less obtuse, the slots in the plates
U¹ being cut or formed accordingly. Each pair of the levers carries a cylin-
drical roller U³, which rollers are called the forging rollers, and they move
with their axis, which are carried by the levers U³; and the portion of metal
being held between the holding dies of the holding levers, the rollers being of
the width between the holding dies, as the metal is progressively drawn
between the rollers, and as the rollers are caused to approach each other, they
will flatten out the point into what is called a chisel point, and in the descent
of the holders they will draw the forged or pointed shaft or shank of the nail
between the two fingers U, which move on axes Us, and are constantly borne
towards each other by springs around the axis, on which the cranked fingers
U move, and these fingers will hold the nail whilst the holding levers go up to
take another portion to be forged, and when the holding levers again come toge-
ther the holding dies of the heading process, which are on the holding levers, will
take the nail from between the fingers, and hold it during the heading process:
When working with this machine, plates of iron or other metal properly
heated, of the width proper for making the nail, is fed into the machine by the
workınan holding it by a pair of tongs, or there may be a pair of feeding
rollers applied, between which the heated plate may be drawn through into
the machine; motion being given to the machine, the levers I, I, the bar K,
the connecting rod L, and the arm M, by means of the cranks II, II, on the
axle B, are brought to their lowest point of depression, and the cutting jaw N
is brought against and through the metal held against the cutting knife in the
bed piece P. By this movement a piece of metal the width or thickness of
the nail to be made is cut from the end of the plate, and held in a perpendi-

page_text: cular position. The same motion of the axle B which has thus. cut the
metal has also so far turned the crank C as to force upward the connecting
rod D, the bar E in its guide, the arm F, and the forcing slide G to their
highest point of elevation, so that the bottom of the forcing slide G is above
the upper end of the piece of metal of which the nail is to be made. As the
drum 13 continues to turn, the forcing slide G is forced down the tube R,
carrying down with it the metal from which the nail is to be made. The
horizontal levers I, I, and with them the springs S, S, and the holding levers
T, T, are raised to their highest point of elevation, so that the metal of which
the nail is to be made is between their edges held by the lower end of the
tube R. As the drum B continues to turn the middle bend in, its axle or
crank forces upwards the horizontal lever C, the rod d, and gives a further
upward motion to the clasp or cap V. This upwards motion of the clasp or
cap V forces the holding levers together, by means of toggle joints k, against
the edges of the nail, and particularly that part of the levers in which the
uppermost dies are applied. By the continued motion of the drum B the
holding levers T, T, are again raised by the same means as before. In this
upward motion they are again opened, and seize the nail when they descend,
the lower end of it being now opposite the heating die. As the clasp or cap
V is again raised by the same means as before, the holding levers are again
forced together by the toggle joints k, and in the descent of the parts the
proper form is given to the head of the nail by the header, and to the point
thereof by the forging rollers. Besides the operations last described, the same
motion of the drum B has again also opened the cutting jaw, forced down
the forcing slide, and with it another piece of metal, of which another nail is
to be made, through the tube, between the holding levers, by which it is
seized.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I lay no
claim to any of the parts separately, and variations may be made in some of
the parts without departing from the Invention; but what I claim as the
Invention secured by the present Letters Patent is, first, the mode of making
nails, spikes, and bolts by forging or shaping, by pressing rolling surfaces,
portions of heated metal, which are cut in the same machine from a plate,
and wherein the cut will be in a direction lengthwise of the nail, as above
described.
And, secondly, I claim the mode of employing plain rollers, which are
caused to approach each other as a portion of metal cut in a direction length-

page_text: Inrolled the Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty.