IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isaac Briggs, of Middleboro, Massachusetts, United
States of America, but at present residing at Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Machinist, and John William Booth, of Birmingham aforesaid,
Mechanical Engineer, for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Isaac Briggs and John
William Booth at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st
March 1882.
ISAAC BRIGGS of Middleboro, Massachusetts United States of America, but at
present residing at Birmingham in the County of Warwick Machinist and JOHN
"IMPROVEMENTS
WILLIAM BOOTH of Birmingham aforesaid Mechanical Engineer.
IN MACHINES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE SHOE NAILS,"
Our invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in the cutting
and shaping tools of machines for the manufacture of horse shoe nails and in
the appliances connected with the said cutting and shaping tools; by which
improvements the manufacture of horse shoe nails is simplified and the nails
produced are very true and uniform in shape.
In order to form the point of the nail we make inclines on one side of the
cutting tools. The moveable cutter descends twice in the formation of each nail.
The first descent forms one side of the point; the nail plate is then inclined so as
to make an angle with its first position equal to the angle of the point and
advanced against a gauge carried by the moveable cutter and by the descent of
the said cutter a pointed nail is cut from the nail plate.
The gauge described is connected to the moveable cutter by a spring and after
the nail has been cut off it is carried down by the moveable cutter, the nail in its
descent being pressed by the spring gauge against the vertical face of the fixed
cutter. Underneath the fixed cutter is a fixed presser by which in conjunction
with the moveable presser hereinafter referred to the sides of the nail are shaped.
CD 071

page_text: The said fixed presser has a projecting foot to which the nail is carried down. In
its descent the point end of the nail comes against an incline, which causes the nail
to rest on the fixed presser foot in a slightly oblique position, the head of the nail
no longer bearing against the vertical face of the fixed presser. The end of the
moveable cutter comes upon the head of the nail and compresses it into the required
shape. As the moveable cutter ascends a moveable presser advances horizontally
and between it and the fixed presser the sides of the nail are pressed and flattened.
The finished nail is projected from the machine by means of a spring and cam. In
the ascending motion of the cutter the spring gauge is pressed back in order to
prevent it disturbing the nail on the foot of the presser, which is about to be
pressed and shaped on its sides. The pressing back of the spring gauge is effected
by a lever. When the moveable cutter has completed its ascending motion, the
spring gauge is again allowed to press against the back of the said cutter so that
on its descent the cut off nail may be carried down to the presser foot as herein-
before explained.
The motions of the tools and appliances described are taken from the principal
shaft by means of mechanical agents which we do not consider it necessary here to
describe.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Isaac Briggs and John William Booth in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd August 1882.
ISAAC BRIGGS of Middlebro, Massachusetts, United States of America, but at
present residing at Birmingham in the County of Warwick Machinist, and
JOHN WILLIAM BOOTH of Birmingham aforesaid Mechanical Engineer. "IMPROVE-
"
MENTS IN MACHINES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE SHOE NAILS."
Our invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in the cutting
and shaping tools of machines for the manufacture of horse shoe nails and in the
appliances connected with the said cutting and shaping tools; by which improve-
ments the manufacture of horse shoe nails is simplified and the nails produced are
very true and uniform in shape.
In order to form the point of the nail we make inclines on one side of the
cutting tools.
The moveable cutter descends twice in the formation of each nail. The first
descent forms one side of the point, the nail plate is then inclined so as to make an
angle with its first position equal to the angle of the point and advanced against a
gauge carried by the moveable cutter and by the descent of the said cutter a
pointed nail is cut from the nail plate. The gauge described is connected to the
moveable cutter by a spring and after the nail has been cut off it is carried down
by the moveable cutter, the nail in its descent being pressed by the spring gauge
against the vertical face of the fixed cutter. Underneath the said fixed cutter is a
fixed presser or heading tool, the said fixed presser having a projecting foot to which
the nail is carried down. In its descent the nail is turned aside which causes it to
rest on the fixed presser foot in a slightly oblique position, the head of the nail no
longer bearing against the vertical face of the fixed presser. The end of the
moveable cutter comes upon the head of the nail and compresses it into the
required shape. The finished nail is projected from the machine by means of a
spring and cam.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings
the manner in which our invention is to be performed.
Figures 1, 2 and 3 represent in plan a portion of a machine for the manufacture
of horse shoe nails, the cutting and shaping tools of the said machine and appliances
connected therewith, being constructed according to our invention. In Figure 1
the nail plate and the tongs or feeding rod are omitted. In Figure 2 the nail plate
from which the nails are to be cut is represented in position for the cutting off of a
nail blank from it and in Figure 3 the nail plate is represented in the oblique or
inclined position which it occupies for the cutting off of the projecting piece of the
point end of the nail plate left by the cutting off of the last nail blank.
Figure 4 represents a plan of the fixed cutting tool with the moveable cutter in
horizontal section; Figure 5 is a vertical cross section of the tool box and tools
with the moveable cutter in elevation and Figure 6 is a horizontal section of the
tools. The horizontal section Figure 6 is taken on the line a, a Figure 5, and the
vertical section Figure 5 is taken on the line b, b Figure 6; Figure 7 represents a
vertical longitudinal section of the fixed cutting tool and fixed presser or heading
tool, with the moveable cutting tool in its lowest position and Figure 8 is an end
elevation of the fixed cutting and fixed presser or heading tools and nail plate, the
section Figure 7 being taken on the line c, c Figure 8; Figure 9 represents in cross
section and Figure 10 in plan the nail plate from which the nails are to be cut.
This nail plate is from its form especially suitable to be used with the tools and

page_text: appliances constituting our invention. The said nail plate d has along one edge a
rib or projection from which the head of the horse shoe nail is made. The
ribbed nail plate is fed into the machine with its ribbed face downwards; Figure 11
represents a plan of the plain or unribbed face of the nail plate after a nail has
been cut from its end and Figure 12 represents a plan of the plain or unribbed face
of the nail plate after the projecting piece at the point end of the plate has been
cut off so as to prepare the plate for the next cut.
The enlarged views of the tools and nail plate Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 10, 11, and
12 are drawn of the full size.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of
the Drawings.
e is the fixed cutting tool secured with the other fixed tools in the cutter box f
carried by the machine and is the moveable cutting tool which descends twice in
the formation of each nail and is worked in any convenient way by the machine.
By means of the said fixed and moveable cutting tools e, g, a nail blank is cut from
the end of the nail plate d, d and the point of the nail formed, the said cutting
tools also fashioning the end of the nail plate for the formation of the point of the
next nail. The point of the nail is formed and the end of the nail plate prepared
or fashioned for the next cut by means of inclines on one side of the cutting
tools e, g. These inclined parts are marked e³, g* and are best seen in the plan
Figure 4; h is the fixed presser or heading tool having a presser foot h₁; i is a
side tool against which the head end of the nail is supported during the heading
operation. The shape of the fixed presser or heading tool on which the blank is
supported is best seen in Figures 6 and 7; k is the gauge carried by the moveable
cutter g, against which gauge the nail plate d is advanced. The said gauge k is
connected to the moveable cutter g by a spring and after the pointed nail blank has
been cut off, it is pressed by the said spring gauge against the vertical face of the
fixed cutter e. This spring gauge also gives the oblique position to the nail blank
on the presser foot of the fixed heading tool (see Figure 6) prior to the heading.
operation. The nail plate d is fed in an inclined direction (see Figure 7) to the
cutting tool e by the tongs or feed rod 7 (see Figures 2 and 3) the intermittent
feed being effected by mechanism of the ordinary kind. The tongs rod / is
supported by the fork m on the cranked lever n turning on the centre n³. This
cranked lever n is made to take the position represented in Figure 3 by the action
of a cam or eccentric on the shaft of the machine operating upon the connecting
rod p. By this motion of the cranked lever n the nail plate d is made to take the
inclined position Figure 3 for the purpose hereinafter explained.
The upper face of the fixed cutting tool e has a recess e³ made in it corresponding
in figure to the rib d³ on one edge of the nail plate d. Into this recess e³, which
acts as a guide, the rib ď of the nail plate d passes when the said nail plate is fed
to the cutter. The said recess e³ is best seen in Figure 1 and the rib d² of the nail
plate d is represented engaged in the said recess in Figure 7.
We will now describe the manufacture of a horse shoe nail by the use of the
tools and appliances constituting our invention.
The nail plate d having the form at its end represented in Figure 12 being fed
to the cutter e in the position represented in Figure 2 and against the spring
gauge k, the moveable cutter g descends and cuts from the end of the plate, a
pointed nail blank having the figure indicated by the dotted lines in the said
Figure 12, the incline at the end of the nail plate d forming one side of the point,
the other side of the point being formed by the inclined parts es, g³ of the
cutters e, g.
The end of the nail plate after a nail blank has been cut from it has the form
represented in Figure 11 and before a second nail can be cut from its end it is
necessary to remove the projecting part marked d³ Figure 11. This is effected by
giving the nail plate & the inclination with respect to the cutter e represented in
Figure 3 so as to cause the said projecting part d³ to cross the inclined edge of the
fixed cutter e the said inclining of the nail plate being produced at the proper time

page_text: through the action of the cranked lever n carrying the tongs rod 7 as before.
explained.
When the nail plate d has been moved into the inclined position Figure 3, the
moveable cutter g descends a second time and cuts the projecting piece d³ from its
end thereby giving the end of the nail plate the form represented in Figure 11.
The nail plate d now makes its return motion to the position represented in
Figure 2 and is ready again to be fed to the cutter for the formation of another
nail blank. Thus the moveable cutter g descends twice in the formation of each
nail, the first descent of the said cutter cutting a pointed nail from the end of the
nail plate and the second descent of the cutter preparing the end of the nail plate
for the cutting from it of a second nail and so on. The nail blank cut off the nail
plated by the first descent of the cutter g is carried down by the said cutter, the
said nail in its descent being pressed against the vertical face of the fixed cutter e
by the spring gauge k. The nail blank, marked q in Figure 6, is carried down to
and made to rest on the foot * of the fixed presser or heading tool h and just before
the nail has reached the said foot h it is made to take the slightly oblique position
represented in Figure 6 by the action of the spring gauge k pressing on the point end
of the nail, the nail being permitted to take the oblique position represented after it
leaves the cutting edge of the fixed tool e by the undercut vertical wall or face of
the said tool e. By an examination of Figure 6 it will be seen that the head part
of the nail no longer bears against the vertical face of the presser or heading
tool h, h³ there being sufficient space between the nail and the said vertical face
for the expansion of the metal for the formation of the head. The nail having
taken the position represented in Figure 6, the part g³ of the moveable cutter g,
which now acts as the heading tool, comes upon the head of the nail and compresses
it into the required shape. By the action of the moveable and fixed pressers or
heading tools upon the metal at the underside of the head end of the nail (the said
metal being originally cut from the rib part d' of the nail plate d) the said metal
is displaced from the lower to the upper face of the nail and the head fashioned,
one side of the head being flat situated on a level with the face of the nail and the
other side or head proper inclining from the face of the nail in the manner
represented in the finished nail shown in plan, side elevation and longitudinal
section in Figure 13. After the nail has been headed the moveable cutter g rises
and with it the spring gauge k, when the finished nail may be projected from the
foot h of the fixed presser h by means of a spring and cam or by a knocker off or
by other equivalent means.
The motions of the moveable tool and appliances described and represented are
taken from the principal shaft of the machine by means of mechanical agents which
constitute no part of our invention and we therefore do not think it necessary to
describe or represent the same.
"
Having now described the nature of our invention and the manner in which the
same is to be performed we wish it to be understood that We claim as our
invention of "Improvements in machines for the manufacture of horse shoe nails; '
First The construction of the cutting tools marked e, g for cutting from the
nail plate d, d (or from a similar nail plate) a pointed nail blank and for preparing
the point end of the nail plate for the cutting of the next nail blank from it, the
moveable cutter or tool descending twice in the formation of each nail, the first
descent cutting a pointed nail blank from the plate and the second descent preparing
the point end of the nail plate for the next cut substantially as herein before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly The combination with the machine of the appliances hereinbefore
described and represented in Figures 1. 2 and 3 of the accompanying Drawings for
inclining at the proper time, the nail plate upon the fixed cutter for the cutting
from its point end of the projecting piece left by the formation of the last nail cut
from it substantially as described and illustrated.
Thirdly The construction of the parts or tools g³, h, h² and i for forming the

page_text: head on the nail blank which has been carried down to and made to rest in an
oblique position upon the foot part h of the fixed presser or heading tool h
Lastly Making the nail blank take a slightly oblique position on the foot part
of the presser for the formation of the head by means of the spring gauge k acting
on the pointed end of the nail in conjunction with the undercut vertical wall or
face of the fixed cutting tool e substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof I the said Isaac Briggs have hereunto set my hand and
seal this--Fourteenth-day of August in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty-two
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT
37 Temple Street
Birmingham.
ISAAC BRIGGS. (L.S.)