IMPROVEMENTS IN CUT NAILS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Rogers, of the Firm of Henry Rogers,
Sons, and Company, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford,
Merchants, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CUT NAILS.”—A
communication from abroad by Henry Mullholland, of Montreal,
Canada.
Sealed the 23rd January 1874, and dated the 8th September 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Rogers at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th September 1878.
I, HENRY ROGERS, of the Firm of Henry Rogers, Sons, and Company,
of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, Merchants, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CUT
NAILS," to be as follows:-
"
The said Invention consists in making cut nails with points and heads
of the kinds herein-after described, whereby the nail on being driven
enters the wood without rupture of the fibre of the wood, and the head,
when driven flush with the surface of the wood lies so tightly embedded
in the wood as to prevent, water entering when the wood is exposed to
the weather.
.:

page_text: The nail on two of its opposite sides is flat or plain, the sides being
parallel, the said nail having the thickness of the strip of metal from
which it is cut. On its other sides the body of the nail tapers slightly
from the head towards the point. The point is made of two planes
inclined to cach other at a small angle, and making a chisel point at tho i
I end of the nail.
The head is formed by an expansion at the head end of the nail, the
sides of said head making the same angle with the body of the nail as
the sides of the chisel point.
In cutting the said nails from sheet iron or other sheet metal the heads
and points are cut alternately from the same edge of the strip, that is,
the head of one nail being cut from either of the edges of the strip the
point of the next nail is cut from the same edge, the head of the third,
the point of the fourth, and so on. The same alternation of heads and
points obtains at each edge of the strip. The chisel point of each nail is
consequently cut from between the heads of the nails on either side of it,
and similarly the head of each nail is cut between the points of the nails
on either side of it, and the angles of the sides of the heads and points
being the same the metal is wholly cut up without wasto into the said
nails.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent'
filed by the said Henry Rogers in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 27th February 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ROGERS, of the Firm of Henry Rogers, Sons, and Company, of Wolver-
hampton, in the County of Stafford, Merchants, send greeting.
WHEREAS Пcr most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing dato the Eighth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in
the thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Rogers, Her special
license that I, the said Henry Rogers, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Rogers, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with-
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during

page_text: the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
“IMPROVEMENTS IN CUT NAILS," a communication to me from abroad by
Henry. Mullholland, of Montreal, Canada, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Henry Rogers, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Rogers, do hereby declare
'the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :—
The said Invention consists in making cut nails with points and heads
of the kinds herein-after described, whereby the nail on being driven
enters the wood without rupture of the fibre of the wood, and the head
when driven flush with the surface of the wood lies so tightly embedded
in the wood as to prevent water entering the wood when the wood is
exposed to the weather.
The nail on two of its opposite sides is flat or plain, the sides being
parallel, the said nail having the thickness of the strip of metal from
which it is cut. On its other sides the body of the nail tapers slightly
from the head towards the point. The point is made of two planes
inclined to each other at a small angle, and making a chisel point at the
end of the nail.
The head is formed by an expansion at the head end of the nail, the
sides of the said head making the same angle with the body of the nail
as the sides of the chisel point.
In cutting the said nails from sheet iron or other sheet metal the heads
and points are cut alternately from the same edge of the strip, that is,
the head of one nail being cut from either of the edges of the strip, the
'point of the next nail is cut from the same edge, the head of the third,
the point of the fourth, and so on. The same alternation of heads and
points obtains at each edge of the strip. The chisel point of each nail is
consequently cut from between the heads of the nails on either side of

page_text: it, and similarly the head of each nail is cut between the points of the
nails on either side of it, and the angles of the sides of the heads and
points being the same the metal is wholly cut up without waste into the
said nails.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents a cut nail made ||
'according to this Invention. Tho chisel point of the nail is marked a,
and the expanded head is marked b, the sides of the said head 6 making
the same angle with the body c of the nail as the sides of the chisel
point a. The parallelism of two opposite sides of the body c of the nail
and the tapering of the other sides of the said body c are seen in the 1
.Drawing.
"The manner in which nails of the kind represented in Figure 1 are
cut from the nail strip is illustrated by the dotted lines in Figure 2,
where it will be seen that the heads and points a are alternately cut
from the same edge of the strip d, the chisel point a of cach nail being
cut from between the heads b, b, on either side of it, and the head 6 of
each nail being cut from between the points a, a, on either side of it.
As the sides of the heads and points a have the same inclination the
nail strip d is wholly cut up into nails without waste, with the exception
of the first and last pieces cut, which are waste, as in cutting ordinary
nails.
In cutting the nails from the nail strip d, Figure 2, the end of the
said strip d is fed between a pair of cutting tools, the acting parts of
which have the figure of the outline of one side or half of each nail, and
after each cut the strip is turned over as in cutting ordinary nails.
2
In order that the cutting of nails made according to this Invention
may be better understood I havo represented in Figures 3 and 4 a pair
of cutters or cutting tools and their adjuncts suited for that purpose;
but I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to any particular
way of cutting the improved cut nails, nor to the use of any particular a
machine.
Figure 3 represents a front elevation of part of a nail cutting machine,
showing the holder and punch or moveable cutter, and lower die or
cutter; and Figure 4 represents a plan of the punch or moveable cutter,
and part of the lower die. or cutter. A is the holder, similar in size and 3
configuration to those ordinarily used in nail cutting machines, and as
usual actuated by the lever B, and working in the guides C.

page_text: In the holder A is secured by screws D or otherwise the punch or
moveable cutter E, which is of the configuration shown more particularly
in Figure 4, the said punch or cutter E having an inclined side e and
bevels e¹ and e³ for forming the side and head and point of the nail. F is
the die or fixed cutter corresponding in configuration to the moveable
cutter E, and held firmly in the bed G by means of screws H.
The operation of cutting the nails is that of the ordinary nail cutting
machine, the nail plate from which the nails are to be cut being intro-
duced in the usual manner by the operator into the machine. A stroke
from the punch or moveable cutter E cuts from the nail plate one side
of a nail of the kind represented in Figure 1, and the nail plate being
turned over either by hand or by the ordinary mechanism employed for
that purpose the next stroke of the punch or cutter E cuts the other side
of the nail, and this operation is repeated until the whole of the nail
plate is cut up.
From the foregoing description it will be seen that any nail cutting
machine of the ordinary type may be easily and inexpensively adapted to
cut nails of the kind described and illustrated.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
claim as the said Invention, the improvements in cut nails herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say,
forming out nails with chisel points and expanded heads, the sides of the
heads making the same angle with the body of the nail as the sides of
the chisel points, whereby the nail plate or strip is wholly cut up without
waste, substantially as and for the purposes described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Rogers, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
EDWARD V. HORTON,
Wolverhampton.
HENRY ROGERS. (L.S.)