IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS OF THE KIND CALLED FURNITURE NAILS OR UPHOLSTERER'S NAILS
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
I WILLIAM PITT of Kenilworth in the County of Warwick Gentleman do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF NAILS OF THE KIND CALLED FURNITURE NAILS OR
UPHOLSTERER'S NAILS" to be as follows:-
Furniture or upholsterer's nails are ordinarily made of a body or stem of iron
and a head of brass. The brass head is made from a circular disc of brass cut from
sheet brass and attached to the body or stem by pressure. If the head is to be of
a mushroom shape or a shape other than flat the flat head is shaped by being
operated upon by a second pair of tools.
In making furniture nails or upholsterer's nails according to my Invention I
take nail bodies or stems of the ordinary kind but instead of making the heads
from discs cut from sheet brass I make the said heads as follows:-
I take brass wire of a cylindrical figure and of a diameter equal to that of the
flat bead to be made. I cut discs from the said wire by a circular cutter or
otherwise and by dies and pressure I compress the metal of the disc upon the top
of the stem so as to affix it thereto. When the head of the nail is to be of,
a mushroom shape or where the head is to be ornamented I give to one or.
both of the dies by which the compression of the head on the top of the stem is
effected the shape or shapes necessary to give the head the required shape or to
impress upon it the required ornament instead of shaping or ornamenting the head
by a second process and by use a second pair of dies.

page_text: THE
OR
I WILLIAM PITT of Kenilworth in the County of Warwick Gentleman do
IN
"IMPROVEMENTS
hereby declare the nature of my Invention for
MANUFACTURE OF NAILS OF THE KIND CALLED FURNITURE NAILS
UPHOLSTERERS' NAILS" and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Furniture or upholsterers' nails are ordinarily made of a body or stem of iron
and a head of brass. The brass head is made from a circular disc of brass cut from
sheet brass and attached to the body or stem by pressure. If the head is to be of
a mushroom shape or a shape other than flat, the flat head is shaped by being
operated upon by a second pair of tools.
In making furniture nails or upholsterers' nails according to my Invention I
take nail bodies or stems of the ordinary kind but instead of making the heads
from discs cut from sheet brass I make the said heads as follows:-
I take brass wire of a cylindrical figure and of a diameter equal to that of the
flat head to be made and I cut discs or pieces from the said wire by a circular
cutter or otherwise and by dies and pressure I compress the metal of the disc upon
the top of the stem so as to affix it thereto. When the head of the nail is to be of
a mushroom shape or where the head is to be ornamented I give to one or both of
the dies by which the compression of the head on the top of the stem is effected the
shape or shapes necessary to give the head the required shape or to impress upon it
the required ornament instead of shaping or ornamenting the head by a second
process and by the use of a second pair of dies.
I will describe and represent the carrying into effect of my Invention when
furniture or upholsterers' nails having heads of a mushroom shape are to be
manufactured.
In the accompanying Drawing the cylindrical wire and the blanks and nails in
their different stages of manufacture are represented drawn to a large scale.
In carrying my Invention into effect I take brass wire of a cylindrical figure as
represented in Figure 1 and by means of a circular cutter or otherwise I cut trans-
versely from the wire Figure 1 at the lines b, b a series of discs or short cylindrical
pieces a, a, one of which is represented separately in Figure 2. From these discs
or short pieces a the mushroom heads of the nails are made as herein after
explained. Before each disc or short piece a is cut from the wire Figure 1 a
cylindrical hole is punched or compressed in the axis of the said wire by means of
a punch or horizontal compressing tool.
Figure 3 represents in section and end elevation the cupped disc or short piece
of wire after it has been so punched and cut off from the cylindrical, wire Figure 1.
The hole in the disc or piece passes about half way through it.
Figure 4 represents the cupped blank a from which the head of the nail is to be
made and the stem c of the nail to which the said head is to be affixed. The said
stem c has a small head d upon it as usual. The stem c being held in the lower die
of a pair of dies the cupped blank a is placed upon the top of the stem c as repre-
sented in Figure 5 and the upper die of the pair of dies is made to descend upon
the said blank. The metal of the blank a is by the operation of the pair of dies
compressed around the small head d of the stem c and the said metal fashioned or
spread out into a mushroom shaped head. The mushroom shaped head of the nail
is thereby formed and affixed to the stem c as represented in elevation in Figure 6
and section and plan of underside in Figure 7 the mushroom head being marked e.

page_text: The manner in which the metal of the cupped blank is compressed around the
small head d of the stem c is seen in the section Figure 7. When the head of the
nail is to be ornamented the compressing or shaping die or dies has or have
the shape or shapes necessary to give the head the desired shape and to impress
upon it the required ornament.
Although the cupping of the disc or short cylinder facilitates the closing of the
said disc upon the stem yet discs or short cylinders without being cupped may be
used, that is, short solid cylinders may be employed instead of cupped cylinders.
When furniture or upholsterers' nails having flat heads are to be made, I take
cylindrical wire having a diameter equal or nearly equal to that of the heads to be
made and I cut from it thin discs but do not cup them. These thin discs are
compressed upon the top of the stem so as to affix them thereto and shaped and if
required ornamented by the operation of a pair of dies.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
Making the heads of furniture or upholsterers' nails from cupped or uncupped
discs or short pieces cut from cylindrical wire and compressing the said discs or
pieces upon the tops of the stems of the nails by means of a pair of dies so as to
affix them thereto and at the same time give the required shape to and if required
ornament the heads substantially as herein before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing.
Dated this Twenty-second der of Aust 1944