IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS AND RIVETS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Darwen, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Merchant, and John Haddon, of Birmingham aforesaid,
Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF NAILS AND RIVETS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Darwen and
John Haddon at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 11th December 1863.
We, EDMUND DARWEN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Mer-
chant, and JOHN HADDON, of Birmingham aforesaid, Machinist, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS AND RIVETS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists, firstly, of the improvements herein-after described
in machinery for the manufacture of nails, which improvements are especially
applicable to machinery for the manufacture of copper nails, but are also.
applicable to machinery for the manufacture of nails from iron and other
metals.
We arrange the principal parts of the machine in the following
manner:-The feeder by which the wire or rod is fed into the machine is of
the ordinary kind. The wire, after leaving the feeder, passes along the axis of
a square slide, which is in a line with the heading punch. The side dies by
which the point of the nail is formed and in which the nail is headed, are.

page_text: immediately in front of the end of the square slide, and the moveable side
die by which the cutting off of the wire is effected works against the end of
the said square slide. The moveable side die cuts off the wire against the
edge of the hole in the square slide through which the wire passes.
The face
of the square slide is not flat, but has a vertical rib or projection extending
from top to bottom on that side of the hole nearest the fixed die. This rib
has an inclined face towards the movéable side die. The said square slide is
kept to its bearing by a strong spring, but is capable of yielding when the side
dies close by the moveable side die acting on the inclined face of the vertical
rib on the face of the said square slide. By this arrangement the cutting
edge of the moveable side die is less liable to injury than when it acts against
a flat surface. By the action of the inclined face of the said rib the wire is
pressed slightly forward, so as to be beyond the action of the heel of the die,
and injury to the die is thereby prevented. A holder, consisting of a vertical
lever, is capable of withdrawing into and advancing from a recess in the fixed
side die. As soon as the wire is fed between the dies, and before it is cut off,
the holder advances towards the moveable side die and holds the wire against
the said die. The said die advances and cuts off the wire, which is held by
the holder and carried against the fixed die. The pointing is effected by the
closing of the side dies, and the heading by means of a heading punch of the
ordinary kind. After the retiring of the heading punch the moveable side
die retires; the holder advancing first pushes the nail from the fixed die, and
next presses and holds the wire that has been fed into the machine against
the moveable side die. The cutting off of the wire and the formation of
another nail proceeds in the manner already described.
Our Invention consists, secondly, of the improvements herein-after described
in machinery for the manufacture of rivets, either of copper or of iron. The
principal parts of the machinery are constructed and arranged in the following
manner: The cutting off die works in front of and against the fixed die
through a hole, in which the wire or rod from which the rivets are to be made
is fed. The said cutting off die is furnished with spring fingers, by which the
piece cut off. is held against the die and carried by the motion of the said die
in front of the die in which the cut off piece is headed; while held here by
the cutting off die and fingers, a punch, somewhat similar to an ordinary
heading punch, advances and forces the cut off piece into the heading die,
giving the said cut off piece partially the figure of the said die. The cutter
first retires and afterwards the punch. The die in which the partially formed
rivet is held slides from front of the last described punch, and brings the par-
tially formed rivet in front of the true heading punch, which, advancing, forms

page_text: the bead of the rivet. The heading punch retires and a bolt or rod pushes
the rivet from the die in which it was headed. The motions of the several
moving parts are communicated from a principal shaft by means of cams and
levers. The wire or rod from which the rivets are made is fed by a feeder of
the ordinary kind.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edmund Darwen and John Haddon in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 9th June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDMUND
DARWEN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Merchant, and JOHN
HADDON, of Birmingham aforesaid, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Edmund Darwen and John Haddon, Her special licence that we,
the said Edmund Darwen and John Haddon, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Edmund Darwen and John
Haddon, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
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
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS AND RIVETS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Edmund Darwen and John Haddon,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or
their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them,
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 we, the said Edmund Darwen and John Haddon,
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, that is to say:-
Our Invention consists, firstly, of the improvements herein-after described in
machinery for the manufacture of nails, which improvements are especially

page_text: applicable to machinery for the manufacture of copper nails, but are also
applicable to machinery for the manufacture of nails from iron and other
metals.
We arrange the principal parts of the machine in the following manner :-
The feeder by which the wire or rod is fed into the machine is of the ordinary
kind. The wire after leaving the feeder passes along the axis of a square
slide which is in a line with the beading punch. The side dies by which
the point of the nail is formed and in which the nail is headed are imme-
diately in front of the end of the square slide, and the moveable side die
by which the cutting off of the wire is effected works against the end of the
said square slide. The moveable side die cuts off the wire against the edge
of the hole in the square slide through which the wire passes. The face of
the square slide is not flat but has a vertical rib or projection extending from
top to bottom on that side of the hole nearest the fixed die. This rib has an
inclined. face towards the moveable side die. The said square slide.is kept
to its bearing by a strong spring, but is capable of yielding when the side dies
close by the moveable side die acting on the inclined face of the vertical rib on
the face of the said square slide. By this arrangement the cutting edge of
the moveable side die is less liable to injury than when it acts against a flat
surface. By the action of the inclined face of the said rib the wire is pressed
slightly forward, so as to be beyond the action of the heel of the die, and injury
to the die is thereby prevented. A holder consisting of a vertical lever is
capable of withdrawing into and advancing from a recess in the fixed side die.
As soon as the wire is fed between the dies and before it is cut off the holder
advances towards the moveable side die and holds the wire against the side
die. The said die advances and cuts off the wire which is held by the
holder and carried against the fixed die. The pointing is effected by the closing
of the side dies, and the heading by means of a heading punch of the ordinary
kind. After the retiring of the heading punch the moveable side die retires ;
the holder advancing first pushes the nail from the fixed die and next presses
and holds the wire that has been fed into the machine against the moveable
side die. The cutting off of the wire and the formation of another nail proceeds
in the manner already described.
Our Invention consists, secondly, of the improvements herein-after described
in machinery for the manufacture of rivets either of copper or of iron. The
principal parts of the machinery are constructed and arranged in the following
manner: The cutting off die works in front of and against the fixed die
through a hole in which the wire or rod from which the rivets are to be made
is fed. The said cutting off die is furnished with a spring finger by which the

page_text: piece cut off is held against the die and carried by the motion of the said die in
front of the die in which the cut off piece is headed. . While held here by the
cutting off die and finger, a punch, somewhat similar to an ordinary heading.
punch, advances and forces the cut off piece into the heading die, giving the.
said cut off piece partially the figure of the said die. The cutter first retires
and afterwards the punch. The die in which the partially formed rivet is
held slides from front of the last-described punch and brings the partially
formed rivet in front of the true heading punch, which, advancing, forms the
head of the rivet. The heading punch retires and a bolt or rod pushes.
the rivet from the die in which it was headed. The motions of the several:
moving parts are communicated from a principal shaft by means of cams and
levers. The wire or rod from which the rivets are made is fed by a feeder of
the ordinary kind.
Having explained the nature of our Invention, we will proceed to describe,.
with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which the same:
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan a portion of a nail machine constructed:
according to the first part of our Invention, and Figures 2, 3, and 4 represent
portions of the same. Figures 1 and 4 are drawn to one quarter scale, and
Figures 2 and 3 are drawn of the full size. In Figure 1 we have only.
represented such portions of the machine as are necessary to make our
Invention intelligible, the parts omitted in the said Figure 1 differing in;
no respect from those commonly employed in nail machines.
The wire a, from which the nails are to be made, having been fed into the
machine by a feeder of the ordinary kind, passes along a square or angular
hole in the slide 6, 62, shown separately in Figures 2 and 3. The said slide-
is made of two parts, marked b and 6* respectively, and the hole marked c in
Figure 2 is formed by the opposition of angular grooves in the two parts b, b².
The said hole c is parallel with the axis of the slide 6, 6. The slide b, 6,
has motion in the bed e, being pressed in the direction of the heading punch
by the spring f. The heading punch d, which is of the ordinary kind and
worked in the ordinary manner, is nearly in a line with the slide b, b³. The
side dies by which the point of the nail is produced, and in which the nail is.
held while being headed, are marked g, h, the die g being fixed and the die h
moveable. The moveable die h works against the end of the slide b, b², and
cuts off the wire against the edge of the hole c, through which the wire a
passes. The working face of the slide b, b, has on the part b a rib or
projection i, that side of the rib i turned towards the hole in the slide being,
inclined or curved, as will be understood by an examination of Figure 1. In

page_text: the fixed die g is the holder k, which works in a recess in the said die g. The
said holder consists of a lever, shown separately in Figure 4, the head only
of the said lever being seen at k in Figure 1. The said lever turns on an
axis 1, and its upper end is forced out of the die g by the coiled spring m.
As the moveable die h is made to advance towards the fixed die g, it cuts off
that part of the wire a situated between itself and the fixed die g; this
portion of the wire is marked a² in Figure 1, the piece of wire as being held
between the face of the moveable die h and the holder k. After the wire is
cut off, the moveable die h continuing to advance, the wire a' is brought
against the fixed die g, and the pointing of the said piece of wire is effected
in the ordinary way by the closing of the dies g and h upon the said wire. As
the moveable die h advances after cutting off the piece of wire a², it carries
the said piece of wire against the fixed die g, but as the said piece of wire
approaches the die g it is made to travel up the inclined rib i of the slide b, b²,
that is, the piece of wire slides forward in the direction of its length, so that
when the dies g and h close upon it, the point end of the wire a is beyond
the action of the heels of the said dies g, h, and injury to the dies is thereby
prevented. As the moveable die h in its motion presses upon the inclined
rib of the slide b, 62, the said slide is pressed back and the dies g and h close
upon one another. When the moveable die h retires, the slide b, b², resumes
the position represented in Figure 1 by the action of the spring f. While
the partially formed nail is held between the dies g and h, the heading
punch d advances and forms the head; the heading punch d retires, and
afterwards the moveable die h; the holder k pushes the nail from out the
die g, and the slide 6, 62 takes the position represented in Figure 1, and the
machine is ready to form another nail. During the feeding of the wire the
holder is forced back and held in the position represented in Figure 1 by
means of a lever, the end of which is marked n in Figure 4. The said lever
is operated upon by a cam on the driving shaft, and the end n raised so as to
press the holder k in a direction contrary to that in which the spring m
presses it.
Figure 5 represents in plan a machine for the manufacture of rivets
constructed according to the second part of our Invention, and Figure 6
represents a portion of the same separately. In the said Figure 5 portions of
the machine are omitted, but the said omitted parts differ in no essential
respect from like parts of ordinary rivet machines, and constitute no part of
our Invention. The wire o from which the rivets are to be made is fed by an
ordinary feeder through a fixed die p upon which the cutting off die 9 slides.
The said cutting off die q is fixed in a holder r and urged forward by the

page_text: is, the end of
levers, actuated by the cam t on the main shaft u. The return motion of
the cutting off die 9 is effected by a coiled spring. The said cutting off die q,
represented separately in Figure 6, is furnished with a spring finger which
bears against the end of the said die, and the wire fed into the machine is
held in the notch in the said die g by the said spring finger v. After the
piece of the wire o has been cut off by the advance of the die q it is held by
the said spring finger in the notch in the said die q, while. the said die
advances and brings the said piece of wire o opposite the punch 1. The
heading die w has a sliding motion, the advance motion being effected by the
lever a, acted upon by the cam y on the shaft u. The return motion of the
heading die wis effected by a coiled spring. The parts of the machine are
represented in Figure 5 in the positions which they respectively occupy
when a rivet has just been headed, but at the commencement of the formation
of a rivet the heading die w has alvanced so far that the hole in which the
beading is effected is in a line with the axis of the punch 1, that
the heading die w is in contact with the end of the fixed die p. The cut off
piece of wire of being carried by the cutting off die 7 and finger v in front of the
bole (the healing die w being in the advanced position last described)
the punch 1 advances and pushes the piece of wire o into the bole z of the
heading die w, giving the said cut off piece partially the figure of the said
die. The cutter q' retires, and afterwards the punch 1, the heading die w
also retires into the position represented in Figure 5, by which means the
piece of wire is brought opposite the heading punch 2.
The said heading
punch 2 advances and forms the bead of the rivet. The heading punch 2
retires, and the rivet is forced from the hole z by means of a rod 3 indicated
in dotted lines. This rod 3 is urged forward by means of a lever 4 acting
upon the slide 5. The said lever 4 is acted upon by the cam 7, through the
lever 8, connecting rod 10, and lever 11. We have not thought it necessary
to minutely describe or represent the parts by which the rivet is projected
from the heading die w, as the said parts differ in no essential respect from.
mechanical combinations commonly used in machinery for operating upon
metals and ordinarily called tippers. After the parts of the machine Figure 5
have performed the several motions described they are ready to form
another rivet. The punches 1. and 2 are worked by the cams 12 and 13
on the shaft u, the cams operating upon the said punches in the ordinary
way.
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 do
net limit ourselves to the precise details herein described and represented

page_text: in the accompanying Drawing as the same may be varied without departing
from the nature of our Invention.
But we claim as our Invention, firstly, the improvements in machinery for
the manufacture of nails herein-before described and illustrated in Figures
1, 2, 3, and 4 of the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, feeding the wire
through the slide b, 62, having on its working face the inclined rib i, over
which the cut off portion of the wire (held by the holder against the face
of the cutting off die h) is made to pass and thereby to slide in the direction
of its axis, whereby the injury which ordinarily occurs to the dies by which the
nail is pointed is avoided.
Secondly, the improvements in machinery for the manufacture of rivets
herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 of the accom-
panying Drawing, that is to say, the use of the two punches 1 and 2 for the
formation and heading of the rivet, and the combination of the said punches
with the cutting off die q, and the spring finger v, and the sliding heading
die w.
In witness whereof, we, the said Edmund Darwen and John Haddon,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Eighth day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
EDMUN DARWEN. (L.S.)
JOHN HADDON.
(L.S.)