Untitled record

Sheets—Sheet 1.

W. RILEY, Jr.

Nail Plate Feeder.

No. 29,613.

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Patented Aug. 14, 1860.

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N. PETERS. Photo-Lithographer, Washington, D. C.

W. RILEY, Jr.

Nail Plate Feeder.

No. 29,613.

Sheets—Sheet 2.

Patented Aug. 14, 1860.

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N- FCTERS. Photo-Lithographer, Washington, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM RILEY, JR., OF READING, PENNSYLVANIA.

NAIL-PLATE FEEDER.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 29,613, dated August 14, 1860.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, William Riley, Jr., of Reading, in the county of Berks and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new 5 and useful Improvements in Plate-Feeders for Nail-Cutting Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming 10 part of this specification, in which—

Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation partly in section of a feeder with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan 15 of the same. Fig. 4 exhibits the opposite side of the machine to that shown in Fig. 1, but omitting the parts which are fully represented in Figs. 1, and 2. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the upper part of the ma20 chine. Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the nipper shaft exhibiting the contrivance for turning it.

Similar letters and numbers of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several 25 figures.

My invention consists in a certain novel arrangement in combination with the nippers or plate holder of a feeder for cut nail machines, of a box from which the plates are 30 supplied one at a time to the nippers by automatic mechanism.

It also consists in certain means for effecting the supply of the plates from the said box at the proper time. Also in certain 35 improved means of drawing back the nippers with the plate from the cutters preparatory to the turning of the plate and of lifting 'up and turning over the nippers with the plate. Also in certain means of dis40 charging from the nippers the fag or waste ends of the plate. Also in certain system of mechanism for running back and. changing the movements of the carriage which carries the nippers.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, B, B, C, C, is the framing of the feeder consisting of a base A, side frames B, B, 50 and transverse braces C, C. The base A, is fitted to turn on a fixed pivot a, that is secured in a bed plate or bed D, which may also constitute the bed of the cutting machine. The top part of the framing has a 55 longitudinal inclination and is furnished with parallel inclined ways &amp;, &amp;, to receive and constitute guides for the sliding carriage E, which carries the spring nippers F, F, by which the nail plates are presented to and drawn back from the cutters and turned 60 over.

At one side of the lower end of the top of the framing and parallel with the carriage E, there is arranged a quadrangular box G, in which a number of nail plates 65 represented in the drawing in blue color are placed one above another to be supplied to the nippers one at a time as required through an opening in the lower part of the inner side of the said box. The body of 70 this box G, consisting of its four sides rests upon a stationary plate G', which constitutes its bottom and which has an inclination corresponding with the carriage and the said body is adjustable on the said plate 75 toward or from the center of the carriage which slides under the plate G'. The body is secured to the bottom plate G', by a set screw⁷ 17. Opposite to the plate G' on the other side of the framing there is secured 80 a stationary plate H, whose upper surface is even with the upper surface of G', the said plates having a space between them wide enough for the nippers to pass, the said plates supporting the nail plates, when 85 they are delivered from the box to be taken by the nippers. To the top of the plate H, there is secured a guide plate H', which may extend all the way to the cutters, said guide plate being, like the body of the plate 90 box, adjustable toward and from the center of the carriage, so that there may be just room enough for the plates to pass down freely between them toward the cutters. The box may have attached to it a guide 95 plate which like FI', may extend to the cutters. The outer side of the box may be fitted in such a manner as to be adjustable that the same box may serve for plates of different widths to permit nails of different 100 sizes to be cut by the same machine. The bottom plate G', of the box has a slot right across it to receive the sliding bar I, to which is attached the plate Γ, by which the plates are pushed from the box as often 105 as required, to the nippers. The bottom of this bar I, is furnished with a toothed rack (see Fig. 5) to gear with a spur wheel J', on a shaft J,' which is arranged in bearings on the side of the framing represented in 110 Fig. 4, and which with the means of operating it will be hereinafter fully described.

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The spring nippers consist of two elastic jaws F, F, attached to a hollow rod or shaft F', which is fitted to turn in two boxes F², and F³, the latter of which is furnished 5 with trunnions d, d, fitted to bearings d', .d', attached to the carriage E, and the former of which is attached to a rod F¹, which is arranged perpendicular or nearly so to the nipper shaft F', and fitted to slide longi10 tudinally in a guide d², attached to the carriage. These boxes F², F³, permit the nipper shaft to have an oscillating movement in an upward and downward direction. The rod F⁴, is fitted with.a spring d^a, 15 below the guide d², for the purpose of holding down the shaft in a bearing at the bottom of a guide K, near the lower end of the carriage, the duty of the said guide being to prevent its lateral oscillation. The nip20 per shaft F', has secured fast upon it between the boxes F², and F³, a collar F⁵, which has two opposite ratchet like teeth e, e, shown in the transverse sectional view Fig. 6; and above this collar it has fitted to 25 it a bevel gear /, which gears with a bevel toothed sector R, which is fitted to swing on one of the trunnions d,. d, and which with its connections will be presently fully described. The bevel gear /, has a flange /', 30 to which is attached a spring pawl /², which engages with the teeth e, e, when the bevel gear is turned in one direction. for the purpose of turning the shaft to turn over the nippers with the plate and so causes the 35 shaft F', to turn with the gear but the said pawl slips over the teeth when the gear turns in the opposite direction. Below the guide K, the nipper shaft has attached to it a fixed collar with two opposite teeth 40 g, g, either of which resting in a notch in a plate g', attached to the carriage prevents the shaft F', from turning and locks it with the faces of the jaws of the nippers parallel with the plates G', FI'.

_ The hollow nipper shaft has fitted within it and extending right through it a smaller shaft A, on the lower part of which is cut a screw thread which is fitted to a nut A/, that is secured within the shaft F', and on 50 the upper part of which beyond the shaft F', there is secured a pinion A². This small shaft A, has its lower end fitted into a wedge like block A³, which fits between the jaws of the nippers for the purpose of forcing 55 them up to liberate the fag ends of a plate which has been cut up as far as possible, preparatory to the reception of a new plate, the operation of the screw thread in the nut A', for this purpose being produced by 60 the action on the pinion A², of a toothed rack on the bottom of a bar L, which is fitted to slide in guides 7, 7, across the rear or upper part of the carriage E, to which the said guides are secured. The same bar 65 L, has upon its back another toothed rack which gears with a spur toothed sector M. attached to the carriage by the center pin /. This sector has secured firmly to it a long arm M', which has attached to it two anti-friction rollers m, m', which, as the 70 carriage moves back and forth are brought into contact with shifting stops k, 1, secured by pins A', to the top of a fixed plate N, that is bolted to the framing.

At some distance below the carriage E, 75 and in a position transverse thereto there is arranged in suitable fixed bearings n, n, a horizontal rock shaft P, from which all parts of the feeder derive their motion said shaft haying an· arm P', that is fast on one end 80 of .it connected by a rod P², with a crank Q', or eccentric on the rotating main shaft Q, of the cutting machine for the purpose of giving it the necessary rocking motion. The said shaft P, has fitted loosely to it a cam Y, 85 a chain, sector S, a ratchet’ cam T, and a sleeve U, on which are tightly secured three cams V, W, X. The chain sector S, is connected with the carriage E, by chains p, p for the purpose of running back the car- 90 riage with the nippers after a plate has been cut up as far as practicable. The ratchet cam has five ratchet teeth g, g, on its periphery and five deep notches g', g' in its outer face and a pawl g², is attached to the chain 95 sector to engage with its ratchet teeth. Its operation in connection with the chain sector will be hereinafter described.

The cam W, is to raise the nipper shaft F', preparatory to the turning of the nip- 100 pers to turn over the nail plates between the successive operations of the cutters and let it down again after the plate has been turned over and for this purpose it operates upon a lever W', which is connected by a rod vV², 105 working on a fixed fulcrum 12, with a lever W³, working on a fixed fulcrum 13, and the latter lever is connected with an inclined plane W⁴, which is parallel with the carriage E, and upon which rests the bottom 110 of the rod F⁴, which carries the bearing F², of the upper shaft. The inclined plane W⁴, is kept parallel with the carriage in its upward and downward movement produced by the cam, by means of two guide rods W⁵, W³, 115 rigidly attached to its ends and -working through fixed guides W°, W^G, attached to the framing, said guide rods and guides being perpendicular with the face of the inclined plane. The cam X, has connected with it a 120 spring 31, which tends to turn the said cam and with it the sleeve U, and cams V, and W, in the opposite direction to that in which the cam W, moves to raise the nipper shaft.

The cam V, is for the purpose of turning 125 the nipper shaft and nippers to turn over the nail plates. It operates upon a lever V', which works on a fixed fulcrum 14, and which is connected with an inclined plane V², upon which rests the lower end of a rod 130

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V³, which is arranged to work perpendicularly to the carriage E, in a fixed guide V^s, attached to the framing. The inclined plane V², is kept in a position parallel with the 5 carriage E, by having rigidly attached to it two rods V⁴, V⁴, which work in fixed guides V⁵, V⁵, attached to the carriage said rods and guides being perpendicular to the face of the inclined plane. The rod V³, is 10 furnished with a fast collar 15, to which is connected a rod V⁷, which is connected also with the bevel toothed sector R, before described, and a spring 16, is coiled around the rod V³, between the said collar 15, and the 15 bottom of the guide V°. When the inclined plane V², is raised by the action of the cam V, upon the lever V', the rod \ is raised with it, and the rod V⁷, is caused to raise the sector R, and make it turn the bevel pinion 20 /, in a direction to bring its attached pawl /², into operation on one of the teeth e, e, on the collar F⁵, on the nipper shaft for the purpose of turning the nipper shaft to the extent of half a revolution. When the cam 25 V, allows the inclined plane V², to descend, the spring 16, pulls down the sector R, and causes it to turn the pinion /, in a direction to carry back the pawl /², over the next tooth e, of the collar F⁵. The cam V, does 30 not commence to operate the sector R, till after the cam W, has raised the inclined plane AV⁴, high enough for it to have lifted up the tooth g, on the lower part of the nipper shaft out of the notch in the plate g'. 35 The inclined planes V², and AV⁴, are of such length that they will operate upon their respective rods F⁴, and V³, during the. whole movement of the carriage and their operation is the same in all positions of the 40 carriage.

The cam X, is for the purpose of drawing back the carriage a little way after each cut and of producing the feed movement of the plates to the cutters and for this pur45 pose it operates between the two arms r, r', (see Fig. 4) of a friction sector X', which is arranged to rock on a fixed stud s, secured to the framing. This sector is faced with india rubber or other suitable material as 50 shown at ¢, t', in Fig. 4 to work in contact with the periphery of and give motion by friction to a plain wheel X², which works on a fixed stud u, secured to the framing and which has secured to it a spur wheel X³. 55 which gears with a toothed rack v, secured to one side of the carriage. The said cam X, begins to act upon the arm r, of the friction sector X', just before the cam AV, begins to raise its inclined plane AA⁷”⁴, and by its action 60 on the said arm turns the sector in a direction to move the wheels X², X³, in a direction to move back the carriage by the action of the wheel X^s, on the rack v. After having thus moved back the carriage the said 65 cam X, continues to act on the arm r, to hold a

back the carriage while the nipper shaft is being turned; but as soon as the nipper shaft has been turned and has dropped down to its place again the said cam acts upon the arm τ', of the sector and moves it quickly 70 in the opposite direction to that first described, thereby moving forward the carriage again. The feed movement of the carriage is not produced by the positive action of the wheel X³, on the rack, which 75 action only moves it (the carriage) forward as far as it moved it back, but it (the feed movement) is produced by the weight and momentum of the carriage after the end t', of the face of the sector passes out of con- so tact with the periphery of the wheel X², which causes the carriage to be thrown forward till the end of the nail plate comes in contact with the- gage which is arranged near the cutters. The momentum of the 85 carriage would be sufficient for this if it were arranged horizontally instead of on an inclination as shown.

The cam Y, is for the purpose of drawing back the plate I', after it has forced a nail 90 plate from the box G, into the nippers. The shaft J, before described through which the said plate I, is operated, is furnished at its upper or rear end with a bevel pinion J², which gears with a bevel toothed sector J³, 95 working on a fixed stud w, that is secured in the framing. This sector has firmly secured to it an arm J⁴, which is so arranged that as the carriage E, in being moved back by the chain sector after a plate has been 100 cut up, arrives near the end of its movement the said arm is struck by a stud x, carried by the carriage and so pushed back by the completion of the movement of the carriage thereby causing a downward move- 105 ment of the sector J³, and a movement of the pinion J², and shaft J, in a direction to make the gear J', move the plate I', in a direction to force out the lowest plate of the pile in the box. The sector J³, is connected HO by a rod J⁵, with a lever Y', which works on a fixed fulcrum y, secured to the framing and which occupies a position over the cam Y. In the first oscillating movement of the rock-shaft P, which takes place after the 115 carriage has been moved back by the chain sector, the cam Y, acts upon the lever Y', to move the sector upward and so to move the shaft J, in the opposite direction to that just described and cause the plate I', 1²⁰to be moved back out of the box. In the subsequent movements of the rock shaft prior to the carriage being again moved back by the chain sector the cam A⁷, does not operate upon the lever Y', as it is out of 1²⁵range of the said cam, and consequently the sector J³, and the shaft J, remain stationary.

Between the sleeve U, and the chain sector S, there is fitted to the rock shaft P, a clutch Z (Fig. 3) which can only turn with I-³⁰

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4= the said shaft but is free to slide longitudinally upon it for the purpose of coupling with the said rock shaft, either the sleeve U, or the chain sector, one of which is required to. be always uncoupled from the shaft while the other is coupled. This clutch is shifted by a forked lever U', which works on a fixed fulcrum 18, and. which has rigidly attached to it an arc shaped bar 19, which crosses the axis of the fulcrum 18,. and which is received in a notch in the arm 20, of a rockshaft 21, which is arranged perpendicularly to the carriage in fixed: bearings secured to the framing. This arm 20, is arranged to slide longitudinally in a box 22, provided in the rockshaft 21, and has a spring 23, so applied to it as to cause the arm to pull upon the lever U^z, with sufficient force to overcome the friction of the said lever and clutch. The rockshaft 21, has another and much shorter arm 24, just above the box 22, said arm being rigidly attached to it and carrying a pin which works in a fork at one extremity of a lever 25, which works on a fixed fulcrum 26, and whose opposite extremity works in contact with the face of the ratchet cam T; and above the top of the framing the said rockshaft has another rigid arm 27, which is operated upon as will be presently described by a tappet 28, attached to the carriage, said tappet also operating as hereinafter described in connection with a lever 29, which works on a fixed fulcrum 30, above the framing and on one side of the carriage.

The operation of the machine is as follows: I will first suppose the carriage E, to be completing its step by step movement toward the cutters and the plate in the nippers to have been cut up as close as possible to the nippers. The tappet 28, conies into contact with the arm 27, of the shaft 21, and turns the said rod in such a manner that the arm 20, moves along the bar 29, on the clutch lever from the position shown in Fig. 3, to the opposite side of the fulcrum of the said lever, and when the clutch which is now in gear with the sleeve U, arrives at the position in which it is free from strain the spring 23, will act upon the arm 20, in such a manner as to draw the clutch Z, out of gear with the said sleeve and its cams V, W, X, and into gear with the chain segment W, which will instantly be caused to swing back rapidly, and pull back the carriage E. When the carriage has moved back a short distance the roller m!, on the arm M^z, of the toothed sector M, comes in contact with the stop I, (see Fig. 3) and as the carriage moves onward the arrest of the end of the arm M^z, causes the sector M, to receive such a movement on the pin J, that it drives the rack bar L, across the carriage and causes the said bar to act upon: the pinion 7b. on the shaft h, in such a manner as to turn the said shaft in the proper direction to cause it to be drawn forward in the hollow nipper shaft F', by its screw thread turning in the nut h', and thereby to force forward the wedge or block A³, between the jaws of the nippers and so open the latter to let the fag end of the plate 70 drop out. The arm M^z, then works clear of the stop I, and the continued backward movement of the carriage brings the stud x, into operation on the .arm J⁴, of the segment J, and so produces the operation of the plate 75 I, to force out the bottom plate of the pile from the box G, as hereinbefore described, and deposit it on the plate H, and the part of the plate G^z, that extends beyond the inner side of the box, where it arrives just be- 80 fore the back stroke of the carriage is completed, and where it is caused to remain by a spring stop not represented in the drawing, till the return of the carriage which is immediately commenced by the movement of 85 the rock shaft P, and the chain sector being reversed.

During the first part of the forward movement of the carriage which is effected by the chain sector the pin m, on the arm M^z, comes 90 in contact with the stop 7c, and causes the sector M, to derive such a motion as to draw back the rack bar L·, in the opposite direction to that in which it was moved during the retreat of the carriage, and so cause the 95 said bar by its operation on the pinion Λ, to turn the shaft H, in a direction to permit the wedge or block H³, to move back from between the jaws of the nippers to permit them to close upon the new plate by their 100 own velocity and the said plate is pushed back for this purpose by coming in contact with the plate. The stops k, 1, are so arranged and controlled by springs 33. 33, and fixed stops 34, 34, that the stop k, will 105 let the arm M^z, pass it without interference, as the carriage moves back, and that I, will allow the arm to pass it as the carriage moves forward. To prevent the stop 7, from interfering with, the arm M^z, during the HO short intermittent backward movements of the lever with the carriage during the cutting operation, is the purpose of the lever 29, hereinbefore mentioned, such lever having a hook at its rear end which is held up 115 by a spring 32, to a position to lock the stop 7., in a suitable position, but before the carriage completes its forward movement and the plate is all cut up, or after the carriage has passed the position in which the stop 7, ¹²⁰can interfere with the arm M^z, the tappet 28, raises the front end of the lever 29, and so moves the hook at its rear end out of the way of the said stop which is instantly forced by its spring 33, into a position to ¹²⁵arrest the arm M^z, when the carriage runs back after the plate has been cut up.

By the time the nippers have received the plate, the clutch is thrown out of gear with the chain sector and into gear with the sleeve ¹³⁰

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U, by one of the five cam like projections on the side face of the ratchet cam T, which may be termed the reverse cam, coming into operation on the lever 25, which by its con5 nection with the arm 24, of the shaft 21, turns the said shaft in such a position as to cause its arm 20, to pass back to the position I on the clutch lever U', that is represented in Fig. 3, and the latter arm is so caused 10 to produce the necessary movement of the clutch lever. Every oscillation of the rock shaft now causes the nipper shaft with the nippers and nail plate to be drawn back raised up and turned over and moved for15 ward again so that it advances each time the distance equal to the width of the nail. In .the step by step forward movement of the carriage which takes place as the cutting operation proceeds and which is produced 20 by the cam X, sector X', wheels X², and X³, the rack v, the chain sector is moved forward by and with the carriage, and as it moves forward the pawl q-, which is attached to it, acting on, one of the ratchet teeth 25 q, of the reverse cam T, moves the said cam along with it till by the time the carriage completes its forward step by step movement, one of the notches q', q', is presented opposite to the lever 25, for the said lever to 30 drop into when the arm 27, of the rock-shaft 21, is operated upon by the tappet 28, to throw the clutch out of gear with the sleeve IT, and into gear with the chain sector. As the chain sector swings back it leaves the 35 reverse cam stationary and its pawl q~, slides over to the next tooth q', preparatory to its giving the said cam another movement as it swing's forward again.

It has been hereinbefore described that the 40 box G, and plate H', can be adjusted to suit plates of various widths for nails of various lengths, and such adjustment of the box. will, it is obvious, require an adjustment of the movement of the plate I', to force the plates 45 from the box. This adjustment is provided for by a slot 35, in the lever Y', at the connection of the rod J⁵. The taper of the nail may be varied by adjusting the whole feeder on the center bolt a, which also provides for 50 turning the machine around away from the cutters to permit the removal and regrincling and replacement of the cutters during the cutting of a plate, and the immediate resumption of the cutting operation by turn55 ing the feeder back again.

I do not claim broadly supplying the plates to the nippers of a nail plate feeder automatically as fast as required from a box attached to the machine as that is described in former patents; nor do I claim the ar- 60 rangement of such box at the side of the machine; but