US405972A - William taylor - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

W. TAYLOR.

NAIL.

No. 405,972. Patented June 25, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVILLIAM. TAYLOR, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

NAIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 405,972, dated June 25, 1889.

Application filed April 9, 1888. Serial No. 270,152. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Allegheny, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have madea new and useful Improvement in fails or Spikes, which will be readily understood from the following description, taken in connection with the ac-- companyin g drawings.

The invention relates to an improved wire nailthat is to say, a nail made from continuous wire round in cross-section-and it has several important ob jeetsin view. I aim to provide a nail which shall contain as little as possible of the wire metal, and which shall yet be as strong and as tenacious as are those wire nails which preserve the entire body of the said wire.

In producing the nails I commence with a wire of the proper gage, round in section, and subject it to a series of steps of drawing, for the purpose of removing the metal on two of the sides; but I allow the intermediate metal to remain of the same diameter as wasthe initial round wire. This changing of the form of the wire is effected by means of drawplates so constructed and arranged that the wire is gradually made thinner; but it is done in such way that the surface texture, generally called the skin, is not impaired. The blanks from which the nails are ultimately formed may be regarded as flattened relatively to the initial round wire, and yet they are not made fiat by crowding any of the metal outward from the axis of the wire, but by drawing away the surplus metal lying at the sides of that which it is desired to retain. This results in elongating the wire, and consequently in a saving of metal, this saving in the case of the ordinary wires amounting to from twenty-five to fifty per cent. of the total length.

By preserving the skin in the way described the nail, although flat on two sides, retains the strength of the original wire; but reducing the shank metal in one dimension neces sarily decreases the base of union for the head and weakens the joint between it and the shank, the head being formed by crowding or upsetting a portion of the metal at the end of the shank. To overcome this tendency to weaken the nail. at that point, I form it with expanding or flaring shoulders, which lie under the head along the flat or wider sides of the shank and strongly bind the two parts together. Therefore the nail is as strong and tenacious as are those of the earlier form,whieh are round in section and which have a diameter equal to the larger diameter of mine, notwithstanding the fact above described that I dispense with a large part of the metal of the round nail.

Under some circumstances .it is desirable to force the nail into the wood in a certain direction in order to prevent too great a strain upon it in the direction of the shorter diameter, and to assist in this I form a chiseledge at the point, there being two tapering faces extending from the t] at side to said edge, which latter is parallel to the longer diameter of the shank. This cutting-edge enables me to so insert the nail that the fiat sides shall lie in any desired direction; but, as coneerns the shank portion and the head, some of: the features of the invention can be preserved even though points of other forms be employed. Again, to insure that the nail after being driven into place shall not turn axially under the strain of the fibers of the wood, and in order to prevent it from being withdrawn longitudinally, I form a series of nicks or notches along the sides of the shank near the point or chisel-edge before referred. to.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a nail of one form embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a view of the shank in section. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the nail.

My improved nail or spike has a flat shank or body A, the flat sides or faces being indicated by a a and the edges by a a. The sides or faces a a are substantially parallel to each other both longitudinally and trans versely ol' the shank. The edges to a are curvilinear .in section, their outlines in section being substantially the arcs of a circle, the circle being indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4 These edges a a are also substam tially parallel to each other from one end of the shank to the other. It will be seen that a nail of this configuration can be easily and cheaply made of a tough tenacious material, such as round wire. It possesses the strength of a round nail, although containing much less metal. The flat sides a a can be formed with tough and hardened surfaces, so that they can be practically as strong as if there were present a larger mass of iron or metal 'of a more nearly crystalline structure.

B indicates the head. This may be circular, oval, or angular. In either case it is necessary to strengthen the joint or place of union of the head with the shank because of the weakening there, resulting from the reduction of the shorter dimension. This I accomplish by providing shoulders F F, preferably rounded or concave and integral with the surface metal on the flat sides a a, and also with the adjacent metal of the head B. I prefer also to form shoulders F at the edges, as shown.

In the upper or outer face of the head B there is a small cavity or depression at O to receive the end of set-punch, the latter being thereby prevented from slipping from the head when the latter is being driven below the surface of a wooden object.

The point is indicated by D. It is formed with two flat sides d d, converging in a cutting-edge d. These flat faces d (Z are on the sides of the nail, where lie, respectively, the fiat sides a a of the shank. The edges of the point are indicated by d they being substantially extensions of therounded edges a a of the shank. The point, when thus ccnstructed, constitutes a flat cutting-wedge. It can be used to open a passage for the nailin such way that the latter can be inserel in Whatever position circumstances may require, and assists in preventing the nail from turning axially under the pressure or strain of the Wood fibers. To further assist in this, and also to prevent the nail from moving longitudinally, I form a series of nicks or small notches E E in the rounded side edges to.

I am aware-of the fact that nails or spikes of various forms have beenheretofore made with notches, corrugations, or the like, and do not broadly 'claim such'construction as my invention.

I am also aware of the fact that nails of various forms, including cut steel nails substantially square or round in cross-section, and my own eatrlierltriangular nails, have had shoulders at'the point of union of the heads with the shank; but I am not aware of the fact that prior to my invention any one has ever produced a flat but stron g shank of substantially uniform dimensions from end to end, Which, by reason of its flatness, (that is, having its breadth considerably greater than its thickness,) can be made much cheaper than a round, square, or triangular nail, and

then has made such a form of shank practicable by joining it to the head through the medium of flaring or swelling shoulders, herein shown and described.

I herein use the terms flat and flattened, and mean to be understood thereby as referring to the nail above set forth-namely, that the shank is of greater breadth than thickness, and has its larger sides or faces substantially parallel to each other from end to end and from side to side.

The head of the nail projects laterally in the direction of the flat sides. In this respect there can be variations; but I prefer to have itproject uniformly over the several sides and edges, as shown. This is in contradistinction to nails having heads consisting merely of expansions longitudinally of the shank, and which in some instances extend slightly beyond the narrow edges, but are not flattened transversely of the axis of the shank, so as to project laterally over or overhang either of the flat sides.

It will be understood that I follow the plan heretofore well known for forming heads on wire n ails-nam ely, by staving up some of the metal at one end, the staving action resulting in bending or flattening fibers of the metal out laterally.

What I claim is 1. A nail having a shank of greater breadth than thickness and uniform throughout in breadth and thickness, and'having a head at one end and a point at the other end tapered from the shank to a cutting-edge, substantially as described.

2. A wire nail having a flattened laterallyprojecting head, a flat shank uniform throughout in breadth and thickness and of greater breadth than thickness, and having a point tapering from the thickness of the shank to a cutting-edge, sutstantially as set forth.

3. A nail having a flattened head which proj ects laterally over all sides of the shank, a point, and an intermediate shank which is flat from end to endthat is to say, uniform in breadth and thickness throughout, as set forth.

4:. A nail having a flattened laterally-projecting head, a wedge-shaped point, and an intermediate shank which is flat from end to endthat is to say, of greater breadth than thickness and uniform throughout in breadth and thickness, and having rounded or curved edges between the broader sides or faces, substantially as set forth.

5. A nail having a head, a shank which is flat and uniform throughout in breadth and thickness, and has round or curved edges be,- tween the wider faces, and a point having flat faces converging to a cutting-edge which is parallel to the said wider faces of the shank, substantially as set forth.

6. A wire nail having a head formed of laterally bent or stayed fiber of the wire, a shank of greater breadth than thickness and uniand thickness and having curved or rounded form throughout in both breadth and thickedges provided with nicks or notches, snbness, and a point, substantially as described. stantially as set forth.

7. A Wire nail having a head of laterally VILLIAM TAYLOR. 5 bent or st-aved fibers of wire, a wedge-shaped VVit-nesses:

point, and a shank of greater'breadth than JOSIAH WV. ELLS, thickness and uniform throughout in breadth J AS. G. BELL.

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