US1028972A - Nail-assorting mechanism. - Google Patents

Description

1 G. G. SMALL. NAIL ASSORTING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED 313.11, 1904.

Patented June 11,1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

o i u) 5 I G M WI? I; i v W? Y 0 u 1 E a O v if i g I w 5 {ii i ag R i Q v o W "a w w U. G. SMALL. NAIL ASSORTING MECHANISM. PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP 513.11, 1904.

1,028,972. Patented June 11,1912.

' I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2'.

'tmrrnn s'rrrrns PATENT onnron.

CHESTER C. SMALL, 0]? NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

NAIL-ASSORTING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Original application filed August 1, 1902, Serial No. 117,935. Divided and this application filed February 11, 1904. Serial No. 193,131.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHESTER C. SMALL, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Nail-Assorting Mechanism, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object the production of a novel apparatus by which to assort axially tapered headless nails and arrange them with their corresponding sides in predetermined relative positions.

The. heads of the tapered headless nails such as have been heretofore assorted heads and points in the same direction for nailing together heel-lifts, have been substantially square at the head end, and'such' nails have been used chiefly in what is called blindnailing, wherein the nails attach a heel to the sole, and a top-lift is thereafter spanked on the larger ends of the nails not fully driven-into the heel, and they have sometimes been used for surface nailing in connection with cheap work.

The apparatus to be herein described and claimed has been devised and is particularly intended for use in assorting English slugnails, or nails whose heads are oblong instead of square as heretofore, although this apparatus may also be employed for axially assorting ordinary heel nails which are square in cross section. English slug-nails are used mostly in surface nailing, in which they serve not only to attach a heel to a shoe, but they also serve the purpose of slug-nails to resist wear and also ornament the tread of the heel.

To'insure an ornamental appearance of the heel it is essential that the oblong heads be arrangeduniformly around the heel. T 0 this end, in assorting and delivering these English slug-nails, it becomes necessary not only to assort the nails as to heads and points, but they must also be turned axially that their wide parallel sides may be relatively arranged to enter under like conditions the nail-block, such axial turning of i the nails enabling all the nails to be driven into the heel or other stock with their parallel sides contiguous. To do this I have in the embodiment of the invention herein shown provided means operative after the nails'leave the'usual assorting mechanism for turning the nails axially or about their longitudinal axes, so that the nails when delivered will be similarly arranged as to their parallel sides. The nails must also be directed in their passage from the axial assorting mechanism to the nail-block in such way that they will be restrained from free axial rotation, and to accomplish this I have connected with said axial assorting mechanism nail-guiding tubes having nail passage of a thickness less than the width of the nail.

I believe that I am the first to provide a nail-assorting mechanism adapted to receive nails arranged indiscriminately as to their axial positions and provided with means for arranging said nails axially whereby all the nails are presented in predetermined position as to the'arrangement of their sides.

In the following description and claims reference'is to be made to the width and the thickness of the nails which are designed to be handled in this machine. By the term width I mean the greater dimension of the nail measured at rlght angles to itslength, and by the term thickness I mean the lesser dimension of the nail meas ured at right angles to its length. By the term side as applied to the nails I mean that face which extends in the directions of the width and the length of the nail, and by the term edge as applied to the nail I mean that narrower face which extends in the directions of the thickness and the length of the nail. That these nails may be driven properly into a heel I prefer to employ for pricking the nail-holes in the heel an awl such as described in my application Se. No. 117,935, filed August 1, 1902, from which this application is a division, said awl having a shape in cross section corresponding approximately with the shape of the nail.

Figure 1 in side elevation shows my invention applied in one of the best forms now known to me to a well known form of ma chine for automatically assorting nails as to heads and points and loading them into compressed-heels; Fig. 2 in section on a larger scale shows a nail-controller forming part of said mechanism for assorting nails as to heads and points together with means embodying my invention for turning the nails axially to a predetermined relative position so that the'nails may enter properly the pockets and tubes for guiding them to the nail-block; Fig. 3 a cross sectional detail in the dotted line 3, Fig. 2, the figure showing the shape of the chambers m of said nail controller; Fig. 4 is a view'looking at Fig. 2 from the left, some of the parts shown in said figure being removed; Fig. 5 shows the nail-controller of Fig. 2'in a different position; Fig. 6 is a view of the part below the plane x-w, Fig. 4, the screw being in section; Fig. 7 is a cross section of a nail-guiding tube; Fig. 8 shows a top view of the templet and awl holes therein.

The framework A contains a power shaft A having a pinion A engaging a toothed gear A fast on and rotating the main shaft A said shaft corresponding with the shaft indicated by like number in my said application and actuating the awl carrier not necessary to be herein described. The upper end of the framework A'supports a frame A* that sustains a horizontally reciprocating nail-assorting apparatus comprising a hopper 7) having leading from it raceways 0, 0*, at the lower end of which is a lifter f having grooves that receive the endmost nails in the series of raceway grooves. The lifter is elevated at desired times by a cam f to enable the nails thereon to slide into grooves of a delivery portion h, the nails sliding therefrom by gravity.

The nails having their heads leading enter the chambers m,see Figs. 2 and 3, of a nailcontroller m, but the nails with their points leading meet the walls 1) of said chambers, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, and are arrested thereby but do not leave the delivery portion h. When the controller is turned in the direction of the arrow, Figs. 2 and 5, the arrested point-first nails move with it and are carried over into the lower raceway grooves 79*, and the head-first nails which entered chambers of the controller are discharged therefrom into the grooves 79* point-first, as shown in Fig. 5. The shaft of the controller 417. is provided with a pinion m that is actuated by a lever m deriving its movement from a cam on a shaft sustained in a frame A* and actuated at intervals when it is desired to discharge a series of nails. The raceway is reciprocated by eccentrics on the rotating shaft 6 I The parts so far referred to by letter are substantially the same as represented in my aforesaid application and in United States Patent No. 577,213, granted to me February 16, 1897. Instead, however, of the particular nail-assorting mechanism referred to, which is adapted to turn a series of nails leaving the grooves ofthe raceway or the delivery portion h, heads and points indiscriminately, so that all the nails may be delivered point-first, I may employ any other known or usual means for assorting the nailsl as to heads and points.

I will now particularly describe apparatus constituting one embodiment of the invention to be herein claimed. The nails entering the nail-controller in the Patent No. 577,213, were substantially square in cross section, and were discharged immediately from the controller into pockets, and thence directly into suitable tubes or conductors. In a machine for handling English slug-nails it is necessary also before the nails are delivered to assort them axiallythat is, to arrange them as to their sidesso that they may be delivered under the same conditions in order that they may be loaded or driven into heel blanks with their corresponding sides in predetermined relative positions. To effect this second assorting which I designate as axial assorting, I have in the present construction provided a secondary raceway or having a series of V-shaped grooves 6*, and the bottoms of the grooves at the delivery end of the raceway are cut in line with each groove to form aseries of vertical pockets 0. Said raceway a is reciprocated with the raceways c and 0" to facilitate movement of the nails therein.

The grooves b are so shaped that as the nails enter the grooves and contact with the sides thereof they will be axially positioned and will thereafter travel longitudinally in said grooves in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2, one of the sides of each nail contacting with one wall of a groove and one of the edges being sustained by the other wall of the groove. It will be understood that the raceway is suitably actuated to cause the nails to travel longitudinally therein, and as the lower edge of the nail, positioned. as described in the raceway, arrives above the narrow opening or pocket 0 the nail will enter the opening and in so doing will be caused to assume a position with its sides in substantially vertical planes, thus finally turning the nailinto the posit-ion predetermined by the shape of the opening or pocket of the nail guiding tubes,

contact with one wall of the groove as above described. The length. of the raceway a is such that before a nail reaches the opening 0' it has been brought into proper position to enter said opening, so that presentation of a nail in an improper manner to said opening is prevented. The nails are caused to advance along the raceway a by the reciprocating-movement imparted to said raceherein shown the mechanism for axially assorting the nails is arranged for positioning the nails of the different raceways side by side, and to this end each nail enters each pocket in the same way, the sides of each nail lying next the walls d, see Fig. 4, of each of said pockets. The sides of the pockets at the lower end of the secondary raceway W are closed by a plate e held in place by screws 12. The underside of the downward extension of the secondary raceway (z has a supporting plate h connected therewith by screws 9. The plate has a series of slots 2, and a portion of the edges of each slot is cut away as at to receive suitable shoulders Z at the top ends of the upper members 13 of the nail-guiding tubes employed to lead the nails to the foot 9 The upper members 18 of the nail-guiding tubes are flattened or shaped to present a throat in continuation of the openings or pockets 6 narrower in width than the width of the nail whereby the nails entering therein, as shown in Fig. 7, are prevented from turning, are all accurately guided, and arrive at the foot 9 with their sides facing in the line of driving. The port-ion 13 of each nail-guiding tube is flexible that it may be positioned in the nail-foot in accordance with the desired arrangement of nail-holes in said foot, and said tubes are also capable of being twisted so as to deliver the nails with the wide sides of the adjacent nails contiguous as shown in Fig. 8 or extending transversely of the line in which the series of nails is driven, or in any other desired axial relation to one another.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a machine of the class described, a raceway for the passage of nails, said raceway being provided with grooves shaped and arranged to cause the nails to arrange themselves with their corresponding sides in predetermined relative positions, and means for receiving nails from said raceway constructed to control the axial position of the nails.

2. In a machine of the class described, a raceway presenting a groove provided in its bottom near its delivery end with a nailreceiving opening of a width less than the width of the nail, said opening being shaped their axes in passing therefrom into said opening.

3. A raceway having a groove to sustain by one of its side walls one of the two sides of a nail, the opposite side wall of the groove directlng one of the two edges of the nail,

said groove having an opening narrower than the width of the nail to be received and extending, through its fioor near its lower end which opening is entered ,by the edge of the nail, whereby nails as they pass into said opening have their two sides positioned always in the same manner.

4:. In a machine of the class described, nail-guiding tubes, said tubes having passageways extending throughout their length, which are narrower than the width of the nails to be guided therein, whereby said nails to receive nails with their axes at an angle to the direction in which they are to be drlven and'to arrange their corresponding faces in predetermined relative positions,

and a series of guide tubes leading therefrom having passages narrower than the width of the nails whereby said nails are restrained from free axial rotation.

6. In a machine of the class described, means for assorting nails axially and means for delivering the assorted nails in any desired axial relation to one another.

7. In a machine of the class described, the combination with an inclined groovedraceway and means for causing nails to advance along the raceway, said raceway grooves being shaped to cause the nails traveling therein to assume predetermined axial positions,

of means arranged to receive the nails from the raceway grooves and automatically turn the nails entering therein to a difierent axial position.

8. In a machine of the class described, the combination with an inclined. grooved raceway and means for causing nails to advance along the raceway, said raceway grooves being shaped to cause the nails traveling therein to assume predetermined axial positions, of a nail guide arranged to receive nails from the raceway and shaped to control the axial position of the nails passing therethrough.

9. In a machine of the class described, the combination with an inclined grooved raceway and means for causing nails to advance ing shaped to cause the nails traveling therein to assume predetermined axial positions, of nall guides presenting at the dellvery end of each raceway a narrow opening into which the nails are advanced and by which said nails are automatically caused to turn into a uniform axial position.

i the raceway.

7 11. In a machine for assorting nails of the class described, the combination with a grooved raceway and means for causing the nails to advance along the raceway, said raceway grooves being shaped to support by one edge and one side the nails traveling therein, of nailguides presenting at the delivery end of each groove an opening of a width approximately equal to the thickness of the nails whereby the axial position of the nails passing from the raceway is controlled by the side walls of the guide.

12. In a machine of the class described, an inclined raceway on which the nails are dropped and down which they slide, said raceway having a series of V-shaped grooves, one side of each groove supporting one of the sides of a nail while the other side of the groove sustains one of the narrow edges of the nail, whereby the nail is automatically positioned axially with one of its edges inclined upwardly that it may be delivered therefrom in predetermined axial position, and means for receiving nails from said raceway constructed to control their axial posit-ion.

13. In a machine of the class described, an inclined raceway on which the nails are dropped and down which they slide, said raceway having a series of V-shaped grooves, one side of each groove supporting one of the sides of a nail while the other side of the groove sustains the narrow lower edge of the nail whereby said, nail is positioned axially with one of its edges inclined upwardly, each groove at its delivery end having an opening or pocket of less width than the width of a nail in which the nails passing down the groove are caused to enter as they leave the raceway.

14. In a machine of the class described, an inclined raceway having a series of grooves to receive at their upper ends a series of nails, said raceway being constructed to turn the'nails somewhat axiallybetween the times of their cont-act with said raceway and their delivery therefrom, thereby to arrange said nails with their corresponding'sides in predetermined relative positions, and means to conduct said arranged nails from the grooves of said raceways to the driving mechanism while maintaining the said arrangement of the nails. 7

15. In a machine of the class described, a device constructed to sustain the weight of a nail and turn the same axially in its movement over said device, and means foradvancing the nails along said device. l

16. In a machine of the class described, a raceway to receive and guide nails provided with pockets near its end narrower than the widest part of the nail, nail guiding tubes having their ends respectively opening into said pockets and formed of a thickness less means for advancing the nails along said guiding means.

18. In a machine of the class described, automatic mechanism for assorting nails constructed to arrange the nails with their corresponding sides in predetermined relative'positions irrespective of the axial positions of the nails when supplied to said mechanism, including means for causing the axes of the nails to turn angularly prior to their discharge from said mechanism, and means for supplying nails to said mechanism.

19. In a machine of the class described, automatic mechanism for assorting nails constructed to receive nails supplied in indiscriminate relative axial positions and to insure their arrangement with correspondin g sides in predetermined relative positions, including means for turning the axes of the nails angularly while being so arranged, and means for automatically supplying corresponding sides in predetermined relaname to this specification, in the presence tive positions, and means constructed to reof two subscribing Witnesses.

ceive the nails after bein so arran ed and to control their axial po sition While they CHESTER SMALL are being delivered to the driving mecha- Witnesses: nism. GEO. W. GREGORY,

In testimony whereof, I have signed my MARGARET A. DUNN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

Images