US1143561A - Device for feeding tacks, nails, and the like. - Google Patents

Description

B. B. WATERMAN.

DEVICE FOR FEEDING TACKS, NAILS, AND. THE LIKE.

APPLICATION 'FILED 001127. 1913.

1 11,11 I V P11611161 June 15, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- THE NORRIS PETERSICOI. PHOm-LITHQ. WASHINGIDN. D. C

B. B. WATERMAN. DEVICE FOR FEEDING TACKS, NAILS. AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 27, I9l3.

Patented June 15, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 lnvevztor.

THE NORRIS PETERS CQ. PHOTO-LITHO, WASHINGTON, D.

B. B. WATERIVIAN. DEVICE FOR FEEDING TACKS, NAILS, AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 27 I913.

w r. 2 f m Z wc'f/meses.

'HE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHDTDLITHO" WASHINGTON, D. C.

UNl @TATE@ PATENT FE BRADFORD B. WATERMAN, OF EAST BRIDGEWA'IER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN SHOE FINDING COMPANY, A CORPURATION 0F MAINE.

DEVICE FOR FEEDING TACKS, NAILS, AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 15, 1915..

Application filed October 27, 1913. Serial No. 797,402.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BRADFORD B. VVATER- MAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Bridgewater, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have in vented new and useful Improvements in Devices for Feeding Tacks, Nails, and the like, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for feeding tacks, nails and the like, particularly adapted for use in connection with machines of the class shown in the United States Patout No. 90%,032, for machines for tacking shoe shanks and issued to me November 17, 1908 to which reference may be had.

The object of the invention'is to provide a device adapted to feed a constant supply of tacks to a plurality of delivery racew'ays and deliver said tacks one at a time from said raceways to the work.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts whereby the above object and certain other objects hereinafter appearing may be attained, as set forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view of a device embodying my invention, the same being shown in connection with a machine for tacking shoe shanks, portions of said machine being broken away to save space in the drawings. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the device illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-8 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail side elevation of a portion of the rotating means for the rotary member arranged within the hopper. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the device taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1, viewed in the direction of the arrows on said line. Fig. 6 is a detail plan view of portions of the raceways, certain parts being removed and other parts being shown in section to more clearly illustrate the same.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

In the drawings, 8 is a hopper which may be constructed in any suitable manner to contain tacks, A rotary member 9 is arranged in said hopper upon a shaft 10 ournaled to rotate in bearings 11 and 12 secured to the side walls 13 of said hopper. The rotary member 9 is provided with a plurality of longitudinal fins 1i projecting out wardly from said member, these being preferably formed by constructing a four-sided or rectangular member whose sides each project slightly beyond one of the sides adjacent thereto. The shaft 10, to which the rotary member 9 is secured, is rotated intermittently a predetermined amount by means preferably consisting of a pulley 15 which is loosely mounted to rotate on said shaft and driven'by a belt 15 connected with any suitable source of power, not shown in the drawings, and having a pawl 16 secured thereto and arranged to engage the teeth 17 of a ratchet 18 secured to said shaft. A spring 19 also carried by said pulley normally engages said pawl to yieldinglv hold the same in contact with the teeth 17. A disk 20 having pins 21 and 22 projecting laterally from one face thereof is loosely mounted upon the shaft 10 and adapted to be slightly rotated thereon by a link 23 which is pivotally connected thereto at 2 1 and adjustably secured to the side 13 of said hopper by means of a bolt 25. As the pawl 16 is revolved by the pulley 15 said pawl is permitted to remain in contact with one of the teeth 17 for a portion of its rotation or until the outer end 26 of said pawl 16 engages one or the other of the pins 21 and 22, but when said pawl engages one of said pins it is rocked upon its pivot and disengaged from said teeth, thus discontinuing the r0- tation of said rotary member, until said pawl has had time to escape from the pin with which it has just been in contact and to engage the next successive tooth on the ratchet 18. I have elected to show but two pins, 21 and 22, although others may be used, if desired, and these pins may be adjusted by rotating said disk 20 to cause said pawl to be disengaged from the teeth 17 at various points in the rotation of the pulley carrying said pawl. Furthermore I have shown but four teeth on the ratchet 18, whereas this number may be varied according to the points in the rotation of said member at which it is desired to stop the same.

It is essential that the rotary member 9 should come to a stand still as soon as possible after the pawl 16 has been disengaged from the teeth 17 of said ratchet 18 and to accomplish this I have provided a frictional device 27, preferably consisting of a disk 28 loosely mounted relatively to the shaft 10 'to intercept said tacks.

05 j slide down said chutes and are not caught by and upon the opposite end of said shaft from the pulley 18. A pin 29 normally prevents rotation ofsaid member 28 relatively to the bearing 11. A friction washer 30 is arranged in a recess 31 in the face of said disk 28 and against which a disk 32 is arranged to rotate. The latter disk is secured to the shaft 10 by means of a key 33 and more or less pressure is adapted to be applied to force said disk 32 against said washer 30 by means ofa screw 34: secured to the arm 35 which in turn is adjustably fastened to the end of the shaft 10 by means of a screw 36. The disk 32 is also provided with a plurality of recesses 37 arranged about the center thereof, each being adapted to be engaged by the screw 34' and when it is desired to vary the pressure between said disk 32 and washer 30, said screw 34: is removed from the recess 37 within which said screw 34 happens to be inserted, and moved in one direction or the other to rotate the arm 35, whereby the screw 36 will be moved longitudinally of the shaft 10 and thereby move said disk 32 toward or away from said friction washer 30.

g The bottom of the hopper 8, adjacent the rotary member 9, is made to substantially conform in shape to the path described by the fins 14:, while the opposite sides of the bottom of said raceway incline downwardly to this portion of said hopper whereby the tacks, which are deposited therein, will be conducted to a point beneath said rotary member, thus as said member, 9 is rotated in the direction of the arrow a said fins 14: will pass through the mass of tacks at the bottom of said hopper and collect a few which will be carried around by said fins for a portion of a rotation until the movement of said rotary member is discontinued by the withdrawal of the pawl 16 from the teeth 17. \Vhen the fins 11 are brought into position Z2 or adjacent thereto and suddenly stopped the tacks which were collected by the fin 14, which has stopped at said point b will be discharged therefrom and deposited upon a plurality of raceways 38 along which said tacks will be guided to the work.

It-is essential to insure the tacks striking and being caught by the raceways 38 that they be directed toward said raceways point foremost and I have therefore provided a plurality of chutes 39, disposed transversely of the path of movement of said tacks as they are discharged from said fins, adapted These chutes or troughs, as they may be called, are inclined and directed toward the hopper and at the lower ends of said chutes the raceways proper begin, said raceways extending from within said hopper outwardly and downwardly to the work, thus any tacks which the raceway therebelow will be deposited at the bottom of the hopper where they may again be collected by the fins 1 1. Beneath the chutes39 the hopper is provided with a flexible metallic plate 40 upon which said tacks are deposited and against which the extremities of the fins are adapted to wipe, thus any tacks lodging thereon will be removed by the next successive fin during the rotation of said rotary member.

In a device of the character hereinbefore described the best results are obtained in the collecting of tacks by the rotary member 9 when there is a limited quantity of tacks at the bottom of the hopper 8 and therefore means are provided to automatically deposit in said hopper a predetermined quantity of tacks and at predetermined intervals. This means preferably consists of a rotary drum 41 mounted upon a shaft 42 journaled to rotate in bearings 13 secured to the hopper 8. A pulley 41 is secured to the shaft 12 and is rotated by a belt 45 which extends to a pulley 46 fast to the shaft 10. The rotary drum 11 is provided with a radial extension 47, see Fig. 5, an opening -18 extending longitudinally of said drum, while a gate 19 is adapted to normally close said opening. The gate 49 is preferably supported by a member 50 preferably formed integral with said gate and secured to a rocker shaft 51 mounted on said drum at one end of which is an arm 52. A spring 53 connecting said arm normally retains said gate in its closed position, but as said drum is rotated the arm 52 is arranged to engage a cam 51 supported by an arm 55 and during the engagement of the arm 52 with said cam said gate 49 will be, swung outwardly the amount desired according to the relation of said arm 52 to the shaft 51, said arm 52 being adjustable on said shaft. Furthermore the cam 54 is arranged at such a point in the path of rotation of the arm 52 that when saidarm engages said cam and the gate 419 is withdrawn, the tacks, which have collected in said drum adjacent said gate, will be precipitated therefrom into the hop per 8, a guard 56 being provided on said hopper 8 to insure all of the tacks precipitated from the drum being conducted to said hopper. When it is desired that only a certain proportion of the tacks adjacent the gate 49 shall be precipitated into the hopper 8 a shelf 57, which may be of any suitable length, is provided against which more or less of the tacks will strike as the gate 19 is withdrawn and those which strike said shelf will be returned through the opening 48 before said gate 4-9 is closed as said drum is being rotated in the direction of the arrows 0. An opening 58 is provided in the outer wall of the drum 41 which is normally closed by a slide 59, through which tacks may be placed within said drum.

As hereinbefore stated, a plurality of raceways 38 extend outwardly from the hopper 8 and downwardly to the work. These raceways are each formed in two parts, 60 and 61. The upper part 60 consistspreferably of a pair of stationary parallelly arranged guides 62 and 63 provided with a space 64 therebetween suflicient to receive the bodies of the tacks and to guide the same suspended by their heads.

The upper ends of the raceways 38 consist of a U-shaped member 65 whose outer end is closed at 66. The legs of the U-shaped member 65 constitutes continuations of the guides 62 and 63 and provide spaces 67 between the successive raceways. Said U- shaped members being arranged directly beneath the chutes 39, consequently all tacks which slide down said chutes point'foremost, will be caught by said U-shaped member with the heads of said tacks resting against the upper edges 68 of said U-shaped portion. All tacks which are not caught by the U-shaped member 65 will pass downwardly through the spaces 67 and into the hopper. From their positions upon the U- shaped members 65 said tacks will slide, owing to the inclination of said raceways, downwardly along said guides until the same are stopped by stop fingers 69, which engage the upper faces of said guides adjacent their lowerends. The stop fingers 69 are secured to a rocker shaft 70 pivoted upon the side frames 13, while a spring 71 normally retains said fingers in contact with said guides. At the proper times in the operation of the device, the rocker shaft 7 Q is rocked by mechanism hereinafter described and all of the stop fingers 69 secured thereto will be lifted from engagement with 'the up per faces of the parallel members 62 and 63 and permit the tacks on said members to move therealong. The extent to which said tacks will move on said raceway will however be limited preferably by a second stop 72, which is arranged adjacent the lower ends of each of said pairs of parallel members and has its extremity recessed at 73 to receive one tack from said raceway. As the lowermost tack in said column of tacks slides from the guides 62 and 63 upon the stop 72,, the stop fingers 69 are again moved downwardly toward said member 62 and engage a second tack in their respective column of tacks and thus prevent a further downward movement of said column.

The stops 72 are secured at their upper said frame is rocked toward said raceway, thus preventing injury to said stop or the mechanism operating the same should a tack be misplaced in its path. Directly beneath the stops 72 are notched plates 75 whose notches 76 are open toward the guides 62 and 63. Within said notches 76 the bodies of the tacks carried by the stops 72 are suspended and as said stops are swung outwardly toward the right in Fig. 5, the tacks resting thereon will be wiped therefrom by the plates 7 5, whereupon said tacks will be dropped points foremost. Directly beneath the notches 76 are grooved guides 77 pivoted at 77 to rock transversely of said parallel members about axes located substantially beneath the lower ends of their respective parallel members and these guides are adapted to receive the tacks which are dropped from the stops 72 and guide said tacks downwardly points foremost. The side walls of the guides 77 are extended upwardly for a substantial distance adjacent the portions of said guides upon which the tacks land as they are wiped from the stops 72, thus said tacks will be prevented from bounding over the sides of said guides. The lower ends of the grooved guides 77 are adapted to be independently adjusted transversely relatively to said members 62 and 63 by arms 78 depending from collars 79 secured to a cross shaft 80, preferably by screws 81, thus permitting said grooved guides to be placed either parallel relatively to each other or at angles to each other, as desired, according to the points to which it is desired to feed the tacks.

During the operation of the machine it is desirable that the finger 69 of all the raceways be operated simultaneously and that the stops 72 be operated simultaneously, and furthermore that said fingers and said stops be operated alternately to permit the column of tacks on said raeeways to move down one tack and then to release the lowermost tack in said column, while the tacks from above are held against sliding movement by said fingers. To accomplish this result the rocker shaft 70 is provided with an arm 82 which is engaged by a rod 83 pivotally connected to a lever 84. To the same lever is connected a rod 85 which in turn is connected to a lug 86 on to the rocker frame 74. The lever 8 1 and a gear 87 are both secured to and arranged to be rocked with a shaft 88 by a gear 89fast to a shaft 90. At the opposite end of the shaft 90 is secured a lever 91 having a cam roll 92 adapted to engage a reciprocating cam 93, said cam being se cured to some movable part of the machine I with which said hopper is adapted to be used, thus said stops may be moved by the same mechanism to alternately permit the column of tacks to slide down said raceway one tack at a time and the lowermost tack of said column released and delivered to the lower portion of said raceway along which it is conducted by gravity to the work.

As the tacks, which are discharged from the fins 14 upon the chutes 39, slide down said chutes and strike the upper ends 65 of the raceways 38 some of said tacks will land between the arms of said members 65, while still others will lie across the tops thereof and clog the same, whereby the tacks which lodge correctly therein will be prevented from sliding downwardly thereon thus making it very often necessary to get at said raceways to remove the misplaced tacks. To 15 facilitate this the chutes 39 are secured to a shaft 94 which is pivoted in the side walls 13 of the hopper 8 permitting said chutes to be swung upwardly about the axis of said shaft and thus expose said members 68. An arm 95 is secured to the outer end of the shaft 94, said arm having aninwardly projecting lug 96, while carried by said lug and in screw-threaded engagement therewith is a screw 97 engaging the upper edge of one of the walls 13 and regulating the position of the chutes39 relatively to the raceways 38. It is not always necessary however to displace theehutes 39 to remove the misplaced tacks upon the top of the member 68, for the reason that said tacks often slide off from said member of their own accord or are jarred therefrom by a tapper 98 which consists of a lever 99, secured to a shaft 100 arranged to be rocked in suitable bearings on the frame of the machine by a lever 101 secured to said shaft and engaged by pins 102 projecting laterally from the side of an idler pulley 103, said idler being rotated by the belt 15 which operates the pulley 15. As said idler rotates the pins 102 strike the end of the lever 101 and causes the shaft 100 to be rocked, thus rocking the arm 99 away from the portion 104 of the frame which constitutes a support for the raceways 38, and as said pins escape from the end of the lever 101 a spring 105 causes said lever to return to its normal position and thus the lever 99 will be forced suddenly against the frame 104 and impart a jar thereto, causing the loose tacks to slide from the tops of the raceways, while at the same time the tacks which are properly placed will be assisted along said raceways.

It is essential that the tacks, which fall upon the tops of the raceways 38 instead of between the members thereof, be prevented from rolling downwardly along the face thereof and against the stop fingers 69, for should such happen a clogging of the raceways will inevitably occur. To prevent this occurrence a shield 106 is arranged transversely of said raceways slightly below the lower ends of the chutes 39 and at the time in the operation of the machine when the $5 tacks slide down said chutes, sa d shield will preferably be in contact with the upper faces of the raceways, thus the misplaced tacks on said raceways will be deflected to one side or the other back into the hopper 8, but as soon as the tacks have all fallen said shield is slightly elevated from said raceways and the correctly placed tacks will be permitted thereby to slide along said raceways. The shield 106 is secured to a rocker shaft 107, which is arranged to be rocked in suitable bearings in the hopper 8, by a cam shaped arm 108 adapted to be engaged by pins 109 secured to the pulley 15. To further aid in guiding the tacks as they are discharged from the fins 14 to the raceways g 38 a deflector 110 is disposed adjacent the lower ends of the chutes 39 and substantially at right angles thereto and in such a position that all of the tacks, which are discharged from said fins, will be deflected thereby against said chutes and thus facilitate the proper positioning of said tacks before they are permitted to strike the raceways 38.

The general operation of the device hereinbefore described is as follows: The drum 41 is substantially filled with tacks which are placed therein through the opening 58. The mechanism is then set into operation to rotate said drum, which during this rotation precipitates a predetermined quantity of tacks through the opening 48 by the mechanism, hereinbefore described, into the hopper 8. These tacks slide to the bottom of said hopper beneath the rotary member 9 and are collected by the fins 14 on said rotary member carried around and discharged from said fins by the intermittent movement of said rotary member against the deflector and upon the chutes 39, these chutes being adapted to turn the tacks striking thereagainst lengthwise whereupon as said tacks slide down said chutes they will strike the upper portion- 65 of the raceways 38. The tacks which are delivered point foremost from said chutes lodge between the arms of the U-shaped members 65 and are suspended therebetween by their heads. The correctly positioned tacks are then permitted to slide down said raceway upon the rocking of the shield 106 until stopped by the stop fingers 69 and from the position against said stop fingers said tacks are permitted to pass one at a time to the stops 72, placed below the stop fingers 69, and from said stops said tacks are wiped during the lateral swinging movements thereof by the plates 75 and thus caused to drop into the grooved guides 77 with their points foremost and conducted along said guides to the work.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire by Letters Patent to secure is:

1. device of the class described having, incornbination, a hopper adapted to contain tacks, a raceway, a rectangular rotary member arranged in said hopper, fins on said member adapted to collect tacks from said hopper during the rotation of said member, and deposit said tacks on said raceway, and means to rotate said rotary member.

2. A device of the class described having, in combination, a hopper adapted to contain tacks, a plurality of raceways, a rectangular rotary member arranged in said hopper, fins on said member formed by pro jecting each of the side walls thereof beyond th outer face of one of the adjacent walls constituting said rectangular member, said fins being adapted to collect a plurality of tacks from said hopper during the rotation of said member and to deposit said tacks on said raceways, and means to rotate said rotary member.

3. A device of the class described having, in combination, a hopper, and a drum rotatably arranged above said hopper and constructed to automatically deposit in said hopper a predetermined quantity of tacks at predetermined intervals.

4. A device of the class described having, in combination, a rotary drum having a radial extension arranged to contain tacks, said drum being provided with an opening located in said radial extension, a gate arranged to normally close said opening, means to rotate said drum, and means arranged to open said gate at a predetermined time in the rotation of said drum to precipitate tacks from said drum.

5. A device of the class described having, in combination,a rotary drum having a radial extension and arranged to contain tacks, said drum being provided with an opening located in said radial extension, a gate arranged to normally close said open ing and pivotally mounted to move substantially radially with relation to the axis of said drum, means to rotate said drum, and means arranged to open said gate at a predetermined time during the rotation of said drum to precipitate tacks from said drum.

6. A device of the class described having, in combination, a rotary drum having a radial extension and arranged to contain tacks, said drum being provided with an opening located in said radial extension and extending substantially the length of said drum, a gate arranged to normally close said opening, said gate being pivotally mounted to move substantially radially relatively to the axis of said drum, means to rotate said drum, means arranged to open said gate at a predetermined time during the rotation of said drum to precipitate tacks therefrom, and means to yieldingly return said gate to its closed position.

7 A device of the class described having, in combination, a hopper adapted to contain tacks, a chute inclining downwardly and directed into said hopper, means arranged to collect a plurality of tacks from said hopper and deposit said tacks upon said chute, a raceway adjacent to the foot of said chute and inclined downwardly reversely thereto, arranged to receive tacks from said chute and conduct the same outwardly from said hopper, and means arranged to permit said tacks to escape one at a time from said raceway.

8. A device of the class described having, in combination, a hopper adapted to contain tacks, means adapted to collect a plurality of tacks from said hopper, means to move said collecting means to cause said tacks to slide therefrom, a chute disposed transversely of the path. of movement of said tacks adapted to intercept said tacks as they slide from said collecting means and to direct said tacks toward said hopper, a raceway arranged beneath said chute adapted to receive tacks from said chute and conduct the same suspended by their heads outwardly from said hopper, and means to permit said tacks to move down said raceway one at a time.

9. A device of the class described having, in combination, a hopper adapted to contain tacks, means adapted to collect a plurality of tacks from said hopper, means to move said collecting means to cause said tacks to slide therefrom, a chute disposed transversely of the path of movement of said tacks adapted to intercept said tacks as they slide from said collecting means and to direct said tacks toward said hopper endwise, and a raceway arranged beneath said chute adapted to receive tacks from said chute and conduct said tacks suspended by their heads outwardly from said hopper.

10. A device of the class described having, in combination, a hopper adapted to contain tacks, means adapted to collect a plurality of tacks from said hopper, means to move said collecting means to cause said tacks to slide therefrom, an inclined chute disposed trans versely of the path of movement of said tacks as they slide from said collecting means, said chute adapted to intercept said tacks and direct them toward said hopper, and a raceway including a pair of inclined parallelly arranged guides provided with a space therebetween, said guides adapted to receive tacks from said chute and conduct said tacks suspended by their heads from the upper edges of said guides outwardly from said hopper.

11. A device of the class described having, in combination, a raceway for guiding tacks formed in two parts, one of said parts consisting of a pair of stationary parallelly arranged guides provided with a space therebetween sufficient to receive the bodies of said tacks and to guide the same suspended by their heads, the other of said parts consisting of a grooved member adapted to receive tacks from said first part and guide said tacks ends foremost, and means to deliver said tacks one at a time from said first part to said second part.

12. A device of the class described having, in combination, a raceway for guiding tacks formed in two parts, one of said parts consisting of a pair of stationary parallelly arranged guides provided with a space therebetween suiiicient to receive the bodies of said tacks and adapted to guide the same suspended by their heads, the other part of said raceway consisting of a grooved member adapted to receive tacks from said first part and guide said tacks endwise, and means interposed between the parts of said raceway adapted to transfer tacks one at a time from a suspended position on said first part to an inclined position, point foremost, on said second part. i

13. A device of the class described having, in combination, a hopper adapted to contain tacks, a plurality of raceways leading from said hopper adapted to guide tacks, each of said raceways including a pair of inclined parallelly disposed members adapted to guide tacks suspended by their heads between and from the edges of said parallel members, a stop adjacent the lower ends of each of said pairs of parallel members adapted to hold one tack, a stop finger in close proximity to the upper faces of each pair of parallel members adjacent their lower ends adapted to engage the lowermost tacks suspended on said members, mechanism adapted to simultaneously move the fingers of each of said raceways away from said parallel members'to permit the lowermost tacks on said raceways to drop upon said stops, and means to move said stops to release the tacks supported thereby.

14. A device of the class described having, in combination, a plurality of raceways adapted to guide tacks, each of said raceways including a' pair of inclined parallelly disposedme mbers adapted to guide tacks suspended by their heads between and from the edges of said parallel members, a stop adjacent the lower ends of each of said pairs of parallel members adapted to hold one tack, a stop finger in closev proximity to the upper faces of each'pair of parallel members adjacent their lower ends adapted to engage the lowermost tacks suspended on said members, and means to alternately move said fingers and said stops away from said parallel members whereby said columns of tacks will be moved downwardly on said raceways step by step and the lowermost tacks in the columns of tacks on said parallel members released one at a time;

15. device of the class described having, in combination, a raceway adapted to guide tacks, said raceway including a pair of inclined parallelly disposed members adapted to guide tacks suspended by their heads between and from the edges of said parallel members, a stop adjacent the lower ends of said pair of parallel members adapted to hold one tack, a stop finger in close proximity to the upper faces of said parallel members adjacent their lower ends adapted to engage the lowermost tack suspended on said members, means to alternately move said fingers and said stops away from said parallel members, whereby said column of tacks will be moved downwardly on said raceway step by step and the lowermost tacks in the column of tacks on said parallel members released one at a time, and means to wipe the tacks from said stops during the movements of said stops away from the ends of said parallel members.

16. A device of the class described having, in combination, a raceway adapted to guide tacks, said raceway including a pair of inclined parallelly disposed members adapted to guide tacks suspended by their heads between and from the edges of said parallel members, a stop adjacent the lower ends of said parallel members adapted to hold one tack, a stop finger in close proximity to the upper faces of said )arallel members adjacent their lower en s adapted to engage the lowermost tacks suspended on said members, said raceway also including a grooved pivoted guide adapted to be rocked transversely of said parallel members about an axis located substantially beneath the lower ends of said parallel members, said guide adapted to catch the tacks one at a time from said parallel members, and means to position the outer free end of said guide.

17. A device of the class described having, in combination, a hopper adapted to contain tacks, a chute directed into said hopper, means adapted to collect a plurality of tacks from said hopper and deposit said tacks upon said chute, a raceway adapted to receive tacks from said chute and conduct the same outwardly from said hopper, and a shield arranged transversely of said raceway adapted to deflect misplaced tacks as they attempt to slide down said raceway.

18. A device of the class described having, in combination, a hopper adapted to contain tacks, a chute directed into said hopper, means adapted to collect a plurality of tacks from said hopper and deposit said tacks upon said chute, a raceway adapted to receive tacks from said chute and conduct the same outwardly from said hopper, a shield arranged transversely of said raceway adapted to deflect misplaced tacks as they attempt to slide down said raceway, and means to remove said shield out of the path of said tacks.

19. A device of the class described having,

in combination, a hopper adapted to contain tacks, means adapted to collect a plurality of tacks from said hopper, means to move said collecting means to cause said tacks to slide therefrom, a chute disposed transversely of the path of movement of said tacks adapted to intercept said tacks as they slide from said collecting means and to direct said tacks toward said hopper, means interposed between said rotary member and said chute adapted to direct tacks from said rotary member against said chute, and a raceway arranged beneath said chute adapted to receive tacks therefrom and to conduct the same suspended by their heads outwardly from said hopper.

20. A device of the class described having,

in combination, a hopper adapted to contain tacks, a plurality of raceways leading outwardly from said hopper, a plurality of chutes directed toward said raceways, and means to collect tacks from said hopper and deposit them on said chutes, said chutes being pivotally mounted above said raceways and adapted to be swung away therefrom whereby free access to said raceways will be possible.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

BRADFORD B. WATERMAN.

Witnesses:

CHARLES S. GooDING, SYDNEY E. TAFT.

(Iopies of thia patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

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