US830072A - Nail-extractor. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED SEPT. 4, 1906.

J. A. HOULIHAN.

NAIL BXTRAGTOR.

APPLIOATION FILED OOT.16,1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT orrron.

NAIL-EXTRACTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 4, 1906.

Application filed October 16, 1905. Serial No. 282,879.

To all whom, it may concern.-

, Be it known that I, JOHN A. HOULIHAN, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in N ail-Extractors and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the drawings forming a part of this specification and to the numerals marked thereon.

My present invention relates to improvements in devices for extracting nails, staples, &c., from wood or other substances into which they have been driven; and the purpose of the invention is to provide an improved extractor which is driven into cooperative relation with the nail-head by a force applied transversely of the nail and which when operated will start the nail with long leverage and will draw the nail in a substantially straight line.

To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements in the construction and arrangements of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out particularly in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of an extractor constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same. Figs. 3 and 4 are bottom and top plan views, respectively,-of the extractor. Fig. 5 represents a section through the extractor and a claw-hammer, showing the manner of using the device to extract nails; and Fig. 6 represents a section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5.

The same reference-numerals designate similar parts in the several views.

Although the device may be equally adapted to extracting staples and other special or peculiarly-formed fastening devices, the present embodiment of the invention is particuiarly adapted to extracting nails of various forms, and it comprises generally a body portion 1, having its upper surface curved to form a seat or rest for the claws of an ordinary clawhammer, such as shown at 2 in Fig. 5, and at one end of the device and projecting above the surface of the seat 2 is a lug 3 of suitable form to engage between the claws of a claw-hammer or to provide a firm grip for any other suitable instrument, a dovetail or expanded form, such as shown,

being generally preferable, while the opposite end of the device is provided with an anvil 4 to receive blows from a hammer.

On the under side of the body portion are provided a pair of jaws 5, which extend from the body in a direction forwardly and downwardly and terminating in the points 6, the proximate walls of the jaws converging to form the beveled nail-engaging surfaces 7, while the lower edges 8 of the jaws are formed on a curve to bear on the wood or other substance adjacent to the nail to be extracted and serve as a fulcrum about which the body portion rocks in extracting the nail.

An extractor of the kind described is engaged with the nail to be extracted by placing the sharp points 6 at the forward ends of the jaws slightly in the rear and at either side of the naiLhead, and by striking the anvil 4 one or more blows with a hammer while the body portion of the device rests in an inclined position, such as shown in Fig. 5, the sharp points 6 will be driven through the wood or other substance at either side of the nail-head, causing the latter to be firmly wedged 011 the beveled walls 7 of the convergent jaws. By applying a claw-hammer to the device so that its claws engage the lug 3 while the body of the hammer rests in the seat 2 of the device and then making a tilting effort on the hammer-handle the extractor will rock on the lower surface S of the jaws as a fulcrum, the latter bearing on the wood or other substance close by the nail-head to produce a long leverage for starting the nail and rolling back toward the anvil 4 as the nail is extracted. This causes the greatest force to be applied to the nail while it is fully embedded and sometimes rusted in place, while as the length of the nail remaining in the substance gradually decreases as the extracting operation progresses by the changing fulcrum the leverage will be proportionately shortened, causing that portion of the jaws in engagement with the nail-head to move about a longer radius to accelerate the speed with which the nail is drawn and also largely preventing its bending or binding against the sides of the nail-hole. In extracting very large nails or nails that have rusted in place the hammer may be depressed so that it disengages from the seat 2 on the device, while the claws remain in engagement with the lug 3, and by giving the hammerhandle a sharp jerk to bring the head into en gagement with the seat 2 with a hammerblow considerableiforce will be brought to bear in a straight line in starting the nail.

By providing the beveled surfaces 7 on the proximate faces of the jawsnot only will nails having heads of different sizes be ac commodated, but these surfaces will engage the head at different positions relatively to the surface of the wood, and by providing the forward ends of the jaws with the sharp points the jaws readily enter the wood and engage on either side of the'nail-head, even when the-latter are punched or countersunk belowthe surface of the wood.

An extractor embodying my invention is so small and convenient to handle that it may be carried in the pocket, while in use it is capable of reaching and firmly engaging vthe heads of nails that are deeply sunk beneath the surface of the wood and extracting them without disfiguring or marring the surface, and, moreover, as the device is engaged with the nail by a force applied in a direction transversely thereto, and consequently parallel to the surface of the wood, nails driven through the thickness of boards that are springy and have no firm backing or support may e easily extracted, whereas the operation would be either difi icult or impossible were the hammer-strokes delivered in a direction transversely of the board.

I claim as my invention 1. A nail-extractor comprising a body portion having relatively fixed convergent jaws, an anvil arranged toward the narrow ends of the jaws, and an operating projection adapted to cooperate with a suitable tool located at the widened ends of the jaws.

2. Anailextractor, embodying a body portion having relatively fixed convergent jaws thereon adapted to cooperate with a nailhead, an anvil at one end ofthe device and in .rear of the jaws, and an operating projection adjacent to the jaws for the application of an. operatingtool. v

3. A nail-extractor embodying a body portion having relatively fixed nail-engaging portions formed with convergent Walls to cooperate with a nail-head, an operating pro jection adjacent to the nail-engaging portions adapted to cooperate with the claws of a claw-hammer, and a seat adjacent to the pro= jection to receive a portion of the hammer while the latter is in engagement with the projection.

4. A nail-extractor comprising a body por tion having nail-engaging portions thereon provided with oppositely-beveled surfacesto cooperate with a nail-head, said portions being curved and adapted to bear on the substance surrounding the nail as a fulcrum, and an operating projection adjacent to the forward ends of the nail-engaging surfaces for the, application of a suitable tool for rocking the device on its fulcrum. l

5. A nail-extractor composed of a single piece of material having a pair of jaws convergent in the direction of their length, an anvil formed toward the convergent end of the jaws, and a portion connecting the widened portions of the jaws and having a projection thereon for the application of a suitable tool.

6. A nail-extractor composed of a single piece of material provided with a pair of jaws convergent in the direction of their length and having their inner walls inclined in a direction transversely of their length and adapted to grip a nail-head between them, an anvil arranged in line with the jaws, and an en larged projection immediately adjacent to the jaws to receive a suitable operating-tool,

JOHN A. HOULIHAN.

Witnesses;

CLARENCE A, BATEMAN, WALTER B, PAYNE.

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