Claims
- 1. Apparatus for forming a nail from a wire formed from a malleable metal, comprising:
- means including a pair of gripping elements for gripping said wire between said gripping elements in such a manner that one end of said wire projects outwardly from said gripping elements, said wire defining a shank of said nail having a longitudinal axis; and
- means for forming a head upon said wire, by deforming a portion of said malleable metal comprising said one projecting end of said wire, in such a manner that said head has a circumferential edge defining a complete circle and an axis which is radially offset with respect to said axis of said shank such that a peripheral portion of said shank is disposed substantially tangential to a respective circumferential edge portion of said head.
- 2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
- each of said gripping elements comprises a recess wherein said projecting end of said wire is disposed, said recesses coacting together so as to define a cavity having an axis which is disposed in a radially offset relationship with respect to said axis of said shank and within which said head of said nail is formed; and wherein
- said head-forming means comprises a punch movable into said cavity for deforming said portion of said malleable metal into a predetermined configuration defined by said punch and said cavity.
- 3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein:
- said punch comprises a cylindrical end portion defining an axis which is coaxially disposed with respect to said cavity, said end portion comprising two planar surfaces intersecting each other along a plane extending across said end portion, a first one of said two planar surfaces being disposed at an obtuse angle with respect to a second one of said two planar surfaces, said second one of said two planar surfaces being disposed within a plane which is substantially perpendicular to said axis of said punch, and said first one of said two planar surfaces leading said second one of said two planar surfaces as said cylindrical end portion of said punch enters said cavity so as to laterally deform said portion of said malleable metal within said cavity.
- 4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein:
- said obtuse angle is approximately 168.degree..
- 5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein:
- said recess of each one of said gripping element comprises an annular channel, said channels coacting together so as to define an annular rib upon said head of said nail as formed from said malleable metal by means of said punch and said cavity.
- 6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
- said gripping elements comprise semi-cylindrical elements.
- 7. Apparatus for forming a nail from a wire formed from a malleable metal, comprising:
- means including a pair of gripping elements for gripping said wire between said gripping elements in such a manner that one end of said wire projects outwardly from said gripping elements, said wire defining a shank of said nail having a longitudinal axis; and
- means for forming a head upon said wire, by deforming a portion of said malleable metal comprising said projecting end of said wire, in such a manner that said head has a circumferential edge and an axis which is radially offset with respect to said axis of said shank when said wire is viewed axially;
- said head forming means comprising an end portion defined by means of two planar surfaces intersecting each other along a plane extending across said end portion, a first one of said two planar surfaces being disposed at an obtuse angle with respect to a second one of said two planar surfaces for forming a first planar surface upon said head of said wire, which is disposed at an obtuse angle with respect to a second planar surface of said head of said wire, and which is disposed above said shank of said nail so as to be disposed at an angle with respect to said axis of said head and thereby serve as an indicating datum for indicating where said shank of said nail is located after said nail is driven into a substrate within which said shank is concealed while said second planar surface of said head of said wire nail is disposed perpendicular to said axis of said head of said wire nail.
- 8. The combination of claim 7 wherein each of said gripping elements has a recess where said projecting end of said wire projects said recesses coacting to define a cavity having an axis defined in a radially offset relationship with respect to said axis defined by said wire where gripped, and wherein said head-forming means comprises a punch adapted to deform said portion of said malleable metal including said projecting end of said wire into a shape defined by said punch and by said cavity.
- 9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8, wherein:
- said obtuse angle is approximately 168.degree..
- 10. The combination of claim 8 wherein said punch has an axis and has a cylindrical tip being movable into said recesses and having said end portion of said two planar surfaces, namely said first surface and said second surface intersecting said first surface at a vee extending across said cylindrical tip, said first surface being oriented at said obtuse, included angle relative to said second surface, said second surface being oriented at a right angle relative to said axis of said punch, said first surface leading said second surface when said cylindrical tip is moved axially into said cavity and constituting said means for deforming said portion of said malleable metal including said projecting end of said wire laterally.
- 11. The combination of claim 10 wherein the included angle is approximately 168.degree..
- 12. The combination of claim 8 wherein said recess of each of said gripping elements includes an annular channel, said annular channels coacting together so as to define an annular rib upon malleable metal deformed by said punch into said shape defined by said punch and by said cavity.
- 13. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7, wherein:
- said obtuse angle is approximately 168.degree..
- 14. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7, wherein:
- said gripping elements comprise semi-cylindrical elements.
- 15. Apparatus for forming a nail from a wire formed from a malleable metal, comprising:
- means including a pair of gripping elements for gripping said wire between said gripping elements in such a manner that one end of said wire projects outwardly from said gripping elements, said wire defining a shank of said nail having a longitudinal axis; and
- means for forming a head upon said wire, by deforming a portion of said malleable metal comprising said projecting end of said wire, in such a manner that said head has a circumferential edge and an axis which is radially offset with respect to said axis of said shank when said wire is viewed axially;
- said head forming means comprising means for forming an annular channel for defining an annular rib, upon said head of said nail as said head is formed from said portion of said malleable metal comprising said projecting end of said wire, which surrounds a circular cavity within said head of said nail wherein said annular rib and said circular cavity of said head of said nail serve to laterally stabilize said head of said nail with respect to a substrate into which said nail is driven.
- 16. Apparatus as set forth in claim 15, wherein:
- each of said gripping elements comprises a recess wherein said projecting end of said wire is disposed, said recesses coacting together so as to define a cavity having an axis which is disposed in a radially offset relationship with respect to said axis of said shank and within which said head of said nail is formed; and wherein
- said head-forming means comprises a punch movable into said cavity for deforming said portion of said malleable metal into a predetermined configuration defined by said punch and said cavity.
- 17. Apparatus as set forth in claim 16, wherein:
- said punch comprises a cylindrical end portion defining an axis which is coaxially disposed with respect to said cavity, said cylindrical end portion of said punch comprising two planar surfaces intersecting each other along a plane extending across said cylindrical end portion, a first one of said two planar surfaces being disposed at an obtuse angle with respect to a second one of said two planar surfaces for forming a first planar surface upon said head of said wire nail, which is disposed at an obtuse angle with respect to a second planar surface of said head of said wire nail, and which is disposed above said shank of said nail so as to be disposed at an angle with respect to said axis of said head and thereby serve as an indicating datum for indicating where said shank of said nail is located after said nail is driven into a substrate within which said shank is concealed, while said second planar surface of said head of said wire nail is disposed perpendicular to said axis of said head of said wire nail.
- 18. Apparatus as set forth in claim 17, wherein:
- said obtuse angle is approximately 168.degree..
- 19. Apparatus as set forth in claim 15, wherein:
- said gripping elements comprise semi-cylindrical elements.
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 597,025, filed Oct. 15, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,976.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
418918 |
Sep 1925 |
DEX |
0016648 |
Jan 1984 |
JPX |
1395410 |
May 1988 |
SUX |
232841 |
Apr 1925 |
GBX |
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
597025 |
Oct 1990 |
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