IMPROVEMENTS IN FLEXIBLE SHAFTING, AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH FOR TRANSMITTING POWER
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Haseltine at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
September 1870.- A communication from abroad by James Beall
Morrison, of St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
I, GEORGE HASELTINE, of the "International Patent Office," South-
ampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FLEXIBLE SHAFTING, AND APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH FOR TRANSMITTING POWER," a communication, to be as follows :—
The first part of my Invention consists in the construction of a
flexible shaft, by which motion is conveyed from a stationary rotating
shaft or head to a drill, burr, or other tool, enabling the tool to be
applied to any object within its range.
The second part of the said Invention consists in the construction
of a sleeve enveloping the outer portion of the flexible shaft and
extending a greater or less distance toward the fixed end of the said
shaft, the said sleeve giving journal bearing to the enclosed part of the
shaft, and in most cases to the tool.

page_text: The third part of the said Invention consists in an adjustable head or
socket which gives journal bearing to a tool, the head being connected
by a universal or a common hinge to a sleeve which envelopes the
extremity of the sleeve before-mentioned and admits of turning there-
upon, so that the tool can be adjusted to any desired angle with the
sleeve, and the latter may be freely turned when in use.
The fourth part of the said Invention consists in the combination
with the said flexible shaft of a parallel bracket which admits of swinging
_to_the_right_or_left_of_vertical_adjustment, or of extension or contraction;
a tray for operating tools being supported upon the bracket and main-
taining its horizontal position during all of these movements. One shaft
connects by a spiral or helical wire to a section of another shaft, the
said wire being enveloped in a short piece of india-rubber pipe which
allows it free flexure. This universal joint turns in a swivel eye. The
pivot of the swivel forms the pintle of the upper end of the hinge
by which the adjustable bracket is connected to the stand. The said
pintle passes vertically through the ear of a plate attached to the side
of the stand. The pintle also passes through the top of the strap which
is stepped by another pintle in the ear. The strap consists of two
perpendicular bars connected at the top and bottom where the strap is
pivoted to the ears. The parallel bars are pivoted to the strap by pivots
which pass through the sides of the strap and through the said bars.
These bars are also pivoted in like manner to the strap by pivot pins.
The strap has pivoted to it (by pivots or pintles) a bracket supporting
the instrument tray. The pintle at the upper end of the strap forms
also the pintle of the swivel eye which is similar to that, and gives
journal bearing to a universal joint. The said joint is attached to a
shaft section, which turns in a box, and which after passing through
the box is attached by a spiral helix to another section of shaft, by a
similar helix the shaft section is attached to the socket head. The
socket of the head is square and receives a square end of the shaft
section. The shaft ends in a helix carrying a socket head into which
screws the drilling tool. The said socket head turns in a tubular box
having an arm ending in a hollow ball adjustable in a socket. This
ball has a circular opening, and through this opening passes a screw
bolt having a hemispherical head, whose convex side is made to press
against the ball to render the joint rigid. The bolt traverses the tube,
and by a nut the head is forced against the ball. The tube is connected

page_text: by a bifurcated arm to a sleeve, which turns at will upon the tube
in which the last mentioned section of the shaft and the head have
journal bearing. Another section of the shaft turns in a section of pipe,
and over this pipe is drawn a sleeve of india-rubber. The portions of
the sleeve covering the helices before-mentioned are lined with helices
of wire which serve to support the sleeve and yet allow flexibility to the
joint. Within the end of the sleeve is a section of tubing which serves
to connect the sleeve to its fixed box. The sleeve as before-mentioned
has free rotation on the tube and is held thereon by a set screw whose
point enters a circumferential groove in the said tube. The sleeve may
be removed and a straight drill put in the place of the shaft section.
The drill will then 'have near its outer end a journal bearing in the tube,
while its inner end will be held in the socket by a set screw.
A plain
"rule joint" may be used instead of the joint above described, the same
being tightened to hold the tool at any desired angle by turning up a pintle
screw. In this simple form the tool may be set at any angle. The
bracket is sustained at the desired elevation by means of a clamp, whose
jaws are held together by a thumb screw. The pivots are so arranged
that the flexible shaft is undisturbed in its bearings in whatever way
the bracket may be moved. The bracket may be raised and lowered
without in any way affecting its own horizontal position or that of the
tray. The shaft may be turned by a belt upon a pulley or by means of
a treadle. One or more bearings may be given to the cylindrical sections
of the shaft.