A NIPPING LEVER, FOR CAUSING THE ROTATION OF WHEELS, SHAFTS, OR CYLINDERS, UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUM- STANCES
Year: 1837

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ROBINSON, of North Shields, in the County of Northumberland, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His late most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-eighth day of February, in the seventh year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Robinson, His especial licence that I, the said John Robinson, my exors,
admiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Robinson, my exors,
aditiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A NIPPING LEVER, FOR
CAUSING THE ROTATION OF WHEELS, SHAFTS, OR CYLINDERS, UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUM-
STANCES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me,
the said John Robinson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to
be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in comphance with the said proviso, 1, the said
John Robinson, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to consist
in a nipping lever applied to the rim of a wheel, or to a rimmed flange, as
the case may be, in such manner that when the outer arm of the lever is
acted upon the inner arm presses against the said rim, and causes a nip,
which enables the power applied to the outer arm of the lever to exert itself
in forcing round--the said-wheel or moving the said flange, together with any
shaft, cylinder, or other machinery to which such wheel or flange may be
attached. And in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said John
Robinson, do hereby describe the manner in which my said Invention is to be
performed by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Draw-
ing annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figures 1 and 2 represent my said Invention applied to forcing round the
chain cylinder of an ordinary crane for raising heavy.goods. A is the said
cylinder for the chain to be wound upon. B, C, are two rimmed flanges, one
at each end of the said cylinder. D, E, (which will be described in detail
hereafter,) are two of my said nipping levers, with what I call their sliding
boxes F, G, and are applied one to the rim of each flange. These levers are
so constructed that when their outer arms H, I, are not acted upon, they will,
with their boxes, slide freely round the rims of the flanges to which they are
respectively applied. J, K, are two connecting rods leading up to the
vibrating arms L, M; these arms turn on the pivot N, and as their handles.
O, P, are raised or depressed by the workmen at the crane, so the levers
alternately nip or release. the rims of their respective flanges, and thus give
a very powerful and continuous revolving motion to the cylinder A of the
crane. Figure 3 is a separate view of one of the rimmed flanges and one
of the nipping levers, with one half of its sliding box removed, for the sliding
boxes, it will be seen, are made in two parts and bolted together. The nipping
lever is here shewn with its inner arm (which I call its tusk) pressing against
the rim, its outer arm being acted upon, and the dotted lines shew the position
it would assume when released from the nip by the downward action of the
vibrating arm to which its connecting rod is attached. Figure 4 is a plan
of one of the nipping levers and its sliding box, shewing how the latter is
made in two parts and bolted together, the bolt Q being the fulcrum of the
lever, and R, S, (see also Figure 3,) two smaller bolts to assist in holding
the two parts together.
Now, whereas it is evident that my said nipping lever is equally appli-

page_text: cable to ships' windlasses, where they may be used either with connecting
rods and vibrating arms, as here shewn, or with the ordinary handspike,
in which case it will be necessary to make a socket in the end of the outer
arm of the lever to receive the handspike; and that it is applicable in fact
to many other pieces of machinery where it is required to cause wheels, shafts,
or cylinders to rotate under similar circumstances. And whereas I do not
claim the mode of acting upon the outer arm of my said nipping lever as
any part of my Invention, for that may vary to suit the particular cir-
cumstances under which the said nipping lever is applied. But whereas I
claim as my Invention the nipping lever, with its tusk and sliding box,
herein-before described, applied to a rimmed wheel, or to a rimmed flange, for
the purpose of causing the same to rotate or move together with any shaft,
cylinder, or other suitable machinery which may be attached thereto or
connected therewith. And such
And such my Invention being, to the best of my
knowledge and belief, entirely new, and never before used within that part of
His said late Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, His said Dominion of Wales, or the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
I do hereby declare this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do
verily believe this my said Specification doth comply in all respects, fully and
without reserve or disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent contained; wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain
exclusive right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, the
Eighteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand