IMPROVEMENTS IN GRIPPING TOOLS, PUNCHES, SHEARS, AND OTHER SIMILAR IMPLEMENTS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to De Lancy Kennedy, of the City, County, and
State of New York, in the United States of America, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GRIPPING TOOLS, PUNCHES, SHEARS, AND
OTHER SIMILAR IMPLEMENTS."
Sealed the 4th September 1874, and dated the 10th March 1874.
to
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said De Lancy Kennedy at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 10th March 1874, pursuant to the 9th Section of
the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DE LANCY
KENNEDY, of the City, County, and State of New York, in the United
States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
GRIPPING TOOLS, PUNCHES, SHEARS, AND OTHER SIMILAR IMPLEMENTS," and have
petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my exccutors, administrators,

page_text: and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have mado
solemn Declaration that I am the true and first Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said De Lancy Kennedy, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to a novel means of applying and gradually
increasing power in such implements as are used for gripping, punching,
shearing, or cutting, either by hand or otherwise, and it consists in the
application to the levers of such instruments of rolling cams; whereby
the deviation of the bearing or contact point of said cams from the
straight line between the points of resistance is gradually reduced,
and a solid bearing, as contradistinguished from pivotal bearings is
obtained; thus rendering the instrument easier of operation, more
powerful, and less liable to wear or fracture.
But that my Invention may be fully understood I will now proceed
to described the same in detail by reference to the accompanying
Drawings which form part of this Specification, and in which,-
Figure 1 represents a side view of a pair of hand cutting pliers or
nippers closed, and in dotted red lines, showing the open position of the
jaws and levers.
Figure 2 represents a similarly constructed apparatus, adapted to
have one limb secured to a bench, or in the jaws of a vice, for shearing,
punching, or other use requiring more power than the grip of the hand
will afford.
Figure 3 represents a pair of hand cutting shears, constructed
according to my Invention."
In Figure 1 A, A, represent the cutting levers, which are pivoted
together in the usual manner at a, and to the rearward ends of these
levers are pivoted at 6 the hand levers B, B', which are provided with
inwardly arranged eccentric cams c, c', which by the motion of the
levers B, B', are caused to move around their pivots b, to which their
peripheries are eccentric, whereby they have a gradually increasing
leverage on the cutting levers A, A, and being toothed on their
peripheries gear together, are thus prevented from slipping; the axes d
.

page_text: of the peripheries of these cams are connected by a link e on either side,
by which their contact is preserved whilst the levers B, B', are being
separated to open the jaws D of the nippers.
In Figure 2 is represented an instrument, one jaw K of which is
designed to be secured to a bench or in the jaws of a vice, or to rest its
whole length on a table, the one lever B₁ only being movable; this
instrument is practically the same as that before described, except that
owing to the lower lever B being stationary the lower cam c is pivoted
to it at b, its action then in combination with the cam c' and links e will
be precisely the same as that before described and represented in
Figure 1. By this construction the bearing point or contact of the
cams is more nearly in and more gradually approximating to a straight
line between their fulcra or connecting points with the levers A, A,
of the cutters than can be obtained with the ordinary toggle levers, and
the resistance is borne by the peripheries of the cams instead of by pins
or pivotal connections, which are weak, liable to rapid wear, and
consequent imperfect action.
.
In Figure 3 a pair of large scissors or hand shears are represented,
the jaws D forming the cutters or blades of the scissors, whilst the
levers B, B¹, are formed into handles, with loops or eyes for the
reception of the fingers of the operator. In other respects this imple.
ment is arranged exactly in the same manner as that represented by.
Figure 2.
Having thus described my Invention, and means by which the same
may be carried into effect, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the exact details shown and described, as the same
may be varied without departing from the peculiar character of my
Invention; but what I do claim and desire to secure by Letters
Patent is,―
First. The arrangement and construction of gripping tools, punches,
shears, and other similar implements, substantially as shown and
described.
Second. The jaws, blades, and cutters D, having a common fulcrum a
and levers or handles A in combination with the cam levers B, B¹, linked
together in the manner described, and pivoted upon their sides to the
ends of the levers or handles A, whereby an increased leverage is
obtained, substantially as set forth.

page_text: Third. The cam levers B, B', linked together in the manner described,
whereby an increased leverage is obtained in combination with the jaws,
blades, or cutters D, having a common fulcrum a and their levers A,
substantially as shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said De Lancy Kennedy, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
Witness,
.
W. MORRIS SMITH.
DE LANCY KENNEDY. (L.S.)