IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STILES USED IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PATHWAYS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Godfrey Thring, of Hornblotton Rectory, Somerset,
Clerk, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
STILES USED IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PATHWAYS."
Sealed the 19th March 1867, and dated the 22nd September 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Godfrey Thring at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd September 1866.
I, GODFREY THRING, of Hornblotton Rectory, Somerset, Clerk, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF STILES USED IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PATHWAYS," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to dispense with the necessity for getting
over a stile as heretofore generally practised and rendered necessary in
consequence of stiles having been constructed of solid fixed pieces of
wood, id est, two pieces of wood fixed in the ground and cross rails fixed
thereinto with a footboard, whereas by this Invention I propose to so.com-

page_text: struct stiles as that the upper part or upper cross bar thereof shall be capable
of being raised to allow persons to walk through instead of having to get
over the stile.
The following is an example of the manner in which I propose to construct
stiles according to this Invention, that is to say:-Two posts or uprights of
wood, metal, or other suitable material are firmly connected together by a
cross rail near the bottom of the said posts, so as to stand a few inches from
the surface of the ground when the posts are fixed thereinto. In the top of
each of the aforesaid posts I form a slot, in one of which is fitted one end of
a bar connected thereto by a pin or bolt to serve as a hinge; the other end of
this bar fits loosely into the slot in the opposite post. I also propose to connect
midway of the length of such said bar by a pin or bolt a pendant post, the
lower end of which takes into a hole formed in the fixed cross bar situated at
the bottom of the stile, as before stated, and the bottom of the said pendant
post is guided into the said hole by inclined planes fixed at each side of the
said hole. A stile thus constructed, when closed, effectually prevents the
passage of cattle, and by simply lifting the upper cross bar a free opening
will be established through which persons may pass. Upon loosing hold of
the aforesaid bar it falls by its gravity into its normal position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Godfrey Thring in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd March 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GODFREY
THRING, of Hornblotton Rectory, Somerset, Clerk, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Godfrey Thring, Her special licence that I, the said Godfrey
Thring, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Godfrey Thring, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for

page_text: "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STILES USED IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
PATHWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Godfrey
Thring, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after,
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Godfrey Thring, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say :-
.
The object of this Invention is to dispense with the necessity for getting
over a stile as heretofore generally practised and rendered necessary in
consequence of stiles having been constructed of solid fixed pieces of wood,
"id est," two pieces of wood fixed in the ground and cross rails fixed
thereinto with a footboard, whereas by this Invention I propose to so con-
struct stiles as that the upper part or upper cross bar thereof shall be capable
of being raised to allow persons to walk through instead of having to get
over the stile.
The following is an example of the manner in which I propose to construct
stiles according to this Invention, that is to say-Two posts or uprights of
wood, metal, or other suitable material are firmly connected together by a
cross rail near the bottom of the said posts, so as to stand a few inches from
the surface of the ground when the posts are fixed theeinto. In the top of
each of the aforesaid posts I form a slot, in one of which is fitted one end of
a bar connected thereto by a pin or bolt to serve as a hinge; the other end
of this bar 'fits loosely into the slot in the opposite post. I also propose to
connect midway of the length of such said bar by a pin or bolt a pendant post,
the lower end of which takes into a hole formed in the fixed cross bar situated
at the bottom of the stile, as before stated, and the bottom of the said pendant
post is guided into the said hole by inclined planes fixed at each side of the
said. hole. A stile thus constructed, when closed, effectually prevents the
passage of cattle, and by simply lifting the upper cross bar a free opening
will be established through which persons may pass. Upon loosing hold of
the aforesaid bar it falls by its gravity into its normal position.
And in order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Drawing

page_text: accompanying these Presents, and to the numerar ngures and sof
reference marked thereon respectively as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents a front elevation; Figure 2 a cross section through
the line A, B, at Figure' 1, and Figure 3 another elevation of an improved
"stile" constructed according to my said Invention. Figure 1 shews the
stile closed, and Figure 2 the stile opened. At each of the foregoing:
Figures I employ similar letters of reference to denote corresponding parts in
so far as such parts appear or can be seen at each of such said Figures
respectively.
A, A¹, mark standards or posts of wood, iron, or other suitable material,
the lower ends whereof are to be securely fixed in the ground; B, a cross
rail to be securely fixed by its ends into each of the posts A, A¹; C is another
cross rail forming the top rail of the stile; this rail is connected by a pin or
bolt at a to the top of the post A, a slot being made in the post to receive
this end of the said rail; the other post A' has also a slot formed at the top
thereof to receive the other end of the rail C. D is a bar of iron, wood, or.
other suitable material suspended from the rail C, to which it is connected.
loosely by a pin or bolt at 6; the lower end of the bar D is rounded, and such
part passes through a slot or hole formed in the cross rail B. E, E¹, are sloping
pieces of wood, iron, or other suitable material securely fixed by their ends to.
the posts A, A', and rail B; the piece E¹ has a groove c formed along its
surface to receive the bottom end of the bar D.
The operations of this improved stile are as follows:-Supposing the stile
to be closed, as at Figure 1, in order to open it to pass through, it is simply
necessary to lift up the top rail C, which will have the effect of lifting the bar
D out of the hole in the rail B, and the said bar moving on its fulcrum or pin
at the top will fall vertically against the post A, and thus present a clear
opening for any one to pass through: .It is intended that the rail C shall not
remain up of itself, but must be held up until the person has passed through,
so that the stile cannot possibly be left open for cattle to stray through; and
as the rail B is lowered the bottom of the bar D taking into the slot in the
piece E¹ will be guided thereby into the hole in the rail C, and thus the stile
will be securely closed; or the bar D may be connected by a pin or bolt to the
piece E¹ and slide in a slot in the said piece, so as to prevent the possibility of
the bar D being pushed out of its place.
Having now described and set forth the nature and object of my said
Invention for Improvements in the Construction of Stiles used in Public

page_text: and Private Pathways," together with the construction thereof, I would
remark in conclusion that I hereby declare my Invention to consist in and I
claim constructing stiles in the manner above stated, substantially as above
described with reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Godfrey Thring, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
GODFREY THRING. (L.S.)