Improvements in Smiths' Tongs and Plyers.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Mar., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 11th Dec., 1991-Accepted, 19th Jan., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Smiths' Tongs and Plyers.
I, BERNARD CHARLES ESMARCH, of 13 Hubert Road, Selly Oak, in the Parish
of Northfield in the County of Worcester, Manufacturer of Hardware, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention consists in a parallel link motion in rigid connection with a handle,.
and actuated by a lever, handle and lever being connected by a joint, and the whole
forming by its action and in its appearance a pair of tongs or plyers, the jaws of which
move parallel and will thus not only hold articles of different thicknesses, but will also
hold them much firmer than can be done by an ordinary pair of tongs or plyers.
The above I accomplish in the manner bereinafter described and illustrated by the
accompanying drawings.
a, Fig. 1, is a rod or bar flattened at one end into the form of the jaw b. A rod c,.
bent at an angle near one end, is connected with the rod a by the pin d, and with
the flat jaw by the pin e. The jaw is thus linked to the jaw band is further
connected with it by means of the forked link g and the pins K and h. The centres
of the pins K, h, e, and d form a parallelogram. If the lever c is moved in the
direction of the arrow it pulls back the jaw f and brings it nearer to the jaw b, as
shown in Fig. 2, consequently articles within certain limits of thickness can be
firmly clamped between these jaws, the leverage of the lever c being greatly
increased by the toggle action of the jaw f taking place when the latter is pulled
back.
Dated this 16th day of March 1894.
Improvements in Smiths' Tongs and Plyers.
I, BERNARD CHARLES ESMARCH, of 77 Barbarossa Street, Schoeneberg, Berlin,
German Empire, Mechanical Engineer, late of Hubert Road Works, Selly Oak
near Birmingham, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
In order to avoid the disadvantage common to smith's tongs of the ordinary type:
to hold with the full length of the jaws work of a certain thickness only, and in order
to greatly increase the grip of the jaws, I connect both jaws by two parallel links
of equal length from joint to joint, thus obtaining a parallel-link motion; one of the
jaws 1 prolong into a bandle; another handle l attach to one of the beforenamed.
links, which is extended and bent at an angle, and in this way I connect the handle
with the other jaw. If the handles are pulled together this last-mentioned jaw is
shifted and is thus made to approach the other jaw, keeping parallel with it, which
results in both jaws firmly clamping with their full length any bar or similar work
put between them, the thickness of which may vary within certain limits, and the
length of which may be unlimited, provided the links are forked and of sufficient
width to allow the work to pass.

page_text: In the following description illustrated by the accompanying drawings I show how
the idea hereinbefore contained is practically carried out for the construction of
smith's tongs.
In the drawings
Fig. 1. shows the tongs while holding a bar of the greatest thickness that can be
accommodated.
Fig. 2. is a vertical section through the jaws.
Fig. 3 shows the tongs with reversed handle, holding a much thinner bar.
Fig. 4 is a section through the reversible handle and part of the after-link.
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of either above part.
Fig. 6 shows a slip jaw, and
Fig. 7 shows how the same is used in the tongs, and
Fig. 8 shows a slip jaw for holding round bars.
9
In Figs. 1 and 3 A, A' are the jaws, which Fig. shows to be of U-section.
b, c, are the links, which are forked, the jaws passing through them. The lower
jaw A is rigidly connected with the handle d'. The link c is extended and bent
to form an angle-lever, the arm c' of which may be bored to receive the tube which
forms the handle d; and is slightly bent at the point e. Figs. 4 and 5 show how by
means of the pin f which engages in the notches g g¹ the handle d can be fixed in
two positions opposite one another, the spiral spring by means of the wire t always
keeping the pin tight in the notches. The purpose of this arrangement is to secure
a convenient position of the handles for all thicknesses of work to be held, as shown
by Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 1 shows the position of the handled when the thickest bar
within the capacity of the tongs is being held by them; if it is intended to hold a
much thinner one the handle d is turned into the opposite position shown in Fig. 3,
and one thus avoids that the handles touch and prevent sufficient closing of the
jaws:
In order to hold work of still less thickness than the tongs can accommodate when
quite closed I employ slip jaws of hook-like shape, as shown by Fig. 6, which can
be attached to the tongs in the manner shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 8 shows a slip jaw
the gripping part of which is of V-like, or may be of half round, section, which
enables the tongs to hold round bars as well as square ones.
Owing to the links b and c being forked it is possible to pass a bar right through
the jaws and to grip it at any point, as shown in the Figs. 1, 3, and 7.
The leverage of the handle d is multiplied by the toggle-action of the links when
drawn back, and thus a slight pressure at the handles insures a very tight grip of
the jaws.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :>
1. The employment of a parallel-link motion having forked links, connected with
handles, substantially as set forth, the combination forming smith's tongs, possessing
the advantages of holding bars or similar work of different thicknesses and of any
length, at any point, with the full length of the jaws, and with very great power
even with only slight pressure being applied to the handles.
2: The use of a bent and reversible handle, as described, for the purpose of
securing full utilisation of the tongs, and convenience in handling.
3. The use of slip jaws attachable to the tongs in the manner shown, for the
purpose of further increasing the capacity of the tongs in holding work of different
thicknesses..
Dated this 11th day of December 1894.
E. H. G. BREWSTER,
Agent for Applicant.