A NEW CONSTRUCTION OF NUT, AND MODE OF FIXING AND RELEASING THE SAME, TO BEUS PURPOSES TOICH THEARELICA
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Ellis Harris, of Mile End Road, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "A NEW CONSTRUCTION OF
NUT, AND MODE OF FIXING AND RELEASING THE SAME, TO BE EMPLOYED FOR
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Ellis Harris
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 5th April 1875.
I, ALFRED ELLIS HARRIS, of Mile End Road, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A
NEW CONSTRUCTION OF NUT, AND MODE OF FIXING AND RELEASING THE SAME, TO BE
EMPLOYED FOR THE VARIOUS PURPOSES TO WHICH THE SAME ARE APPLICABLE," to
be as follows (that is to say) :-
My Invention has reference to a new construction of screw nut by
fitting the same or others of ordinary descriptions with a rigid safety
fastening capable of being released at will, and otherwise so arranged as

page_text: to prevent the nuts from getting loose or unscrewed upon the bolts or
other surfaces to which they are applied, such, for example, as to plumber
blocks or other parts of machinery, axles for carts, patent boxes for
vehicles, fish plate joints for railway metals, or to any or all of the
various descriptions of mechanism in which nuts and bolts are employed;
and consists in fitting within a recess or cavity formed in the body of
tho nuts a spring pall working on a small fixed pivot so as to take into
ratchet teeth or countersunk niches cut in the face of the plumber
block or other surfaces to be held by the nuts and bolts, in connection
with which a pad of vulcanized india-rubber or metal spring of any
required form is employed in giving the reacting spring movement to
the pall and throwing it into the ratchet, whilst a small set screw, pin,
or other arrangement acting within the nut is brought to bear upon the
pall for releasing it from the ratchet when required, and thus enable the
nut to be unscrewed as aforesaid. The pivot on which the pawl turns
can be made of copper, brass, or other metals, coated or otherwise for
preventing corrosion,
The advantages obtained from the above screw nuts over all others in
uso consists in their being rendered immovably fixed until required to
be released by the set screw or other contrivance for withdrawing the
pall from the ratchet.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Ellis Harris in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 18th September 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED 2
ELLIS HARRIS, of Mile End Road, in the County of Middlesex, send
grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of April, in the
of our
year
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-eighth 8
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Alfred Ellis Harris, Her special licence
that I, the said Alfred Ellis Harris, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as 1, the said Alfred Ellis. Harris, my

page_text: "
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, usc,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A
New Construction of Nut, and Mode of Fixing and RELEASING THE SAME, TO BE
EMPLOYED FOR THE VARIOUS PURPOSES TO WHICH THE SAME ARE APPLICABLE,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Ellis
Harris, my executors or. administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, should particu-
larly 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 Alfred Ellis Harris, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement and the Drawings thorein referred to (that is to
say) :—
My Invention has for its object a new construction of screw nut by
fitting within the body of the same a rigid safety fastening capable of
being released at will, and so arranged as to prevent the nuts from
getting loose or unscrewed upon the bolts or other surfaces to which
they are applied, such, for example, as to plumber blocks, grease cups
of engine, or other parts of machinery, axles of carts, carriages, and
other vehicles, fish plate joints for railway metals, or other kinds of
mechanism in which bolts and nuts are used; and consists in fitting a
spring pall within a recess or cavity formed in the nut so as to work
upon a small fixed pivot and take into ratchet teeth or countersunk
niches cut in the face of the said plumber blocks or other surfaces to be
tightly held together by the nuts and bolts, in connection with which a
pad of vulcanized india-rubber or metal spring of a spiral or other form
is employed for retaining the pall in the teeth of the ratchet, whilst a
small set screw, pin, or other arrangement acting within the nut is
brought to bear down upon the opposite end of the pall and release it
from the ratchet-when required to unscrew the nut. The pivot on-which
the pall turns should be made of copper, or brass, or other metal
previously coated or otherwise for preventing corrosion.
.

page_text: The advantage derived by the employment of the above screw nuts
over all others in use enables them to be immovably fixed untill
required to be unscrewed by withdrawing the pall from the ratchet
aforesaid.
And in order that my said Invention may be more fully understood
and readily carried into effect I now proceed to describe the same by aid
of the accompanying Drawings, reference being had to the letters and
figures thereon marked (that is to say), -
Fig. 1 represents a top or plan view of a screw nut upon my improved
principle of construction detached from the bolt, Fig. 2, back view 1
shewing the pall fitted within the body of the same; Fig. 3, sectional
side elevation of the nut attached to the ratchet plate or surface; Fig. 4,
transverse vertical -section- taken through. the dotted line in Fig. 2;
Fig. 5, side elevation of a rail shewing the application of the said nuts
and bolts and mode of fixing the same thereto; Fig. 6, sectional end 1
elevation thereof In cach Figure the same lotters of reference denote
similar corresponding parts.
A, A, body of the [nut; B, B, thread or screw for receiving the
bolt; C, C, the recess in the body of the said nut; D, D, the pall working
within the said recess upon a pivot or otherwise formed fulcrum 2
bearing E, as represented; F, F, india-rubber pad or other spring for
actuating the pall; G; G, set screw upset pin point or otherwise for
liberating the pall from the ratchet and enabling the nut to be unscrewed;
H, I, fish plate or other surface in which the ratchet or indentations I, I,
are formed; J, J, drilled hole tapped or otherwise for receiving the set 2
screw G or pin so as to depress the lever pall as aforesaid; K, K,
portion of a rail or other surface; L, L, screw bolt.
The action of the nut is as follows:-On screwing it down upon its
scat the pall is carried round with it and finally caught and retained in
one of the ratchet teeth so as to be completely locked, but when desiring g
to remove the nut from the bolt the set screw has to be turned down
upon the upper end of the pall so as to raise the opposite end out of the
ratchet.
In conclusion to the foregoing description I would here briefly note
that metal springs of any shape or construction may be employed for 3

page_text: rubber in place of the metal springs, being less liable to get out of
order.
And I would further note that a pin key or other contrivance may be
employed in lieu of the set screw, or otherwise arranged, as in practico
may be found necessary.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of this my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed
and carried into effect, I would have it clearly understood that I do not
by any means intend to confine myself to the precise details herein-
before set forth and described, as the same may be otherwise varied
without departing from the general principle of this my said Invention;
nor do I claim as new and of my said Invention the exclusive use of the
several parts, combinations, and arrangement herein-before described
and set forth except when the same are employed in and for the purposes
of my said Invention, which I hereby declare to consist in the con-
struction and employment of screw nuts fitted with a pall and ratchet
locking action, substantially in the manner and for the purposes herein-
beforo set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Ellis Harris, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.