AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING AND RAISING BLOCKS OF PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Payton, of 21, Great George Street,
Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Inven-
tion of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING AND RAISING BLOCKS OF
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Walter Payton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th October 1872.
I, WALTER PAYTON, of 21, Great George Street, Westminster, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING AND RAISING
BLOCKS OF STONE AND OTHER HEAVY BODIES," to be as follows:-
My said Invention relates to a simple but efficient apparatus, whereby
blocks of stone, iron castings, and other bodies may be conveniently held,
adjusted, lifted, or hauled, so that they may be placed in any desired

page_text: position to allow access to any portion of them, and may be readily
turned over or moved from one place to another.
The said apparatus is constructed as follows:-Two arms or bars with
steel centre points are attached to levers which are operated by rods,
links, or chains, connected to one of their ends by a pin joint or swivel,
and having their other ends connected by one common centre pin to a
swivelling eye or loop, by means of which the apparatus may be sus-
pended or attached to a hauling, lifting, or stationary chain, rope, or rod
when in use. The aforesaid arms or bars extend down in a vertical
direction from the fulcrums of the levers which are connected by a rod
or chain, and the levers extend horizontally therefrom or nearly so
toward the centre of the apparatus. The stone block or other body or
object to be adjusted, lifted, or hauled is placed between the said centre
points, holes being formed in it for their reception. On pressure being
applied to the levers, or on lifting the apparatus, the levers will cause
the steel points to grip the stone block or other body between them,
and the said block or other body cannot escape or fall from the
apparatus, as the greater its weight the more securely it will be held so
as to be safely moved from place to place, while at the same time the
steel points allow the said block or other body to be turned with facility
to bring either of its faces or sides into any desired position.
I connect the two arms by a horizontal bar or rod, whereon I form at
each end a screw. At one end this screw is right handed, and at the
other left handed. On thèse screws I fit blocks which form the fulcrums
for the levers. These levers have the arms attached to them, and are
preferably made with rectangular sockets to fit over the blocks; and the
latter have at their outer ends flanges which act as stops to limit the
movement of the said levers and arms upon their fulcrums. Each end
of the screw is provided with a hand wheel or pulley or other contrivance
for turning the screw, and I thereby adjust the said blocks to set the
arms with the steel points nearer together or farther apart, according to
the size of the block or other body to be moved or supported. To
facilitate bringing the steel points so close together as to admit of the
apparatus being used for very thin or small bodies as well as larger ones,
the levers are made double at the ends to which the links, rods, or chains
are attached, and the said doubled parts are so arranged as to distance
apart as to admit on closing up the apparatus of the doubled ends of one
of the levers passing between the doubled ends of the other lever.

page_text: In some cases instead of the screw rod or bar I may use a plain bar,
or a bar having holes and shifting pins, or a chain for connecting or
varying the distance between the fulcrums of the two levers; and chains
may be used instead of the aforesaid rods or links for connecting the
levers to the central suspending loop or swivel. The latter may also be
provided with a small grooved pulley over which to pass a rope or chain
connected to the block or other body suspended in the apparatus. The
rope or chain may then be used to make fast, control, or turn the said
block or other body upon the aforesaid centre points.
The horizontal levers and the vertical arms carrying the steel points
may be made of more than one piece, and may in some cases be con-
nected together in such a manner as to admit of their operating each
other from separate fulcrums.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Walter Payton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th April 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WALTER
PAYTON, of 21, Great George Street, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Walter Payton, Her special licence, that I,
the said Walter Payton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Walter Payton, 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 "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING
AND RAISING BLOCKS OF STONE AND OTHER HEAVY BODIES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Walter Payton, my executors or ad-
ministrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of

page_text: 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 Walter Payton, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing, forming a part of this Specification:-
My said Invention relates to a simple but efficient apparatus whereby
blocks of stone, iron castings, and other bodies may be conveniently
held, adjusted, lifted or hauled, so that they may be placed in any
desired position to allow access to any portion of them, and may be
readily turned over or moved from one place to another.
The said apparatus is preferably constructed as shewn in the accom-
panying Drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved
apparatus, with a block of stone held therein; Figure 2 is a plan of the
said apparatus; Figure 3 is an end elevation of the same; Figures 4°
and 5 are side and end elevations of one arm of the said apparatus pro-
vided with a disc or washer herein-after described. Like letters indicate
the same parts throughout the Drawing.
The said apparatus has two bell-crank levers a, a, each of which is
preferably formed of two parallel plates bolted together as shewn. The
vertical arms a¹ of these levers are provided with steel centre points b.
Their horizontal arms a² are connected to rods or links d, or chains by
pin joints e or swivels, the other ends of the said rods, links, or chains
being connected by one common centre pin f to a swivel eye or loop g,
by means of which the apparatus may be suspended or attached to a
hauling, lifting, or stationary chain, rope, or rod when in use. The
levers a, a, move upon fulcrums at c, c, and the said fulcrums are con-
nected by an adjusting rod h, as clearly shewn in Figure 1. The stone
block A or other body or object to be adjusted, lifted, or hauled is placed
between the said centre points b, holes being formed in it for their
reception. On pressure being applied to the levers, or on lifting the
apparatus the said levers will cause the steel points b to grip the stone
blocks or other body between them, and the said block or other body

page_text: cannot escape or fall from the apparatus, as the greater its weight the
more securely it will be held. It may therefore be safely moved from
place to place, while at the same time the steel points allow the said
block or other body to be turned with facility to bring either of its faces
or sides into any desired position.
I prefer that the adjusting rod h which connects the fulcrums of the
two levers a, a, should have a screw thread formed on each end. At
one end this screw is right handed, and at the other left handed, as
shewn. On these screwed portions of the rod or bar I fit blocks i which
are formed with screw threads to fit the screw rod or bar h. These
blocks carry the fulcrums of the levers a, a; the blocks i are fitted
between the side plates of the said levers; the fulcrum pins c, c, are
formed solidly on the said blocks i, and the latter have at their outer
ends flanges which act as stops to limit the movement of the said
levers upon their fulcrums. Each end of the screw rod h is provided '
with hand wheels j or pulleys k, or it may have a hand wheel at one
end and a pulley at the other, or may be provided with other con-
trivances for turning the said rod, and I thereby adjust the blocks i to
set the levers a with the steel points 6 nearer together or farther apart,
according to the size of the block of stone or other body to be moved,
supported, or adjusted.
In Figure 1 I have shewn the block A with centre holes formed in it
for the reception of the points b, but in cases where it is not desirable to
make these holes in the object or body to be supported, I may use discs
or washers 7 of india-rubber or other suitable material which are placed
upon the end of the block or other object, and receive the points 6, as
shewn in Figures 4 and 5.
To permit the apparatus to be used for very thin or small bodies as
well as for larger ones, one of the levers a is constructed with its plates
closer together than those of the other lever, so that in closing up the
apparatus the narrow lever will pass between the plates of the other
lever.
°
In some cases instead of the screw rod or bar h I may use a bar
having holes and shifting pins for adjusting levers; or I may use a
chain with shifting pins engaging in its links for connecting the said
levers or varying the distance between their fulcrums, or when no
variation of the distance between the fulcrums is required I may attach

page_text: the blocks to a rod or bar not provided with any means for adjustment.
Chains may also be used instead of the aforesaid rods or links d for con-
necting the levers to the central suspending loop or swivel g; the latter
may be provided with a small grooved pulley f', over which I pass a
rope or chain connected to the block ▲ or other body suspended in the
apparatus. The rope or chain may then be used to make fast, control, or
turn the said block A or other body upon the aforesaid centre points b.
In-some instances I provide the apparatus with two screw rods instead
of one, the said rods being so geared together that they will act
simultaneously to adjust the fulcrums of the said levers which are
arranged between the said screw rods.
Having thus fully described my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. An apparatus constructed with two levers working on adjust-
able fulcrums, whereby the said apparatus is adapted for holding either
large or small bodies or objects for the purpose specified.
Second. The apparatus consisting of the levers with the steel points or
the discs or washers, the links or chains, the swivel eye or loop and
pulley, the screw rod, or a bar, or chain for connecting the fulcrum
blocks, constructed, combined, and operating together as herein set
forth for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Payton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
W. ROB. LAKE,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
WALTER PAYTON. (L.S.)