AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN MOVEABLE SPANNERS OR SCREW WRENCHES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Wilson, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer and Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN MOVEABLE SPANNERS OR SCREW
WRENCHES."
Sealed the 26th December 1861, and dated the 6th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Wilson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th
July 1861.
I, THOMAS WILSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer
and Gun Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN MOVEABLE SPANNERS OR SCREW.
WRENCHES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in actuating and adjusting the moveable jaws of
moveable spanners or screw wrenches by means of a screw, one half of which
is right-handed and the other half left-handed. One half of the said screw
engages in a screw box or concave screw formed in the moveable jaw, and the
other half engages in a screw box or concave screw formed in the body of the
wrench, or in a block attached to the body of the wrench. In the middle of
the screw, that is, between the right and left-handed portions, is a milled head
by which the screw is turned. By turning the screw in one direction one half
of it advances into the concave screw or screw box in or on the body of the
wrench, and at the same time the moveable jaw is drawn upon the other half

page_text: of the said screw. By turning the screw in the opposite direction it advances
from out the body of the wrench, the moveable jaw at the same time moving
in the same direction on the screw. The moveable jaw is thus made to move
with double the velocity of the screw itself. By turning the screw by its
milled head in one or other direction the moveable jaw may be moved and
adjusted to the required distance from the fixed jaw. I prefer to place the
screw under the front of the moveable jaw, that is, nearly in the line in which
the said moveable jaw is pressed when the screw wrench is in use. But I do
not limit myself to that position, as the said screw may be placed at the back
of the wrench, or be made to work in a slot in the body of the wrench with
nearly the same effect..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Wilson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WILSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer and Gun
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Wilson, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Wilson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Wilson, 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 IMPROVEMENT
OR IMPROVEMENTS IN MOVEABLE SPANNERS OR SCREW WRENCHES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Wilson, 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

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Wilson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in actuating or adjusting the moveable jaws of
moveable spanners or screw wrenches by means of a screw, one part of which
is right-handed and the other part left-handed. One part of the said screw
engages with the moveable jaw, and the other part engages with the body of
the wrench, or with the fixed jaw of the wrench. Between the right and left-
handed portions of the screw is a milled head or collar, by which the screw is
turned. By turning the screw by its milled head or collar in one or other
direction, the moveable jaw may be moved and adjusted to the required.
distance from the fixed jaw.
My Invention further consists in the arrangement or combination of certain
parts of moveable spanners or screw wrenches, and in the manner of putting
together certain parts of moveable spanners or screw wrenches.
I will now proceed to describe my Invention in detail with reference to the
accompanying Drawing..
Figure 1 represents in side elevation a moveable spanner or screw wrench,
with a bent or curved handle constructed according to my Invention; Figure 2
is a longitudinal section of the same; and Figure 3 is an edge view of the -
.same.
a is the body or bar of the spanner or wrench, and b, the fixed jaw of the
same fixed upon the end of the body or bar a, in the manner which will be
understood by an examination of Figure 2; c is the moveable jaw sliding on
the body
or bar a, and d is the curved or bent handle of the spanner or wrench;
e, f, is the screw by which the moveable jaw c is moved and adjusted. That
part of the screw marked e has a thread of the kind called right-handed, and
that part of the screw marked ƒ has a thread of the kind called left-handed.
Between the parts e, f, of the screw is a milled collar g, by means of which
the said screw e, f, may be readily turned. The part e of the screw takes into
a hollow screw h, formed in a block or cylindrical part situated between the
body or bar a and curved handle d of the wrench, and. that part of the screw
marked f takes into a hollow screw i, formed in the back of the moveable jaw c.
By turning the screw e, f, in one direction by means of the milled collar. g, the
part e of the screw advances into the hollow screw h, and the hollow screw i
simultaneously advances upon the part f of the screw. The moveable jaw c is
thereby made to slide upon the body or bar a, and to
between the said moveable jaw c and the fixed jaw b.
increase the distance
By turning the screw

page_text: e, f, in the opposite direction by means of the milled collar 9, the part-e of the
screw is withdrawn from the hollow screw h, and the part f of the screw is
simultaneously withdrawn from the hollow screw i. The moveable jaw c is
thus made to advance towards the fixed jaw b. The distance between the
jaws b and c may thus be readily adjusted by turning the milled collar 9 more
or less in one or other direction. By the use of the right and left-handed
screw e, f, the moveable jaw c is made to slide upon the body or bar a with a
velocity double that with which the screw itself moves, and the said moveable
jaw is thus readily and rapidly adjusted. That part of the screw which I have
described and represented as having a left-handed thread may have a right-
handed thread, and that part which I have described and represented as
having a right-handed thread- may have a left-handed thread, the threads of
the hollow screws h'and i being made to correspond in direction with the
'screws working in them. In this case in order to produce a given motion in
the moveable jaw c, the milled collar g has to be turned in a direction
contrary to that in which it has to be turned when the screw e, f, is made as
herein first described and represented in the Drawing. Instead of placing the
screw at the back of the body of the wrench, it may be placed in front of the
said body, that under the front of the moveable jaw, and nearly in the line
in which the said moveable jaw is pressed when the wrench is in use.
Figure 4 represents in side elevation a moveable spanner or screw wrench
with a straight handle constructed in this manner: a³ is the body or bar of the
wrench, upon the end of which the fixed jaw b is situated; c is the moveable
jaw; d is the straight handle of the wrench; e, f, is the screw; and g, the
milled nut; h² is the hollow screw in which the part e of the screw engages;
and is the hollow screw in the moveable jaw c, in which the part of the
screw engages. The action of the several parts of the wrench, Figure 4, is
the same as that of the corresponding parts in the wrench, Figures 1, 2, and 3.
Instead of placing the screw underneath the back or front of the moveable
jaw, as represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, the said screw may be placed
between the fixed and moveable jaws, the two parts of the screw being made
to work in hollow screws made in the moveable and fixed jaws respectively.
A moveable spanner or screw wrench of this kind is represented in Figure 5
of the Drawing, in which Figure 5 the body or bar of the wrench is marked
'a' and the fixed jaw 6, which said fixed jaw is forged solid with the body or
the curved handle d³. The
bar a. The moveable jaw is marked c³, and
part of the screw works in a hollow screw ³ in the fixed jaw 62, and the
parte of the screw works in a hollow screw in the moveable jaw c. By
turning the milled collar g in one or other direction, the moveable jaw c³ may

page_text: be made to approach. towards or recede from the fixed jaw 6, the action of the
moving parts being the same as that already described with respect to the
corresponding parts in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
:
In putting together the several parts of the wrenches, Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4,
the moveable jaw is passed on to the body of the wrench, and the screw e, f,
being placed between the hollow screws in which its parts respectively engage,
the said screw is turned and made to engage in the two hollow screws. The
fixed jaw is then passed on to the body and fixed in its place by means of a
screw, as shewn at k, Figure 2.
:
In putting together the parts of which the wrench, Figure 5, is composed,
the moveable jaw is first passed over the handle.d³ on to the body or bar of
the wrench, the said handle being straight. The handle is next bent or curved
as represented in the Drawing. The screw e, f, is next placed between the
two jaws, and made to engage in the hollow screws therein, and the, stop lis
next screwed or driven into the body of the wrench. The said stop / limits
the range of motion of the moveable jaw.
My Invention may be applied to moveable spanners or screw wrenches,
having double jaws, that is to say, jaws which extend on either side of the
body or bar of the wrench. In applying my Invention to moveable spanners
or screw wrenches with double jaws, I prefer the arrangement of screw and
baudle represented in Figure 4. Or I make the handle d in a line with the
body or bar of the wrench, and cut a slot in the body or bar of the wrench a²,
Figure 4, and place the screw e, f, in the said slot, the hollow screws h³ and "
being placed in a line with the said screw, that is, at or near the middle of the
body or bar of the wrench and moveable jaw respectively.
The arrangement or combination of the handle of moveable spanners or
screw wrenches with the cylindrical part h for receiving and supporting the
screw constitutes part of my Invention, and the connecting or attaching of the
fixed jaws of moveable spanners or screw wrenches to the bodies of the said
spanners or wrenches by means of the screw or screw pin k, also constitutes
part of my Invention.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein described and represented in the
Drawing, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I claim as my Invention,―
Firstly, the improvement or improvements in moveable spanners or screw
wrenches, herein-before described and represented in the accompanying
Drawing, that is to say, actuating or adjusting the moveable jaws of the said

page_text: moveable spanners or screw wrenches by means of a right and left-handed
screw or screw pin, one part of the said screw or screw pin engaging with the
moveable jaw, and the other part of the said screw or screw pin engaging with
the body or bar or fixed jaw of the said moveable spanner or screw wrench.
Secondly, the arrangement or combination of the handle and cylindrical
part or support h for receiving or supporting the screw, herein-before described
and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the accompanying Drawing.
Thirdly, connecting or attaching the fixed jaws of moveable spanners or
screw wrenches to the bodies of the said spanners or wrenches by means of
the screw or screw pin, herein-before described, and marked k in Figure 2 of
the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Wilson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
THOMAS WILSON. (L.S.)