IMPROVEMENTS IN HOLDERS FOR HOLDING OR GRIPPING REINS, WHIPS, AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS, PATENT to William Hewitt, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HOLDERS
FOR HOLDING OR GRIPPING REINS, WHIPS, AND OTHER ARTICLES."
Sealed the 19th June 1868, and dated the 24th December 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hewitt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th December 1867.
I, WILLIAM HEWITT, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE
MENTS IN HOLDERS FOR HOLDING OR GRIPPING REINS, WHIPS, AND OTHER ARTICLES,'
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of improvements on an Invention described and
represented in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me on the
13th day of February 1862, No. 380. In the Invention described in the
Specification of the said Patent a single spring tongue situated across and
nearly parallel to the body of the holder was used to grip or hold the reins,
the said reins being held between the said spring tongue and the body of
the holder.

page_text: My present improvements consist in using two spring tongues between
which the rein, whip, billiard cue, penholder, or other article is gripped or
held, the said spring tongues being constructed and arranged in the manner
herein-after described.
In constructing a holder according to my present Invention I take two
spring tongues cut out of sheet steel or other elastic metal or alloy and I fix
them to the body of the holder, the said spring tongues being situated at right
angles to the said body. The said spring tongues are so shaped that when
they are in their normal position the parts near their outer ends nearly touch
each other. The general figure of the spring tongues is that of a bow, their
convex sides being presented to each other. The bases of the springs are a
short distance apart, and into the space between them and the body of the
holder the rein, whip, or other article passes when inserted between the said
spring tongues. The spring tongues are covered with leather or other soft
material to prevent them injuring the rein or whip held between them. By
introducing the rein or whip or other article between the lips at the nearly
closed ends of the spring tongues and pushing it towards the body of the
holder the said spring tongues are expanded outwards, and by their elasticity
grip or hold the rein, whip, or article securely between them. When the
holders are employed for holding reins or whips, and to which articles they
are particularly applicable, I secure the spring tongues to a body consisting
of the ordinary clip which is fixed upon the dashboard of the vehicle. Instead
of making the spring tongues of separate pieces of steel or other elastic metal
they may be made from one piece of steel or metal in the following manner:
-I take a plate of steel of the required size having upon its sides narrow
pieces or tongues at right angles. I bend the said pieces or tongues out of
the plane of the other part, and give to them the shape necessary to grip
securely the article placed between them. The plate from which the
double spring tongue is made serves to attach it to the body of the holder.
The double spring tongue is covered when necessary with leather or other
material.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Hewitt in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th June 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HEWITT, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Hewitt, Her special licence that I, the said William Hewitt,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Hewitt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
HOLDERS FOR HOLDING OR GRIPPING REINS, WHIPS, AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Hewitt, 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 William Hewitt, 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 following
statement thereof that is to say:—
My Invention consists of improvements on an Invention described and
represented in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me on the 13th
day of February 1862, No. 380. In the Invention described in the Specifi-
cation of the said Patent a single spring tongue situated across and nearly
parallel to the body of the holder was used to grip or hold the reius, the
said reins being held between the said spring tongue and the body of the
holder.
My present improvements consist in using two spring tongues between
which the rein, whip, billiard cue, penholder, or other article is gripped or
held, the said spring tongues being constructed and arranged in the manner
herein after described.
In constructing a holder according to my present Invention I take two
spring tongues cut out of sheet steel or other elastic metal or alloy and I fix
them to the body of the holder, the said spring tongues being situated at
right angles to the said body. The said spring tongues are so shaped that
when they are in their normal position the parts near their outer ends nearly

page_text: touch each other. The general figure of the spring tongues is that of a bow,
their convex sides being presented to each other. The bases of the springs are
a short distance apart, aud into the space between them and the body of the
holder the rein, whip, or other article passes when inserted between the said
spring tongues. The spring tongues are covered with leather or other soft
material to prevent them injuring the rein or whip held between them. By
introducing the rein or whip or other article between the lips at the nearly
closed ends of the spring tongues and pushing it towards the body of the
holder the said spring tongues are expanded outwards, and by their elasticity
grip or hold the rein, whip, or article securely between them. When the
holders are employed for holding reins or whips, and to which articles they are
particularly applicable, I secure the spring tongues to a body consisting of the
cidinary clip which is fixed upon the dashboard of the vehicle. Instead of
making the spring tongues of separate pieces of steel or other elastic metal
they may be made from one piece of steel or metal in the following manner:
I take a plate of steel of the required size having upon its sides narrow pieces
or tongues au right angles. I bend the said pieces or tongues out of the plane
of the other part, and give to them the shape necessary to grip securely the
article placed between them. The plate from which the double spring
tongue is made serves to attach it to the body of the holder. The double
spring tongue is covered when necessary with leather or other material.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation, Figure 2 in plan, and Figure 3 in
side elevation a rein-holder constructed according to my Invention; Figure 4
represents in side elevation the rein-holder in an unfinished state,and Figure 5
represents in plan the parts of the same before they are fixed together;
Figure 6 represents a plan of one of the spring tongues separately.
a, b, are the spring tongues of the holder cut out of sheet steel or other
elastic metal and fashioned into the shape best seen in Figure 5. The said
spring tongues a, b, have somewhat of a bow shape, their convex sides being
presented to each other in the manner represented leaving the bases of the
spring tongues a short distance apart. The outer ends of the spring tongues
are turned back or formed into lips a, b, to facilitate the introduction of the
rein between the said spring tongues. The said spring tongues a, b, are
covered with leather or other soft material to prevent them injuring the rein;
they however may be left uncovered. When the spring tongues are not
covered with leather they may be finished by being japanned or otherwise

page_text: coated. I fix the inner ends a³, 4, of the spring tongues a, b, after they have
been covered with leather to the ordinary spring clip c by rivetting in the
manner represented in Figure 4 previous to covering the said clip e with
leather. In introducing the rein d (Figure 3) into the holder the said rein is
placed between the lips a2, 62, of the spring tongues a, b, and pressed towards
the clip c of the said holder. The said spring tongues a, b, are thereby ex-
panded outwards, and by their elasticity grip or hold the rein firmly between
them.
The holder described and represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3 be used
may
for holding whips as well as reins. Although I prefer to fix the spring
tongues of the whip or rein holder to the ordinary clip c which is fixed upon
the dashboard e of the vehicle, yet the said spring tongues may be rivetted or
otherwise directly fixed to the dashboard or fixed at any other convenient
part of the vehicle.
Figure 7 represents in front elevation, side elevation, and plan a whip-
holder made of one piece of steel or other elastic metal according to my
Invention.
a, a, are the spring tongues made in one piece with the back plate b. The
said tongues a, a, have the shape necessary to grip securely the whip placed
between them. The tongues a, a, and back plate 6 may be covered with
leather, as represented in Figure 8. The holders Figures 7 and 8 may be
fixed by the plate b to the dashboard of the vehicle, or one or more of the
said holders may be fixed side by side ou a board or foundation or wherever
else it may be required to attach the said holders.
Figure 9 represents in plan and side elevation a cigar-holder, and Figure 10
in side elevation, front elevation, and plan aholder for a billiard cue, penholder,
or other cylindrical article constructed according to my Invention. The said
holders, Figures 9 and 10, are each made from a single piece of steel or other
elastic metal, as described with respect to Figures 7 and 8. By an examina-
tion of the said Figures 9 and 10 it will be seen that each of the spring
tongues a has a nearly semicircular bend at c made in it, between which
parts c, c, the cigar, billiard cue, penholder, or other cylindrical article is
gripped.
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 illustrated, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I
claim as my Invention, the improvements in holders for holding or gripping
reins, whips, and other articles herein-before described and illustrated in the

page_text: accompanying Drawing, that is to say, making the said holders of two spring
tongues made of separate pieces of steel or other clastic metal, or of one
piece of steel or other elastic metal, between which spring tongues the article
to be held is gripped, substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hewitt, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
WILLIAM HEWITT. (L.S.)