IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREW WRENCHES OR SPANNEES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Patrick Benignus O'Neill, of Hart Street, Blooms-
bury, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SCREW WRENCHES OR SPANNEES."
Sealed the 7th March 1862, and dated the 9th September 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Patrick Benignus O'Neill
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th September 1861.
I, PATRICK BENIGNUS O'NEILL, of Hart Street, Bloomsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SCREW WRENCHES OR SPANNERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in screw wrenches or
spanners.
In constructing screw wrenches or spanners according to one part of my
Invention I attach to the fixed jaw two parallel bars; the moveable jaw is
made to slide along these bars, it being formed with two holes through it,
through which the bars pass; the parallel bars have screw threads cut on
them, on which nuts work, and by means of these nuts the moveable jaw may
be set in any required position; the opposite ends of the parallel bars to those
which are connected to the fixed jaw are united together, and at the point
where they are joined together they have a point or projection formed on

page_text: them, by which they can be connected to a handle. In place of employing a
single, moveable jaw, as above described, the jaw may be divided into two
parts, each part being capable of sliding up or down on one of the bars on the
fixed jaw and of being set at any distance from the fixed jaw by the nut on
the bar on which it slides; the spanner or wrench may thus bo set to tako
two nuts of different sizes. When the moveable jaw is divided into two parts
the parts are retained from turning around on the bars on which they slide by
forming the bars square in section, the screw thread being then merely cut on
the edges of the bar; or they may be retained from turning by a third bar
fixed between the two bars on the fixed jaw, this bar fitting into a groove in
each of the parts of the moveable jaw. In place of the parallel bars attached
to the fixed jaw having screw threads cut on them, a fixed bar having a screw
thread cut on it may be placed between the bars, and a moveable jaw sliding
on the parallel bars may be set in any required position by a nut working on
this screw. In place of the central bar having a screw thread cut on it, the
central bar may have teeth or notches formed on two of its opposite sides, into
which two catches carried by a tube sliding on the bar may be caused to
enter. A somewhat similar spanner or wrench may also be formed by doing
away with the two parallel bars, the fixed jaw being then alone carried by tho
bar which has notches or teeth formed on it; the moveable jaw will in this
case slide on this bar, and may be set in any position upon it by a tube
carrying a catch or catches, which, by means of springs, are pressed into the
notches in the bar; the tube carrying the catchos may either be separate from
the moveable jaw or it may be connected to it.
Another arrangement is to attach the fixed jaw to a bar or arm, which
serves as a handle; on this bar or arm the moveable jaw slides; through tho
arm is a slot, and in the opposite sides of the slot a screw thread is cut, the
sides of the slot being hollowed out for the purpose; at the end of the arm
furthest from the fixed jaw the slot is enlarged. In the part of the slot in
which the screw thread is cut a screw works, one end of the screw is connected
to the moveable jaw in such manner that the screw may turn round freely;
on the other end of the screw a head or enlargement is formed; this head is
received in the enlarged part of the slot. By this means, by turning the
screw by the head or enlargement upon it the moveable jaw may be moved to
or from the fixed jaw. In place of the sides of the slot in the arm connected
to the fixed jaw having a screw thread cut on them, the sides of the slot may
be merely hollowed to receive a sliding tube, in the interior of which a screw
thread is cut; on the exterior' of the tube are wings or projections which
project above and below the slot for the purpose of preventing the tube turning

page_text: ound, and the moveable jaw may or may not be connected to the tube in
ny suitable manner. In the screw in the interior of the tube a male screw
works; this screw and any portion of the tube in which it works, which may
project beyond the end of the arm of the fixed jaw, is enclosed within a tubo
screwed on to the end of the arm; this tube serves as a handle. To the exterior
end of the screw a knob or head is attached, this head is exterior of the tube
and bears against its end; the screw is prevented from being drawn out of the
tube by a collar on the screw bearing against a ring or nut on the inside of
the end of the tube. By this means, by turning the screw by means of the
head on its end, the tube into which the screw works may be moved in either
direction, and consequently the moveable jaw to which it is attached. By
cutting away in parallel lines opposite portions of the screw thread in tho tube,
and also in like manner cutting away portions of the male screw, the spanner
or wrench may be made what may be called quick acting, as when the male
screw is turned so that the parallel portions of screw thread upon it are
received into the parallel slots formed by the cutting away portions of the
screw thread of the tube, the moveable jaw may be freely slid endwise on the
arm on which it works, and may be locked in any position upon it by turning
the male screw so as to make the portions of screw thread on the male screw
lock in the portions of screw thread in the tube. In place of the moveable
jaw being fixed to a tube which works up and down in a slot in the arm
connected to the fixed jaw, the moveable jaw may be connected to a rod
working in the slot; in this case the end of the rod which projects beyond the
end of the arm has a screw thread cut on it; this screw works in a female
screw in the tube which is connected to the end of the arm, and which serves
as a handle, this tube is connected to the end of the arm in such manner that
it can turn round freely. By this means, by turning the tube the rod which
screws into it will be moved in one or other direction, and with it the moveable
jaw. In order to connect the tube to the end of the arm in such manner that
it can turn-round freely, a short tube having a groove around its outer circum-
ference is, according to one arrangement, screwed on to the end of the arm,
the exterior of the short tube is made just to fit the interior of the end of the
tubular handle; the end of the tubular handle is passed over this short tube,
and screws are passed through the handle in such manner that their ends enter
the groove in the short tube; or the end of the arm may have a circular head
or enlargement formed on it, a portion (the outer end) of this enlargement
being of a diameter to fit within the end of the tubular handle, and another
portion being of the same diameter as the exterior of the tubular handle, and
forming a collar, against which the end of the handle comes. When the end

page_text: Vi
of the arm or bar is formed with a head or enlargement in the above manner,
a hole is bored through the head or enlargement to communicate with the slot
in the bar or arm, so as to allow the rod which is connected to the moveable
jaw to pass through. When it is desired to make a wrench or spanner without
making a slot through the arm projecting from the fixed jaw I prolong the
arm beyond that part, on which the moveable jaw slides, and this 'prolonged
portion of the arm I make of smaller section than the other part; on this
smaller portion of the arm, which I make square in section, a short tube,
having a screw thread cut on its exterior, slides; this tubo has two strips or
projections formed, on one of its ends; these strips come one on each side of
the bar or arm, and their ends are connected to the moveable jaw; exterior of
the tube which slides on the small portion of the arm is a longer tube which
serves as a handle; this tube has a screw thread cut in its interior which screws
on to the screw on the short tube; this outer tube is held between a collar placed
around the bar or arm at the point where the arm commences to decrease in
section, and a nut which screws on to a screw thread on the end of the arms,
and the tube is thus prevented from moving endwise; by this means, by
turning round the tube the short tube may be moved in either direction, and
consequently the moveable jaw to which it is attached by the strips above-
mentioned.
In place of the above arrangement a slot may be formed in that portion of
the arm which is smaller in section than the rest of the arm to receive a short
bar, which may slide to and fro in the slot; this bar has formed on or con-
nected to its upper and under sides portions or segments of screw threads, the
segments of screw threads being connected, as in the last arrangement, to the
moveable jaw; the segments are enclosed by a tube or handle, as in the last
arrangement, the tube having a screw thread formed in its interior which
works into the segments of scrow threads; the tubular handle is kept from
moving endwise, as in the last arrangement.
In spanners or wrenches constructed according to the two last arrangements
a slot may also be formed in that portion of the arm'upon which the moveable
jaw slides, and the ends of the two strips which are situated one on each side
of the arm may be connected together by a piece working to and fro in this
slot.
When a spanner or wrench is composed of a fixed jaw attached to a bar or
arm on which the moveable jaw slides, and when one edge of the bar has
notches or teeth formed in it into which a catch carried by the moveable jaw
is pressed by a spring, as in spanners or wrenches heretofore constructed, I
combine with such descriptions of spannors mechanism for forcing the moveable

page_text: jaw towards the fixed jaw; the moveable jaw is not fixed to the mechanism,.
but is independent of it, so that when using the spanner or wrench for light
work the moveable jaw may be slid freely to and fro along the bar, and be
retained in any position by the catch; but when it is desired to use the spanner
for heavy work the moveable jaw is forced towards the fixed jaw by the
mechanism. The mechanism for forcing the moveable jaw towards the fixed
jaw may be similar to those herein described, or other mechanism may be
employed.
...
Heretofore some descriptions of spanners or wrenches have been composed
of a fixed jaw attached to an arm or bar, on which the moveable jaw slides,
the moveable jaw being moved to and fro along the arm or bar by means of a
worm, carried by the moveable jaw gearing into a screw rack on one edge of
the bar. In place of constructing spanners or wrenches in this manner I
arrange them so that the worm is received into a slot or recess in one edge of
the bar or arm, and the moveablo jaw has connected to it a bar with a screw
rack cut on it, the screw rack working against the edge of the bar in which
the recess is formed for receiving the worm; the thread of the worm is made
to project beyond the edge of the bar, so that it gears into the screw rack;
by this means, by turning the worm the moveable jaw may be moved in either
direction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Patrick Benignus O'Neill in the Great Seal Patent Offico
on the 8th March 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PATRICK
BENIGNUS O'NEILL, of Hart Street, Bloomsbury, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of September, 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 Patrick Benignus O'Neill, Her special licence that I, the
said Patrick Benignus O'Neill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Patrick Benignus O'Neill, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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
'

page_text: Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Mau, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREW WRENCHES OR SPANNERS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Patrick, Benignus O'Neill,
my executors or administrators, 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 Patrick Benignus O'Neill, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
bo performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in screw wrenches or
spanners.
In constructing screw wrenches or spanners according to one part of my
Invention, I attach to the fixed jaw two parallel bars; the moveable jaw is
made to slide along these bars, it being formed with two holes through it,
through which the bars pass. The parallel bars have screw threads cut ou
them, on which nuts work, and by means of these nuts the moveable jaw may
bo set in any required position. The opposite ends of the parallel bars to
those which are connected to the fixed jaw are united together, and at the
point where they are joined together they have a point or projection formed
on them, by which they can be connected to a handle. Figures 1 and 2
of the Drawings hereunto annexed shew a wrench constructed in this manner.
In place of employing a single moveable jaw, as above described, the jaw
may be divided into two parts, each part being capable of sliding up or down
on one of the bars on the fixed jaw, and of being set at any distance from the
fixed jaw by the nut on the bar on which it slides; the spanner or wrench
inay thus be set to take two nuts of different sizes. When tho moveable jaw
is divided into two parts, the parts are retained from turning around on the
bars on which they slide by forming the bars squaro in section, the screw
thread being then merely cut on the edges of the bar; or they may be retained
from turning by a third bar fixed between the two bars on tho fixed jaw, this
bar fitting into a groove in each of the parts of the moveable jaw.
Figure 3 shews a wrench in which the parts of the moveable jaw are
prevented from turning by a third bar, as above described; the parts of tho
moveable jaw in this wrench are also caused to move to and fro with the nuts
by pins projecting from the parts of the jaw entering grooves formed around

page_text: the nuts, but to the so connecting a moveable jaw of a wrench with its nut I
lay no claim.
In place of the parallel bars attached to the fixed jaw having screw threads
cut on them, a fixed bar having a screw thread cut on it may be placed
between the bars, and a moveable jaw sliding on the parallel bars may be set
in any required position by a nut working on this screw. Figure 4 shows a
spanner or wrench constructed in this manner, and Figure 5 shews separately
the central screw of the wrench.
In place of the central bar having a screw thread cut on it the central bar
may have teeth or notches formed on two of its opposite sides, into which two
catches carried by a tube sliding on the bar may be caused to enter. A
somewhat similar spanner or wrench may also be formed by doing away with
the two parallel bars, the fixed jaw being then alone carried by the bar, which
has notches or teeth formed on it; the moveable jaw will in this case slide on
this bar, and may be set in any position upon it by a tube carrying a catch or
catches, which, by means of springs, are pressed into the notches in the bar.
The tube carrying the catches may either be separate from the moveable jaw,
or it may be connected to it.
I would remark that I am aware that spanners or wrenches have before
been made with a catch contained within the moveable jaw to enter notchos
in a bar projecting from the fixed jaw; what I claim in regard to the spanner
or wrench last described is the employing a tube to carry the catch or
catches, which tube may either be separate from or fixed or attached to the
moveable jaw.
Another arrangement is to attach the fixed jaw to a bar or arm, which
serves as a handle; on this bar or arm the moveable jaw slides. Through
the arm is a slot, and in the opposite sides of the slot a screw thread is cut,
the sides of the slot being hollowed out for the purpose. At the end of the
arm furthest from the fixed jaw the slot is enlarged. In the part of the slot
in which the screw thread is cut a screw works; one end of the screw is
connected to the moveable jaw in such manner that the screw may turn
round freely; on the other end of the screw a head or enlargement is formed.
This head is received in the enlarged part of the slot. By this means, by
turning the screw by the head or enlargement upon it, the moveable jaw may
be moved to or from the fixed jaw. Figure 6 shews a spanner or wrench
constructed in this manner, and Figure 7 shews the screw separately. The
screw is connected to the moveable jaw by the pins a, a, entering the groove a',
formed around the end of the screw.
Figure 6 shews a slight variation of the above arrangement. In this case,

page_text: in place of the screw thread being cut the entire length of the slot it is cut
only for a short length of the end of the narrow part of the slot, and in order
to strengthen the arm of the wrench at this point there is a ring of metal
around the arm, which may either be in one piece with the arm, or may be in
a separate piece from it, and be connected to it in any suitable manner.
In place of the sides of the slot in the arm connected to the fixed jaw having
a screw thread cut on them, the sides of the slot may be merely hollowed to.
receive a sliding tube, in the interior of which a screw thread is cut, and the
moveable jaw is connected to the tube in any suitable manner. In the screw
in the interior of the tube a male scrow works. This screw and any portion
of the tube in which it works, which may project beyond the end of the arm
of the fixed jaw is enclosed within a tube screwed on to the end of the arm.
This tubo serves as a handle to the exterior end of the screw. A knob or
head is attached; this head is exterior of the tube, and bears against its end.
The screw is prevented from being drawn out of the tube by a collar on the
screw bearing against a ring or nut on the inside of the end of the tube;
by this means, by turning the scrow by means of the head on its end, tho
tube into which tho screw works may be moved in either direction, and.
consequently the moveable jaw to which it is attached. Figures 8 and 9
shew a wrench constructed in the above manner.
When the moveable jaw of a wrench constructed as above described has com-
bined with it a catch, to take into notches in the arm projecting from the fixed
jaw, as herein after described, then in place of the tube being connected to the
moveable jaw, it is separate from it, and is prevented from turning by wings or
projections on,its, exterior,, entering the slots in the arm. By cutting away in
parallel lines opposite portions of the screw thread in the tube, and also in liko
manner,cutting away.portions of the malo screw, the spanner or wronch may
bomade what may be called quick acting, as when the male screw is turned
so that the parallel portions of screw thread upon it are received into the
parallel slots formed by the, cutting away portions of the screw, thread of the
tube, the moveable jaw may be freely slid endwise on the arm on which it
works, and may be,locked in any position upon it by turning the male screw,
so as to make the portions of scrow thread on the malo screw lock in the por-
tions of screw thread in the tube. In place of the moveable jaw being fixed
to a tube which works up and down in a slot. in the arm connected to tho.fixed
jaw, the moveable jaw, may be connected to a rod working in the slot; in this
caso the end of the, rod which projects beyond the end of the arm has a screw
thread cut on it; this screw works in a female,scrow in the tube, which is cou-
nected to the end of the arm, and, which serves as a handle; this tube is

page_text: connected to the end of the arm in such manner that it can turn round freely.
By this means, by turning the tube, the rod which screws into it will be moved
in one or other direction, and with it the moveable jaw. In order to connect
the tube to the end of the arm in such manner that it can turn round freely, a
short tube having a groove around its outer circumference, is, according to one
arrangement, screwed on to the end of the arm; the exterior of the short tube
is made just to fit the interior of the end of the tubular handle; the end of
the tubular handle is passed over this short tube, and screws are passed through
the handic in such manner that their ends enter the groove in the short tube;
or, the end of the arm may have a circular head or enlargement formed on it;
a portion (the outer end) of this enlargement being of a diameter to fit within
the end of the tubular handle, and having a groove formed around it into
which pins passing through the tubular handle project, and another portion
being of the same diameter as the exterior of the tubular handle, and forming
a collar against which the end of the handle comes. When the end of the
arm or bar is formed with a head or enlargement in the above manner, a hole
is bored through the head or enlargement to communicate with the slot in the
bar or arm, so as to allow the rod which is connected to the moveable jaw to
pass through.
In the wrench shown at Figures 10 and 11, the rod which works in the
slot is not connected to the moveable jaw, as this jaw has combined with it a
catch, as herein-after described. When using the wrench: for light work, the
catch'alone may be used; but when using it for heavy work, the end of the
rod is, by turning the handle, forced against the piece a, which is carried by
the moveable jaw, and which passes through the slot in the arm. The tubular
handle of this wrench is connected to the end of the arm; according to the
arrangement first described.
In the wrench shown at Figure 12, the end of the rod is connected to the
moveable jaw, and the tubular handle is connected to the end of the arm,
according to the arrangement secondly described. When it is desired to make
a wrench or spanner without making a slot through the arm projecting from
the fixed jaw, I prolong the arm beyond that part on which the moveable jaw
slides, and this prolonged portion of the arm I make of smaller section than the
other part; on this smaller portion of the arm, which I make square in section,
a short tube, having a screw thread cut on its exterior, slides; this tube has
two strips or projections formed on one of its ends; these strips come one on
each side of the bar' or 'arm, and their ends are connected to-the-moveable jaw;
exterior of the tube which slides on the small portion of the armis. a.longer
tube, which serves as a handle; this tube has a screw thread cut in. its interior

page_text: which screws on to the screw on the short tube; this outer tubo is held
between a collar placed around the bar or arm at the point where the arm
commences to decrease in section, and a nut which screws on to a screw thread
on the end of the arm, and the tube is thus prevented from moving endwise.
By this means, by turning round the tube, the short tube may be moved in
either direction, and consequently the moveable jaw to which it is attached by
the strips above mentioned. Figures 13, 14, 15, and 16 show a wrench con-
structed in this manner.
In place of the above arrangement, a slot may be formed in that portion of
the arm which is smaller in section than the rest of the arm, to receive a short
bar, which may slide to and fro in the slot; this bar has formed on or con-
nected to its upper and under sides portions or segments of screw threads, tho
segments of screw threads being connected as in the last arrangement to tho
moveablo jaw. The segments are enclosed by a tube or handle as in the last
arrangement, the tube having a screw thread formed in its interior, which
works into the segments of screw threads, the tubular handle is kept from
moving endwise, as in the last arrangement. Figures 17, 18, and 19 shew a
wrench constructed in this manner.
In spanners or wrenches constructed according to the two last arrangements,
a slot may also be formed in that portion of the arm upon which the moveable
jaw slides, and the ends of the two strips which are situated one on each side of
the arm may be connected together by a piece working to and fro in this slot.
When a spanner or wrench is composed of a fixed jaw attached to a bar or
arm on which the moveable jaw slides, and when one edge of the bar has
notches or teeth formed in it into which a catch carried by the moveable jaw
is pressed by a spring, as in spanners or wrenches heretofore constructed, I
combino with such descriptions of spanners mechanism for forcing the move-
able jaw towards the fixed jaw. The moveable jaw is not fixed to tho
mechanism, but is independent of it, so that when using the spanner or wrench
for light work the moveable jaw may be slid freely to and fro along the bar,
and be retained in any position by the catch; but when it is desired to use the
spanner for heavy work, the moveable jaw is forced towards the fixed jaw by
the mechanism. The mechanism for forcing the moveable jaw towards the
fixed jaw may be similar to those herein described, or other mechanism may
be employed.
Heretofore some descriptions of spanners or wrenches have been composed
of a fixed jaw attached to an arm or bar on which the moveable jaw slides, the
moveable jaw being moved to and fro along the arm or bar by means of a
worm carried by the moveable jaw, gearing into a screw rack on one edge of

page_text: the bar. In place of constructing spanners or wrenches in this manner, I
arrange them so that the worm is received into a slot or recess in one edge of
the bar or arm, and the moveable jaw has connected to it a bar with a screw
rack cut on it, the screw rack working against the edge of the bar in which
the recess is formed for receiving the worm; the thread of the worm is made
to project beyond the edge of the bar, so that it goars into the screw rack. By
this means, by turning the worm, the moveable jaw may be moved in either
direction. Figure 20 shews a spanner or wrench constructed as above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Patrick Benignus O'Neill, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.