IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OR SCREWS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OR SCREWS
Sealed the 19th September 1865, and dated the 19th May 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on tho
19th May 1865.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for l'atents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SCREWS
AND SCREW-DRIVERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention is designed to obviate the tendency of the screw-driver to
slip or draw out from the slot in the head of the screw in turning the same,
and to hold the screw on the screw-driver in such a manner that the screw
may be entered directly into the wood without the application of the hand to
the screw, thus greatly facilitating the driving or turning in of screws in cases
where it is difficult to hold the latter while being entered into the wood.
The screw-driver is further designed to operate upon screws of different
dimensions, to which end it is made with a reversible stem, the opposite ends

page_text: of which are of different sizes and of different forms if desired. The stem of
the screw-driver is secured in a hollow or split tubular shank by means of a
clamping screw which passes through the shank and the stem. The screw-
driver or reversible stem has one end finished like an ordinary screw-driver,
but the opposite end is slit down by a transverse cut at the centre of its
width, and the two parts formed by the slit are bent so as to be out of line
with each other. On the end of each part there is made by rebating the
sides of the said ends a rib, which ribs are in line with each other in the
normal state of the divided bent end. These ribs are slightly dovetailed in
their transverse section to fit the nick in the screw, which nick it is now proposed
to countersink slightly. In using the slit end of the screw-driver the stem is
inserted in the tubular shank, and before being clamped therein the nick of
the screw is fitted on the ribs of the driver. The screw-driver is then secured
in the shank by the clamping screw, when the ribs will be thrown out of line
with each other, and made to bind tightly in the nick, thereby firmly securing
the screw to the screw-driver, so that the screw may be entered and screwed
into a piece of wood without the application of the hand to the screw.
This end may, however, be attained by giving the ribs parallel sides. In
cases where it is not important to secure the screw to the screw-driver the
transverse slit need not be used. In this case a dovetail rib extends entirely
across the end of the driver to fit into the slot of the screw. The dovetail
form of the nick in connection with the dovetail form of the rib or end
of the screw-driver removes the tendency of the driver to slip out from
the nick when the screw is being turned, and it will not be required to force
or press the screw-driver into the slot as is now the case in operating upon
the ordinary screws with the common screw-driver.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th November 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence that I, the said Alfred Vincent

page_text: Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SCREWS AND SCREW-DRIVERS,"
being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
Screws of ordinary construction are provided with slots in their heads to
receive the screw-driver, which slots are of equal width throughout their entire
depth, and the ends of screw-drivers are made most generally of slightly taper
form gradually decreasing in thickness from the butt to the outer end, occasion-
ally they are made of an equal thickness for a short distance from their outer
ends inward towards the butt. In consequence of the heads of the screws
being thus slotted and the screw-drivers being constructed as stated, the latter
in turning a screw require to be pressed firmly into the slot in order to prevent
the screw-driver, from slipping out from the same, and before the screw-driver
can be applied to a screw, and both bands of the operator used in manipulating
the screw-driver, the screw requires to be entered into the wood or held with one
hand until a few turns are given it with the screw-driver by the other hand.
Now this Invention is designed to obviate the tendency of the screw-driver
to slip or draw out from the slot or nick in the head of the screw in turning
the same, and to hold the screw on the screw-driver in such a manner that
the screw may be entered directly into the wood without the application of
the hand to the screw, thus greatly facilitating the driving or turning in of
screws in cases where it is difficult to hold them while being entered into the
wood. The screw-driver is further designed to operate upon screws of
different dimensions, and to this end it is made reversible so as to have two

page_text: :
different sized ends, and of different forms if desired, and is fitted in a shank
of novel construction, as herein-after fully set forth.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of the
Invention taken in the line x, x, Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a side sectional view of
the same taken in the line y, y, Fig. 1; Figures 3 and 4 are end.views of the
same; Fig. 5 is a side view of a screw; Fig. 6 is a top view of the head of
the same, and Fig. 7 is a detached perspective view of a screw driver con-
structed according to the Invention; similar letters of reference indicate
corresponding parts.
A represents the shank of the screw-driver, which is fitted in a suitable
handle B, and is made tubular or formed with a longitudinal opening a, to
receive the stem C of the screw-driver, as shewn in Figures 1 and 2. The
shank A is slotted longitudinally from its outer end inward sufficiently far to
allow the two parts or sides b, b, formed by the slot to yield or spread.to admit
of the screw-driver being fitted in the shank. The stem or screw-driver is
firmly held in the shank by means of a screw B which passes transversely
through the two parts or sides b, b, and also through the screw-driver, the
hole in one of the sides b, being tapped to receive the screw and cause the
two parts by the turning of the screw to be drawn together so as to clamp the
screw-driver, as will be fully understood by referring to Fig. 1. The screw-
driver or stem C is reversible, and has both ends made or prepared for use,
one end c is made like an ordinary screw-driver, but the opposite end has a
slit d made longitudinally in it at the centre of its width, and the two parts e, e,
formed by the slit are bent so as to be out of line with each other or out of
the same plane, as shewn in Fig. 3. On the end of each part e there is
made, by notching or rebating the sides of the said ends, a rib f, which ribs
are in line with each other when the parts e, e, are not in line or are allowed
to be in their normal bent condition as shewn at Fig. 3. These ribs f, f, are
slightly dovetailed in their transverse section, as shewn in Fig. 1.
In order to understand the advantage of this mode of constructing the
screw-driver the screw itself must first be described. The main portion of
the screw D shown in Fig. 5 is of the ordinary construction, the nick 9 in the
headh being the only novelty. This slot is of dovetail form in its transverse
section corresponding to the form of the ribs f.f, on the end of the screw-driver.
In using the screw-driver with the slit end the stem is inserted in the
shank A, and before being clamped therein the nick g of the screw is fitted on
the ribs ff. which may be readily done as these ribs are in line with each
other. The screw-driver is then clamped in the sbank by turning the screw D,
and the two parts e, e, under the pressure of the two parts b, b, of the shank

page_text: will be brought in line with each other, and the ledges f. f, will consequently
be thrown cut of line with each other and made to bind tightly in the nick g
thereby firmly securing the screw to the screw-driver so that the screw may
be entered and screwed into a piece of wood without the application of the
hand to the screw, a great convenience when screws are required to be screwed
into places where it is difficult to apply the hand to the screw.
In cases where it is not important to secure the screw to the screw-driver
a slit screw-driver as above described need not be used. One shown in Fig. 7
may be used instead; it is provided with a dovetail rib h entirely across its end
to fit into the screw nick. The dovetail form of the nick in connection with
the dovetail form of the rib on the end of the screw-driver removes the tendency
of the screw-driver to slip out from the nick when the screw is being turned
and it will not be required to force or press upon the screw driver as is now
the case in operating upon the ordinary screws with the common screw-driver.
The screw-driver C may be reversed in the shank A, so that either end
may be used as desired, and the end C opposite to that where the ribs fare
formed may be male like a common screw-driver, or like the one shewn in
Fig. 7. The ribs f, f, at the end of the screw-driver C may have parallel
sides and the slide be made to bind pretty tightly in the nick of the screw,
but a slightly dovetailed form for such ribs would be preferable.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in
the Construction of Screws and Screw Drivers," as communicated to me from
abroad, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it
to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,
First, making screws with a dovetailed nick or slot in the head thereof
for the purpose above described.
And, secondly, constructing screw-drivers in the manner and for the purpose
above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)