AN IMPROVED MATHEMATICAL COMPASS
Year: 1885

page_text: JOSIAH WAITE, Morville St., Ladywood, Birmingham, Wire Manufacturer,
THOMAS COOK WAITE, Morville St. Ladywood, Birmingham, Wire Manufacturer,
FREDERICK WILLIAM WAITE, 9 Peet St. Uttoxeter Road, Derby, Schoolmaster do
hereby declare the nature of their invention for AN IMPROVED MATHEMATICAL
COMPASS to be as follows:-
The compass consists essentially of two parts, viz: a leg (see diagram) and a
holder.
The leg (fig. A) is composed of a piece of steel wire, hard drawn, about number
8 guage, and bent so as to form a long arm and a short arm which approach each
other at the extremity of the short arm. The long arm is sharpened at its
extremity similar to a needle point. Both arms are pierced at a, b, (fig. A) to
allow of a rivet on which the holder (fig. B) turns. Figure A represents the leg.
The holder, is composed of a piece of steel wire, hard drawn, about number
10 guage and has two essential parts viz; a bore, a, and a ring, b, (see fig. B).
The bore consists of eight or more rings, so wound as to forin a screw having an
inside diameter a little less than that of an ordinary school lead pencil.
The ring consists of a coil and a half of the same piece of wire as the bore,
arranged as in figure B. The inner half coil of the ring is pierced at, c, in a manner
similar to a, b, (figure A).
Figure C, shows the leg and holder combined. They are united at b (fig. C) by
a rivet on which the ring (fig. B) turns.
No pressure is applied to the ring by the rivet.
The features of novelty are,
In the compass as a whole, being entirely manufactured of wire.
(i) In the bore, which receives the lead pencil.
(iii) In the arrangement for applying the pressure which keeps the needle point
and the pencil point fixed in any position when apart.
The pressure is supplied by the "spring" (inherent in the steel wire of the leg),
which acts on the ring at the points a, b, c, (fig. C).
TD 031

page_text: No pressure for this purpose is supplied by the rivet, which merely furnishes a
centre on which the ring may turn.
Manner of working:
(i) An ordinary school lead pencil can be inserted in the bore, and adjusted
exactly, by screwing in the usual way.
(ii) A pencil of smaller diameter than the bore can be exactly fitted and
adjusted, by the application of a roll or so of paper round the pencil. The pencil
will not in any case require cutting.
(iii) An ordinary pen with its socket can be inserted in the bore, by which
means ink can replace the lead pencil, if required.
Protection for the invention is applied for, and to extend to Great Britain; and
the term "Improved Mathematical Compass" shall include a compass manufactured
wholly or partly of wire of any description (steel, iron or otherwise) which shall
involve the novel principles herein described.

page_text: JOSIAH WAITE, Morville Street Ladywood, Birmingham, Wire manufacturer,
THOMAS COOK WAITE Morville Street, Ladywood, Birmingham, Wire manu-
facturer, and FREDERICK WILLIAM WAITE, 9 Peet Street, Uttoxeter Road, Derby,
Schoolmaster do hereby declare the nature of their invention for AN IMPROVED
MATHEMATICAL COMPASS and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The compass consists essentially of two parts a leg (A) and a holder (B). (See
diagram.) The leg is composed of a piece of steel wire, about number 8 guage and
bent so as to form a long arm and a short arm which approach each other at the
extremity of the short arm. Both arms are pierced at a, b, (fig. A) to allow of a
rivet on which the holder (fig. B) turns. The long arm is sharpened at its end
similar to a needle point. Figure A represents the leg.
The holder is composed of a piece of steel wire, about number 10 guage, and has
two essential parts, a bore, a, and a ring, b, (fig. B).
The bore consists of eight coils or thereabout, so wound as to form a screw,
having an inside diameter a little less than the thickest ordinary lead pencils used
in Elementary Schools. The steel peg upon which the coils of the bore are made
swells a little in the middle, so that the middle portion of the bore, has really a
little larger diameter than the ends. This arrangement allows the pencil to be
held more firmly by the end rings than the middle ones; also the labour of
screwing in the pencil is decreased. This difference of diameter is not perceptible
upon ordinary observation.
The ring consists of a coil and a half or thereabout, of the same piece of wire
as the bore, arranged as in figure B. The inner half-coil of the ring is pierced at, c,
(fig. B) similar to a, b, in fig. A.
Figure C, shows the leg and the holder attached. They are united at, b, (fig. C)
by a rivet on which the ring turns.
No pressure is applied to the ring by the rivet. The pressure for keeping the
holder fixed in any position when open, is supplied by the "spring" of the steel
wire of the leg. No pressure for this purpose is supplied by the rivet. The long
and short arms of the leg press on both sides the ring at a, (fig. C) and on alternate
sides at b and c
The inner half coil of the ring is forced a little out of the plane of the outer coil
previous to its being attached to the leg. This arrangement causes the pressure on
alternate sides of the ring at b, and c, and prevents the ring moving backwards and
forwards on the rivet.
An ordinary lead pencil having a diameter a little larger than the bore can be
inserted in the bore and exactly adjusted by screwing in the usual way.
A pencil of smaller diameter than the bore can be exactly fitted and adjusted, by
the application of a roll or so of thin paper round it. The pencil will not in any
case require cutting to make it fit the bore.
An ordinary pen with its socket can be inserted in the bore; thus ink can
replace the lead pencil if required.

page_text: The term "wire" shall include the ordinary round wire of any guage whatever,
also any other shape, be it half-round, triangular, flat, oval or otherwise.
The term "Improved Mathematical Compass," shall include a compass manu-
factured wholly or partly of wire of any description (steel, iron, brass or otherwise)
which shall involve wholly or partly the novel principles herein described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that
what we claim is :-
:-
1. That the compass as a whole is novel, being manufactured entirely of wire.
2. That the "bore," an arrangement for holding the pencil is novel.
3. That the arrangement for keeping the holder fixed in any position when open,
is novel.