IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOKS FOR FIRE ADMS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Sussex Place,
Loughborough Road, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN LOOKS FOR FIRE ADMS
"
A communication
IMPROVED
IN LOOKS FOR FIRE ADMO
communication
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd October 1855.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Sussex Place, Loughborough Road,
in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS POR FIRE-ARMS" to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in constructing locks for fire-arms in the following
manner: The hammer, which is of the ordinary description, is attached to a
tumbler or axis, on which is coiled a spiral spring. One end of this spiral
spring is attached to the tumbler and the other end to the frame of the lock,
so that when the hammer is raised the spring is brought into a state of tension.
On the tumbler is formed a ring, in which are cut ratchet teeth, into one of

page_text: which, when the hammer is raised, there falls a paul or dog attached to the
trigger, and when the trigger is pulled the paul or dog is raised from the
ratchet tooth, and the hammer descends.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 31st March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Sussex Place, Loughborough Road, in the County
of Surrey, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special license that I, the said George
Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS FOR FIRE-ARMS," (being a communication
from abroad,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George
Tomlinson Bousfield, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 bad to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention consists, first, in the use of a coiled wire spring, for the
purpose of throwing the hammer, as combined with the arbor, which supports
it, and with the parts immediately in connection therewith.

page_text: Second, in supporting the spring at each end upon pins, the one projecting
from the face plate and the other from the tumbler, whereby the spring is
prevented from rubbing upon its arbor, and is left free to act at all times to
throw the hammer, as required.
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use this Invention, I will
proceed to describe the method in which it may be carried out, reference being
had to the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view;
Fig. 2, a transverse section through the spring and arbor; Figs. 3, 4, 5, & 6,
details which will be referred to hereafter.
A is the hammer; B, the face plate, which is secured to the stock by a
screw from the opposite side, entering at the hole a; D is a coiled wire spring,
one end of which is secured to the face plate at b, the other end entering the
tumbler E at c.. The tumbler is furnished with the usual whole and half cock
notches, and is secured to the arbor f, which passes through a hole e in the face
plate, and has a square head g upon its outer end, upon which the hammer is
fitted; h is the hammer screw by which the hammer is secured to the arbor;
i, m, are pins projecting, the one from the face plate B, the other from the
tumbler. The coiled spring is allowed to bear upon each of these pins, and
is thus prevented from being brought in contact with the arbor when it
is operated. The pin is allowed to project through upon the outside of
the face plate, and enter a slot or depression a upon the interior face of the
hammer, by which the latter is prevented from being brought sufficiently far
back in cocking to strain the spring. r is a pin secured to the stock, which
enters the hole t in the centre of the tumbler, by which means the latter and
the parts connected therewith are steadied and held in place.
As the hammer is drawn back in the operation of cocking, the tumbler is
revolved with it, and also one end of the coiled spring D which is attached
thereto, the other end of the spring being held stationary by the face plate.
The spring is wound up sufficiently by the motion of the tumbler to throw the
hammer with the required force, when the tumbler is released by the trigger.
An exceedingly simple and powerful hammer spring is thus obtained, the
cost of which is far less than that of any other of equal efficiency with which
I am acquainted.
Having now set forth the nature of this Invention, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under
the above recited Letters Patent 1 claim, the use of the spiral spring D as
combined with the arbor f, the face plate B, and the tumbler E, the whole
being arranged and operating in the manner substantially as herein set forth.

page_text: Secondly, I claim the pins i and m in combination with the coiled spring D
or the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
W. S. HARRISON,
New Court, St. Swithin's Lane.
GEO. T. BOUSFIELD. (L.s.)