IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VICES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hyde and Joshua Hyde, Vice Makers, of
Dudley, in the County of Worcester, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VICES."
Sealed the 16th October 1857, and dated the 14th May 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hyde and Joshua
Hyde at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 14th May 1857.
We, WILLIAM HYDE and JOSHUA HYDE, Vice Makers, of Dudley, in the
County of Worcester, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VICES," to be as follows, (that is to
say):-
Our improvements in the construction of vices consist in uniting the inner
jaw to a boss forged of wrought or formed of cast iron, and this boss is so
shaped as to form a socket for the leg of the vice to rest in; as also forming
a guide for a parallel bar, so shaped as to stand at a right angle with the
front jaw (to which it is united by forging or otherwise), by which means the
great desideratum of a parallel action in the opening and shutting of the vice
is given to the jaws. The boss before referred to also receives the concussion
imparted by striking, beating, or rivetting any description of work hela in
the vice, whether struck on the front, back, or both jaws at one time.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hyde and Joshua Hyde in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th November 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
HYDE and JOSHUA HYDE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Vice
Manufacturers, late of Dudley, in the County of Worcester, Journeymen Vice
Makers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said William Hyde and Joshua Hyde, Her special license that we, the said
William Hyde and Joshua Hyde, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said William Hyde and Joshua Hyde, our executors,
adminstrators, or 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 CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN VICES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said William Hyde and Joshua Hyde, by an
instrument in writing under our 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 Patènt.
66
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Hyde and Joshua Hyde, do
hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):-
Vices for general use, whether large or small, should possess two qualities;
first, a parallel grip, and, secondly, a means of absorbing or counteracting
the violent concussion to which such tools are subjected, for the constant or
general use of vices is not only to hold the matter subjected to their grip,
but very frequently to hold it while the material or materials so held is being
beat or fashioned into shape, or by uniting one part to another by bolts or
rivets, which in either case require the continuous application of hammering,
the objectionable or injurious coneussion of which we nullify or absorb by
our mode of construction, as well as the obtaining of a complete parallel grip

page_text: or action, and these objects we obtain in such a way that we are enabled to
make vices as cheap on our improved plan (according to size and weight)
as is usually charged for vices of ordinary construction; but as our said
improvements will be best understood by referring to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, we will proceed to describe the same, observing that we have marked
the several parts as they occur in the various views with the same letters of
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents a side view of a vice made according to our improve-
ments. A is a boss or socket, which may be cast of malleable or common
iron, or forged or formed into the desired shape (by swages or dies) from
wrought iron. On the under side of this boss the leg, marked B, (broken off
for convenience of space,) is united by tapping or otherwise. The inner jaw,
marked D, is forged with a strong pin at its bottom, and which pin fits and
rests firmly in a hole of the same size formed in the top part of this boss,
the size and position of this pin being indicated by the dotted lines, marked
e, f, e, f, while the boss and the jaw is held together by a small pin, marked
g. The part H is merely a clip that clips the inner jaw, and terminating
inwards with a broad plate, by which means the vice may be held to the
bench by screws, as at i, i, while the part j represents the ends of two wedge
bolts for holding the clip tight around the jaw D. At the back of the inner
jaw a projection is formed, marked k, for the purpose of securing by means
of a rivet or screw, as at m, a semicircular or curved piece of brass, iron, or
other metal, shown in section in this Figure, marked n, n, the use of which
is simply to. cover or shield the screw beneath it. 0, 0, is a bar, forged or
formed at right angles with the front jaw P. This parallel bar is made to
fit accurately in a hole of the same shape and size through the boss A; thus
it is evident that, by this bar moving out or in as the screw Q is turned, a
parallel grip is imparted to the jaws, which tends considerably in imparting
a firmer grip to anything screwed or held between them. We prefer and
recommend that the boss or part marked A should be at all times made strong
and of good materials, as it is this part that not only guides and assists the
action of the front jaw, but forms the bed or the receiver of the concussion
imparted by hammering in using these descriptions of vices.
Figures 2 and 3 are simply front and back views of Figure 1, all the parts
being marked with the same letters of reference that are capable of being
seen.
Having thus described the nature and character of our Invention, we wish

page_text: it understood that we do not, claim, the principle of parallel action as applied
to vices, as that is old, nor do we claim for the shape, size, or proportion of
the parts herein exhibited, as the whole is capable of great diversification,
not only as to shape, but also: the proportions of the several parts, without
departing from the general character of our Invention; but what we do claim,
and wish to protect by these our in part recited Letters Patent, is the mode
and manner of constructing vices in relation to their several parts with the
boss A and bar O, or their equivalents.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Hyde and Joshua Hyde, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Eleventh day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
EDMUND HOTCHKISS,
Clerk to J. S. Cockings,
Patent Agent, Birmingham.
WILLIAM HYDE. (L.S.)
JOSHUA HYDE.
(L.S.)