INPRAVEMENTS IN LIBRING JACKS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Williams, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Lifting Jack Manufacturer, for. the Invention of
"INPRAVEMENTS IN LIBRING JACKS"
Sealed the 4th February 1870, and dated the 29th September 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Williams at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th September 1869.
I, JOHN WILLIAMS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Lifting Jack Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LIFTING JACKS," to be as follows::-
My Invention consists in arranging or combining in the manner
herein-after described the lifting mechanism of lifting jacks, whereby
the power is transmitted to the weight to be lifted with less loss by
friction than in lifting jacks of the ordinary construction, and increased.
power in the jack thereby obtained.
In arranging the parts of a lifting jack according to my Invention. I
provide the lifting bar with the usual foot or claw and head, and make

page_text: on one of its faces a rack, with which a pinion fixed on a horizontal
axis gears. The said horizontal axis works in bearings in the wooden
block or frame of the jack. On the said horizontal axis and near the
pinion described is a worm wheel, with which a worm or worm pinion
gears. This worm pinion is carried on the end of an axis situated at
right angles to the axis already described carrying the rack pinion and
worm wheel. The outer end of the axis of the worm pinion projects
from the back of the block or frame of the jack, and carries a handle or
lever, by which the jack is worked. By turning the said worm pinion
by its handle rotation is communicated to the worm wheel and axis
carrying it, and through the said axis to the rack pinion. The said
pinion gearing with the rack of the lifting bar raises or lowers the said
bar.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Williams in the Great Seal Patent Office 1
on the 19th March 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WILLIAMS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Lifting Jack
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Williams, Her special licence, that I,
the said John Williams, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John Williams, 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 LIFTING JACKS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Williams,
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

page_text: 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 John Williams, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in arranging or combining in the manner
herein-after described the lifting mechanism of lifting jacks, whereby
the power is transmitted to the weight to be lifted with less loss by
friction than in lifting jacks of the ordinary construction and increased
power in the jack thereby obtained.
In arranging the parts of a lifting jack according to my Invention I
provide the lifting bar with the usual foot or claw and head, and make on
one of its faces a rack, with which a pinion on a horizontal axis gears.
The said horizontal axis is fixed in bushes or bearings in the wooden
block or frame of the jack. On the said horizontal axis and near the
pinion described is a worm wheel, with which a worm or worm pinion
gears. This worm pinion is carried on the end of an axis situated at
right angles to the axis already described carrying the rack pinion and
worm wheel. The outer end of the axis of the worm pinion projects
from the back of the block or frame of the jack, and carries a handle
or lever by which the jack is worked. By turning the said worm
pinion by its handle rotation is communicated to the worm wheel and
rack pinion, and the said pinion gearing with the rack of the lifting bar
raises or lowers the said bar.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in elevation a lifting jack the lifting mechanism
of which is arranged or combined according to my Invention. Figure 2
represents the same with the front plate removed to exhibit the lifting
mechanism; Figure 3 is a plan of the same, and Figure 4 is a hori-
zontal section of the same taken through the line a, Figure 2. The
same letters of reference indicate the same parts in each Figure.
6 is the wooden block or frame of the jack; c is the lifting bar provided
with the usual foot or claw and head. On the inner face of the said
lifting bare is a rack d, with which a pinion e turning loosely on the

page_text: fixed horizontal axis f gears. The said horizontal axis consists of a
strong pin secured in the bushes g, g, let into the wooden frame b, the
said pin being fixed by the screw nut f³; turning loosely on the said
axis f, and made by preference in one piece with the pinion e, is a worm
wheel. The said pinion e and worm wheel h, bear respectively against
the inner faces of the bushes g, g, through which the horizontal axis f
passes, as best seen in the section Figure 4. Gearing with the worm
wheel is a worm or worm pinion i fixed on the axis k, the said axis k
being situated at right angles to the axis f. The outer end of the axis i
projects from the back of the block or frame 6 of the jack, and the
square end of the said axis i carries a lever or handle 7, by which the
jack is worked. The opposite end of the axis i works in a bearing
carried by the back plate of the jack (see Figure 3). By turning the
worm pinion i by its lever or handle rotation is communicated to the
worm wheel and rack pinion e, and the latter by gearing with the
rack d of the lifting bar c raises or lowers the said bar..
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I claim as my Invention the improvements in the lifting
mechanism of lifting jacks herein before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing, that is to say, the arrangement or combination
of the worm or worm pinion i, worm wheel h, and rack pinion e for
transmitting motion from the handle of the jack to the lifting bar of
the said jack, substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Williams, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
JOHN WILLIAMS. (L.S.)