IMPROVEMENTS IN DOWELS."
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Rodrigues Rogers, of Gray's Inn Road, in
the County of Middlesex, Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN DOWELS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Rodrigues Rogers
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th April 1861.
I, WILLIAM RODRIGUES ROGERS, of Gray's Inn Road, in. the. County of
Middlesex, Builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN DOWELS," to be as follows:-
My Invention of improvements in dowels consists in forming dowels of
wrought iron with jagged or serrated edges or surfaces, so that the said dowels
when driven into wood or timber may hold tightly therein, and will. firmly
secure together any two pieces of timber or wood. The dowels may be made
of wrought-iron rods or bars of any desired. or convenient. section, such as
round, square, or polygonal, and the jaggings or teeth of the two ends. of; the
dowel must be made in opposite directions, that is, one-half of the dowel must
be provided with teeth pointing in one direction, and the other end of the
dowel with teeth pointing in the opposite direction. When the dowels are
required for use, holes must be accurately drilled into the faces of the two
pieces of wood which it is desired to secure together, and one end of the lowel

page_text: may then be driven in until the dowel is tightly and firmly fixed; the other
piece of wood is then driven on to the other end of the dowel until the two
pieces are brought close together, and the teeth or jaggings on the dowel will
then securely hold them and prevent them from being drawn quart
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Rodrigues Rogers in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS. SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
RODRIGUES ROGERS, of Gray's Inn Road, in the County of Middlesex, Builder,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Rodrigues Rogers, Her special license that I, the said William
Rodrigues Rogers, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Rodrigues Rogers, 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 DOWELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Rodrigues Rogers, 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 William Rodrigues Rogers, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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)
:
The object of this Invention is to facilitate the construction of wooden
raming for doors and other like carpenters' work. To this end I propose to
employ metal holdfasts or dowels, which being inserted into holes bored to

page_text: receive them, will, by the application of pressure, enable me to produce firm
butt joints at less cost both of material and labour than the ordinary joints are
made. These dowels. I construct, by preference, from square or round rods
of wrought iron, the angles or sides of which I jag so as to form projecting
teeth thereon. These teeth are for the purpose of taking a good hold of the
wood when the dowel is thrust home, and thereby preventing its withdrawal,
but they are so arranged as to offer the least possible obstruction to the
insertion of the dowel consistent with. their use..
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 shews in side and end views a dowel
constructed according to my Invention from a square rod, and Fig. 2 shews
the dowel made from a round rod; Figures 3 and 4 shew the manner of
applying the improved dowels for securing the joints of framework, Fig. 3
being a sectional plan view, and Fig. 4 a side view; of a portion of framework
constructed according to this Invention. I would remark that the wrought-
iron rods employed in the construction of the dowel may have any desired and
suitable form in cross, section, such as round, square, or polygonal, but in
general I prefer the square form for soft wood, which readily gives to the
angles of the dowel, and the round form for hard or less yielding woods.
The jaggings or teeth it will be seen are set in opposite directions at the
opposite ends of the dowel, the backs of the teeth of both series being directed
towards their respective ends of the dowel. The teeth of the dowels I
propose to strike up after the manner of cutting the teeth of rasps. In order
to apply the dowels it is first requisite to drill accurately corresponding holes
into such parts of the pieces of wood intended to be secured together as are
intended to form the abutting faces, such holes being just so much smaller in
diameter as to insure a good hold of the wood without any undue obstruction
being offered to the insertion of the dowel.
The manner of applying the dowels is, as I have stated, by pressure, and an
efficient way of applying the pressure is by the means commonly used by
carpenters to draw up their framework before securing the joints. When the
dowels are once thrust home they will effectually secure the joint, and prevent
the necessity for applying glue or any other means for maintaining the
connection of the coupled parts.
Although I have found that the means commonly at hand in a carpenter's
shop may be advantageously employed in the application of my improved
dowels, yet I would remark that I prefer to use the machine which I have
invented specially for the purpose of inserting the dowels, and for which I
have obtained Provisional Protection, bearing date August Seventh, One thou-
sand eight hundred and sixty-one, as by this machine all the frame joints of a

page_text: door
may simultaneously be secured by reason of the automatic compressing
power exerted by that machine.
Having now explained the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in
Dowels," 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,
forming metal dowels with serrated surfaces in the manner and for the
above described.
purpose
In witness whereof, I, the said William Rodrigues Rogers, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Tenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
WILLIAM RODRIGUES ROGERS. (L.s.)
66, Chancery Lane.