AN IMPROVEMENT IN SHOEMAKERS' PINCERS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clarke, of Coventry, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
SHOEMAKERS' PINCERS." - A communication from abroad by Alfred
Clarke, of Philadelphia, United States of America.
Sealed the 24th November 1871, and dated the 9th June 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clarke at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th June 1871.
I, WILLIAM CLARKE, of Coventry, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
AN IMPROVEMENT IN SHOEMAKERS' PINCERS," to be as follows, that is to say :—
The nature of the Invention mainly consists in the circular form
given to the hammer or hammer head, usually forming part of the
lower jaw of the pincers, whereby the workman obtains a better
leverage, especially in lasting or drawing in the loose leather round

page_text: the toes, and produces better work with less labor than by the use
of the ordinary square hammer.
It also consists in the rounded face given to the hammer, which
enables the workman to hold his hand at any required angle, and so
(without danger to his fingers) to secure the tacks or nails being driven
by a single blow, and their being more perfectly clinched as their points
strike the last.
It further consists in the roughened face given to the hammer in.
order to prevent the tacks or nails shifting their position when struck.
Lastly, it consists in the hammer being made by itself and attached
to the lower jaw of the pincers by means of a screw cut on its shank
and in the said lower jaw of the pincers, the object of this arrangement
being that by the use of one or more washers on the shoulder of the
shank the length of the hammer may be varied as desired, and that in
case of the hammer or its screw being broken or injured another may
be substituted, and the utility of the other portions of the pincers may
be so preserved.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Clarke in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th December 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARKE, of Coventry, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
1.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Clarke, Her special licence
that I, the said William Clarke, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Clarke, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN

page_text: SHOEMAKERS' PINCERS," a communication to me from abroad by Alfred
Clarke, of Philadelphia, United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Clarke, 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 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 Clarke, 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 had to the Drawing hereto
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to
say:-
The nature of the Invention communicated to me partly consists in
the circular form given to the hammer or hammer head usually forming
part of the lower jaw of the pincers whereby the workman obtains a
better leverage especially in lasting or drawing in the loose leather round
the toes, and produces better work with less labor than by the use of
the ordinary square hammer.
It also consists in the rounded face given to the hammer which
enables the workman to hold his hand at any required angle, and so
(without danger to his fingers) to ensure the tacks or nails being driven
by a single blow, and their being more perfectly clinched as their points
strike the last.
It further consists in the roughened face given to the hammer
in order to prevent the tacks or nails shifting their position when
struck.
And lastly, it consists in the hammer being made by itself and
attached to the lower jaw of the pincers by means of a screw cut on its
shank and in the lower jaw of the pincers, the object of this arrangement
being that by the use of one or more washers on the shoulder of the
shank the length of the hammer may be varied as desired, and that in
case of the hammer or its screw being broken or injured another may
be substituted, and the utility of the other portions of the pincers be so
preserved.

page_text: To make the Invention communicated to me better understood, I
will proceed to describe the same by reference to the accompanying
Drawing in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved pincers,
and Figure 2, a plan of the under side of same; Figure 3 elevation of
the hammer detached from the pincers. Similar letters in all the Figures
represent similar parts.
a, a', are the liandles of the pincers, and b, b', the jaws of the ordinary
form; c is the hammer which is made separate from the pincers, and is
of a circular form, the face d of the hammer is of a rounded form, and
its surface is roughened as shewn in Figure 2; e is the shank of the
hammer, which is cut with a screw 9 corresponding with a female screw
in the lower jaw b¹ of the pincers and by which means the hammer is
fixed, thereto. The length of the hammer may be varied as desired by
employing one or more washers placed on the shoulder of the shank;
only one washer fis shewn in the Drawing. Instead of the hammer
being fixed as herein-before described it may, if desired, be formed with
a plain shank and be driven into a hole corresponding thereto made in
the lower jaw 6 of the pincers. The upper jaw of the pincers at h may
be serrated or roughened, so that this part of the pincers could in the
event of the hammer breaking, be used in lieu thereof until the hammer
be replaced.
Having now described the nature of the Invention communicated
to me, and the manner of performing the same, what I claim is, the
making shoemakers' pincers with a separate hammer head having a
circular form, and rounded, roughened face, and fixed, substantially in
the manner and for the purposes herein-before described and represented
in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clarke, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.