AN IMPROVED PIPE WRENCH
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Wormald, of Vauxhall, and George
Pollard, of York Road, Lambeth, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED PIPE WRENCH."
Sealed the 26th May 1854, and dated the 26th November 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Wormald
and George Pollard at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 26th November 1853: ...
..
We, JOSEPH WORMALD, of Vauxhall, & GEORGE POLLARD, of York
Road, Lambeth, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED PIPE WRENCH" to be as follows:-
of
Our Invention consists of a lever pipe wrench with an adjusting eye
or link fitted with an eccentric tongue and springs,, for the purpose
screwing the ends of pipes together. The head of the lever wrench is
formed in a V shape, the interior surfaces of which are toothed or
grooved, so as to have a proper bite or hold upon the periphery of the
pipe. The eye or link which fits on to the shoulder or neck of the
lever is movable along the same, so as to be capable of being adjusted
to pipes of different sizes; this eye or link is held secure in the required
position by means of a tooth fitted with a spring, so as to catch and
work in a rack or grooves in the shoulder of the lever; this tooth and
grooves thus forms a ratchet for keeping the eye peice in any required

page_text: position when in use. In the front of the adjusting link there is an
eccentric tongue, the outer face of which is grooved or notched in a
similar manner to the inside of the V head of the lever, so as to
increase the grip. The eye or link is also fitted with a spring at the
top for the purpose of keeping it from sliding about when in use. A
spring in the underside of the eye peice keeps the tooth up to the
ratchet when the instrument is applied to the pipe.
By pressing back the tongue in the eye peice the spring relieves the
tooth from the ratchet in the shoulder of the lever, and adınits of the
instrument being instantly adjusted to a pipe of any size within its
capacity.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Joseph Wormald and George Pollard in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th May 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
JOSEPH WORMALD, of Vauxhall, and GEORGE POLLARD, of York Road,
Lambeth, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three,
in the seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, give and grant unto us, the said Joseph Wormald
and George Pollard, Her special license that we, the said Joseph
Wormald and George Pollard, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Joseph Wormald and George
Pollard, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
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 IMPROVED PIPE WRENCH," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Joseph Wormald and George Pollard, by an instru-
ment in writing under our hands and scals, should particularly describe

page_text: and ascertain the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Office, within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Joseph Wormald and George
Pollard, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement and description thereof,
and in and by the Drawings accompanying this Specification, and the
explanation applying to the said Drawings herein contained, that is to
say:
Our Invention consists of a lever wrench for screwing pipes. The
wrench is adjustable to pipes of different sizes by a moveable eye or
link which slides along the neck of the lever, and is fitted with springs
and an eccentric tongue, and is held in the required position by the
means hereafter mentioned and described. The head of the lever is
bent or turned up at an angle with the neck, and the inner face is made
concave or V shaped, and the surface toothed or grooved for the purpose
of increasing the bite or hold upon the pipe. Along the under side of
the lever, from the head towards the shaft (where the moveable eye or
link slides), there are a number of indentations or notches forming a
rack, and in the bottom of the collar of the said eye or link there is a
tooth which fits into these notches and works along the rack. At the
top of the said collar there is a spring which presses against the top of
the lever, and keeps the tooth up to the notch, and holds the eye or link
in the required position when the instrument is in use.
The opening
in the collar is made larger at the back part than the neck of the lever,
to admit of the tooth being relieved from one notch to another, which
is done by pressing down the spring last mentioned, when the eye or
link can be moved along the lever backwards or forwards at pleasure,
so as to be adjusted to a pipe of any size within the capacity of the
instrument. The eccentric tongue, with which the moveable eye is
fitted, turns upon a pivot in the said eye or link, and projects in front
thereof, and is held in the required position by means of a spring. The
outer edge of the tongue is notched in a similar manner to the inside of

page_text: the head of the lever; this tongue, by its eccentric motion when power
is applied to the lever, gives the grip or hold of the wrench upon the
pipe when turning the screw in the required direction, and at the same
time allows the instrument to turn freely in the opposite direction, or
slip round the pipe without turning the same:
The instrument, as above. described constitutes the wrench for, pipes
or.screws with circular surfaces, and is shown at Figs. 1 and 2 on the
accompanying Drawings; &, by the modification shown at Figs:- 3:
and 4, forms a wrench for screws or nuts with angular surfaces.:: The:
form and dimensions of the various parts of the instrument above,
described are shown upon the accompanying Drawings, to which, the:
following explanation applies..
EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS.
The Drawings accompanying this Specification are laid down to a
scale equal to one half, the full size, and comprise. Fig. 1, a side view of
the lever wrench with the moveable link and eccentric tongue; Fig. 2,
longitudinal section through the head and shoulder of the lever and
moveable link, showing the tooth and spring in the collar, and the
eccentric tongue and spring thereto; Fig..3, a side view of the lever,
with a moveable link for screws or nuts with angular surfaces; Fig. 4,
a longitudinal section through the same upon the head of the tooth in
the link. For convenience of reference similar letters are used in each
Fig., so that where the same-letter is repeated in the different Figs. it
still applies to the same part of the instrument, which is shown in a
different position, for the better explanation of its action and use.
REFERENCE.
.

page_text: H, the spring at the top of do.
I, the spring which keeps the eccentric tongue against the pipe when
the instrument is in use.
K, the pin which holds the spring.
I, the mouth of the wrench.
M, (Figs. 3 & 4,) the screw attached to the head P, of the tooth G.
The link is adjusted to the exact gauge required by the nut O.
To use the wrench, press down the spring H, and pull the link back
sufficiently to enlarge the opening or mouth of the wrench to the
required size, at the same time press back the eccentric tongue and
place the mouth of the wrench over the pipe and release the tongue,
then, by pressing the lever in the direction shown by the arrow, the
wrench will grip the pipe and turn it; when the lever has been pressed
in the same direction as far as practicable, it may be raised or turned
the reverse way, when the spring and tongue will allow the wrench to
slip round without moving the pipe. In using the wrench as at Figs.
3 & 4, the link is drawn back (by pressing down the spring H, until the
mouth L is sufficiently wide to admit the screw or nut, when it may be
adjusted to the exact gauge required by turning the nut O, by which
the link can be moved either backwards or forwards.
We have now to the best of our ability described and ascertained
nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, but we do not confine ourselves to an instrument of the
particular dimensions sions shown on the Drawings, as the same may
be varied; and we therefore claim as our Invention the wrench with
the eccentric tongue and double adjustment.
In witness whereof, we, the said Joseph Wormald and George
Pollard, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-
fifth day of May. A.D. 1854.
JOSEPH (L.S.) WORMALD.
GEORGE (LS.) POLLARD.