IMPROVEMENTS IN SWIVELS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Welch, of Redditch, in the County of
Worcester, Watchmaker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SWIVELS
m
Sealed the 13th December 1867, and dated the 17th June 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Welch at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
June 1867.
I, JOSEPH WELCH, of Redditch, in the County of Worcester, Watch-
maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SWIVELS FOR FISHING TACKLE AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in swivels
for fishing tackle, ships' tackle, and for other similar purposes, by which
improvements great simplicity of construction and economy of manufacture
are obtained.
I will describe my Invention in connection with a swivel for fishing tackle..
I make the box or case of the swivel of a piece of metal tubing of the required
length, the tube being open at both ends. To one end of this tube I attach
by soldering a bow or loop, the said bow or loop being made from a piece of
wire bent into the required form; the box or case is thus complete.. I make
the shank or stem of the swivel which works in the box or case described of a
piece of wire having a head or knob on one end. I pass the cylindrical part

page_text: of this headed piece of wire into the box or case, the head or knob being
situated within the bow or loop of the said box or case, and I twist and
fashion the opposite end of the said wire situated outside the box or case into
an eye or loop; by this twisting of the end of the wire the shank or stem of
the swivel is prevented from being removed from the box or case while it is
still permitted to rotate freely within the box or case; the box or case is
also free to rotate upon the shank or stem. within it. One portion of the
fishing line is attached to the loop or bow of the box or case, and the other
portion of the said fishing line is attached to the loop or eye of the stem as is
usual. In applying my improved swivel to spinning bait I solder the tube
constituting the case or box in which the shank or stem works to the back of
the said spinning bait, but instead of soldering the loop or bow to the box or
case itself it may be soldered to a tube or portion of a tube soldered to the
spinning bait, within which last-mentioned tube or portion of a tube the box
or case of the swivel is fixed. The fish hooks are attached to the loop or end
of the shank or stem, and the end of the fishing line or swivel connected
with the fishing line is attached to the loop or bow on the spinning bait.
In constructing swivels according to my Invention for ships' tackle and for
other similar purposes I proceed in the manner described with respect to
a swivel for fishing tackle, the parts having such sizes and forms given
to them as will fit them for the particular use to which they are to be applied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Welch in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th December 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
WELCH, of Redditch, in the County of Worcester, Watchmaker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph
Welch, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Welch, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Welch, 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

page_text: Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SWIVELS FOR FISHING TACKLE,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Joseph Welch, 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 Joseph Welch, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in swivels
for fishing tackle, ships' tackle, and for other similar purposes, by which
improvements great simplicity of construction and economy of manufacture
are obtained.
I will describe my Invention in connection with a swivel for fishing tackle..
I make the box or case of the swivel of a piece of metal tubing of the required
length, the tube being open at both ends. To one end of this tube I attach by
soldering a bow or loop, the said bow or loop being made from a piece of wire
bent into the required form; the box or case is thus complete. I make the
shank or stem of the swivel which works in the box or case described of a
piece of wire having a head or knob on one end. I pass the cylindrical part
of the headed piece of wire into the box or case, the head or knob being
situated within the bow or loop of the said box or case, and I twist and fashion
the opposite end of the said wire situated outside the box or case into an eye.
or loop; by this twisting of the end of the wire the shank or stem of the
swivel is prevented from being removed from the box or case while it is still.
permitted to rotate freely within the box or case; the box or case is also free.
to rotate upon the shank or stem within it. One portion of the fishing line is
attached to the loop or bow of the box or case, and the other portion of the.
said fishing line is attached to the loop or eye of the stem as is usual. In.
applying my improved swivel to spinning bait I solder the tube constituting
the case or box in which the shank or stem works to the back of the said
spinning bait, but instead of soldering the loop or bow to the box or case.
itself it is soldered to a tube or portion of a tube soldered to the spinning bait,
within which last-mentioned tube or portion of a tube the box or case of the.
swivel is fixed. The fish hooks are attached to the loop or end of the shank.
or stem, and the end of the fishing line or swivel connected with the fishing

page_text: line is attached to the loop or bow on the spinning bait; or a separate tube
may be placed on the shank or stem of the swivel, the said separate tube being
soldered to the back of the spinning bait, the said bait in this case has an
independent motion upon the shank or stem, or a portion of the spinning bait
itself may be made into a tube, the tubular part working upon the shank or
stem of the swivel.
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 a swivel for fishing tackle constructed according to my
Invention, and also the parts of which the said swivel is composed. The said
swivel consists of a box or case a made of a piece of tubing open at both ends,
and provided with a bow or loop c and a shank or stem 6 provided with an
eye or loop e. In making the swivel I take the piece of wire b to form the
shank or stem having a head or knob on one end, and I thread or place upon
the said shank the box or case a; I then attach to the top of the box or case a
the bow or loop c, as represented at d, Figure 1, and I finally twist the pointed
end of the shank or stem b around the bottom of the said shank or stem, and
form an eye or loop e as represented, and thereby complete the swivel. By
the twisting described of the pointed end of the shank 6 the said shank is
prevented from being removed from the box or case a, while the said shank or
stem 6 is free to rotate within the said box or case; the box or case a is also
free to rotate upon the shank or stem 6 within it. One portion of the fishing
line is attached to the loop or bow c of the box or case, and the other portion
of the said fishing line is attached to the loop or eyes of the shank or stem as
is usual.
Figure 2 represents in front elevation, and Figure 3 in side elevation, a
swivel for a spinning bait made according to my Invention; Figure 4 repre-
sents the swivel in course of manufacture; and Figure 5 represents the parts
of the same. a, is the case or box; b, the shank or stem; c, the loop soldered
to the top of the said case or box; and, e, the eye at the bottom of the said
shank. In this arrangement a separate piece of tubing marked f is placed
upon the shank b, and below it a ring 9, as illustrated in Figure 4, before the
pointed end of the shank 6 is bent into the loop or eye e; this separate piece
of tubing is capable of rotating freely on the shank 6 as an axis.
Figure 6 represents the swivel, Figures 2 and 3, applied to a spinning baith,
the said spinning bait being soldered to the separate tube f; the said spinning
baith is thereby capable of spinning upon the shank 6 without interfering with
the motions of the other parts of the swivel. The fishing line (or a swivel on

page_text: the fishing line) is attached to the loop c, and the fish hook or hooks i to the
eye or loop e. The separate tube f on the shank 6 may be dispensed with,
and the case or box a may be soldered to the back of the spinning bait and the
loop c instead of being soldered to the top of the case or box a is in this case
soldered to the back of the bait; or the arrangement represented in elevation
in Figure 7, and plan in Figure 8, may be employed, that is to say, the inner
edge of the spinning bait h may be coiled into a tubular figure, and the tube
thus formed be made to work upon the shank or stem 6 of the swivel. The
spinning bait h, Figures 7 and 8, is placed upon the shank 6 before the end
of the said shank is made into the eye or loop e.
In constructing swivels according to my Invention for ships' tackle, and for
other similar purposes, I proceed in the manner described with respect to a
swivel for fishing tackle, the parts having such sizes and forms given to them
as will fit them for the particular use to which they are to be applied.
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 swivels for fishing tackle, and for other
purposes, herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing,
that is to say, constructing and arranging or combining the parts of swivels
substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Welch, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
CHARLES CROSS,
Redditch.
JOSEPH WELCH. (L.S.)