IMPROVEMENTS IN SWORD AND OTHER SHEATHS OR SCABBARDS
Year: 1860

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Clark at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th February
1860. A communication from abroad by Mr. Jean Baptiste Adolphe
Jay, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SWORD AND OTHER SHEATHS OR SCABBARDS," to be
as follows:-
This Invention consists of an improved sword scabbards which can be varied
in length, that is to say, when the blade or sword is drawn out, the different
parts of the scabbard enter one within the other, so as to occupy less space,
which affords facility for the movements of the person armed; when the blade
is replaced it elongates the scabbard to the length required. These reducible
scabbards are applicable to all kinds of swords or sabres, either straight,
curved, long, or small swords, bayonets, or other similar weapons; the number
of parts of which the scabbard is composed may be two, three, or more. These
scabbards can be made of leather, metal, or any other suitable material; they
are, however, generally made of sheet iron, in which case .I propose to tin or
plate them inside & outside, so as to prevent oxidation.
I have represented in the annexed Drawings two specimens of reducible
scabbards.
Fig. 1 shows a side view of a sword, with the scabbard in three parts
extended; Fig. 3 shows a side view of the scabbard in three parts closed or

page_text: shut; Fig. 2 shows a longitudinal vertical section of the reducible scabbard,
formed of three parts extended; Fig. 4 shows a side view of a scabbard con-
sisting of two parts, the lower one being extended; Fig. 5 shows a longitudinal
vertical section of a reducible scabbard in two parts extended; Fig. 6 shows a
side view of the scabbard in two parts shortened.
Figs. 7, 8, & 9 show detail views in plan, central, vertical, and trans-
verse sections of one form of rim or cap, which will be herein-after ex-
plained.
Figs. 10, 11, & 12 show detail views in central, vertical, and transverse
sections of another kind of rim, which will also be explained.
Figs. 13, 14, & 15 show plan, side, and front views of a spring clip.
Fig. 16, 17, & 18 show a plan, edge, and side view of another form of
spring clip, herein-after explained. These clips are fixed at the upper part
of the lower divisions of the scabbard, and grip the blade between their two
spring parts. Figs. 19, 20, & 21 show a face, edge view, and plan of the
spring stop of the upper part of the scabbard. In all the Figures the same
letters of refference indicate the same parts.
a, handle of the sword; b, uppar part of the scabbard, furnished with a
rim or cap c, represented in Figures 7 & 12, as herein-after mentioned;
d, spring, furnished with a catch or stop e; this spring is fixed on the flat
part at Figs. 1 & 2, or better on the back, as at Figs. 4 & 5 of the upper
"part a of the scabbard. This spring d is held either by rivets or by means of
the upper ring f. g, interior projection at the bottom of the part b; h, middle
division of the scabbard, furnished with a projecting collar i, which rests on
the internal projection 9 when the scabbard is extended at the upper part of h,
which is of an eliptical form; there is on one side a slot j, and on the other a
part k; 1, internal projection at bottom of part h; m, lower part or division of
the scabbard, furnished with a projecting collar n, which serves as a stop and
rests on the projection 7. When the scabbard is extended, the upper end of
the part m, which is of small diameter, and of elliptical form, has on the one
side an opening o, and on the other a groove p, not represented; this groove p
´is intended for the part k to lodge in, so as to raise the part has the blade is
withdrawn; the opening o is intended to receive the catch e of spring d, and to
sustain the three parts of the scabbard the one within the other when the
scabbard is contracted; 9, spring clip, fixed at the upper part of the lower
division m of the scabbard; its form varies according to that of the blade to be
held. Two forms of these springs are represented in Figs. 13, 14, 15, 16,
17, & 18. v, piece of buff leather or other material placed inside of the
butt s to prevent blunting the point of the blade.

page_text: I will now give the description of the rim or cap c. Its opening is
excentric to that of the first part of the scabbard, so that when the blade is
introduced into the scabbard while it is not suspended from a waist belt, the
edges of the blade slightly twist the scabbard, & prevents the fall of the three
parts of which it is composed, and closed the one in the other; t & u, Figs. 7
& 8, screws held in the thickness of rim c; the one t serves as a hingo to
open the rim when it is wished to dismount the scabbard and separate the
three parts by drawing out those h & m by the upper opening of b. The other
screw u serves, on the contrary, to press on the rim c to keep it in position, for
which purpose it is formed with a hole v to receive screw u.
Figs. 10 & 11 show a second form of rim, in which a is a flat bolt, which
takes in a small opening made in the exterior flange of rim c. The whole
being thus described & illustrated in the Drawing, it will be understood that
in drawing out the sword or other weapon the clip spring 9 causes the part m
to rise into the interior of that h. The part k in this movement lodges itself in
the slot p, and draws up the part h in such way that the parts m & h encased
the one in the other rise together into part b, at the same time the catch or
bolt e on the completion of the movement lodges in the opening n, and holds
the two parts h and m together the one in the other in the interior of part b;
the scabbard will be then as represented in Fig. 3. The blade continuing its
movement with the traction of the hand, slides between the parts of the clip
spring q, and may be thus entirely withdrawn. To sheath the blade the point
is placed in the top of the scabbard and pressed on the buff r, which unlocks
the catch e and extends the three parts one from the other, which are held at
the extremity of their movement by the projections 9 & 1, and the collars
i & n.
For scabbards formed of two parts the same movements ocur, but of course