Improvements in Adjustable Screw Keys or Spanners.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 12th June, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 12th Dec., 1894-Accepted, 12th Jan., 1895
Improvements in Adjustable Screw Keys or Spanners.
I EDWARD TILSTON of 2 Bates Street, Birch Lane, Longsight, Manchester,
Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My said invention relates to improvements in the construction of screw keys or
spanners adjustable for various sizes of nuts or bolt heads and particularly to those
adapted for gripping four sides of a hexagonal or square nut or bolt head.
According to my said invention I take a flat plate of metal suitably shaped at
one end to form a convenient handle. In the other end of the plate I form a slot
closed at the outer end the inner edge of which is provided with flat edges.
Sliding in or on suitable parallel guides in the said slot is a loose jaw the fore
edge of which is likewise provided with flat edges. The nut to be grasped is
placed between the loose jaw and the end of the slot and when pressure is applied
by the menus hereinafter set forth a hexagon nut is grasped on four faces.
According to one form of my said invention the loose jaw is provided with a
screwed tail piece formed integral with or attached by a forked end to the loose
jaw. A rotatable nut engages with the said screwed tail piece and lying in a
transverse slot in the metal plate bears against the fore or rear edges of the said
slot. A longitudinal slot opening into the said transverse slot provides space for
the screw to lie and travel in.
According to another form of my said invention the screw lies in a prolongation
of the slot which carries the loose jaw and is fixed to the main plate by a forked
end. In this case the rotatable nut itself slides on the screw and is formed as an
internally screwed bush pointed at its upper end which takes into a recess in the
rear end of the loose jaw. The inner edge of the main slot and the corresponding
edge of the loose jaw may be either straight or provided with vees so as to grasp
either two or four sides of the nut.
The advantage I obtain from my said invention is that owing to the absence of
parts which slide into each other a much thinner and lighter spanner than has
heretofore been possible is obtained without sacrifice of strength.
Dated Eleventh day of June 1894.
E. T. WHITELOW, A.M. Inst. C.E.,
70, Deansgate, Manchester, Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Adjustable Screw Keys or Spanners.
I EDWARD TILSTON of 2 Bates Street, Birch Lane, Longsight, Manchester,
Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to he performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
My said invention relates to improvements in the construction of screw keys or
spanners adjustable for various sizes of nuts or bolt heads and particularly to those
adapted for gripping four sides of a hexagonal or square nut or bolt head.

page_text: According to my said invention described with reference to the accompanying
drawings I take a flat plate of metal suitably shaped at one end to form a convenient
handle. In the other end of the plate I form a slot closed at the outer end a¹
the inner edge of which is provided with flat edges to take against the side of the
nut or bolt. Sliding in or on suitable parallel guides in the said slot is a loose
jaw c the fore edge of which is also provided with flat edges to take against the
sides of the bolt or nut. The nut to be grasped is placed between the loose jaw c
and the part a' and when pressure is applied to the loose jaw c by the means
hereinafter described a hexagon nut is grasped on four faces.
According to one form of my said invention shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4 the loose
jaw is provided with a screwed tail piece c'. A rotatable nut d engages with the
screwed tail piece c¹ and lying in the-transverse slot in the metal plate it bears
against the fore or rear edges of the slot when rotated for advancing or retiring
the loose jaw c. A longitudinal continuation of the slot provides space for the
screwed tail piece c¹ to lie and travel in.
The tail piece c¹ may be formed integral with the loose jaw c as shown in Fig. 3
or may have a forked end e by which it is attached to the loose jaw c as shown in
Figs. 1 and 2.
According to another form of my said invention as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 the
screw is fixed by a forked end c¹ to the plate a. In this case the nut slides on
the screw and is formed as an internally screwed bush a pointed at its fore end d²
where it takes into a recess in the rear end of the loose jaw c.
a.
'
The lateral displacement of the loose jaw and the screw is prevented by the
parallel guides in which the loose jaw slides in the plate These parallel guides
and grooves may be either V shaped as in Fig. 6 or rectangular as in Fig. 5 and
may be formed in or on either the plate a or the jaw c. The guide grooves may
extend the full length of the jaw as shown in Figs. 3 and 7 or they may be only
formed at the ends of the loose jaw c as shown in Fig. 1 corresponding notches
being formed in the plate a as shown at a³ in Fig. 9 to enable the loose jaw to be
inserted. When the guide grooves extend the whole length of the loose jaw the
corresponding parts of the plate are cut away at any convenient place as for
example at the rear end (a Fig. 3.) or at the fore end (a Fig. 7.) to enable the
loose jaw c to be inserted in the slot b.
Fig. 11 illustrates a method of constructing the plate a with openings fg to fit
fixed sizes of nuts and with pins to take into corresponding holes in a plate or
nut for the purpose of rotating the same.
The advantage I obtain from my said invention is that owing to the absence of
parts in the handle which slide into each other a much thinner and lighter spanner
than has heretofore been possible is obtained without sacrifice of strength.
The ends of the loose jaw c and the part a' may either be V shaped as shown
or may be straight.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In an adjustable spanner or screw key a handle formed from a single flat
plate of metal a having a closed slot in combination with an adjustable jaw c
and the means for guiding and propelling the same substantially as set forth and
shown.
2. An adjustable spanner or screw key consisting of a handle a (formed as a flat
plate having a closed continuous slot adapted to receive and guide the loose jaw c,
to receive the tail piece c' and to receive and provide a bearing surface for the
nut d) in combination with the jaw c the screwed tail piece c¹ and the nut d
substantially as set forth and described with reference to Figures 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. and 6
of the accompanying drawings.
:
3. An adjustable spanner-consisting of a handle a formed from a flat plate of
metal having a closed slot adapted to receive and guide the loose jaw c in

page_text: combination with a fixed screw c³ a rotating and travelling screwed bush and a
loose jaw c substantially as and for the purpose set forth and described with
reference to Figures 7 and 8 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 11th day of December 1894.
E. T. WHITELOW, A.M. Inst. C.E.,
70, Deansgate, Manchester, Agent for the Applicant.