Ax IMPROVEMENT IN SCREWS AND BOLTS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "Ax IMPROVEMENT IN SCREWS AND BOLTS."-A
communication from abroad by William Gorham Angell, of Providence,
in the SDL11 TT Sm
Sealed the 30th April 1867, and dated the 27th February 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th February 1867.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SCREWS AND BOLTS,"
to be as follows:-
When screws or bolts. are constructed in the ordinary manner, that is to
say, with slotted heads, it has been found in practice that if the slot is made
shallow the screwdriver will not have sufficient hold to drive the screw or
bolt home, and by slipping and getting out of the slot it will soon so wear off
the shoulders of the slot as to make it nearly impossible to move the screw
either out or in, and that if on the other hand the slot is made deep there is

page_text: a liability of breaking off one-half of the head, rendering necessary a con-
These
siderable expenditure of time and patience in removing the screw.
difficulties occur specially when it is necessary that the screws or bolts should
be driven hard so as to have a firm hold.
To obviate these difficulties it is now proposed to form screws or bolts
with a central hole in the head end (instead of the nick heretofore used)
to receive a driver in the form of a plug which takes better hold for turning
the screw.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th August 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
. WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of February, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 SCREWS AND BOLTS," being a communication to me from
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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

page_text: following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
When screws or bolts are constructed in the ordinary manner (that is to
say) with slotted heads, it has been found in practice that if the slot is made
shallow the screwdriver will not have sufficient hold to drive the screw or bolt
home, and by slipping and getting out of the slot it will soon so wear off the
shoulders of the slot as to make it nearly impossible to move the screw either
out or in, and that if on the other hand the slot is made deep there is a
liability of breaking off one-half of the head, rendering necessary a considerable
expenditure of time and patience in removing the screw. These difficulties
occur specially when it is necessary that the screws or bolts should be driven
hard so as to have a firm hold.
Now the object of the present Invention is to obviate these difficulties, and
to this end the Invention consists in forming screws or bolts with a central
hole in the head end (instead of the nick heretofore used) to receive a driver
in the form of a plug which takes better hold for turning the screw.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shows in longitudinal central section
a bolt with a driver in place for driving the same; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal
central section of a wood screw showing the improvement, and a side view of
the lower end of a driver for driving the same; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal central
section of a bolt and nut, and Fig. 4 is a cross section through the line x, x,
Fig. 1.
A, Fig. 1, is a screw bolt having its head perforated with a circular hole in
the line of the axis. The bolt is driven with a driver B in the manner
represented at Figures 1 and 4, that is, by the bite or friction which the
driver B takes in the surface of the perforation. The lower end or part of
the driver which enters the perforation is, by preference, made square, but this
shape is not absolutely necessary, and any other shape, even a round driver
can be used; the square form will, however, bite more firmly on the sides of
the perforation.
Fig. 3 is a section of a screw bolt and nut, showing the improvement as
applied to such bolt; E, Fig. 2, illustrates the application of the improvement
to a wood screw, and shows a portion of the driver F for driving the same.
This improvement is applicable to screws or screw bolts of any and all
sizes.
It will be observed that the perforations in the screws or bolts are slightly
tapered, that is to say, they are a little narrower at the bottom than they are at
the top, to give the driver a better hold upon the inner surface of the perforation,
and to compensate for any wear in the perforation or of the driver, that being

page_text: the preferred form, to which, however, I do not intend to limit my claim of
Invention as other forms will answer the purpose.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improvement in
Screws and Bolts," as communicated, to me from abroad, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under
the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, as a new manufacture, a
wood screw, screw bolt, or other equivalent screw with a central hole to receive
a plug as a driver, substantially as and for the purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (LS.)