CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN VICES
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WHITE, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-third day of April, in the third year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
White, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said John White, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said John White, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no other, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN VICES;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said John
White, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and
by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John White, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the

page_text: manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following
explanation thereof, that is to say :--
My improvements in vices consist in a novel construction of portable vices
with jaws capable of expanding much wider and in a much greater degree of
parallelism than those in common use, by being formed upon upper ends of
long levers or arms, having their fulcrums near to or on the floor of the plat-
form, and also so constructed that the vice may be taken to the work instead
of the work to the vice as heretofore, without requiring any fixing, their own
weight being sufficient in all cases to keep them perfectly steady; these vices
are also provided with a table for the purpose of holding files, hammers, or
other tools close to the hands of the workman.
Another modification of my improved portable vice is so constructed that
one jaw only may open horizontally, whilst the other is stationary; and also a
further modification of the same is so arranged that the holding jaws are
allowed to turn or swivel in order to hold or secure work which has not square
or parallel sides, but is angular, bevilled, or any irregular shape.
But in order that my improvements in vices may be more perfectly detailed
and better understood, I have attached to these Presents a Sheet of Drawings
representing such views of my improved portable vices as are necessary for
their explanation, and marked the same with figures and letters of reference
corresponding with the following description thereof.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents a partial sectional elevation of one of my improved
portable vices, and consists of a pair of holding jaws a, b, formed upon the
upper ends of levers or arms c and d, which are mounted upon fulcrum pins
e and f, and thus supported upon the bed plate or platform g, 9; each of the
jaws a, b, contain a nut or box h for the vice screw i, i, to bear in, which are
so constructed as to preserve a perfectly parallel position with the screw
in whatever position the holding jaws may be. The opening of the holding
jaws is also assisted by the plate j and sliding guide rods k, k; this plate j is
provided with mortices for the reception of any tools not in immediate use,
and is placed as a table or bench for the workman; the vice screw is protected
from filings, &c. by a box or cover sliding in the openings of the holding
jaws; Figure 2 is a front view of holding jaw a detached, and Figure 3 is a
similar view of holding jaw b; Figure 4 is a plan of the bed or platform g, and
Figure 5 is a plan view of the vice with the holding jaws thrown entirely
backwards.

page_text: Figure 6 is a partial sectional elevation of another modification or con-
struction of portable vice, in which the holding jaw a is made fast or stationary,
and the jaw b only vibrating upon its fulcrum pin c when acted upon by the
screw d; e, e, is also a morticed bed or table for holding tools, &c.; f, f, is a
foot plate for the purpose of supporting the holding jaws; Figure 7 is a plan
view of the vice complete; Figure 8 is a side view of the foot plate f detached,
and Figure 9 is a front view of the moveable jaw b, also detached.
Figure 10 is a partial sectional elevation of another modification or con-
struction of my improved portable vice, in which the holding jaws are allowed
to turn or swivel upon a centre, in order to accommodate their holding
surfaces to any bevilled or irregular shaped article; the holding jaws a and b
are mounted on their fulcrums c and d in bed plates or frames e and f, which
parallel plates are allowed to swivel or to turn upon a common centre pin g,
as shewn in Figure 11, which is a plan view of the vice with the jaws thrown
entirely back. The jaws may be held square when required, by passing a
pin h through small holes in the plates e and f; this vice is assisted in its
operation by means of the morticed table i, i, being furnished with a descend-
ing weight j, which, as the screw is turned for opening the jaws, causes the
friction rollers k, k, on the sides of the table to act against the inclined planes
7, 1, on the holding jaws, and thus open the jaws; the nuts or boxes m of the
vice screw n are turned spherically, acting in the circular openings in the
holding jaws, and also facilitating their operation; the vice screw may also be
protected by sliding a cap, as at o, over it and fitting the round box n;
Figure 12 is a plan of part of the vice, shewing the holding jaw set square,
and Figure 13 is a view of the vice screw and its nuts or boxes detached.
Having now described my improvements in vices I desire it to be par-
ticularly understood that, although I have shewn in the Drawings attached
three modifications in the construction of my improved vice, such have only
been done for the sake of illustration, as I claim as my Invention the con-
struction of portable vices, which may be carried to the work instead of being
fixed to a bench, and having the range of opening of the holding jaws of
greater extent and much more parallel, owing to their length, without being
confined to the precise shape, form, or dimensions of those shewn in the
Drawings attached.
In witness whereof I, the said John White, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty.
JOHN (L.S.) WHITE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of October,
in the fourth year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said
John White came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified in form above written, and also the instrument afore-
said was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute, made in the fifty-fifth
year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
tv-second day of October. One thousand eight hundred