IMPROVEMENTS IN WRENCHES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Miles Wells, of 13, Belitha Villas, Barns-
bury, in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WRENCHES."-A communication from abroad by
William Baxter, of Newark, State of New Jersey, United States of
America.
Sealed the 11th May 1869, and dated the 31st December 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Miles Wells
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 31st December 1868. .
I, GEORGE MILES WELLS, of 13, Belitha Villas, Barnsbury, in the
County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WRENCHES," a communication to me
from abroad by William Baxter, of Newark, State of New Jersey, United
States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to that class of wrenches known as S wrenches
having reversed jaws at right angles to the shank. Owing to the peculiar

page_text: form of such wrenches their jaws have heretofore been fixed and adapted
to grasp only one size of nuts.
According to this Invention it is proposed to make such wrenches
adjustable to fit nuts of different sizes. The improved wrench is com-
posed of two parts morticed and tenoned together so as to slide freely
over or along each other longitudinally, any suitable contrivance, such
for example, as a right and left hand screw with thumb piece, serving to
adjust the two parts. In some cases scales or divisions may be marked
on the shank so as to render the wrench applicable as calipers if required.
The jaws of the improved wrench are by preference so arranged as that
when the smaller jaws are completely closed the larger jaws will be open
to the maximum extent of the former.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Miles Wells in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 30th June 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
MILES WELLS, of 13, Belitha Villas, Barnsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George Miles Wells, Her special
license that I, the said George Miles Wells, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Miles Wells, my
executors, administrators, or 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WRENCHES," a communication from abroad by William
Baxter, of Newark, State of New Jersey, United States of America, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Miles Wells, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and scal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the

page_text: 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 George Miles Wells, 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 following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:-
The said Invention relates to that class of wrenches known as S
wrenches having jaws at right angles to the shank, owing to the peculiar
form of such wrenches their jaws have heretofore been fixed and adapted
to grasp only one size of nuts.
The object I have in view is to render the jaws adjustable so as to fit
different sizes at the same time avoiding the clumsiness and unwieldly
nature of the ordinary adjustable hammer and other wrenches, and
preserving the proportions which give to the ordinary non-adjustable S
wrench its value in so many instances.
To this end the said Invention may be stated to consist,-
First. In an adjustable 5 wrench composed of two parts mortised and
tenoned together in the manner herein-after described, the mortise being
formed in the exterior and the tenon in the interior jaw of each part.
Second. In combining with the two mortised and tenoned parts of the
S wrench a right and left hand screw and thumb piece to operate it,
thereby contracting or extending the jaws much more speedily than
when a single screw is employed.
Third. In the construction and combination of the two parts composing
the S wrench, each being provided with a tenon and mortise arranged on
opposite ends, so that the plane of movement of the two parts shall
be in the direction of the length of the wrench and at right angles or
transversely to the jaws.
Fourth. In the combination in an adjustable S wrench of scales upon
the shank with the right and left hand screw and thumb piece,, so
that the wrench may serve the purpose of calipers for measuring iron.
or nuts.

page_text: And, lastly. In minor features or
described.
construction
GO
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the 5
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved wrench closed; Figure 2
is a perspective view of the same opened; Figures 3, 4, and 5 are like
views of the two jawed pieces and right and left hand thumbscrew of ]
which the wrench is composed.
The two parts A, B, of which the wrench is composed are shown.
separately in Figures 3 and 4. The part A is provided at one end with an
exterior jaw a, and upon the other with an interior jaw b, the two jaws
being turned in opposite directions as usual in S wrenches. The part B
is provided in like manner at one end with the interior jaw 'a', and at
the other with the exterior jaw b', these jaws when the parts are placed
together forming in conjunction with the jaws a, b, the two sets of
jaws with which the wrenches should be provided; each interior
jaw a', b, carries a tenon c which fits in a mortise d cut in each exterior
jaw a, b. The contiguous sides of the shank portion of the two
parts A, B, fit together when the parts are properly adjusted so as to
admit of their sliding longitudinally in order to open and close the jaws
which stand at right angles to the plane of movement. The arrangement
of tenons upon the interior jaws and mortices in the exterior jaws enables
me to impart great strength and solidity to the jaws, at the same time
retaining perfectly the S shape of the wrench, but if desired the position
of the parts may be reversed though not with as good results. It will
be noticed that the mortices and tenons are formed upon that side of
the division line between the two parts of the divided shank nearest
their respective jaws, so that without increasing the size or amount
of metal in the jaws I am enabled to preserve their strength while pro-
jecting them out from the shank and giving them that "bill shape "
which is requisite in a S wrench.
For the purpose of adapting the wrench to very small nuts as well as
to those of large size, I so construct and arrange the jaws that when the
smaller pair a, a, are entirely closed the larger pair b, b', will be opened
to the maximum extent to which the smaller pair can be extended and

page_text: used. And thus the smaller pair can be employed for sizes less than the
minimum opening of the larger jaw, the latter on the other hand being
capable of grasping nuts and like articles which cannot be contained
between the former. When the two parts A, B, are placed together they
may be actuated to contract, or expand the openings between the jaws
by a pall and ratchet worm and rack or other well known devices. I
much prefer however to employ the means shown in Figure 5, consisting
of a right and left hand screw h provided with a milled head or thumb
piece located midway between its two ends. In order to provide a
place in the wrench in which this device may be held so as to be con-
veniently situate with respect to the hand of the operator, and at the
same time entirely out of the way, I form in the interior edge of each
part A, B, a recess m terminating in a shoulder n, the recess in the one
part being formed so as to extend in the direction opposite to that of
the recess in the other part, so that when the two are placed together, as
shewn in Figures 1 and 2, the thumb piece k and exposed parts of the
screw will be enclosed by the shoulders or end n and the sides m of the
recesses; in the one shoulder n a screw threaded socket is tapped for
receiving the end of the screw carrying the right-hand thread, and in the
other shoulder a like socket receives the left-hand screw threaded end
of the screw h; the thumb piece situate between the two will be
between the space enclosed by the four sides n, m. By turning the
thumb piece it will be seen that the jaws, owing to the employment of
the right and left hand screw, will move apart with twice the speed
which could be obtained by the employment of either a right hand or
left hand screw, and I attain by this means a great advantage over
ordinary wrenches. Again by reason of the formation of the recesses m
and the employment of the right and left hand screw in this manner
I am enabled to make the wrench serve also the purpose of calipers, a
graduated scales being formed on the edge of each recess. And by
this means the size of any bolt or nut or iron can be determined
with the greatest facility and without the employment of a separate
instrument.
From the foregoing it will be perceived that this method of dividing
the wrench into two parts, whose line of movement in parallel planes is
in the direction of their length is especially applicable to S wrenches in
which the jaws stand at right angles to the shank and not to what are
“ diaconal wrenches."

page_text: The construction and arrangement of parts is such as to secure the
greatest strength and solidity, at the same time preserving perfectly for
all practical purposes the form of the non-adjustable S wrench, and thus
adapting the instrument to many uses for which the ordinary adjustable
hammer wrenches are entirely unfitted. The adjustment of the imple-
ment can readily be effected with one hand alone, the shank being held
in the hand and the roughened or milled head k pressed upon and rolled
over a board or other suitable surface. The arrangement of the adjusting
screw and head is such that practically, the wrench has the same
unbroken surface as the ordinary S wrench.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. An adjustable S wrench composed of two parts mortised and
tenoned together in the manner and for the purposes described.
Second. The combination with the two mortised and tenoned parts of
the S wrench of a right and left hand screw and thumb piece to operate
it, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Third. The construction and combination of the two parts composing
the S wrench, each being provided with a tenon and mortise arranged
on opposite ends, so that the plane of movement of the two parts shall
be in the direction of the length of the wrench and at right angles or
transversely to the jaws, as set forth.
Fourth. The combination in an adjustable S wrench as described of
scales upon the divided wrench shank with the right and left hand screw
and thumb piece arranged within a recess formed in the two parts of the
said shank, as and for the purposes set forth.
Fifth. The tenons formed upon and at right angles to the inner jaws
in combination with the corresponding mortises in the heads of the
outer jaws, substantially as and for the purposes herein shewn and set
forth.
Sixth. The construction and arrangement of the larger and smaller jaws
of the wrench, so that when the smaller jaws are completely closed the
larger will be open to the maximum extent of the former, as and for the
purposes set forth.

page_text: Seventh. The formation of the mortise and tenon in the body of the
divided shank of an adjustable wrench, and upon that side of the division
line between the two parts of the shank nearest the jaws, substantially
as and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Miles Wells, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day
of June, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
GEORGE MILES WELLS. (L.S.)