AN IMPROVED RATCHET BRACE
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stephen Giles, of Caledonian Road, Islington, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
RATCHET BRACE."
Sealed the 12th June 1855, and dated the 1st January 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Stephen Giles at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st January 1855.
I, STEPHEN GILES, of Caledonian Road, Islington, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said. Invention for
"AN IMPROVED RATCHET BRACE" to be as follows:-
The Invention consists in inserting into the head of the brace a paul or
catch, which is pressed against and into the teeth of the ratchet by a spring.
The head of the paul or catch is notched, so as to fit and hold the teeth more
securely.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Stephen Giles in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th June 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STEPHEN
GILES, of Caledonian Road, Islington, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Stephen Giles, Her special licence that I, the said Stephen Giles, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Stephen
Giles, 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 IMPROVED RATCHET BRACE,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Stephen Giles, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Stephen Giles, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say-
My Invention consists in inserting into the head of a ratchet brace a paul
or catch, which is pressed against and into the teeth of the ratchet by a spring.
The head of the paul or catch is notched, so as to fit and hold the teeth
securely. In the Drawings hereunto annexed I have shewn the manner in
which I carry my Invention into effect.
Figure 1 is
side view, Figure 2 a section, Figure 3 a top plan, and
Figure 4a horizontal section, of a ratchet brace constructed according to my
Invention. The same letters of reference indicate similar parts.
A, A, is the handle or lever, which terminates at one end in the boss B;
C is the ratchet wheel, fitted into the head or boss of the brace, and retained

page_text: there by the collar D and ring or nut E, which is tapped with a screw thread,
and takes into a corresponding thread on the upper part of the ratchet shaft.
F is the pressure screw, and G the centre bit. The ratchet wheel being thus
enclosed is not liable to injury, and has its teeth fully protected by the boss B,
in which the lever terminates. H is a slot for containing the sliding paul or
catch I. That end of the paul nearest to the ratchet is cut with a notch
or tooth, which is pressed into the teeth of the ratchet by a spring K. This
spring K. is held in recesses in the back of the paul and in the lever of the
brace, as shewn in Figure 2. An india-rubber or other spring may be used
instead of that shewn in the Drawings, and the face of the paul or catch may
be cut with two or more teeth, if preferred. L, L, are two plates sunk into
each side of the lever to cover in the slot; they are held by the countersunk
screw's a, a. These covering plates are not essential, but will be found useful
in keeping the slot, spring, and paul free from dirt, grit, &c. Figure 5
represents, in plan, a ratchet brace, fitted with a sliding paul, in which the
side plates are dispensed with.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the improved
ratchet brace herein-before described, in which a sliding toothed paul is let
into the lever of the brace, and is pressed against and into the teeth of a
ratchet wheel held in the brace head, and protected from external injury,
in the manner herein-before described, and represented in the Drawings
annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stephen Giles, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
STEPHEN GILES.
(L.S.)