AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVE- MENTS IN SCREW WRENCHES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Wilson, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SCREW WRENCHES."
Sealed the 25th November 1856, and dated the 2nd June 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Wilson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd June 1856.
I, THOMAS WILSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREW WRENCHES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the improvement or improvements in screw
wrenches, herein-after described, whereby great efficiency of action is secured,
combined with simplicity of construction. I make one jaw of the screw wrench
fixed and the other moveable, as usual, the fixed one being on the top of the
body of the wrench. The said body is bent or cranked near its middle, so that
one half is not in the same line as the other half, the half most distant from
the fixed jaw being in a line nearer the end of the fixed jaw than the other
half. The moveable jaw traverses a slot in the upper half of the body, and is
moved backwards and forwards by a screw, one end of which is connected with
the said jaw, and the other end enters the body of the wrench at the cranked

page_text: part and engages in a concave screw in the lower half of the body. The screw
is turned by a milled collar or button situated thereon. Although I prefer the
construction described, yet the screw may work in the upper instead of
the lower half of the body of the wrench. Instead of making the moveable jaw
traverse a slot in the upper half of the body, it may be made to move thereon
in any other convenient manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed.
by the said Thomas Wilson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st December 1856...
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WILSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Ierself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas
Wilson, Her special licence, that I, the said Thomas Wilson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Wilson, 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 OR IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREW
WRENCHES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
Wilson, 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 Thomas Wilson, 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
thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of the improvement or improvements, in screw
wrenches, herein-after described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing,
by which said improvement or improvements great efficiency in action is
secured, combined with simplicity of construction.

page_text: Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents in elevation (partly in
section), and Figure 2, in front view, a screw wrench constructed according
to my Invention.
The jaw a is fixed, and the jaw b moveable, as in the ordinary screw wrench,
the fixed jaw a being on the top of the body c of the wrench. The said body c
is bent or cranked at d, so that the said part d is not in the same line as
the part c, but nearly opposite to the fixed jaw a. The moveable jaw b
traverses a slot e in the body c, and is moved backwards and forwards by a
screw f. One end of the screw f is connected with the jaw b, and the other
end enters the body of the wrench at the bent or cranked part d, and engages
in a concave screw formed therein. The screw f is turned by the milled collar
or button g situated thereon. The handle of the screw wrench consists of the
iron blade h and the wooden sides i, i.
The manner in which the moveable jaw b engages in the slot e will be
understood by reference to Figure 2; by which said Figure it will be seen that
the slot e is widened at the end e' for the purpose of permitting of the tongue
on the jaw b to enter and engage in the slot e. The screw is secured to
the jaw by a pin k engaging in a groove formed in that end of the screw f
which enters the jaw.
I sometimes modify my Invention in the manner illustrated in elevation in
Figure 3, and in front view in Figure 4. The said modification, Figures 3
and 4, differs from that represented in Figures 1 and 2, in the respect that
the handle is in the same line as the body of the wrench, the screw m
working in a projection n formed on the body of the wrench.
I sometimes modify my Invention in the manner illustrated in elevation in
Figure 5, and in front view in Figure 6. In this modification the bracket o,
which constitutes the screw box in which the screw engages, is made of a
separate piece, and is connected with the body of the wrench in the following
manner-The slot o', in which the moveable jaw traverses, is made of such
length as to admit of the bracket or piece o being inserted therein, while
having sufficient length for the sliding of the jaw '; the bracket o is fixed in
the slot o' by rivetting or otherwise.
Instead of making the moveable jaw engage in a slot in the body of
the wrench, I sometimes make the said moveable jaw slide on the body of the
said wrench, as illustrated in elevation in Figure 7, and in front view in
Figure 8. The body p of the wrench passes through a hole in the moveable
jaw ; the screw passes through the shoulder or bracket s, which is fastened
to the body of the wrench by rivetting or otherwise; and a screw box t, engaged

page_text: to and turning in the part s, causes by its rotation the screw to advance or
recede and the jaw q to slide on the body p.
IIaving thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same may
be varied without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I claim
as my Invention the constructing of screw wrenches with a supporting screw
directly under the moveable jaw, the said screw engaging in a concave screw,
nut, or screw box formed in or attached to the lower part of the body of the
wrench, as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Wilson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of November, in the
year of
our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
GEORGE SIIAW.
THOMAS WILSON. (L.S.)