IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREWDRIVERS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Keats, of London Mills, Leek, in tho
County of Stafford, Boot and Shoe Manufacturer, for the Invention
Sealed the 18th April 1873, and dated the 22nd October 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Keats at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd October 1872.
I, JOHN KEATS, of London Mills, Leek, in the County of Stafford,
Boot and Shoe Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREWDRIVERS," to be as follows:-
:-
The chief object of this Invention is to provide a means for applying
screws as holdfasts in positions which will not admit of the screws being
held by the operator while a hold to the screw is being obtained. To
this end I apply to the stem of the screwdriver a rod which terminates
in a forked or slotted end, so shaped as to embrace the screw just under

page_text: its coned head, and thereby with the aid of the screwdriver, the end of
which is inserted into the nick of the screw head, to hold the screw
firmly while it is being forced into the work. This screw holder
may be a rigid rod projecting from a boss or collar, which is pro-
vided with a tapped hole to receive the screw thread cut on the
stem of the screwdriver. I prefer however to pivot the screw holder
to its boss, as that will allow of its being drawn from under the screw
head without removing the screwdriver from the nick, and thereby
permit of the screw being driven home by one continuous operation.
The screw holder is in this case a rock lever, and it may if desired be
maintained in its holding position by means of a coned nut working on
the thread of the screwdriver, and bearing against the tail end of the
hinged screw holder. This contrivance allows of the screw holder being
slotted to suit, say, two different sizes of screw stems.
A modification of this screw holder is the employment of a pair of
pivotted rock levers, which are notched at their extremities to form a
pair of jaws which grip the head of the screw. The tail ends of these
levers embrace a coned projection on the screwdriver stem, and thus by
giving a back turn to the screwdriver the jaws will be caused to grip the
screw, and retain it until the scrow has been made to take a firm hold
of the work. The screwdriver is then turned independently of the screw
holder, and the jaws will then release their grip on the screw.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Keats in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd April 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
KEATS, of London Mills, Leck, in the County of Stafford, Boot and
Shoe Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Keats, Her special licence that

page_text: I, the said John Keats, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John Keats, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREWDRIVERS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said John Keats, 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 John Keats, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):-
The chief object of this Invention is to provide a means for applying
screws as holdfasts in positions which will not admit of the screws being
held by the operator while a hold for the screw is being obtained. To
this end I apply to the stem of the screwdriver a rod which terminates
in a forked or slotted end, so shaped as to embrace the screw just under
its coned head, and thereby with the aid of the screwdriver, the end of
which is inserted into the nich of the screw head to hold the screw
firmly while it is being forced into the work. This screw holder may be
a rigid rod projecting from a boss or collar, which is provided with a
tapped hole to receive the screw thread cut on the stem of the screw-
driver. I prefer however to pivot the screw holder to its boss, as that
will allow of its being drawn from under the screw head without
removing the screwdriver from the nick, and thereby permit of the screw
being driven home by one continuous operation.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shews in side view the simplest
form of my improved screwdriver, in which A is the stem of the screw-

page_text: driver furnished with a screw thread at A', and with a handle at A; B
is the screw holder, being a rigid extension of a boss B', which is tapped
to receive the screw thread A' of the stem. The extremity of the screw
holder B is forked, as shewn in the cross section, Fig. 2, to embrace the
head of the screw C, while the chamfered end of the screwdriver enters the
nick in the head of the screw. In driving a screw by means of this instru-
ment the scrow is firmly gripped, as shewn at Fig. 1, and the instrument
is turned until the screw has taken a good hold. The driver A is then
turned in the reverse direction to relax the grip on the screw, and on
the edge of the screwdriver being protruded through the fork it may
be used as an ordinary screwdriver for completing the driving in of the
screw.
The modification of my improved screwdriver, shewn at Fig. 3, is the
one which I generally prefer to employ. The screw holder B is in this
case a rock lever pivotted on the boss B'. On pressing the tail end of
this lever inwards its forked termination will be released from the screw.
The rock lever may however, if desired, be maintained in its holding
position by means of a coned nut working on the threaded stem A of
the screwdriver, and bearing against the tail end of the pivotted screw
holder, as shewn by dots in the Figure. This contrivance allows of
the screw holder being slotted and rimed out at its forked termination
to suit, say, two different sizes of screws, as shewn in the cross section,
Fig. 4.
A further modification of the improved screwdriver is shown at
Fig. 5. In this arrangement a pair of pivotted rock levers B, B, is
employed. These rock levers are notched at their extremities to form a
pair of jaws, which grip the head of the screw. The tail ends of these
levers embrace a coned projection A³, on the screwdriver stem A, and
thus by giving a back turn to the screwdriver the jaws will be caused to
grip the screw and retain it, until by turning the instrument the screw
has been made to take a firm hold of the work. The screwdriver A is
then turned independently of the screw holder B, B, when the jaws
will release their grip on the screw. The screwdriver A then acting
independently of the holders B will complete the insertion of the screw.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in
Screwdrivers," and explained the manner of carry ingthe same into effect,

page_text: I wish it to be understood that ander the above in part recited Letters.
Patent I claim, applying to screwdrivers a screw holder or holders in the
manner and for the purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Keats, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
JOHN KEATS. (L.S.)