IMPROVEMENTS IN PLIERS to bo as follows:
Year: 1884

page_text: I, GEORGE EDWARD SMART of Belvedere House Tunbridge Wells in the County
of Kent Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PLIERS to bo as follows: -
"
The object of this invention is to increase the efficiency of this instrument by
enabling the grip to be sustained for a length of time without strain to the hand
of the operator.
For this purpose I provide means whereby when the pressure has been applied
the jaws can be secured in that position and the hand can be removed as the work
is held as in a vice.
A simple way of doing this is to place a wing on one arm or lever and which
wing passes through a slot in the other a thumb screw being used to fix it;
the wing can be folded out of the way when done with.
A handier form of this may be made by jointing a sleeve which carries the nut
to one lever, a rod jointed to the other lever passing through the sleeve whero it
is fastened by a thuinb nut or better still by a nut which compresses the sleeve so
as to grip the rod.
When the pliers are wanted to be used without the grip the rod may be with-
drawn from the sleeve and folded inside the levers and the sleeve the same,
suitable springs being used if desired to retain these parts in position out of the
way.
.
Or a screwed rod jointed to one lever would pass through the slot in the other
fall behind a catch or projection as the pliers closed, an adjustable thumb nut
fixing it.
It is evident however that many devices may be used to carry out this
invention.

page_text: I GEORGE EDWARD SMART of Belvedere House Tunbridge Wells in the County
of Kent Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for
* IMPROVEMENTS IN PLIERS" and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The object of this invention is to increase the efficiency of this instrument by
enabling the grip to be sustained for a length of time without strain to the hand
of the operator.
For this purpose I provide means whereby when the pressure has been applied
the jaws can be secured in that position and the hand can be removed as the work
is held as in a vice.
A simple way of doing this is to place a wing on one arm or lever which wing
passes through a slot in the other, a thumb screw being used to fix it--the wing
can be folded out of the way when done with.
A handier form of this may be made by jointing a sleeve which carries the nut
to one lever, a rod jointed to the other lever passing through the sleeve where it
is fastened by a thumb nut or better still by a nut which compresses the sleeve
so as to grip the rod.
When the pliers are wanted to be used without the grip the rod may be
withdrawn from the sleeve and folded inside the levers and the sleeve the same,
suitable springs being used if desired to retain these parts in position out of the
way.
Or a screwed rod jointed to one lever would pass through the slot in the other
and fall behind a catch or projection as the pliers closed an adjustable thumb nut
fixing it.
It is evident however that many devices may be used to carry out this
invention.
The accompanying drawings show various ways of carrying my invention into
effect.
In Figure 1 a wing C is jointed to one arm or lever A of the pliers or tongs and
when in use it is passed through the jaw B¹ of the other arm B; the work is
gripped in the usual manner and the thumb screw C₁ screwed down upon the wing
so as to fix the arms A and B and retain the grip upon the jaws. The grip is
relaxed by unscrewing the thumb screw C. When the wing is not wanted it
may be folded in between the arms as shown in the drawing, a suitable spring
or ring being employed if desired to retain it there. The wing C is by preference
divided into inches & so that it may serve as a rule.
The arrangement in Figure 2 is similar to that in Figure 1 except that the flat
wing is replaced by a round or other rod C which is jointed to A and passed
through the grip nut D which is jointed to B. The action is the same as before
and to fix it the grip nut D is screwed up closing the grips D' upon the rod C and
thus fixing it,
The grip nut D is in fact an adaptation of a common form of drill chuck.
In Figure 3 the same end is attained by the screwed rod E jointed to arm A
near the main joint and passing through B; the pressure is applied by the thumb-
nut El as will be well understood.
In Figure 4 the arm C is toothed along its edges and with these teeth engage
the ends of pawls or levers F, G; the teeth on the opposite sides may be arranged

page_text: alternately so that a tooth on one side comes between two teeth on the other side
thus lessening the extent to which A and B have to be moved before one of the
pawls engages with a tooth and half a tooth.
By this arrangement the strain is taken off the hand automatically and the arms
are easily liberated by pressing the ends of the short levers F and G-the wing C
and levers F G may be at either end of the arms A B and if desired a bar may be
substituted for either of the short levers so that anything held by the jaws may
be liberated by a pressure of one finger of the hand holding the pliers upon the
short lover; or if the outside lever be retained instead of the inside one, a touch
against anything would release the hold.
In Figure 5 the wing C has holes or cogs C into which the end of the lever H
takes. His jointed to B and the fingers grip round H and A and by drawing up
the larger arm of H as shown in dotted lines put an increased pressure upon A
and B to draw them together.
The arrangement shown in Figure 6 is similar except that lever H is placed
outside B instead of inside; to apply the pressure it has therefore to be compressed
against B instead of being lifted from it.
Where desired this mechanism may be doubled a wing C and arm H being
jointed to each arm A and B.
After the grip has been applied as described the nut E¹ is screwed up so as to
maintain the pressure.
The kind of pliers or shaped jaws to which this invention may be applied is
immaterial as it is applicable in whole or in part to most varieties from the small
tool of the watchmaker to the large tongs of the smith.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. The method of maintaining the grip upon pliers by means of a wing C jointed
to one arm and a set screw C' in the other substantially as specified and shown in
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings.
2. The method of maintaining the grip upon pliers by means of a wing C jointed
to one arm and a grip nut D jointed to the other arm substantially as specified and
shown in Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings.
3. The method of maintaining the grip upon pliers by means of a screwed rod E
jointed to one arm near the main joint I passing through the other arm and
carrying a nut E' which is screwed up after the grip has been applied substantially
as specified and shown in Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.
4. The method of maintaining the grip upon pliers by means of a toothed
wing C jointed to one arm and passing through the other arm to which are
jointed one or more pawls F, G, which engage with the teeth upon C substan-
tially in the manner and for the purpose specified and shown in Figure 4 of the
accompanying drawings.
5. The method of applying and maintaining the grip upon pliers by means of a
perforated or notched wing C jointed to one arm with which engages a lever H
jointed to the other arm in such manner that the pressure exerted upon H is
conveyed with increased effect to the arms A and B which are then fixed by the
screwed rod E and nut E' substantially as specified and shown in Figures 5 and 6
of the accompanying drawings.
Did thin and downe Tun 1005