IMPROVEMENTS IN WRENCHES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Bewley, junior, of Uttoxeter, in the County
of Stafford, Iron Founder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WRENCHES."
Sealed the 12th April 1864, and dated the 15th October 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Bewley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th October 1863.
I, RICHARD BEWLEY, junior, of Uttoxeter, in the County of Stafford,
Iron Founder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN WRENCHES," to be as follows:
My Invention has reference to wrenches or instruments adapted for laying
firm hold of pipes or cylindrical articles, and is intended to obviate the
necessity of screwing and adjusting the holding parts in the manner required
in using ordinary wrenches for pipes or cylindrical articles of different
diameters.
For this purpose the wrench is made to consist of two jaws, one of which
is on the end of a handle or lever and the other is connected thereto by means
of a pin or centre of motion passed through both jaws. The outer surface of
the jaw which is on the end of the handle or lever is curved, and the inner
surface of the other jaw is formed with angular sides. By means of this com-
bination of the parts the two jaws are rendered capable of grasping and holding

page_text: a pipe or cylindrical article at three points of its circumference, and by varying
the distance between the holding parts of the two jaws, they will be caused to
grasp and hold pipes or cylindrical articles of various diameters. In this
manner the relative positions of the two jaws become adjusted as required by
merely applying the wrench to the pipe or cylindrical article and moving the
handle or lever untit the article is firmly grasped between the curved outer
surface of the one jaw and the two angular inner sides of the other jaw.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Bewley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th April 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
BEWLEY, junior, of Uttoxter, in the County, of Stafford, Iron Founder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Richard Bewley, Her special license that I, the
said Richard Bewley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Richard Bewley, 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 WRENCHES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Richard Bewley, 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 Richard Bewley, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention of." Improvements in Wrenches has reference to wrenches

page_text: or instruments adapted for laying firm hold of pipes or cylindrical articles; and
is intended to obviate the necessity of screwing and adjusting the holding parts
in the manner required in using ordinary wrenches for pipes or cylindrical
articles of different diameters.
For this purpose the wrench is made to consist of two jaws, one of which
is on the end of a handle or lever, and the other is connected thereto by means
of a pin or centre of motion passed through both jaws. The outer surface of
the jaw which is on the end of the handle or lever is curved, and the inner
surface of the other jaw is formed with angular sides. By means of this
combination of the parts the two jaws are together rendered capable of
grasping and holding a pipe or cylindrical article at three points of its circum-
ference, and by varying the distance between the holding parts of the two jaws
they will be caused to grasp and hold pipes or cylindrical articles of
various diameters. In this manner the relative positions of the two jaws
become adjusted as required by merely applying the wrench to the pipe or
cylindrical article and moving the handle or lever until the article is firmly
grasped between the curved outer surface of the one jaw and the two angular
inner sides of the other jaw.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention, I will proceed to
describe more particularly in what manner the same is to be performed by
reference to the accompanying Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side view of a
wrench constructed as above described, and Fig. 2 is an edge view of the
same; Figures 3 and 4 are Diagrams representing the projections of two
different curves for the outer surface of the jaw which is on the end of the
handle or lever.
A is the jaw formed on the end of the handle or lever B, having a curved
outer surface as shewn; C is the other jaw connected to the jaw A by means
of the pin or centre of motion D. The inner surface of the jaw C has angular
sides and is shewn with teeth on one of its angular sides only, but there might
be teeth on both of such sides, or both sides might be made without teeth. Also
the jaw A is shewn double or forked so as to embrace the jaw C, which is
single, but if preferred, the jaw C might be made double or forked and the
jaw A single.
In Fig. 1 the jaw C is shewn in two different positions in relation to the
jaw A, and it will be obvious that it might occupy intermediate positions in
relation thereto; thus, by applying the jaw C to a pipe or cylindrical article,
and moving the handle or lever B, the two jaws would become adjusted in
their relative positions to enable a workman to grasp the said pipe or cylindrical
article firmly between the two jaws A and C, whatever might be its diameter

page_text: within the range of the instrument, the pipe or cylindrical article being held
at three points of its circumference by or between the curved outer surface of
the jaw A and the two angular sides of the jaw C.
The curve of the outer surface of the jaw A may be varied; that shewn in
Fig. 3 is known as an Archimedean spiral curve, which may be described as
a curved line passing through the intersections of a series of equidistant con-
centric circles with a number of radial lines forming equal angles at the centre,
that shewn in Fig. 4 is a similar curve, except that the radial lines do not
form equal angles at the centre, but the angle formed by each succeeding
radial line is greater than that formed by the preceding line. This causes
the curve to approximate to a circular curve more quickly than the former
described curve, and thus to give a gradually tighter hold as the diameter of
the article required to be held is less, but my Invention is not confined to
either of the curves shewn.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I claim as of
my Invention is, the construction of wrenches with two jaws of the respective
forms represented and described capable of becoming adjusted to their required
relative positions for holding pipes or cylindrical articles of varying diameters
by applying the jaw C to the article intended to be held, and moving the
handle or lveer B (to which the said article becomes a fulcrum) thereon as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Bewley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
RICHARD BEWLEY, J.
(L.S.)
Witness,
WILLIAM HOLT.