IMPROVEMENTS IN SECURING DOOR AND OTHER KNOBS TO THEIR SPINDLES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Kemp Mace, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Hatter, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SECURING
DOOR AND OTHER KNOBS TO THEIR SPINDLES."
Sealed the 10th September 1867, and dated the 20th March 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Kemp Mace at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th March 1867.
I, THOMAS KEMP MACB, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Hatter, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SECURING DOOR AND OTHER KNOBS TO THEIR SPINDLES," to be as
follows:-
My said Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
securing door and other knobs to their spindles, whereby the liability of the
said knobs to become loose or detached from their spindles is obviated. In
attaching the knobs of locks and latches to their spindles a screw or pin is
generally passed through the neck of the knob into a hole or depression in
the spindle, the knob being prevented from moving on the spindle by means
of the said screw or pin. In using a lock or latch the knob of which is
attached to the spindle in the manner described, the screw or pin generally
becomes loose sooner or later, and gradually rising permits the knob to
become loose on its spindle, and sometimes to become detached from the
spindle.

page_text: In securing the knobs of locks and latches and other knobs to their spindles
according to my Invention I provide a tube or collar which fits on the neck
of the knob, and which when in its place covers and holds down the screw or
pin by which the knob is fixed to its spindle, and prevents the said screw or
pin rising the knob is thereby prevented from becoming loose on its
spindle. The said tube or collar may be made and applied in various ways; I
prefer to make the said tube or collar part of the rose of the knob. In such
case I either make a screw thread in its interior, and make a corresponding
screw thread on the exterior of the neck of the knob, and cause the tube or
collar to advance on the neck of the knob by a screwing motion so as to cover
and hold down the screw; or I make both the tube or collar and neck of the
knob of a plain cylindrical figure, and pass the tube or collar on to the part
of the neck of the knob, through which the screw passes by a sliding motion;
or the tube or collar may have neither a sliding nor a screwing motion on the
neck of the knob, but be capable of a rotary motion thereon. In this case I
form a hole or slot in the tube or collar, through which hole or slot the screw
can be passed into the neck of the knob. After the knob has been fixed on
the spindle the rose carrying the tube or collar is turned through a half revo-
lution, and the head of the screw covered by the tube or collar. In the
several arrangements described the rose is fixed to the door or other surface
in the position in which the tube or collar covers the head of the screw.
Although I prefer to make the tube or collar part of or connected to the rose,
yet I do not limit myself thereto, as the said tube or collar may be made
independent of the rose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Kemp Mace in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th September 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
KEMP MACE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Hatter, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Kemp Mace, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Kemp
Mace, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the

page_text: said Thomas Kemp Mace, 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 SECURING DOOR AND OTHER KNOBS TO THEIR SPINDLES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Kemp
Mace, 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 Kemp Mace, 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 said Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
securing door and other knobs to their spindles, whereby the liability of the
said knobs to become loose or detached from their spindles is obviated. In
attaching the knobs of locks and latches to their spindles a screw or pin is
generally passed through the neck of the knob into a hole or depression in the
spindle, the knob being prevented from moving on the spindle by means of the
said screw or pin. In using a lock or latch the knob of which is attached to
the spindle in the manner described, the screw or pin generally becomes loose
sooner or later, and gradually rising permits the knob to become loose on its
spindle, and sometimes to become detached from the spindle.
In securing the knobs of locks and latches and other knobs to their spindles
according to my Invention, I provide a tube or collar which fits on the neck
of the knob, and which when in its place covers and holds down the screw or
pin by which the knob is fixed to its spindle, and prevents the said screw or
pin rising; the knob is thereby prevented from becoming loose on its spindle.
The said tube or collar may be made and applied in various ways; I prefer
to make the said tube or collar part of the rose of the knob. In such case
I either make a screw thread in its interior, and make a corresponding screw
thread on the exterior of the neck of the knob, and cause the tube or collar to
advance on the neck of the knob by a screwing motion so as to cover and hold
down the screw; or I make both the tube or collar and neck of the knob of a
plain cylindrical figure, and pass the tube or collar on to the part of the neck

page_text: of the knob through which the screw passes by a sliding motion; or the
tube or collar may have neither a sliding nor a screwing motion on the neck
of the knob, but be capable of a rotary motion thereon. In this case I form
a hole or slot in the tube or collar, through which hole or slot the screw can
be passed into the neck of the knob. After the knob has been fixed on the
spindle the rose carrying the tube or collar is turned through a half revolution
and the head of the screw covered by the tube or collar. In the several
arrangements described the rose is fixed to the door or other surface in the
position in which the tube or collar covers the head of the screw. Although
I prefer to make the tube or collar part of or connected to the rose, yet I do
not limit myself thereto, as the said tube or collar may be made independent
of the rose.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in elevation a pair of door knobs, the moveable knob
of which is connected or secured to its spindle according to my Invention;
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of a portion of the same; Figure 3 is a
cross section of the same, taken through the line a of Figure 1; Figure 4 is
an end elevation and side elevation of the moveable knob separately; and
Figure 5 is a front and side elevation of the tube or collar and rose detached
from the knob. The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
bis the fixed knob, and c is the rose of the same; d is the moveable knob ;
and is the spindle. The angles of the spindle are provided with a screw
thread, which screw thread works in the concave screw f made in the interior
of the neck g of the moveable knob d. By turning the knob d upon the
spindle it can be adjusted to the width of the door with which it is to be used.
The adjusted knob is fixed on the spindle e by a pin or screw h passed through
a hole in the neck g, the point of the pin or screw entering a groove or
depression in the spindle e. On the exterior of the neck g of the knob da
tube or collar k is placed, the said tube or collar being made in one piece with
the rose. The combined collar and rose is shown separately in Figure 5. The
tube or collar k is capable of rotating upon the neck of the knob, the end of
the said tube or collar working in an undercut made in the knob (see the
section, Figure 2). In the said rotary collar k is a hole m. The combined
collar and rose is placed upon the neck g of the knob before the said knob is
screwed upon the spindle e. When the knob has been adjusted the required
distance on the spindle the collar k is rotated upon the neck, so as to make

page_text: its hole m coincide with the hole i in the neck g. The screw h is then passed
through these holes and screwed into the neck of the knob, and made to engage
with the spindle, and thereby fix the said knob to the spindle. The collar h
is next turned through about half a revolution, so as to remove the hole m
from opposite the screw h, and the rose is finally fixed on the door. The
head of the screw h is thereby covered by the collar k, and the said screw is
prevented from rising, and the knob d from becoming loose on its spindle.
Figure 6 represent partly in elevation, and partly in longitudinal section my
improvements applied to a moveable knob provided with a ring, and Figure 7.
is a front elevation of the rose or fixing plate of the same. n is the fixed knob ;
and o is the moveable knob or tubular piece carrying the ring p, the said.
knob o being screwed upon the spindle 9 in the usual manner; r is the fastening:
pin or screw; and s is the rotating tube or collar fixed to the rose or plate t.
The knob o carrying the ring p is secured on the spindle in the manner
described with respect to Figures 1, 2, and 3.
The knob, ring, and spindle, Figures 6 and 7, are principally used in ships,
and are called ring furniture.
Figure 8 represents in longitudinal section my Invention applied to a non-
metallic knob. u is the knob; and w is the spindle; a is the fastening screw;
and y is the rotary tube or collar on the neck of the knob; and is the rose
made in one piece with the said tube or collar y. The combined. collar and
rose y, z, is made in this arrangement by stamping or raising from sheet metal.
In the arrangements previously described the combined collar and rose is made
by casting. Instead of being made of metal the combined collar and rose may
be made of earthenware or other non-metallic substance.
Figures 9 and 10 represent the arrangement of my Invention in which the
collar of the rose is made to screw upon the neck of the knob to cover the pin
or screw, Figure 9 representing the knob before it is fastened to the spindle,
and Figure 10 the same after it has been fastened to the spindle, and the head
of the fastening screw covered by the collar of the rose. a is the screwed
spindle screwed into the neck b of the knob, as is usual. The front end of
the neck is screwed externally, and the interior of the collar c of the rose dis
provided with a concave screw. The collar c is made shorter than that repre-
sented in the arrangements previously described, and the hole e in the neck of
the knob for the fastening screw to engage in is made near the end of the said
neck. The collar and rose c, d, is placed on the knob in the position repre-
sented in Figure 9, so as to uncover the hole e in the neck; the knob is then
placed upon the spindle and screwed thereon to the required distance. The
screw f is screwed into the hole e, and the knob fixed on the spindle; the

page_text: rose d is then turned so as to advance by a screwing motion the collar e on the
neck of the knob, and thereby cover and hold down the screw fin the manner
represented in. Figure 10. The collar cand rose d being in the position
represented in Figure 10, the said rose is screwed to the door. Instead of
covering the head of the screw by giving to the collar a screwing motion, the
neck of the knob and collar may be plain, and the collar slide upon the said
neck to cover and uncover the head of the screw, or the tube or collar may
be slit so as to be capable of springing over the neck and holding down the
pin or fastening screw. The knob on each end of the spindle may be secured
to the said spindle by the arrangements constituting my Invention. Instead
of making the collar and rose in one piece, as described and represented in
the Drawing, the said collar and rose may be made separately, but I prefer
the arrangements I have described and represented of carrying my Invention
into effect, which arrangements I have found to answer well in practice.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to. be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do
not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing, as the same may be varied without departing from
the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention, the improvements
in securing door and other knobs to their spindles herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, covering and holding
down the pin or screw by which the knob is fastened to the spindle by means
of a tube or collar fitting on the neck of the knob, the said tube or collar
being made in one piece with the rose or separately therefrom, substantially
as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Kemp Mace, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
THOMAS KEMP MACE. (L.s.)