IMPROVE- MENTS IN BENCH VICES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, of the Firm of
Harris and Mills, of 35, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BENCH VICES."-A communication from abroad by the "New
England Vice Company," of the State of Massachusetts, United States
of American
Sealed the 28th May 1867, and dated the 3rd December 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard
Mills at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 3rd December 1866.
1, BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of the Firm of Harris and Mills, of
35, Southampton. Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN BENCH VICES," communicated to me from abroad by the New
England Vice Company, of the State of Massachusetts, United States of
America, to be as follows:-
The Invention has for its object improvements in bench vices, and relates to
that description of bench vice which turns horizontally on a fixed bed plate.
The bed plate is fixed to the bench by screws or otherwise, and is provided
with a pivot hole to receive a pivot projecting from the bottom plate of the
stationary jaw carrier, such bottom plate being provided with three slots, each
of which is curved to the arc of a circle struck from the centre of the pivot

page_text: upon which the vice turns, one of such slots being on each side, and the other
at the back of the bottom plate of the stationary jaw carrier. A set screw is
provided for each slot, such screws passing through the slots and into the
fixed bed plate. From the bottom plate of the stationary jaw carrier rise
guide plates, which are connected together at the top by a cross piece to which
the stationary jaw is connected. The stationary jaw and parts connected
therewith are cast in one piece of metal. The moveable jaw is provided with
a hollow shank, in the interior of which is a screw, which when turned gives
motion to the moveable jaw by taking into a nut formed in a standard rising
from the bottom plate of the stationary jaw carrier. The jaws are formed so
that a considerable portion of them shall project beyond a vertical line drawn
down one side of the shank of the moveable jaw, thereby affording facility for
holding long articles, such articles extending down one side of the shank of
the moveable jaw. By constructing the bottom plate of the stationary-jaw
carrier with three slots, as described, greater stability is afforded. to the vice,
and the risk of breakage is thereby reduced.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 3rd June 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of the Firm of Harris and Mills, of 35, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, Her special licence that I, the said Benjamin
Joseph Barnard Mills, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 BENCH VICES," a communication to me from

page_text: abroad by the New England Vice Company, of the State of Massachusetts,
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, 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 Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, 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:-
The Invention has for its object improvements in bench vices, and relates
to that description of bench vice which turns horizontally on a fixed bed plate.
The bed plate is fixed to the bench by screws, or otherwise, and is provided
with a pivot hole to receive a pivot projecting from the bottom plate of the
stationary jaw carrier, such bottom plate being provided with three slots,
each of which is curved to the are of a circle struck from the centre of the
pivot upon which the vice turns, one of such slots being on each side, and
the other at the back of the bottom plate of the stationary jaw carrier. A set
screw is provided for each slot; such screws passing through the slots and
into the fixed bed plate. From the bottom plate of the stationary jaw carrier
rise guide plates which are connected together at the top by a cross piece, to
which the stationary jaw is connected. The stationary jaw and parts con-
nected therewith are cast in one piece of metal. The moveable jaw is
provided with a hollow shank, in the interior of which is a screw which when
turned gives motion to the moveable jaw by taking into a nut formed in a
standard rising from the bottom plate of the stationary jaw carrier. The jaws
are formed so that a considerable portion of them shall project beyond a
vertical line drawn down one side of the shank of the moveable jaw, thereby
affording facility for holding long articles, such articles extending down one
side of the shank of the moveable jaw.
And in order that the Invention may be more fully understood and readily
carried into effect I will proceed, aided by the accompanying Drawings, more
fully to describe the same.
Figure 1 is a plan, Figure 2 a front elevation, Figure 3 a side elevation,
and Figure 4 a longitudinal section of a vice constructed according to the
Invention.

page_text: set
A is the bed plate which is screwed down to a bench top, or other suitable
position; it is provided with a pivot hole a made through it to receive a pivot b
projecting down from the bottom plate c carrying the stationary jaw C of the
vice; such bottom plate c is provided with three slots d, e, e, each of which is
curved to the arc of a circle struck from the centre of the pivot b; a
screw fis provided for each slot, such screws passing down through the slots
and being screwed into the fixed bed plate A. From the bottom plate crise
guides h, h, the stationary jaw C being supported by a cross piece i which
extends from one guide plate to the other. The stationary jaw C, the cross
piece, the guide plates h, h, and the plate care by preference cast in one
piece of metal. The moveable jaw D is provided with a hollow shank E in
order to receive the screw F, and the standard or nut G employed for giving
motion to the moveable jaw; such standard or nut extends up from the
bottom plate c. The screw is so applied to the moveable jaw shank as to
move to and fro therewith, and by turning the handle F¹ to cause the moveable
jaw D to approach or recede from the stationary jaw C. The jaws are formed
as shewn, so that a considerable portion of them extend beyond a vertical line
passing down one side of the jaws C and D, or, in other words, each jaw is
arranged so as to extend nearly if not entirely beyond such line. The object
of this arrangement of the jaws is to enable any long article when projecting
below them to be held by them without interference from the shank, such
article extending down by the side of the shank, thereby affording more scope
to the use of the vice than exists when the jaws are arranged in the ordinary.
manner with respect to their carriers, that is, with their centre directly over
the axis of their carriers or shanks. By constructing the bottom plate of the
stationary jaw carrier with three slots, as described, greater stability is afforded
to the vice, and the risk of breakage is thereby reduced.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the mode in which
the same is carried into effect, I would have it understood that I do not claim
the single back slot d and its clamp screw f in connection with a frame
provided with a pivot, and turning on another frame or bed plate, as this is
common to many machines; but what I claim is,
The combination of the back slot and its clamp screw, with the side slots
and their clamp screws, to counteract the lateral strain tending to twist the
jaw carriers and break them under blows on any article when held by the
jaws when extended wholly, or nearly so, on one side of the shank of the
stationary jaw, as described.
I also claim the mode of forming the jaws of the vice, so that their centres

page_text: shall extend over a vertical line drawn down one side of their shanks,
substantially as herein shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Third day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
B. J. B. MILLS. (L.S.)