IMPROVEMENTS IN SPADE BAYONETS AND BAYONET FASTENINGS
Year: 1874

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Hughes, of the Firm of
Hughes and Son, Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPADE BAYONETS AND BAYONET
FASTENINGS." A communication from abroad by Felix Chilling-
worth, of Springfield, in the County of Hampden, United States
of America.
ealed the 23rd October 1874, and dated the 24th April 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas Hughes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 24th April 1874.
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent
Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPADE BAYONETS AND BAYONET
FASTENINGS," a communication to me from abroad by Felix Chillingworth,
of Springfield, in the County of Hampden, United States of America,
to be as follows:-

page_text: form, free from angular projections, for the purpose of providing a smooth
handle for the spade bayonet, thereby removing any liability of cutting
or injuring the hand by any sharp projections when the bayonet is
detached from the gun and used for the purpose of digging in forming
entrenchments, and at the same time to improve the means of attaching
the bayonet to and detaching it from the gun.

page_text: diameter. A groove » is formed on the inside of the sleeve at right
angles to the sight groove a' of sufficient size to allow the projection or
stud h to move therein, and the groove n is of such length (extending
from the sight groove) as to allow the sleeve to be turned upon the arm
until the sight groove a¹ and the friction pin e coincide, and also in the
other direction until the sight groove a¹ and sight slot a in the arm
coincide.
The extreme inner end of the sight groove is beveled or rounded off
upon one side, as shown at i, and the other side of the same is straight,
as shown in Fig. 5, and the outer end of the friction pin is rounded, as
shown in Figs. 1, 6, and 9. This construction of the end of the sight
groove and the end of the pin allows the sleeve to be turned upon the
arm in attaching the bayonet to and detaching it from the gun, for when
the sleeve is in its place upon the arm, with the end of the friction pin c
projecting slightly into the groove a¹ if the sleeve is forcibly turned
upon the arm in a direction to bring the sight groove a¹ directly over
the sight slot a the bevel i rides over the rounded end of the pin e and
pushes the pin back into its socket. The pin remains in this position
until the sleeve is turned back again, and when the sight groove a¹ is
brought again into line with the friction pin e, said pin is pushed into
the groove by the spring behind it, and as the straight side of the sight
groove strikes the pin the sleeve is prevented from turning any further.
If it is desired to detach the sleeve from the arm it is only necessary
to insert a strong wire into the sight groove in the sleeve and press
back the friction pin, at the same time turning the sleeve so that the
sight groove a¹ shall be in line with the projection or stud h, when it
may be casily withdrawn from the arm b.
The neck or shank which connects the blade E to the socket is made
concave upon the outside, as shown at f, to give suitable bearing for
the forefinger when pressing the bayonet as a spade into the ground,
thereby preventing the hand from slipping over the neck f and being
cut by the blade, and so that the soldier in lying upon the ground and
firing from behind his entrenchments may use it as a rest to fire from
by sticking the blade in the ground and placing the stock or barrel of
the gun in the concave part f, and thus keep the gun clean from the
dirt, and in using a breech-loading gun he would not be obliged to
remove his gun from the rest after every discharge of the piece.

page_text: I prefer to make the friction pin with a small neck or shank t of
smaller diameter than the ends of the pin and with a stop pin tinserted
in the socket, and passing between the two larger ends of the pin e, so
that said pin shall have less friction surface in its longitudinal action,
and so that it may not be accidentally lost out. This construction of
the pin and its stop is shown clearly in Fig. 9, and the friction pin
might have an elongated part extending through the shank or socket to
the front part of the neck, the shank having a hole made therein for
that purpose, and with a small knob on the extreme end of the elongated
part, so that in case dirt should get into the socket of the friction pin
and cause the pin to stick in the socket a slight pressure upon the knob
would force the pin out again into its place. This attachment or
fastening is equally applicable to the ordinary triangular bayonet, as
shown in Figs. 1, as to the trowel or spade bayonet, shown in Fig. 2,
and such variation may be made in the shank as may be necessary to
accommodate the construction of the bayonet, and is equally applicable
to the sword bayonet.
The friction pin and the sleeve may be corrugated upon the inside to
prevent the surface from rusting together, and to prevent their working
hard if dirt should get in.
The blade may have a strengthening rib on the back, extending longi-
tudinally thereon, which may be either rolled out solid with the blade
or welded thereto, as may be most convenient in construction; and the
blade may be curved or convex upon its back and concave upon its face,
and may have a greater or less degree of curvature in its length if
desirable.
I will be perceived that the sleeve of the socket contains the sight
groove a, which is wholly inside and entirely covered, and that when
the socket is attached to the gun the sight of the gun slides along in said
groove until the socket is in place and the sleeve is turned to secure it
to the gun.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Thomas Hughes in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 24th October 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents, 123,
Chancery Lane, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, Her special
licence that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, my executors, admini.
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Thomas
Hughes, 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 SPADE BAYONETS AND BAYONET FASTENINGS," a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Felix Chillingworth, of Springfield, in the
County of Hampden, United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, 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 Edward Thomas Hughes, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention is to make the bayonet shank of regular
form free from angular projections for the purpose of providing a smooth
handle for the spade bayonet, thereby removing any liability of cutting

page_text: or injuring the hand by any sharp projections when the bayonet is
detached from the gun and used for the purpose of digging in forming
entrenchments, and at the same time to improve the means of attaching
the bayonet to and detaching it from the gun.
or injuring the hand by any sharp projections when the bayonet is
detached from the gun and used for the purpose of digging in forming
entrenchments, and at the same time to improve the means of attaching
the bayonet to and detaching it from the gun.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a side view of a bayonet and
shank made according to the Invention.
Fig. 5 is an end view of the socket with the sleeve removed. Fig. 6
is a side view of the same with the sleeve removed, and showing the
stud.
Fig. 7 is a transverse section of the sleeve through line H; Fig. 8 is
a longitudinal section of the sleeve through line N of Fig. 7; and.
Fig. 9 is a side view of the friction pin, its stop, and spring.
A represents the shank and E the blade of a trowel bayonet, upon the
end of which shank is made the arm b, having the sight slot a made
therein, extending into the shank sufficiently to receive the sight of the
gun, and a sleeve B having a longitudinal groove a¹ therein, which I
denominate the sight groove, is made to fit said arm properly. A hole
is made in the shank or socket, which is made sufficiently thick for that
purpose, and a pine is inserted therein with a spring f behind it, as
shewn in dotted lines in Figs 1, 2, and 6, so that the end of the pin may
project a little from the shank, as shown in same Figures, and a projec-'
tion h is made upon the arm, which projection should not be placed
upon the arm at any point between the friction pin e and the sight slot a,
but may be placed upon any other portion of said arm. I prefer to
place it a little to one side of the line of the friction pin e, as shown in
Figs. 5 & 6.
That part of the sleeve having the largest inside diameter fits upon
the arm, and a shoulder m in said sleeve meets the end of the arm, so
that the part of the sleeve having the smallest inside diameter forms a
continuation of the inside of the arm, both being of the same inside
diameter. A groove n is formed on the inside of the sleeve at right
angles to the sight groove a', of sufficient size to allow the projection
2

page_text: I prefer to make the friction pin with a small neck or shank t of
smaller diameter than the ends of the pin, and with a stop pin t¹ inserted
in the socket and passing between the two larger ends of the pin e, so
that said pin shall have less friction surface in its longitudinal action,
and so that it may not be accidentally lost out. This construction of
the pin and its stop is shown clearly in Fig. 9, and the friction pin
might have an elongated part extending through the shank or socket
to the front part of the neck, the shank having a hole made therein for
that purpose, and with a small knob on the extreme end of the elongated
part, so that in case dirt should get into the socket of the friction pin
and cause the pin to stick in the socket a slight pressure upon the knob.
would force the pin out again into its place. This attachment or
fastening is equally applicable to the ordinary triangular bayonet, as
shown in Fig. 1, as to the trowel or spade bayonet, shown in Fig. 2, and
such variation may be made in the shank as may be necessary to
accomodate the construction of the bayonet, and is equally applicable
to the sword bayonet.
The friction pin and the sleeve may be corrugated upon the inside to
prevent the surfaces from rusting together, and to prevent their working
hard if dirt should get in.
The blade may have a strengthening rib on the back, extending longi-
tudinally thereon, which may be either rolled out solid with the blade
or welded thereto, as may be most convenient in construction, and the
blade may be curved or convex upon its back and concave upon its
face, and may have a greater or less degree of curvature in its length if
desirable.
It will be perceived that the sleeve of the socket contains the sight
groove a', which is wholly inside and entirely covered, and that when
the socket is attached to the gun the sight of the gun slides along in
said groove until the socket is in place and the sleeve is turned to secure
it to the gun. The blade of this bayonet is made of one and the same
piece of metal with the rib, the advantage being greater strength,
facility of tempering the blade (which is impossible when the rib is
welded or soldered to the blade), and cheapness of manufacture.
Having thus described the said Invention, what I claim as new and
desire to secure by Letters Patent is,―
First. The sleeve or socket B when combined for operation with the

page_text: arm and made of the same external form as the shank A, whereby an
improved fastening as well as symetrical handle is provided for a spade
bayonet, substantially as described.
Second. The combination with the socket A, provided with the slot a,
of the sleeve B provided with a groove a¹, whereby the socket may be
adjusted and secured upon the barrel of a gun, substantially as
described.
Third. In a bayonet socket I claim the combination of the stud h,
the grooves a' and n, and a spring catch, whereby the sleeve is coupled
with the socket, substantially as set forth.
Fourth. In combination with a spade bayonet I claim the neck or
shank thereof when provided with the concave bearing f, whereby a
convenient gun rest as well as a hand guard is made, substantially as
described.
Fifth. I claim in a socket made attachable to the barrel of a gun the
sleeve B, having therein a covered sight groove a¹, substantially as set
forth.
.
And, Sixth. A spade bayonet, in which the rib and blade are made
solid of one and the same piece of metal.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-third day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.