IMPROVEMENTS IN SPANNERS OR WRENCHES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Andrew Comber, of Leeds, in the
County of York, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SPANNERS OR WRENCHES,"
Sealed the 23rd January 1874, and dated the 10th November 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Andrew
Comber at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 10th November 1873.
I, WILLIAM ANDREW COMBER, of Leeds, in the County of York,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SPANNERS OR WRENCHES," to be as follows:-
These improvements have for their objects,―
Firstly. The production of a spanner which will grip only on the
sides or faces of the nut or other object with parallel faces operated
upon instead of on the corners, and will thereby preveserve them from
becoming defaced by the pressure of the spanner, as is now more or

page_text: less the case, on account of the spanners as hitherto made pressing
against the corners only.
Secondly. The production or construction of a spanner which besides
having the above-named property will also suit several sizes of nuts,
and the jaws of the same will instantly adjust themselves to the size
of the nut operated upon directly that pressure is put on the handle to
turn the nut round in either direction.
And Thirdly. The production of a self-adjusting pipe wrench for
turning round objects, such as pipes or studs acting on the above-
described self-adjusting principle, the grip of the jaws increasing in
force in proportion to the pressure put upon the handle; the jaws being
made of a special shape to seize or enclose a round object, instead of
one having two or more parallel faces.
The first of these objects I effect by making the inside jaws of my
spanner to the shape of a sharp circular curve, and by giving such
inside clearance as to insure the points of these curves only bearing on
the faces of the nut. This improvement can be applied to all spanners
now used.
The second of these objects I effect by making the jaws of the
spanner in two pieces, one being similar in shape to a tuning fork, with
the solid part bent round to form the jaw for gripping the nut, and the
other end of the fork having two holes opposite each other, passing
through each of the prongs of the fork; the other jaw piece I make of
a solid rectangular section, with one end bent round to form the
gripping part; towards the other end it is slotted or grooved on both
sides to the width of the prongs of the forked jaw and to the depth of
the thickness of the prongs, so that they will fit into and slide along
in these slots; the sides of the jaws making an inside angle with each
other of one hundred and twenty degrees. A lever or handle is placed
between and at the end of the prongs of the forked jaw, which turns
on a pin passing through it and through the holes in the prongs before-
mentioned; the head of the lever or handle being made of such an
eccentric form and curve as to press against the side of the solid jaw
which slides between the prongs, and by turning the handle round it
is pushed along towards the gripping portion of the forked jaw, and so
adjusts itself to the size of the nut gripped; the parts of the jaws

page_text: 6PP6g shape
before described.
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The third object I effect by the same arrangement of parts and plan
of self-adjustment, as above described, altering however the shape of
the jaws to present three gripping points to the pipe or other round
object operated upon.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said William Andrew Comber in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 9th May 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ANDREW COMBER, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Andrew Comber, Her special
licence that I, the said William Andrew Comber, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Andrew Comber, 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 SPANNERS OR WRENCHES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Andrew Comber,
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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Andrew Comber, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement in writing, and on reference being
had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, that is to say:―
These improvements have for their objects-
Firstly. The production of a spanner which will grip only on the
sides or faces of the nut or other object with parallel faces operated
upon instead of on the corners, and will thereby preserve them from
becoming defaced by the pressure of the spanner, as is now more or less
the case, on account of the spanners as hitherto made pressing against
the corners only.
Secondly. The production or construction of a spanner which besides
having the above-named property will also suit several sizes of nuts,
and the jaws of the same will instantly adjust themselves to the size of
the nut operated upon directly that pressure is put on the handle to
turn the nut round in either direction.
And Thirdly. The production of a self-adjusting pipe wrench for
turning round objects, such as pipes or studs, acting on the above-
described self-adjusting principle, the grip of the jaws increasing in force
in proportion to the pressure put upon the handle; the jaws being made
of a special shape, to seize or enclose a round object, instead of one
having two or more parallel faces.
The first of these objects I effect by making the inside jaws of my
spanner to the shape of a sharp circular curve, and by giving such inside
clearance as to insure the points of these curves only bearing on the
faces of the nut. This improvement can be applied to all spanners now
used.
The second of these objects I effect by making the jaws of the spanner
in two pieces, one being similar in shape to a tuning fork, with the solid
part bent round to an angle greater than 90 degrees, preferably of
120 degrees, to form the jaw for gripping the nut, and the other end
of the fork having two holes opposite each other, passing through each
of the prongs of the fork; the other jaw piece I make of a solid
rectangular section, with one end bent round to form the gripping
part; towards the other end it is slotted or grooved on both sides to the
width of the prongs of the forked jaw and to the depth of the thickness
of the prongs, so that they will fit into and slide along in these slots;

page_text: the sides of the jaws making an inside angle with each other of
120 degrees. A lever or handle is placed between and at the end
of the prongs of the forked jaw, which turns on a pin passing
through it and through the holes in the prongs before-mentioned;
the head of the lever or handle being made of such an eccentric
form and curve as to press against the side of the solid jaw which
slides between the prongs, this side being inclined to the centre
line of its motion at any angle less than ninety degrees, preferably one
of sixty degrees, and by turning the handle round it is pushed along
by the eccentric head in or near the centre line of its motion towards
the gripping portion of the forked jaw, and so adjusts itself to the size
of the nut gripped; the parts of the jaws gripping the nut being made
to the shape of a sharp circular curve, as before described, and by means
of a link working in grooves the motion is reversed and the jaws are
similarly opened.
The third object I effect by the same arrangement of parts and plan
of self-adjustment, as above described, altering however the shape of
the jaws to present three gripping points to the pipe or other round
object operated upon.
Figures 1 and 2 on the accompanying Drawings are side elevations
of spanners made to suit one size of nut only (in this case being a one-
inch nut), with improved gripping jaws of a sharp, circular, or other
curve, by which means the sides of the nut only are gripped, as shown,
and the corners preserved.
These improved gripping jaws are applicable to all other spanners
now made; those in Figure 1 being most suitable for adjusting
spanners, and those in Figure 2 for non-adjusting spanners.
Figure 3 is a side elevation of the improved self-adjusting spanner;
Figure 4 is a section of the same through the line A, B; and Figure 5
is a section through the line C, D. It consists of the forked jaw E,
the sliding jaw F, the pin G, the handle H, and the link K; F is cut
or slotted out at top and bottom, so as to fit easily between the prongs
of E at the angle shown in Figure 3. It is pushed forward in the slot
by turning in the direction of the arrow the eccentric head of the
handle H, which also moves between the prongs of E and round the
pin G which passes through the prongs, as shown, so that the same
motion which forces the jaws together to grip the nut also tends to

page_text: screw it round, and consequently the greater the pressure applied to
the handle the greater becomes the gripping force of the jaws. By
turning the handle in the opposite direction to the arrow the sliding
jaw is pulled back by a similar action reversed. This is effected by
means of the small link K, which slides freely in the groove L,
Figures 3 and 4, made in the bottom prong of the forked jaw E. It
has two round projections, one of which engages in a hole M. on the
under side of F, and the other in a slot N on the under side of the
handle H, as shewn in Figures 4 and 5. The extreme open position of
the jaws in Figure 3 is shown in full lines, and the extreme closed
position of the jaws and handle is shown in dotted lines.
The spanner may be made in several sizes, so as to embrace all sizes
of nuts or other objects with parallel faces, three sizes only being
required to range from a quarter inch up to one and a half inch nut
inclusive.
Figure 6 is a side elevation of the arrangement adapted as a pipe
wrench for seizing securely and turning round any round objects
whatever, the only alteration from the arrangement in Figure 3 being
in the jaws, as shown..
The same letters applying in each case to the description and mode
of action, and the extreme range of the jaws are similarly shown by
means of full and dotted lines.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be
performed or carried into practical effect, I would remark in conclusion
that I claim as my Invention the general construction and arrangement
of the improved spanners or wrenches, substantially as herein-before
described, and as illustrated on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
or any equivalent modification thereof. And in particular I have to
state that in the adjusting spanner I claim as my Invention, moving &
the jaws towards and from each other whose gripping surfaces are
inclined to their centre line of motion at angles other than ninety
degrees, preferably at sixty degrees and one hundred and twenty degrees.
respectively, by means of an eccentric head pressing against a sliding
jaw, which is placed at an angle less than ninety degrees from its centre a
of motion, which enables the said head to be of such form as to press
it forward by contact in or quite close to its centre line of motion; and

page_text: I also claim a spanner having jaws which grip on the sides only of
a nut or other object with parallel faces, thereby preserving the
corners.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Andrew Comber, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.