IMPROVEMENTS IN CLEAVERS OR CHOPPERS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis North Clerk, of the Firm of Peyton and
Clerk, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Edge Tool Manu-
facturers, and Charles Thomas, of Birmingham, aforesaid, Foreman of
Works for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CLEAVERS OR CHOPPERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis North Clerk and
Charles Thomas at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 22nd October 1859.
We, FRANCIS NORTH CLERK, of the Firm of Peyton and Clerk, of Birming-
ham, in the County of Warwick, Edge Tool Manufacturers, and CHARLES
THOMAS, of Birmingham, aforesaid, Foreman of Works, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CLEAVERS OR CHOPPERS,"
to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists, firstly, of a cleaver or chopper constructed as
herein after described, which said cleaver can be used both as a knife to cut
and a cleaver to chop with. The blade or metal part of our cleaver is double
edged, that is to say, has two cutting edges, one of which is thin and resembles
the blade of a knife; the other edge is stronger, and resembles that of an
ordinary cleaver.
We prefer to manufacture our Invention in the following manner :-We
make the body of the cleaver of iron, and wedge-shaped, the said body being
made in two halves. The cleaver edge is made of cast steel, inserted and

page_text: welded between the two halves of the iron body. The knife edge is made of
a blade of cast steel inserted between the unwelded parts of the two halves
of the body and rivetted therein.
Our Invention consists, secondly, in making ordinary cleavers by forming
the body of a piece of doubled iron, between which the blade made of steel is 5
inserted and welded. In our improved cleaver and in ordinary cleavers we
make the tang by drawing down part of the iron forming the body.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis North Clerk and Charles Thomas in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 21st April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FRANCIS
NORTH CLERK, of the Firm of Peyton and Clerk, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Edge Tool Manufacturers, and CHARLES THOMAS, of
Birmingham, aforesaid, Foreman of Works, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto us, the said Francis North Clerk and Charles Thomas, Her special
licence that we, the said Francis North Clerk and Charles Thomas,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Francis North Clerk and Charles Thomas, our 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 CLEAVERS OR CHOPPERS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Francis North Clerk and Charles Thomas,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or
their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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 Francis North Clerk, on behalf of
myself and the said Charles Thomas, do hereby declare the nature of the

page_text: 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:-
Our Invention consists, firstly, of a cleaver or chopper constructed in the
manner hereinafter described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3, of the
accompanying Drawing, which said cleaver or chopper can be used both as a
knife to cut and a cleaver to chop with.
Figure 1 of the Drawing represents a side elevation of a cleaver or chopper
constructed according to this part of our Invention. Figure 2 represents a
front elevation of the same; and Figure 3. represents a horizontal section of the
same, the said section Figure 3 being taken through the line a, Figure 1.
The blade or metal part 6 of our new or improved cleaver is double-edged,
that is to say, has two cutting edges, marked respectively be and b, the edge b
being thin and resembling the blade of a knife. The other edge b³ is stronger
than the portion 62, and resembles that of an ordinary cleaver. The respective
shapes of the cutting and chopping blades will be readily understood by an
examination of Figures 1 and 3.
By constructing cleavers according to this part of our Invention, a cutting
and a chopping edge are obtained in one instrument.
We manufacture the new or improved cleaver, Figures 1, 2, and 3, in the
following manner :-We make the body, marked c, of the cleaver of iron and
wedge shaped, the said body being made in two halves, and steeled by any of
the modes well understood. The knife edge 62 is made of a blade of cast steel
inserted between the unwelded parts of the two halves of the body c, as
represented in Figure 3, and also indicated by a dotted line in Figure 1, and
rivetted therein by the rivets d, d. The tang of the cleaver Figures 1, 2,
and 3, is made by drawing down the lower portion of the iron body c. The
said tang passes through the axis of the wooden handle e from end to end,
and the said handle is secured thereupon by a metal washer f at the bottom
of the said handle e.
Our Invention consists secondly, in making ordinary cleavers by forming
the body of the same of a piece of doubled iron between the sides of which
the blade made of steel is inserted and welded or rivetted, as herein-after
described and illustrated in Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, of the accompanying
Drawing.
Figure 4 represents a side elevation; Figure 5, a front elevation; and
Figure 6, a plan of an ordinary cleaver, manufactured according to this part of
our Invention. g is the body of the cleaver, made of a piece of doubled iron.
The two sides of the doubled iron are welded together at gå, as represented,

page_text: and the upper portion is left unwelded; the said unwelded portion being of a
length somewhat greater than that of the blade h. The said blade is made
of steel, and is inserted in the unwelded portion of the iron body g, and secured
therein by welding or by means of the rivets marked i, i, in Figure 4. The
lower or welded portion at 92, of the body g, is drawn down and tapered to
form the tang, and the wooden handle k is fixed thereon in the usual manner.
When we manufacture cleavers of large size, according to this part of our
Invention, we prefer to give the tang the same or nearly the same breadth as
the iron body of the cleaver. Figures 7 and 8 represent in side and front
elevation respectively, a cleaver made with its tang 1 of the same or nearly the
same breadth as the body m. On either side of the said tang 1, wooden
strips n, n, to form the handle, are placed and secured to the said tang by
rivetting, as represented. The cleaver, Figures 7 and 8, is made in precisely
the same way as the cleaver Figures 4, 5, and 6, with the exception of the
tang 1.
Having now described the nature of our, Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that we do not limit
ourselves to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of our Invention; but we
claim as our Invention,-
Firstly, the new or improved cleaver or chopper herein-before described and
illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the accompanying Drawing, that is to say,
a cleaver or chopper having two cutting edges, the blade being made of steel
inserted in the iron body, which is steeled by any of the well-known methods.
Secondly, the method herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 4,
5, 6, 7, and 8 of the accompanying Drawing, of manufacturing ordinary
cleavers, that is to say, making the said cleavers by forming the body of a piece
of doubled iron, and inserting in the said doubled iron a steel blade, the said
blade being secured therein by rivetting or otherwise.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis North Clerk, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
FRANCIS NORTH CLERK. (L.B.)