A NEW OR IMPROVED SWORD
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Reeves, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
SWORD."
Sealed the 19th March 1858, and dated the 5th October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Reeves at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th October 1857.
I, CHARLES REEVES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR
IMPROVED SWORD," to be as follows:-
My, said Invention consists of a new or improved sword, constructed as
I
herein-after described, and capable of attachment to a gun or musket.
make the blade and grip of the sword in any convenient manner, and furnish
the said sword with a hilt of the kind called "a half-basket hilt," in place of
the cross bar ordinarily employed for such swords. The sword is provided
either with a spring catch fastening or a sliding fastening, for the purpose of
attaching it to the gun, the spring fastening being by preference employed
when the barrel of the gun passes through the hilt, and the sliding fastening
being by preference employed when the sword is attached. by the side of its
grip to the gun.

page_text: By the use of the half-basket hilt in place of the cross bar the hand is
better defended, and the methods of attachment by a spring catch or slide
afford greater facility in use than the ordinary. fastening.
Although I prefer a "half-basket hilt," yet I do not limit myself thereto, as
a hilt having a basket form, but greater or less than a half basket, may be 5
employed; the essence of this part of my Invention being the application of a
basket-formed hilt to swords capable of attachment to guns or muskets in
place of the cross bar hitherto employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Reeves in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th March 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
REEVES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles Reeves, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Reeves,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Reeves, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED SWORD,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Reeves, my
executors or adminstrators, 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 Charles Reeves, 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:-

page_text: My said Invention consists of a new or improved sword constructed as
herein-after described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, and
capable of attachment to a single or double-barrelled gun or musket.or other
fire-arm.
Figure 1 represents; in back elevation, a. sword constructed according to my
Invention; Figure 2 represents the same attached to a musket; and Figure 3
represents the same attached to a musket, the said Figure 3 representing the
side opposite to that represented in Figure 2, the said Figure 3 is also partly
in section; Figure 4 represents on a larger scale than Figures 1, 2, and 3,
an end elevation nearly similar to the view which would be obtained by
looking at the sword Figure 1 from the point marked a.
!
I make the blade b and grip c of the sword in any convenient manner, the
tang of the sword being solid and forming a prolongation of the blade; and I
furnish the sword with a hilt d of the kind called a half-basket hilt, the said
half-basket hilt being used in place of the cross bar ordinarily employed for
swords to be attached to guns and muskets. The sword is provided either
with a spring catch fastening or any other convenient fastening, for the
purpose of attaching it to the gun or musket. I do not confine myself to any
particular kind of fastening in attaching my new or improved sword to a gun
or musket, but I have found in practice that the spring catch fastening
represented in the Drawing, and which I will now proceed to describe,
answers very well. e is a spring attached to the grip of the sword at f: The
free end of the spring e carries a bolt g, which passes transversely through the
grip c. The bolt g carries a catch h, the form of which will be understood by
an inspection of the Drawing. i is a metallic block or button permanently
fixed to the musket barrel k. The part of the block i is of a size and form
proper to engage in the slot or groove in the hilt.
1
In connecting the sword
with the musket, the grip c is laid upon the side of the musket barrel k in the
relative position represented in Figures 2 and 3, excepting that the grip is
nearer to the open end of the musket barrel k, the sword is pushed towards
the breech end of the barrel, when the block or button i enters the slot / in
the grip, sliding over the inclined surface of the catch h. When the head i
of the block or button i has passed the catch h, the said catch h is restored to
its position by the spring e, when the sword is attached to the barrel by the
catch h engaging behind the block i, as represented in Figure 3. In order to
disengage the sword from the gun or musket barrel k, it is only necessary
to press upon the bolt g, when the catch h will be removed from behind the
button or block i, and the sword grip may be drawn off the said button i, and
thereby disengaged from the gun or musket barrel. The barrel k passes

page_text: through a hole in that part of the hilt marked m, and the sword is firmly
fixed to the gun or musket barrel by the connections at m and i.
When the barrel of the gun does not pass through the hilt, two of the
blocks or buttons i may be employed, one engaging with one end and the
other with the other end of the grip. In this case it is only necessary to
have a spring catch fastening to engage with one of the blocks or buttons i.
By the use of the half-basket hilt in swords to be attached to guns or
muskets in place of the cross bar ordinarily employed in such swords, the
hand is better defended when the sword is held in the hand than when the
ordinary cross bar is used. The solid tang gives great strength to the sword.
Although in carrying my Invention into effect I prefer a half-basket hilt,
yet I do not limit myself thereto, as a hilt having a basket form, but somewhat
greater or less than a half basket, may be employed.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I
claim as my Invention the new or improved sword herein-before described,
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, a sword capable
of attachment to guns or muskets, the said sword having a half-basket hilt
combined with a solid tang, the said basket-formed hilt being in place of the
cross bar hitherto employed in swords capable of attachment to guns or
muskets.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Reeves, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw.
CHARLES REEVES. (L.s.)