CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SPURS
Year: 1827

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
FOVEAUX WEISS, of the Strand, in the City of Westminster and County of
Middlesex, Surgical Instrument Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Sixth day of November, in the eighth year of His reign, did, for
Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Frederick
Foveaux Weiss, His especial licence that I, the said Frederick Foveaux
Weiss, my heirs, exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Frederick Foveaux Weiss, my heirs, exors, adiñors, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and (and no others), from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF SPURS;" in which said Letters Patent there is a proviso, obliging me, the
said Frederick Foveaux Weiss, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
enrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two calendar months
next and immediately after the date of my herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more
fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Frederick Foveaux Weiss, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and by the following description thereof (that is to say):-
Without attempting to particularize my own Invention or improvements,
or without any attempt to distinguish my Invention or improvements from
such parts and things as have before been invented, made known, and used by
others in the construction of spurs, I, the said Frederick Foveaux Weiss,
shall, in the first place, describe and explain in a general manner the several
kinds of spurs represented in the aforesaid annexed Sheet of Drawings; and
secondly, after such general description of the spurs therein represented,
without any particular reference to my own Invention or improvements, I, the
said Frederick Foveaux Weiss, shall expressly ascertain and limit my claim
under the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent to the several particu-
lars upon which my said Invention or improvements are founded.
a
First, Fig. 1 represents a side view of a spur fixed in a socket. Fig. 2, a
side view of a spur released from its socket and the socket shewn longitu-
dinally in section. Fig. 3, a top view of a spur fixed in its socket, shewing
the groove for the reception of the rowell, and the flanges or projecting arms
by which the socket is secured in the heel of the boot or shoe. Fig. 4, a cross
section of a socket; taken at A, Fig. 2, as may be observed by the guide
in the upper part of the Fig. 4, corresponding with the guide a in the upper
part of Fig. 2. Fig. 5, an end view of that part of the socket marked b
in Fig. 2. Fig. 6, a bottom view of a spur, exhibiting the flat surface of
that part which is to be inserted into the socket, and the groove or notch by
which it is there retained; an end view of this part is shewn at Fig. 6*. 'The
socket has to be inserted into the heel of a boot or shoe, in such manner that
the end of the socket represented in Fig. 5 is flushed with the surface of the
hinder part of the heel, and it is prevented from being withdrawn from thence
by the flanges or arms represented in Fig. 3, and by two or niore pins or
screws which pass through the holes represented in such flanges. The socket
is formed of a hollow cylindrical, rectangular, or other shaped piece of metal,
having a piece of steel or other material of the form of an arc of a circle, or of
any other shape that may be considered as best adapted to the purposes, brazed
or otherwise attached to that end, which is represented in Fig. 5, and at 6 in
Fig. 2.
This piece of steel or other material, and which 'may otherwise be
made of one piece with the socket, is intended as a catch or hold to retain the

page_text: spur in the socket. On the internal surface of the opposite end of the socket
a female screw is formed for the reception of a screw, and when the screw has
been introduced its outward surface is filed flush with the end of the socket;
previously, however, to the introduction of the screw a small hollow cylinder
closed at one end is introduced into the socket, extending about one-half of its
length, with its closed end towards that end of the socket represented in
Fig. 5. This closed end of the internal hollow cylinder has a small portion
filed away, the depth of the notch corresponding or agreeing with the height of
the arc of the circle, or of any other part which may be adopted as a catch or
hold. By this means that part of the closed end of the internal hollow
cylinder which has not been filed away may, by a spiral or other spring
as will be hereafter described, be made to come flush with the end of the
socket as represented in Fig. 2, and consequently with the heel of the boot or
shoe. By this means dirt or other particles which have a tendency to injure
the mechanism of the socket will be excluded; as the spiral or other spring,
which is also introduced previously to the introduction of the screw; keeps it
firmly in its place. It should however be stated, that in the socket, at a place
equidistant from the two holes, either in the flange or in the upper surface of
the socket, or in any any other part in or near the middle of the socket, a hole
is drilled for the reception of a guide, shewn at a in Figs. 2 and 4.
guide, by means of a groove or slit cut in and extending the greater portion
of the length of the internal hollow cylinder, prevents the possibility of the
internal hollow cylinder moving in a wrong direction, and consequently by the
action of the spiral spring that end of the internal hollow cylinder which has
not been filed away fills the orifice of the socket. When the socket is inserted
into the heel of the boot or shoe, and the spur is required to be placed within
it, the person wishing to effect the same arranges the spur in such manner
that the flact surface represented in Fig. 6 (which has to be introduced into.
the socket) is in a line with the base or chord of the arc of the circle
represented in Fig. 5; he then with a slight exertion forces the spur into the
socket, and having thrust it home to the part marked b in Fig. 6, or to any
other part, so that the groove or notch c is in a line with the catch or hold
represented in Figs. 5 and 2; he turns it half round or makes the spur perform
a semi-revolution to secure it in the socket, as represented in Fig. 12.
On one side of the grooved part of the spur a small portion or arc is
filed away, as shewn at d in Fig. 11; therefore the spiral spring, when
the base of this notch is in a line with the base or chord of the arc
of the circle represented in Figs. 2 and 5, or of any other part which may be
This

page_text: introduced as a catch or hold, thrusts the spur forward; and effectually secures
it in that position; consequently, when the person wishes to disengage the spur
from the socket, he forces it back until the groove or notch c is again in a line
with the catch or hold represented in Figs. 5 and 2, and then turning it half
round in the contrary direction, or making it retrace its semi-revolution, it is
thrust out by the action of the spiral or other spring. Figs. 7, 8, and 9 differ
only from Figs. 1, 2, and 3 in having a spring catch to screw the spur to the
socket instead of having a groove for the spur to perform a semi-revolution, as
before described. Figs. 10, 11, and 12, in the principal parts, are the same as
the Figs. 12 and 3, the difference simply consisting in having a fork f to cover
the outward surface of the heel of the boot or shoe. Therefore, in order that the
spur may perform its semi-revolution independent of the fork, a groove is
cut extending from the under to the upper surface of the spur on one side only,
and a screw e has its lower end inserted into this groove to prevent the spur
from making more than the intended semi-revolution. This, however, may be
effected by other means equally simple.
Having thus, without attempting, as before said, to particularize my own
Invention or improvements, or without any attempt to distinguish my own
Invention or improvements from such parts and things as have before been
invented and made known and used by others in the construction of spurs, I,
the said Frederick Foveaux Weiss, do in the second place hereby expressly
ascertain and limit my claim under the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent to the following particulars (that is to say) :-
.
First, in causing the spur to perform half or any other portion of a revolu-
tion to secure it to the socket, by a notch c and by a projecting piece b, acting
as a catch or hold, or by any other means of a similar nature that may be con-
sidered as best adapted to the purpose, so that by a slight exertion the spur
may be released from the catch, and by the action of the spiral or other spring
be ejected from the socket.
And, secondly, by the application of a spring catch or catches, as repre-
sented in Figures 7, 8, and 9, which, by a slight depression, may be released
from the catch or hold, so that the spiral or other spring, acting with its full
force upon the spur, may project it from the socket.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Foveaux Weiss, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight.
FRED F. WEISS. (L.S.)

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifth day of January, in the
year of our Lord 1828, the aforesaid Frederick Foveaux Weiss came before
our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the In Specification aforesaid was stamped accord-
ing to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
c
T
Inrolled the Fifth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and twenty-eight.