CRAMP FOR CRAMPING FLOOR BOARDS
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Fabian at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th June 1881.
HENRY FABIAN, of Erith, in the County of Kent.
CRAMP FOR CRAMPING FLOOR BOARDS."
"AN IMPROVED FLOOR
Into the teeth of a toothed sliding rack with a cramp head at one end gears a
worm, the worm being on a shaft having suitable bearings in the plate guiding the
sliding rack; on the shaft is an internal ratchet wheel having one or more palls
working into its teeth, the palls being attached to a pall plate which runs loose on
the before named shaft. The ratchet wheel and shaft turn together. Around the
edge of my ratchet wheel I arrange recesses for the introduction of a bar, and on
the underside of the plate guiding the rack place one or more eccentric catches
for the automatic jambing of the cramp and the floor joists. These eccentric
catches I arrange to move inwards or outwards with regard to the centre line of
the cramp if desired, and for the purpose I either make separate holes for the
bolts, or I make long slots in the plate in which the catch bolts can slide; and in
the latter case, if desired, I use washers having a projection or an indentation on
their underside to prevent slipping; or I make V shaped notches on the sides of
the slots to receive projections on the bolts of the catches, thereby insuring the
bolts from slipping.
The working of my cramp is as follows:-The pall plate having a square or socket
on it for the reception of a bar or wrench, the tool so applied is rocked to and fro,
so causing the palls to engage or disengage the ratchets; the ratchet wheel actuates
the shaft, and the shaft causes the worm to revolve, which in its turn moves the
rack, causing it to jamb the floor boards together. In order to slack back, the
other end of the bar or wrench is inserted into one of the recesses provided on the
ratchet wheel; the rack is slacked back when the ratchet wheel can be used as a
handwheel for running the rack home. .

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent & of
an Order of the Lord Chancellor filed by the said Henry Fabian in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 6th January 1882.
HENRY FABIAN, of 9, Bexley Road, Erith, Kent. "AN IMPROVED FLOOR
CRAMP FOR CRAMPING FLOOR BOARDS."
My Invention consists in a toothed rack into which gears a worm, the worm
receiving its motion from a spindle passing through its centre; on the spindle is an
internal ratchet wheel having one or more palls working into it, these palls being
fitted to a pall plate running loose on the before mentioned aspindle. On the
underside of the rack guido plato I havo a bracket and one or more eccentric clips
for the automatic jambing of the cramp on the floor joists, these eccentric clips I
arrange to shift inwards or outwards, if desired, and for this purpose I either make
seperate holes in the base plate to receive the bolts, or I make long slots; and in
the latter case, if I prefer, I use washers fitting a V rack to provent the bolts slipping.
In cases where the lever working the cramp may be detached, cavities are arranged
at the back of the ratchet wheel to suit one end of the lever. In cases where the
lever for working the cramp is required to be attached to the cramp, these cavities
before mentioned are omitted and the outer boss of the pall plate is lengthened,
and so arranged that the extreme end is round and can revolve within the boss of
the lever; the rest of the boss is square, so that when the lever is shipped onto it
the pall plate is actuated, the rim of the ratchet wheel is extended beyond the pall
plate and notched to receive the lever; at the end of the spindle is a pin and washer
to prevent the lever from becoming soperated from the cramp.
Description of Drawing.-Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5, show the cramp having a lever
that may be detached. A is the toothed rack; B is the worm; C is the spindle;
D is the ratchet wheel; E, are the cavities at the back of the ratchet wheel, to fit
the end of lever F; G, G, are the palls.
Figs. 6, 7, & 8, show the arrangement of ratchet wheel, pall plate, boss, spindle,
and lever, in cases where the lever may not be detached from the cramp. C is the
spindle; D is the ratchet wheel; E is the part of pall plate boss made round; J is
the part of pall plate boss made square; K'is the levor; L, are the notches around
the rim of the ratchet wheel to receive the lever for the release.
The mode of working the crap, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, is,―The lever F
is shipped onto the boss of the pall plate, as shown; it is rocked to and fro, the
palls G, G, engage with the ratchets D and so actuate the worn B, which slides
the rack A in a manner to squeezo the floor boards together; to release the cramp,
the lever F is unshipped and the tapered end is inserted into one of the cavities E,
and by this means the cramp is slacked back when the ratchet wheel can be used
as a hand wheel for running the cramp home.
In Figs. 6, 7, & 8, the lever being always on the boss of pall plate to work the
cramp, the lever must be shifted onto the square part of the boss; but so that the
lever does not engage the notches L it is rocked to and fro, as before, with the
same result; to release the cramp the lever is shifted into one of the notches L, as
shown by dotted lines; with it in this position the cramp is slacked back, tho lever
is shifted to the extreme position, as shown by full lines, and the cramp is run
home as in the previous case.
In witness whereof, the said Henry Fabian, has hereunto set his hand and
soal this 5th day of January 1889