IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STOP HINGES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Ritchie, of Folkestone, in the County of
Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
STOP HINGES."
Sealed the 18th July 1869, and dated the 1st May 1869.
1st May 1869.
I, GEORGE RITCHIE, of Folkestone, in the County of Kent, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF STOP HINGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of
stop hinges. For many purposes a strong hinge is required for con-
necting together bars or rods, or other pieces of wood, or other material
in such manner that the pieces or parts so connected shall be able only

page_text: to move through a certain fixed angle. I construct a hinge for this
purpose of a plate of metal adapted to be fixed to one of the pieces or
parts to be connected by screws or other fastenings, and having a boss
upon it through which the pin of the hinge is passed. On either side of
the boss a metal plate is applied. These plates are adapted to be fixed to
the other of the two bars, pieces, or parts to be connected, one on either
side of its extremity, by screws or other fastening. The hinge pin
passes through the ends of the side plates at the corners of the plates,
and the plates are secured by rivetting the ends of the hinge pin. Two
pieces or parts connected by means of this hinge will be free to move
through an angle which is the complement to that at the corner of the
side plates through which the hinge pin is passed. At one extreme
position the sides and in the other the ends of the side plate rest against
the face of the plate on which the hinge boss is formed, and so the
angle of motion can be varied by varying the form of the ends of the
side plates.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Ritchie in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
RITCHIE, of Folkestone, in the County of Kent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said George Ritchie, Her special licence that I,
the said George Ritchie, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said George Ritchie, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION

page_text: OF STOP HINGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
George Ritchie, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Ritchie, 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: -
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of
stop hinges. For many purposes a strong hinge is required for con-
necting together bars or rods, or other pieces of wood, or other material
in such manner that the pieces or parts so connected shall be able only.
to move through a certain fixed angle. I construct a hinge for this
purpose of a plate of metal adapted to be fixed to one of the pieces or
parts to be connected by screws or other fastenings, and having a boss
upon it through which the pin of the hinge is passed. On either side of
the boss a metal plate is applied. These plates are adapted to be fixed to
the other of the two bars, pieces, or parts to be connected, one on either
side of its extremity, by screws or other fastening. The hinge pin passes
through the ends of the side plates at the corners of the plates, and the
plates are secured by rivetting the ends of the hinge pin. Two pieces
or parts connected by means of this hinge will be free to move through
an angle which is the complement to that at the corner of side
plates through which the hinge pin is passed. At one extreme position
the sides and in the other the ends of the side plate rest against the face
of the plate on which the hinge boss is formed, and so the angle of
motion can be varied by varying the form of the ends of the side plates.
The details of construction may be varied without deviating from the
principle of the stop hinge, which is the making the corner or end of
the moving part of such a form or to such an angle as to allow freedom
of movement through an arc of the dimensions required, and to abut on
the fixed part of the joint when the motion is complete. The are may
be greater or less than a right angle, but cannot amount to two right
angles.

page_text: In order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings
hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 is a side view of the stop hinge în its simplest form;
Figure 2 is a front view of the same.
a is a plate fixed by screws or otherwise to one of the parts to be
jointed together; a¹ is a boss upon it, receiving the joint pin b, which is
rivetted at its ends, and connects to the boss a' the two side plates c, c,
which however are free to turn. The angle at the corner of these plates
where the joint is made is obtuse, and consequently the joint allows
motion through an arc less than a quadrant. Should freedom of motion
be required over an arc exceeding a quadrant the angle at the corner of
the side plates c should be made aoute. The other of the two parts to
be jointed together is fixed to the side plates c, c, by screws or otherwise.
The full lines and the dotted lines of Figure 1 show the parts in their
extreme positions. When several parts have to be connected together
several joints, such as that above deseribed, may be combined; such an
arrangement with some modifications in the forms of the parts is shown
at Figures 3, 4, and 5.
Figure 3 is a front view, Figure 4 is a plan, and Figure 5 a vertical
section of a combined stop hinge suitable for carrying the ribs of an
umbrella tent, a is a metal disc with sockets upon it to receive the
tent pole. In some cases this disc will be moveable along the pole,
in others fixed thereto. 6 is a covering plate or disc corrosponding in
form to the disc a; c, c, are screws, by which the two discs are fixed
together, and they hold between them in suitable recesses stud axes,
which are formed on the sides of the rib holders d.
Figure 6 is a section of one of the rib holders taken through its stud
axes. Each rib holder has a stop d' formed upon it, which when the rib
is raised by a cord or otherwise abuts on a socket around the post and
renders the joint fast. The stop hinges may be made so as to admit of
the ribs being set at any desired angle with the pole, and heing free to
move through a larger or smaller arc. If the rib is required in any case
to move through an arc amounting to or exceeding a quadrant the

page_text: stops d' may be made to abut on the upper disc b, instead of upon the
central socket.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Ritchie, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this First day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
GEO. RITCHIE. (L.S.)