IMPROVEMENTS IN VICES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Johnson, of Sowerby Bridge, in the County
of York, Toolsmith, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN VICES."
Sealed the 24th November 1865, and dated the 29th May 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Johnson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
May 1865.
I, WILLIAM JOHNSON, of Sowerby Bridge, in the County of York, Tool-
smith, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN VICES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in fitting the moveable jaw of vices in manner here-
after described to enable the vice to hold parallel and taper objects. I carry
a cross bar from the lower part of the fixed jaw and form a hole through the
free end (thereof; I insert in this hole a spindle depending from a crutch
formed with wings, and secure the spindle by a nut screwing on to a thread
at bottom which passes through the cross bar. The wings have pin holes
formed through them, and there are pin holes to correspond in the cross bar;
the lower end of the moveable jaw enters the crutch, and is free to move upon
a pin. When the vice is used for parallel objects the crutch is prevented
from turning by passing pins through the holes in the wings and into the
cross bar; on removing these pins the vice is ready for holding taper
objects.
Instead of forming the crutch with two wings, I sometimes cause it to
extend along the cross bar on one side only, and secure it when required by a

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th November 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
JOHNSON, of Sowerby Bridge, in the County of York, Toolsmith, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Johnson, Her special licence that I, the said William Johnson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 VICES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Johnson, 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 William Johnson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists in constructing the moveable jaw of vices, as herein-
after described, to render the vice capable of gripping all parallel work as
firmly as ordinary bench vices, as well as taper objects when required. I form
a solid cross bar or supporting piece for the moveable front jaw on the leg of
the fixed jaw as in ordinary bench vices, and make a hole in the free end

page_text: thereof, in which I insert perpendicularly the pivot of a swivel; this pivot
passes through the support, and is held down by a nut below screwed on its
projecting point, which is threaded. The lower end or leg of the moveable
jaw is attached to the upper side of the swivel by a horizontal pin or bolt
passing through them both, from which a portion of the swivel extends
towards the leg of the front jaw on the upper surface of the supporting piece,
forming a lever, and through a hole in the end of which, and a corresponding
hole in the support, a loose pin is passed, and remains as long as the vice is
only required for ordinary work; when, however, the vice is required to grip
a taper object, this last-mentioned pin is withdrawn by hand or otherwise, and
the front jaw working on the swivel is thus left free to adapt itself to or grip
the said taper object equally tight at both ends of the jaw.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation, and Figure 2
is a front elevation, of a vice constructed according to my Invention, the pin A
being kept inserted through the lever of the swivel with the pivot B into the
support C below, so as to keep the moveable front jaw always parallel with
the fixed back jaw. Figures 3 and 4 are respectively a side elevation and
a plan of the swivel with pivot B; Figure 5 is a view of that portion of the
vice to which my Invention relates, showing the pin A in Figure 1 withdrawn
from the lever B and support C, and hung on a hook D, so that the move-
able front jaw may swivel round and grip a taper object, as shown in plan in
Figure 6.
Instead of the arrangement herein-before described I sometimes make
the swivel with a lever and a pin on each side, the supporting piece being
formed to correspond, as shown in Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim fitting the move-
able jaw of vices substantially in manner hereiu-before described and repre-
sented in the accompanying Drawings, to enable the vice to hold either
parallel or taper objects as desired.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Johnson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of November, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-five.
WILLIAM JOHNSON. (L.S.)