Improvement in Tools for Jewellers' Use.
Year: 1891

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvement in Tools for Jewellers' Use.
I, ERASTUS NELSON PARKER, of Springfield, in the County. of Hampden and
State of Massachusetts, United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The present invention relates to that class of tools for jewellers' use for which
Letters Patent of the United States No. 434,946 were issued to me on the 26th day
of August, 1890, consisting of a base or holder and clamping arms or jaws connected
therewith for holding spectacle or eye-glass frames and other small articles while
being soldered or brazed.
The object of my present invention is to provide a tool of this nature in which
the clamping arms or jaws will have a capacity for independent adjustment in a
variety of directions with a view to materially increasing the number and variety of
articles which can be held thereby.
To this end the invention consists in the tool constructed and operating as hercin-
after fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.
Referring to the drawings, in which like letters designate like parts in the several
figures,
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the tool, and illustrating one of the uses for which
it is adapted.
Fig. 2 is a perspective view thereof, showing a different position of the clamping-
arms.
Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the tool arranged to rest upon a table or benoh
and to hold a finger-ring or similar article.
Fig. 4, by a similar view, shows the use of the base and a single clamping-arm,
the other arm and the handle being removed' from the base.
Fig. 5 illustrates the use of one of the clamping-arms and the handle without
the base.
In my present device I employ two clamping arms or jaws a a, each composed of
two strips or bars a', which are preferably tapered to a dull point at their outer
end, as shown, and provide a thumb-screw, located near said outer endt of said
arms, to draw the two members thereof together to clamp an article between them,
as in the tool shown and described in said Letters Patent. Instead, however, of
connecting said arms at their inner end directly to a holder, as in my previous
device, I connect each of said arms to a block c by means of a thumb-screw b',
passing loosely through one member and a hole in the block and entering a tapped
hole in the other member, whereby the arm is adapted to have a pivotal movement
about the screw b' as a centre and by tightening the latter to be rigidly held at any
angle to which it may be adjusted. Said blocks are themselves connected to a
based in such manner as to be capable of a pivotal adjustment in a plane at a right
angle to that of said arms upon screws b', and for this purpose said base d'is made
in the form of a round rod, and each of said blocks with a hole or socket to receive

page_text: +
said rod and with a thumb-screw c¹ for securing it in any desired position upon
the latter.
In practice I prefer to provide said blocks with two holes or sockets extending
there-through in planes at a right angle to each other, as shown, either of which
holes is adapted to receive the rod d, and thus permit said blocks to be set in such
position that the arms a a are adapted to hold parts of any article which stand at a
right angle to each other. The hase d is provided at or near one end thereof with
a lateral extension d', standing at a right angle thereto, which, as shown, is made
integral with the same, but which may be secured thereto by means of a socket and
thumb-screw, if desired. Said extension enables one of the arms a to be set out of
alignment with the other arm, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, whenever the shape of the
article to be soldered or brazed renders auch position necessary or desirable.
To enable the tool to be conveniently held in one hand, I provide a handle e,
which at its outer end is suitably milled, as shown, and at its inner end is threaded
to adapt it to be screwed into a cap e', which cap contains a hole or socket to receive
base d. Said handle when screwed against the base within said cap is rigidly held
in any position to which it may be moved, and is adapted, by loosening it slightly,
to be moved to any position upon the base or to be withdrawn therefrom entirely.
The arms a a and handle e are thus adapted to be adjusted to any desired position
longitudinally of the base or its extension and to be set at any desired degree of
angularity to each other, in addition to the pivotal adjustment of said arms upon
blocks c. The great capacity for adjustment thus afforded adapts the tool for a
great variety of uses, of which I have shown but five examples in the drawings.
In Fig. 1 both clamping-arms are located upon the main portion of the base, with
their work-receiving openings parallel with each other, and handle e projects from
the opposite side of the base in a plane parallel with said arms. In Fig. 2 one of
the arms is shifted to the extension d' of the base, its work-receiving opening still
remaining parallel with that of the other arm. In these two positions the toel is
adapted for repairing different parts of spectaclo or eyeglass frames, as shown. In
Fig. 3 the arms are moved nearer together, and their work-receiving openings stand
at a right angle to each other, while the handle e is adjusted to a position at
substantially a right angle to said arms, thereby adapting the tool to rest upon a
table or bench with the arms in a vertical position and enabling the operator to employ
both hands in repairing the ring or other article held by the arins. In Fig. 4 one
of the arms and the handle are removed from the base, and the latter supports the
remaining arm in a vertical position, the lateral extension of the base serving to
steady said arm in such position. In Fig. 5 one of the arms is utilized like an
ordinary pair of tweezers, the thumb-screw c¹ being removed from the end thereof
and handle e being screwed into said end to facilitate holding the same. As before
stated, these constitute but a few of the various positions of adjustment of which
the tool is capable, and it will be obvious without further description that the tool
has a wide range of usefulness for jewellers' use. By attaching the handle e to the
extension d of the base and folding the arms a to a position parallel with the main
portion of the latter the tool is reduced to compact form for shipment or for being
carried in the pocket.
. Notwithstanding its capacity for a great variety of uses, the tool devised by me
is simple and inexpensive in construction, the several parts thereof being entirely
interchangeable.
If desired; the rod d can be supported by a suitable stand adapted to rest upon
the table or bench; but I prefer to employ the handle e, which enables the tool to
be held in the hand or rested upon the table, as may be desired.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The tool for jewellers' use herein described, comprising, in combination, a base

page_text: adjustable both longitudinally thereof and about the same as a centre, each of said
clamping-arms being composed of two strips or bars and having means, as a thumb-
screw, for drawing the outer ends thereof together, and a suitable handle or support
for said base, substantially as set forth.
2. A tool for jewellers' use, comprising, in combination, a base consisting of a
round rod having at or near one end thereof a lateral extension standing at substan-
tially a right angle thereto, a plurality of clamping-arms, each being composed of
two strips or bars provided with a thumb-sorew for drawing the outer ends thereof
together and connected at their inner ends to a block having therein a hole or
socket to receive said base and provided with a clamping-screw for securing the
same in any adjusted position upon the latter, and a suitable handle or support for
said base, substantially as set forth.
3. A tool for jewellers' use, comprising, in combination, a base, a plurality of
clamping-arms mounted upon said base, each of which is capable of pivotal move-
ment about two different centres and in planes perpendicular to each other, each of
said arms consisting of two strips or bars provided with a thumb-screw for drawing
the free ends thereof together, and a suitable handle for said base movable about the
base as a centre, substantially as described.
4. A tool for jewellers' use, consisting of a base in the form of a round rod, a
plurality of blocks each having a hole or socket to receive said rod and a clamping-
screw for accuring the same in any adjusted position upon the latter, a clamping-
arm pivotally secured to each of said blocks, each of said arms consisting of two
strips or bars provided with a thumb-screw for drawing the free ends thereof
together, and a suitable handle or support for said base, combined and operating
substantially as described:
5. A tool for jewellers' use, comprising a base consisting of a round rod, a
plurality of clamping-arins, and a handle, each of said clamping-arms and said
handle being independently adjustable upon Baid base both longitudinally of the
latter and about the same as a centre, substantially as set forth.
6. A tool for jewellers' use, comprising, in combination, a base consisting of a
round rod, a plurality of clamping-arms adjustably mounted upon said base, a cap
provided with a hole or socket to receive said base and having a tapped hole
leading into said first-mentioned hole or socket, and a handle having its inner end
threaded and adapted to enter said tapped hole in said cap and to bear against said
base, whereby said handle is adapted to be adjusted longitudinally upon the base
and about the latter as a contre, substantially as set forth.
7. In a tool of the kind described, the combination, with base d, having lateral
extension d', of blocks c, having holes or sockets extending therethrough at a right
angle to each other to receive said base and provided with clamping-screws c¹, and
clamping-arms a, adjustably secured to said blocks and provided with screws 6 for
drawing their free ends together, substantially as.described.
Dated this 13th day of July 1801
F. W. BARKER,
Applicant's Agent.