NEW OR IMPROVED AUTOMATIC GRIPPING TONGS OR REACHERS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Rutherford and Peter Mitchell, both of the Town
and County of Forfar, North Britain, for the Invention of "NEW OR IMPROVED
AUTOMATIC GRIPPING TONGS OR REACHERS."
Sealed the 1st May 1877, and dated the 18th November 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Rutherford and
Peter Mitchell at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th
November 1876.
"
WILLIAM RUTHERFORD and PETER MITCHELL, both of the Town and County of
Forfar, North Britain. NEW OR IMPROVED AUTOMATIC GRIPPING TONGS OR
⚫ REACHERS.'
" "
This said Invention relates to a new or improved construction of long reaching
and gripping tongs for gripping and lifting articles at a distance from the user,
automatic in its gripping action, but having the gripper opened by the thumb or
hand at the near end of the long handle, which "reacher" or long gripper is
specially applicable for shopkeepers for lifting articles from the windows and shelves
where it is inconvenient to reach them by hand.
And the nature and novelty of the Invention consist in forming a pair of gripping
fingers or arms, preferably attached to a socket at the front end of a long wood or
light hollow metal handle, having a wire from the grippers led through it to near
the rear end where it is connected to a lever worked by the pressure of the thumb
or hand at this end, so as to open the gripper at the front end, which is closed by
the power of a spiral or other spring fitted to act on the oscillating or moving arm of
the gripper.
As it is very essential that the parts of this instrument should be strong and
light, it is preferred to form the gripping arnis of sheet brass or other malleable
metal, doubled up or embossed into a U shape to forin a hollow recess or chamber at
the root where the one arm is preferably rigidly attached to the front end of the long
handle, preferably by a socket when the handle is made of wood; the double root
part of the one gripping arin is made moveable, and preferably jointed to and within
the hollow chamber part of the stationary arm, where the spiral or other spring is
also set to act by a stem on the moving arm at a little distance from the fulcrum to
close it, while a wire attached to the arm in front is conducted back (through the

page_text: long hollow handle or a closed-in groove or recess formed in it when made of wood)
and attached to a bell crank or bent lever fulcrummed near the back end of the
long handle or to a shield on it; this lever being preferably made of sheet metal,
also bent or buckled near the joint for strength and lightness, formed convenient to
be pressed down towards the butt of the handle by the pressure of the thumb or 5
hand, so as to draw the wire, which opens the movable arm or jaw of the griper,
against the power of the spring, which closes and automatically grips the article as
the pressure of the thumb or hand on the lever near it is released.
A pushing rod might be used instead of the drawing wire for opening the grippers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said William Rutherford and Peter Mitchell in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th May 1877.
WILLIAM RUTHERFORD and PETER MITCHELL, both of the Town and County of
Forfar, North Britain. "NEW OR IMPROVED AUTOMATIC GRIPPING TONGS OR
'REACHERS.'”
Our said Invention relates to a new or improved construction of long reaching
and gripping tongs for gripping and lifting articles at a distance from the user, and
which is automatic in its gripping action, but is opened by the thumb or hand of
the user pressing a lever at the near end of the long handle. This long reacher or
gripper is specially applicable for shopkeepers for lifting articles from windows and
shelves where it is inconvenient to reach them by hand.
And in order that the nature, novelty, and mode of performing our said Invention
may be properly understood, we shall now proceed to describe the best modes and
means we are at present aware of for putting the same into effect or practice,
reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters
and figures marked thereon, that is to say,-
Figure 1 is a side view; Figure 2, a longitudinal section; and Figure 3, a plan
of our long gripper or reacher; Figure 4 is a section of the gripping jaws and front
portion of the long handle drawn full size, and showing the embedded spring for
closing the jaws; Figure 5 is a transverse section of the gripping jaws through the
line 1 1 in Figure 4, showing their hollow or embossed form at the curves of
the limbs for ensuring lightness and strength; while Figure 6 is a section of the
rear end of the gripper, showing the connection and action of the trigger or lever
and rod or wire for opening the jaws of the gripper.
----
Referring to these Figures it will be seen that our improved gripper consists in
forming a pair of gripping fingers or arms A, A¹, preferably attached to a socket B
at the front end of a long wood or light hollow metal handle C, having a rod or
wire D from the gripper A¹ led through it to near the rear end C¹, where it is connected
to a lever E worked by the pressure of the thumb or hand at this end, so as to open
the grippers A, A¹, at the front end, which are closed by the power of a spiral or
other spring F fitted to act and oscillate on the moving arm A of the gripper. The
spring F, by preference spiral, is placed inside the socket or hollow recess B at the
front end of the gripper handle C slightly in rear of the gripping jaws A, A¹, and its
rear end abuts against the solid portion of the handle stock C (or against a disc in
the case of a hollow handle) while its front end acts on the broad base of a stud or
pin G, which presses against the solid part H of the curved shoulder of the moving
arm A of the gripper, which is fulcrumed and oscillates on the stationary arm A at
A near the lower curve of the latter, so as to give ample leverage either for
closing or opening, as seen particularly in Figures 2 and 4.
As it is very essential that the parts of this instrument should be strong and light,
it is preferred to form the gripping arms A, A¹, of sheet brass or other malleable
metal doubled up or embossed into a U shape to form a hollow recess or chamber at
the root a, as seen particularly in Figure 5, with slot D₁ for the wire D to work

page_text: through, where the one arm A is preferably rigidly attached to the front end of the
long handle C, preferably by a socket B when the handle is made of wood. The
double root part of the one gripping arm A¹ is made movable and preferably
jointed to and within the hollow chamber part a of the stationary arm A, behind
which the spiral or other spring F is also set to act against a stem or stud G on the
moving arm A¹ at a little distance from the fulcrum A" to close it, while the wire
D, attached to the arm A¹, in front at D¹, is conducted back through the long
hollow handle C (or a closed-in groove or recess in it when made of wood) and
attached at e to a bell crank or bent lever E fulcrumed near the back end C of the
long handle C, or to a shield C¹¹ on it, as seen in Figures 1, 3, and 6, this lever E
being preferably made of sheet metal, also bent or buckled near its joint E' for
strength and lightness, formed and curved so as to be conveniently pressed down
towards the butt of the handle C by the pressure of the thumb or fingers of the
user, to draw the rod or wire D which opens the movable arm or jaw A¹ of the
gripper against the power of the spring F, which closes the jaw A¹, and auto-
matically grips the article desired to be lifted, as the pressure of the thumb or
hand on the lever E at the rear end is released.
The action of this new or improved gripper may, if preferred, be reversed by at-
taching the spiral spring F to the movable arm A' at the point a¹ of the gripper, so as
to keep the gripping jaws open as their normal position, and arranging the rod D so
as to abut against the solid shoulder H at h, the position or set of the lever E being
reversed for that purpose, so that the pressure of the thumb or fingers upon the
lever E would in this manner close the grippers A, A1, instead of opening them, as
under the former modification. Or otherwise the gripping jaws A, A¹, may be
jointed at the centre scissor-like (held open by a spring) and have lateral projections
crossing each other at an angle, to the rear ends of which two loops or ends of the rod
or wire D might be secured, so that the pressure on the lever E, set in the same
manner as in the first modification, would close the grippers scissorwise and
securely hold any article desired to be shifted from one place to another.
It will be obvious that this new reacher or gripping tongs may be made of any
desired length to suit the particular purposes of the user, and they will be very
useful for clothiers, hatters, milliners, jewellers, ironmongers, and shopkeepers
generally for reaching or moving articles from one place to another. They will also
be useful in houses for lifting cooking utensils or other articles from place to place,
and for a variety of other purposes.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, we have to state that we do not restrict ourselves to the precise
details herein described or delineated, but what we consider novel and original, and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is,-the general construction and arrangement of automatic
gripping tongs or reachers for reaching and lifting articles from .shop windows and
other places, the gripping jaws being closed by a spring and opened by the pulling
action of a rod or wire operated by a lever at the rear end of the handle (or vice
versa), substantially as herein described and shown in the accompanying Drawings
or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Rutherford and Peter Mitchell,
have hereunto set our hands and seals,. this Thirtieth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.