Improvements in Cutting Instruments where Two Blades are Used, and in Instruments for Gripping and Squeezing.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Jan., 1887
Complete Left, 10th Oct., 1887
Complete Accepted, 11th Nov., 1887
Improvements in Cutting Instruments where Two Blades are Used,
and in Instruments for Gripping and Squeezing.
1, THOMAS WEBSTER RAMMELL, of the Reform Club, Pall Mall, London, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
With shears and scissors and such like cutting instruments it has been the practice
hitherto to unite the two blades by, and make them turn upon, a single centre-pin or
pivot, from which arrangement there are many inconveniences; and the same is to be
observed of tongs and such like instruments for gripping and squeezing.
My improvements as respects cutting instruments consist in the use of four pins or
pivots (being two to each blade) as centres of union and motion instead of the single
one hitherto employed, and the employment of parallel bars moving about such pins
or pivots for connecting the two blades together and regulating their motion, with a
prolongation of one or other of the bars as a handle for working, in combination-in
most cases-
5-with a prolongation of one or other of the blades. As regards instruments
for gripping and squeezing, such as tongs pinchers and squeezers, I employ like means;
using four pins or pivots to the limbs instead of the single one hitherto employed,
and parallel bars with the prolongation as described.

page_text: Improvements in Cutting Instruments where Two Blades are Used,
and in Instruments for Gripping and Squeezing.
I, THOMAS WEBSTER RAMMELL, of the Reform Club, Pall Mall, London, Civil
Engineer, 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 :-
With shears and scissors and such like cutting instruments it has been the practice
hitherto to unite the two blades by, and make them turn upon, a single centre-pin or
pivot, from which arrangement there are. many inconveniences; and the same is
to be observed of tongs and such like instruments for gripping and squeezing. My
improvements as respects cutting instruments consist in the use of four pins or pivots
(being two to each blade) as centres of union and motion instead of the single one
hitherto employed, and the employment of parallel-bars moving about such pins or
pivots for connecting the two blades together and regulating their motion, with a
prolongation of one or other of the bars as a handle for working in combination-in
most cases with a prolongation of one or other of the blades. As regards instru-
ments for gripping and squeezing, such as tongs, pincers, and squeezers, I employ
like means, using four pins or pivots to the limbs instead of the single one hitherto
employed, and parallel-bars, with the prolongation as described.
In the accompanying drawings, figures 1, and 2, sheet 1, show the application of
my invention to scissors. a, a¹, are pivots placed at a convenient distance apart in
the upper blade B, and corresponding with similar pivots c, c², in the lower blade D,
there being in all four pivots. e, e³, are parallel-bars fitted to and working on the
pivots, the forward bar e, being prolonged backwards into the finger loop f, corres-
ponding with a similar loop f¹, to the upper blade B. g, g' are respectively stops to the
closing and opening movements. The parallel-bars have suitable bearings around the
pivots to insure firmness in the movement, and I prefer to set the upper blade slightly
inwards, and the lower blades slightly outwards, to secure close contact between the
cutting edges. The pivots may be placed either parallel to the cutting. edge of the
lower blade, as shown, or at an angle to it, though I prefer the former arrangement,
as it gives a longer. draw to the cut.
It will be seen from figure 2, which shows the scissors open, that in action there is
a longitudinal draw of one blade over the other as well as a transverse or closing
movement, the range, in this case, of both the movements being shown at h, h
figures 1, and 2. The effect is that a keener and a cleaner cut is produced than can
be obtained by the mere pinching together and closing over the edges of the present
scissors working on a single pivot only. There is also an uniform angle of cut
throughout, and a better leverage in cutting.
The application of my invention to shears, and to scissors to be worked with the
grasp more or less full of the hand, is shown in figures 3, and 4, sheet 1. Here the

page_text: hinder parallel-bar is brought between the two loops in order to reduce the open
width of the part to be grasped, and a spring a, a,-which may be placed at any
convenient part is provided to assist the opening movement.
The loops may of
course be varied in size and form, and the spring be dispensed with.
Figures 5, and 6, show the application of my invention to field, garden, and
horticultural purposes, and to such other shears as have to be worked with handles
more or less long. Here the parallel-bars are lengthened to suit the various cases
to from, say, 2, inches, up to 6, or 8, inches between the centres.
In most cases
I prefer to place the pivots as far apart on the blades as the bars are in length between
the centres, and I find it also a good proportion to make the blades when closed
extend to about a bar's length beyond the forward pivot. I also prefer to leave
a good gape for the feed, as shown at a, figure 6, the more especially as in the
closing movement a part of the edge of the upper blade behind the forward bar comes
into cutting.
With shears of this description the blades may be either made out of solid metal,
as shown in figures 5, and 6, or a framework of sufficient stiffness-say, of bar
iron, may be first formed, to which the cutting paris of thin steel plate may be
afterwards affixed in the manner most convenient. The outline of such an arrange-
ment is shown as far as practicable in the dotted lines marked b, b¹, and C₁ ¹
figure 6, and will be readily understood. Amongst other advantages the arrangement
has that of reducing the thickness of the parts near the cutting edges, and thus
facilitating the cut, especially where hard material has to be penetrated. The steel
plates are of course to be of shape to best suit the framework.
It will be seen that by lengthening or shortening the parallel-bars, and placing
them nearer together or further apart on the blades, and by varying the position
of the pivots and the angle at which they are set relatively to the blades, my
invention may be applied to a great variety of cutting instruments where two blades
are used, whether for dealing with fabrics, for garden and field purposes, for cutting
hides and leather, for the cutting and clipping of metals in sheet, or wherever a
keener and a cleaner cut than can now be had with such instruments working on a
single pivot would be advantageous.
Either blade may be made a fixture, and either bar may be prolonged on either
side to work the blade left movable, in order the better to adapt my invention to
manufacturing, domestic, shop, and other uses, and the parallel-bars may be applied
on one side only, or on both sides, of the blades or limbs as may be found
convenient.
The application of my invention to tongs and pincers, and such like instruments
for gripping and squeezing, is shown in figures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, sheet 2.
A, A, and B, B', figures 7, and 8, are respectively the upper and the lower limbs of
a pair of tongs or pincers. c, c', and d, d, are the parallel-bars (which may be
applied on one side only or on both sides of the limbs) working upon the
pivots e, e, e, e, f,f,,", in this case set at an inclination backwards to the line of
opening of the jaws. The upper limb is prolonged into the handle g, g', and the
lower parallel-bar into the corresponding handle h, h. The range of the movement
is shown in dotted lines by the arc i, i, and k, k', and it is made to rise equally above,
and to fall equally below, a line 1, 1, drawn from the centre of the lowermost pivot
parallel with the jaws, the movement following the sweep of the are drawn.
By this arrangement, it will be seen that the movement of the jaws is not only so
regulated that the gripping surfaces are always parallel the one to the other, at what-
ever width of opening, but that at a given and convenient width of opening the jaws
project to an equal degree, as represented in figure 8, where the jaws are shown
fully open.
Figures 9, and 10; show the pivots placed one vertically above the other, being at a
right angle to the line of the jaws, the letters employed in figures 7, and 8, indicating
the various parts. I prefer this arrangement of the bars and pivots since it gives both
more compact form and better leverage.
The handles of these instruments may be of any desired form and length, and may

page_text: be prolonged in any desired direction, one limb and one bar being always used together
for them. Figure 11, shows the handles at a right angle to the previous examples.
Any desired shape too may be given to the jaws, the opposite parts of which will still
move in parallel lines.
The range of the pivots, and the play of the jaws, need not necessarily correspond
with the full width allowed for the grasp of the jaws, since it may be less than this
by nearly the thickness of the object to be gripped. This is shown in dotted lines in
figure 10, where b, c, represents the thickness of the object, and a, b, and a¹, b¹, the
sufficient movement of the bars and the pivots respectively. This arrangement has
not only the advantage of reducing the sweep of the arc to be moved through but the
convenience also of loosening the play of the handles.
The instrument may not only be used for squeezing inwardly, whether directly
between the jaws, or against a central core, but also for squeezing outwardly against
an external ring or mould, the movement both of the inner and of the outer parts
of the jaws being always in parallel lines. This latter use is illustrated in figure 11,
sheet 2, where a, a', represents an external ring or mould; b, 61, an object to be
squeezed outwardly into the vacant space c, c'; and d, d¹, the jaws of the instru-
ment when closed. It is obvious that by an outward movement of the jaws the
object may be squeezed into the vacant space c, c¹, though if the object to be dealt
with be circular in form it will have to be turned round to receive a succession
of squeezes to force it truly into the mould. In this manner sockets may be formed
to wrought-iron and other metal pipes, the ends being previously softened by heat
if necessary.
In like manner the ends may be compressed to form spigots by inward
squeezing. In the case given the movement of the jaws will be reduced from the
full sweep e, e¹, of equal range on either side of the line 1, to the smaller arcf,f",
also of equal range on either side of the line l, and sufficient for the outward
compression to be given.
Figure 12, shows an instrument for sqeezing round or spherical objects, the
action of which will be readily understood. In this case the object to be dealt
with is placed between the cups a, a¹, the one terminating in a forward direction
the upper, and the other the lower limb, the upper limb and the forward bar
being prolonged backwards into handles. The dotted lines show the position of the
lower limb, and the parallel-bars, and of the cup a when open.
It will be seen that by lengthening and shortening the parallel-bars, and by varying
the position of the pivots upon the limbs-always however using for handles a
single limb and a single bar where both are left free-my invention of improve-
ments in instruments for gripping and squeezing may be applied to a variety of
purposes, or wherever the parallel movement of two jaws having an equal degree of
projection at a given width of opening, and the obtaining of better leverage than can
be had with a single pivot would be advantageous.
As in the case of the blades or parts of cutting instruments previously given, either
limb of the tongs or pincers may be made a fixture, and either parallel-bar may be
prolonged on either side to work the limb left movable.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
The construction and use of scissors, shears, and such like cutting instruments with
two blades, also of tongs, pincers, and such like gripping instruments with two jaws,
having, instead of a single pivot only, four pivots with parallel-bars substantially as
and for the purposes herein described.
Dath this Eighth day of October 1887.