Improvements in Cricket Bat Handles.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 30th May, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 27th Feb., 1895-Accepted, 30th Mar., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cricket Bat Handles.
CHARLES THOMAS HORNSEY 118 Portway West Ham Essex E. Cricket Bat
Maker do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :—
The handle is inade up in five separate parts the first part being a round core of
cane or other elastic substance running the whole length of the handle covered
with india rubber sheeting around which is placed four segments of cane in two
sizes also covered with india rubber sheeting where in contact with the core and
each other & placed in the following relative positions viz. :-one each of the
largest sizes to the front and back of the bat and one each of the smallest sizes to
the side or edge of the bat those to the front and back at an angle of 50° with the
same and those at the sides. at an angle of 40° with the same the whole of parts
being fixed together and bound in the usual way.
Dated this 28th day of May 1894.
Improvements in Cricket Bat Handles.
I, CHARLES THOMAS HORNSEY, of 118 Portway, West Ham, in the County of
Essex, Cricket Bat Maker, 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 handles of cricket bats are commonly made of cane and in various ways
strips of india rubber have been inserted into the cane handle to render it more
resilient and to lessen the jar which the hand experiences when hitting the ball.
Heretofore however bat handles made with inserted india rubber have often been
too flexible or yielding and especially not sufficiently rigid in resisting torsion.
My object is to remedy these defects. For this purpose I bore a central or
axial hole or passage extending from the outer end of the handle down into the
splice beyond the shoulder of the bat.
Then I make two saw cuts in the handle extending from the end to the shoulder
and crossing each other on the centre or axial line of the handle.
These saw cuts are so made as to divide the handle symmetrically into four
segments disconnected the one from the other except at the shoulder of the bat.
Dividing the handle into segments is not in itself new but according to my
invention 1 so make the saw cuts as to leave the front and the back segments much
larger and consequently stiffer than the side or lateral segments. To fill the central
hole or passage in the handle I prepare a rod or core piece preferably of stiff and
elastic wood and I clothe this core piece with sheet india rubber fixing the india
rubber with suitable cement or glue. I then insert the covered rod between the
segments driving it down with a mallet so as to fix its lower end firmly into the
part of the hole or passage which penetrates below the shoulder of the bat and into
the splice, next I clothe the front and the back segments of the handle with sheet
india rubber, leaving the lateral segments uncovered. Finally I glue the segments
Pin 17

page_text: and the core all firmly and closely together. The handle is finished and strung in
the usual manner.
The annexed drawing shows a transverse section of a bat handle made in
accordance with my invention.
u, b, c and d, are the four segments into which the handle is divided, and as will
be seen the front and the back segments a and c are larger than the lateral
segments 6 and d. a¹ and c¹ is the sheet india rubber covering upon the front and
the back segments. e is the stiff but elastic core rod, it may advantageously be
made of lance wood, and e' is the sheet india rubber with which the core rod is
covered.
In some cases I omit the india rubber clothing e¹ from the front segment c; this
omission renders the handle stiffer but somewhat less elastic.
Bats of this construction have more driving power than any heretofore made.
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. Inserting in the midst of the segments of the handle the india rubber
covered core rod e substantially as described.
2. The construction of bat handles substantially as described by combining
unequal segments the front and the back segments being larger than the lateral
segments and one or both of them being covered with india rubber and there being
also a core rod inserted in the midst of the segments as herein set forth.
Dated this 22nd day of February 1895.
C. T. HORNSEY.