AN IMPROVEMENT ON HINGES
Year: 1821

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
COLLINGE, of Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-second day of November now last past, did, for
Himself, His heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Collinge, His especial license that I, the said John Collinge, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Collinge, my
executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
ON HINGES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me,
the said John Collinge, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
enrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and
at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Collinge, do hereby declare, that my said Invention consists in the
peculiar construction and formation of certain acting parts of hinges for gates,
doors, or other bodies, where partial rotation or centrical motion, either in a

page_text: vertical, angular, or horizontal position, is required; and by the application
of such improved hinges, steadiness, accuracy, facility of motion, and dura-
bility and elegance of formation are obtained, superior to any species of hinge
hitherto adopted for any purpose to which my Invention is applicable.
My Invention and improvement is for the construction and application of a
ball and socket made spherical and hemispherical of the same radius as each
other, by which combination a hinge is formed for the purposes before named,
superior to any before known or made use of; and in order to prevent the
injurious effect that ensue from dust or dirt of any kind getting between the
acting surfaces of my improved hinges, I introduce between the upper and
lower parts of my hinges a collar or washer made of leather, or any other
suitable substance, by the use of which the oil which is used to prevent
friction will be kept clean, and consequently the acting parts will move with
greater ease, and remain in a state of perfection much longer. The ten
Figures on the annexed Drawing, which I shall hereafter describe, exhibit
several modifications of my improved hinges; but the characteristic features of
my Invention admit of an endless modification, which will readily occur to
every workman where variety of appearance and application may be required.
Figure 1 represents an elevation of one of my improved hinges, suitable for
heavy doors, gates, or any other article that may be advantageously hung upon
hinges.
Figure 2 represents the upper part of the same Figure separated, in order
to shew the spherical ball or bearing a, which fits and moves in a hemispherical
cup or step, formed in the under half or part at b.
Figure 3. c represents a ring or collar of leather, or any suitable substance
which excludes dust, dirt, or wet of any kind from the acting surfaces.
Figure 4 represents a side elevation of the lower half or part of Figure 1.
Figure 5 is a plan of Figure 1.
Figure 6 represents a section of Figure 1 through the dotted line A, B.
This Figure shews how the spherical ball or bearing a is placed in the
hemispherical cup or step b, by which means the upper part or half is capable
of moving in a universal direction. d, represents a hole made completely
through the spherical bearing or ball and upper part or half. The use of this
part of my improvement is to enable any person to oil the hinge at pleasure,
which is done by pouring oil into it after the screw e is taken out. f shews.
a screw placed in a similar hole in the lower half of the hinge. When this
screw is removed from its place the foul oil will run out, and by this means.
the hinges may be kept clean without the necessity of lifting or disengaging the
gate or door to which they are fixed from its position. c, c, shews the position.

page_text: of a ring or collar made of leather, or any other elastic substance, which serves
to fill up the cavity or space between the upper and lower parts of the hinge,
by which means dust, dirt, or wet will be excluded from the acting surfaces.
The groove g, formed in the ball or sphere, serves to conduct oil to the upper
part of it, by which means the whole surface will be properly supplied with
that fluid. h, h, shews the form of a projecting rim which overlaps and covers
the upper part of the lower half or part of the hinge.
This serves to
exclude the rain, dirt, dust, or other substance, and assists in keeping the
leather collar, ring, or other suitable washer stationary.
Figure 7 represents a similar section of one of my improved hinges, suitable
for gates, placed in such a situation as to require them to open both ways,
and also that after having been opened they should have a tendency to fall to
or shut themselves by their own weight; and as one of the expedients in
common use for this purpose requires the gate to move upon one or other
of two centers or axes, as the gate may be opened to one side or the other, it
produces an obliquity of position in the two parts of the upper hinge. It
is, therefore, necessary that my improved binge, when employed upon gates
of this description, should be constructed in the manner described in Figure 7,
so as to allow of a considerable change of position between the upper. and
lower parts of the said hinge without altering any of its properties. For these
reasons the projecting rim h, h, is formed so as to admit a greater degree of
universal motion, and the leather or other suitable collar or ring c, c, is kept
stationary by a projecting rim, formed upon the lower half at i, i, which
confines it internally, being the reverse of the method adapted at i, i, in
Figure 6.
Figure 8 repesents a butt hinge, made upon my improved principle. The
dotted line a shews a spherical ball or bearing, which may be made of
wrought iron, case hardened. The shank k is formed upon the bulb or ball
a, being a part thereof; this serves to unite the ball or bulb to the upper half
or part of the hinge, which may be done by casting the upper part of it, or
they may be united in any way that may be found most convenient.
hereby further declare, that my improvements may be constructed of any
suitable metal or material, provided the form, shape, and combination be the
same as I have described.
And I
And in order to indentify more distinctly the nature and character of my
Invention, I hereby declare, that it consists in making the bearing or acting
surface of one part of my hinges spherical, and the other part hemispherical,
to receive it, by which improvement the gate, door, or other body to which
they are affixed can be moved universally, to a certain extent, and at the same

page_text: time the acting surfaces of the hinge will retain the valuable property of
fitting most perfectly. And I also claim, as my Invention, the use of a ring,
collar, or washer of leather, or any other suitable material, by the use of
which, when combined in the way I have described, the dust, dirt, and wet
may be effectually excluded, and all the injurious consequences that would
result to the acting surfaces therefrom be completely avoided.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Collinge, have hereunto set their
hands and seal, this Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-two
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twenty-second day of
May, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid John Collinge came before
our Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute in that case made and provided.
LANTI
Inrolled the same Twenty-second day of May, in the year above written.