IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREWS AND SCREWDRIVERS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREWS AND
SCREWDRIVERS."-A communication from abroad by Peter Nelson
Jacobus, of Flatbrookville, in the State of New Jersey, United
States of America.
Sealed the 8th January 1869, and dated the 8th August 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 8th August 1868.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREWS AND
SCREWDRIVERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved screwdriver and screw whereby
a screw may be attached to and held by the screwdriver by means of
jaws or clamps so that the screw may be screwed into a piece of wood
without being held by the hand or having the hand applied directly to

page_text: it. The screwdriver is also provided with a countersink cutter so
that the countersink to receive the screw head will be made in the
wood simultaneously with the screwing in of the screw. The head of
the screw is also made with notches or their equivalents so that the
screwdriver may grasp or hold the screw head. firmly while the screw
is being screwed into the wood.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 8th February 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton,
Her special licence that I, the said William Edward Newton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREWS AND SCREW-
DRIVERS," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon
(that is to say):
This Invention relates to an improvement in wood screws and also
to means for inserting or removing the same from wood, and it consists
in providing the screw head with two or more triangular notches
extending through it and slightly dovetailed whereby it is adapted to
be grasped and held firmly by two or more gripping jaws inserted in
sockets in the end of a stock or tool herein-after described in such a
manner that they are capable of sliding longitudinally, and as they are
slid out their ends shall diverge and drop the screw, or vice versa shall
converge and grasp the same. The ends of the jaws which thus operate
are bevilled so as to form cutters which ream away the wood and
prepare a countersink under the head of the screw as the head
approaches the surface of the wood with which when the screw is fully
inserted its head lics flush.
Fig. 1 is an end view of the head of a screw; Fig. 2 is a side view
thereof; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the screwdriver; Fig. 4 represents
a vertical longitudinal section of the screwdriver as applied to the
screw head; Fig. 5 is an end view of the same.
In the Drawings, A represents a screw the body of which is of ordinary
construction; a is the head which is cut out at equal distances upon
the edge to form a series of triangular notches b, slightly dovetailed
and extending entirely through the head longitudinally of the screw.
In Fig. 1 are shown in red the jaws of the screwdriver adapted for
use therewith. It is necessary that the number of these jaws should
correspond with the number of notches in the screw. It is found most
convenient to employ three.
B, Fig. 4, represents that part of the tool which holds the gripping
jaws, the latter being shown at J, J, J. The jaws slide longitudinally
in the part B, and are held in place by a fixed ring R on the extreme
end thereof and by a sliding ring S which encircles the part B and the
inner end of the jaws J, J, J. The ring R may be as seen in the
Drawings simply a bulge on the end of the part B provided with holes to
receive and hold each jaw. The jaws may be further held in position
and guided in their motions by a piece of metal C having three arms.

page_text: and extending across the end of the part B between the jaws. The
jaws are so shaped that as thus constructed and attached to the part B
their outer or gripping ends will approach each other when the jaws
are slidden inward in their sockets, and will firmly grasp and hold any
object that may happen to be. between them, and will release it when
slidden outward again. As thus constructed they are intended to
grasp and hold the head of the screw while inserting the latter into or
removing it from the wood. The head of the screw, as seen in Figures
1 and 2, is notched on three sides or more (if intended to be used with a
screwdriver having more than three jaws), and the inner side of each
jaw is bevilled off from the centre, so that as the jaws come together
they will nicely fit into the notches of the screw head and thus hold
the screw much more firmly. The ends of the jaws are bevilled off
from their inner edge, and are provided with a sharp cutting edge or
shoulder m extending from the point at their extremity down to the
corner e, and therefore as the screwdriver comes in contact with the
wood the cutting edges m will ream away the latter around the screw
just enough to countersink the head of the screw. In working in
soft wood the cutting shoulders may not be necessary, but the jaws
may be made tapering and smooth. With this instrument the screw
can be more easily and readily inserted than with such as have been
heretofore employed for the purpose. It is not necessary to bore a
hole to receive the screw, but the latter can be grasped and forced into
the wood without difficulty. Neither is it necessary to prepare a
countersink before inserting the screw, as the instrument performs that
office without any additional effort and without any appreciable outlay
of additional force on the part of the workman.
Having now described the Invention of screws and screwdrivers which
has been communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and
having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim
as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid,-
First. Making the heads of screws with two or more notches as
described for the purpose specified.
Second. Constructing screwdrivers with sliding jaws so operating
that as they are slidden inward they will converge and grasp the head
of the screw firmly, and as they are slidden out again will diverge and
release it.

page_text: Third. Constructing or forming the ends of its jaws which grasp the
head of the screw with cutting edges which will ream away the wood
around the screw so as to form a countersink to receive the head of the
latter.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)