CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WHIP SOCKETS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Henry Cooper, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Bridle Cutter and General Fancy Harness
Manufacturer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
WHIP SOCKETS."
Scaled the 7th September 1869, and dated the 11th March 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Henry Cooper
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 11th March 1869.
I, CHARLES HENRY COOPER, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Bridle Cutter and General Fancy Harness Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for "CERTAIN IM-
PROVEMENTS IN WHIP SOCKETS," to be as follows (that is to say) :-
My improvements consist in fixing, by stitching or otherwise, an
internal lining from the mouth of the socket downwards, the said lining
being of any suitable material, such as leather, sheet gutta percha, or

page_text: suitable prepared waterproof cloth, and formed from the plain without
moulding, of one or more pieces, divided vertically by the removal of
parallel or gored pieces, that is to say, pieces removed broader in the
middle and curving off towards the ends. Sometimes I purpose securing
the lining at the top ond by means of a metal mount, and when stout
enamelled leather is used for the socket the top edge may be thinned
around to enlarge the mouth, and either finished by a covered metal ring
as ordinarily adopted or by a metal mount, At a convenient depth from
the top the lining is gathered in by applying an clastic ferrulo or ring
of india-rubber, the contracting force of which will bring the divisional
part or parts of the lining together, so as to contract the orifice for
holding the whip, but which will readily expand by the elastic force of
the india-rubber ring or its equivalent for withdrawal or insertion of the
whip. These several improvements are as applicable to whip socket casca
composed of tin or other sheet metal as to sockets principally made of
leather.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Henry Cooper in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th September 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HENRY COOPER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Bridlo
Cutter and General Fancy Harness Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in
the thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Henry Cooper,
Her special license that I the said Charles Henry Cooper, my exc-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Charles Henry Cooper, my exccutors, administrators,, or 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

page_text: of Mun, an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WHIP SOCKETS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Oharles Henry
Cooper, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, shonlil
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 Charles Henry Cooper, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and it what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, that is to say) i-
-
My improvements consist in fixing, by stitching or otherwise, an
internal lining from the mouth of the socket downwards, the said lining
being of any suitable material, such as leather, sheet gutta percha, or
suitable prepared waterproof cloth, and formed from the plain without
moulding, of one or more pieces or thicknesses partially divided vertically
by the removal of parallel arranged gores, that is to say, picces removed
broader in the middle and curving off towards the ends. Sometimes I
purpose securing the lining at the top end by means of a metal mount,
and which stout enamelled leather is used for the socket the top edge
may be thinned around to enlarge the mouth, and cither finished by a
covered metal ring as ordinarily adopted or by a metal mount and ring
combined. At the middle part of the removed gusset the lining is
gathered in by the contracting force of a short elastic tube or ring of
india-rubber, the contracting force of which will bring the divisional
part or parts of the lining (where the gussets have been removed)
together, so as to contract the orifice for holding the whip to the extent
of the removed gussets, but which contracted part will readily expand
by the elasticity of the india-rubber ring (or its equivalent) for the with-
drawal or insertion of the whip. These several improvements are as
applicable to whip socket cases composed of tin or other sheet metal as
to sockets principally made of leather, as also to the mode of fixing and
finishing the top or annular mouth of the socket, as the leather, gutta
percha, or other liuing, gussetted and shaped from the flat, may be
moulded at the top, either to increase the diameter of the mouth or for
the better uniting the lining to the socket body or case by sewing, or by
the application of an outer metal mount or otherwise, as will be well

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a lining in the flat that may be composed of one
entire piece of leather, or the upper or gussetted part marked A may be
of a better quality of leather, and the lower part B of an inferior quality,
united together by sewing as here represented or otherwise. The gussets a
may be of the form here shown (which I believe to be the most suitable)
or slightly modified as to length and curvature, observing that the form
of these gussets controls the contraction of the lining, as will be here-
after seen, which forms the main characteristic of my Invention. The
lining thus formed in the flat, as of leather, is intended to be united at the
edges at b, b, omitting the gusset portion a', a', by stitching or otherwise,
the outer circumference of which is intended to be of the same, or nearly
the same diameter as the interior of the caso or socket, whether com-
posed of leather, tin, or other metal or material; and the edges of the
gussets I purpose by preference tooling round, a term and kind of work
well understood in the saddlery trade, as it imparts neatness at little
cost. When it is desirable to extend or keep the mouth of the socket as
large as the barrel of the case, the upper part of the lining, whether
composed of one or two parts, may be formed with the top edge enlarged,

page_text: exhibited in Fig. 3, Fig. 4 being simply a lengthway section of Figure 2,
taken through the dotted line f, f.
A lining thus made and formed into a tube as at Figure 3, has only
to receive a short india-rubber tube or ring, as exhibited in an end and
side view at Fig. 5, when it will assume the form desired by contracting
its parallel tubular form to the extent permitted by the gussets or
openings marked a at Figure 1, thereby permitting a whip handle with
its usual enlarged terminus or ornamental end to be readily passed down
by the yielding of the india ring, and its consequent contracting force
for gripping the smaller part of the handle after insertion, to hold the
whip handle steady and firm in position. A lining thus formed and
contracted midway in the gussets by the contracting force of an india-
rubber ring marked C is ready for application to the case or socket by
stitching, or by the slight moulding or extending of the upper edge when
so desired, an operation easily effected by cutting the lining slightly
larger at that part as referred to at c, c, Figure 1, and as represented
in section at Fig. 6, in which case the leather of the lining is spread
over the top edge of the leather of the socket marked D, D, and retained
by the application of a thin metal annular ring, marked m, pressed over
on the lining and extending the trumpet form of the mouth of the
socket by the process known as spinning, and which mouth may be
otherwise shaped and fashioned by that or other convenient process, and
united permanently to the leather of the body of the socket by rivets or

page_text: keeps the body of the socket in the desired form for receiving the lining
and also holds the ring firmly in position.
Frepresents my improved lining in this example formed of thin sheet
gutta percha, cut out from the flat in the form exhibited at Fig. 10,
which admits of being readily applied to a wooden mandril or mould of
the right diameter to permit the edges readily coming together, and a
hot blade of metal being passed between them to cement the edges
together and form a gutta percha tube similar to Figure 3, as constructed
of leather, with the gussets removed in the desired position. The gutta
percha lining may then be softened on the top edge, say at k, k, and a
suitable mould inserted when the gutta percha will be expanded around
the outer edge, and the india-rubber ring may be passed over it, and the
lining will assume the form as exhibited in section at Figure 7,
marked F, which is retained by means of an annular collar or mount,
exhibited in a sectional detached view at Fig. 11, marked ; and when
applied in the position shown at Figure 7, and the socket placed in a
lathe and made to revolve, a burnisher may be passed over the surface of
the mount marked 1, until it assumes the form here shown, with its
lower edges firmly clipping the ring h, which will securely fasten the
lining. This same general construction I have exhibited in a vertical
section and side view at Figs. 12 and 13, as applied to ordinary or
japanned tin cases or sockets, the gutta percha contracting lining after
being cut from the flat, as at Figure 10, and united at its edges as before
described, I purpose softening at the upper edge and invert it over a
mould, as exhibited in section at G, Fig. 14, at the same time applying
the tin casc, also shown in section marked H, H, over the said lining
and mould as herein exhibited, holding the said case down, if necessary,
by a metal shank I, fastened in the apex of the mould and terminating
with the thumbscrew J; and when thus arranged a divided flat mould
also represented in section, marked K, K, is brought together, to press
tho gutta percha over the edge of the tin case, and when cold the gutta
percha will adhere and permanently assume this shape. The flat
divided mould K, K, can then be moved away laterally, and the thumb-
screw removed, when the case with the contracted lining may be taken
from the mould and finished as exhibited in section at Figure 12, and
in side view at Figure 13, by the application of a metal mount being
spun, pressed, or indented around the top of the socket, in the form

page_text: here exhibited, or other shape that good taste or convenience may
suggest. Fig. 15 is simply a top view of the mould G, without any
attendant parts.
Having thus described my Invention and the manner in which tho
same may be carried into effect, I wish it understood that the general
description may be much varied in detail without departing from the
spirit and character of my Invention; as for instanco, the moulds last
described may be made of wood or metal, and otherwise diversified and
arranged, and yet the same object is attained, viz., that of spreading
the gutta percha lining over the edge of the tin case; but supposing
the lining to be composed of leather, and the body of the socket also of
leather, the form of the mould must be modified accordingly, and in
that case the portion here representing the case of the socket may be a
dummy, and made of thick tin or metal, with the top edge thickened,
expanded, and rounded to assimilate with the general form of the leather
socket or case marked E, E, Figure 7, in order that the leather lining
under treatment may be moulded and expanded or pressed into shape an
the top edge, as the gutta percha is represented to assume in that Figure,
and in like manner the lining whether composed of leather, gutta percha,
or other equivalent material may be in two or more picces and left open
in the gussets and treated as before described as regards the manner of
holding the lining and contracting the same by the application of an
india-rubber ring or rings, or their equivalents; and the mounts repre-
sented at Figures 9 and 11, as well as the ring and other minor details
may be varied in shape as required. I will further observe that I do not
claim the use of gutta percha with the aid of an india-rubber ring or
rings for forming a contracting lining for the better holding of whips or
whip handles, as that material has been extensively used for that
purpose,
the said lining being moulded in a plastic state; but what I claim is,
the making of such linings for whip sockets from leather, sheet gutta
percha, or other suitable equivalent non-metallic material, cut or stamped
out from the flat in the manner herein described and exhibited, the said
linings being secured to socket cases by stitching or sewing, or by being
expanded on their upper edge, and held by metal or other mounts
and parts as exhibited in Figures 7 and 12, with the internal support,
Figure 9, whereby whip sockets so produced are made more economic
and enduring than sockets generally have hitherto been made, with the

page_text: additional advantage of increased diameter at the mouth or opening for
receiving the whip handle.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Henry Cooper, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Tenth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
CHARLES HENRY COOPER. (L.S.)
Witness,
HERBERT HESKEY,
Clerk to James S. Cockings,
Patent Agent,
Birmingham.