IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF JOINING OR COUPLING BANDS ORSTRAPS
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Barker Walker Gale and Jonathan
Fensom, of Homerton, in the County of Middlesex, Engineers,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF JOINING OR
COUPLING BANDS OR STRAPS."
Sealed the 23rd March 1853, and dated the 6th October 1852.

page_text: usually the case, we employ two plates, one of which carries sockets
furnished inside with female screws, and the other plate has holes made
through it to receive male screws, which screw into the sockets of the
other plate. The ends of the band to be joined or couples are placed
between these plates, and the screw sockets are passed through holes
made therein, and the ends are screwed up tight, and squeezed between
the two plates by means of the male screws of the upper plate.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Barker Walker Gale and Jonathan
Fensom in the Great Seal Patent Office, on the 6th April 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
THOMAS BARKER WALKER GALE and JONATHAN FENSOM, of Homerton,
in the County of Middlesex, Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of October, in the
year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said Thomas Barker Walker Gale and Jonathan
Fensom, Her especial license that we, the said Thomas Barker Walker
Gale and Jonathan Fensom, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Thomas Barker Walker Gale and
Jonathan Fensom, our 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF JOINING OR COUPLING BANDS OR
STRAPS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Thomas
Barker Walker Gale and Jonathan Fensoni, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the

page_text: 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 Thomas Barker Walker Gale
(on behalf of myself and of the said Jonathan Fensom), do hereby
declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the Draw-
ing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon
(that is to say):
Our Invention of improvements in the means of joining or coupling
bands or straps has for its object to join or couple the ends of bands
used in driving machinery in a more convenient and expeditious and,
consequently, more economical manner than by the plan hitherto in
use. Instead of joining these bands by means of lacing or studs, as is
usually the case, the ends of the bands to be joined together are firmly
held together by two metal plates, one of which carries sockets fur-
nished inside with female screws, and the other plate has holes made
through it to receive screws, which screw into the sockets of the other
plates. The ends of the bands to be joined or coupled having been
placed between these two plates, and the screw sockets passed through
the holes made therein, the screws or bolts are screwed up tight, and
the ends of the strap or band are thereby tightly squeezed between the
two plates by means of the male screws of the upper plate.
In order that our Invention may be clearly understood we have, in
the accompanying Drawing, shewn various views of the improved
coupling, as applicable both to narrow as well as wide bands.
Fig. 1, is a plan or top view of one of the improved couplings, drawn
full size, and intended for a band four inches wide, and to be used with
a flat-faced rigger. Fig. 2, is a longitudinal vertical section of the
same. a, a, and a*, a*, are the metal plates, and b, b, (Fig. 2,) are the
sockets fixed on the lower plate a*, which is also covered with leather,
gutta percha, or some other suitable material, in order to prevent the
metallic surface of the plate from coming in contact with the periphery
of the pulley or rigger to which the band or strap may be applied. The

page_text: sockets b, b, pass through holes made in the band or strap c, c, and they
should be made of such a length as to admit of the band or strap c,
being tightly pinched between the plates a, and a", when the male
screws d, d, are firmly screwed up. For coupling broad bands or
straps, or when the band is to be applied to round-faced riggers, we
prefer to divide the coupling into two or more parts, as shewn in Fig. 3,
so as to admit of its bending or yielding when at work, or to cause it
to embrace and fit the round face of the rigger more perfectly. The
internal construction of the coupling is precisely the same as is shewn
in Fig 1, and 2.
Having now described our Invention, and the best means with which
we are at present acquainted for carrying the same into effect, we
claim, in conclusion, joining or coupling bands or straps by means of
two metal or other plates, which are made to embrace the ends of the
said bands or straps and squeeze them tightly together, as above
described, and, whether such plates be covered or not, to prevent
metallic contact with the rigger.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Barker Walker Gale, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
Witness,
WM. ABBOTT.
T. B. W. GALE. (L.S.)