AN IMPROVED MODE OF MAKING THE HANDLES OF SHOVELS, SPADES, DUNG FORKS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES
Year: 1862

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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF MAKING THE HANDLES OF SHOVELS,
SPADES, DUNG FORKS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES."-A communication
from abroad by Alonzo Virgil Blanchard, John Dickinson Blanchard,
and Franklin Blanchard, of Palmer, Massachusetts, United States of
America.
Sealed the 1st August 1862, and dated the 2nd June 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd June 1862.
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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF MAKING THE HANDLES OF
SHOVELS, SPADES, DUNG FORKS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention of an improved mode of making the handles of shovels,
spades, dung forks, and other analogous articles consists in forming the
eye of the handle by splitting or sawing in a longitudinal direction, for a
suitable distance, the end of the bar or shaft of which the wooden handle of
the implement is composed, and then bending out into the form of a fork the

page_text: parts formed by the split or kerf. The holder is then secured between.the
ends of the fork in any convenient manner, and the parts are held together by
a tie rod with screwed ends.
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 2nd December 1862.
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 Second day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Her special license 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE
OF MAKING THE HANDLES OF SHOVELS, SPADES, DUNG FORKS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS
ARTICLES," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained 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 of "An Improved Mode of Making the Handles of Shovels,
Spades, Dung Forks, and other analogous Articles" consists in forming the
eye of the handle by splitting or sawing in a longitudinal direction, for a

page_text: suitable distance, the cud of the bar or shaft of which the wooden handle of
the implement is composed, and then bending out into the form of a fork the
parts formed by the split or kerf. The holder is then secured between the
ends of the fork in any convenient manner, and the parts are held together by
a tie rod with screwed ends.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a side view of a spade or shovel
handle constructed according to the present improvement; Fig. 2, a top view
of the same; and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section taken through both of the
arms of the eye and the holder, and in line with the axis of the holder. Fig. 4
is a transverse section taken at right angles to the axis of the holder. In
carrying out this Invention a bar A of wood, of the kind used for such purposes,
is sawed or split down longitudinally about six inches at its outer end or the
end designed for the eye and holder. After the bar has been thus sawed, it is
properly steamed, and the two parts a, a, of the bar formed by the kerf or split.
are bent so as to form a fork, as clearly shewn in Figs. 1 and 3. The space b
between the parts a, a, form the eye of the handle. In order to prevent the
bar A from splitting further during the operation of bending out the parts
or arms a, a, the bar A may have a rivet c passed through and fixed into
it previous to the bending operation, such rivet being arranged. as shewn in
Fig. 3. These forked parts or arms a, a, are next to be applied to the holder
B, which may be done as follows:-Each end of the holder B, which may be
hollow, is formed with a concave or angular recess d to receive a corresponding
convex or angular projection e, made on the inner end of the adjacent arm a.
The whole is next to be screwed together by. metallic caps D, D, and a rod E,
which extends through the holder, the arms a, a, and, the caps D and is
rivetted down upon the latter. These caps are formed so as to extend par-
tially and horizontally around the arms, and in the Drawings each of them is
shewn as united to a metallic annulus f, which receives the end of the holder
and prevents it from becoming split or cracked open. The annulus is also
made with a concavity or recess g, both above and below the cap, and for the
reception of the convexity of the arm, this serving as an addition to the
bearing for the arms, while the ring and cap so embrace the arm as to prevent
it from being split by the rivetted rod E. This mode of making a shovel or
spade handle is far preferable to that where the whole handle and eye or head
are cut from one piece of board equal in width to the whole width of the head
of the handle, for, in the latter case the parts or arms a, a, and also the holder B
are liable to split, owing to the direction of the grain of the wood, and the latter
or old mode of construction is attended with a considerable waste of timber.
By this method of making the handle a piece of wood that would be necessarily

page_text: used in the old plan for making one handle only will make three or four
handles, and therefore that which would be otherwise wasted by the old plan
of making the handle is saved by this method.
Having now described this Invention of "An Improved Mode of Making
the Handles of Shovels, Spades, Dung Forks, and other analogous Articles"
and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I would
remark that what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent as
aforesaid, is, making the handles for shovels, spades, dung forks, and other
analogous implements, by splitting or sawing longitudinally, for a suitable
distance, the end of the bar or stock, and then bending the parts or arms a, a,
formed by the split or kerf, in the form of a fork, and securing the holder B
in any suitable way between the parts or arms a, a, whereby a new and
improved article of manufacture is obtained for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)