IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HINGES
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
EDWARDS, of King Street, Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Writing and
Dressing Case Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present inost Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Third day of April, in the second year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas
Edwards, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said Thomas Edwards, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas Edwards, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HINGES;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Thomas Edwards, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part 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
Thomas Edwards, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to

page_text: the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:
According to the ordinary means of constructing hinges, they usually
consist of two flaps connected together by suitable pins or axes, such flaps being
perforated with holes for the passage of screws in order to affix them, and in
such cases each flap has in some instances several parts of the knuckle-joint
in connection therewith and forming part thereof, and in other cases one flap
carries or has the axis or pin affixed to it, and the other flap has a hollow
socket suitable for moving on the axis of the other flap. Now, my Invention
relates to certain modes of making hinges by having a stem applied to each
socket, and in such manner that each socket part of any hinge will have its own
stem, and consequently its separate means of being fastened.
Fig. 1 shews a hinge constructed according to my Invention, consisting of
four sockets, but a greater or less number of sockets may be used, depending
on the object to which such hinges are applied, the only difference in such case
being the length of pin or axis passed through the sockets. Fig. 2 shews a
pin suitable for the hinge, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows two separate views of one
of the sockets and its stem separately; and Fig. 4 shews two portions of
wood connected together by means of a hinge, such as is shewn at Fig. 1.
a is a hollow socket, having a stem b, with the thread of a screw formed
thereon to receive a nut. In making these sockets and stems a, b, they may
be of iron brads or other suitable metal, and they may be formed in various
ways, in some degree depending on the metal used. The socket a and the
stem may be made by casting (when the metal used will offer sufficient
strength, such as brass, either with the socket a hollow by means of a proper
core and afterwards bored out, or the socket may be cast solid, and the hollow
formed by drilling. Another mode of making such sockets is by taking short
portions of tubing of any suitable metal, and by brazing or other suitable means
the stems may be attached, and when making them of wrought iron the
same may be forged with their stems and with the sockets hollow or solid,
and hollow produced by drilling the same. Fig. 5 shows a socket a, with a
bent stem 6; and Fig. 6 shows a hinge made up of such bent stems, with their
sockets applied to two portions of wood; the object of bending the stems is to
accommodate the hinges for particular purposes requiring bending. In applying
such sockets and stems to produce hinges, holes are to be drilled into the
wood to receive the stems, and in such cases as the stems will not penetrate
through the wood, there will require to have a lateral hole made to introduce
the nut, as is shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and after having introduced the
nut the hole may be stopped with a portion of wood to correspond with the

page_text: other surface. These description of hinges will be found particularly useful
for writing and dressing cases, and will be found more elegant than hinges
having flaps and affixed by a number of screws, and the circumstance of the
person having the power of varying the extent of hinge according to the
object required will be found a considerable advantage, and indeed these
hinges will be found to offer many other advantages in use.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim are the
modes herein described of constructing hinges.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Edwards, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-nine.