IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR HOLDING OR SETTING WORK TO BE CUT, PLANED
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Radford Mather, of Wellingborough, in the
County of Northampton, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR HOLDING OR SETTING WORK TO BE CUT, PLANED,
Sealed the 30th November 1866, and dated the 31st May 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Radford Mather
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 31st May 1866.
I, GEORGE RADFORD MATHER, of Wellingborough, in the County of North-
ampton, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR HOLDING OR SETTING WORK TO BE
CUT, PLANED, TURNED, DRILLED, OR OTHERWISE OPERATED UPON," to be as
follows:-
The object of the improvements is to give facility for the correct setting or
bolding of work horizontally or vertically, or at various angles or inclinations,
and to economize time therein for the operations of cutting, planing, turning,
drilling, or otherwise. For this purpose the work to be operated upon is

page_text: secured by screws, bolts, or otherwise, as is well understood, to a fixing or
face plate, which on the opposite side or surface is provided with a spherical,
hemispherical, or part spherical or convex shell, or hollow cup, which is
received into a corresponding annular space formed for it between a fixed
hollow part, sphere, or dish affixed to or formed on the bed or other main
plate of the apparatus, and another loose but. concentric or convex plate.
This loose plate is drawn to the main plate for fixing the part, shell, or cup of
the fixing or face plate by an adjustable bolt having a head with inclined
sides or opposite surfaces, which aro capable of being simultaneously acted
upon for the purpose of such fixing by inclined wedges or plates acted upon
by a right and left handed screw. A part of the spherical, hemispherical, or
part spherical shell or cup attached to the holding plate is cut away for the
action of the fixing means. If desired the parts may be inverted from that
described by those which are described as formed on or fixed to the fixing
or face plate, being formed on or fixed to the main plate, and those on the
main plate being formed on or fixed to the fixing or face plate. The
tightening of the parts may also be by wheel and worm lever, and nut or
cottar, or otherwise. By these means facility is given for adjustment of the
work in a great variety of directions.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Radford Mather in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 30th November 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
RADFORD MATHER, of Wellingborough, in the County of Northampton,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Radford Mather, Her special licence that I, the said George
Radford Mather, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said George Radford Mather, 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

page_text: and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR HOLDING OR SETTING WORK TO BE CUT,
PLANED, TURNED, DRILLED, OR OTHERWISE OPERATED UPON," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said George Radford Mather, 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 George Radford Mather, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
The object of the improvements is to give facility for the correct setting or.
holding of work horizontally or vertically, or at various angles or inclinations,
and to economize time therein for the operations of cutting, planing, turning,
drilling, or otherwise. For this purpose the work to be operated upon is
secured by screws, bolts, or otherwise, as is well understood, to a fixing or face
plate, which on the opposite side or surface is provided with a spherical,
hemispherical, or part spherical or convex shell or hollow cup, which is
received into a corresponding annular space formed for it between a fixed
hollow part, sphere, or dish affixed to or formed on the bed or other main
plate of the apparatus and another loose but concentric or convex plate.
This loose plate is drawn to the main plate for fixing the part, shell, or cup
of the fixing or face plate by an adjustable bolt having a head with inclined
sides or opposite surfaces, which are capable of being simultaneously acted
upon for the purpose of such fixing by inclined wedges or plates acted upon
by a right and left handed screw. A part of the spherical, hemispherical, or
part spherical shell or cup attached to the holding plate is cut away for the
action of the fixing means.
But that the Invention may be fully understood I will, by the aid of the
accompanying Drawing, proceed to describe means pursued by me.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a side view, and Figure 2 a section of apparatus arranged
according to my Invention; Figures 3 and 4 show a face view and an under

page_text: plan view, and a transverse section of the bed or main plate. In each of the
Figures the same letters indicate corresponding parts.
ȧ, a, is the fixing or face plate, which is formed with T-shaped grooves a¹, a',
or it may have holes or other means of fixture by which to fasten to it the
article to be operated upon, as is well understood. Upon the back of this
plato a is affixed the shell a², formed to be received and move freely in the
hollow dish formed on the main plate b, and to be there held by the con-
centric plate c, and this plate c is capable of being drawn upon by means of
the pin e, which is at one end screwed for the purpose of adjustment in the
part c, and at its opposite end this pine is formed with a head e', having
inclined surfaces (2), (2), capable of being acted upon by the inclined or
wedge-formed pieces ƒ and g as they are slided to and fro in the chamber
formed for them in the main or bed plate b, thereby to draw the plate c
towards the dish 6, and hold the plate a firmly in position, or to set the same
free as desired; is a spring to the head e' of the pin e, to assist in raising it
when the action of the incline pieces ƒ and g is removed. The wedge-formed
piece is connected by means of side pieces f,f, to the cross piece f³, through
which passes a part of the stem of the screw h, whilst another part of the
stem of that screw h passes into the wedge-formed piece g. The parts of the
stem which pass into these pieces g and f³, and also the holes for it in those
pieces 9 and f are formed with threads cut in opposite directions, or right
and left handed, and the stem h is formed with a collar h¹, which is held in
the recess formed for it, so that that screw pin may be turned freely in the
plate b, and in turning move the pieces 9 and f" towards or from each other,
according to the direction in which it is turned. The screw pin h is by
preference formed with a square head h³ to receive a turning key. Parts
thus arranged may be applied to a lathe or to a planing machine, or other
apparatus to hold work to be cut, planed, turned, drilled, or otherwise
operated upon by screw pins passed through the holes 6 in the bed or main
plate 6, or otherwise. If desired the parts may be inverted from that
described by those which are described as formed on or fixed to the fixing or
face plate, being formed on or fixed to the main plate, and those on the
main plate being formed on or fixed to the fixing or face plate. The
tightening of the parts may also be by wheel and worm lever, and nut or
cotter, or otherwise. By these means facility is given for adjustment of the
work in a great variety of directions.
g
Having thus described my Invention, and means which I adopt in carrying
the same into effect, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself

page_text: to the precise details shown and described, as the same may be varied without
departing from the peculiar character of the improvements; but what I
claim is, the arranging or combining parts for holding or setting work to be
cut, planed, turned, drilled, or otherwise operated upon, in manner substantially
as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Radford Mather, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
GEORGE RADFORD MATHER. (L.S.)